Sisters by Choice
Blackberry Island #4
by Susan Mallery
From the New York Times bestselling author of California Girls comes an all new original Blackberry Island novel told with Susan Mallery’s trademark humor and charm. Sisters by Choice is a heartfelt tale of love, family and the friendships that see us through.
Cousins by chance, sisters by choice…
After her cat toy empire goes up in flames, Sophie Lane returns to Blackberry Island, determined to rebuild. Until small-town life reveals a big problem: she can’t grow unless she learns to let go. If Sophie relaxes her grip even a little, she might lose everything. Or she might finally be free to reach for the happiness and love that have eluded her for so long.
Kristine has become defined by her relationship to others. She’s a wife, a mom. As much as she adores her husband and sons, she wants something for herself—a sweet little bakery just off the waterfront. She knew changing the rules wouldn’t be easy, but she never imagined she might have to choose between her marriage and her dreams.
Like the mainland on the horizon, Heather’s goals seem beyond her grasp. Every time she manages to save for college, her mother has another crisis. Can she break free, or will she be trapped in this tiny life forever?
Favorite Quotes:
“I’ll be fine. You have eight kids to deal with. They would die without you.” Kristine laughed. “It’s three kids.” “When I visit, it feels like more.”
He sure was pretty, she thought absently. He must work out a lot to get shoulders and arms like that. Given the fact that the Lord gaveth and tooketh away in equal measure, she could only assume he had the IQ of a tree stump but that was okay. Sometimes pretty was plenty.
“You’ll be fine,” the woman added. Sophie nodded because curling up in a ball and keening didn’t look good on anyone.
It’s hard to be smug when you figure out the rest of the world is just as smart as you.
“From what you’ve told me, your mother took a difficult situation and made it worse.” “It’s a gift,” she said lightly…
“I hate it when you’re right.” “Then you hate it a lot.”
My Review:
I waffled a bit in how to rate this clever women’s fiction story of friendship and family drama as a lot was going on and there were elements and characters I adored, and others – well, not so much, and still others… not at all. But every family has at least a few of those not so much and not at alls, although, unfortunately, the majority of those within my DNA grouping seem to fill those last two categories. So the feelings toward those exasperating characters were all too familiar and annoying, but that is where the similarities end as this story was vastly more amusing, intelligent, cleverly staged, and attractively populated than those trying travesties of familial gatherings of my laboriously suppressed memories. Sigh, if only…
The engaging storylines were perceptively written and highly entertaining and were peppered with sassy banter, clever quips, witty wordplay, and humorous observations. I was completely enamored, besotted, and intrigued by the sexy Dugan who was so wise and insightful he was practically mystical.
I have enjoyed every Susan Mallery book I’ve ever picked up and truly revel in her wit and levity. I always seem to learn something interesting and useful from her books. This time she taught me quite a bit about marketing, and business plans, and quite unlike my deadly dull Econ course during college, it wasn’t painful at all 😉
About the Author
Twitter: @susanmallery
Facebook: @SusanMallery
Instagram: @susanmallery
Goodreads
SUSAN MALLERY is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of novels about the relationships that define women’s lives—family, friendship, romance. Library Journal says, “Mallery is the master of blending emotionally believable characters in realistic situations,” and readers seem to agree—40 million copies of her books have sold worldwide. Her warm, humorous stories make the world a happier place to live.
Susan grew up in California and now lives in Seattle with her husband. She’s passionate about animal welfare, especially that of the two ragdoll cats and an adorable poodle who think of her as mom.
Woohoo I have this book.. It has been ages since I read Susan Mallery. I didn’t tag her while sharing the post… Now I am not sure about these authors… 😂 😂 😂
I will have to grab a copy of this. Great review!
I’ve heard of her but haven’t read any of her books yet. For a 5-star, I am definitely adding this one to my list 🙂
Love your review, but the title alone appeals to me.
Amazing review my friend, I am really glad you fully enjoyed reading this book. This book looks and sounds absolutely amazing and a book that I would love to read as well. Thank you so much for sharing your awesome post.