Review: Waiting for a View

By Debby Mayne

Waiting for a View by Debby Mayne is the first book (novella) in what promises to be a delightful series set in the fictional town of Bloomfield.  The Bloomfield series depicts a small town where life is simple, love is real, and stories are shared.  These books are written by different authors - Debby Mayne, Gail Sattler, Kathi Macias, Martha Rogers, Trish Perry, Jenness Walker, Tracy Bowen, and Miralee Ferrell - and will be released in various formats every few months. 

Sherry Butler, manager of the local card shop and Vice President of the Garden Club, lives in the family home left by her parents.  Seemingly content in her "comfort zone," she resists the not-so-gentle nudging of family friend, Naomi, to step out.  Brad Henderson, an admirer from the past, works with Sherry and her Garden Club committee in building a playground for the community, while seeking to know her better.  With Naomi's encouragement, Sherry finally decides to put her house on the market and her name on the waiting list for a nice apartment with a view of the lake.

Waiting for a View introduces us to the quaint town of Bloomfield and some of its quirky, yet endearing characters.  Debby brings in some great humor when Sherry looks after Murray the Parrot while his owner travels, and I hope we see more of Murray in future books.  It is also refreshing to see two major characters who are older - Sherry at 40 and Naomi almost 80.  Naomi is a mother figure to Sherry, and their relationship is one of my favorite parts.  "Naomi's mission:  Fix anything broken and tweak what wasn't.  The question in Sherry's mind was whether she was a fix or a tweak."

This is a light story - no complexity, suspense or adventure here.  Waiting for a View is about a town desiring to reach 10,000 in population, yet striving to maintain its small-town closeness as more development comes in.  Taking this novella for what it is, I found it enjoyable.  I'm hoping we will see more of this story's main characters and that some of the lesser characters will have their time in future books.

More about Debby Mayne and her books can be found here:

http://debbymayne.com/

This book was provided by B&H Books through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.