Seaview Inn (Wheeler Large Print Book Series)
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Consumer Rating: 
By: Sherryl Woods
Format: Hardcover
From: Wheeler Publishing
Pub. Date: 4th June 2008
From: Wheeler Publishing
Pub. Date: 4th June 2008
Product Details:
Catalog: Book
Release Date: 2008-06-04
Media: Hardcover
Format: Large Print
Number Of Pages: 549
Ean: 9781597227643
Isbn: 1597227641
Catalog: Book
Release Date: 2008-06-04
Media: Hardcover
Format: Large Print
Number Of Pages: 549
Ean: 9781597227643
Isbn: 1597227641
ABOUT THE BOOK
EDITORIAL REVIEW
Hannah Matthews is undeniably tough—a single mom, a top-tier PR exec, a breast cancer survivor. On the job and in her family she prides herself on being go-to Hannah, who can handle any crisis. But with her eighty-five-year-old grandmother balking at going into a retirement home, her twenty-year-old daughter unexpectedly pregnant and an old flame suddenly underfoot, Hannah is facing a few crises of her own. And being back home on Seaview Key is most definitely adding to the stress.
Luke Stevens has some serious issues, as well. While he was serving in Iraq, his wife dumped him for his best friend, his kids are furious because he left them, and he shared his medical practice with the man who's now sleeping with his wife. Seaview Key, where he grew up, seems like the perfect place to hide out until he makes some decisions and gets his life back on track. The last thing he expects is to fall in love …with his old hometown and with Hannah.
Sometimes, though, the unexpected is just what it takes to start over…and to heal the heart.
Luke Stevens has some serious issues, as well. While he was serving in Iraq, his wife dumped him for his best friend, his kids are furious because he left them, and he shared his medical practice with the man who's now sleeping with his wife. Seaview Key, where he grew up, seems like the perfect place to hide out until he makes some decisions and gets his life back on track. The last thing he expects is to fall in love …with his old hometown and with Hannah.
Sometimes, though, the unexpected is just what it takes to start over…and to heal the heart.
USER REVIEWS
"Ms. Woods does an outstanding job in dealing with issues surrounding breast cancer, not only in how she shows how Hanna deals with the loss of her mother to this savage disease, but also in how Hanna personally battles it. I speak with some authority having witnessed my wife survive a particularly deadly version of breast cancer. Many kudos for this!
Also well done are the issues faced by wounded members of our military as they return and try to pick up the lives they left behind. Although this is not a major theme, it is well addressed throughout the book. Kudos!
She also expertly illustrates the multiple issues involved when couples find it necessary to divorce when children are involved. The multi generational repercussions are varied and deeply felt. I particularly loved the opening of the scene where Hanna finally is reunited with her father after decades of no contact. It brought tears to my eyes. However, for me, Ms. Woods dropped the ball when she allowed the scene to deteriorate from the very positive, upbeat opening to a much less positive conclusion. After such an upbeat beginning to her reunion with her father, I had a hard time understanding why Hanna suddenly turned negative and fled, at the same time refusing to meet with her step brother who was waiting in the wings and to meet her. Not realistic!
I also believe that, since the subject was on the table, the issues Hanna and her father had with Hanna's step mother and how these issues were resolved would have added much to the story line. As it is, much was made of the potential antagonism between the step mother and Hanna's side of the family, but only a sentence or two were used in its resolution. Ms. Woods also failed to show how Hanna and her father resolved the feelings of rejection Hanna had experienced over many years. Not good!
I did not buy the way Ms. Woods justified Luke's unilateral decision to abandon his medical practice, his wife, and his young children to volunteer for military duty as an orthopedic surgeon in Iraq. She tried to show Luke as a hero for this supposedly unselfish act. That did not work for me. What real hero would make such an important decision without discussing it first with his business partner, his wife, and his children, all of whom would be impacted greatly by that decision? This part of the storyline reveals no heroism. It shows lack of consideration, self-centeredness and selfishness, all traits no hero character should possess. How much better the story would have evolved if Luke's detour to Iraq had been the result of something like a recall to active duty over which Luke had no control. As this issue was one of the major subjects addressed in the story, I find its handling to be a significant detraction to the book. Not good!
Finally, the prospect was raised for Hanna to explore writing children's books as a possible replacement vocation for a job in New York. Why bring this possibility up if it was not to be pursued? Although it was the perfect solution to a major road block in Hanna's life, this issue was dropped as if a publication word limit had been reach without sufficient time to make any adjustments.
Bottom line: Seaview Inn is an outstanding, well written, intriguing story. However, like a batch of chocolate chip cookies where a few chocolate chips have been replaced with doggie do, the resulting product is ruined. Three Stars!
"
~ Written on 2009-08-27
Also well done are the issues faced by wounded members of our military as they return and try to pick up the lives they left behind. Although this is not a major theme, it is well addressed throughout the book. Kudos!
She also expertly illustrates the multiple issues involved when couples find it necessary to divorce when children are involved. The multi generational repercussions are varied and deeply felt. I particularly loved the opening of the scene where Hanna finally is reunited with her father after decades of no contact. It brought tears to my eyes. However, for me, Ms. Woods dropped the ball when she allowed the scene to deteriorate from the very positive, upbeat opening to a much less positive conclusion. After such an upbeat beginning to her reunion with her father, I had a hard time understanding why Hanna suddenly turned negative and fled, at the same time refusing to meet with her step brother who was waiting in the wings and to meet her. Not realistic!
I also believe that, since the subject was on the table, the issues Hanna and her father had with Hanna's step mother and how these issues were resolved would have added much to the story line. As it is, much was made of the potential antagonism between the step mother and Hanna's side of the family, but only a sentence or two were used in its resolution. Ms. Woods also failed to show how Hanna and her father resolved the feelings of rejection Hanna had experienced over many years. Not good!
I did not buy the way Ms. Woods justified Luke's unilateral decision to abandon his medical practice, his wife, and his young children to volunteer for military duty as an orthopedic surgeon in Iraq. She tried to show Luke as a hero for this supposedly unselfish act. That did not work for me. What real hero would make such an important decision without discussing it first with his business partner, his wife, and his children, all of whom would be impacted greatly by that decision? This part of the storyline reveals no heroism. It shows lack of consideration, self-centeredness and selfishness, all traits no hero character should possess. How much better the story would have evolved if Luke's detour to Iraq had been the result of something like a recall to active duty over which Luke had no control. As this issue was one of the major subjects addressed in the story, I find its handling to be a significant detraction to the book. Not good!
Finally, the prospect was raised for Hanna to explore writing children's books as a possible replacement vocation for a job in New York. Why bring this possibility up if it was not to be pursued? Although it was the perfect solution to a major road block in Hanna's life, this issue was dropped as if a publication word limit had been reach without sufficient time to make any adjustments.
Bottom line: Seaview Inn is an outstanding, well written, intriguing story. However, like a batch of chocolate chip cookies where a few chocolate chips have been replaced with doggie do, the resulting product is ruined. Three Stars!
"
~ Written on 2009-08-27
"Wonderful story of a woman's journey toward finding happiness. As the complications pile up, Hannah must inspect the goals she has set for achieving success and finding true happiness and make some adjustments. Good insight into her process of introspection and self evaluation. Another winner!"
~ Written on 2009-08-05
~ Written on 2009-08-05
"I'm pretty picky about what I read, but after reading my first book by this author, Mending Fences, I was hungry for more of her. This is a great summer read, characters you can like and relate to. Became a great fan of the heroine, which is a must for me to finish a book. "
~ Written on 2008-10-05
~ Written on 2008-10-05
"Very pleased with the condition of this book. Will continue to order again, in fact I did. Haven't had much time to read the book itself yet. Get about 5 pages into each each night and then "klunk", my head hits the pillow."
~ Written on 2008-08-27
~ Written on 2008-08-27
"Breast cancer-survivor Hannah Matthews is back in her Florida Keys hometown to convince her aging grandmother that she needs to sell the family inn and move to a retirement community. But her grandma Jenny instead goes on a campaign to get Hannah to fall in love with the home she fled years earlier. Also back on Seaview Key is Orthopedic Surgeon and Desert Storm veteran Luke Stevens, who returned from service injured, only to find that his wife has left him for his partner. Hannah suddenly finds herself assisting Jenny in getting the inn ready for guests, and is shocked to discover that her grandmother has elicited assistance from Luke, the object of her teenage crush. As Luke tentatively reclaims his family with the assistance of Hannah, the two explore their feelings for each other, but Hannah is not ready to give her heart away, while her cancer is in remission.
Woods latest series set in the tiny hamlet of Seaview Key is an enchanting story of second chances. With a secondary romance between Hannah's pregnant daughter Kelsey and her college sweetheart, the story has plenty of heart and packs an emotional wallop as Hannah learns to trust again, as well as share her fears and feelings with Luke."
~ Written on 2008-06-06
Woods latest series set in the tiny hamlet of Seaview Key is an enchanting story of second chances. With a secondary romance between Hannah's pregnant daughter Kelsey and her college sweetheart, the story has plenty of heart and packs an emotional wallop as Hannah learns to trust again, as well as share her fears and feelings with Luke."
~ Written on 2008-06-06