I enjoyed this book and its setting. I was thankful that though it was contemporary, it stayed clean. The other reviewers did a thorough job at describing the plot. I haven't decided yet if I'll continue the series. ( )

So I ended up enjoying this first book so much I went and bought books #2 and #3 and finished them this weekend. I love books that go back to either the same character over time and or the same community and you get to follow up with characters. "Rainy Day Sisters" is the first book in the Hartley-by-the-Sea series by Kate Hewitt.

"Rainy Day Sisters" follows two main characters, half sisters Juliet and Lucy. Juliet is older than Lucy by about 10 years I think. Juliet and Lucy are not close. Their famous artist mother, Fiona, moved to Boston more than two decades ago with Lucy and left Juliet behind to fend for herself. Lucy is going through a terrible time after a horrible review (written by her own mother) comes out in the press before her first gallery showing. Juliet offers her a place to stay in Hartley where she can lick her wounds and hide for a bit. Problem is that Juliet almost wishes Lucy gone as soon as she arrives. Both sisters definitely have a lot to learn about each other.

I honestly loved both characters so much while reading this. Juliet is reluctant to let anyone in. When your mother tells you she never wanted you and does her best to not acknowledge your existence it's hard. And Juliet is resentful from all of the love she sees that Fiona gave Lucy when she was a child that she never got. Juliet is running a bed and breakfast and has her two shelter dogs and she thinks that may be enough. When Lucy comes to stay a lot of old wounds for her open up.

Lucy is reeling from her mother's betrayal as well as the ultimatum she gave her boyfriend blowing up in her face. Getting a temporary job at the local school should help Lucy keep things together, however, she finds herself crushing on the head of the school who makes Mr. Darcy look downright pleasant.

I loved the conversations that Juliet and Lucy eventually have. It takes a while for them to open up to each other though so don't expect things to just be fantastic a few chapters in. I think Hewitt did a good job showing how hard it would be to connect to someone you don't really know, but are expected to be close to due to blood ties.

The secondary characters were great. We are introduced to Rachel Campbell (she's one of the characters in book #2) in this one along with the love interests that I really did enjoy. We get introduced to many people in this one that are followed up in books #2 and #3.

I really enjoyed the writing and the flow of the book. Each chapter alternates between Juliet and Lucy. We also get some of the characters using Cumbrian words/dialect like areet for are you all right? I wish that we had more of that in this book with maybe a dictionary in the back, but for the most part you definitely got the gist of what people were saying.

Hartley-by-the-Sea is a pretty cool setting. It's a lake district in Northern England. Most of the townspeople have known each other for years and you get to read about the prior history of some of the residents that gets followed up in subsequent books.

I really loved this ending. Hewitt could have made it schmaltzy, but refrained. She was quite realistic that both sisters relationship was not going to magically get better. If you have a terrible mother through your childhood, chances are she's still going to be terrible when you're an adult as well. ( )

Based on a review by my bookish friend at Angry Grey Cat Reads I picked up this novel by Kate Hewitt.

Since I seemed to be on a police procedural kick lately I wanted to read a completely different genre. This book would be classified as women’s fiction and the setting was absolutely perfect. My great grandparents and his line hailed from Cumbia, living in Burnrigg and Wetheral before coming to the United States to start a new life. Reading about the Cumbria setting took me away as an armchair traveler.

The Rainy Day Sisters are Lucy and Juliet. They are actually half-siblings who haven’t grown up together or had much contact with one another over the years. Their mother, Fiona, clearly favors the younger child Lucy and has shunned Juliet all her life. We find out why near the end of the book but I can say, I was not at all sympathetic with Fiona.

After Fiona managed to derail Lucy’s career in Boston, Juliet offers Lucy sanctuary in her small village, telling her to come live at her B&B and take a temporary job at the local school. It doesn’t take long for Lucy to love the village and the people, especially her dishy boss Alex Kincaid. Where Lucy is fun loving and quick to smile, Juliet is standoffish and keeps her feelings to herself. Clearly they want to become closer and have a sisterly relationship.

It’s a family drama with a bit of romance thrown in. Not the sort of book I usually gravitate toward but I know I would read more by Kate Hewitt.

As a matter of fact, when I opened this book I saw it’s a series called Hartley-by-the-Sea so I will add these to my stacks for future reading. ( )

Juliet and Lucy are half sisters who have never really gotten to know each other. They are 11years apart and Lucy and their Mom moved to Boston when Lucy was only 6 and Juliet stayed in England. To say that they aren't close at the beginning of the novel is an understatement. Even though they don't really know each other, Juliet invites Lucy to her b&b in Hartley-by-the-Sea when her life in Boston falls apart. Juliet is very unfriendly and resentful of the life that Lucy lived with their mother and is very unfriendly to Lucy.

So now we have two sisters who dislike and resent each other but they still need each other. They both need family and need to learn to be each other's family despite their earlier feelings. Their struggle to learn whether they can depend on each other is the major theme of the novel.

The novel is very good. There were times that I didn't like either one of the sisters but once I understood their backgrounds, they became more likable. I enjoyed this book for the story and for the wonderful scenery in small town England. ( )

Rainy Day by Kate Hewitt
Summary makes it sound like a good book, it's more than that for me.
Starts out with Lucy and she's been humilated not only at work but by her mother and boyfriend. She leaves to go overseas for a few months to board at her half sister that she's not seen but a couple of times.
She even has a job at the local elementary school. Juliette runs and local B&B and has people in and out all day but the girls have time to spend together where they learn about one another.
They have the same mother and it's explained why they never spent time together while growing up. They have a lot of time to make up for.
Lucy is getting comfortable at her job and the boss...she goes out with a group of people that work there and is starting to actually like the boss-so many have warned he's stern.
Loved all the places described, especially those while they are out walking the dogs, such a perfect spot even during the rainy season.
Some of the English words I am unfamiliar with but you get the gist as you're reading along. Handful of characters makes it very easy to keep track of who is who.
Each of the sisters gets alternating chapters as the story goes along it's cool to be able to find out how the other sister is seeing things that one already described but from her angle.
They have goals they still want to achieve and get over the relationship with their mother, and Juliette sets the record straight on that accord. Family medical emergency leads one of them to leave England, for a short time.
But those plans don't go according to the plan either... more in the series from the same locale are excerpted at the end.
won in a contest ( )