Customer Reviews

Almost Home (Chesapeake Diaries, Book 3)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
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In St. Dennis, Steffie Wyler has been in love with Wade McGregor since they were small children. In fact her life goals were to make ice cream and marry Wade. However, once he left town for college and never came back she settled on one out of two. Thus she owns One Scoop or Two ice cream parlor.

Co-owner of KenneMac microbrewery in Texas, Wade comes home to attend the wedding of Beck and Mia. Steffie and Wade spend a romantic interlude (a lot of coupling happened at that wedding), which revises her dreams, but he abruptly leaves for Texas. Nine months later, Wade's best friend Robin is dead and with him is a toddler as he returns to St. Dennis; the company closed. Steffie assumes he is passing through, but though he wants the best for little Austin, he also delays his trip to his new job in Connecticut as he decides to pursue Steffie to see if the sparks he always felt are the real thing.

The third Chesapeake Diaries home sweet home tale (see Coming Home and Home Again) is an engaging warm contemporary romance with several family related twists. The characters drive the story line as Steffie reacts to Wade's return with a son as strike three while he tries to make amends. Sub-genre fans will enjoy the latest visit to Maryland's Chesapeake Bay.

Harriet Klausner

I often read reviews, but I rarely take the time to post my own impression of a book. I love reading, but I do not enjoy writing. I made an exception for Mariah Stewart's Almost Home. I really could not put this book down. I love the characters of Wade and Steffie, and I had been anxiously awaiting this release. Almost Home is definitely my favorite of the Cheasapeake Series, although I have enjoyed the entire series. I am a long time fan of Mariah Stewart, and I love the FBI Series, the Mercy Street Series, as well as the earlier standalone contemporaries. I will not recap the plot, as that as been done much better than I could do, but I will say that although I usually prefer suspense, these Chesapeake novels have completely entertained me. Well done!

I was so happy to find another St. Dennis story. This is a great series with wonderful characters and a setting that makes a person want to move there. Can't wait for the next book.

Who hasn't imagined falling in love with the man you've dreamed about since you were young. Hoping for the perfect day for him to realize that you are his dream girl and falls head over heels in love with you?

Steffie Wyler, owner of One Scoop or Two, the best place for ice cream in the tourist town of St. Dennis, imagines that with every encounter she has had with Wade MacGregor. Only when she invited him as her prom date, his excuse was simply he respected his best friend, her oldest brother, too much to take advantage of little Steffie.

Now that she is grown and is attending a wedding, she hopes with just the right dress she finally get her wish.

It isn't that Wade isn't interested in Steffie, but the timing has been all wrong. When the prom came around, she was simply too young and there are laws that protect younger people from going out with someone as young as Steffie was at 17! Only when he sees her at the wedding, all grown up, he believes he too will finally get his chance. She looks amazing!!

Only one phone call will alter both of their lives forever that night. Their happily ever after is about to be changed in ways neither of them would ever imagine. Will true love stand the test of time? Or will love spells be in order to win the heart of Wade MacGregor once and for all?

In the next sequel from the Chesapeake Diaries by Mariah Stewart, Almost Home takes us into the lives of the MacGregor family once more. Here we recapture fading love for Steffie Wyler among all her friends and family of St. Dennis. With some long discovered journals from an attic, they are about to discover what some of the residents have been hiding in this quaint sea-side tourist town just waiting to be uncovered at long last.

I received Almost Home by Mariah Stewart compliments of TLC Book Tours and having read each one of this books in a series, it was a welcome home for me as well. Being familiar with the people of St. Dennis is an inviting time for me to see the youngest, Steffie Wyler who has run the town's most popular ice cream shop complete with the most delightful creative flavors ever, dream about the man of her life coming to sweep her off her feet. This is a must read for the summer as you escape in the romance of truly having your dreams come true in the most unusual way possible. This one scores a 5 out of 5 stars for me. I can only hope that there is one more in this series! She has captivated my heart and truly left me wanting more. You can read this as a stand alone or pick up the whole set and start at the beginning and be whisked away!

This may be my favorite Mariah Stewart book yet! This is her 3rd book in her Chesapeake Diaries series and it was FANTASTIC! Very romantic compared to the first two. There were definitely a lot of sparks flying in this book, filled with Steffie and Wade's stories. Once again, Mariah Stewart brought her amazing writing power to her fans.

Steffie wanted nothing more in life than to make and serve her ice cream, and of course fall in love with Dallas' little brother Wade MacGregor. And she did just that, but he moved away to Texas to college. Her dreams are still the same after all these years.

Wade comes back from Texas to attend Beck and Mia's wedding (see Home Again) and WOW! The sparks sure fly when he sets his eyes on the gorgeous Steffie, the young girl from his past who wanted him as a prom date. His best friend's little sister is all grown up and man! Does he ever wish he could be her dream guy!

Steffie and Wade are PERFECT for each but Wade is too stubborn! I loved these characters....have loved them since Home Again.....and I wanted the best for them. It was definitely a book filled with twists and turns, some expected, and some not so expected, as I followed along side these amazing characters! It was like coming home again, watching my family and friends. I love that feeling!

I definitely recommend this book with 5 stars and more! It's tender, it's romantic, it's spark filled, it's all around FANTABULOUS! Mariah Stewart will quickly become your favorite author if you are new to her work, and her established fans will welcome this GREATASTIC addition to her latest series. I can't wait for more work from this terrific author!

The third book, Almost Home, in the Chesapeake Diaries does not disappoint. I couldn't wait for this one to come out and bought it the day it was released. Ms. Stewart has a way of weaving an uplifting, fun and intriguing web. The characters had me routing for them from the beginning straight through to the end. I can't wait to read the next one, and I hope there will be many more from this series.

I have never been the type of person who LOVED reading i have had some favorite books along the way but i would never finish them in one week or less. With all of Mariah Stewart's books i have been reading alot more i want to read all her books and i have already read a great portion. In this particular book we learned about steffie and her heart throb wade. It was such a good book i put off sleep just to finish it and find out what was going to happen in the end. I am so thankful for the work Mariah Stewart has done to capture her audience she knows how to do it real well. If your considering buying this book i say its a must have for your collection. (I know it was for mine)

Enjoyed reading this book. Was easy and interesting. Glad I found it and bought it when I did. Worth the buy.

I haven't read the other Chesapeake Diaries stories but I do like small town American plots, probably because I live in a small Australia rural town!

The plot is simple - Steffie Wyler had her life organised right from when she was a teenager - ice cream shop, marry her first crush and live happily ever after. However, we know about the best laid plans of mice and men! She achieves the ice cream shop but not the happily ever after, because the love of her life refuses to be pinned down. Imagine her surprise when he suddenly turns up in town with a child in tow.

This story is a good-natured read with some homely intrigue thrown in, plus a villain who turns up toward the end.I don't like spoilers, so I really want to say that this romance was pleasure to read but not a keeper for my bookshelf.

Steffie Wyler always knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life: 1. Make ice cream. 2. Marry the coolest boy in town. 3. Live happily ever after. These days, Steffie is the proud owner of One Scoop or Two, a wildly popular ice cream parlor. But the cool guy left town right after high school, before they could scratch the surface of their mutual attraction to see what, if anything, lay beneath. Steffie's made a great life for herself in St. Dennis, but true love has never come knocking.

The cool guy, Wade left and came back. Life isn't simple and the ride Mariah Stewart takes you on is fun and interesting.