The Winter Lodge (Lakeshore Chronicles)
by Susan Wiggs
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Book Summary Information
Author: Susan WiggsEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2010-01-01
ISBN: 0778328910
Number of pages: 416
Publisher: Mira
Book Reviews of The Winter Lodge (Lakeshore Chronicles)
Book Review: One of the strongest in the series.
Summary: 4 Stars
I adored this book, and the author pulled everything together so well in the end I was amazed. Perhaps if Daisy hadn't stolen so much of the story I would have given it five stars. Susan Wiggs was so smart with this book, with so many loose ends joining and answering so many questions. I believe this one stands alone better than others in the series.
Sorry, this is a long review!
Though this is book two in the Lakeshore Chronicles, it is the fourth one I've read (after books one, four and five). There is more focus here, thank goodness, though the author still couldn't help but dish out yet another annoyingly oversized helping of one of the most annoying teenagers to go to print, dispersing this helping throughout the book and breaking up what would otherwise have been a much more engaging story.
I'm going to go on a rant later on, so I'll say this first. For the most part I loved this book. It's a little slow-moving sometimes, a little over-long, but I stayed up until the sun was rising reading this thing.
This really has been my favourite in the series so far. The book has a much clearer focus than the others. Wiggs' habit of jumping all over the place in the timeline was less frustrating to read than it was in other entries to the series, and I actually found myself equally as interested in every part of the main characters' story. And I really cared about them. It was a heartbreaking situation. Though gosh it would have been nice if these adults could have got their stuff together faster and jumped into the relationship they both wanted. Wiggs' style is to keep her characters apart for most of the book, and the hero and heroine never resolve their issues until the very end. It seemed a little forced here, in such a long book, when the issues keeping them apart in the present day were extremely minor.
The author keeps you turning the pages by dropping little hints here and there, forcing you to read on, not playing all her cards at once. While I could guess some of what was coming, I was pleasantly surprised by other parts of the story.
So. Rant.
There are three main characters in this story. And only two are relevant to the plot, while the other is simply there to set up future books. This one did need a little trimming, and cutting the random - and pointless - Daisy chapters out would have done it. It's like Mel in the Virgin River series - the author is playing favourites and it's messing with the quality of the books.
As I've stated in my other reviews, I hate Daisy so much I can't always force myself to finish reading her parts. Seriously, what person in their right mind can be expected to care about an alcohol swigging, pot smoking, sexually irresponsible little brat of a spoiled rich girl who lays the blame for her despicable personality on everybody else? Honestly? I certainly don't. And she's a Mary Sue to boot - everybody else in the book thinks she's the best person to ever have existed, and quite happily shoulder the responsibility for her irresponsibility. It's nauseating. I'm sorry, Ms Wiggs, but divorce is a very common thing, and using that as an excuse for any and all behaviour just doesn't cut it.
The thing was, other characters we got updates from fitted into the main plotline, but Daisy was yet again out there in a world of her own, hogging the limelight for no particular reason. It yanks you out of the story and then you have to readjust when the hero and heroine finally reappear.
Wiggs does repeat herself quite a lot, and I think the book would benefit from being a bit shorter. Her books appear to be longer than others in this genre - Robyn Carr's Virgin River books, for example - and I think they suffer for it. Jenny and Rourke had the same few conversations over and over, and Jenny kept thinking the same thoughts throughout the story - almost identical, word for word. Once we've been introduced to a character - Joey, for example - we don't need to be reminded of his life story and his connection to all the characters every single time his name is mentioned.
The recipes found throughout the story give the book a cutesy feeling that's too much for me. I suppose I should expect it in a cosy sort of small town series - and it definitely appears to be a gimmicky trend in this style of writing these days (recipes, knitting patterns, whatever in the middle of a novel) - but gee did it ever interrupt the flow of story!
I thought I couldn't read any more Lakeshore Chronicles books after the train wreck that was Fireside, but this one really was a joy to discover. I've been forewarned about the next book in the series though, so I'll see how things turn out with that one...
Summary of The Winter Lodge (Lakeshore Chronicles)
On the longest night of the year, Jenny Majesky loses everything in a devastating house fire. But among the ashes she finds an unusual treasure hidden amid her grandfather's belongings, one that starts her on a search for the truth, and on a path toward a life that she never imagined. The Winter Lodge, a remote cabin owned by her half sister on the shores of Willow Lake, becomes a safe refuge for Jenny, where she and local police chief Rourke McKnight try to sort out the mysteries revealed by the fire.But when a blizzard traps them together, Jenny, accustomed to the safe predictability of running the family bakery, suddenly doesn't feel so secure. For even as Rourke shelters her from the storm outside, she knows her heart is at risk. Now, following her dreams might mean walking away from her one chance at love.
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