Sweet Salt Air

Our book for May was Sweet Salt Air, by Barbara Delinsky. I was lucky enough to win advance reader copies (ARC) for our group with the proviso that we post comments on Barbara Delinsky's
Facebook page (https://facebook.com/bdelinsky) or on our own personal Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and/or blogs. If you've read the book, and haven't already done so, please post comments somewhere. Thanks!

In Sweet Salt Air, Nicole and Charlotte are lifelong friends until a secret sends Charlotte away. Ten years later Nicole, who now has secrets of her own, invites Charlotte back into her life to collaborate on a summer project. Charlotte, lured by the island life she misses and feeling she owes Nicole, agrees. Will the bonds of friendship be strong enough to withstand past betrayals? The story takes place on an imaginary island off the coast of Maine. Delinsky does such a wonderful job describing Quinnipeague that it comes to life in much the same way a character would.

Themes of friendship, loyalty, betrayal, trust, honesty, fear of success, meaning of family, love, and so much more are in this easy-to-read novel. However, none of these themes are explored very deeply and the book reads like a Hallmark movie. (Making this a beach read? A piece of fluff? Not worth your time? You decide.) A big complaint was the number of typos found, but remember these are ARCs and the final product should be free of these issues.

I loved the romance story within the story as well as the "mystical" aspects of the garden. I couldn't put it down.

Here are some of the thoughts expressed by various members of our group:
*  "I thoroughly enjoyed it."
*  "If you read this book late at night, you promise yourself that you will only read a few more pages but you keep reading."
*  "Would love to believe that the treatment he received can help MS as I know several people with it."
*  Cecily's story & herb lore were interesting. Was the herbology true?
*  Recipes should have been included or an online addendum would have been nice
*  We all loved the cover!

Seven people attended the discussion and nine people rated the book. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being "I loved it" it scored 6.3.

Feel free to add your comments!