"Poignant, true-to-life women's fiction."

Dr. Ellen Markowitz begins her summer with a bang when she wakes up next to her boss, Dr. Hall Talbot, Shelter Rock Cove's most beloved Ob-Gyn. Ellen has kept her heart closed to the whispered promises of love for four years, after being scorned by her fiancé three weeks before the wedding. But after a night of champagne and magic fireworks, the deep friendship between the doctors turns into something more. The only problem? Hall calls out another woman's name at the height of passion.

As if this isn't enough, Ellen's closing on her first house and her half-sister, Deirdre, comes whirling into town with a dog the size of a horse. Ellen and Deirdre learn to know each other again through some of the most important moments in their lives. These "girls of summer" will try to make sense out of their love lives, Ellen with Hall, and Deirdre with Scott the Mechanic, a self-imposed loner. They'll learn to get along with Deirdre's irascible older sister, Mary Pat, the organizational queen. And they'll rely on their bonds of sisterhood when confronting the father they really don't know.

Here's another fine slice of women's fiction served up by the talented Ms. Bretton. This poignant, true-to-life story tugs at the heart strings, taking readers through a summer fraught with emotions of every flavor. Come laugh and cry with these sisters through life, love and small town politics.

Reviewed by Anne Barringer
Courtesy Old Book Barn Gazette
Posted October 29, 2003

Read an Excerpt

Now, the bestselling author of Shore Lights takes fans back to Shelter Rock Cove to deliver a shimmering story of the unbreakable bond of sisterhood and the irresistible intricacies of the human heart.

Summary

Ellen Markowitz loves being an OB-GYN—and she's fallen hard for Shelter Rock Cove, the charming coastal village she's called home for the last three years. That's not the only thing she's fallen hard for...but her crush on Dr. Hall Talbot was supposed to stay a secret.

And it did...until her half-sister, Deirdre, shows up on her doorstep, needing a place to crash. Ellen has learned the hard way that nothing is quite the way it seems—not family and certainly not love. But during one magical summer, Ellen will discover that hope and love can sneak back into the heart when least expected...