Review:
Julia Martini is the new owner of her family's struggling bar, and she's determined to make it a success - not just because she's sunk a lot of her money into the place, but also because she wants her father to finally approve of her. He loves her, she knows that, but it feels like he's held her at arm's length ever since she came out as a lesbian.
Savannah McNally is a home health care worker who's basically been a caretaker in one way or another since her mother died. She's used to people needing her, which is part of why it stings a little that her dad and younger siblings seem to be turning to her dad's new girlfriend, Dina, more and more. Still, Dina seems to be good for her dad, so she tries to adjust. She feels vaguely guilty when she and her friend agree to meet at Martini's, a bar owned by a family that, for some reason, her dad hates - and then she meets Julia and is completely charmed by her.
In the acknowledgements, the author mentions that this series was inspired by her desire to write family-centered romances similar to stuff Nora Roberts and Jill Shalvis have written. Since Beers writes lesbian romances, in order to make the focus on a single family more believable, she opted to center things around three cousins rather than three siblings. This first book focuses on Julia Martini, while Book 2 focuses on her cousin Vanessa (a teacher), and Book 3 focuses on Amelia (who, in Book 1, is going through a painful divorce). Of the three, Amelia is the oldest. They've all been really close since Julia and Vanessa first came out to Amelia, who was already out.
As someone who is personally a big fan of Nora Roberts' "big, loud, loving family" romances, this book clicked with me right away. I loved the way Julia, Vanessa, and Amelia interacted, and there were plenty of family-related complications without making things too angsty.
Although I don't mind angst, it helps to be in the mood for it, and I was grateful that this was generally a low-angst read. There were a few potential issues - Savannah's concerns about her father showing early signs of dementia, incidents with Savannah's addict younger brother, and an overly clingy bar customer with a crush on Julia - but for the most part things didn't get too heavy. The bit that most concerned me was the customer with a crush on Julia. I honestly thought that would take a turn for "call the cops," so it was surprising (but also a relief) when that storyline fizzled out into nothing.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and definitely plan on reading more by this author.
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