Two Stars
As a big Robyn Carr fan, it pains me to write this review, but I disliked SUNRISE ON HALF MOON BAY so much, I was a breath away from throwing the book across the room at points. I’ve read upwards of 30 RC novels previously, and none of them have hit such a sour note.
The story follows two sisters, separate in age by 20 years, as they both deal with family and personal crises. The only reason I gave this book two stars, instead of the one it probably deserves, is because I genuinely enjoyed Justine’s story. She’s the older sister and the self-contained lawyer with two teenagers and a crumbling marriage. I thought her experiences with divorce, betrayal, and the conflicting emotions that come with having your life turned on its head were engrossing. She was strong and fierce, yet willing to be flexible and change. I felt like she had a wonderful character arc and I enjoyed following it.
I started the book disliking both main characters, and as I mentioned, Justine grew on me. Adele did not. I found her to be unbelievably selfish and her self-pity grated on me throughout the whole story. I could have dealt with her as an unlikeable character, if she wasn’t so, so terrible to her longtime friend/love interest. She strung him along for YEARS and then when he finally gave her an ultimatum for his own mental health, she basically said she would settle for him but it wasn’t any kind of great love. COOL. BYE.
In addition to 50% of the main characters driving me up a wall, this book lacked Robyn Carr’s signature emotional and descriptive writing style. There was a lot of telling instead of showing, which kept me detached from the plot and characters. I hate to say it, but it felt like RC phoned it in with this one. For such a short read, it was grueling for me to slog through until the end, and the last 20% of the book was my least favorite part!
Overall, I am still a Robyn Carr fan. She has written some of my favorite small town romances and women’s fiction novels. This one just missed the mark in so many ways. I think the hardest part of this book was knowing RC can do so much better.
**I received an ARC of this book in order to provide an honest review**
Romance Reader 
I loved her Virgin River series, and even her Thunder Point, but I lost interest reading her Sullivan’s Crossing series – it CRUSHED me!!!
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I actually wondered if she wrote it a long, long time ago. It lacked emotional depth and the storylines were very superficial. It also drove me nuts that the geography was wrong. Half Moon Bay is north of San Jose so you don’t drive down to it. And the notion someone would live in Carmel and commute to San Francisco or Half Moon Bay might have made sense 20 years ago, but not with today’s traffic. It just feels like it was dusted off and published – even the editing mistakes. How to trust any future books are truly new?
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