Review & Giveaway: Return to Gray Harbor by J.J. Bryant

Return to Gray Harbor

by J.J. Bryant

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GENRE: Contemporary Romance

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BLURB:

Michael Malone has everything a man could want: money, success, looks, even an apartment in New York City. He had never planned on going back to Gray Harbor, but his mother needed him. And there was no way he would ever stay in Maine. At least that’s how he felt before Beth Adams. The talented chef is nothing like what he thought he needed, but now she’s all he can think about.

Then trouble at work pulls him back to the city and back into the life he worked so hard to build. And while it no longer seems to be everything Michael wants anymore, he can’t simply leave everything he knows behind. Or can he?

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My Review:

It's an entertaining and relaxing read, it had me hooked from the first page.

Michael wants to escape from Maine and from the pretensions of his family. He doesn't  want to work with his father and is tired of being compared to Jess, his brother died. He decides to enroll at the University of New York even if it means giving up his family: his father no longer wants to see him. Despite the many difficulties he can make it, studies and finds a great place to work. But when he learns that his father is sick and his family needs him he must go home. He returns to the calm and tranquility of Gray Harbor as a mature man, no longer the naive boy who left his family at the age of eighteen. But he also realizes how much he has missed his family, parents, brothers and sisters. Then he meets Beth and does not know  more if his place is in Maine or in New York

This book was beautifully written and the characters had so much depth that you felt as though you knew them. The story is well plotted, the writing is smooth, and the pages fly by effortlessly. Very pleasant even Gray Harbor, an ideal city  for a pleasant holiday.
It's a romantic  and positive story of a family, with its problems, its joys and its sorrows, but despite all the difficulties and misunderstandings they are always very close.
If you like romantic contemporary books this is one to add to your list.

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EXCERPT:

The morning sky was glowing pink and the air smelled of salt. The low humming of Michael Malone’s rental car seemed a little out of place as he pulled up the dirt road to a ramshackle house that looked like it was badly in need of repair. The Penobscot area was now known as one of Maine’s most picturesque escapes. He stepped out of the shiny black Mustang coupe in a two-piece suit and necktie. They weren’t Armani, but you could tell they were expensive despite the understated look. He halted in front of the faded red door of the sea-worn Cape Cod home.

“What happened to this place?” he mumbled as he stared at the worn shingles that were left clinging to the home. Definitely not picturesque, that’s for sure, he thought. The cedar shingles were either missing or faded and worn beyond the usual salt grey that New England homes had become known for. It had been thirteen years since he’d been back home. It felt like forever and just yesterday all at once.

He was home. His skin prickled with goose bumps and a sense of uneasiness spread through him. Instinct screamed at him to head back to the car and get as far away from Gray Harbor as soon as possible. But he had to be there for her, for all of them.

He had seen his mother and siblings periodically since his impassioned vow almost thirteen years ago never to return, but he had kept true to his words until now.

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AUTHOR Bio and Links:

After spending years working in the fast-paced business world, author J.J. Bryant is happy to be living her dream of writing romance. She has her MBA and you may see her bring a little of that experience into the lives of her characters. J.J. Bryant grew up in New England and loves hiking and biking with her family and her miniature schnauzer puppy.

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www.jjbryantbooks.com

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GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

J.J. Bryant will be awarding a $20 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

a Rafflecopter giveaway