Book ~ "Lost & Found in Lunenburg" (2023) Jane Doucet

From Goodreads ~ Rose and Jim, her husband of almost twenty years, have been living happily in Halifax, Nova Scotia, since moving from Toronto more than a decade earlier. With a satisfying career, two sweet rescue mutts, and her family nearby, Rose's life is golden - until one day, her world unexpectedly implodes. 

Widowed suddenly soon after her fiftieth birthday, Rose is addled by grief. Could that be why three months later, she decides to buy her friend Wendy Hebb's sex shop in the tiny coastal community of Lunenburg? As she rushes to rent her house and store her belongings, her older sister, Daisy, worries that Rose is running away - from the home that she and Jim lived in together and its constant reminders of what she's lost. 

When Rose lands in Lunenburg in a furnished condo with a year’s lease, a colourful cast of local characters keeps her from drowning in grief: a long-lost quirky cousin with a mysterious health condition; a busybody septuagenarian widow who pushes Rose to join a bereavement group; and a handsome restaurant owner who stirs feelings in Rose she isn’t ready to face. As the condo's lease creeps closer to its expiration date, Rose must make a choice - continue carving out her new life in Lunenburg, or move back to her Halifax home?

Jim throws an elaborate surprise party for his wife, Rose's 50th birthday. Two weeks later he is hit by a car while riding his bike and dies. This leaves Rose alone with their two rescue dogs. They say you shouldn't make any drastic life decisions in the first year after a tragedy but Rose needs a fresh start away from everything that reminds her of Jim. She quits her job as a freelance editor, rents out her house in Halifax and moves to the small fishing community of Lunenburg, almost an hour and a half away, to buy her friend's sex shop.

As she settles in, there's a lot of stress but excitement of starting her new life but Jim's presence is still with her. She makes friends, connects with her long lost eccentric cousin and runs her business. A local bar opener has a crush on her and she's attracted to him but she's not willing to pursue it until she knows she's ready.

This story picks up 10 years after Wendy has started the sex shop (the one Rose buys in this story) in Fishnets & Fantasies and Rose and Jim were still living in Toronto and deciding whether to have children in The Pregnant Pause (I've read them both). Because of Jim's death and illnesses and accidents of some of the local residents, it's a bit gloomier than the first two, though the humour is still there at times. The writing is in third person perspective with the focus on Rose. I found there were a lot of characters to keep track of and the author gave their backstory from the previous books even though it didn't really factor into the story (for example, so-and-so is the son of so-and-so he never knew he had and here's why and he is married to this so-on-one). As a head's up, there is some swearing.

Book ~ "The Pregnant Pause" (2023) Jane Doucet

From Goodreads ~ Just before her thirty-seventh birthday, Rose Ainsworth has her first attack of baby fever. She adores children, especially her sister’s kids, but she’s facing a dilemma. Not only is her husband refusing to commit to becoming a parent but her friends are drowning in the joys of mothering. She feels cut off and, worst of all, she’s worried that maybe she isn’t motherhood material. 

Rose’s journey through the potential pitfalls and prospects of parenting is a roller coaster ride - a journey that many women travel as they work, play and listen to their biological clock ticking away. 

Rose and her husband, Jim, have been married for a few years and living in Toronto. Her 37th birthday is coming up (Jim is a couple years younger) and it seems like everyone around her is having babies. Since she's getting older, she knows she has to make a decision soon about whether she wants kids or not. Jim has made it clear that he doesn't want kids but she's not sure. She loves her sister's three kids and has seen how having kids has changed her friendships once her female friends have had kids. Throughout the story, she waffles back and forth about what the right decision for her and Jim.

This was a cute story and I liked it. The writing is in third person perspective with the focus on Rose. I've always known that I never wanted kids so it was interesting to read Rose's arguments to have or not have kids. The story takes place in Toronto so I knew the neighbourhoods Rose was talking about. I'm originally from Nova Scotia, as is Rose, so I knew the places where she was when she went "home" to visit her sister, Daisy. As a head's up, there is some swearing.

Book ~ "Fishnets & Fantasies" (2021) Jane Doucet

From Goodreads ~ Wendy Hebb has been a fisherman’s wife for forty years. She has also been a mother, a yoga instructor and part-time soap maker. She loves her life in picturesque Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, but it’s just not enough anymore. With a burning entrepreneurial desire, she decides that when her husband, Paul, retires, it will finally be her turn to live out her dream. The catch: her dream is to open a sex shop. 

While Paul begrudgingly goes along with Wendy’s “half-cocked” idea, it’s out of a sense of guilt; a recently spilled secret has their marriage on the rocks. As soon as the townspeople get wind of Wendy’s plans, it opens up a whole other can of worms - and Paul finds himself bait for the local rumour mill. Her silent, “invisible” partner in the project, he secretly hopes her plan for the shop will fail.

Orbiting around Paul and Wendy’s story is a motley crew of characters including the Hebbs’ daughter, Ellen, a feminist academic who catches the eye of a lady-killer coworker while home for the summer; Wendy’s best friend, Betty, a chain-smoking seamstress with secrets of her own; the local minister and her husband, who secretly indulge in role play; and the wealthy Sonya and Booth, who will stop at nothing to make sure the shop never opens its doors - as long as they can avoid discussing their failing marriage.

Paul has been a fisherman for 40 years and though it's breaking his heart to sell his boat and license, he knows it's time to retire.  His wife, Wendy, has been waiting for this day as she plans on opening her own business when Paul retires.  Over the years, she has tried many things and now has her sights set on opening a sex shop in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, the small town where they live about an hour's drive from Halifax.  

Paul resists as he's concerned with what his friends and the other townsfolk will say and think.  But Wendy doesn't care and she has the support of their adult daughter, Ellen, and her friends.  Sonya and Booth had gone to high school with Wendy and Paul and had made it big in Toronto.  They recently moved "back home" and are opposed to Wendy's plans and try to rustle up enough people in town to sign a petition to stop it.

What initially caught my attention to this book was that it was set in Nova Scotia (and I'm originally from there).  I wasn't sure what to expect from the description and subject matter.  But it was a cute story and I liked it.  The writing is in third person perspective in the voices of various characters including Wendy, Paul, Ellen and more and they use lingo and sayings that a Nova Scotian would use (especially Wendy's friend, Betty).  I liked that the characters were "mature" ... they were my age, on the cusp of turning sixty.  Plus the author used actually places in Lunenburg ... for example, the bar that Ellen works at during the summer is an actual place (I was curious and Googled).  As a head's up, there is swearing and discussions of adult activity.