Review

Sorrow Bailey longs to see the world, but feels it’s her duty to stay in Sierra Falls, California to help run her family’s lodge and tavern. The closest she gets to traveling is experiencing different countries through the exotic meals she prepares for herself as an escape. Sierra has a boyfriend, Damien Simmons, and while she knows it’s not love, her family adores him.

Billy Preston is a frequent patron of the family restaurant. Billy has left city life and the memories of his deceased wife to become the new sheriff of Sierra Falls. He loves his new town and new job, but is still haunted by his wife’s accident three years ago. Any time Sorrow and Billy’s paths cross, they feel a strong connection, but neither is looking for love.

Things start to change when Sorrow finds love letters from the 1850s written by her great-great-great grandmother Sorrow to a famous man in California history. Sorrow is fascinated by the letters and also starts spending more time with Billy. Sorrow has been experiencing nothing but bad luck, which she thinks is due to a family curse on the name “Sorrow” going back many generations. There have been more and more things going wrong at Big Bear Lodge and Sorrow, and her family, blames herself for many of these “accidents”. Could these letters from long ago, along with Billy’s love, turn her luck around?

The story of Sorrow and Billy falling in love is a sweet story. The letters Sorrow finds written by one of her ancestors ties into the lives of the current Sierra Falls residents. Sorrow at first sees the letters as a way to draw tourists to the town, but then begins to relate to her ancestor’s determination to survive as an unmarried mother out on her own. These letters seem to give Sorrow some needed courage to make important decisions in her life.

I generally liked this book, but found the way Sorrow was treated to be sad. Nobody supports Sorrow in her dreams of becoming a cook for the family restaurant or in seeing some of the world. Each of Sorrow’s family members, especially her mother and father, put their own needs first and blame Sorrow for anything that goes wrong with the lodge or restaurant. Her parents don’t like the idea of Sorrow breaking up with Damien, mostly because they want him available to help when things go wrong with the inn. As a result, Sorrow doesn’t have confidence in her own abilities, ideas, or feelings, and after a while she begins to get a chip on her shoulder and it gets a little tedious to read. In one case, her sister Laura who isn’t always the easiest person to get along with is actually trying to be nice, but Sorrow can’t see it.

However, the story does get better after Sorrow and Billy begin to admit their feelings for each other. While I like each character separately, Sorrow and Billy are both better when they are together. Sorrow credits Billy with being the first person to care solely about her happiness. Sorrow grows and becomes more likeable after she thrives under Billy’s encouragement to live her life the way she wants. Sorrow helps Billy move forward with his life as well after his wife’s tragic accident, so the relationship is good for both of them.

There is also a charming side-plot in the book that I really enjoyed. Marlene Jessup, a friend of Sorrow’s mom, and Tom “Sully” Sullivan, the cook for the Bailey family restaurant, are beginning a relationship. It is wonderful to see Marlene and Sully surprise the town and themselves with their growing feelings for each other. Both Marlene and Sorrow begin to learn that while devotion to family is wonderful, it’s important to move forward and live your own life. In some ways, the story of Marlene and Sully is more enjoyable than the main plot. While Marlene has to gain the courage to take that first step into a new romance, at least other people aren’t discouraging the relationship for selfish reasons. In spite of a few flaws, the book kept me interested in what would happen to the two couples, as well as what was really behind the incidents occurring at Big Bear Lodge. Readers who are missing Debbie Macomber’s Cedar Cove romances may enjoy Sierra Falls.