Carolina Girl

Meg Fletcher is a complicated woman. She is strong, driven and refuses to settle back home. She doesn’t want to be like her mother, following a man around and giving up her dreams. However, her mother’s car accident has her back on Dare Island to help run the inn and take care of her new niece, Taylor. And to lick her wounds after being fired and her live-in boyfriend thinking they need time apart to “reevaluate” their relationship. We all know what that means. Meg also dreads coming back to Dare Island for another reason, Sam Grady. Sam is the best friend of her brother Matt and was also her first lover. The drunken coupling twenty years ago and the embarrassment of Sam ignoring her afterwards still stings to this day. So she’s definitely all for avoiding him, until he shows up at the airport to pick her up instead of Matt. He’s still gorgeous, but she’s not going to fall for his easy smile and sweet talkin’ swagger again. Or at least she hopes not. Sam is happy Meg is back in town. He knows he was a jerk all those years ago and he wants to make it up to Meg and start over. Sam knows his time is limited to win Meg’s forgiveness so he pours on the charm and ends up entangling himself in emotions and feelings both new and frightening. Can Meg and Sam truly make a go of things or will their different dreams for the future lead them in opposite directions destroying the already fragile relationship? Meg, Meg, Meg. I think this girl is a little too strong-willed. I understand wanting a career, money and being successful, but not at the expense of love. All that other stuff will come and go several times in a lifetime, but real love is precious and hard to find. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted to shake her while reading this book. I was surprised with Sam. He really grew up and wanted to prove that to Meg, his father and himself. Sam had a tough childhood with his father putting most of his time into his business and not into his son. We get to see Sam be the bigger man and start rebuilding the relationship with his father and step-mother. We also get to see the progress of the custody battle between the Fletcher family and the Simpson family over Taylor. In the previous book we found out that Luke, the youngest Fletcher and active duty Marine, came home to Dare Island with a daughter he never knew about, Taylor. Taylor’s mother had just died and in her will the she stipulated that she wanted Luke to raise Taylor and not her parents, the Simpsons. Taylor has a lot of problems stemming from her mother’s death and Luke’s deployment. I’ve got a feeling this situation is going to get uglier and we’re going to see some major skeletons come out of the closet. Meg and Sam were tough puzzle pieces to fit together; both driven by careers and success, Sam not so much. I really thought they complimented each other well. And I’m so glad that Meg got rid of her cheating ex-boyfriend. I hope something very medieval happens to him. What I also love about this series is watching the love story between Tom and Tess; Matt, Meg and Luke’s parents. After 38 years of marriage the two are still hot for each other. Fictional or not, having a love strong enough to survive the tests of time and still continue to thrive is a beautiful thing. I love reading about the characters of Dare Island and I can’t wait to get started on Luke’s book.