Olivia Linscott has just received a visit from an
attorney giving her a key, a butterfly necklace and a
crinkled photo of a house that she has inherited, with no
note of explanation. The deceased, and Olivia's birth
mother, Bridget Tuttle, had promptly left her in the
hospital upon her birth to be raised by another mother and
father. Always feeling unwanted by her birth mom, curiosity
prompts Olivia to leave her home of Boston of 29 years and
seek the answers at Rescue Bay, Florida. Olivia is also
healing from a broken marriage riddled by desertion from her
ex-husband and praying to start a new beginning in life.
Olivia and her bichon frise, Miss Sadie, travel
together and will find a place working together in animal-
assisted therapy. Finding the bungalow in total disrepair,
Olivia digs in and plans to restore the fixer-upper while
searching for answers. Taking a position for herself and
Miss Sadie at the Golden Years Retirement Village, she
hasn't counted on one very determined 83 year old woman and
her cohorts interfering in her life.
Greta Winslow loves
dipping into her Makers Mark at every chance. A little
drink never hurt anyone! Greta learns that Olivia is living
next door to her recovering grandson, Luke Winslow, nearly
blinded after an accident on a helicopter rescue mission
with the Coast Guard. Bitter and determined to be left
alone in his pity, he rejects Olivia from the start when she
follows a hurt stray dog in his yard. Behind her bungalow
is a building which was once a rescue mission for dogs. As
the relationship evolves, so does Olivia's insight into her
abandonment which also brings with it, a surprise sister,
love and new found understanding back to her life.
THE SWEETHEART BARGAIN is such a terrific tale complete with
a whimsical
and nosey little 83 year old match maker. The characters in
this tale are so colorful and entertaining. The plot
couldn't have been more exciting and nostalgic. This story
is the first in the Sweetheart Sisters series and so
full of
heartfelt and deep emotional feelings. Grab your Kleenex as
this will wrench your heart right up to the final pages.
Many lessons in life can be learned from this tale. Shirley
Jump has infused her story with love, romance, plenty of
sizzle and an abundance of wit and humor. I guarantee this
author will have you from the first sentence!
You can't teach an old dog new tricks unless you're a
Sweetheart Sister?
The Sweetheart Sisters, a trio of sassy,
well–meaning grannies (who aren't against a sip of
bourbon with breakfast) are ready to dispense advice and
help create happy endings with a little of what they do
best meddling.
Animal therapist Olivia Linscott is the Sweetheart
Sisters' first target. Running from a bad marriage and a
lousy job, Olivia is determined to save the dog shelter she
inherited from the mother she never knew and, above all, to
protect her broken heart. The Sisters want to tie the
spirited young do–gooder to wounded helicopter pilot
Luke Winslow, but the intended pair keeps slipping the
leash.
Luke's dreams were shattered by a career–ending
eye injury. Adrift and bitter, the last thing he wants is
romantic involvement. But when a golden retriever in worse
shape than he is scratches on the door, the dog brings in a
whole lot more than puppy love?
Excerpt
Olivia Linscott made the most insane decision of her life in
less time than it took to microwave a burrito. Before she
could think twice, or worse, hesitate, she’d packed what
remained of her belongings into her car, loaded up on gas
and 5-Hour Energy drinks, then ditched her life in
Massachusetts and headed south.
All because a lawyer had shown up on her doorstep with a
mysterious will, a crinkled photograph, and a butterfly
necklace. Olivia’s heritage, reduced to a nine-by-twelve
manila envelope.
Now, forty-eight hours later, she was in sunshine instead of
snow, catching the scent of ocean instead of exhaust.
Outside the Toyota’s window, the Florida coastline curved
like a lazy snake, an undulating ribbon of blue-green
punctuated by soaring seagulls and cresting whitecaps. It
was a million miles away—and a good burst of salty, fresh
air—from the choked, congested streets of Boston, where cars
played Frogger with each other and dodged potholes the size
of small elephants. Down here, Olivia could breathe, really
breathe, in more ways than one.
She pressed the speed-dial button on her cell and waited for
the call to connect. When her mother answered with her
familiar chirpy hello, a wave of homesickness crashed over
Olivia, and for a second she had the urge to turn around, to
head back to everything familiar.
“Olivia! I’ve been waiting for you to call,” her mother
said. “How far are you now?”
“Only another mile or so to go.” Olivia nestled the cell
against her ear. “I’ve been ready to crawl out of my skin
for the last five miles, just dying to get there already.
Maybe I should pull a Boston and put the pedal to the metal
the rest of the way.”
“Olivia Jean, if you do, I’ll fly down there and take away
your car keys,” her mother said, with the same tone she’d
used when Olivia had been little and trying to raid the
cookie jar before dinner. “Even if you are over thirty.”
Olivia laughed. “Okay, okay. I’ll keep it to twenty miles
over the speed limit, like any respectable Massachusetts
driver.” On her left, a half-dozen bright, happy shops lined
a wide boardwalk, across the street from the beach. A
white-and-pink awning fronted the Rescue Bay Ice Cream
Stand, a quaint little place with umbrella-covered tables
and a giant plastic cow sporting a bright pink bow. An
elderly couple enjoying swirled cones—one chocolate, one
vanilla—raised a hand in greeting as Olivia drove past. She
returned an awkward wave, just as a man walking his dog
raised his hand in greeting and a shopkeeper sweeping the
walk did the same. The instant welcoming atmosphere gave
Olivia pause. It wasn’t that Bostonians were frigid,
exactly, but rather less overt in being neighborly.
There was something . . . warm about this town, something
Olivia had liked the second she arrived. “Ma, you should see
this place. It’s like another planet.”
“Well, we’re still stuck on planet Arctic here. It’s too
darn cold to even look out the window, never mind go
anywhere.” Anna Linscott was no doubt bundled up by the
fireplace in her Back Bay townhome. Olivia could see her
now, sitting in the threadbare rose-patterned armchair Anna
had owned since the day she got married, the blue-and-green
afghan Nana Linscott had crocheted draped across her lap.
“There was a ring around the moon last night. A storm is
coming. I’m thinking three inches, maybe four.”
“It’s January and you’re in New England. There’s always a
snowstorm coming.”
Anna laughed. “True. But if I see a ladybug—”
“And she lands on your hand, spring is on its way.” Olivia
grinned at her mother’s superstitious weather predicting.
Half the time, Anna was more accurate than the guys at
Channel 7, so maybe there was something to her folklore.
Olivia glanced out the window again, drawing in another deep
breath of balmy air. “This is bliss. Palm trees and beaches
and—”
“Alligators and geckos.”
“They won’t bother you if you don’t bother them.” Olivia
fingered the picture taped to her dash. A perfect Florida
bungalow, painted in sherbet colors of pale yellow and soft
salmon, trimmed in white, nestled in the middle of a neat
yard, flanked by rows of blooming annuals and fruit-laden
citrus trees. “Mom, do you think I’m doing the right thing?”
“I think you have to do this.” Anna sighed, a mixture of
support and worry. “Then maybe you’ll finally have the
answers you need, and deserve.”
Olivia’s finger danced across the picture again. Would she?
All her life, Olivia had felt like a lock without the right
key, a puzzle missing a piece. Now, maybe here, she’d find
what she was searching for.
Herself.
And if not, she’d at least get one hell of a tan.
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