Review: Geoducks Are For Lovers

My Thoughts

Warm. Heartfelt. Original and engaging.
This book was a breath of fresh air.
A story about a group of friends coming together, pasts, presents and futures colliding… proving that it’s never too late for happily ever afters.

• Main Characters and Casting: Gil Morrow (or here), Maggie Marrion, Selah Elmore, Quinn Dayton, Jo and Ben Grant
• Genre: 2013 Favorites, 2013 Favorite Singles

Synopsis

Food writer Maggie Marrion is just getting back on her feet after a horrible year, or two, or three. With their twentieth reunion approaching, she invites four of her closest friends from college for a weekend at her beach cabin on Whidbey Island. What she doesn’t expect is her best friends, artist Quinn Dayton and part-time erotica novelist, Selah Elmore, to play matchmaker. The two plot a surprise that will make the weekend, and her life, a lot more interesting.

Gil Morrow, a former grunge musician turned history professor, joins them as Selah’s date for the weekend. Facing his own ghosts, Gil decides he’s waited long enough to get the girl. With the support of college sweethearts, a hot lumberjack, a few wishing rocks, and the world’s largest burrowing clam, Gil reminds Maggie that forty-something isn’t too old for second chances.

Can we learn to love the life we have and let go of who we expected to be? What happens when the generation from The Breakfast Club and Reality Bites meets The Big Chill? Come spend a weekend with these Generation X-ers as they share laughter, tears, life’s ups and downs, old stories, and new beginnings.

My Review

“We’re going to have a blast. It will be like The Big Chill without Kevin Costner and with better music.”

A lovely glass of red wine. A hot cup of coffee first thing in the morning. The smell of the ocean and the feel of cool sand on your toes. The smell of freshly baked scones. The laughter of friends that evokes the feeling of home, the warmth of unbreakable love. That’s this story. It’s all that goodness embedded into the pages of this book, both literally and figuratively. I felt happy, at ease, and enthralled with the story of this group of friends, in their forties, reuniting to invigorate their connection, rejuvenate their souls and even challenge each other in ways that only old friends can. It was such a welcome breath of fresh air… so different from what I typically read, but beautiful in its easy grace and style.

Maggie Marrion, a food writer, invites her closest friends from college for a weekend get-together. You’ve got a gay artist, an erotica writer, a businessman and a housewife, and lastly and very much a surprise guest, a history professor who is Maggie’s ex-love. Suddenly, 41 year-old Maggie is transported back to her twenty-something self as feelings deeply buried resurface.

“He still affects her the same way he did back in college. Gil is a friend, an old friend. He isn’t the same Gil she loved from not-so-afar in college, she reminds herself. No, he might be better.”

Both Gil and Maggie have been divorced and finally find themselves single and in the same place after not seeing each other for the past five years. Lingering embers of their chemistry are suddenly re-igniting and with the oh-so-very-direct encouragement of their fiesty friends, the weekend takes a turn into something she didn’t expect.

“There’s always been something between you and Gil. Stewing, brewing, steeping, fermenting between the two of you, but the timing was never right. Now the time is right.”

I loved seeing them around each other… I visualized the story so vividly, playing like a movie before my eyes. Daisy Prescott does an amazing job of describing the idyllic island environment, setting this laid-back, easygoing tone in the book. The story takes place at Whidbey Island at Maggie’s beach house. Maggie is very much the type of woman that likes to be in control… especially at 41 and living alone, she’s used to doing what she wants, when she wants, how she wants without the responsibility of considering anyone else’s wants and needs. When Gil comes back, unsettling all those feelings, she senses her control start to slip and old fears and insecurities consume her thoughts. At the same time, after some recent tragedy, she feels the fog begin to lift from her heart, finding herself happy and laughing amongst this group of close friends.

“It’s amazing to laugh and feel light after so much darkness and death, like the sun is out again after a long rain.”

But there’s no denying that her source of happiness is primarily coming from Gil. They are just so perfect together… it felt to me like he conjured up this feeling of home and happiness, even though those memories were rooted in the past. They’ve both gone through so much since then and despite the twenty years of not being together… being together now, is well, almost effortless.

“I’m glad you’re here. Even if it has taken us too long to come back together.”

Effortless perhaps laced with a little… scratch that… a whole lot of sexual desire.

“What? We are friends. Friends who kiss every twenty years.”

All the friends in their group are all really captivating characters. Each of them adding their own special sprinkle of uniqueness to this unlikely medley of friends. And despite the fact that they each lead very different lives, I loved that they all had the wisdom of their age, sharing experiences that were relatable and not angsty and insecure as we would see in a YA/NA novel. At the same time, it brings to the forefront, that even in your forties (or really at any age past your twenties, I think), there are parts to our personality that still suffer from the insecurities we cultivate over the years. We just get better at living despite of them. So when Gil is brave enough to reveal that he still has feelings for Maggie, that sends her into a frenzy of questions she’s afraid to ponder.

“I think you know I love you. Not past tense, not friendly love. Love. Love that lassos the moon and lays it at your feet.”

With the story falling into place like puzzle pieces, you realize that sometimes things have to happen in a way that may not make sense at first, but that somehow brings the present to its rightful destiny. I just really loved everything about this book. From its music and movie mentions, to the vivid setting and the endearing friendships… it’s just so enjoyable to read.  It’s not some explosive, angst-ridden, high highs, low lows read… it’s a soft swirling of nostalgic and intimate moments with more subtle peaks and valleys of emotions and humor that grip you with relatable experiences and heartfelt feelings. There are two more books planned in the series, but they are spin-offs, not a continuation of Maggie and Gil’s story. Although I will say, I would love to see more of how their story evolves. After all, with a wish of a “little extra hope and faith”, you never know what life holds in store for these two lovers.

Reading Order and Links

The series features a group of friends, but each book can be read as a standalone. Click the cover to purchase from Amazon U.S.

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