This is the next installment on life in Cedar Cove which is a typical small town where lives are entwined and so are the stories about them. The story line of this book involves a group of citizens who are caught up in the aftermath of the fire that destroyed The Lighthouse restaurant. The fire was definitely the work of an arsonist and the likely suspect has run off for places unknown, which only further increases the town's suspicions. As you learn more about the people you become less convinced that the man they are pursuing actually set the fire. The burning question, pardon the pun, is if not this likely suspect -- then who did it and of course why. Now the restaurant owners Justine and Seth as well as the chef Jon and his wife Maryellen have to face their futures without the source of their livelihood and basically start from scratch which is not an easy task and noticeably rife with stress. The stress is causing some major problems in their respective marriages but support comes from some rather surprising sources. One is looking to atone for an enormously hurtful betrayal and the other is looking to infiltrate the marriage by ingratiating himself. 6 RAINIER DRIVE could be called new beginnings in careers, relationships and in living. Some new beginnings work out and others kind of peter off but the wisdom of the Cedar Cove folk makes it all worth trying.

This is a book about facing adversity and making new starts. There are always choices in life and hurdles to overcome and Debbie Macomber basically believes in the importance of being a survivor which her characters exemplify. Terribly flawed and at times cloyingly annoying her characters find their strength and manage to develop into stronger, respectable citizens. We may not like them all but we are encouraged to learn the fine art of forgiveness.