Her Summer with the Marine: A Donovan Brothers Novel

Her Summer with the Marine: A Donovan Brothers Novel - Susan Meier Her Summer with the Marine was not like I was expecting. It ended up being just an OK read for me. It felt like it took a while to get going. Ellie is back in her home town because her father's Alzheimer's has gotten worse. She decides she needs to keep the family business running in order to pay for his nursing home fees. Finn runs the competition. He wants to buy her out in order to save his own business. They have been in competition with each other ever since grade school. The attraction between the two is probably the better part of the book. Although, it did feel a bit forced to me at times.

Normally, I probably wouldn't have had a problem with a little friendly competition. It can make for some great tension. But when I found out the businesses in question were funeral homes, I was a bit disturbed. The one up-man-ship that these two displayed when promoting their business was kind of creepy and distasteful. I didn't like that part at all. Who goes trolling for business at a funeral?

I also had to question some of the decisions that Ellie makes in the book. She knows nothing about running a funeral home or accounting. She has a full time job in advertising. Yet, she decides to keep the business open because it would mean spending more time with her father. A father who doesn't remember her half the time. Why not sell the business and move him to a facility closer to her apartment? She doesn't even like funerals or anything that goes along with them.