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As the only child of a wealthy investment manager, Ellie Chapman has never known anything besides a life of perfect privilege. But her years of good fortune come to an abrupt end when her father is exposed for swindling billions of dollars from innocent investors in a massive Ponzi scheme. And just like that, Ellie loses everything: money, job, home—even her fiancé, who’s jailed as her father’s partner in crime. With no job prospects on the horizon, no cash, and her family name in tatters, Ellie has only one place to go.
Sleepy St. Dennis, Maryland, is hardly where Ellie intends to stay, however. Keeping her identity a secret, she plans to sell the house her late mother left her in the small town and use the proceeds to move on with her life. Unfortunately, her ticket to a new beginning is in dire need of a laundry list of pricey improvements, many of which she’ll have to do herself. And until the house on Bay View Road is fit to be sold, the sole place Ellie will be traveling is the hardware store. But as the many charms of St. Dennis—not to mention Cameron O’Connor, the handsome local contractor who has secrets of his own—begin to work their magic, what begins as a lesson in do-it-yourself renovations might just end up as Ellie’s very own rejuvenation.
Mariah Stewart is the award-winning New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels of contemporary romance and romantic suspense. A native of Hightstown, New Jersey, she lives with her husband and their dogs amid the rolling hills and Amish farms of southern Chester County, Pennsylvania, where she gardens, reads, and enjoys country life.
Pam_Billings
Posted January 29, 2013
Another great story based in St. Dennis. Ellie and Cameron's story pulls at your heart and it's great to learn a little of the back story about St. Dennis and Ellie's family along with the romance. A very enjoyable read and I can't wait for the next in the series to be able to keep hearing about the people and the place.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I LOVED LOVED this book. Ms Stewart did such an amazing job with all the details and the storyline. I could see the old mohair couch. I want to go find St Dennis and eat the ice cream. This is a great book for anyone who wants to get away in a book. Go to St Dennis! I know I am going to be buying her other books so I can go back.
Ellis/Ellie Chapman had everything she could ever want. She grew up with a silver spoon in her mouth. She worked for her father’s company and was engaged to be married, she had it all. That was until the day her world fell out from beneath her. She found out that her father and her finance had been swindling billions from his own company. Everything she had and knew was taken to repay all the investors. The only thing that she had left was the house in St Dennis.
Ellis decided to change her name to Ellie Ryder when she got to Maryland. She didn’t want people to judge her on the sins of her father. According to her mother’s will, she had to stay in the house for 6 months without selling it or any of the contents. Ellie was used to having things done for her, so learning that the house needed a lot of work was hard.
Enter Cameron O’Conner the local contractor. He wanted Lilly’s house more than anything and was shocked to find Ellie in it. When Ellie found out that Cameron had been taking care of the place and wanted to buy it, she was thrilled. He would have to wait the 6 months without knowing who Ellie really was and why she was there.
Sparks begin to fly between the two as they begin to fix the house up together. Having all her money taken by the Feds, she could only pay him in duck decoys. Ellie soon realizes that this town and the people don’t judge on the sins of the father. Ellie becomes the guardian of the 13 year old sister she never knew she had. They begin to make a home out of Lilly’s house and become a family.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I am a huge fan of this series and loved the story of Ellie and Cam..Ellie has come to town to take over the house left to her by her mom...The will is made so she has to stay for at least 6 mon. or everything will go to charity..There's a back story about why she has come to town not using her real last name..Cam is the handy man who's helping her with the renovations of the house..He also has connections to the house which are revealed in the book..There are so many surprises along the way and I hated to see the book end..I always feel like I'm home and with friends when reading this series as it sweeps you totally into St Dennis..I would give this more than 5 stars if I could..Highly recommend it!!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The Long Way Home The Chesapeake Diaries by Mariah Stewart
Ellis Chapman now as Ellie Ryder has arrived and met with the lawyers. Her relative has left a house to her with 5 bedrooms and she's to fix it up and sell it and leave after she waits 6 months, according to the will. Her father and fiance has swindled money out of a lot of people and that's why she uses a different name because she wants others to like her for herself. She slowly becomes familiar with the town, the people and the happenings.
Best part is now that she's settling in she has time to walk on the beach and I love how it's described. For the first time a year ago we traveled to that area of the East Coast and plan to do it again.
Carmeron O'Connor is the local handyman who had befriended the previous owner and had tended to the garden, lawn, and anything she needed fixed in the house. He was quite upset to learn he wasn't going to be the one to bid on it to buy it, maybe in 6 months time the lawyer told him. He would help
Ellie with the repairs. The local women in the shops hope to have her meet with them daily.
Loved learning new things, especially about the migrating birds and what certain kind eat for seed.
Love the tales of the pirates and the mystery of who the real painter in the artwork really is... Cam is falling for her, the other females have told he says she's hot.
She is able to talk to her best friend Carly on any number of subjects that arise. She's put in a lot of elbow grease to clean up the place so it'll be sellable.
Love hearing of all the treasures she is finding and about her relatives...
After he tells her of his past she almost wants to tell him of hers but the lawyer calls and opens a whole new set of conflict...
Family events and the holiday bring them all closer with lots more surprises and I love that there is more in this series. Love the setting.
1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted March 9, 2013
Loved the book. Loved the series each book I couldn't wait to read the next book to find out what happens. I hope Mariah Stewart is already writing a new book for the series.
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Posted February 24, 2013
I look forward to each new book in this series and in others by this author. The characters seem real to me and the book carries my interest when others bore me. I keep buying her books and love the plots even though, as in many romances, the outcome is obvious from the beginning.
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Posted February 22, 2013
I have read the whole series...amazing...a must read!
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Posted February 22, 2013
WONDERFUL READING...QUITE A LOT HAPPENS IN THIS SMALL TOWN. ENJOYED MARIAH WITH HER MURDER MYSTERIES but I THINK I ENJOY THIS SERIES EVEN MORE...tHE NEXT BOOK IS ALREADY PREORDERED.
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Posted February 19, 2013
Enjoyed this read. Limited sex for a good change. Too much sex text book material ruins a good book.
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Posted February 18, 2013
This is a great series, but this book read like an abridged version. The story had so many more things to reveal about Ellie's mother and her history and chose not to go there.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.The Long Way Home focuses on Cameron O’Connor, a local boy turned construction company owner and Ellis (Ellie) Ryder Chapman, a woman who has lost everything and has a heritage she doesn't know about.
Cameron has lived in St. Dennis pretty much his entire life. His life’s dream is to one day purchase and own the house at 1 Bay View Road. For Cameron, this house holds precious memories of good times he had as a child, when everything else around him was dark and chaotic.
Ellis has come to St. Dennis, the last place she ever thought she’d go, because she has no choice. Ellis’s one and only job has been heading the public relations department for her father’s company. The same company which no longer exists, since her father, Clifford Chapman, and ex-fiance, Henry stole money from the people who invested with the company and were sent to prison. Since everything Ellis owned was obtained with money from the investment company, the Feds have taken EVERYTHING. Ellis has lost her father, fiance, home, car, jewelry and money.
Because of her father's scheme, Ellis has also lost the people she thought were her friends, all except for one, Carly Summit. When Ellis arrives in St. Dennis, she decides to say her name is Ellie Ryder and that she purchased the house from the Lynley Sebastian estate. Lynley Sebastian was actually her mother, who grew up in St. Dennis and left Ellis the house and it's contents in her will. The catch being that Ellis has to live in the house and can not sell the house or its contents for six months.
Cameron is sent to make sure Ellie is okay and help her see what repairs she needs to do to the old and long vacant house. As part of their repair agreement, Ellie offers to let Cameron have first dibs on the house when she's ready to sell it. As time goes by, Cameron becomes torn as to what is more important to him. The house with it's cherished memories or the woman he realizes he's falling for.
The Long Way Home is full of surprises. When Ellie first arrived in St. Dennis, she had no desire to meet and get to know the people there. However, with St. Dennis being the small, friendly town it is, she didn't really have a choice. It seems some of the elders in town knew exactly who Ellie really was, the minute they laid eyes on her. Cameron himself figured out who she was. It isn't until a new arrival comes to town that Ellie has the strength and courage to own up to who she really is.
I like to call Mariah's books sweet romances, because the language is clean and intimate moments are mentioned but the details are left out. As always with the books in this series, you get a happy ending, with a little drama and discovery thrown it. The Long Way Home is about discovering your past and the legacy you come from. It's about forgiving yourself and knowing that you aren't responsible for the actions of others. It's about discovering that if you just give people a chance, you will allow yourself to finally find your true home.
Source: Publisher
Anonymous
Posted February 8, 2013
My name is jaydyn. Im a girl and im 12 years old she sas in a british accent
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 7, 2013
Great stiory for Cam loved it!
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Posted February 7, 2013
Kk
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 7, 2013
I'm hunter. I want to adopt kuma.
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 7, 2013
It is fine
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 8, 2013
Yes whos looking for me and dint feel ignored whts ur name i ask
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 5, 2013
I need to talk to you meet me at fml res 6
0 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 2, 2013
Sum1plz friend me plz p.s. my real name is Kacie but my email with a k not an m wuz already taken : -(
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 2, 2013
Anyone here
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Overview
As the only child of a wealthy investment manager, Ellie Chapman has never known anything besides a life of perfect privilege. But her years of good fortune come to an abrupt end when her father is exposed for swindling billions of dollars from innocent investors in a massive Ponzi scheme. And just like that, Ellie loses everything: money, job, home—even her fiancé, who’s jailed as her father’s partner in crime. With no job prospects on the ...