A review by tennisleo
Coming Home: The Chesapeake Diaries by Mariah Stewart

4.0

This book reminded me of a Nora Roberts type romance novel. A little mystery, a little romance, a little "mysterious past". Add in a damsel in distress and the formula is complete. This "damsel in distress" didn't appear to need too much rescuing though, which I enjoyed. The author made Vanessa a strong, independent character and used Grady as support rather than relying on him to move the plot along. I felt like Vanessa was the central character who happened to fall in love, rather than focusing the book only on the romance aspect of the story. From my experience working in a victim-oriented field, I also appreciated that the author portrayed Vanessa's victimization from her abusive ex-husband, as Vanessa talked to Grady about how she blamed herself because she didn't leave the relationship. Grady normalized this for her, and reassured her that she wasn't responsible. I'm interested enough in this author to read the other books in the series.