Seaview Inn » (~)

With her roots firmly planted in the South, Sherryl Woods has written many of her more than 100 books in that distinctive setting, whether her home state of Virginia, her adopted state, Florida, or her much-adored South Carolina. She's also especially partial to small towns, wherever they may be. A member of Novelists Inc., Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America, Sherryl divides her time between her childhood summer home overlooking the Potomac River in Colonial Beach, Virginia, and her oceanfront home, with its lighthouse view, in Key Biscayne, Florida.

Home is often where you least expect it

Hannah Matthews is undeniably tough--a single mom, a top-tier PR exec, a breast cancer survivor. On the job and in her family she prides herself on being go-to Hannah, who can handle any crisis. But with her 85-year-old grandmother balking at going into a retirement home, her 20-year-old daughter unexpectedly pregnant, and an old flame suddenly underfoot, Hannah is facing a few crises of her own. And being back home on Seaview Key is most definitely adding to the stress.

Luke Stevens has some serious issues, as well. While he was serving in Iraq, his wife dumped him for his best friend, his kids are furious because he left them, and he shared his medical practice with the man who's now sleeping with his wife. Seaview Key, where he grew up, seems like the perfect place to hide out until he makes some decisions and gets his life back on track. The last thing he expects is to fall in love...with his old hometown and with Hannah.

Sometimes, though, the unexpected is just what it takes to start over . . . and to heal the heart.

Booklist

Hannah survives her mastectomy but wonders if she can survive her family. A single mother and high powered New York public relations dynamo, she left tiny Seaview Key off the Florida coast after college and never looked back. Now she finds herself at the family inn trying to talk her 85-year-old grandmother into retiring after Hannah's mother's death from breast cancer. To make matters even more complicated, Hannah's 20-year-old daughter leaves college and joins her because she is pregnant. What's a woman do with such a mess? Why not take up with her high-school crush? Of course, Luke has his own problems. Injured in Iraq, he returns home to find that his wife has left him for his medical practice partner, and his young children treat him like a stranger. As Hannah and Luke learn to take each day one at a time as love and hope bloom, Woods imbues her characters with determination and humanity, deftly shedding light on real-life dramas.