The Goodbye Café by Mariah Stewart
Published by Gallery Books on March 26, 2019
Genres: Domestic Life, Fiction, Friendship, Women’s Fiction
Pages: 416
Format: ARC, eBook
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California girl Allie Hudson Monroe can’t wait for the day when the renovations on the Sugarhouse Theater are complete so she can finally collect the inheritance from her father and leave Pennsylvania. After all, her life and her fourteen-year-old daughter are in Los Angeles.
But Allie’s divorce left her tottering on the edge of bankruptcy, so to keep up on payments for her house and her daughter’s private school tuition, Allie packed up and flew out east. But fate has a curve-ball or two to toss in Allie’s direction—she just doesn’t know it yet.
She hadn’t anticipated how her life would change after reuniting with her estranged sister, Des, or meeting her previously unknown half-sister, Cara. And she’d certainly never expected to find small-town living charming. But the biggest surprise was that her long-forgotten artistry would save the day when the theater’s renovation fund dried up.
With opening day upon the sisters, Allie’s free to go. But for the first time in her life, she feels like the woman she was always meant to be. Will she return to the West Coast and resume her previous life, or will the love of her family be enough to draw her back to the place where the Hudson roots grow so deep?
I had the opportunity to read both of the first two weeks in the Hudson Sister Series written by author, Mariah Stewart, so when I saw the third book available on NetGalley for review, I signed right up and was happy when I was approved. Interestingly, I believe at the time, I read the second book first and then went back and read the first book. The first book to this series was The Last Chance Matinee (see review HERE). The second book to the series was The Sugarhouse Blues (see review HERE).
Today’s post is about the third book, The Goodbye Café, which is the t’s the continuation of the story of three sisters who only found each other after their father died. As readers learn in the first two books (and are reminded here), their father’s will stipulated that they must live together in the town of Hidden Falls, Pennsylvania and restore the old Sugarhouse theater there.
This book is primarily about sister, Allie Hudson Monroe, who is a divorced mother of a 14-year old daughter, Nicole. She’s lost her job in Los Angeles and she’s financially struggling, which is why she agrees to comply with her late father’s stipulations to receiving her inheritance.
Allie’s got her own issues – drinking is one of them but she’s not ready to look at that. She has a lousy relationship with her ex too, and these things make her a bit salty and abrasive, especially when it comes to Police Chief Ben Haldeman. I didn’t think Allie wasn’t very likable when she arrived in Hidden Falls, but like the others, she begins to change and grow.
When the Goodbye Café becomes a major factor in her life, she learns more about herself and begins to trust and believe in herself. Allie is a victim when she arrives, but turns out to be a survivor. Allie’s character was very well crafted and she had a lot of dimension. Her relationship with Ben transitioned at a very slow speed, which was the perfect pace for that relationship. The family dynamics involving Allie’s sisters and aunt were perfectly added as well.
I was thinking that this might be the last book in the series, but it seemed like readers were given a lifeline at the end for at least one more book!!! I know I’ll be waiting for it, because this is a wonderful series and this story line is exceptional.
You can read an excerpt of Chapter 1 of The Goodbye Café right HERE!
Mariah Stewart is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of twenty-six novels and three novellas and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal. She is a RITA finalist in romantic suspense and the recipient of the Award of Excellence for contemporary romance, a RIO Award for excellence in women’s fiction, and a Reviewers Choice Award from Romantic Times Magazine. A three-time winner of the Golden Leaf Award presented by the New Jersey Romance Writers, Stewart was recently awarded their Lifetime Achievement Award (which placed her in their Hall of Fame along with former recipients Nora Roberts and Mary Jo Putney — very excellent company, indeed!) After having written seven contemporary romance novels, Stewart found true happiness writing murder and mayhem. She considers herself one lucky son of a gun to have landed the best job in the world: getting paid for making up stories. At home. In sweats and J. Crew flip flops. Could life be sweeter?
A native of Hightstown, NJ, Stewart is a member of Novelists, Inc, Thriller Writers International, Sisters in Crime, PASIC, the Romance Writers of America, the New Jersey Romance Writers, the Valley Forge Romance Writers, and the Washington Romance Writers. She lives with her husband and their two dogs — a geriatric golden retriever and a rambunctious rescue retriever mix — amidst the rolling hills of Chester County, PA where she savors country life, tends her gardens, and tries to avoid running the Amish buggies off the road with her SUV.
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I received an advanced readers digital copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to provide a positive review, but I did because the book was great!! Thank you NetGalley!
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