Lilac Lane (A Chesapeake Shores Novel)

Sherryl Woods returns with her popular Chesapeake Shores series following (2015) Willow Brook Road (Chesapeake Shores) #13 with LILAC LANE (#14) —From Ireland to Chesapeake Shores – A magical place for healing and a little romance.

This time around we catchup with Moira and Luke O’Brien and their baby girl, Kate. Of course, with Nell and many of the familiar characters and places we love. Moira is concerned about her mom, Kiera. Her husband Peter’s unexpected death was shocking after her second chance and raising her children on her own. Moria wants her to come and live in Chesapeake.

A steady dose of the O’Briens will restore her spirits. She had wasted years of bitterness and regrets after Moira’s dad left. She had taken a chance on love and now he was gone.

Maybe she could tell her she needs help with the baby, but possibly she can get her a job at the Irish pub, keeping an eye on the chef and making sure he does not stray too far from the proper Irish recipes. Her mom needed the family. With much persuasion, she agrees to come to charming Chesapeake Shores as a consultant. She can always return to Dublin.

She rents a lovely cottage on Lilac Lane and is feeling good being part of a family. However, soon learns her neighbor is none other than Bryan Laramie, the not so pleasant and annoying chef at the pub, with whom Kiera is constantly at war with. Moira soon sees the electricity between her mom and Bryan (similar to the relationship between her own relationship with Luke), when they first met. However, Kiera thinks he is infuriating.

Of course, if you know the O’Briens they never mind their own business and the clan is always meddling to make sure everyone is happy.

Bryan, on the other hand, has his own past. He had enough broken hearts to last a lifetime and was still recovering from this last one. Then his long-lost daughter shows up and both Bryan and Keira may have more in common than they may know. Plus, as always, there is always a community-wide event to ignite the flames.

With two complex personalities, it was time for the annual Fall Festival Irish Stew cook-off. And this town does nothing better than “stir the pot.” With some competition, stubbornness, clever planning, Irish recipes, sacrifices, meddling, bets, some risks, and of course a little romance, to demonstrate love conquers all.

If you enjoy heartwarming stories of strong family bonds and authentic characters, Chesapeake Shores will draw you into their world with open arms. For fans of Debbie Macomber, Joanne Demaio, Mariah Stewart, and Susan Wiggs.

LOVE the Chesapeake Shores series (TV series and have read all the books in the series)— among many of her other books. A longtime fan of Sherryl Woods, starting in my younger years (before Goodreads) thru today. I love the idyllic settings, vivid descriptions, and intriguing characters.

Looking forward to hopefully Season 3 since Season 2 just wrapped up. Always look forward to the Sunday show. It makes me want to return to these books and read them for the second time. Sherryl allows you to escape and travel without leaving your home. It is the next best thing to being there. An ah moment.

Many thanks to MIRA and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy. I also listened to the audiobook, narrated by Christina Traister for an engaging listening experience.

In addition, I am very excited about the highly anticipated A Small Town Love Story: Colonial Beach, Virginia Coming Nov 14, 2017 on my Top 20 Books coming Nov. Part memoir, part oral history. The author gives us a rare and intimate look at Colonial Beach, Virginia. Readers you will want to add this to your library collection and your must-read list. JDCMustReadBooks

Favorite Quotes:

Communication skills varied widely between the average man and woman, he’d discovered. For him and Moira, it was as if they spoke entirely different languages and, quite possibly in her case, from some universe not yet discovered.

If we were all punished for our careless failure to realize how important some things are in our life until too late, we’d all be alone and miserable… It’s why we’re given second chances.

My Review:

It is rare for me to read a book so squeaky clean that I could recommend to my elderly mother’s rather persnickety book club, but Lilac Lane certainly qualifies for the “Church Ladies” set. It is also rare to able to enter a series at book number fourteen and be able to follow the story. While it probably would have been easier to keep track of the myriad characters if I’d had experience with the previous installments, it was not a hardship to keep them straight as brief histories were provided along the way. The plot was interesting with two distinct threads that wove together in an entertaining manner, although the story evolved ever so slowly and the genre appeared to be more women’s fiction or small-town type family drama than contemporary romance. The writing flowed well and was laced with equal measures of angst and wry humor and populated with stubborn yet endearing characters of all ages.

Right before I started reading this I realized that it’s the fourteenth book in a series so to say I was little apprehensive is fitting. That is a LONG history and I feared I would have trouble connecting with the characters or that I would be lost due to long running backstories. Thankfully, I had absolutely no issues at all and found myself immediately swept away to Chesapeake Shores and totally charmed by this quaint little town and it’s residents.

It looks like every book in this series follows a new couple, reminiscent of RaeAnne Thayne’s long running Haven Point series, and that made it extremely easy to follow along. Keira comes to town from Ireland at the urging of her daughter and helps out in the kitchen at Moira and Luke’s pub. Bryan is the head chef and him and Keira immediately have a love/hate relationship (mostly hate) but I love that cliched trope in a romance, the chemistry and the sparks flying is always hugely entertaining to me!

This was a sweet, clean romance heavy on the importance of strong family bonds and ties to a community. Slightly predictable but truly adorable I loved my time spent in Chesapeake Shores and I just realized there’s a TV series based on the books so guess what I’ll be bingeing ASAP?! If you like Nora Roberts or Fern Michaels you would love Woods.

Lilac Lane is the epitome of a small-town romance, Hallmarkesque story. From this book alone, it is easy to see why the books have been made into a series on the Hallmark Channel. It has everything one would expect, from the adorable meet cute to the happy ending and all of the sugary sweet stuff that takes place in between.

I have never read this author's books before nor have I seen the TV series, but Chesapeake Shores and Lilac Lane are places I would love to visit. The ocean breezes and the familial atmosphere are just the ticket to an escape from the crazy world. It's a bit too perfect, but whatever! It's fun to imagine what such a world would be like! The wine glass is never empty and hearts are always full of love.

I didn't realize Lilac Lane was the 14th(!) book in the series, but I was able to jump right in and feel like a part of the story. It didn't blow me away, and I didn't think it was quite as "epic" as the blurb leads one to believe, but nevertheless, I enjoyed the clean and sweet romance. I'm definitely considering checking out the TV series too!

*I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.*

With a very leisurely pace, we are introduced to characters in this 14 book series as Bryan and Kiera, the main couple, slowly but surely start to feel the sparks of awareness explode from mild irritation to attraction.

You couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the life struggles and loss Kiera has endured, but it bothered me she came across as a “know it all” most of the time. Yeah, I get she has worked eons in Ireland’s Irish pubs, but she obviously doesn’t get the concept of “when in Rome.” She needed more of an open mind, folks.

I also took great exception to the Deanna drama. It just seemed odd to have that particular, unlikely set-up of Bryan’s daughter’s disappearance from his life all those years ago. There were multiple reasons why it just would not have panned out that way. I felt like it was a test by the author to see if we were actually paying attention or not. It was unforgivable, unacceptable, and completely inconceivable that Bryan’s wife would have gotten away scott free with what she did and how the stepfather just went along with it, as well.

Having not read the other books in this series, I went into this one as a newcomer to an unfamiliar town. Unfortunately, the constant interruptions of subcharacters/subplots slowed down the telling of this romantic tale to the point I skimmed to the end and couldn’t wait for it to be over. The main couple definitely deserved more of a certain stage, and it was frustrating to be dished out only small increments of them together at a time.

In summary, it was a sweet concept, but I needed more focus on what I was promised in the synopsis. I’ve read and liked other books by this author, but this one didn’t deliver the engaging romantic tale I expected. The poorly executed/unbelievable daughter drama further added to my frustration, folks.

Title: Lilac Lane, Series: Chesapeake Shores (Book 14), Author: Sherryl Woods, Pages: 352, library edition, older couple, non-steamy, almost finished it, skimmed over the last parts of it, wasn’t as good as I had hoped, unlikely/unbelievable daughter drama scenario.

(These comments are based on a library edition. This is not a detailed ARC review.)

3 1/2 STARS!

Family reunions in Chesapeake Shores! A story of finding second chances when you least expect it. I've read books in this series before and loved them, but this one didn't quite make it's mark for me. It was hard to connect with the characters and their romance felt a bit flat. Although it drug on in parts, there did come a time when interest picked back up and I was following along to see if the relationships they were working on would reconnect and make for a happy ending.

Keira Malone never thought she'd find herself here at this point in her life. She raised three kids as a hard working single Mom in Dublin, Ireland and carried the weight of the world on her shoulders. On her own after the kids had all began their own lives, she finally found a way to let go of the bitter betrayal of her ex-husband and learned to love again. As fate would have it, she wasn't meant to be happy yet again when her fiancee died suddenly of a heart attack. Now alone and struggling, she agrees to her daughter's request to come to Chesapeake Shores, Maryland to visit, see her grandchild and help out at her son-in-law's restaurant.

Chef Bryan Laramie finds himself butting heads with Keira almost from the start when she comes in and starts making suggestions on how his kitchen should be run! The last thing he needs is her becoming his neighbor and sharing his cozy courtyard too! Though they spat like cats and dogs, they begin to unearth a friendship and sparks begin to simmer the more time they spend getting to know each other. When his long-lost daughter shows up to reconnect, will Keira be able to help pave the way for him to get to know her? And when it's time for her to make a decision about her future, where will he fit in?

It is always enjoyable to visit Chesapeake Shores. The O'Brien's are a warm and loving family. Lilac Lane centers on their Irish pub, Luke and Moira and her mother Kiera and Bryan Laramie, the cook/chef of the pub.

Moira and her mother,Kiera, are both stubborn, headstrong women. Moira met her match when she found Luke and married him. Now she has convinced her mother to come to Chesapeak Shores from Ireland. Kiera thinks it is only for six months but the family wants her to stay permanently.

While there, Kiera is going to help with the pub. When she meets Bryan they are like oil and water. They agree on nothing and really seem to rub each other the wrong way. For the family's sake and being that they will be working together they have to call a truce. They say there is a fine line between love and hate and these two are straddling it.

You really have to read the book and find out the latest and greatest happenings in the O'Brien family. If you are a Sherryl Woods fan then this is a must read for you. I loved every minute of this book and was sad for it to end.

Kiera Malone is mourning the unexpected death of her fiance. She has been living apart from her family in Ireland and needs to reassess her future plans. Her daughter, Moira, is concerned about her emotional stability and invites her to stay with her in Maryland.

Kiera makes the journey and finds employment at an Irish pub owned by her family. Life starts to improve but she finds herself at odds with the chef who is named Bryon. After a few weeks she starts to feel more secure and rents her own apartment. Her bad luck continues when she discovers that the obnoxious chef is her neighbor. Bryan and Kiera work through their differences and begin to forge a friendship. This unlikely pair learn to trust each other and together they tackle each other's demons.

This book by Sherryl Woods is the 14th installment in the Chesapeake Shores series but it can be read as a stand alone novel. I did not read the earlier books and had no difficulty absorbing the plot. For those who enjoy binge watching, you can watch this entire series on cable television.

Keira Malone raised her three kids alone when their father decided drinking was more important. When she finally allowed herself to love again, her fiancé died of a heart attack. Now she leaves Ireland behind for Maryland to spend time with her daughter and new granddaughter, and to help her son-in-law with his Irish pub.

She butts heads with Bryan Laramie, the moody chef at the pub, and more than sparks fly as the two try to decide who knows best. Once they reach a truce, Bryan’s long-lost daughter shows up, and he must deal with unresolved issues from the past, when he last saw his daughter as a baby. And Keira has her own issues: having been so unlucky with love twice, is it even worth the effort? While the two try to sort out their problems, the rest of the town takes sides for the upcoming Fall Festival Irish Stew cook-off, where they will match up to decide who’s really best in the kitchen.

(Galley provided by Harlequin/MIRA via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)

Before beginning the actual review I need to be utterly honest with you, I was incapable of finishing this book. This was difficult for me since I always finish books I am obligated to review but apparently there is a first for everything. It’s not that I did not allow myself enough time or forgot about reading it, the truth is I was slowly being bored to death. Lilac Lane is the first book I have read by Sherryl Woods, therefore, I now know her writing is not my style. The plot was lackluster along with a group of one-dimensional characters not containing enough substance to hold my attention. I really did give it the old college try, but when bickering is the primary undertaking how much can a reader take? Although the story did embody one interesting theme it consequently lacked enough focus or time within’ the plot to make it an engaging part of the story. Consequently, if the author had fixated more on Bryan’s ordeal and reduced the squabbling an enjoyable book could have been born.

Nevertheless, just since I found the book incompatible with my liking does not mean you will feel the same. Go ahead and give it a try. I like to think of books like people you're not going to like everyone you encounter.

With the gorgeous Chesapeake Shores as the backdrop, it's no wonder the novel has inspired a "Hallmark Channel Original Series". When Kiera finds love again, her fiance dies of a heart attack. She is encouraged to visit her grown and married daughter plus her father and his wife in Chesapeake Shores.

With a job at O'Brian's, the pub run by her son-in-law, Kiera pays attention to the running of the restaurant and the menu items. When she offers suggestions, the moody chef, Bryan does not take them well. This is the start of the difficult relationship between the two. Over time, the reader predicts the changes that would occur in their relationship.

Thank you GoodReads for the book.

It's about family. It's about small town community. It's got romance. It's got it all. A very entertaining read. You get wrapped up in the lives and loves in this small town community of Chesapeake Shores.

I have voluntarily posted a review consisting of my honest opinions.

This was an ok story, part of the. Chesapeake shores series. Single mom Kiera raised her 3 small children by herself and has finally allowed herself to fall in love, when her fiancé dies. She agrees to move Chesapeake shores to be with her daughter and grandchild. There she finds love again.

While I enjoy reading about the O'Brien family, it was nice to read about a couple that's not directly related. It was great to read the story of two characters that we'd met before. I enjoy this series because it's about people if all ages.

Lilac Lane continues the story of the O'Briens and their extended family. I love how the characters seem like they are real and I feel like they are friends. Chesapeake Shores would be a wonderful little town to visit.

Not my favourite of her series and not something that I couldn't put down but as usual, a good read and good storyline. found a few too many characters n recognised at times as to whom belonged to whom.

This is book 14 in Sherryl Woods’ Chesapeake Bay series. I have read and enjoyed all of the books in the series and this book can be read as a stand-alone without confusion but the entire series is so good, I think that you’ll want to start with book 1 – you won’t be disappointed.

The book series is about a town in Maryland that was built by the O’Brien patriarch, Mick. Mick’s main goal in life is to have his 5 children married and in love with the person he picks out of them. Once that is accomplished in the first books of the series, he starts meddling in the lives of other family members and gets help in his meddling from his children and their spouses. In book 14, it’s single mom Kiera who lives in Ireland and raised her three children. Her daughter Miora lives in Chesapeake Shores with her husband Luke O’Brien. Moira feels that her mom has given up on finding happiness and asks her to come to the US to help take care of her granddaughter. Once she arrives, sparks start to fly between Kiera and the cook at the O’Brien pub. Will Moira be able to convince her mother to stay in America and take a chance on happiness or will she rturn to her solitary life in Ireland?

It was great to get back to Chesapeake Shores and the O’Brien family in Lilac Lane. This is a fun series with characters that are very likeable who believe strongly in love and family.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read.

Moria wants her mom to come to Chesapeake Bay and hopes that the move will help her get past all the things that have happened in her life. She thinks a change of scenery will help her mom heal from the loss of a lover, a horrible marriage, and the never ending disappointment of her two sons. Kiera decides to take the journey from Ireland to Chesapeake Bay, she can't wait to meet her first grandchild and see the Irish pub her son-in-law Luke has opened. When she is asked to help out at the pub and make sure things are as authentic as possible she is happy to help. The only problem she finds is Bryan, the pubs chef. They immediately butt heads and sparks fly. Kiera isn't sure if she wants to move forward with the feelings that she has for Bryan. Bryan has issues all of his own, his wife left him years ago taking his daughter. Years of searching for them has turned up empty and he isn't sure if he is still married and how he can fix that now that he has found someone. He likes Kiera but doesn't want to mislead her. This was a lovely read that shows the healing value a family can give. I love the emotions a read like this evokes and I don't mind saying I laughed, cried, and smiled all the way through.

I always enjoy reading a book from the Chesapeake Shores series. This is another one that explores the extended family of O'Brien's on both sides of the ocean. They revolve around family and the next victim for the family to try to be a matchmaker for. Keira comes over from Ireland to see her new granddaughter and to help at her son-in-law's Irish pub. Her daughter is a photographer who is making a name for herself. Soon Keira's dad, Nell, and the rest of the family are trying to push her toward's the chef in the pub. There are lots of fireworks. Bryan, the chef, falls for Keira despite her trying to boss him around. Bryan's daughter finds him after the mother took her and left nearly 20 years before. Many relationships are cemented.

The story is riveting and interesting all the way through. You will be able to understand how the characters in the book learned to understand each other and appreciate the trust in order to grow in their lives.