Canary Island Song

Title: CANARY ISLAND SONG

Author Robin Jones Gunn

Publisher: Howard Books

July 2011

ISBN: 978-1-4165-8341-7

Genre: Contemporary romance

When Carolyn’s grown daughter tells her she needs to “get a life,” Carolyn decides it’s time to step out of her familiar routine as a single woman in San Francisco and escape to her mother’s home in the Canary Islands. Since Carolyn’s mother is celebrating her seventieth birthday, the timing of Carolyn’s visit makes for a perfect surprise.

    The surprise, however, is on Carolyn when she sees Bryan Spencer, her high school summer love. It’s been seven years since Carolyn lost her husband, but ever since that tragic day, her life has grown smaller and closed in. The time has come for Carolyn to get her heart back. It takes the gentle affection of her mother and aunts, as well as the ministering beauty and song of the islands to draw Carolyn into the fullness of life. She is nudged along by a Flamenco dance lesson, a defining camel ride and the steady gaze of Bryan’s intense blue-gray eyes.

    Is it too late for Carolyn to trust Bryan? Can Carolyn believe that Bryan has turned into something more than the wild beach boy who stole her kisses so many years ago on a balmy Canary night?

    Carolyn is reminded that Christopher Columbus set sail from the Canary Islands in 1492 on his voyage to discover the New World. Is she ready to set sail from these same islands to discover her new life?

I’ve loved some of Ms. Gunn’s books—especially her Glenwood series and the Sisterchick series. But this book was distant. It was told, not shown and unfortunately I never did connect or care for the characters. It took a long time for Carolyn to meet Bryan again, but mainly because she was in California, her twin sister was getting married, and she had a couple dates with a man who turned out to be married. Then she went to the Canary Islands, to surprise  her mom for her birthday.

I enjoyed reading about the Canary Islands—the setting was very intricately described as were the activities they enjoyed, such as camel riding, Flamenco dancing, and the food. Ms. Gunn included pictures of her own trip to the Canary Island as well as her own Flamenco dancing, camel riding, and food experiences. 3 stars. $14.99. 224 pages.