Love Is for the Birds Published by Simon and Schuster on October 8, 2024 Genres: Fiction / Romance / Contemporary, Fiction / Southern, Fiction / Women
Pages: 256
Find the Author: Website, Goodreads, Amazon
Goodreads
For fans of Mary Alice Monroe’s The Beach House comes a heartwarming story from women’s fiction author Diane Owens Prettyman about second chances as two people find a pathway out of their grief—directly in the aftermath of a hurricane.
The Texas Gulf: beautiful yet unpredictable.
A beach town destroyed. Her mother’s candy store swept away. This is what Teddy Wainsworth faces when she returns to Bird Isle. Meanwhile, Jack Shaughness, owner of a popular barbecue restaurant chain and widower still grieving the death of his wife, receives permission to cross over to the island with a smoker full of brisket to feed hurricane survivors. Soon after arriving, he meets Teddy and immediately finds himself drawn to her—which makes him feel he is betraying his wife. When the two find a lost dog, Jack convinces Teddy to take it home while they attempt to find the owner, creating a bond that brings them closer.
In the wake of the hurricane, Bird Isle residents fear the Aransas Wildlife Refuge will not be ready for the whooping cranes’ annual migration south. Seeing that Jack has important connections and a love for the island, they enlist him to help restore the habitat of the endangered cranes before they fly to Padre Island for the winter. With their rescued dog always nearby, Teddy and Jack work side by side to rebuild Bird Isle for the return of the whooping cranes. But Jack is harboring a secret that may ruin everything he and Teddy are creating—and he won’t be able to keep that secret forever.
Review:
Love is For The Birds is a contemporary romance novel with an eco-nature awareness twist. Teddy has lost her mother recently, so she has embraced owning a candy shop on Bird Isle, a small beach town in the Gulf near Texas. A hurricane swarms the area and wipes out the candy store. Now she is caught between living in Houston with her boyfriend Daniel or rebuilding on Bird Isle and making a new start with the candy shop. There is a twist with a man who comes in to share a BBQ with the town to raise money to help the residents of Bird Isle get back on their feet. There is a worry on the isle that the much-loved whooping cranes may not return to the isle due to the hurricane’s destruction of their habitat. There is a sweet, burning romance in this novel that was on the edge of my seat; I love the feel of the community of Bird Isle as they come together to recover from the hurricane. The addition of the whooping crane’s habitat, which needed to be cleaned up, and the hope that the birds would return was fantastic. There is a lot to love in this book. It is not just a romance but an eye-opening and cozy story.
About Diane owens prettyman
Diane Owens Prettyman is the author of the romantic adventure story “Thin Places” and the twentieth-century historical novel “Redesigning Emma”. She is also a frequent contributor to the Austin American-Statesman. Her third book “Love is for the Birds” will be released in October of 2024. This novel combines contemporary romance with eco-fiction for an entertaining beach read set on the Texas Gulf.
Diane stays true to her belief that every story has a happy ending, though perhaps sometimes, maybe even often, one has to wait for the perfect finale. Diane lives just a few hours’ drive from the Texas Gulf. She is an avid boogie boarder and spends her summers in the water. Her husband and two black standard poodles provide her room and board in Austin, Texas.
