By Lisa Kleypas
St. Martin’s Griffin, $14.99, 355 pages, 4 stars
Dream Lake by Lisa Kleypas is a heartwarming tale about understanding true love. The two main characters are Zoe, a wonderful cook at the local inn she and her cousin run, and Alex, the local carpenter who doesn’t believe in love or marriage. What starts as a relationship of necessity slowly grows into more, but Alex is very reluctant to give in to the concept of love. There is another character that is prominent throughout the book, a ghost, whose name turns out to be Tom. Tom is one of the things this reviewer enjoyed most about this book. It was unexpected that the story started from a ghost’s point of view. However, Kleypas weaves Tom’s story with a sense of mystery and urgency.
“That wasn’t honesty. It was cowardice. I should have married her. I should have made sure that no matter what happened, she would have always known that she meant more to me than anything else in the world.”
This reviewer enjoyed the characters’ development and dynamics; truly, the characters tell this story, and they pull at your heartstrings in the process. The romance between the two characters is just the tip of the iceberg in this book. The author explores love in many forms from parental relationships, or the lack thereof, to a granddaughter’s love of her grandmother, and the lost loves of one’s past. Anyone who enjoys romance or women’s literature would enjoy this novel.
Reviewed by Jina Oravetz
[amazon asin=1250008298&text=Buy On Amazon][amazon asin=1250008298&text=Buy On Amazon&template=carousel]