A Place to Rest | 
 enlarge | Author: Erin Dutton
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $10.85
You Save: $5.10 (32%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 41892
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 234
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6
ISBN: 160282021X
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781602820210
ASIN: 160282021X
Publication Date: July 15, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
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Product Description
Sawyer Drake has never known what she wants. She has spent most of her life bouncing from job to job in an effort to avoid taking her place running her family's restaurant. Nothing has ever kept her attention for very long. Nothing, that is, until she meets shy pastry chef, Jori Diamantina. Jori, on the other hand, has no intention of risking the job she loves, especially when Sawyer doesn't seem to know exactly what she wants from Jori.
A Place to Rest is a touching romance about the beauty of finally discovering where you belong.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Sweet story November 18, 2008
I really enjoyed this book. It is a sweet story of a woman trying to find a place in her family and in the world. I am a big fan of this author's work--- she has a great way of sneaking up on you when she writes. The book started out with a fairly typical romance story line mixed with a little angst. By the end of the book, the depth of the characters and their struggles was revealed in a subtle yet surprising manner. I also very much enjoyed the setting and the details of working in/running a restaurant that were included. This book is definitely in my "keep" pile on my shelf!
Intense October 9, 2008
Good read, I read half of the book in two days and I'm a very busy person. I enjoyed it.
A portrait of the role of family September 1, 2008
A Place to Rest is the story of two women and their contrasting experiences with family. One has a family she rebels against and the other has no family and feels the loss keenly.
Sawyer Drake is like a rudderless ship. She drifts from job to job, woman to woman, never satisfied with what she has, but unable to determine what it is she wants. She knows that she doesn't want to work in the family restaurant, but she doesn't have much choice for a while. Her sister Erica is having a difficult pregnancy, so Sawyer puts a halt to her rambling and helps her brother Brady run the business. There she meets pastry chef Jori Diamantina, a woman who has a long history in foster homes and of being on her own. Sawyer is used to making conquests, but Jori isn't interested. She's been hurt too much in her life to take a chance on Sawyer, plus she doesn't want to lose a job she really likes when the relationship falls apart, which she's sure it will do. Each woman represents what the other fears the most. For Sawyer, Jori represents permanence, settling down, accepting responsibility, things she has always tried to avoid. For Jori, Sawyer offers the possibility of permanence and a family that can be yanked away in a moment when Sawyer's restlessness pushes her to move on. The question is if the women can find a relationship that provides what each of them needs.
Erin Dutton has written a novel that is about family dynamics as much as anything. Sawyer represents the child who has never lived up to the family's expectations. The battle that goes on between Erica and Sawyer will feel familiar to many. Sawyer has failed so many times that no one expects her to succeed, least of all Erica. Erica's attitude towards her sister is almost painful to read, yet also understandable. How do you rely on someone who has never been reliable? Jori's story is as difficult, coming from a shattered family and abusive foster homes. The reader wants to say to her that it is OK to trust other people, that not everyone will fail her. Dutton captures the emotions of all three of these women very well and engages the reader in the process of hoping that each one is able to overcome her attitudes. Then she surrounds them with secondary characters that fill out the story. The reader gets a chance to think about both what family members can do to each other and what the lack of family means to a person who hasn't had one. The book is listed as a romance, but it goes beyond that and should provide a satisfactory reading experience.
 Terrible book!!!! Don't waste your time August 13, 2008
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Sorry to disagree with the other reviewers, but I didn't like this book at all. It just went on and on with no apparent reason and then stopped. Don't waste your time.
 A pleasant read in which family dynamics are central July 28, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book was decent. The author is still often imprecise with her language, and shows a somewhat bothersome tendency to tell us things versus showing us things. By that I mean that we will often get a paragraph of exposition that tells us something about a characters, versus putting said character in a situation in which those personality traits are revealed through action and reaction. This was more of an issue in the beginning of the book, and definitely got better as the story moved along, but it's something for this author to watch.
Still, one of this author's strengths is her flair for characterization. You could tell that she really put a lot of thought into the details of background and motivation, yet she didn't hit the reader over the head with it all, but rather doled out the details as the story progressed. Her characters are flawed, but their motivations have enough detail and consistency to allow the reader to forgive them, and therefore make them sympathetic.
I also enjoy the importance she gives to family dynamics. They're pretty much a central theme in this book as Sawyer is unwillingly drawn into working at the family restaurant in order to help her very pregnant younger sister, who manages the business with her twin brother. Sawyer is drawn to Jori, the new pastry chef, and vice versa, but the potential complications of a relationship between them ending badly, as Sawyer's family is convinced it will, as well as some bad history Jori has with workplace relationships, hinders the development of their romance.
I think I was looking for a bit of a stronger emotional resonance in the resolution of the family dynamics, or perhaps a bit more vindication on the part of Sawyer. Still, I enjoyed the way that important issues were addressed, and I was also satisfied with the progression of Jori's and Sawyer's relationship. The setting was well-wrought, with some detail of food preparation and restaurant management lending a realistic flair.
This book didn't blow my mind, but it was definitely a pleasant diversion. This author is able to construct a good story around ordinary events and lives; her scene transitions and character action/reactions flow smoothly. Her strengths outweigh her weaknesses, and I look forward to her future efforts.
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