The Way Life Should Be

by: Christina Baker Kline

Published by: William Morrow

Reviewed by Linda Lee

A slight fiasco involving a circus-themed party, a fire eater, and no insurance, causes Angela Russo to lose her job as an event planner in New York City. She always wanted to be a chef, but her family told her she needed an education and a real job. Now her real job is gone and she feels a pull toward Maine.

A picture of a seaside cottage in Maine, torn from a magazine, has hung on the bulletin board in her office for ages. Meeting a Maine sailing instructor on an online matchmaking site seems to be providence. She’s always been besotted with ideas of life in a small coastal town, and a man using the screen name ”˜Maine Catch,’ who writes silly haiku, seems to be the perfect fit for her dream life. Now that she has no job, there is no reason not to move to his part of the country.

Maine winters are rough and Angela learns not every small house on the coast is warm and inviting, and not every man who invites you to live in one is all he claims to be. She doesn’t want to go home and admit she’s been duped by an online love, but her severance pay will run out soon. A local coffee shop provides a job and a friend, while the people she meets as she waits on them become much more than customers. Can she overcome the hurt, disappointment, and the bitter cold to make a home for herself on this island?

Christina Baker Kline writes as if she’s sitting next to you telling you about the adventures of her friends. Empathy, sympathy, romance and humor, mixed with Italian recipes, makes for a fast, fun read with something left over for later. A torta al Limone sounds like the perfect recipe for dessert. The only thing that would have made this book any better would have been to have the tart to eat while reading it. Now, that is The Way Life Should Be.

Armchair Interviews says: Like the title, this a good–like storytelling “should be.”

Author’s Web site: http://www.ChristinaBakerKline.com