Reviewed by Francine
Wind Chimes and serviettes are the stuff
of dreams for Annie Malone, and while a long-held dream of having her own swish
restaurant is almost within her grasp, nothing is quite as it seems. Can she turn a new home into a heavenly retreat? Surely, bad things that happen in life
can be made better?
With tragedy and trauma in Taylor’s past, Annie is sorely in need of security and peace of mind for her eight-year-old daughter. Convinced the backwater life of a Chesapeake Bay island will afford anonymity, and assist in healing Taylor’s tortured mind, they forsake the city and embrace the life of small town America. After all, there’s a saying “money breeds money” and if the owner of a posh hotel chain sees gold in building a holiday resort on Heron Island, Annie is equally happy to benefit from incoming tourists.
With tragedy and trauma in Taylor’s past, Annie is sorely in need of security and peace of mind for her eight-year-old daughter. Convinced the backwater life of a Chesapeake Bay island will afford anonymity, and assist in healing Taylor’s tortured mind, they forsake the city and embrace the life of small town America. After all, there’s a saying “money breeds money” and if the owner of a posh hotel chain sees gold in building a holiday resort on Heron Island, Annie is equally happy to benefit from incoming tourists.
Annie and Taylor are far from alone in seeking sanctuary
on Heron Island. Will Dozier, a Navy SEAL, has just returned to his roots after
an arduous and deadly deployment to Afghanistan. Although he’s suffering horrific
flashbacks and nightmares, Will refuses to believe he’s a victim of PTSD (Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder). And when living alone with a dog for company, stepping
out for meals becomes a pleasant habit. More so, when the proprietor of your
favourite eating place stirs something within that simply won’t go away. Has
fate brought Annie and Will together? It looks that way, but sometimes, just
sometimes hell is waiting round the next corner. Both Annie and Will are forced
to face demons from their respective pasts, but can they share the future?
Award winning author, Sophie Moss,
has brought small town America to life in conveying sense of time and place
within a close community. After all, where everyone knows or is related to the
next person, secrets never stay secret for very long. Through the medium of intermittent
and unobtrusive flashbacks, the reader is given insight to past events that have
marred and scarred the main characters’ lives.
Wind Chimes Café is a thoroughly enjoyable and a rather poignant story of love found along life's path. There is a bonus factor to this
book with a golden opportunity for reader participation at Sophie’s web site.
Read the book to find out what is entailed, though I’ll give you a clue:
Restaurant!
