Lose your heart to Summer Island, where summers are easy, winters are cozy and friends welcome you with open arms Summer Island has always been home to Meg Sloan. She runs the Summerbrook Inn, like her grandmother did, and she loves the laid-back pace of life and the close-knit community the island offers. Meg also loves Zack Sheppard, but what she doesn’t love is Zack’s refusal to commit to an … commit to an exclusive relationship.
Seth Darden arrives on Summer Island in search of summer work, but also in search of something else–his past. There are secrets buried at the Summerbrook Inn, secrets that forged the path of Seth’s life. But he wasn’t counting on falling for the lovely innkeeper, Meg.
When Meg meets Seth, she can’t ignore the sparks that fly between them, even though she feels like her heart has been torn in half. But if Zack won’t commit, should she take the leap with Seth? And can she even have a future with him if he can’t reckon with his past?
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In “The One Who Stays”, Toni Blake delves into the world of women’s fiction. Her writing voice is perfectly suited to this genre.
The first book in the Summer Island series introduces us to Meg Sloan, the owner of Summerbrook Inn and several other residents of the island.
Meg loves the island and the inn. It’s a place where she sought shelter after a life-altering event. But now, she isn’t sure it’s a place she wants to be nor is she sure if she wants to be with Zack, a man she’s been in a non-committed relationship with for a few years.
Then Seth comes along, looking for contracting work for the summer. His charm is appealing and Meg shares things with him she never expected to reveal.
As Meg begins to change things around the inn, changes occur within her, making her realize she deserves happiness and if she wants something, she should ask for it.
Not only are we part of Meg’s journey, we learn more about Seth and why he came to Summer Island. His part of the story will grab your heart.
And then there is Zack. A man, who loves Meg, but holds pieces of his himself back in his relationship with her.
Ms. Blake crafts a beautiful story, pulling you into these character’s lives and making you believe Summer Island actually exists. Plus, the ending (or new beginning?) of Meg’s journey, was exactly as I hoped it would be!
If you are a fan of Susan Mallery or Robyn Carr, I highly recommend you pick up “The One Who Stays” and add it to your bookshelf.
This is book #1 in the Summer Island series.
It is the story of Meg Sloan and Jack Sheppard.
Meg runs the Summerbrook Inn on Summer Island. It has always been home to her. Just like her grandmother did, Meg loves the laid-back pace of life and the close-knit community the island offers. Meg has been seeing a local man, named Zack. He has not committed to her and is reluctant to be exclusive with her.
Seth Darden is in search of his past and arrives on Summer Island in search of some seasonal work. Secrets are buried at the Inn and some are ones that created the path of his life. He goes in search of his answers, but never thought falling for the lovely innkeeper was one of them.
Meg meets Seth and sparks fly between them. She can’t ignore them but her heart has been torn in half. Zack still won’t commit but does that mean she should take a leap with Seth? If Seth isn’t able to make peace with his past, can Meg even have a future with him?
I enjoyed this story. I love the Inn, the Island, the friends, and the closeness of the community. Meg wrestles with what to do with the love she has for two men. Glad they both found the answers they needed to make their lives what they wanted.
Steamy and swoonworthy.
2.5 stars max
I’ve liked some of her other books but this one wasn’t one of them. I just didn’t feel the connection with either man. It wasn’t a warm happy book for me. It was a little depressing. The h wasn’t happy where she lived, or happy without a man and neither one was giving what she needed.
I guess it just wasn’t for me.
This was a welcome entertaining modern romance that had the perfect nostalgic recipe added in that had me turning pages quickly!! You can’t help but root for both Zack & Seth the entire time . All the characters were well developed & the beautiful island setting only enhanced this truly wonderful story
Toni Blake is an auto read for me, but this time she outdid herself, keeping me guessing until the end which of the two men the heroine would choose for her well deserved HEA.
3.5 Stars! Romantic, engaging, and sweet!
The One Who Stays is a heartwarming, inspiring tale featuring the dependable innkeeper and cancer survivor Meg and the charismatic, secretive, hardworking Seth as they work together to unravel secrets from the past and find a place to truly call home.
The prose is light and hopeful. The characters are supportive, welcoming, and authentic. And the plot is a dramatic tale full of relationship dynamics, genuine emotion, family, friendship, community, life, loss, love, and a touch of romance.
Overall, The One Who Stays is a heartfelt, entertaining tale about accepting the things you cannot change, letting go of the past, rediscovering one’s self, taking chances, and moving on.
This is book 1 in the Summer Island series and while I normally love books by Toni Blake, I had a really hard time with this one. In it we meet Meg Sloan and Seth Darden. Meg has been dating a fisherman named Zack for years but is tired of him leaving her to spend most of his time on his boat doing what he loves along with his refusal to settle down with her. When she meet’s Seth she isn’t expects sparks to fly or for her to make a decision on where she wants her life to go this soon. But now she needs to make a choice and hope it’s the right one.
I really did try to like this book but I think for me it seemed too much like a love triangle. Parts of it are extremely slow and too drawn out for me. But my biggest issue was that she is supposedly in love with Zack, even though she is tired of him leaving. But she doesn’t even break things off with him fully before she decides to jump into something with Seth. And I didn’t like that at all. I gave it 3 stars because while I didn’t like the actions of the heroine, the writing isn’t horrible. It’s just not a story for me.
I loved visiting Summer Island. Meg and Seth were the perfect escape from hot summer days. Blake’s books are usually more about the heroine than the hero and this is no exception. I enjoyed watching Meg figure out what was best for her, even as she realized sometimes the best things are right in front of you.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this novel.
It’s been several years since I’ve read a book from this author, and my recollection of her work is quite positive so I was excited to read an early copy of this book. I loved the picturesque, vivid island setting and small-town feel. The main characters were well developed and authentic, and the secondary characters just enough quirky to make them memorable.
Sadly, this book didn’t live up to my memory of this author’s work. My problem was with the copious amount of narrative that detracted from my reading experience. There was a lot of character introspection that rarely revealed anything new and a lot of telling rather than showing. There were also times when a question asked and answered had several paragraphs between so I had to go back and find out what the question was to begin with.
All of this had the effect of bogging down the story and frustrating me, rather than building up emotion or driving the story forward. It got to the point that I was dreading returning to the book and skipping large chunks just to get to the meat of the story. Because I read for pleasure and don’t want reading to be work, this style isn’t for me. If you’re a fan of this author and have the attitude “the more the better,” this one may be right up your alley.
*I read an early edition of this book freely and voluntarily, having made no commitment to provide feedback and receiving no compensation of any kind from any source.
Good book, though it read more like women’s fiction than the romance I thought it was. It was enjoyable, but I frequently found my attention wandering to scrolling through facebook rather than reading the book. The only thing that kept me on task was that I was reading on a transatlantic flight, so distractions were limited.
Meg is an innkeeper on Summer Island, running the inn that she inherited from her grandmother. She retreated to the inn several years earlier, recovering from both a serious illness and the desertion of her fiancé when he found out about that illness. She likes the quieter lifestyle and the closeness of the resident community but also enjoys the bustle of the summer tourist season. For the past five years, she has been in a relationship of sorts with Zack, but she finds herself wanting more than he is willing to give.
Zack is a fisherman who spends long periods on his boat. He is content to leave his relationship with Meg as it is. He likes that she is there for him when he returns to port on Summer Island and doesn’t complain when he leaves again.
Seth came to the island in search of work but also looking for something from his past. He visited once as a child, along with his grandparents, and a memory from that time has brought him back. Seth’s past haunts him, and he is looking to make some significant changes.
The book opens as Zack leaves Meg once again. It is their fifth anniversary and Meg had made plans, but Zack behaves as if it is just another day. Meg finally faces the fact that Zack is unlikely ever to give her the commitment that she needs. With the idea that Zack may no longer be in her life, Meg contemplates the idea of selling the inn and moving away, starting a new life somewhere that she can find what she needs. Fate intervenes with the arrival of Seth, a handsome, younger man who is looking for work as a handyman. He is light-hearted and charming, and Meg hires him to do some needed repairs on the inn. She doesn’t expect the attraction that flares between them.
I had fun watching the friendship that developed between Seth and Meg. He is an outrageous flirt and makes no secret of his attraction to Meg, but leaves it up to her whether to pursue it. In the meantime, they work together on projects around the inn, and Seth’s attention to Meg gives her a taste of what could be. I loved all the little things that he did to show her how special she is. Meg is torn between her loyalty to Zack and the feelings she develops for Seth. Things become more complicated when Seth’s presence makes Zack realize that he could lose the woman who is such a big part of his life. Can he let go of his past enough to give Meg what she needs? At the same time, Seth gets closer to solving the issue that brought him to Summer Island. His feelings for Meg grow deeper, but so do his fears of her reaction if he should confess his reasons for coming to the island. An unexpected part of Seth’s past arrives on the island, forcing him to face those fears, and providing some much-needed healing. But will it be enough for him to believe that he deserves a chance at happiness?
As Meg and Seth work on the inn’s renovations, they discover an old diary of her grandmother’s, hidden long before. As Meg reads the diary, she finds some unexpected parallels with her own life. I loved Meg’s surprise at the things she learned and how she used them to deal with her own problems. There was a surprising twist at the end of the diary that I didn’t see coming and made me smile when all was revealed. I liked how it helped Meg face her fears and insecurities and embrace life on her own terms. The ending was terrific.
I liked the secondary characters, such as Meg’s friend Suzanne and the other residents of the island. Suzanne was a good friend to Meg. I enjoyed how she was both a sounding board for Meg when she needed to talk, and also a kick-in-the-pants when Meg needed a little extra push to step outside her comfort zone. I liked how the residents looked out for each other, even though there was sometimes a little too much attention for Meg’s comfort.
Well I was bored the heroine bored me and it was kind of hard to stay on course and read it til the end, but I did. It was sad to say that by the end or middle or whenever I could not care less who she would pick, ok let me back up and explain. So Meg has had a sort of-yes sort of relationship with Zack for 5 years but he wouldn’t really commit yet everyone on the island saw them as a couple. When he goes off on on one of his fishing trips she ends up meeting Seth, convenient right? Any who she loves Zack but realizes that she wants and deserves more, so now we have a love triangle both men vying for her attention you would think that with this it would be more interesting but sad to say for me not as much..There was a journal and it seems her grandmother had same issue so now we have 2 stories her grandmoms and hers and Meg is going thru some self discovery.. I gave it a three because it was not badly written just needed more ooomph
Rcvd an ARC at no cost to author..(netgalley) voluntarily reviewed with my own thoughts and opinions.