Driftwood Cottage by Sherryl Woods-Chesapeake Shores # 5

Single mom Heather Donovan’s dreams of home and family are tantalizingly within reach when she settles in Chesapeake Shores. The welcoming arms of the boisterous, loving O’Brien clan embrace her and her son. But accepting their support seems to further alienate her son’s father, Connor O’Brien. His parents’ divorce and his career as a high-powered divorce attorney have left him jaded about marriage.
Then everything changes. Will the possibility of a future without Heather make Connor look at love and his career differently? Heather’s just about given up on her old dreams — of love, of family and especially of Driftwood Cottage, the home she secretly wishes were hers. It’s going to take a lot of persuasion — and some help from the O’Brien family — to make Heather believe that some dreams are worth fighting for. ( Synopsis from Barnes & Noble.com)


Publication date: March 29, 2011- Paperback

This is the 5th book in Sherryl Woods' Chesapeake Shores Series revolving around the O'Brien family. Mick & Megan O'Brien have remarried after being divorced for many years. Their son Connor still has a lot of animosity towards his mother due to her leaving the family when the children were young. He has grown up to have a bitter outlook about marriage which works well for his career as a sharky divorce attorney. Heather and Connor have lived together since college and now have a young son. Connor has made it clear he is not the marrying type and Heather was fine with that until recently. She has moved out of Connor's home and moved to the Shores where his family lives. Heather was a teacher but now has her own quilt shop with an apartment overhead. She has been estranged from her parents since her unwed pregnancy which makes her connection to the O'Brien family all the more comforting.

I enjoyed seeing Connor and Heather return from the previous book in the series- "A Chesapeake Shores Christmas". Heather and her son were a big surprise to the family and they have embraced her with open arms. This book is realistic in the portrayal of Connor in that he doesn't just suddenly become pro-marriage and everything is just perfect. It takes a lot of soul searching, long conversations with Heather and his family, and an accident to make him see what he really wants in life. It was nice to see the characters from earlier books in this book and to see where some of them may be headed in the future.  Sherryl Woods is excellent at weaving many facets of the story together and she keeps her characters consistent. I am really looking forward to the next book in the series! I was lucky to be able to read this in advance through Netgalley.com as a ebook-it's a great site.