🪶🏖️⛵ “Feathers in the Sand” (Seahaven Sunrise Series #1) (2022) ⛵🏖️ 🪶 – Book Review
MY REVIEW
Publisher: KaleidoSoul Media (May 20, 2022)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 979-8986050317
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information
“Perfect for fans of Gilmore Girls and loaded with relatable mother-daughter moments and family drama, Feathers in the Sand delivers a sweet escape to charming small-town Maine for a second chance at happiness.
Savor a breath of fresh salty air in this feel-good story about one woman’s journey to believe she deserves happiness.
Single mom Tess Gilmore has been moving so fast to keep her life together that she’s hardly had time to notice how unhappy she is, and how distant she’s become from Eva, her preteen daughter. An unexpected job opportunity offers a chance to leave her Connecticut home for Seahaven, the idyllic coastal Maine town where she spent her childhood summers.
With a reluctant Eva in tow, the two begin to carve out a new life in Seahaven, surrounded by colorful, quirky neighbors and soothing sea breezes. Within weeks, Eva begins to discover mysterious, brightly-colored feathers in surprising places.
As Tess and Eva are embraced by their new friends, they begin to work through their mother-daughter growing pains, but a surprising run-in with Tess’s first love, Luca, has the potential to re-ignite their interrupted romance . . . or destroy her new and improved relationship with Eva.
Will Tess have to choose between Luca and Eva? Where are those beautiful feathers coming from? And how can Tess redefine her life in a way that includes true happiness?”
Thank you in advance to the author, Anne Marie Bennett, for providing a complimentary review copy through Kate Rock Book Tours. A positive review was not required nor requested, and all words are my own.
Almost two (2) years ago, in September 2020, I read my first book by the author – Dragonflies at Night: More than a Love Story. And, it is interesting that this book shows the readers of that one what happened to Ben Shepherd and Savannah Adams. Ben and Savannah make a prominent appearance in this book towards the last 116 pages of the book. Andi and Jeremy, as well as Savannah’s business are mentioned. While not directly considered part of the series, readers might want to check that book out before this one. I consider it more of a series “prequel” that leads to this.
This “seems” like a clean and wholesome read. For the most part, it is. There is NO foul language and no intimate scenes. There is a kiss or two.
This does have some prominent LGBTQ themes in it, and while they do not dominate the story, they are clearly present. There are three characters, but only two are considered “major” to the story.
🏳️🌈 Micah – Tess’ son, is out as gay (not in a relationship) (has no major appearance until closer to the end, mentioned for most of the book)
🏳️🌈 “Theater” Jasper – gay; in a “on its way to separation” relationship (no intimate scenes at all)
🏳️🌈 Grace – it is mentioned she is “gay” (not in a relationship)
The main characters consist of:
🐚 Tess – single mom of Micah and Eva [never married the kids’ father]
🪶 Eva – Tess’ 11-year-old daughter
☀️ Aunt Kit – Tess’s aunt; Cecilia’s sister
⚓ Luca – Tess met him one summer when they were teens, they had a slight “romance”
☀️ Teo – Luca’s son (mother is deceased)
☀️ Poppy – another friend of Eva and Teo’s
👩🏻🦳 Cecilia – Tess’ mother, the two have a “strained” relationship
☀️ Kalila – Eva’s “sitter” and Glory’s granddaughter
As well as minor characters:
Charli – Eva’s childhood best friend, moves to California
🖥️ Chiara – one of Tess’ friends
🖥️ Quinn – another one of Tess’ friends
☀️ Glory – Kalila and Sam’s grandmother
There are other minor characters within the book as well.
Despite the many characters, there are only two (2) POVs – Eva and Tess. While other POVs might’ve been interesting, the story does work with just Eva and Tess’ POV.
The artsy and sweet cover gives off a different vibe of the story. I thought this was going to be a lighter read than it turned out to be. It isn’t dark, but it is definitely not an easy “light” read either.
The author says this is for fans of the TV show Gilmore Girls, and she is right. Do readers HAVE to watch the series? I would highly recommend it. There are SO many references to it, I felt lost reading this so it slightly impacted my enjoyment of the book.
There is also the mention of Eva watching the TV show SCHITT’$ CREEK with her brother, and mentioning the show to some people. According to Common Sense Media, they rate the show for 14+. Whereas adults rate this as low as 8+ in age (average is 14+), kids rate it about 10+, with 12+ being the average. It too features LGBTQ characters as well. As I haven’t seen the show, I can’t appropriately rate it. It is not discussed at length though.
With that said …
Bennett introduces the reader to Tess Gilmore, a devotee of the series Gilmore Girls. Tess is also mom to Micah and Eva. And, it is Micah’s birthday party that causes an issue right off.
I related to Tess’ 14-year-old Ford (my Chevy is a 2008) and living upstairs at an apartment complex. I’m with her on that – no one wants to have to keep going back downstairs to their car for groceries no matter how close you park. (Thankfully my place has a garage).
But, Tess’ day goes from bad to worse. Her boss has put her down in front of the entire staff for a one-word typo (at that point, I’d be looking for other work, that’s abusive behavior right there). Then, there’s the phone call from her boss about Tess leaving them in the “lurch”. Tess had discussed (the day before) about leaving early for Micah’s party. There is an issue about Tess not filling out the proper form to do so.
I wanted to have a smidge of sympathy for Tess on this, but it was hard. Having had 25 years of experience with time-off (or short-day) requests through my mom’s work, I know how the process works. I really think Tess could’ve said something a bit sooner than the day before she had to leave early – (a week, a month? She knew when she was going to have the party. Usually, PTO or even needing time off and how to request it is discussed during the interview, hiring, or training process. Anyone on a job for 3+ months should know the procedure.
Work isn’t the only issue Tess is facing …
Tess is also experiencing her daughter pushing her away, and seemingly uninterested in the TV show Tess loves, though Eva watches it on her own. The reason she doesn’t watch it with her mom is later revealed.
Eva gets bad news when her friend Charli begins packing to move to California.
Tess’ Aunt Kit calls her with a great opportunity – a dental clinic there needs an office manager, and they’re willing to give Tess a chance. Kit arranges for Tess to visit. It would be more pay, and Tess would have a place to stay for less rent.
Micah encourages his mother; Eva is less excited.
Tess is conflicted about the job despite being “hand-picked” for it – with no competition. Honestly, if I’d been treated the way Tess was – that’d be a hard yes for me with a “when can I start” on the side. More money, lower rent payment? I wouldn’t have to think on it. Yet, Tess does.
That changes when Micah disappears and makes a stunning revelation in a note as to where he is going. With Charli in California, Micah elsewhere; Tess finally decides to act on the choice given to her – move to Seahaven.
It is bittersweet because of the summer she met Luca. They stayed in contact after, but then he stopped replying to her emails. She never learned why.
Tess soon finds a complete support system as soon as she moves to Seahaven. And, even Eva finds something interesting to do with her time.
Eva also starts finding feathers – colorful ones all over, leading her to believe that angels are watching over Micah while he embarks on his new path. She doesn’t know how close she is to the truth of the feathers. Still, they give her something to look forward to and provide a comfort. A comfort that gets her and her mom a smidge closer than they had been.
It isn’t long until Tess is reunited with Luca and learns why they lost contact. Luca wants to rekindle the “what if”, which causes problems between her and his son Teo, who isn’t over the loss of his mom.
As a result of the tension with Teo, Tess makes a decision to focus on her relationship with Eva. A tragedy soon upends Tess and Eva’s lives in this dramatic and stunning story that is reflective and hopeful.
Like most authors, Bennett has a talent for creating believable drama and evoking emotion. Her writing is beautiful and imaginative. There is potentially relatable family drama. I say “potentially” because each family dynamic is unique. My mother and I weren’t the typical angsty mother/daughter dynamic at all, at any stage of my life.
I did not identify with Eva at all, and I felt as though she was a brat for most of the story. She seemed determined to not do things out of sheer spite or because she didn’t want to “like” something. I felt so sorry for Tess in that respect that her daughter was acting the way she was. I think Eva needed some counseling.
Tess seemed ill-prepared for motherhood overall. I admired her furthering her education to enhance her employment opportunities. However, it seemed that she sacrificed her kids in the process. As some say – they’re only little once and you can’t get back those years. I do think that in addition to Eva needing it, Tess could’ve used a bit of counseling as well. They both needed family counseling for sure.
I have to give kudos for Micah’s maturity in caring for his sister and his career choice. There is a scene where he and Eva are making pizza and he makes his half as ham and pineapple, calling it an Aloha pizza. It is actually a Hawaiian Pizza, created in Canada in 1962. The name was based on a brand of pineapple the creator used. I’ve been eating them since I was a kid and it was nice to see other fictional characters enjoy them as opposed to my other favorite – pepperoni.
The best character overall was Aunt Kit, who really seemed to have a grip on life and everything around her. She was definitely the anchor of this story. Glory was another one who had a realistic grip on life despite raising her grandchildren due to her daughter’s choice of a career.
Tess’ mom Cecilia was a nightmare for most of the story with only the “I was doing what I though was best” excuse.
I loved the letters Eva wrote and would’ve liked to have seen Micah’s letters to Eva and his mother. Speaking of that, I wish he’d been truthful with Eva about something given how bad she reacted when she learned the truth towards the end.
The short chapters helped move the story along and didn’t let it bog down in one place for too long. Bennett’s descriptive writing definitely puts the reader there in the middle of the story. Could it have been shorter? For some yes, for others? Perhaps not. I was in the middle. There were some things I wanted expanded and some could’ve been shortened.
There is a disturbing scene in this book that did make me cringe.
Glory mentions her daughter joined the Air Force in 2002 because of 9/11 as her father was killed in the attacks. However, the author something shocking 132 pages later in regard to a thought Eva has in needing to get somewhere – “But what could she do – hijack a plane?”. Given the 9/11 reference, it was a bit shocking and perhaps not a good remark to make. I thought it best to mention the “remark” as a “warning” to other readers; especially coming up on the 21st anniversary of the attacks.
Other that those issues – this was a fairly enjoyable read that held my attention. I do wish more information had been released about the content and a suggestion to watch the references TV shows.
The end is open, meaning no resolution to major plot points, so readers will have to read future books to see where the author is taking the characters as well as the issues they face. I am definitely interested in future books for that reason and.
Given some of the content, this has the potential to clash with some readers’ ideas of “clean and wholesome”. There is no intimacy, only a kiss. The language is very clean. Relationships are mentioned, but not depicted. With regard to religion, there are some mentions of it, especially with Theater Jasper talking about the tenets of his Jewish faith. These are not integral to the story though.
RATING:
4 (3.8) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Goodreads
4 (3.8) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Bookbub
4 (3.8) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ /5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html;update https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2022/07/what-goes-into-my-reviews-2022-edition.html)
CONNECTED BOOK IN THE SERIES:
Publisher: KaleidoSoul Media (July 7, 2020)
Language: English
ISBN-13: 979-8663865104
⬅️ Click Photo for Purchase Information
“A dragonfly brings a mother's love to a grieving daughter.
Above all . . . what message do Deirdre Rose and Dragonfly have for both of them?”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
She can also be found on the following social media networks:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/annemariebennett
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annemariebennett520/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kaleidosoul
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