Greetings from Somewhere Else [Paperback]

Monica McInerney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 7, 2009

Lainey Byrne is a master at controlled chaos, juggling her hectic, demanding job, her chef boyfriend with his crazy hours, and her roiling family with all its daily dramas. But her life truly threatens to spin out of control when her aunt May, who owns a B&B in Ireland, passes away. In order for the Byrnes to collect their inheritance, someone from the family must take over Aunt May’s business for a year. And apparently that someone is Lainey.

Between running a run-down, virtually guest-free B&B (without the slightest ability to cook or clean), worrying about her family from afar, adjusting to country life, and dealing with the complications of long-distance love, Lainey is in way over her head. But when a reunion with a (gorgeous) childhood friend sparks unexpected complications, Lainey realizes that fate may have another path for her–a direction she never imagined.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

McInerney provides a barely probable story that all too often collides with cliché. Lainey Byrne has the usual problems, what with her success in the corporate world and her mild failures in all things romantic. This quasi-idyllic existence comes to an end when she leaves for rural Ireland to take over a neglected bed and breakfast so her family can collect a rich aunt's inheritance. Though Lainey's inexperience with cooking and cleaning puts her in a precarious position at first, McInerney dodges the potential cliché of having the protagonist fall back on her chef ex-boyfriend, Adam-but only to choose the equally hackneyed route of her finding new love in an old school chum, and an unexpectedly fulfilled life at the bed and breakfast. The tired plot line isn't helped by carelessly developed characters.
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Review

“A heartwarming, romantic and funny story about love, family and relationships.”—Irish Independent

“Disarmingly funny . . . compassionate, clever . . . [Monica] McInerney’ s story and plot resonate with a Maeve Binchy kind of generosity of spirit.”—The Age, Australia

“McInerney uses richly drawn characters, witty dialogue, and the beauty of the Irish countryside to tell the story of a woman-in-control made to let go and let things happen, thus allowing her to rediscover her heritage and her own true passions.” – Booklist

“If you’re looking for a breezy, late-summer addition to your library, pick up a copy of Monica McInerney’s novel, Greetings from Somewhere Else. A combination of an easy to follow main storyline combined with compelling subplots and a likable main character make it a quintessential beach book.” –MostlyFiction Reviews
 

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; Original edition (July 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345506383
• ISBN-13: 978-0345506382
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #948,396 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greetings from Somewhere Else, July 12, 2009

By 

Willa Cline "Web Designer" (Overland Park, KS USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Greetings from Somewhere Else (Paperback)

Lainey is an event planner--highly organized, energetic, ambitious, a bit bossy. Her father is bedridden after an industrial accident and her mother is getting a bit fed up with the situation. Her three brothers are all a bit eccentric in their own way. And she and her boyfriend seem to be more or less ships passing in the night--he's a chef with his own restaurant, and with their schedules, it seems they hardly see each other at all.

Into this chaos comes a new wrinkle -- an elderly aunt in Ireland has died, leaving a bed & breakfast to her brother, Lainey's father. That's wonderful news, since the family is struggling to pay medical bills, and waiting to get an insurance settlement. They plan to sell the B&B immediately, but there's a stipulation--one member of the family must come to Ireland and live for one year and manage the B&B, or they will lose the inheritance.

Lainey seems to be the logical--or only possible--choice, so she gives up her job, breaks up with her boyfriend, and heads to Ireland to run a B&B, despite never having spent much time either cooking or cleaning in her life.

I read this book in one long Sunday, and enjoyed it immensely. It reminded me a bit of a Cecelia Ahern novel, but that may just have been because of the Irish characters. The book was very well written, and by the end of the book I felt I knew the characters. Lainey grows up in the process of the book, and learns a lot, both about the B&B business, and about herself.

I highly recommend this book, and will search out more of Ms. McInerney's novels.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent read, September 14, 2009

By 

Jacqueline Laughlin "JackieL" (Spokane, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Greetings from Somewhere Else (Paperback)

I enjoyed this novel. Would recommend it highly. The author developed rich characters.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars engaging complex chick lit tale, July 8, 2009

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Greetings from Somewhere Else (Paperback)

In Melbourne, Complete Events Management Lainey Byrne is used to wacky chaos when she sponsors an event, but always brings it together to the satisfaction of the client. Her personal life is also somewhat out of control as her boyfriend Adam the chef seems never around and her parents and three brothers leap from one end of the world crisis to another always expecting her to fix it, which she does quite nicely. Handling people chaos is her expertise.

Her agitated mom informs Lainey they need her help (what else is new). In Ireland, her paternal Aunt May left her B&B to her brother with the stipulation that the family must take over running the place for a year; if they fail to meet her condition, her cats become the owner. The family selects Lainey to run the place over her objection that she is busy, can't cook and never cleans; important aspects of running a B&B. Instead Lainey loses the argument and heads to Ireland worried about leaving her loved ones to fend for themselves while struggling with an adjustment to life in the country and running the B&B. She feels fortunate to connect with her childhood friend Evie and begins to learn to pick and choose her charge up the hill moments while mostly let it be.

This is an engaging complex chick lit tale of an alpha female who has by default and overall personality trait become the prime caretaker of her extended family until she leaves them behind. While Lainey learns that she cannot care for everyone and handle everything; her parents and three brothers also learn responsibly to take care of their so called end of the world crisis. Read will enjoy GREETINGS FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE as life lessons comes to the Byrne brood.

Harriet Klausner