First line: “I’ve got the backbone of a worm,” Lacey Lancaster muttered as she let herself into her apartment.
From the inside cover: Lacey Lancaster has always longed to be a wife and mother. However, after a painful divorce, she decides it’s time to lay low for a while in her charming San Francisco apartment with her beautiful Abyssinian cat, Cleo.
Everything would be wonderful, except for her utterly impossible neighbor Jack Walker. When he’s not arguing day and night with his girlfriend, begging her to move in with him, he’s chasing down his cat named Dog, who seems determined to get Cleo to succumb to his feline advances.
Then Lacey discovers the awful truth – Cleo is in the family way and Dog’s to blame. She’s furious that neither Jack nor his amorous animal seem too upset about the situation.
But Lacey learns that things are not quite as they seem. Jack’s “girlfriend” is really his sister – and his intentions toward Lacey are very honorable. And though she’s not quite sure about Dog, Lacey begins to discover the tender joy of falling in love all over again.
My thoughts: This was an enjoyable, lighthearted, quick read that I devoured in about an hour. It’s a sweet story about finding yourself and learning to trust again after heartbreak. As a novella, it was only 99 pages, and so it’s rather hard to fully develop the characters, but they were still fun to get to know and watch. It’s your typical boy meets girl, girl doesn’t like boy, boy and girl eventually fall in love. Thrown into the mix are the two cats – Cleo and Dog – who inevitably cause Lacey and Jack’s relationship to start. Debbie Macomber is known for her stories about relationships and I think, while extremely short, Family Affair does indeed fit the bill.
(I borrowed this book from the library.)
My sister loves Debbie Macomber–I will have to ask her if she has read this one!
Sometimes a light quick read is in order! Sounds like fun.
@ Felicia: I've read just about everything by Debbie Macomber, too!
@ Bonnie: It was the perfect read for a rainy afternoon!
I have read a lot of Debbie's books, and have six on my bookshelf waiting to be read. I enjoyed this book a few weeks ago, I send it on to a blogging buddy, she likes Debbie also.