Friendship is something that comes easily to some. For others it’s a hard won experience. For the four completely different women that have come to Happiness Key it’s been something of a surprise.

April and her granddaughter, Olivia, have come to heal. And they are. April is crafty, insightful, and loyal. She’s a wonderful person. Olivia still has wounds but they’re mending quickly with the love and patience of their neighbors.


Janya went against the marriage her family arranged and married Rishi. He has been a wonderful husband, until recently. Now, though, he comes home late, lies about where he’s been, misses special time with Janya, and finds excuses to skip their intimate time together. Will their marriage ever work as they’d hoped?


Tracy, owner of Fortunate Harbor, is still reeling from her ex-husband’s antics when he pops back into her life. She needs to decide whether it’s CJ she wants or the gorgeous environmentalist and his son who have been keeping her company.


Wanda the most outrageous of the bunch has been a waitress practically forever. Now though, they’re making changes at the restaurant she’s put so much time into and she’s not sure how much longer she can take it. Wear heels to serve a toddler a fried shrimp plate – I don’t think so! Wanda’s husband Ken is a police officer and spending his time training in Georgia. Wanda needs something to do that won’t require a foot soak every night.


Luckily, Wanda meets Dana and her daughter, Lizzie at work. Dana’s also waitressing but it’s much harder as she doesn’t know what to do with eleven year old Lizzie. To top that off they’re staying in a trashy motel because it’s all they can afford. Wanda sees how hard Dana is trying to do the single mom thing and offers to introduce Dana to the girls. Their is still one empty bungalow in their development. It’s not great but it’s better – and cheaper – than where they’ve been staying. 


After Dana joins their little community the others start to notice that she’s a bit wary around people. She practically runs from men – especially officers of the law. She refuses to give out much information about herself. And she’s always gardening. Will the other Fortunate Harbor residents investigate or will they let it go?


This is the very first book I’ve read by Emilie Richards. It was awesome! I generally don’t like the ‘relationship’ sort of books – I’m into romance, murder, & mayhem – but this was perfect!


Things I liked about the book was how they treated each other. Their friendship felt so real and comfortable. They picked, they teased, they argued, they laughed, they were together. There was no crying in this book – yes, I deem that a plus! I had trouble putting it down. I just kept picking it up again. I kept reading at stop lights and every time I had an extra minute. I always read a lot but not like that. 


Things I didn’t like: well, this was an ARC copy and the editing wasn’t perfect. I actually have some issues with that. Misspelled words, incorrect punctuation, some margin/paragraph errors. It wasn’t tremendous but for me it detracted. I also thought that Tracy was too nice to CJ. Her attitude towards him was completely plausible and probably more a real life attitude but I really wanted to be mad at him for her.


All in all. A definite must read! I’ll be grabbing all the Emilie Richards books I can get my hands on… within reason of course, I’m a BBA member!

** Many of the books I review are Advance Review Copies. These books are loaned to me for my review. I am in no way compensated for my time nor am I asked to give anything but my honest review.

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