Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Welcome to Lobster Cove
SERIES: Lobster Cove #1
AUTHOR: Carol Lynne
PUBLISHER: Totally Bound
LENGTH: 91 pages
BLURB:
When following your dream lands you in Lobster Cove, Maine, anything is possible.
After gaining custody of his younger brother, Boone Jensen moves to a unique LGBT community on the coast of Maine. There, he hopes to find work as a stonemason, heal his broken heart and give his brother a safe place to call home.
Life was good in New York City for chef Dante Madia, until his business partner betrayed him. Determined to trust only himself, Dante risks everything on a new restaurant venture in a small fishing village built on acceptance.
Neither man is looking for love, but in a town like Lobster Cove, secret dreams have the ability to become realities.
REVIEW:
I have enjoyed reading Carol Lynne’s Cattle Valley books over the last year or so, I was quite excited to see she’s starting a spin-off series. The Cattle Valley books were good, but it is time for something new. In the last book, Journey to Lobster Cove, we learn how Asa Montgomery, the richest man in town, bought most of Lobster Cove, a small coastal town in Maine. He saw that Cattle Valley was about as full as it could be and they needed to start another similar safe community. At the same time, the LGBT shelter Joseph has been running begins to have some safety issues, and he reluctantly agrees that it is time to move. So the purchase of Lobster Cove is perfect all around.
This book, the first in the new Lobster Cove series, features Dante Madia, chef and restaurant owner from New York, and Boone Jensen, stonemason from Indiana. Boone has moved to Lobster Cove partly to find a new place for himself, but he also has custody of his teenage brother Landon, who has down syndrome. Boone feels the small town will be better for both of them, he finds some work and a small apartment and off they go. Dante has some issues with his former business partner in NYC stealing from him, hears that Lobster Cove might be a good place to start a new restaurant, and off he goes with his best friend Ava to Lobster Cove to start a new restaurant and a new life. Dante hires Boone to do some stone work in his new restaurant, Boone brings Laddy (Landon) along with him, and they all meet….
So I’ll stop there with the description because there isn’t much more to this story. At 91 pages it is short, and not a whole lot happens. It’s a simple story about two lonely men with some baggage, trying to see if their lives might fit together. Dante is pretty cold for a while, Boone is young and focused on Laddy. I almost felt like Laddy and Ava stole the show a bit, the only drama that happens is to Laddy. I never really felt the passion between Boone and Dante. We see a few of the residence of Lobster Cove, but nothing much really happens. I am hoping subsequent books will be more exciting.
If you are a fan of the Cattle Valley books you need to read this one, if you haven’t read them you probably should start with those. This one is a stand alone, since it’s the first book in a new series, but for someone just starting with this book I’m not sure you’ll really get a good feeling for what fantastic books Carol can write. There is nothing wrong with this one at all, it was just a little bland.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: