Sea Glass Summer

After her heart is broken, Sarah moves to the small town of Sea Glass and finds solace in helping her neighbors through their own tragedies. Kirsten Potter's dynamic narration offers a compelling rendition of high-pitched and sharp-minded 9-year-old Oliver, who must leave the guardianship of his breathless and ailing grandfather. The honeyed tones of the grandfather's nurse are contrasted sharply with those of Oliver's boorish uncle and surly aunt, who have taken over the family homestead. Potter's delivery of troubled Willy Watkins's baleful and rambling voice heightens the mystery of the story. Most importantly, her steady pacing captures Sarah's contemplative moments and the quietly developing romantic element of this intriguing listen. M.F. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

December 10, 2012
Cannell takes a break from her Ellie Haskell cozy mystery series (She Shoots to Conquer, etc.) with this sweet contemporary romance featuring 34-year-old Sarah Draycott, a successful designer of patterns for knitting magazines. After her husband leaves her for another woman, Sarah moves from the Midwest to Sea Glass, Maine, to make a new start. In Sea Glass, Sarah encounters nosy neighbors and, eventually, an unexpected love interest. While descriptions of the beauties of nature enchant (“It was a perfect morning in early July, with just enough breeze to edge the deep blue silk of the bay with ripples of lacey foam”), readers should be prepared for some sentimental exchanges between new lovers (“I fell in love with you when we met. And if that’s equally like a romance novel, it’s because most clichés are around because they are truths that have been sanded and buffed over time”). Agent: Meg Ruley, Jane Rotrosen Agency.