This is a well written, character driven book. It is the story of a family with too many secrets and lies going back decades. Mae’s parents die when she is a child and she is raised by her loving grandparents. Gabe, a neighbour boy, is living with his single parent, abusive, alcoholic father. Lilly and George, Mae’s grandparents, decide to save Gabe from this situation and agree to raise Gabe in their home. Gabe and Mae grow up as childhood friends and fall in love as they become teenagers. Lilly doesn’t approve of the relationship and convinces Gabe to leave through her own manipulations and lies. George is aware that Lilly has kept important secrets from him throughout the years but doesn’t make her aware that he knows. Now Mae is in her thirties and has returned to her grandparents house following a personal scandal of her own. What she discovers is that her grandma has dementia and her grandfather, tired of the secrets, has left her. Gabe has also returned to their small town due to his father’s illness. As secrets and lies come to light between Gabe, Mae, and her grandparents so does the knowledge that mistakes made over the years have caused great anguish and grief for all involved. Each of the four have suffered from all that has transpired. I found this book engaging with very real characters. There are also little recommendations throughout the book as to what to do when it’s raining as rain is an important theme throughout the book.

The novel is told from four different points of view. There is Mae, happily engaged with Peter, living in New York, with a good job and an amazing apartment. Until she finds out the truth about Peter and, when her world falls apart, she has no choice but to go back home. Then there is Gabe. He’s never got over his first and only love, Mae, but he hasn’t seen her in twenty years, since he left her and their hometown. But a call from home makes him go back. But will he stay? Lilly has always done what she thought it was best for her family, especially regarding her granddaughter Mae, but now as secrets and lies come to light, she starts to think that maybe she had been wrong. And finally, there is George. He’s been in love with Lilly his whole life, but when she reveals him a secret from her past, he is not sure if he can forgive her.
This novel is slow-paced, there are no twists, and nothing very exciting happens, but it’s still a captivating story. The characters are flawed, not always likable (at least at the beginning), but they feel very realistic. You root for all the characters to get their happy ending and I couldn’t stop reading it. A story about love, family, friendship, and loyalty, THINGS TO DO WHEN IT’S RAINING is entertaining and highly enjoyable.

2 stars

I reviewed this book for RT Bookreviews Magazine, and you can read my review on their site at the following link: https://www.rtbookreviews.com/book-review/things-do-when-its-raining

Things To Do When It's Raining beautifully illustrates how tragedy and human weakness can cause heartbreaking ripples for years and generations to come. Stapley does a wonderful job at connected the readers with the characters.

My thoughts on this novel come a fair amount of time after reading the story - occasionally I have to let something sink in before I can put down my ideas.

I’m not sure I loved the novel as a whole but there are aspects of it that have clearly stuck with me. Stapley is a fantastic writer and her words always give a clear picture of setting, surrounding and of “mood”. By this I mean that I feel the characters energy from the way she writes. In this book though I didn’t connect with any one particular character- I liked some of them and empathised with them but I didn’t really bond with them. I felt more of a connection for the town, the countryside and the water than I did with the people. I think initially there were a number of people to get to know which made it a bit difficult to keep track of and Mae’s introduction to us as an adult in New York, with the dramatic downfall of her relationship, didn’t seem to have a lot to do with the rest of the book except to ground her present while examining her past. There was a pretty big gap of knowledge about her life between the present and the childhood we examine- I wish we had had some more snippets of the years in between.

Gabe is a heartbreaking sole who grew up with not only the physical uncertainty of an alcoholic father but also very little to stake his emotional growth on. His relationship with Mae’s grandparents is parental but they cast him out which sets a trajectory for an emotional void in his adulthood. It’s no wonder he was difficult to connect to as a reader.

Mae’s grandparents also held their own batch of secrets which probably would have been better suited to be brought out into the open well before they were and caused much pain and sadness later in their lives.

On the whole the novel is a powerful example of how families function throughout their lives with great secrets but it shows the pitfalls of retaining things for too long.

I enjoyed the characters; they felt believable, and I was keenly interested in how the story would unfold. I felt like these characters were friends. My only complaint is the book ended to soon.

I was initially interested in this book based on the title. Fun fact about me... I LOVE rain. Especially listening to it while I'm reading <3.

Things to Do When It's Raining is a novel that explores how a lie so deep can effect two families across three generations.

Mae Summers and Gabe Broadbent grew up together in Alexandria Bay as childhood friends that eventually grew into love for one another. Gabe was initially raised by an emotionally abusive father that loved to drink. Mae's grandparents Lilly and George took Gabe under their wing and raised him as their own to protect him from his abusive father. One day Gabe unexpectedly ran off from Mae and their family.

Mae was devastated and heartbroken by Gabe's unexpected departure from her. Mae moved away from Alexandria Bay to New York City. Mae is struggling to forget her past and move forward but of course she realizes that your past always comes back to you.....

Mae finds herself back in the heart of her past in Alexandria Bay. She finds herself in the eyes of her first love Gabe. What happened so long ago that made him leave her? Can there families come together again and make peace?

Now, let's get down to the details on this novel. For some reason, I could not connect to the characters in this story. I just felt that Gabe and Mae were wallowing in their guilt the entire novel... I'm assuming that this was the author's intention? I was just annoyed by all of the characters and the self-pity feeling that they all had with the guilt that was bearing down on them and ultimately the story. I finished the book and I decided... that I just did not like it. I was waiting for the emotions to come out but I felt NOTHING.

And.. can I just say... the final ending was HORRIBLE! All of a sudden it was just like ok... were done. I thought the epilogue would have given me more a closure but I just felt that was pointless as well.

The story was not memorable for me.... bit disappointed I would say.

Overall... 2.75 stars for this one. Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin for an advanced arc in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date is 2/6/18.

This book follows a family and the twists and turns their lives take. It shows that secrets are kept through the generations and sometimes these are not a bad thing as it is for the benefit of those who are effected.

Great story telling and didn't want to put the book down.

This is one of those books that I can see other people enjoying a lot more than I did. It is the story of four couples--Lilly and George, Lilly and Everett, Virginia (Lilly's daughter) and Chase and Mae (Virginia's daughter) and Gabe. In some ways it may have been the story of Jonah (Gabe's father) and Virgina as well. It is a story of love, of secrets and of pain. It is the story of the end of life and the story of new life. It takes place in different timelines and at first it is hard to follow how it all fits together.

Unfortunately, I never connected with the characters or felt real empathy for them. While I finished the book, I was glad to be done.

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley. Grade; B-