The Family Gathering by Robyn Carr
Published by Mira Books on April 17, 2018
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Pages: 352
Format: ARC, Hardcover
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An exceptional storyteller, #1 New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr beautifully captures the emotionally charged, complex dynamics that come with being part of any family. Readers will laugh and shed a few tears as they discover what it means to be loved, supported and accepted by the people who mean the most.
Having left the military, Dakota Jones is at a crossroads in his life. With his elder brother and youngest sister happily settled in Sullivan’s Crossing, he shows up hoping to clear his head before moving on to his next adventure. But, like every visitor to the Crossing, he’s immediately drawn to the down-to-earth people and the seemingly simple way of life.
Dakota is unprepared for how quickly things get complicated. As a newcomer, he is on everyone’s radar—especially the single women in town. While he enjoys the attention at first, he’s really only attracted to the one woman who isn’t interested. And spending quality time with his siblings is eye-opening. As he gets to know them, he also gets to know himself and what he truly wants.
When all the Jones siblings gather for a family wedding, the four adults are drawn together for the first time in a way they never were as children. As they struggle to accept each other, warts and all, the true nature and strength of their bond is tested. But all of them come to realize that your family are the people who see you for who you really are and love you anyway. And for Dakota, that truth allows him to find the home and family he’s always wanted.
I was recently surfing around looking at new release books and I came across today’s book, The Family Gathering by Robyn Carr. I read the book’s synopsis (aka “back cover”), read a few book reviews, and decided I needed to read this book.
Unfortunately for me, The Family Gathering by Robyn Carr is the third book in her small-town contemporary romance series, Sullivan’s Crossing. While others had assured me that each of the books in this series would serve as a standalone because Carr does a great job of filling in the backstory. (I didn’t even notice that it was the third book in a series to be honest.)
This book’s story revolves around Dakota (“Cody”) Jones, who is the brother of Cal and Sierra. Cody was the sibling who left home as soon as he became of age and had never returned before. Having recently been discharged from service as an Army Ranger he comes for a visit with his siblings with no intention on staying. Cody realizes that by reconnecting with his family, he begins to think about planting roots. He starts developing bonds with his family and he starts to get to know people in the community (including some women who want to be more than his friend). he develops routines and gets a job. He becomes interested in Sidney, a relationship-shy female bartender who is helping her brother’s business.
The story line of The Family Gathering deals with a lot of real issues like mental illness, blended families, divorce, stalking, adoption and death to name a few. The story also shares “real life” characters any one of whom could be any neighbor of mine. I loved how the author weaves in other subplots involving other characters in the story to keep everything interesting. The Family Gathering is a really quick read because it flows so well. Readers didn’t get stuck in a corny “romance only” kind of book as the author kept the heavy family issues and life complications coming to keep readers engaged. Thank you Ms. Carr for your excellent storytelling – you reeled me in and made me totally invested in the characters in this book. I feel like I’ve taken a short vacation to this little town called Sullivan’s Crossing, hung out with its community and made some new friends!!
Robyn Carr was a young mother of two in the mid-1970s when she started writing fiction, an Air Force wife, educated as a nurse, whose husband’s frequent assignment changes made it difficult for her to work in her profession. Little did the aspiring novelist know then, as she wrote with babies on her lap, that she would become one of the world’s most popular authors of romance and women’s fiction, that 11 of her novels would earn the #1 berth on the New York Times bestselling books list.
Robyn and her now-retired husband enjoy traveling, often taking research trips together. Their children are grown—her son is an Army surgeon; her daughter, a police detective/hostage negotiator. Robyn says that, in addition to reading her novels and making snide remarks about how she’s used family scenarios to her advantage, they have made her a happy grandmother.
I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book from Little Bird Publicity as part of their blog tour. I was also provided with an advanced digital readers copy of the book by way of NetGalley. I want to thank everyone for planting the seed of Robyn Carr’s books because now I’m going to play catch up and read the first two books in this series and maybe pick up one of her others!!
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