The Rules of Love and Grammar by Mary Simses
I read Mary Simses' first novel The Irresistible Blueberry Bakeshop and Cafe last year, and while I enjoyed it, wasn't wowed by it. In her second novel, Mary Simses does a much better job keeping my interest, but I still have some issues with characters and plot. Grace Hammond is a 33 year old New Yorker who comes home to Dorset, Connecticut one summer to stay with her parents while the ceiling in her apartment is repaired after a water leak in the apartment above hers. She's also just broken up with her boyfriend, and lost her job. A whole lot of misfortune all at once. Fleeing to her parent's house gives her time to lick her wounds and figure out what she's going to do when she returns to New York. That summer, director Peter Brooks is in Dorset filming a movie that is semi-autobiographical. He's a son of Dorset, and people are very excited to have a famous director and his stars descend on the town. Grace and Peter were friends ...