REVIEW: THE SEASON OF SILVER LININGS, BY CHRISTINE NOLFI

 

When Ohio pastry chef Jada Brooks and her two best friends restored the glorious Wayfair Inn, it was a boon to Sweet Lake—and to their own lives. Now Linnie and Cat are focused on private matters: one engaged, the other swept up in newlywed bliss. Jada has also begun looking to the future by dating widower Philip Kettering and forging a sudden, sweet bond with his six-year-old daughter.

But the past isn’t finished with Jada. When a curious guest checks into the Wayfair, her delving questions stir Jada’s guilt about the heartbreaking events that scarred the town seven years ago. The risks Jada must take by revealing the truth will test every assumption she’s made about the meaning of family and the magic of enduring love.

 

My Thoughts: Set in Sweet Lake, Ohio, The Season of Silver Linings is the third outing for this series about the Wayfair Inn, and the friends whose lives connect there.

April will be Linnie’s wedding to Daniel Kettering, and her best friends Jada and Cat are helping out with preparations, while handling most of the business of the inn.

This story primarily features Jada and her budding relationship with Philip Kettering, whose adorable daughter Fancy has captured her heart. Jada and Philip have known each other for several years, but only recently has their friendship started to grow and change. Fancy is at the heart of these changes.

The Sweet Lake Sirens, a group of older, somewhat eccentric women, are a constant presence in the inn and the town, and just when you think they are involved elsewhere, they pop up, like busy bees you would like to swat. But then they do something sweet and kind, and you are reminded of how much you really love them.

An unusual guest who arrives at a very hectic time turns out to have secrets from the past…and many questions for Jada. Can Jada uncover the woman’s secret agenda? When she realizes how her own past connects to the guest’s, she will have a dilemma. What will she do?

A story that takes us into the dark past and a deep sadness, it also reveals the many layers of those who live and work in Sweet Lake. Happiness might lie at the end of this journey…but what will need to happen first? A five star read.

***