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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Always a Pleasure to Return to Cedar Cove, September 7, 2008
Cedar Cove has become a favorite city for thousands of readers like me who enjoy gossipy writing, small towns filled with good-spirited characters, and a little romance and drama to keep things interesting. Debbie Macomber does not disappoint with this eighth installment set in the soap-opera like town. Emily and Dave Flemming take center stage in this novel as the local pastor keeps important information from his wife. With his much-later-than usual hours and the discovery of some diamond earrings in his jacket, Emily believes Dave is either an adulterer or a thief. Old friends Roy McAfee, the local private investigator, and Sheriff Troy Davis will get involved before this is all put to rest. In the meantime, Sheriff Davis has some important personal challenges to face as he anguishes over lost love Faith Beckwith and grapples with his daughter Megan's health issues. Old friends like Olivia and Jack Griffin, Grace Harding, Teri Polgar, Christie Levitt, and Rachel Pendergast reappear and let the reader share what is happening in their lives. In addition, new characters like Tanni Bliss and her mom, fabric artist Shirley Bliss, appear and begin what will undoubtedly be the fodder of future sagas. My only complaints with this installment are: first, my personal favorite, Mary Ellen Bowman, only got a brief mention; second, the mystery surrounding Pastor Flemming was one I figured out very early in the book (maybe I trust him more than his wife does) ; and lastly, I want another Cedar Cove book immediately. They are addictive! Fortunately, in just another month we will have a Cedar Cove Christmas, but must wait a full year to find out more about what will transpire at 92 Pacific Boulevard, the home of Troy Davis.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Another good entry in a good series, October 16, 2008
It's almost Christmas in Cedar Cove and Pastor Dave Flemming has plenty on his mind - the Christmas pageant (with live animals!), sermons to write, sick parishioners to visit and more. He's a busy man, but his wife Emily suspects something else is going on and begins to think her beloved husband is up to no good. Other residents of Cedar Cove have their own issues to deal with. Sheriff Troy Davis is pining after long lost love Faith Beckwith; Christie Levitt is fighting her attraction to limo driver James Wilbur; and Olivia Lockhart Griffin is fighting breast cancer. As each of them and other residents of Cedar Cove deal with their problems, they realize how much family, friends, and neighbors mean to them. "8 Sandpiper Way" is the eighth book in Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove series - a series that is a lot of fun to read. While the book definitely has a soap opera feel - complete with a large cast of characters - Dave and Emily's problems are very real and very timely in today's world. At times I wanted to yell at Dave for not confiding in Emily, but his keeping his problems to himself is also very real. Besides David and Emily's story line, there are several other story lines going on and the one that I like the most, more so in fact than Emily and Dave's, was the interaction between Christie and James (and Macomber drops a bombshell in this plot line). Chess player Bobby Polgar never seems quite real to me as a character but James his driver does. If there is a fault in this entertaining series, it is that Macomber has too many characters in it. Because of this, some of the characters that featured prominently in past books in the series - for example Maryellen and Jon Bowman, the Cox family, and Justin and Seth Gunderson are either barely in the book or just mentioned in passing. This can be disappointing, especially since Macomber introduces some new characters - Shirley Bliss, her daughter Tanni, and Shaw Wilson. While I realize Macomber wants to keep the series fresh and Tanni and Shaw's story does end on a cliffhanger that helps set up the next book in the series, neither of them do much for me as characters. "8 Sandpiper Way" is a nice cozy book to read. It's not terribly deep, but Macomber seems to have had a lot of fun writing it (I suspect her tongue was firmly in cheek more than once) and it is a lot of fun to read, especially during these cool autumn nights.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Surprised how much I didn't like it...., October 2, 2008
I absolutely love Ms. Macomber's Cedar Cove series. She is an excellent writer. However, with this book, it didn't contain her usual depth of characters and there were way too many of them! It's like planning on enjoying a family Thanksgiving gathering and having all the extended relatives and neighbors show up! It felt very rushed and the characters were just not fleshed out like in her other books. I also thought it very light on romance. I really did have to make myself finish it. If this is your first Macomber book, please give her another try...she really is wonderful. If you are a faithful Cedar Cove wannabe like me...let's hope the next book centers on just a few main characters that we can once again bond with! Bring back the Cedar Cove we know and love :)
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