Shore Lights [LARGE PRINT] (Hardcover)

by Barbara Bretton (Author) "ONCE UPON A time in the Emerald City there lived a woman named Maddy Bainbridge who believed she could move back home with her mother..." (more)
Key Phrases: rusty teapot, magic lamp, shore lights, Paradise Point, Grandma Irene, Aidan O'Malley (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Bretton's newest contemporary romance (after A Soft Place to Fall) is an engrossing tale of hope, promise, heartache and misplaced dreams. Maddy Bainbridge and her headstrong mother, Rose, have never gotten along, but when Maddy's Seattle-based dot-com crashes and her husband divorces her, she has no choice but to return home to Paradise Point, N.J., with her four-year-old daughter Hannah. It's three weeks before Christmas, and Maddy is determined to make a go of it with her mom while attempting to put a little happiness back in her daughter's life by giving her an Aladdin-style `magic lamp' (actually a teapot) she's found on the Internet. The only problem is that someone is aggressively trying to outbid her. Her adversary, she soon learns, is ex-firefighter Aidan O'Malley, owner of O'Malley's Bar and Grill across town. He's trying to win the teapot for his daughter, Kelly, who believes it to be the one that graced the walls of O'Malley's 50 years earlier. When Maddy scores the winning bid, the sale becomes the catalyst that brings generations of families together, suggesting the teapot may have magic powers after all. While this Christmas tale may seem out of place among the summer season's beach offerings, its uplifting message and smooth storytelling make it a pleasant read any time of year.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Booklist
Even though she realizes that you can't go home again, financial necessity forces divorcee Maddy to pack up her four-year-old daughter, Hannah, and leave Seattle for Paradise Point, New Jersey, where she moves into her mother's bed-and-breakfast. Desperate to do something that will cheer up her morose child, Maddy sees a samovar resembling Aladdin's lamp on the Internet and begins bidding as "JerseyGirl." Aidan's teenage daughter, Kelly, believing the Russian teapot will make her ailing great-grandmother happy, gives him strict instructions to be the successful bidder. "FireGuy" gives it his best shot but loses to "JerseyGirl." Frantic, he sends e-mail after e-mail to her, upping the profit margin each time, but the mystery woman holds firm. After Maddy and Aidan meet by chance, they realize they have more in common than the samovar, but both have unresolved family issues, and the teapot becomes a symbol of their efforts to resolve them. Bretton's warm, wonderful book presents complex familial and romantic relationships, sympathetic characters, and an underlying poignancy and will please fans of Kathryn Shay and Deborah Smith. Shelley Mosley
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 531 pages
• Publisher: Wheeler Publishing; 1 edition (September 2, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1587244926
• ISBN-13: 978-1587244926
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,641,479 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well...it wasn't boring, April 25, 2005

By	Schuyler Jane Church (Sapphire Island) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shore Lights (Paperback)

There were many characters in this book, too many in my opinion. Something was missing, however; romance. This was an "everyday life" type of book, and while it wasn't boring, it didn't get off the ground either. Also, I like cool heros, and at times Aidan was, but the author gave him lines like "Can it," and "Stow it," when telling someone to be quiet. How utterly UNcool. Even a nerd wouldn't say that!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not my cup of tea (or teapot?), November 9, 2004

By	a-wish-upon-a-star (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Shore Lights (Paperback)

I have read some of Barbara Bretton's other books, and have enjoyed, but this book was a very different type of story, (not a romance), and it just didn't draw me in.

Everybody has their own background, their own slant as to what will touch their heart. I saw that many people loved this book, but I guess our own experiences shape our interest, and although I loved other Barbara Bretton books, I should have checked out the synopsis before buying.

This is not a romance book, but rather a book that was more about mother/daughter relationships. I always had an excellent relationship with my mother, and so this story did not "talk" to me. I felt myself feeling that Rose was very much at fault, and I kept wanting to tell her off! Since it's a little hard to "tell off" a character in a book, this book left me feeling rather frustrated. Add that I didn't like the whole supranatural theme, and I found myself with very little to enjoy! The only part of the book that I liked was the side story about his wonderful daughter, and I felt that that story really went nowhere.

If you are looking for a book about mother/daughter relationships, check the other reviews, and you will see that this book comes highly recommended. But if you are looking for a romance, you might want to look further.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Women's Fiction, May 29, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Shore Lights (Paperback)

Sometimes an author takes a risk and it works. Sometimes it doesn't. Ms. Bretton took a risk with SHORE LIGHTS and came up with her best book yet. Don't be fooled by the word ROMANCE on the spine. Yes, there's a sweetly emotional love story between Maddy and Aidan but this is really a story about family, especially about mothers and daughters. Ms. Bretton doesn't write about perfect people in a perfect world. Her characters are so real they almost jump out of the book and sit down at the kitchen table with you and tell you their story. This is a comlex story about real human emotions and I can't sum it all up in 1000 words. But I do know that if you're looking to laugh (lots of witty dialog) and to cry (bring your tissues) and to feel better when you finish than you did when you started, SHORE LIGHTS is the book for you.