Ali McNamara’s The Summer of Serendipity is a cute romantic mystery novel. The story is about a property seeker Serendipity or Ren as she calls herself and Finn, a hotel manager. The story becomes super interesting when Ren and her bubbly assistant Kiki stumble upon a property with NO OWNER in Ireland. While the place Ballykiltara, Ireland is described beautifully, this house “The Welcome House” adds the much needed mystery to this otherwise plain romance novel.
While Ren desperately tries to find the owner to see if she can negotiate a sale, she begins to delve deeper into the history and legends that surround the old house and the town. But for a woman who has always been focused on her work, she’s remarkably distracted by Finn. The chase to find the owner is written amazingly well. I could relate to all the words because Ren is very logical when she is trying to dig into the history of this house.While Kiki is cute and ignorant, Ren is desperate for answers. McNamara’s attempt to make us believe in the mystery of this house and be truly desperate to read till this end is commendable.
The house takes us with Ren to multiple junctures. Its intriguing and very entertaining. A classis page turner. Ren is met with multiple people with many viewpoints, including the CHURCH PRIEST. Yes, A Priest. While it was little hard to believe, but from a story point of view, it is indeed good..!! There are multiple friendly ghost sightings in this story, so, prepare to be amazed. Can say that I found it to be the perfect blend of logic and magic.
The central romance, Finn and Ren are attracted to each other since the very beginning. When Finn starts showing up every where I started thinking he is a good ghost as well, which, spoiler alert, he isn’t!! They do have a minor over dramatic fallout which is later overcompensated. Ali McNamara managed to create a strong buildup for Finn & Ren’s first night together for 300 pages. Although, the time it actually happens is disappointing as the writer becomes suddenly coy and ignores it all together. It seemed as if the story demanded this time. I’m not asking for any dirt, but I would like to know how it finally started. Just being honest!
Kiki’s character is also interesting. After 35 pages I felt that Ren is boring, this book should have been about this passionate lady Kiki..!! How often does that happen? But the author still managed to hook me on one of the characters, which is good enough! Being ditzy and cool at the same time, she is the fun one in this ride. When Kiki starts dating the first guy she meets in Ireland, the reader starts understanding that the characters have depth. I enjoy books that are built on characters with muliple aspects. In this book Kiki comes across as interesting, fun loving, careless and a little dumb. A true blue Bimbo, but still lovable. Kiki’s love interest Eddie is a simpleton. Doing odd jobs around the hotel, he is kept on the sideline until the end.
I would recommend this novel to those looking for books with strong female characters. Personally, this is my favorite genre. I love to see driven ladies, leading the way. I rarely come across characters like Ren although. Thoroughly organized, successful, driven and genuine. She is portrayed a bit manly on the outside, the kind of cold exterior that comes only after a true tragedy. The revelations of Ren & Finn are less shocking then expected, but acceptable. Apart from that, the beauty of Irelands Ballykiltara is described really well. It wont bore at any rate! I wish to visit sometime just cause of the writing of Ali MxNamara. The end solves all confusions but one, which is irritating. A light read, which will leave you smiling and seeking some magic in your own life.
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