Beth Moran has done it again – she’s definitely one of my favorites, though her books always follow a formula. I like the formula.
This story follows Emmaline Brown, who works in the Sherwood Forest airport in a pasty shop that her adopted mother built, a few years after her mother passed away. (This is her “ordinary life.”) She doesn’t have a social life. She has one friend, Blessing, but her mother was a workaholic and taught her to be the same, even though she doesn’t have the same personality. She’s had a crush for years on Pip, a Scottish farmer in a grad school program that takes him through the airport from time to time, though he otherwise lives in the remote and idyllic Isle of Siskin. Once, Pip saw Emmie in the midst of overwhelm and jumped in to help her manage the rush of customers, and she’s fantasized about him ever since. But she’s never had an actual relationship, with him or anyone else.
Then one day, Emmie wins the lottery — not a huge jackpot, just enough to spontaneously buy a one-way plane ticket. She’s just stumbled across letters her mother left behind, discovering to her shock that at one point, her mother had actually been married–and had lived on the Isle of Siskin of all places. Pip comes through the airport and tells her this will be the last time, as he’s graduating soon… so to get answers to her mother’s past (among other reasons), Emmie buys a ticket on the same flight as Pip back to his home island.
Pip doesn’t immediately take her under his wing, as that might seem weird… so she tries to figure it out on her own for a bit. But eventually he finds her stranded, and brings her to his sister’s bed and breakfast. She quickly finds herself immersed in his family, his community, and his world, and meanwhile discovers her mother’s ex-husband in the unlikeliest of places…
This is a feel-good chick lit story like all of Moran’s, with somewhat contrived misunderstandings that lead to tumultuous confrontations, forgiveness, and an eventual and well-earned happily ever after. Her stories all blur together, but they’re clean, uplifting, and a great escape.
My rating: *****
Language: none
Sexual content: none
Violence: none
Political content: none
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