Patience Griffin

Good story about going home. The story opens with Cait's return to the small Scottish village where she was born and spent her childhood. She had given up her career as a reporter in an attempt to be the perfect wife to her cheating and emotionally abusive husband. Now that he's dead (in embarrassing circumstances) she's hoping to escape the scandal and mend her relationship with her grandmother. She doesn't expect to find Hollywood megastar and fellow escapee Graham Buchanan.

Graham is a movie star who is extremely protective of his privacy. When he isn't filming, he comes home to Gandiegow to spend time with his son and little grandson. Duncan and Mattie are his world and he will do anything to protect them.

Cait comes across as pretty selfish at the beginning. Though she claims she wants to reconnect with her grandmother, she has no intention of actually staying with her. Instead, she has bought her own cottage to live in. Her life receives one more blow when she discovers that said cottage burned two days before her arrival. She looks at it as just another indication that her life sucks. Then when she stumbles across Graham, her first thought is to use her time in Gandiegow to acquire the information to write an exposé on him and jump start a return to her former career. She doesn't give a thought to the effect it would have on him, his family, or the village and its residents.

I liked Graham more, though he had his issues too. He is immediately suspicious of Cait and her intentions, which shows that he has good instincts. He obviously loves his son and grandson, though his relationship with Duncan is strained. Graham carries a great deal of guilt over the amount of time he spent away from Duncan due to his filming commitments and now seems to go a bit overboard in his attempts to make up for it. I loved his relationship with little Mattie who seems to be the lone bright spot in Graham's life.

I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Cait and Graham, and the changes that they experienced along the way. In spite of his suspicions about her, Graham is attracted to Cait from the beginning. Cait was also attracted to him, which conflicted with her plans to out him. Both of them fought hard to resist it, having been hurt in the past and wanting to protect their hearts. Both of them are stubborn, passionate people, and there are moments of extreme sweetness between them as well as times of intense heat.

The more time that she spent with Graham and the others, the harder it was for Cait to continue her plans for her tell-all. As a devastating crisis develops, I loved watching as the entire village pulls together to support those affected. Cait especially steps up to provide the emotional support that Graham needs, which only deepens their connection. But in spite of their growing feelings, both try to deny what everyone else can see - they are exactly what each other needs. It's not smooth sailing though, as Cait's plans come back to bite her and Graham has to decide whether he can trust her after all.

Family is an important theme throughout the story also. Cait came to Gandiegow because of the memories of her life there and because Deydie is the only family she has left. She feels guilty because she allowed her husband to keep her away and isn't sure of her reception. Deydie is a tough nut to crack. She isn't very nice to Cait, with her snide comments and bossy nature, but there are occasional glimpses of her softer side. I felt that through most of the book, Deydie was just as intent on protecting her heart as Cait was. I loved seeing them come together at the end with a heartwarming and emotional scene. Graham also has his family issues to deal with. I ached for both him and Duncan as they butted heads. There were many times when I wanted to shake Duncan and tell him to let the past go. I loved the way that Cait read him the riot act and pointed out that he hadn't had it so bad after all. I adored little Mattie. I ached for what he had been through and what was still to come. It was sweet to see how he took to Cait and the bond that grew between them.… (more)

Audiobook Review:

From the first two paragraphs the tone was set for this story. This was a humorous, light-hearted read with some deep moments of pain, learning experiences and facing truth.

Emma lived a strange existence—a bit schizophrenic. Her mother’s remarks on relationships came back to her when put into a vulnerable situation. She drew herself into a shell, much like a turtle, striking out, acting the haughty, arrogant person who kept people at bay.

Emma came from an unsupportive family, who only wanted their daughter to conform, not to do anything which would make them look bad. All Emma’s life she had toed the line. Her hope was if she followed what they wanted in her life, she’d somehow gain their love. She became a marriage therapist, a profession both father and mother wanted for her. But Emma didn’t like this profession. She had preferred working with children. Her thought was doesn’t everyone know that marriage never works out? She certainly had her mother and father as perfect examples of that. Very seldom did she see them together, and she, supposedly a product of love didn’t feel loved at all.

She left to Scotland, thinking never to continue with her profession after a huge professional faux pas. She wanted to see her childhood friend, Claire, and get some thinking time, on the next step in her life. All was in chaos when she arrived. Claire was having a meltdown. She demanded a baby from her husband, Dominic. Dominic wouldn’t agree to have a baby because they had just started a business and barely keeping afloat. Claire couldn’t fathom what had happened to their marriage for she had never see any two people more in love. In fact, this couple gave her hope that perhaps love was possible in a marriage.

Changes abounded for Claire. Gabriel MacGregor was no longer the skirt chaser he used to be, but the village doctor. And Emma knew for certain, she’d never give him the opportunity to lift hers. However, her feelings begin changing, for Gabriel had changed, too. Every time he was near her, she had trouble seeing him as the devil she had known him to be. He seemed kind, generous, loyal to his friends, responsible and he cared.

Gabriel had changed, it’s true. He no longer wanted to live his life as he had. He had strong convictions to marry a woman he loved, have children, and follow his faith. When Emma came to town she messed with his head as she had years ago. I loved the turmoil and struggle he endured trying to convince himself to stay away from her.

Claire and Dominic were close friends to both Emma and Gabriel. Although Emma didn’t want to begin marriage therapy with Claire and Dominic, she knew she’d never get out of town, unless their relationship was back on track. I had to laugh at the excessive ways Claire used to lure in her husband.

Narrator Kirsten Potter was very interesting to listen to and she made the read such a pleasure. The story is told in American English, Emma has a British accent, Gabriel MacGregor has a wonderful Scottish accent along with the villagers, some of them elder and quite cranky. She positively brought the story to life.
Ms. Griffin has created a wonderful village of people who can turn on their own when they feel they are unfair. At the same time, they are very close knit and very supportive of each other when help is needed. I loved the quaintness of the town (possibly taken from one of the author's visits to Scotland), with its quilting sessions, which seemed to be the hub of the community. This is a story about love of family, people looking out for each other when times are rough. It’s also a great pleasure listening to the accented speech of the various characters. Delightfully experience Scotland with this story.… (more)