Looking for Leroy by Melody Carlson

 

Brynna Phillips is a school teacher who believes she is done with men and is looking to spend her summer gardening on her small condo deck. But everything goes awry when she heads to the greenhouse to get some plants. Fellow co-worker Jan finds her at the greenhouse and ends up talking Brynna into going on a camping trip with her. 

At the same time in a Sonoma vineyard in California, Leroy is looking for some peace and quiet from his daughters and is struggling to keep his family's vineyard out of the red.

Looking for Leroy by Melody Carlson is a contemporary Christian novel with a story that some other mid-life women may be able to relate to. Brynna and Jan go on their camping adventure and are having fun when they end up at the same camp that Brynna met Leroy at after her senior year of high school. She starts wondering where he is and finds him with Jan's help. Jan also has found a new friend in Mike, who also joins then in the search for Leroy. After finding Leroy's family vineyard, Brynna ends up in an unusual position when Leroy's daughter mistakes her for a job applicant. 

I enjoyed the characters in Looking for Leroy. It is a book that is more character driven than plot driven. It was a relatively quick read for me. I enjoyed getting to know the characters with their good traits and their flaws. It was interesting to see how "life" worked out for each of them. I also think that many of us who are older have wondered what happened to a former boyfriend/girlfriend so it was fun to see how this story played out. Looking for Leroy would also encourage mid-life people to take more risks and really "live" life--especially, as one reads how Brynna needed to make some changes to really start living her life.

I also enjoyed how God was drawn in to Looking for Leroy and how Leroy's mom shared a bit about a Bible story in making her point. The faith parts felt natural and were clearly part of the plot in Looking for Leroy. 

The cover of Looking for Leroy drew me in with the warm sunshine, vineyards and the truck with camping trailer clearly indicating an adventure was going to go on in the book.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Interview and Reviews. All opinions within this review are my own.

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