From the New York Times bestselling author of California Girls comes an all new original Blackberry Island novel told with Susan Mallery’s trademark humor and charm. Sisters by Choice is a heartfelt tale of love, family and the friendships that see us through. Cousins by chance, sisters by choice… After her cat toy empire goes up in flames, Sophie Lane returns to Blackberry Island, … returns to Blackberry Island, determined to rebuild. Until small-town life reveals a big problem: she can’t grow unless she learns to let go. If Sophie relaxes her grip even a little, she might lose everything. Or she might finally be free to reach for the happiness and love that have eluded her for so long.
Kristine has become defined by her relationship to others. She’s a wife, a mom. As much as she adores her husband and sons, she wants something for herself–a sweet little bakery just off the waterfront. She knew changing the rules wouldn’t be easy, but she never imagined she might have to choose between her marriage and her dreams.
Like the mainland on the horizon, Heather’s goals seem beyond her grasp. Every time she manages to save for college, her mother has another crisis. Can she break free, or will she be trapped in this tiny life forever?
Don’t miss Susan Mallery’s latest book, The Stepsisters! A heartfelt tale of friendship between two women who used to be sisters.
more
Sophie loss her cat business in a fire and moves back to Blackberry Island to rebuild. She is very hard headed and wants to do everything her way and by herself.
Kristine wants to open her own bakery, but her husband isn’t happy about it.
Things get interesting as she goes about trying to get it up and running. Her sons are happy for her.
Heather wants to go to college but her mom is dependent on her and always finds a way to get the money that she saves for school. Heather works a couple jobs so she can save.
Together the three all work out their problem.
Good read
This is a good read (and may even inspire some readers to reassess choices made in their life). Three women who have taken different paths in life struggle to find what will truly make them better and happier in their lives. This story made me think about how I have handled situations in my life and how my choices have brought me to where I am now.
Loved, loved, loved this book!
I voluntarily offered to review this book with no obligations and my opinions are honest!
This was a great book !
Sophie lost her business in a fire.
Kristine wants to open a bakery.
Heather wants to go away for college.
They all want to pursue their dreams.
Is it a good thing that they have their sisters by their side cheering them on ?
Loved the characters + the storytelling !
It has all the ingredients that you need for a great book!
So much growth in one book.
Non-stop emotions from 3 very different, yet strong women.
Life lessons, that even I learned something from.
Susan Mallery never ceases to amaze me.
This may be my first of the Blackberry Island series,
and I can tell you that is won’t be my last.
I would highly recommend this, for me, possibly life-changing book
Happy reading!
Rating 5 stars
Note: I have voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this title.
Susan Mallery just gets better every book! This series has such a realistic storyline. We all have choices in life and everyone of us questions them at one point or another. Sophia is in turmoil, Kristine is getting restless and Heather is just starting her quest. They all have elements that resonated with me. A must read!
This was a hard book to put down, so full of emotion and family drama. The story centers around four women that are cousins in Blackberry Island. By the way, I just love this little island.
Sophie looses her business, CK in a fire and decides to relocate to Blackberry Island to expand her business, she is use to micromanaging but soon finds out this will no longer work. He one big love is her business and the love of cats but is afraid to open her heart to anyone else, including Dugan.
Kristine, has been perfect wife/mother and bakes on the side but now wants more. She wants to open her own bakery. But will it be her marriage or life long dream of owning her own bakery?
Amber, oh what a mess she is!! She is the first of always saying why me and oh pitty me! She just needs to grow up. I must say, I did not like Amber.
Heather, Amber’s daughter is the one I felt for. She gave up her life for her mother and always had a hard time saying no. But now her dream is to go away to college and living her dream.
I think we can relate to all of these women at some time of our life’s, hopefully not to much of Amber though. We all need to take a chance and be brave for change to happen.
“Sisters by Choice” is a compelling story of family dynamics and love. All throughout the book, the reader’s attention is captivated by the trials & tribulations of building a cat toy business empire and starting all over. The main character Sophie is a very driven and uniquely faceted lady, whom all learn to depend on. The author nailed the family dynamics and personalities of the supporting characters in the story. A lot of it will hit very close to home for many readers. You’ll get warm fuzzy’s as you see Sophie nurture/foster two shelter cats throughout the story. One of my favorite books by the author!
This can’t be the end!
An exceptional book by an exceptional author. I’m hoping that the next book will answer the questions that left me hanging.
Sisters by Choice. Wow, you almost have to define the issues of each one of the lead characters in this book individually. None of them are easy, but with the signature Mallery style, you find yourself relating to them in some way or another.
Sophie loses her business in a catastrophic fire and decides to relocate to her hometown, Blackberry Island, where she can rebuild with her extended family close. With her unrealistic ‘micro-manager’ management technique, Sophie buffaloes her way into all aspects of the business like she did when she began. Unfortunately, she can’t do this any longer. Her ‘I’m the only one who can make sure the job gets done correctly’ management mantra has to change. Will she let this happen?
Kristine, house-wife extraordinaire, with 3 sons and a husband she loves dearly, plus a flourishing mini-bakery business that she runs out of her house. Something needs to give. Will her desire to have a REAL bakery, away from her house, be the stepping stone she needs to succeed as her kids need her less, or will her marriage suffer irreparable harm if she follows her dreams?
Heather was adultified as a young teen since her mother, Amber, blamed her for everything bad that happened and made her the ‘adult’ in the family far too early. Now Heather wants to get out. She wants to be a 20-year-old college student, rather than a convenient source of income for her mother. As she begins to work for Sophie and dreams that she’ll be able to leave sooner rather than later, will her mother’s actions sabotage her efforts?
Amber…OMG…Can we just agree that Amber is a piece of work? Everything always goes wrong for her because, she got pregnant, and had Heather, and never got a chance to do anything. Whiny, entitled, blame everyone else for my problems because it can’t be me witch doesn’t even begin to describe Amber. Manipulating everyone, all the time, I just don’t like her or any of her actions!
Taking on a multitude of psychological issues for four women with such different personalities in one book is difficult. Susan Mallery is up to the task! Power and control, throttle and brake, manipulation and acceptance. How these women deal with others and themselves as they go forward was amazing to watch.
All of the women in this book have flaws. Some are on the way to being fixed. Others won’t ever change. The take-away from this book is, some things and people never change but when you can make positive changes, the world opens up to you in marvelous ways.
Loved this book. Sisters by Choice brings you into the life of 4 woman with changes and choices that need to be made. Tears and laughter make a great story. I highly recommend it. Page turner for me wanting to see what was next.
I will be recommending it to all of my book friends. A must read!!
We get the chance to go back to Blackberry Island and we get to know these cousins in real life but they really are more like sisters. They are as different as can with different problems but when reality comes calling they pull together. I really enjoyed this one and not going to give anything away since I really want you to pick it up and form your own opinions. It is not a romance, it is a woman’s lit, and it is fantastic.
We are going back to Blackberry island with cousins Sofie, Kristine and Heather! I love going back because of all the emotions you go thru to get to the powerful ending and SM knows how to write those powerful and uplifting endings. I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book.
I love reading Susan Mallery’s book and this one was no exception. I enjoyed reading this book about the closeness of cousins and accepting them for their flaws. There was a time or two that if I could, I would have like to give a cousin a shake out of frustration but also wanted to give a hug for comfort 🙂 You hit another home run, Susan!
This book follows 3 cousins who are like sisters. Sophie is a driven, controlling business women, and is having to rebuild her business after a fire. Kristine is a stay at home mom, but wants to open a bakery. Heather wants to go to college and get off the island but her mom is needy and is guilts her into taking care of her. This is a story that follows them through their struggles. I enjoyed this book and watching these women grow. There is a romance for Sophie but this book is more focused on the 3 women.
This is a wonderful new women’s fiction book about three cousins who go through a difficult time and find happiness. These cousins could not be more different, but all are struggling to find what makes them happy. As they are different women they handle the situations differently. Susan Mallery does a great job developing her characters and these cousins are funny and lovable. She also keeps the pace going in the story. I actually had a hard time putting it down. A wonderful story!
I enjoy reading Susan Mallery’s book, especially the ones where she has created a town or in this case an island. This was a pretty good read. I could not stand Amber at all (AWFUL), I also didn’t understand the attitude, oh she’s family. so lets continue with the carrying her through life. UGH. I was really impressed with Heather (Amber’s daughter) and how she finally stood up for herself. I liked the banter between Kristine and her boys, that was really funny. All in all, a good visit to Blackberry Island.
Another wonderful book by Susan Mallery. The characters were real, with quirks and flaws. I laughed, cried, and wanted to scream a time or two. This is a well written story that flowed and kept my attention from beginning to end.
What a fabulous story. A true celebration of following your dreams and of being accepted for who you really are, even when you’re quite a jerk.
I loved this quirky book and recognized the characters from my own life. I think you will too.