Casting Off
Tricia FitzGerald-PetriRomantic suspense
Available from Wings ePress
ISBN: 1-59088-505-8
October 2005
| The small coastal town where Meg Barry lives and works survives only from the fishing the men of the community undertake. There isn't a massive amount of money in such a career and the women tend to have only the goal of marrying one of those said fisherman. Meg has no intention of marrying one and so she cleans for a living; a perfectly respectable job and enough to hold her over until she arrives at one of the goals set for herself; 'a job in the city, a man who wears a tie to work, a fancy …house… and a boat.' How she came to be the housekeeper for the most prominent bachelor of all time, is a story in itself. Suffice to say the sweet-talking creature had her agreeing to his need before she even knew what she was going to say in response. After 4 years, here she still is… today her problem is the ol' battleaxe that has her sights set on Meg's boss, young Miss 'conger eel' Helen.
Having endured enough of the conger, she decides to throw all caution out the door and do something totally wicked. Her boss and his girlfriend gone, her confidence and loyalty in Connor's friendship also departed, but his boat luckily available-now just how hard can it be to sail? This from a woman who never in her entire life had set foot on a sailboat… From all the little things forgotten, when one wants to disappear, to all the things that might possibly go wrong, and in a very big way, Meg had no way of foreseeing the repercussions of such a folly. Her dull, boring, lonely life was about to change in a very, very big way. I truly could envision this novel as a TV movie; so descriptive the story is. Whether the confidence this innocent village woman might have, the determination that she can do it, as in anything she wants, and then her acceptance of reality as it sweeps over, ultimately the desires this simple creature has would give her that as yet unattainable happiness. Amazing was the flow in describing how she deals so stolidly with the events in her life, leading up to this major undertaking. Definitely well captured was the feel of what sailing is truly about (my feeling every time I'm on a boat with my husband, who enjoys sailing), the typical very small town people, ideas, and events that tie all together when something out of the ordinary happens. I welcomed the moment when Connor and Meg, independently, realized just what they do want in their futures, and not what they'd actually thought they'd be wanting…
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Reviewer: Glenda K. Bauerle |
