Genoa Bay

Premise: single, widowed mother named Brandy moves with her young daughter to Genoa Bay on Vancouver Island off the Canada coast. She is willed an old, falling apart home that used to be run as an Inn. She decides to start her life over again on Genoa Bay by reopening the Inn as a Bed & Breakfast. She runs into complications, some good and some bad.

What’s not to like?

As it turns out, there is relatively little not to like. Hardly anything at all! This finicky and fickle Christian fiction reader has nothing but praise for Genoa Bay. I enjoyed my time there thoroughly (and would love to go there for real now!) Of course, it didn’t hurt that there was a “thumbs up!” quote from Linda Nichols on the back of the book and since I like Nichols I considered that a good omen, of sorts. Then, too, it’s about a Bed & Breakfast and I dearly love B&B’s and revel in every opportunity to visit one. I figured this book was a win-win situation. I was right!

Brandy Beauchamp is a widowed Navy pilot’s wife. (I have a friend whose Navy fighter pilot husband will be leaving on cruise soon. I recommend she not read this book.) Brandy’s husband died while failing to properly land his F-18 and the U.S. Government can’t seem to locate his updated will. Therefore Brandy has been left without any kind of finanical care and has been working at trying to make ends meet for her and her seven year old daughter, Gabby. Not long after we are introduced to this female twosome and their struggles, we are introduced to Maggie, an elderly lady who had cared for Brandy when Brandy was a teen. Maggie is dying and upon her death it is discovered that she left her entire estate to Brandy. Now Brandy faces a choice. Will she remain in Florida, where she and her daughter have lived since her husband’s death – or will she take off and start a new life for them elsewhere?

Yeah, you can probably guess how it all turns out. There are a few twists and surprises but one thing is sure – that this book is predictable fun. Despite Brandy’s personal doubts that she can make it all work, you can read this book knowing that the ends are going to tie together nicely. (Except I do have to confess that the Epilogue kind of confused me which is an odd thing to have happen. It just wasn’t written in a very clear or straight forward manner and I got lost at the tail end. No matter though! I caught the gist!)

I’d label this book “good, clean fun.” Sometimes, that’s all I want in a read. This time, it is exactly what I received!

Are you interested in reading this book? Well, I’m happy to inform you that Kregel Publications has made a copy available to one of you. That’s right! One of you can win a copy! (The rest of you can add it to your TBR stacks and settle into it when you get a moment and find you have some downtime to relax in! This read is strongly recommended when you are in a position to fund a night at a B&B or a trip to Vancouver Island or else you’ll just start pining away, like I am!, to go there.) This contest is open to U.S. Residents only (with all due respect to the Canadians.)

We will announce the winner in the April 28th review/giveaway post.

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Carrie comes by her book obsession honestly, having descended from a long line of bibliophiles. She blogs about books regularly at Reading to Know and Reading My Library.