Ready for Love is the third book in Marie Force’s Gansett Island series, and it’s Luke and Sydney’s story. This couple were teenage sweethearts who were madly in love, but at nineteen, Sydney left the island for college without ever saying goodbye to Luke. She completely moved on with her life, marrying another man and having two great kids, but an unthinkable tragedy brings her back to Gansett to heal both her body and mind. About a year later, Sydney and Luke finally reconnect and quickly discover that the old spark is still there. Luke has never stopped loving Sydney, so he’s all in pretty much from the start. However, Sydney is a little more gun-shy, loving their time together, but wanting to take things slow when it comes to making major decisions about their future. She also feels some guilt about having such strong feelings for Luke with her husband only gone a year. Then there’s the possibility of her parents, who’ve always disapproved of Luke, getting in the way of their budding reunion romance, while Luke is playing a few things close to the vest for fear of getting hurt again, which stirs up a little trouble in paradise, too.

Sydney came to Gansett Island with her parents every year as a teenager, and it was during one of those visits that she met and fell in love with Luke. Each summer, they reconnected and were inseparable, but Syd’s wealthy parents, who always looked down on Luke’s humble upbringing, frequently told her she could do much better. Eventually their influence won out, and when she left the island at the end of the summer when she was nineteen, she went off to college and eventually married someone else. She loved her husband, though not in the same intense way she’d loved Luke, and was content with her wonderful family until that life was ripped away by a drunk driver. In an instant, she’d lost her husband and both kids and was badly injured herself, spending weeks in the hospital. Three months later, her parents brought her back to Gansett to recuperate and she spent the next year just learning how to put one foot in front of the other again. Now back for another summer on the island, Syd finally reconnects with Luke and it’s like the past seventeen years apart simply melts away. Although she’s a little reluctant to make any plans or promises, Syd is happier than she’s been since losing her family and quickly realizes that she’s never truly stopped loving Luke, but she isn’t entirely sure what she’s going to do when the summer comes to an end. Sydney is a wonderful heroine and although she did Luke wrong all those years ago, she’s extremely apologetic about how much she hurt him. She has some regrets, but at the same time, she knows that she’d have never had her kids without making this big mistake. I admired her for being a stronger person now, willing to stand up to her parents’ snobbishness for another shot at happiness. I also like that although she initially gets upset at Luke for keeping a fairly significant piece of information about himself from her, she almost immediately realizes why he did it and doesn’t let it stand in the way of them being together.

Luke has lived on the island his whole life, growing up with his beloved foster mother and also becoming an honorary member of the McCarthy family. He loved Sydney with every ounce of his being when they were kids, so when she left without even saying goodbye, it devastated him. Several times, he tried to move on, but he never felt for anyone else the way he felt for her and eventually quit trying. He’s been content with his job at the marina, and when Big Mac McCarthy retired in the first book, he gave a significant portion of the business to Luke. When Luke heard of the tragedy that befell Syd and that she was back on the island the first time, he covertly went to check on her just to see for himself that she was OK. Now a year later, he’s back to sneaking around her parents’ place again, and this time, she catches him. From the instant they come face-to-face again, the old feelings come surging back, and Luke knows immediately that he’ll risk his heart again for the only woman he’s ever truly loved. I wasn’t sure I could love another Gansett hero as much as I did Joe in the previous book, but quiet, unassuming Luke definitely has given him a run for his money. Luke is just a simple guy, living a simple life, who knows he has one soul mate, and he pours all his effort into reminding Syd of everything she’s been missing. I love how sweet and supportive he is toward her, encouraging her to talk about the husband and family she lost, knowing exactly how much they meant to her. Although a part of him is afraid of getting hurt again when the summer comes to an end, he still doesn’t hesitate to wear his heart on his sleeve and let Syd know that she’s the only one he wants. Not to mention, he’s a passionate and enthusiastic lover.;-) What more could a girl ask for?

With Gansett Island being a very long-running series, there are supporting characters aplenty who have their own books in the series, and some have their own POV scenes in Ready for Love. There’s another second-chance romance for the young at heart brewing for old Ned, the local cab driver who secretly owns a large part of the island. Turns out he’s an ole softie who also gave his heart to a woman when he was young, but she left him for another man. Luke’s reunion with Sydney inspires him to look up his old flame and reconnect with her and I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing more of them around town together. Mac and Maddie (Maid for Love) are preparing for the upcoming birth of their first child together. Meanwhile Joe and Janey (Fool for Love) get ready for their upcoming nuptials while Janey deals with her first solo vet emergency. Mac’s Oscar-winning, Hollywood screenwriter brother, Grant, returns to Gansett early for Janey and Joe’s wedding after hearing that Abby, the woman he’d always believed to be the love of his life, is poised to marry another man. He’s prepared to fight for his woman, but upon arriving, he meets Stephanie, a new employee of the marina who intrigues him a little, even though he doesn’t think she’s his type. This book leaves things a bit up on the air as to which woman he’ll finally end up with, and his story will be told in the next book, Falling for Love. Cornerstone characters, Big Mac and Linda McCarthy (Celebration After Dark) experience a frightening medical emergency. We’re briefly introduced to Owen, a charming itinerant musician and surfer dude, who becomes the hero of Book #6, Season for Love and Book #11, Gansett After Dark. We also get a quick introduction to Blaine, the local police chief, and learn a bit more about Maddie’s sister, Tiffany’s marriage troubles. There’s a slight spark between these two, so I was interested to see that they become the hero and heroine of Book #7, Longing for Love. And of course I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Sydney’s adorable Golden Retriever, Buddy, who’s an awesome character as well.:-)

Ready for Love was an absolute pleasure to read and a great addition to the Gansett Island series. It’s a heartwarming, emotional, second-chance romance that really tugged on my heartstrings. Sydney has been through an unimaginable tragedy, but she’s managed to pick up the pieces and move on with her life admirably, but in a realistic way that doesn’t in any way minimize what she’s been through or how much it affected her. Luke is kind and patient, willing risk his heart for another chance at love with her and allows her to go at her own pace. It’s obvious that these two belonged together and if not for Syd’s meddling parents, they might have been with each other always, yet neither Luke nor Syd dwell too much on the what-ifs, instead simply moving forward from the present fully invested in one another. The other Gansett residents add lots of flavor to the story. I enjoyed catching up with Mac and Maddie and Joe and Janey, while seeing Ned reconnect with his old love was cute. The way the story ended left me eager to find out what happens next for Grant and which lady he ends up with, so I’m very much looking forward to continuing the series soon. ( )

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

For a small place, there sure are a lot of love stories on Gansett Island, and each with a different path. Ready for Love picks up a year after Joe and Janey found their much-delayed happiness, but though Luke and Sydney had even longer to come back to this moment, their tale has little in common with the previous book.

Sydney has been coming to the island since her teenage years, but though she met, and loved, Luke back then, she wasn’t mature enough to see beyond her parents’ prejudices. Instead, she married someone else, had two wonderful kids, and lived a full life with summers on the island as a minor part of that. Still, she never forgot Luke or got over her regret at how she’d left one summer and returned the next time married to someone else, never giving Luke the breakup he deserved.

Then fate deals an awful blow as a drunk driver kills her family and injures her, leaving Sydney devastated.

All this happens in the backstory. We join the present when, a year after the first time Luke came to check on Sydney in secret, he’s back pulling his boat onto her beach so he can stand guard over her grief. Only Sydney hasn’t been ignorant of his visits as he supposed, something he learns when she calls him on it, finally ready to recognize his presence.

Their story is complicated with trust issues, grief, and expectations, but it’s a beautiful one as Luke tries to move forward while everyone helpfully reminds him how destroyed he was the last time she left him. Sydney is no better as she tries to make her way back to her first love without feeling guilty about finding happiness a second time despite the deaths of her children and husband. The guilt is also because her ties to Luke in memory stayed true throughout her marriage. She was never unfaithful in thought or word, so did not betray her husband, but neither did the past fade as it might have.

Nor does all this happen in isolation as the community of friends we’ve come to know meet to tease, support, and challenge each other, especially since Janey and Joe’s wedding is only two weeks away.

As I mentioned at the beginning, I like all the different paths to love these stories tell, and Ready for Love both has a complete story and several others running in parallel. Even in Luke and Sydney’s story alone, though, there are many threads I appreciated.

Doubt is an aspect, but when it would have been easy for doubt to overwhelm trust, I very much enjoyed how their understanding of each other wins out. Which is not to say doubt plays no part, because it absolutely does, but it’s not the simple things where it shows, but in multilayered ones where some level of mistrust makes sense even without considering their past.

This is a powerful, complex, supportive love story that swept me in. It has open-door intimate scenes, tragedy, and a faithful dog. Buddy is both an emotional crutch for Sydney, and a proper dog who scratches and whines at a closed door rather than a caricature. As much as the book’s about two people renewing a lost love, there’s love of family, found and blood, and active change in more than just the main characters. It was what I wanted to read at this moment, and Marie Force delivered. ( )

This story reminded me of the second book in the series, although the circumstances are very different. But again, the hero has always loved the heroine and tries to win her over after her situation changes. And again, Luke doesn't seem to have any flaws. Also, there is a lot of screen time for other couples in this book. Without them Luke and Sydney's story may have become a bit boring - even though it could and should have been good.
Still, I enjoy the author's voice and am interested enough to want to read more. ( )

I received a free copy through Goodreads.
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I would give this book 4 stars.

This was the first book of the McCarthys series that I have read.

I have to admit, this was a very pleasant read. It was definitely not one of those clich̩d and boring romantic reads. There was definitely substance, decent story line and solid character development. I enjoy how things developed between Sydney and Luke, with other characters thrown in to keep the story going in different directions. I like how the ending was left open for interpretation with the promise of a happy ending for them.

Overall, I would definitely read this book again and maybe the others in the series. ( )

Midway this story really picked up with side romances, exciting action and good finish but the beginning was kind of boring with the heroine wallowing in her misery and the hero seemed like a doormat. Sydney recovers from the loss of her family at her summer retreat where she reconnects with her high school love Luke. ( )