Cottage By The Sea by Robin Jones Gunn

Cottage By The Sea by Robin Jones Gunn
Hideaway Series Book Three
Publisher: Howard Books July 3, 2012

REVIEW BY JOAN HALL

Cottage By The Sea was one of my BookBub recommendations a few months ago, so I picked up a copy while it was on sale. It was my first time reading any work by Robin Jones Gunn.

Erin Bryce and her best friend Sharlene have just opened their wedding planning business, “The Happiest Day,” initially working out of Erin’s home. As she is preparing to leave for a meeting with their first client, she receives a call from her stepmother saying her father has had a stroke. He had moved from California to the coast of Oregon after the death of Erin’s mother.

Torn between her new business partnership, and the need to see her father, with whom she didn’t have a good relationship, Erin is uncertain of what to do. Encouraged by Sharlene, she books a flight to Oregon to visit her father in the little “Cottage by the Sea.”

Erin’s stepmother, Delores, is standoffish, and her relationship with her father doesn’t improve in the short time she was there.

Eighteen months have passed when Erin receives another call from Delores saying her father’s condition is terminal. She and her husband, Mike, make the journey to Oregon. When Delores walks out, Erin decides to stay for the last few weeks (or months) of her father’s life. This puts a strain on her business and her relationship with Sharlene.

I have mixed feelings about this book. The overall theme is forgiveness, and I thought the emotions Erin felt were very real. Not only does she need to forgive her father, but her stepmother as well. Plus, she wants the relationship with her father and brother (who lives in Hawaii) to be mended before it’s too late. Erin’s character arc is believable.

What Erin heard in the silence was that there were, indeed, specific answers to each earthly pain. Every “why” had a “so that” response written by God himself.
Robin Jones Gunn, Cottage By The Sea

However, I had some issues with the author’s writing. There were numerous repetitions of words within paragraphs. In most cases, these could have been easily avoided, and the word eliminated altogether without losing its meaning. For a traditionally published book, I would have thought a good editor would have caught these things.

The book ends with an upbeat note that makes the reader feel good. Without giving any details, I’ll say that it’s nice to have things resolved, but I also know life and our circumstances don’t always turn out rosy or in the way we want.

I give this book three and a half fish.

I purchased a copy of Cottage By The Sea through Amazon.