Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky... A Review

Sometimes I just love to linger in the moment after I read a really good book. I just don't want to let go of the characters... I'm experiencing that right now....

I felt the passion, the betrayal, the calmness as I wrapped myself into the story of Sweet Salt Air by Barbara Delinsky. I could smell the lavender and the jasmine. I began to love Quinnipeague as though it were real. And it did seem real. Barbara Delinsky created such a wonderful story, but also one full of depth, not only with the characters that could almost walk off the pages, but with the island itself; from the smells wafting from the herb gardens of the infamous Cecily Cole to the taste of Dorey Jewett's Chowdah at The Chowder House. Every detail beautifully and effortlessly painted.

What can I say... I loved this book! I loved the story of Charlotte & Nicole and how their friendship grows and develops through the story; and how the betrayal of one has us question what is forgivable and if we ourselves could forgive such an act.

I LOVED the love story and the passion between Charlotte and her Man. No names here, you'll have to read it to see who it is! And boy was it passionate!!! I loved the way the fictional book SALT, that everyone was reading in the story, vaguely mimicked Charlottes love story. (And Barbara, if you're reading this, I was so afraid that Charlotte's romance was going to end like SALT that it made me read feverishly into the wee hours of the morning!) The book within the book was a great addition to the plot!

I could empathize with what Nicole and her husband Julian were going through (a serious medical condition), but I didn't particularly like either one of these characters. In Julian's case, maybe a testament to the writing, because if Barbara Delinsky meant for Julian to be so shallow and self absorbed, and I didn't think the serious medical condition attributed to that at all, she did a good job. But this "subplot" added such substance to the story, and served as the thread that makes this book so much more than a romance.

Favorite character? Charlotte hands down, Leo a close second! And Bear just stole my heart!

Read this book! I could not put it down at the end... Light, airy, passionate, and well worth reading! Reading groups will have a field day discussing the depths of this book too!  And that's what my reading group will be discussing in September.