A title to grab my interest by an author whose work I’ve enjoyed. The Favorite Daughter by Patti Callahan Henry was an easy book to say yes to, especially with a cover that seemed to invite summertime reading.

Unfortunately, I found that it wasn’t for me. Somewhere I saw it described it as having a rom-com feel, and that should have tipped me off. Though there are exceptions, rom-coms only rarely hit my mark — on the screen, but especially so on the page. It’s purely subjective, but I simply prefer my women’s fiction to have a little more weight, a certain gravitas. That was my biggest quibble with this one: the tone didn’t suit me. I also found it to be a tad too predictable in both plot and characters.

If you’re looking for a beach read, The Favorite Daughter does have a warm, summertime feel to it. And it contains family drama and a bit of romance that is well-suited to the type.

Worth noting: I recently read Becoming Mrs. Lewis (written under the name Patti Callahan) and enjoyed it much more. Or, going back several years, The Stories We Tell was one of Patti Callahan Henry’s novels also to my liking.

Thanks to Berkley Books for providing me this book free of charge. All opinions are mine.

From the back cover:

Ten years ago, Lena Donohue experienced a wedding-day betrayal so painful that she fled the small town of Watersend, South Carolina, and reinvented herself in New York City. Though now a freelance travel writer, the one place she rarely goes is home—until she learns of her dad’s failing health.

Returning to Watersend means seeing the sister she has avoided for a decade and the brother who runs the family’s Irish pub and has borne the burden of his sisters’ rift. While Alzheimer’s slowly steals their father’s memories, the siblings rush to preserve his life in stories and in photographs. As his secret past brings Lena’s own childhood into focus, it sends her on a journey to discover the true meaning of home.

Genre: Fiction | Women’s Fiction

Publication date: June 2019

About the author:

Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times bestselling author whose novels include The Bookshop at Water’s End, The Idea of Love, The Stories We Tell, and Driftwood Summer. As Patti Callahan, she’s the author of the USA Today bestseller Becoming Mrs. Lewis. Short-listed for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, and nominated multiple times for the Southern Inde­pendent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) Book Award for Fiction, Patti is a frequent speaker at luncheons, book clubs, and women’s groups.

Connect with the author: Website | Instagram | Twitter | Pinterest | Facebook

Buy it here.

Thanks to Berkley for providing me copies of these books free of charge. All opinions are mine.