"Stay a Little Longer"

"Stay a Little Longer"
by Dorothy Garlock

Source: provided by Anna at Hachette Books

My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

My Review:

Rachel Watkins' life irreversibly changed when her sister Alice died in childbirth. Rachel became a mother to her niece, Charlotte, and took over from her mother as the town midwife. Rachel's mother lost her courage to help bring new lives into the world after the loss of her daughter. Rachel is also in charge of the boarding house that her mother owns with her uncle. Rachel blames her sister's death as well as all the struggles of her new life on the fact that Alice's husband, Mason, died in the war. If he hadn't died, would everything be the same as it was before? Would he be able to fix everything if he could come back?

"Stay a Little Longer" had a really good story, but it was a little too simplistic at times. There were moments that were really exciting and even had me gasping, "Wow! I can't believe that happened!" This story was kind of like "It's a Wonderful Life," but people's lives really did fall apart because they thought Mason was dead, it wasn't all a dream.

The romance was okay, but I wouldn't really call this a romance book because the love story was on the back burner. It was more about Mason learning to live his life again. Some of the scenes with the villains were a little too grisly for me and at times I wondered how much more Rachel would have to endure.

However, I loved Charlotte's character and her faithful and loyal companion, Jasper the dog. These two really breathed life into the slow story. I also thought Rachel's mother and how Alice's death affected her was really interesting. These characters and their facets of the story really kept me interested in the book.

I really liked the poem at the beginning of the book and how it was the basis for the whole book. The poem is about a man who had survived a war and he doesn't want his wife to see his scars, both on the outside and inside. I think the book would have been more meaningful to me if Mason had been able to truly go back to his wife and see that she still loved him for who he was, regardless of the scars.


Main Characters: 3/5
Supporting Characters: 4/5
Setting: 3/5
Romance: 2/5
Uniqueness: 3/5
Cover: 4/5
Writing: 3/5


Bottom Line:Overall, the story was nice, but a little slow and simplified for me. For fans of Garlock and Americana stories, I think this would be a nice, cozy read.