Susan Wingate
The Wild Rose Press, Inc
ASIN : B08W8TFLTN $3.99
https://www.amazon.com/Bobbys-Diner-Book-ebook/dp/B08W8TFLTN
Fifteen years ago, Georgette Carlisle fell in love at first sight with the owner of Bobby's Diner. A married man, Bobby found himself caught between two women. His conundrum was resolved (for him) upon his death, but these women are only beginning to grapple with the impact of his decisions when he leaves the restaurant to them both, in his will.
As if this weren't enough struggle, Bobby's Diner is located in a lucrative highway corridor that has investor Zach Pinzer willing to kill for the opportunity to develop it. Literally.
And so two disparate individuals find their lives entwined by opportunity, love, and threat, creating dilemmas that form the foundation of the powerful read that is Bobby's Diner.
Susan Wingate's wry sense of irony and humor come to light in the first paragraph, which tells of the will's unpleasant surprise: "Bobby did something none of us expected. He gave me half the interest in the diner and the other half to Vanessa! Just like Bobby to be equitable."
This sense of humor is injected into their relationship as Georgette narrates the impact of this revelation on ex Vanessa: "The note talked about his guilt for leaving Vanessa but also about his great love for me how Vanessa spent nearly half her life building the diner but it was my creativity that keep it going. Have you ever heard the term livid before? Well, Vanessa’s face turned every shade of livid I’ve ever seen. I remember sitting there imagining her head filling up like one of those water balloons at the fair and exploding right off her shoulders."
Vanessa and Georgette actually have a lot in common. Perhaps that's why Bobby loved them both. Creative, determined women who are hard workers, the two would have been ideal partners under other circumstances. They are about to find out that the differences between them are less than the threat posed by the man who will do anything to gain access to their inheritance.
The power in Susan Wingate's book lies as much in their evolving partnership relationship and the future of a diner that stands at the crossroads of development as it does in the growing threat to both. Wingate does an exquisite job of expanding on this relationship, drawing both women into a cat-and-mouse game between not just each other, but outside forces.
It's actually a triangle of inherited mess, because Vanessa's daughter Roberta also has an unexpected stake and say in what evolves, and a way of putting both women on the spot: “I may not have any say in this, but…but…” She looked around at me and continued, “But Georgette does!” She was nailing her mother by using me. Vanessa’s shoulders dropped and she turned slowly back to face her daughter."
The psychology surrounding these disparate forces and approaches to the diner and life is wonderfully portrayed against the backdrop of crime, business issues, changing interpersonal relationships, and the pivot point of a diner that lies at the focal point of an evolving disaster on many fronts.
Readers who enjoy stories of women at odds with one another, who face mystery, threat, and changing relationships all at once, will relish the lively psychological dilemmas in Bobby's Diner. Much more than a story of suspense or intrigue, it's a vivid study in changing human relationships that will keep readers thoroughly engaged.
