Emily is just passing through, headed to start her medical residency near Chicago, when a deer shatters her windshield leaving her stranded in town overnight.  She is directed to the local B&B as the rest of the hotels in town are booked with a Seniors casino bus tour.  Emily is very clearly carrying her troubles along with her luggage and makes it clear she wants to be left alone with them.

Mark has a good sense of humor and an easy way about him, but he’s a little uptight about being in Manistique and even more so about the Inn.   It seems very simple to tell people that the Inn is closed and his Aunt is dead but he is reluctant to do that.  He really doesn’t want people staying there, but as more people arrive looking for lodging, he can’t seem to tell anyone no, nor reveal his “secret” about his Aunt.

It becomes chaotic in an hilarious, endearing way and you really want to be there.  Cuesta does an excellent job of character development. The characters are interesting, funny, and full of troubles and secrets of their own.  As their lives become temporarily intertwined through the Inn, there is a richness in the writing about how the town and its people touch their lives and the impact even complete strangers can have on each other.

My favorite character is George, the endearing Senior who arrives without notice for the night.  It is largely through George and his mysterious circumstances that the relationship between Mark and Emily starts to unfold…a closeness they both recognize isn’t romantic, but an authentic closeness between them is clearly growing amongst the chaos.

We learn things about his aunt – globe trotter, international aid doctor, strangely absent from her family.  We learn about the locals – Bear Foot, Dr. Jim, Mike the Bartender, and others.  This town is full of warm, helpful people but everyone knows everyone else’s business with specific opinions about that business.  Though most everyone in the story is on their way out of Manistique, you find yourself rooting for the town and you really want them to stay.

The story creates a warm, comfortable but chaotic environment with an excellent sense of humor.  This was my absolute favorite part of the book.  It is so well written and realistic…you can put yourself in the middle of the chaos, the hilarity, and the complicated lives of all of these different strangers.  As secrets unfold and life changing discoveries develop, the characters come full circle with their decisions to go or to stay in Manistique.