Silver Bay by Jojo Moyes

Silver Bay by Jojo Moyes
Published: 2007 originally, August 2014 by Penguin Publishing Group
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Publisher's Summary:
Liza McCullen will never fully escape her past. But the unspoiled beaches and tight-knit community of Silver Bay offer the freedom and safety she craves—if not for herself, then for her young daughter, Hannah. That is, until Mike Dormer arrives as a guest in her aunt’s hotel.

The mild-mannered Englishman with his too-smart clothes and distracting eyes could destroy everything Liza has worked so hard to protect: not only the family business and the bay that harbors her beloved whales, but also her conviction that she will never love—never deserve to love—again.

For his part, Mike Dormer is expecting just another business deal—an easy job kick-starting a resort in a small seaside town ripe for development. But he finds that he doesn’t quite know what to make of the eccentric inhabitants of the ramshackle Silver Bay Hotel, especially not enigmatic Liza McCullen, and their claim to the surrounding waters. As the development begins to take on a momentum of its own, Mike’s and Liza’s worlds collide.

My Thoughts:
It's no secret that I'm a fan of Jojo Moyes' writing and I'm not alone. She couldn't possibly write new books fast enough to keep her now legion of fans happy so Penguin Publishing Group has now released some of her earlier works for the first time in the U.S.

This one is clearly an earlier work - much more a romance novel, less emphasis on the quirky, not as witty. Which is not to say it's a bad book. It's just obvious that Moyes' was still working to find her own style. She relies more, here, on standard tropes (big business vs. the little guy, the uptight city guy vs. the nature crowd) and stock actors (the crusty old woman with a heart, the tough younger woman with a secret past) and her story line isn't as tight as I'm used to seeing from her. It's not a spoiler, either, to say there was very little suspense - you know all would end well. Still, there's enough surprises to keep it entertaining and sometimes a girl just needs a little romance. It's a quick read, with just enough depth to keep it from being too light, and, overall, I enjoyed it. Because it is, after all, Jojo Moyes. And that's never a bad thing.