Review~*~ ARC of The Homecoming by JoAnn Ross

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Signet (July 6, 2010) (ARC copy received from author JoAnn Ross)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0451230671
ISBN-13: 978-0451230676

The lovely author asked if I wanted to receive a copy of her latest novel The Homecoming: A Shelter Bay Novel. I jumped at the opportunity since I really enjoy reading her books. I'm so glad that I did. It was a novel that has many interwoven story lines that will stay with me for a long time. The Homecoming is one of my new favourite novels. I would love to live in Shelter Bay!

Shelter Bay is a great little coastal town in Oregon. The main characters are Kara Conway and Sax Douchett. They are childhood friends who both left Shelter Bay for different reasons. Sax travelled the world as a SEAL and Kara as a military wife to Jared Conway (Jared was Sax's older brother's best friend). Kara comes home to Shelter Bay as a widow to take over her father's roles as town sheriff. Sax is now a retired SEAL wanting to return to his loving family.

The story revolves around Sax who has always love Kara and Kara realizing that she has fallen for Sax as well. It is a romance that is slow, loving and tender. Sax, knows he has his work cut out for him but he finds many ways to get into Kara's heart. He also gets to know her son and loves her son as well. He is steady and dependable which are characters that I love in men.

All the secondary characters are characters that you want as your friends. Characters that are so well written you can relate to them and their troubles. Kara and her mother, Faith, have a typical mother daughter relationship that is bumpy but both want to change it. John, Kara's deputy is the strong and helpful older man that can always be counted on. Sax's family is very colourful which includes his parents, grandparents and his older brother Cole. Trey, Kara and Jared's son, is a young man that is full of life and questions.

The novel also had mystery elements that I won't give away the plot lines but let me tell you I never would have dreamed of the final outcome. I loved the fact that the novel was not just a typical romance novel but one about family, mystery, relationships and growing as people. It was a novel that had me thinking about the interpersonal relationships and the dynamics of the relationships when I was not reading the novel. I know its a good book when I'm dreaming and thinking about it all the time.

It read like poetry with just enough description of the characters, scenery and action that made you feel like you were a character in the novel. I liked the fact that Kara was the town sheriff and that she was a strong independent woman who stood firm in what she wanted and was the best mother she could be. Her mother, as a neurosurgeon, was also a strong and independent woman who realizes that she needs to change some of her ways to become an even better mother, grandmother and friend. Both women as new widows have a lot of changing to do and Ross dealt with the changes beautifully. As a daughter of a mother who is also a new widow I know firsthand how hard it can be.

I will now eagerly await the next Shelter Bay novel with impatience! I give this book a very strong 5 out 5 babies because it will definitely be a book that I will turn to over and over again.

I want to thank JoAnn Ross again for the opportunity to read her novel before it is released. I loved this book~!