Customer Reviews

Genoa Bay: A Novel

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I was just so excited to hear that Bette had written a new novel. I have loved everything she writes. God has gifted her with a special gift. I love the book, it kept me captivated. The characters were real to me I felt like I knew them, I could picture even what they looked like. The way Bette writes about the places in the book I felt like I was experiancing these places right along with Brandy and Gabby. Along with a flowing great story line Bette didn't resist to putting in twists here and there. I loved it! It is certainally one of her best.

Genoa Bay is a story of tragedy and hope, loss and gain. It captured me immediately. It could have been the story of a close friend. I laughed and cried as I joined Brandy in her joys and struggles. I found myself hoping she would see things the way I did and praying for her success. I delighted in curling up by the fireplace with a cup of tea to see what would come next in Brandy's adventure. I was encouraged by Brandy's determination to act on her faith, despite the odds, and to act in love toward those who most needed it.

I spent some fun hours reading Genoa Bay on my vacation! Bette gave life to interesting characters that keep you involved in their story. The events move the story forward, while the reader gets to peek into past, and gain understanding. The ending is ultimately satisfying and uplifting. The writing is refreshing, not manipulative or syrupy. A good read!

Story Description:
In this contemporary romance, young widow Brandy Beauchamp inherits a long-established bed-and-breakfast on Vancouver Island from an old friend. It needs energy and commitment if the beautiful but neglected property is to be restored.
With her five-year-old daughter, Gabby, Brandy moves to British Columbia and sets about building a new life only to discover that a local property developer has very different plans.
The quirky old house is symbolic of the strange characters peopling this novel, each one a composite of its influences-as the house is a composite of its owners. Brandy Beauchamp's success becomes our success, despite treachery, adversity, and misfortune.
Nordberg has interwoven themes of courage and treachery with personal growth and discovery.
My Review:
Brandy, a young widow, and her five-year-old daughter, Gabby, head for Vancouver Island in Canada from Florida. Maggie Blackburn, the woman who took Brandy in as a wayward teenager and raised and loved her as her own has had a stroke and lies unconscious in the intensive care unit. Sadly, Maggie dies and Brandy inherits the bed and breakfast where Maggie lived. The B & B was no longer being used as such but a home for Maggie that was packed to the hilt with furniture, collectibles, antiques and the like. There was even an entire hull of a boat suspended from the ceiling in the great room!

Despite having no money, Brandy uproots her and Gabby's lives in Florida and moves to Canada to prepare Maggie's home to once again become a functioning Bed & Breakfast. However, along the way, Brandy is up against Murphy's Law at every turn. After some renovations had been completed, a large fir tree crashes through the roof during a particularly bad wind storm. A nasty and under-handed developer wants to purchase the property from her and isn't above conducting himself in some shady deals in order to hopefully force Brandy to sell to him.

Brandy struggles with her faith and is learning to listen to God and to follow His voice, but can she follow Him completely in the face of the tragedies she must endure? In the meantime, Brandy takes in teenager Celeste and her 10-year-old sister, Danny, while their Grandmother recovers in hospital from a broken hip and some other health problems. Then a fire breaks out and her little Gabby gets hurt and she has run out of money.

Brandy is now really struggling with her faith and needs to make a decision whether to carry on and hope for the best, or pull the plug on the entire project and move back to Florida and resume her old life.

GENOA BAY is a touching story of love, loss, grief, faith, courage, resilience, and the redemptive power of believing in trusting God and allowing oneself to move forward in that faith. I loved this book and will be keeping it as part of my permanent collection. Thank you Ms. Nordberg for a wonderful story that kept me turning the pages late into the night!

This is my first time reading any of Bette's work and I really enjoyed it. As a young Navy pilot had lost his life in a fiery crash, and leaving behind a wife and little girl. Brandy Beauchamp as a widow still lived in Florida with all the other navy people but she just didn't fit in with their group of friends any more as she was single and the others were couples. She worked as a graphic designer and loved what she did, but with the Navy holding up the life insurance for her husband, she was having a hard time making ends meet. When she got a call telling her that her "Mother" so to speak Mattie had had a stroke and was in a coma she and her little girl left to go to Canada to check this out. Mattie was not her real mother and was really just a very close friend that had taken her in when she was a teen and a run away from an alcoholic mother and a step-father that was abusive. Brandy left her little girl in Tenn. with the parents of her dad and went on to Vancouver Island to check on Maggie. Maggie never came too but died and when Brandy found out that she had inherits the old home that was once a bed and breakfast, how will she handle this. She has no money and the house was in terrible shape so she picked up her little girl and went back to Florida to try and decide what she needed to do. I really enjoyed this book and hope to get to read more of Bette's work. This book was sent to me free form Kregel Publisher for my honest review.

This story takes place in British Columbia where newly widowed Brandy heads to Vancouver Island to see the woman Maggie, who raised her, who is very ill. She takes her daughter Gabby with her. Maggie dies and as Brandy goes through the bed and breakfast that was Maggies home in preparation in clearing it out,she decides that she wants to make the house into a successful business. Although she has no money she moves with her daughter Gabby to start a new life in Canada. The property has been neglected and it will take a lot of money and work to get the building in order. This property is right on the water with a walking path to the marina and is the perfect setting for a for a bed and breakfast. As the work goes along Brandy has a lot of obstacles to work through.
A developer wants to buy the property but Brandy will not sell. She is then beset with difficulties that never seem to end. Fires break out and she runs out of money and not sure if she can trust her new neighbor. She wonders if she is doing the right thing and questions her faith. She meets a young woman and her sister who she takes into her home because their grandmother is ill. With their help they soon get the place ready. Then the worst happens, a fire breaks out and Gabby is injured. Brandy questions whether the house is worth all the time and energy she has put into it and the danger to herself and her daughter and if her faith is strong enough.
This is a heartwarming story of love, faith,courage and the belief in oneself. This book was very good and I enjoyed it a lot. Full of suspense and romance, just the right combination of both to keep me interested.

Genoa Bay is a story of personal growth, with a little romance and some adventure too! As a widow and single mom, Brandy Beauchamp is struggling. She needs a fresh start, a place of her own. When she unexpectedly inherits a old bed and breakfast in Genoa Bay, she must decide whether to take the risk. The house needs a great deal of work, but Brandy decides to re-establish the business. There are a number of obstacles that Brandy faces, including lack of financing and a somewhat sinister local business man who wants to buy her property. Along the way Brandy and her young daughter meet friendly locals as well. They find help in many unexpected places, and Brandy starts to help others, finally feeling home.

This was a beautiful story of hope, hearing God's voice, and new beginnings. The story was well-written with good description and lovable characters. There was one small discrepancy: on the back cover Gabby is said to be five years old when they move to the bed and breakfast, but in the book she is seven. It did not detract from the story; I really enjoyed walking with Brandy as she discovered who she was in the Lord. I loved how she began helping others in the same way that she was helped as a teen and in the same house.

This book was reviewed for Readersfavorite.

Nothing comes without conflict. "Genoa Bay" is the story of single mother Brandy Beauchamp as she tries to establish her new life as a bed and breakfast owner on Vancouver Island. But standing in the way of her new business venture is a local real estate tycoon who proves to be more persuasive than Brandy would like. "Genoa Bay" is a choice pick for general fiction collectors, a read women will love.

When I won this book I was delighted and excited about reading the book. I liked and disliked the book. The writing was great and interesting. The story is about a widow, Brandy Beauchamp, who inherits a bed and breakfast in Canada from a woman who took her in as a teenager after she had runaway from home.

The characters you meet in the book are Brandy, her daughter Gabby (just adorable), Eve (Brandy's friend from Florida), Cliff, and Herbert Karras. Brandy's 'adoptive' mother, Maggie, dies and leaves Brandy the old Bed and Breakfast. Brandy receives this inheritance at a time when she is trying to figure where she really belongs since her husbands death. Gabby is a lovable little girl of 7. Gabby is what keeps Brandy going and also questioning everything she does. Brandy decides to try and resurrect the Bed and Breakfast again after much debating in her head. She is afraid of the money she doesn't have to fix the place up. She worries about her daughter not liking the place at first. Brandy also doesn't enjoy feeling needy which makes her stubborn when offered help from the Marina Manager, Cliff.

I found most of the story predictable and boring. The reason the story was boring is when Brandy would always mention god and over analyze everything. I usually don't mind God being mentioned in a story in subtle terms. With Genoa Bay at times I felt that I was being preached to about God, which was a turn off. I then decided to just read the book without thinking about the God references, which made the story more enjoyable.

Towards the end of the book, at about Chapter 20 the story became interesting and I had difficulty putting the book down. I found myself wanting Brandy to win against all the trouble and misfortune that came her way. I felt that Brandy was a fighter but also very vulnerable and unsure of herself. I can not say that this book is a book that I will highly recommend to people. I will say to give it a try and form your own opinions about Genoa Bay.

2 1/2 stars

Brandy Beauchamp is a navy widow who is just going through the motions since the plane her husband was flying crashed. He lost his life that day and she lost her way. Now she is playing the role of both mother and father to their daughter, Gabby. As if the loss of her husband isn't enough she is also fighting the government for the insurance money left to her. Without that payment she is having to struggle to make ends meet.

This story really touched me. Not only is it beautifully written but Brandy is living one of my greatest fears. As a military wife I felt the way the author portrayed Brandy's emotions was spot on. The frustration and hopelessness she felt is something all wives feel during deployments. I can't even imagine the intensity I would feel those emotions if my husband didn't come home. This is truly an amazing story of loss and healing that I'd recommend to the spouses of all service members or anyone that loves a tear jerker with a happily ever after.