Review: POSTCARDS FROM CEDAR KEY by Terri DuLong

Berkley Whitmore, forty-six and never married, runs Berkley's Chocolates & Gems in Salem, Massachusetts. Also an avid knitter, she owns two alpacas whose wool she turns into yarn. Despite her outward confidence, she doubts her ability to have a meaningful relationship. After her mother passes away Berkley discovers a box of postcards and letters that lead her to Cedar Key. There, Berkley meets Saxton Tate III, a British mystery writer whose laid-back attitude and humour is precisely the balm she needs. With the locals' help, Berkley begins to unravel the secrets of her mother's mysterious past. And gradually she comes to find acceptance, forgiveness, understanding, and resolution - and the love she has spent years searching for.

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Berkley Whitmore doesn't know why her mother abandoned her during the summer of 1972, leaving her behind with her grandmother in Massachusetts. Neither woman was willing to talk to Berkley about the reasons for the trip, even after she became an adult.

When her mom passes away, she finds a stack of postcards from the summer in question that lead her to Cedar Key, Florida. Berkley moves to the island and opens a chocolate shop. In between her time working at her store and spinning yarn for her internet business, she searches for clues to why her mom ran away to Cedar Key when Berkley was five. She hopes that a few of the lifelong residents of the island will remember something about that summer and help her solve the mystery of her mother's past.

I seem to have the minority opinion about this book, because most of the other reviewers loved it. I picked up this book because I enjoy stories where clues to family secrets are revealed in old-fashioned correspondence (letters and postcards!). Unfortunately there were things in this book that didn't sit well with me, the main one being the big secret her mother Jeanette was hiding. I think the reason Jeanette fled to Cedar Key was very understandable, but what I don't understand is why she kept it a secret from Berkley after she reached adulthood.

Apparently the summer Jeanette left Berkley was so detrimental to her well-being that she could never have a meaningful relationship with anyone. Honestly, when I started reading the book, based on Berkley's issues I thought her mom had abandoned her for good, but it turns out it was just the summer months when Berkley was five. Regardless, it just seems her mom and grandmother should have been honest with her a looong time ago.

The other part of the story was Berkley's budding romantic relationship with a local mystery writer named Saxton. Let me tell you that Saxon was a delight - smart, charming, witty, British - but I just didn't feel a spark between them. As friends, they were perfect together. More like "kissing cousins" than two people dating exclusively. 

What I did love about the book was the setting and secondary characters. Cedar Key sounds absolutely beautiful and welcoming (and it's a real place off the west coast of Florida). The colorful characters were a lot of fun getting to know.

POSTCARDS FROM CEDAR KEY is part of the Cedar Keys series, but can be read stand-alone.

Review copy courtesy of the publisher.