Barbara Delinsky
Sweet Salt Air
St. Martin’s Press / June 18, 2013 / $25.99 print, $11.04 digital
Charlotte and Nicole were once the best of friends, spending summers together in Nicole's coastal island house off of Maine. But many years, and many secrets, have kept the women apart. A successful travel writer, single Charlotte lives on the road, while Nicole, a food blogger, keeps house in Philadelphia with her surgeon-husband, Julian. When Nicole is commissioned to write a book about island food, she invites her old friend Charlotte back to Quinnipeague, for a final summer, to help. Outgoing and passionate, Charlotte has a gift for talking to people and making friends, and Nicole could use her expertise for interviews with locals. Missing a genuine connection, Charlotte agrees.
But what both women don't know is that they are each holding something back that may change their lives forever. For Nicole, what comes to light could destroy her marriage, but it could also save her husband. For Charlotte, the truth could cost her Nicole’s friendship, but could also free her to love again. And her chance may lie with a reclusive local man, with a heart to soothe and troubles of his own.
Barbara Delinsky's Sweet Salt Air is an emotional story with strong, likeable central characters—Charlotte, Nicole and Leo—all of whom are guarding secrets. It would be too simple to say that Sweet Salt Air is solely about secrets, as it goes much deeper than that. Delinsky’s story is about atonement and redemption. It is also about and a sense of belonging and of finding oneself, especially for Charlotte. Delinsky has chosen a wonderfully rich and vibrant coastal island as backdrop, the close-knit community of Quinnipeague, Maine, and its eclectic inhabitants.
Nothing screams summer more than a great beach read. My favorites are those that actually take place on the beach. Romantic women’s fiction bookshelves are brimming with covers of a lone woman or group of friends strumming their toes through the sand. When I see them, remembrances of salt air and the squawk of gulls fill me longing for my beloved Jersey Shore of The Wildwoods. Two tales I’ve read recently really struck me as romantic, timeless, and I shall be reading them again this summer, on the beach, ignoring my family and friends.
On Quinnipeague, hearts open under the summer stars and secrets float in the Sweet Salt Air...
Regardless what you’re reading right now, I guarantee there is something in it, whether prevalent or miniscule, that has to do with baby-making. Not sure if you know this, but sex can sometimes result with making a baby. Shocking, but true.
Perfect romance heroines—you've got to love them, right? Or maybe you don’t. For many decades I had a preference for the perfect heroine. Gorgeous—check. Kind, caring, generous, compassionate—check. Intelligent, clever, witty plus assertive, but forgiving—check again. And of course it is a given that she loves animals. Having all these attributes seemed like the guaranteed recipe for success and happiness. This was my heroine prototype and influenced my buying criteria, at least in romance books, for years.
What is it about romance and fashion that make such an irresistible combination? I’ve always had a soft spot for “sex and shopping novels” (or, as an editor I know once so eloquently put it, “shopping and f*cking novels.”) We talk a lot about the sex…but what about the shopping part of the equation? In some novels, the passion for fashion is as potent as anything that happens between the sheets. As we get ready to open our closets for spring cleaning, here’s look at a few of the most satisfying sartorial reads this side of Sex and the City.
Women’s Fiction is many things, with many labels and definitions. For me, it’s a good story that appeals to women, written by both men and women. It can be serious, sad, funny, heartwarming or heartbreaking. Some have a HEA, while others do not. I read them all. I’ve recently read a few that romance readers might also love, and may even consider to be a tried and true romance.
Sophie Apperly's family has never taken her seriously. Fiercely academic, they see her more practical skills as frivolous whilst constantly taking advantage of her. So when her best friend Milly invites her over to New York, she jumps at the chance. It'll do her ungrateful family good to do without her for a while. What's more, she's on a quest America holds the key to solving her family's financial woes, even if they don't deserve her help.
