Goodbye, Lark Lovejoy

After the death of her husband, a young woman moves back to her hometown to build a new life for herself and her children in this novel. Lark Mead has just lost her husband to Lou Gehrig's disease and is faced with the daunting task of raising their two sons on her own. When a real estate broker comes calling soon after her husband's death, Lark is offended. But after learning how much the house is worth, she decides that a return to her hometown may just be the fresh start her family needs. When she arrives back in Fredericksburg, Texas, she finds a newly renovated, not-so-child-friendly house and grandparents that are very busy with lives of their own. Lark begins searching for employment, but there aren't many jobs for attorneys in town, and she's not that interested in the law anyway. Instead, she decides to pursue a career in winemaking, a dream she had long ago given up. As Lark reconnects with old friends and attempts to navigate single motherhood, she meets a handsome, young Army veteran named Wyatt Gifford. As Lark and Wyatt get to know each other, she learns he has emotional baggage of his own, and she begins to doubt their compatibility. As the story progresses, Lark wonders whether she will ever figure out how to find a promising future. Told primarily from Lark's point of view, the narrative shifts periodically to Wyatt's perspective, providing readers a useful second lens through which to view events. Full of humorous moments about the pitfalls of parenting, including kids who say inappropriate things at the worst times and catty parent volunteers who attempt to commandeer school events, this plot-focused tale also explores deeper issues like grief, PTSD, and self-sufficiency. Although Clink's series opener gets off to a slow start, introducing too many subplots and supporting characters before focusing on the main action, individual scenes are well crafted throughout, and relationships consistently come across as authentic. A few surprises toward the story's end make it a worthwhile read. An uplifting tale about family, second chances, and the complexity of making fine Texas wine.

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