Cedar Cove #11: 1105 Yakima Street
by Debbie Macomber
Boy did this volume of the Cedar Cove series rub me the wrong way! If this was the first book in the series, I’d never pick up the next book, and I’d probably try to avoid the author in the future. However, since it’s the eleventh out of twelve books, I felt obligated to finish it and forget about it for the good of the series. Before I forget, I’ll explain why I hated it so much.
In the Cedar Cove novels, there are so many residents, it’s virtually impossible to check in with everybody in every book. So, Debbie Macomber features four or five main plots in each. In 1105 Yakima Street, I hated every single plot featured! First, there’s a couple who married in haste and has just learned they’re going to be parents. The husband has a teenaged daughter from his first marriage in tow, and she doesn’t like her new stepmother. After the husband and wife separate, the daughter brings up a very valid argument: if they’d been responsible and used birth control, they could go their separate ways with no permanent harm done. Now a child is being brought into the world and the couple will feel obligated to stay married when they shouldn’t. What’s her father’s reaction? He thinks she’s destructive and hurtful and sends her to counseling.
Sometimes, stock characters don’t change when they’re part of a series. While I understand that and don’t have a problem with it, I do prefer the characters who grow or at least try to change. There’s a male character who started the series as a villain and is not trying to forge a new path in town as a respectable citizen. I liked him and was hoping fortune would find him. Unfortunately, when he falls head-over-heels for a woman, no one in town supports him. They take it upon themselves to tell him to stop pursuing her, and try to knock it through his head that she has zero interest in him. Then why has she accepted his date invitations? It’s extremely rude and none of the residents’ business. The replacement love interest—because the general consensus of Cedar Cove can’t be wrong—is irritating, argumentative, and critical. In real life, that’s not the type of woman a man looking for a fresh start needs.
Next up is a woman in her sixties whose faithful canine companion has died. Young people look at getting pets differently; they don’t wonder if they’ll outlive their pet or whether or not they want to attach themselves to a companion who will die when they’re in their eighties. People in their sixties think about that, and this character decided she didn’t want to get another dog—no one in Cedar Cove listens to her! A rescue worker pawns a puppy off on her friend, promising she’ll find an adoptive owner in a couple of weeks, and everyone in town, including the woman’s husband, laughs in her face when she insists she’s not going to change her mind and keep the dog. How unsupportive, rude, intrusive, and disrespectful!
Speaking of disrespectful, this next one’s really offensive. One of the residents has survived breast cancer, and after resting and recovering, she’s decided to return to her forty-year tradition of going once a week to aerobics class with her best girlfriend. Afterwards, the girls always go to the same diner and order coffee and coconut cream pie. As someone who is passionate about fitness and very knowledgeable about nutrition, I have a problem with their ritual and that it’s supposed to be charming and funny to the readers. But I digress. The real problem is that after the woman changes her order from coffee to tea, the waitress gives her attitude. She feels compelled to explain her decision, even though as a paying customer it’s unnecessary, and says that the medication she’s taking leaves a bitter taste in her mouth when she drinks coffee. The waitress’s response? “I don’t know what those doctors did to you, but you’re not the [girl] I used to know.” Do you believe that?
Then, the waitress makes a dramatic reappearance to the table and asks if the woman still wants the pie or if she’s going to change her mind again. The woman considers it, then says she’ll have a piece of pumpkin pie instead, since it’s a healthier option. Anyone has the right to order any kind of pie they want at a restaurant without being harassed by her server, but since this woman has been through cancer—and in this small town, everyone is aware of it—doesn’t she truly have the right to change her mind and try a different piece of pie than she’s had the past forty years? And if she’s looking after her health, shouldn’t that be greeted with applause instead of criticism? The waitress gives another dose of attitude and flat-out refuses to bring her the pumpkin pie. If this situation happened in real life, I would complain and get that waitress fired.
More Cedar Cove reviews here on Hot Toasty Rag!
In the Cedar Cove novels, there are so many residents, it’s virtually impossible to check in with everybody in every book. So, Debbie Macomber features four or five main plots in each. In 1105 Yakima Street, I hated every single plot featured! First, there’s a couple who married in haste and has just learned they’re going to be parents. The husband has a teenaged daughter from his first marriage in tow, and she doesn’t like her new stepmother. After the husband and wife separate, the daughter brings up a very valid argument: if they’d been responsible and used birth control, they could go their separate ways with no permanent harm done. Now a child is being brought into the world and the couple will feel obligated to stay married when they shouldn’t. What’s her father’s reaction? He thinks she’s destructive and hurtful and sends her to counseling.
Sometimes, stock characters don’t change when they’re part of a series. While I understand that and don’t have a problem with it, I do prefer the characters who grow or at least try to change. There’s a male character who started the series as a villain and is not trying to forge a new path in town as a respectable citizen. I liked him and was hoping fortune would find him. Unfortunately, when he falls head-over-heels for a woman, no one in town supports him. They take it upon themselves to tell him to stop pursuing her, and try to knock it through his head that she has zero interest in him. Then why has she accepted his date invitations? It’s extremely rude and none of the residents’ business. The replacement love interest—because the general consensus of Cedar Cove can’t be wrong—is irritating, argumentative, and critical. In real life, that’s not the type of woman a man looking for a fresh start needs.
Next up is a woman in her sixties whose faithful canine companion has died. Young people look at getting pets differently; they don’t wonder if they’ll outlive their pet or whether or not they want to attach themselves to a companion who will die when they’re in their eighties. People in their sixties think about that, and this character decided she didn’t want to get another dog—no one in Cedar Cove listens to her! A rescue worker pawns a puppy off on her friend, promising she’ll find an adoptive owner in a couple of weeks, and everyone in town, including the woman’s husband, laughs in her face when she insists she’s not going to change her mind and keep the dog. How unsupportive, rude, intrusive, and disrespectful!
Speaking of disrespectful, this next one’s really offensive. One of the residents has survived breast cancer, and after resting and recovering, she’s decided to return to her forty-year tradition of going once a week to aerobics class with her best girlfriend. Afterwards, the girls always go to the same diner and order coffee and coconut cream pie. As someone who is passionate about fitness and very knowledgeable about nutrition, I have a problem with their ritual and that it’s supposed to be charming and funny to the readers. But I digress. The real problem is that after the woman changes her order from coffee to tea, the waitress gives her attitude. She feels compelled to explain her decision, even though as a paying customer it’s unnecessary, and says that the medication she’s taking leaves a bitter taste in her mouth when she drinks coffee. The waitress’s response? “I don’t know what those doctors did to you, but you’re not the [girl] I used to know.” Do you believe that?
Then, the waitress makes a dramatic reappearance to the table and asks if the woman still wants the pie or if she’s going to change her mind again. The woman considers it, then says she’ll have a piece of pumpkin pie instead, since it’s a healthier option. Anyone has the right to order any kind of pie they want at a restaurant without being harassed by her server, but since this woman has been through cancer—and in this small town, everyone is aware of it—doesn’t she truly have the right to change her mind and try a different piece of pie than she’s had the past forty years? And if she’s looking after her health, shouldn’t that be greeted with applause instead of criticism? The waitress gives another dose of attitude and flat-out refuses to bring her the pumpkin pie. If this situation happened in real life, I would complain and get that waitress fired.
More Cedar Cove reviews here on Hot Toasty Rag!