Coming Home to Island House by Erica James

From Goodreads

From Erica James, bestselling author of Summer at the Lake, comes an enchanting tale of one family coming together and finding their way.

It's the summer of 1939, and after touring an unsettled Europe to promote her latest book, Romily Temple returns home to Island House and the love of her life, the charismatic Jack Devereux.

But when Jack falls ill, his estranged family are called home and given seven days to find a way to bury their resentments and come together.

With war now declared, each member of the family is reluctantly forced to accept their new stepmother and confront their own shortcomings. But can the habits of a lifetime be changed in one week? And can Romily, a woman who thrives on adventure, cope with the life that has been so unexpectedly thrust upon her? 

My thoughts

My thanks to the Publisher and TBConFB for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I gave this a 7/10 or 3.5 stars. Like many of Erica James's stories it's a very gentle story about romance and  relationships.  In this one I noticed several references to the Authors passion for motorsport, as one of her characters shared a similar passion.

The story centres around the Devereux family and their close relations. Romily Devereux-Temple hasn't been married to Jack for very long before he sadly dies. Not knowing the family very well Romily thanks to one of the stipulations in Jack's will is soon surrounded by a number of very dysfunctional family members, for a week at the very least.  Not one too shy away from things Romily welcomes them all with opens arms to Island House and so begins a story that shows how each member of the family involved begin to attempt to put the past behind them and move forward with their lives.

Set around the early years before and during WWII, we learn how they all deal with the war as best they can. As members of the family and household do their bit for the war effort. As with many families in those times, no family was left unscarred by the war and this family is no different to any other.

Whilst, I enjoyed the story on the whole it didn't shout out at me that I must be reading it above some of the other books that I had available to read, it didn't keep my attention and I found that I had to put it to one side at one point. I did find it an easy read and with short chapters, it was very easy to pick up and put down.