Book Review: Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas

Are you a Lisa Kleypas fan?  If not, you should be.  I initially found out about her when she did a Q&A on GoodReads.  Since I have an uncontrollable need to read historical romance novels, I immediately picked up one of Lisa's novels and have been a fan since.  I believe I've read almost all of her historical romance books.  I probably should seek therapy, but the truth is, they are ridiculously good.  Anyway, fast-forward to the summer and I found Rainshadow Road—Lisa Kleypas Friday Harbor series—while trolling on Amazon.  Here's the back cover:  

 

Lucy Marinn is a glass artist living in mystical, beautiful, Friday Harbor, Washington. She is stunned and blindsided by the most bitter kind of betrayal: her fiancé Kevin has left her. His new lover is Lucy's own sister. Lucy's bitterness over being dumped is multiplied by the fact that she has constantly made the wrong choices in her romantic life. Facing the severe disapproval of Lucy's parents, Kevin asks his friend Sam Nolan, a local vineyard owner on San Juan Island, to "romance" Lucy and hopefully loosen her up and get her over her anger. Complications ensue when Sam and Lucy begin to fall in love, Kevin has second thoughts, and Lucy discovers that the new relationship in her life began under false pretenses. Questions about love, loyalty, old patterns, mistakes, and new beginnings are explored as Lucy learns that some things in life--even after being broken--can be made into something new and beautiful.

My thoughts:

I read this over the summer and instantly adored the series.  It's a modern-day romance spiced with the perfect amount of family drama and to my surprise, elemental magic.  The book opened up to Luci getting crushed by her ex-boyfriend and sister.  Wow, Kleypas cut straight to the heart with that one.  What I loved best about Luci was her resilience.  Yes, her life sucked, but that didn't stop her from moving on.  I loved the way Luci stood up for herself, despite be railroaded by her conniving sister, her worthless ex and her annoying parents.  Thankfully, she met Sam, the unlikely love interest, Sam.  Their relationship began slowly at first which I thought made it more believable.  Sam owned a vineyard and struggled over the years to cultivate it into his life-long dream.  He obviously couldn't predict the whimsical touch that local glass artist like Luci would wield.  Rainshadow Road is more of a contemporary romance than paranormal, so if you're in the mood to little your paranormal reading, give this one a try.   

Have you read Lisa Kleypas’ steamy historical romance novels?  Suddenly You is one of my all-time favorites.  What about the Friday Harbor series?

Mina B.