The Secret of Joy by Melissa Senate
My rating: 5.0/5.0
Publisher: Downtown Press
Publish Date: November 17, 2009
Pages: 352
Thanks to Sarah Reidy at Pocket Books for my copy of this book.
The Secret of Joy is a wonderful book - it's funny, touching and a book I'll be thinking about for some time to come.
My Review:
When I started reading this book I was thinking it was chicklit. I received it to be a part of a Pocket Books tour for the title and it's from Downtown Press and by Melissa Senate so I figured it was chicklit.
And maybe it is, but I don't think so - I think it is so much more. It has a twenty-something heroine and she's trying to figure out her life, but there aren't many references to designer clothing (though there are a few designer shoes mentioned). But there is romance and the figuring out her life that Rebecca does seems so much more than it usually is in chicklit (not downing chicklit - I love it). I would almost say this crosses into women's fiction for the younger set.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and therefore I gave it a rating of 5. The storyline is easy to follow yet not predictable. The characters are wonderful. I enjoyed Rebecca and Joy and of course the divorced ladies (and man) of Joy's small town. Theo was completely yummy and I even liked his dog.
Rebecca's efforts to get to know her sister were interesting to watch and they story unfolded beautifully. I was cheering for Joy and Rebecca the whole time.
The characters and storyline of this book will stay with me for awhile and that tells me it was a good book. I will definitely be checking out more of Melissa Senate's work in the future.
About the Book:
When twenty-something New Yorker Rebecca Strand learns (her father's deathbed confession) that she has a twenty-six-year-old half-sister she never knew existed, she can't wait to meet her. With her lawyer boyfriend's protests ringing in her ears ("She's just going to want her share of his million-dollar estate!"), Rebecca drives to a small coastal town in Maine with the 26 letters her father wrote to Joy every year on her birthday. All alone in the world, Rebecca knocks on Joy Jayhawk's door, having no idea what to expect.
Turns out Joy, the separated mother of a little boy (Rebecca has a nephew!), isn't very interested in the "father" who turned his back on her existence from day one–or her "sister." But Rebecca is so determined to establish family bonds with Joy that she doesn't go home . . . and finds herself being welcomed into small life by some very loveable, quirky characters, including a sexy carpenter named Theo . . .
Challenges:
100+ Book Challenge
Fall Into Reading Challenge 2009
GIVEAWAY:
I will giveaway my once read gently used copy of The Secret of Joy to one commenter. Simply comment on this post and leave your email and you are entered. Extra entries for tweeting, following me, subscribing will also be added. Just let me know what you do. Giveaway will go through 11/30.
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