Customer Reviews

Greetings from Somewhere Else

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

 

 

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.

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

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

There is something about this book that made me not be able to put it down. It wasn't the plot, as I felt it was lacking... a bit cheesy and contrived--a little fluffier than I had hoped. However, the strength of Lainey Byrne, type-A perfectionist, kept me laughing (sometimes out loud!). Her sarcastic way of responding to advice was hilarious; she reminded me a lot of Sophie Kinsella's characters (particularly Samantha Sweeting in The Undomestic Goddess).

About halfway through, though, there is a lot of time focused on Lainey's growing crush on Rohan, an old schoolmate of hers. While I get that McInerney wanted to show Lainey's developing feelings for him, the scenes dragged on for quite awhile. Lainey's "mind-films"(fantasies about Rohan) were okay at first--cute, even--but once they started showing up on nearly every page, I lost interest in them and started skipping them altogether.

The fight and subsequent making up between Lainey and her best friend, Eva, was a bit too saccharine for me. The fight seemed to come out of nowhere--the way Eva reacted to a comment made by Lainey wasn't believable at all. Then, two pages later, the makeup was sickeningly-sweet: "You do still want to be my friend?" Lainey asks Eva. "I'll always want to be your friend" is Eva's reply. It reminded me of a conversation I had with my third grade best friend.

There is a small plotline that I found intriguing: Lainey is given a bundle of letters written by her deceased aunt. However, nothing is ever made of the letters. I kept waiting for something to come of them, but nothing ever did. I hoped a writing/publishing endeavor was in Lainey's future, or at least some mystery about her family's past (in fact, a mysterious past is alluded to), but no. The strand is completely abandoned.

All in all, a fun read lacking in plot but driven by supremely enjoyable and well-developed characters. It had all of the potential in the world to be plot-driven, but it never happened.

Ever dreamed of owning an Irish bed and breakfast, just down the road from the Hill of Tara, ancient seat of Irish royalty? Lainey Byrne never did - but fate chose otherwise, and she ended up sending Greetings From Somewhere Else. Monica McInerney joyfully revisits characters gloriously chronicled in Upside Down, Inside Out in a heartfelt, hilarious tale.
Lainey assumes the mantle of family duty when she fulfills a codicil in her late aunt's will. On order for the family to collect her bequest, the Green Gables bed-and-breakfast, one member of the family must occupy it for one year.
A successful event planner in Melbourne, Australia, perfectly content with an adorable chef for a boyfriend, Lainey accepts the request on behalf of her disabled father to claim the inheritance. Ever the planner, she chooses to cut off her romance with Adam-the-adorable-one in order "to square things away" on the very day of her departure. As a result, her best friend Eva, operating a charming café in Dublin, is Lainey's only friend and confidante during her long sojourn "home".
Grappling with unanticipated longing for Adam, unwilling to yield to her sensitive side, and completely unprepared for the state of disrepair into which Aunt May let Green Gables lapse, Lainey faces a long year ahead.
Forging ahead, she redecorates, learns how to cook, feeds chickens and gathers eggs, and wards off mice - all while worrying about one of her old friends making moves on the man she'd left behind.
After a dismal first set of houseguests, she pulls herself together. Steeping herself in the history of the Hill of Tara, she plans a series of social events to launch the "new" venture. As Eva and her husband pitch in with their own brand of creative loyalty, Lainey receives support and practical advice from an unexpected source.
Amidst her renovations and innovations, she experiences an epiphany, realizing that "she had to stop charging in; trying to fix things, trying to make people do what she wanted them to do. She had to learn to take a step back, let things unfold, let people live their own lives, and see things as they really were, not how she wanted them to be."
Greetings from Somewhere Else gathers insight, humor, true love, and family
honor, arranging them like a fragrant bouquet in the perfect vase, awaiting you on your arrival at Lainey's B & B for a little literary getaway.
"Gra, Dilseacht, Cairdeas." Love, loyalty, friendship.

Julia Brantley, author of A Score Of Intervals
A Score of Intervals: Sharps & Flats on Brusca

I was very excited to receive this book and then completely let down when I read it. It is definitely not the author's best. I thought the characters were very flat and undeveloped and there was no chemistry between any of them. I usually enjoy seeing characters from previous books pop up in later ones, but this book just didn't do it for me. I've read all of Ms. McInerney's books and think that Farraday Girls is by far her best. Save your money and get this from the library.