Picture This by Jacqueline Sheehan
Publisher: William Morrow Publishers
Pages: 304
Format: eARC
Buy the Book: Amazon
Goodreads: Peaks Island, Maine vibrates with its own special magic, a unique flow to life that knits together the small community that calls it home. The people, the animals, and even the houses have a charm and personality all their own. Just ask Rocky Pelligrino. Devastated by her husband Bob’s sudden death, she found hope thanks to a relentlessly loyal black Lab namedCooper. Warm friends and a new job—as the island’s Animal Control Warden—have helped Rocky chart a course toward a promising future. She’s even ready to try at love again with Hill, the gentle and patient archery instructor. And there is an old house haunted by lost love and forgotten secrets that speaks to her soul.
But a phone call from a troubled young woman looking for her biological father shakes Rocky’s newfound joy. Could this young girl hold a tendril of the man who was the love of her life? Or could the girl’s appearance throw Rocky’s world into chaos . . . and shatter her heart again?
Kritters Thoughts: A widow who feels like she has lost everything when her husband passes away and an 18 year-old girl who is trying to become a woman even though she had very little guidance growing up in the foster care system are the two main characters in this book. BUT this book is full of side bar characters, chocked full to the point of almost confusing.
I enjoyed the heart of the story, the moments when the story centered on Rocky or Natalie, but there was so much beyond it that weighed the whole novel down. There were many times were I was lost and confused with the connections between the characters and where it was all going to go. The confusion wasn't the happy kind of confusion. The end was satisfying, but it took quite a few hurdles to get to the conclusion.
A little slow and long, but the premise of the story can keep a reader sucked in until the last page.
Rating: enjoyable, but didn't leave me wanting more
Ebook Challenge 2012: 28 out of 25
April-June Challenge 2012: Dog Days of Summer
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book Tours. I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Tour Stops:
Tuesday, May 22nd: Silver & Grace
Thursday, May 24th: Iwriteinbooks’ blog
Monday, May 28th: Hospitable Pursuits
Wednesday, May 30th: Chocolate & Croissants
Tuesday, June 5th: Just Joanna
Wednesday, June 6th: Jenny Loves to Read
Friday, June 8th: Kritters Ramblings
Tuesday, June 12th: Peppermint PhD
Tuesday, June 12th: BookNAround
Wednesday, June 13th: Peeking Between the Pages
Thursday, June 14th: My Bookshelf
I'm glad that you enjoyed this one in spite of the minor issues you had with it. Thanks for being on the tour!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your honest thoughts! I'm glad that this one was okay, but it's a shame that it wasn't better for you. I really love your blog!
ReplyDeleteNew to your blog!
Steph @ Stepping Out of the Page
I too enjoyed "the heart" of the story...once we finally got to it :( but it was definitely slow and could be confusing for way too long. If I hadn't had an outside investment (reading for the tour and wanting to see what was going to happen to characters I cared about from Lost and Found), I might have even put this one down. Sheehan just let us fumble around too long. But, I still liked it. Great review! And I LOVE your shoe ratings :):)
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