| Title: | Already Home | |
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| Author: | Susan Mallery | |
| Publication Date: | March 29, 2011 | |
| Publisher's Description | After nearly a decade as a sous-chef in a trendy eatery, Jenna is desperate for a change. She’s supported her ex-husband’s dreams for so long that she can’t even remember her own. Until she sees a for-lease sign near her parents’ home andenvisions her very own cooking store. Her crash course in business is aided by a streetwise store manager and Jenna’s adoptive mother. But just as she’s gaining a foothold in her new life, in walk her birth parents—aging hippies on a quest to reconnect with their firstborn. Now Jenna must figure out how to reconcile the free-spirited Serenity and Tom with her traditional parents, deal with her feelings for a new love interest and decide what to do about her ex’s latest outrageous request. In the end, Jenna will find that there is no perfect family, only the people we love.... |
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| My rating: | 5 Stars | |
I was really blown away by this book. I’ve read and enjoyed many of Ms. Mallery’s previous books, so I thought I knew what to expect here, but I could not have been more wrong. She did a great job of showing Jenna’s growth and healing over the course of events that take place in this book. And I loved (loved loved loved, etc) that Jenna’s healing did not come about because of a man. In fact, her love interest didn’t even pop up until nearly halfway through the book. This wasn’t the story of two flawed people who healed each other with love; it’s about two people who were making great strides in their individual and professional lives reaching out toward one another amidst calamity. I respect that.
The characters in this book, from Jenna on down the line, were well realized. People weren’t always who they seemed to be in the beginning, which is how things often really happen. When the characters hurt, I hurt for them. When they rolled their eyes, I often felt the same way. Everybody in this book just seemed so real!
The adopted as a baby/meeting the birth parents trope is not an uncommon one, but this is the best I’ve ever seen it done. There were many points of view presented here: we glimpsed the feelings of the birth parents, the adoptive parents, the biological siblings, and the adoptee herself.
I have no hesitation recommending this book to previous fans of Ms. Mallery’s work. I also think that people who are more likely to read “women’s fiction” than regular romance novels will really connect with this title.
