311 Pelican Court

Debbie Macomber is an author I have encountered in the distant past, but someone whose books are always around at the airport, so I grabbed one from the "Friends" shop at the public library when I was loading up on vacations reading options. This is the 3rd is a whole series of books set in Cedar Cove on the Kitsap peninsula of Washington state. There is a preceding list of characters and their relationships to one another. In this book we find the inter-twined stories of Olivia and Grace, two best friends since childhood, Grace's daughter, Maryellen who plans to be a single mother, Olivia's mother Charlotte who is taking up community causes in her old age, and the residents of Pelican Court, divorcing couple Zach and Rosie along with their children Allison and Eddie. There is a parallel storyline about the mysterious death of a man last winter at the local B & B, Thyme and Tide, who remains unidentified, but the main story is how Judge Olivia Lockheart's unusual awarding of the house to Allison and Eddie is going to play out. Well written if you don't mind jumping from one story line and set of characters to another every few pages. Pretty believable people populate this picturesque town, so they seem accessible, and Washingtonians will appreciate the locale descriptions.