Blog Tour Book Review: Three Sisters by Susan Mallery

Three Sisters
Author: Susan Mallery
Publication: Harlequin MIRA; Original edition (February 26, 2013)

Description: New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery's prose has been called "gritty and magical" and "luscious and provocative" (Publishers Weekly). Now she returns to Blackberry Island with the story of three women whose friendship will change their lives forever.

After Andi Gordon is jilted at the altar, she makes the most impetuous decision of her life—buying one of the famed Three Sisters Queen Anne houses on Blackberry Island. Now the proud-ish owner of the ugly duckling of the trio, she plans to open her own pediatric office on the first floor, just as soon as her hunky contractor completes the work. Andi's new future may be coming together, but the truth is she's just as badly in need of a major renovation as her house.

When Deanna Phillips confronts her husband about a suspected affair, she opens up a Pandora's box of unhappiness. And he claims that she is the problem. The terrible thing is, he's right. In her quest to be the perfect woman, she's lost herself, and she's in danger of losing her entire family if things don't change.

Next door, artist Boston King thought she and her college sweetheart would be married forever. Their passion for one another has always seemed indestructible. But after tragedy tears them apart, she's not so sure. Now it's time for them to move forward, with or without one another.

Thrown together by fate and geography, and bound by the strongest of friendships, these three women will discover what they're really made of: laughter, tears, love and all.

My Thoughts: This book was a very engaging page-turner for me. I stayed up way too late because I couldn't quit reading until I knew how everything was going to work out.

Andi Gordon is jilted at the altar by a guy she had a relationship with for ten years. She decides to give her life a fresh start. She moves to Blackberry Island, buys a very run-down Victorian, and is having it remodeled to start her pediatric medical practice. After her previous fiancé's behavior, she has decided to give up on love. But one of the contractors—Wade King— with his sense of humor and sexy body, could change her mind.

Her neighbors in the other two Victorians on the top of the hill are Boston King and Deanna Price. Boston and her husband Zeke are having marriage issues because they lost their six month old baby to sudden heart failure and both are so lost in grief that they have lost each other too. Boston is an artist but all she can draw right now are black and white images of her baby son Liam.

Deanna Price is going through marriage troubles too. Her OCD and her need to have complete control of her life have gotten so severe that she has damaged her relationship with her husband and her five young daughters. 

The stories of these three women and the men in their lives are intertwined in this poignant and funny story of love and friendship and loss and recovery. While I have never had any of the issues that the three women face, I could easily identify with and empathize with each one of them. My favorite character was Andi though. I liked her impulsiveness and her willingness to take a risk on love. I liked that she had learned to cope with never meeting her parent's high expectations for her. 

Engaging characters and compelling story lines give readers lots to think about. The book club questions in the end would lead to some very interesting discussions. I recommend this one highly. 

Favorite Quote:

Late that afternoon, Andi drove to her house, determined to erase memories from her emotional meltdown the day before. She was going to be mature, professional, and poised. If that didn't work, she would deny her previous meeting with Wade had ever occurred. As far as she was concerned, denial was a perfectly sound coping device. 

I received this ARC from BookTrib because I am on the blog tour. You can buy your copy here. You can also check out the other tour stops by visiting this link.