What do you do if you’re ready for a vacation, but can’t afford to take one? My solution is to pick up a book by award-winning Christian author,
Robin Jones Gunn. Each of the books in her much-loved “
Sisterchicks” series was a mini-vacation in itself, and her newest title,
Canary Island Song (Howard Books; July 5, 2011), has that same romantic, escape-from-the-world feel.
When Carolyn’s grown daughter tells her she needs to “get a life,” Carolyn decides it’s time to step out of her familiar routine as a single woman in San Francisco and escape to her mother’s home in the Canary Islands. Since Carolyn’s mother is celebrating her seventieth birthday, the timing of Carolyn’s visit makes for a perfect surprise.
The surprise, however, is on Carolyn when she sees Bryan Spencer, her high school summer love. It has been seven years since Carolyn lost her husband, but ever since that tragic day, her life has grown smaller and closed in. The time has come for Carolyn to get her heart back. It takes the gentle affection of her mother and aunts, as well as the ministering beauty and song of the islands, to draw Carolyn into the fullness of life. She is nudged along by a Flamenco dance lesson, a defining camel ride, and the steady gaze of Bryan’s intense blue-gray eyes.
Is it too late for Carolyn to trust Bryan? Can Carolyn believe that Bryan has turned into something more than the wild beach boy who stole her kisses so many years ago on a balmy Canary night?
Carolyn is reminded that Christopher Columbus set sail from the Canary Islands in 1492 on his voyage to discover the New World. Is she ready to set sail from these same islands to discover her new life?
One of the nice features of Canary Island Song is that unlike many other contemporary romances, Gunn’s lead character is not a twenty-something searching for her first love. Carolyn is a middle-aged widow struggling to start over, with all the normal baggage that comes with age. Also, this story is so well-researched and descriptive that you can almost feel the ocean breezes and taste the local cuisine as you read.
I can’t wait to read Canary Island Song’s companion book, Under a Maui Moon (Howard Books, July 2010). I think I deserve another vacation.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from Howard Books for the purpose of review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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