Evening Stars

March 1, 2014
Two sisters are taking stock of their lives amid emotional insecurity when an unexpected treasure gives them the chance to have everything they want--if only they can figure out what that is. Nearly 30, Nina has spent her life on Blackberry Island, making sacrifices so her sister Averil could escape their small town even while her own dreams drifted out of reach. Her mother owns an antiques store full of junk and has never been a person anyone could depend on; Nina's been cleaning up after her since she was a kid. Now Averil is back, leaving a journalism career and a husband who loves her, and Nina is frustrated by her sister's ambivalence about a life Nina considers perfect. Meanwhile, Nina juggles her career as a nurse with trying to keep the antiques shop viable; her mother keeps spending money without putting in the work to keep it running. Finding a new, trustworthy employee for the store seems to create a new dynamic, as some of the junk turns out to be worth a second look--and so do the people in Nina's life. Two men from her past come back, and suddenly she has to decide what she truly wants, since all her old dreams are rising like ghosts and teasing her with possibilities. But before she can fix her own life, she might have to stop trying to manage everyone else's. Best-selling romance author Mallery delves into light women's fiction with this third Blackberry Island novel, maintaining her romantic charm and smooth voice yet embracing the freedom of a broader storyline with ease and a bit more depth. A light, engaging family-coming-of-age story that flows gracefully into a handful of happy endings, though with a few more twists, turns and universal conflicts than a strict romance.

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Starred review from February 1, 2014
The winds of change blow along the West Coast in Mallery's (Three Sisters, 2013) latest Blackberry Island story. First, the older brother of a girl for whom she babysat turns up unexpectedly in nurse Nina Wentworth's life. Then Nina's former fianc', now a doctor, also shows up in the Washington State island community, and both men want friendship and maybe more. Navy pilot Kyle, who had a crush on Nina, says she's still his fantasy, while Dr. Dylan Harrington tries to win Nina back as a friend. Meanwhile, Nina's younger sister leaves her husband in Southern California to return home as she tries to find herself. In the midst of this chaos, Nina's lesbian mother and her partner return from their antique-hunting trip with a multimillion-dollar painting. Since Nina has always been the levelheaded one who took care of the family, she's expected not only to figure out what to do with the painting but also to unravel her and her sister's tangled love lives. Mallery pulls out all the stops in this highly enjoyable and insightful, funny, and poignant look at self-sacrifice and romantic entanglement.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

January 6, 2014
Mallery’s third novel (after Three Sisters) set on fictional Blackberry Island, Wash., explores the boundaries of love and loyalty for a quirky mom, her lesbian partner, and her two adult daughters. Flighty, immature Bonnie Wentworth runs the Blackberry Preserves antique store, which barely stays afloat between Bonnie’s buying trips, leaving oldest daughter Nina to assume the “mom” role for her sister, Avery, and for Bonnie too. A crisis in Avery’s marriage forces the sisters, and Bonnie and her partner, Bertie, to re-examine their responsibilities to one another and themselves, while an ugly cast-off painting changes all of their lives. The men in the sisters’ lives—Nina’s first love, Dylan, and young admirer, Kyle, and Avery’s abandoned husband Kevin—along with an unbelievably well-trained stray dog, Penny, are amazingly accommodating during an often dark and difficult tug-of-love between the women as they tame their fears, take responsibility—and hit Antiques Roadshow pay dirt. “I’m going to go for my dreams and see what happens,” Nina decides. And that’s the joy for all of us who were rooting on the sidelines. Agent: Annelise Robey, Jane Rotrosen.