After a tumultuous childhood with a mother she describes as "a train wreck compounded by a dumpster fire that smelled like cheap perfume," Rachel Sinclair has made a life for herself. On the verge of turning forty, her upscale beach bar-Palms on the Cape-is packed with vacationers and regulars throughout the busy Cape Cod summer season. She has surrounded herself with a chosen family of devoted staff and great friends, including her best friend, Carlos...who she might be in love with.
When a visiting study group from a Vermont business school, known as the A-List, descends on Rachel's bar in late August, she gets pulled in by the charms of their leader, Tripper, a younger man with good looks, access, and tremendous connections in the restaurant industry.
But when Rachel learns of the A-List's plans to take over her business, she must decide if it's worth the gamble to join forces with an unlikely ally or risk losing everything she has worked for. (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)
Palms on the Cape made me want to run my own beach bar! Rachel’s bar seems like such a carefree, easy-breezy type place, with plenty of regulars and vacationers to add to the charm. I’ve worked in a bar establishment and I know first-hand just how much work goes into successfully making them run, and while it’s obvious that Rachel and her staff work hard and put in a lot of effort, the vibe of the place would be a fun environment to work in. As the synopsis indicates, Rachel has done a lot to make a life for herself and wants to steer clear of any kind of potential drama. It’s a big reason she chooses not to date. Not to mention she doesn’t have the kind of time necessary to get into any kind of relationship with someone.
Enter Tripper. Rachel figures it could be fun to have a brief summer fling with the guy, only to find out later that he has ulterior motives. The path leading to that realization was sprinkled with tiny little breadcrumb clues, so when the truth is finally revealed, I couldn’t help but want to throttle the guy, and the rest of his so-called A-List team. To know that Rachel has put so much time and effort into her dream, only to have some jerk come along and try to derail that, only added fuel to the fire. As imagined, Rachel is lost on what to do or how to fix things. Tripper has a lot of connections and his team has been working behind the scenes to derail her. Suddenly, her goal to steer clear of drama becomes a situation where there is nothing but.
I thought the steps taken to save the bar had been clever and fun to read. Rachel needs to branch out and ask for help from unexpected places, and the reader isn’t even sure if that choice is the best one, given the circumstances. But Rachel doesn’t have much of a choice. When everything tumbles to a halt and everything is out in the open, it was a pretty exciting experience. Flipping the script and seeing Rachel take charge was nice to see, and watching the A-List squirm was even better!
A secondary plotline is the relationship between Rachel and her long-time best friend, Carlos. It always surprises me when I read about or hear someone say that a romantic relationship built on friendship can’t be possible. I think friendship can be a great foundation in a romantic relationship, and it’s something Rachel has to think hard about, as to whether Carlos could ever be anything more than friends. It was a nice plot to help give some levity to the seriousness of what’s going on in Rachel’s professional world, and I thought the two blended nicely together. Palms on the Cape was a definite five-star read!
Thanks to Jenn Bouchard for the book in exchange for an honest review.
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