Hello Bookworms!
Today is a very special day for me as it’s my mom’s birthday! I have been blessed with the most wonderful role model a girl could ask for. She has been my biggest supporter and my prayer warrior for life, and I don’t know what I’d do without her. So, a huge happy birthday to you, Mom!! I hope you have the most amazing day!
To celebrate, I am posting a review from a series that is new to me but that I instantly fell in love with, so I hope you enjoy my thoughts on this Women’s Christian Fiction, and I hope you have a blessed weekend!
Welcome to the Blog Tour for Tandem Cottage by Carrie Fancett Pagels, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
About the Book
Title: Tandem Cottage
Series: Mackinac Cottage Series #3
Author: Carie Fancett Pagels
Publisher: Hearts Overcoming Press
Release Date: April 28, 2025
Genre: Women's Christian Fiction
From Multi Award-winning and Bestselling Author, Carrie Fancett Pagels
Newly minted computer science graduate, Alyssa, has plans to obtain work and finally live independently with her son. Summer programming for Alyssa’s son, who has Aspergers, is tossed when his biological father and new wife, an attorney, insist on summer visitation. With her plans completely upended, Alyssa pursues a job on Mackinac Island with the hopes of acquiring an internship. Young widower, Carter, who has suffered the tragic loss of his wife, is working remotely on Mackinac Island as a computer programmer and hires Alyssa as nanny for his baby girl.
Susan, a social worker with unknown links to Alyssa, is also Carter’s former group therapist. Susan consults at a Mackinac Island summer-long retreat as she mulls retirement options. With Alyssa’s estranged grandmother a famous television evangelist, Susan’s mother the senior-most congressional representative, and a mysterious artist all adding their dramatic flair to the Mackinac Island mix—what could go wrong?
PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Bookbub
My Review
Tandem Cottage is a sweet, if not weighty, contemporary fiction that has a sweet ending filled with love and laughter, engaging characters, and all the small-town charm.
As per usual, I jumped into this series midway through, and in this case, I feel like it hurt my experience. I struggled to get through this novel and feel like you need to be in the right headspace when you’re reading this, as it does have some triggering topics (though handled sensitively), and I wasn’t in that right headspace. It took me a bit to really connect to these characters and gain my footing in the world as a whole, and I think if I had read the other two books first, this might not have been the case.
One thing I wasn’t expecting was processing grief and different practices that can be used to help through difficult times, like joining a group or listening to certain music. Carter is going through the stages of grief, so seeing how he was able to process and begin to live again was interesting. I also appreciated the autism representation. Sammy has the same mental disability that my youngest son has, so I instantly connected to both Alyssa and Sammy, knowing the overwhelming blessing that also goes in tandem with the struggles that come with Asperger’s Syndrome.
Both Sammy and Kelsey were bright spots in the weighty narrative, and there are some sweet family moments that are truly heartwarming. While there were parts of the novel that I struggled getting into, Tandem Cottage is an overall sweet, character-driven novel with a good message.
About the Author
Carrie Fancett Pagels is an ECPA bestselling and award-winning author of Christian historical romance. Twenty-five years as a psychologist didn't "cure" her overactive imagination! She resides with her family in the Historic Triangle of Virginia, which is perfect for her love of history. Carrie loves to read, bake, bead, and travel – but not all at the same time!
Connect with Carrie at carriefancettpagels.com to follow her on social media and sign up for email updates.
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