Rainshadow Road

Nicely done story of romance after heartbreak

Lucy Marinn thinks she finally has the life she has always dreamed of. After a childhood of being pushed aside for her younger sister who once had a medical crisis, she has a wonderful boyfriend, a perfect home, and a career she loves. Then, her boyfriend Kevin tells her it is all over, she needs to move out and by the way he is in love with her sister Alice. She runs from their home and takes a walk to clear her head and meets Sam Nolan, a local vintner. They have a conversation and Lucy goes home to begin her life all over again.
For once, Alice’s family sides with her and Alice is the villain and she doesn’t like it. She and Kevin plan to marry and the family is not supporting the idea and won’t pay for a wedding. Alice and Kevin hatch a plan to get Lucy a boyfriend so they won’t be the bad guys anymore (not because they feel bad for being selfish jerks). Sam gets pulled into the plan and goes along because he felt an attraction to Lucy.
At this point I thought here we go again, Sam and Lucy fall in love and she finds out about the way it began and so on. But Ms. Kleypas didn’t take the clichéd way, she had Sam act like an adult and tell Lucy the truth from the beginning. Loved it! Especially since Lucy had major trust issues that would cause problems in any relationship. Fate intervenes and Lucy and Sam are thrown together when she ends up recuperating at his house. He has family issues of his own that she gets to see a little closer and they both have to learn to work through their resistance to love.
This was an interesting book because it had a little bit of everything going on. Betrayal, magic, family problems, all the fun things are included in this book. It all works and feels appropriate not just stuck in to make the plot work. There is also a nicely done set up for the next book in the series.

10 out of 11 people found this review helpful.

Reader

Please do not explain so much of the story when you review! Let us find out something when we read it ourselves,

6 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

Not one of Kleypas's best

Rainshadow Road is about Lucy Marinn, a glass artist who has a troubled relationship with her family, especially her sister. When her boyfriend dumps her for her sister, Lucy decides she can't handle relationships anymore, since they only lead to heartbreak. And enter Sam Nolan. Sam owns his own vineyard and is very passionate about his work. His family is very dysfunctional. His parents were alcoholics, who basically drank themselves to death. Sam vehemently opposes intimacy of any kind and only has shallow friends-with-benefits relationships. However, when Lucy and Sam meet, they feel more.

Overall, I thought the plot was tired and boring. It was the same-old same-old neglected sister, who grew up in the shadow of her younger, more pampered sister. Said sister gets away with whatever she wants. So Lucy spends a good two thirds of the book whining. Sam is even more of a cliche with his wounded background and intimacy issues. What bothered me more than the tired plot was Lucy's personality. She came off as really unintelligent at times. Kleypas made Sam seem like this super intelligent man who had to patiently explain simple mundane things to Lucy. Also, the reason that Lucy and Sam are forced to spend more time together and thus develop their relationship felt forced and contrived. It was a very odd way to throw the pair together. Kleypas made two attempts to put them together and neither were original or coherent.
The emotions in this book are great though, And I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Lucy describe her passion for her artwork. So, slightly contrived plot, cliche characters, people making things come to life by looking at them (yeah don't even get me started on that part of the book), but good emotions. Not Kleypas's best by a long-shot.

6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.

Oh, Lisa Lisa Lisa. What have you done? This book is terrible!

Oh, Lisa Lisa Lisa. What have you done? This book is terrible! I LOVE Lisa Kleypas and have read all of her books, both contemporary and historical romance, and have relied on her consistent good storytelling. This book just misses the mark completely. This weak attempt at adding a dash of "paranormal" only underscores her lack of comfort with that genre. Sam and Lucy are so under-developed as characters and there is a lack of chemistry between them. It was a BORING story with none of the elements one looks for in a romantic novel - no suspense, no interesting characters, and no tension between the characters. Save your money and buy Fifty Shades of Grey.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Good but not what I was expecting

I really enjoyed reading this book and the expressions Kleypas uses in her writing are entertaining (ex. Friends are the support bras of life). But it was not what I expected it to be. Having read the first book in the series,which was a nice contemporary romantic comedy, I was not expecting this one to have a paranormal twist. Both of the main characters have supernatural powers, though they are subtle. Lucy turns glass into animals (which honestly seems like it would be annoying- she just finished talking about how special a glass was and then she accidently turns it into a hummingbird), while Sam can heal plants. While these play a minor role in the story, it was very unexpected and it looks like the next book will be even more paranormal given that the excerpt starts off with a ghost. Overall, it was a good read, with well developed characters and an interesting story line that was usually believable (the exception being the magic).

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

From Texas to Washington State

Lightning strikes again! Now our men in this series are needing the strength of a strong woman and what a cumbustion it makes! Waiting for number 3. I still love Texas, though! Lisa, how about Joe Travis?!

2 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

This book isn't your typical lusty, provocative romance novel (d

This book isn't your typical lusty, provocative romance novel (don't worry-those parts are still in there!) where so much of the focus is on the tension between the characters and it becomes too much. This book is SO much more, and it is truly perfect. This is the first book that I've read by this author and I'm thoroughly impressed. This book touches on every emotion, and is an inspiration to anyone who has dealt with a broken heart. What I loved most about it is even though it has a touch (very slight) of magic, the book felt so real. The emotions and characters hit home-everyone knows people from the book. Couldn't put this book down, and I can't wait to read more from her!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I loved this book, I loved the writing and the characters. My fa

I loved this book, I loved the writing and the characters. My favorite part was page 144-149 with the hummingbird. I love love love it

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Lisa Kleypas has another wonderful series

This is the wonderful second installment in the Nolan brothers series. No. 1 was Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor. Wonderful character building and great humor. I am so looking forward to the 3rd book but have to wait until September.

Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas is a moving and delightful retur

Rainshadow Road by Lisa Kleypas is a moving and delightful return to Friday Harbor.


Lucy Marinn always felt second best in her family. Her younger sister was gravely ill while she was growing up and her parents catered to Alice. But Lucy is grown up now and happily engaged. Or at least she thought she was until her fiancée Kevin dropped a bombshell that he is in love with her sister. In her sorrow she runs into Sam Nolan.

Sam Nolan is intrigued by Lucy. There is something about her that fascinates him. He is floored by his friend Kevin who wants Sam to romance Lucy to keep her mind off of Kevin romancing her sister. Sam already had plans to date Lucy and wonders what Kevin is really up to.

Lucy and Sam begin a slow and sexy relationship. Their attraction is electric but they have a real heartfelt connection as friends. But how will Lucy react when she finds out Sam is not telling her the whole truth?

Rainshadow Road is a heartwarming and moving story. It was a very special love story that will have you thinking about it long after you are done reading. The characters feel like people you would like to know and you find yourself routing for them to succeed. Looking forward to the next book in the sensational series.

Butterfly magic butterfly love

I expected some powerful magic both literal and literary of Lisa Kleypas in Rainshadow Road but I found no magic in this book (either in the writing or wand waving type) and came away disappointed. I felt the promos on the book offered a better read than was presented. The book was interesting but not what it was held out to be and not what it could have been. Her writing is generally okay but she takes too many liberties with the English language and some of them just don't work which disrupts the flow. The magic promised in the promos for this book never really develops into a part of the story and it was this magic that interested me. I probably would not have read it otherwise. The butterfly magic offered in the book didn't make sense or fit. The beginning of the book held a lot of potential that didn't happen, at least not for me. Rather than a love story it was a reaction to animal attraction which I really don't care for and it seldom results in a good romance story. It seemed like no one in the book really knew where they were going. Everything was reactionary. Lucy knew how she wanted to apply her so called magic with glass but had no idea what she wanted with her life. Even when she had it she didn't believe it and caused its demise. I didn't enjoy the characters. They were all a bit odd and didn't draw me in. But obvious I had to like something to give it a 3 star. Lisa Kleypas does tell a story and a story that is interesting and draws you along to read more and I have to give her three stars for that. From the reviews many enjoyed what she wrote. But all said and done it was not what I expect from Lisa Kleypas and from the promotion of the book.

Good read

I enjoyed this book and will read more of her books.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Rainshadow Road brings you into the heart of a romance and love.

Rainshadow Road brings you into the heart of a romance and love. Lucy Marinn had a relationship go bad thanks to her sister. Now Lucy is trying to move on with her life. She is a glass artist and that work keeps her calm and centered. She meets a new guy, Sam Nolan. Sam is leery of long term relationships. How will this relationship work out?

Made me laugh out loud several times :) I like the character dev

Made me laugh out loud several times :) I like the character development and the love story was pretty decent. At the same time, it was not what I expected with the magic aspect of it. I did not really care for that. But over all it was a fun read. I read it in a day.

you must read it

the book was excellent very entertaining from beginning to end

Made me smile

LOVED THIS !

Great Read

I wasn't sure how the author would go from historical romance to modern day, but she did a fabulous job. This was a great book. I really enjoy her books. In the rain shadow books the author touches on issues within families when parents are alcoholics. It's done in such a manner that you don't realize it until you're already involved in the story and eager to see how it ends.

a must to read

I enjoyed the first book in the series, but I truly liked this one more. Hurry with the third book so I can see if the pair comes together that I think are the ones.

A must read!!

This book is a great read. You feel all the characters feelings and you go away happy.

Very enjoyable read.

The sequel to Christmas In Friday Harbor, this book continues the story of the Nolan brothers. This book focuses on Sam, the middle brother, and his unwilling attraction to Lucy, who can do magical things with glass. A wonderful book- can't wait for Alex's story!