The Cottage on Rose Lane

Author: Hope Ramsay
Release Date: 12/4/2018

Let me start by saying that I am a huge fan of Hope Ramsay and I once had one of her books as my star reads.  So imagine my surprise when I heard that she was starting a new series. I rushed at the chance to get my hands on anything Hope related, but……. Yeah……I did not enjoy this story very much. 😔

As I stated before, this is a new series and the first installment is about Jenna, lonely woman who just inherited a huge chunk of money, and Jude, a sailor with a heart of gold who just wants to keep his culture and family land relevant.  Jenna has come to town to meet her long lost relatives when she eyes Jude in all of his sailor glory.  She boldly approaches him and ask for sailing lessons.  Completely thrown by this request, Jude reluctantly agrees and this pushes the story into motion.  The one interesting thing that I found out about this story is the race dynamic and the rich culture.  Jenna is a white woman while Jude is bi-racial with a white mother.  Jude has trouble trusting Jenna because his mother walked out on the family when he was a young boy. Their relationship begins to blossom during sailing lessons and I was there for it. The one major element of this book is Jenna meeting her long lost aunt and uncle, but she wants to do it anonymously.  Jenna really sticks out like a sore thumb because one, she is a buddhist and two, she is a tourist that attends town meetings. Weird, right? Just like any small town, there is gossip, tight knit families and old ghost stories to give this town its charm.

This was a different type of read for me because it was about sailing.  Obviously the author did her research for this book, but I was completely lost and she really went into detail about sailing.  It pulled me out of the story and I did not connect with Jenna as a character.  She was hell bent on her mission and I appreciated her determination, but some of her decisions made no sense. Jude was the good part about this book. His character had heart and he wanted to save his heritage and his family business.  This aspect of the book was heartwarming and the family dynamic was a nice touch to an otherwise boring story.

Surprisingly, I was not a huge fan of this story and it was missing that chemistry and intensity that Hope Ramsay usually brings. If you like sailing, pick it up. Grab your book and have at it.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐