The Summer of Sunshine and Margot by Susan Mallery
This novel takes place over a few months. Margot and Sunshine are fraternal twin sisters, raised by a grandmother, who has since passed away. Margot has gone to college and used her people skills and her love of travel to become an etiquette coach. She is particularly good at helping people adjust to new cultural situations. She has just been hired by Bianca, an older actress, well-known for her spontaneous and inappropriate behaviour that is engaged to a diplomat from a small European country. Bianca wants to make this relationship work. Meanwhile, she is living with her son Alec, an academic with an interest in history who has made a home of an historic monastery. Bianca wants Margot to live in while she coaches her.
Margot finds the monastery fascinating and uses her off time to explore the building and the grounds. She also becomes friendly with Alec.
While successful, Margot has a weak spot for her old boyfriend, a man who has dumped her repeatedly, but keeps coming back expecting to resume where he left off. Margot is determined that he won't be in her life again, but with a family history of women making bad relationship choices, she isn't hopeful for a better relationship.
Sunshine didn't go to college, finding herself easily diverted from her goals by the interesting men she's met along the way. She's had a spotty career as a nanny, making great connections with the children, but often leaving everyone in the lurch when someone attracts her interest. She too, is determined to stay the course in her new position as nanny to eight-year-old Connor. She's also determined to get her college degree, signing up for her first course. Connor's father Declan is worried about his son as the two recover from the relatively sudden death of Connor's mother from cancer. He has a busy career as a landscape architect, and needs some stability in his son's life. Sunshine and Declan prove to be sounding boards for each other as they each move forward in their lives.
This was a fun read, and I liked the relationship between the sisters, which was close without being cloying.
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