This was a bit difficult to get into at first, I found the mix of characters and names a bit complicated and difficult to get right in my head. However, once I got it all sorted, it was really good and had me with tears running down my face, so emotional.

I had some trouble with the pacing, but as with all Barbara O’Neal books, the writing was beautiful! I will definitely buy it once it’s available for purchase; I’m curious how much it will change.

I’d recommend this book.

This one had me feeling all the romantic feels! The story was so good and well written. I liked all of the characters and really felt for them. I like a book that has a good story behind the romance and this one really delivered. It has family situations, dealing with illness and a strong female lead that brings this whole story together. Great read!

Barbara O'Neal is so fantastic. Beautifully written, strong and easy to adore characters, this was such a sweet read with a wonderful ending. I have such a strong feeling on home and it what it means and we believe the same. I discovered so much about the characters and myself. I absolutely devoured this book.

I LOVED this book!! The characters, story and writing style- so pretty much everything. I was hooked right from the beginning. It was so emotional. I laughed and cried. I lame the tears on Michael. The funeral and the night before just got me. It was everyone gathering at Jewel's house and her request for a pallbearer. I want to be part of the Sabatino family. They have their ups and downs, but they are always there for each other. Loved the scene at the bridal shop while Jewel and Jordan tried on their atrocious dresses. The sisters couldn't stop laughing about being stuffed in the unflattering dresses. It wasn't their fault the dresses were too small. Who orders dresses without measuring the bridesmaids first? Jewel was destined to to go to the state fair to meet Michael. She may have fell in love with Billy, but it was Michael who was her soulmate. They were best friends and would do anything for each other. I loved their relationship. He was her family when she was estranged from her own. I loved how Jewel's family embraced Michael as their own. They were so welcoming to him. The best thing for Jewel was when she returned home. Romeo's silent treatment of his daughter was a bit extreme, especially after so many years. He didn't allow the anger her felt towards his daughter to affect his relationship with his grandson. Jewel loved me. How do I know? She could not stop talking about it. I don't think a page went by with out Jewel talking about her lust. I'm not actually sure how Jewel and Malachi fit in the pantry.

Definitely recommend the book. It was about family, friends, love, loss, forgiveness and so much more. I was sad to see the book end. I loved reading about the Sabatino family. Loved the ending with Jewel, I was hoping that would happen. Look forward to reading more books by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Lake Union Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

My Rating

Plot: 4 out of 5 stars
Writing: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Character development: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Overall: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Recommended for readers of:

General Fiction



Review:

A nice story the plot flows well. The Characters are complex and it takes a bit of time to get into the story to fully understand all the layers of the different personalities and their relations to each other, once you do the story really captures you and doesn’t let go until the end The characters and the family dynamics are portrayed in great detail this gave it a realistic feel. Once you do the story captures you and doesn’t let go until the end. A enjoyable read with a good ending.

Review copy provided through Netgalley at no cost to me

I have read several Barbara O'Neal books, and this had all the key components. There's a large, dysfunctional family that doesn't always get along, but has always been available. There's a female main character going through a bit of a mid-life crisis, in a charming and non-plussed way. And there's a gorgeous environment woven into every aspect of the story. This one was a little spicier than her newest books, but the plot still focused on Jewel and her family unit as a whole.
I really enjoyed the unique plot. Jewel is currently living with her best friend of 20 years, Michael, and her son Shane. There's a lot of emotional moments, family healing, and dealing with the loss of loved ones. O'Neal is a master of blending the sad moments in with the mundane, adding in humor and drama to create a story that feels real from the first to last page.

5 stars and a lot of tears!

I read Barbara O’Neal’s The Starfish Sisters and was eager to read more of her work. I was very happy to have the opportunity to read this title. The two books share a common theme of going back home and confronting the demons of your past, and of loving your found family like your blood family. I appreciate that her characters are not ingenues - they’ve lived their life, birthed children, and have the battle scars to show for it.

No Place Like Home just hit me hard. There’s the familiar theme of going home again, the notion of found family. This book was much hotter than The Starfish Sisters, spicy but not graphic. There’s also a theme of forgiveness. Of letting things go, to see if they come back. I loved that Jewel was such a hot momma, but still worried about the size of her butt. Shane - the son she loves so much, and has to accept that it’s almost time for the baby bird to leave the nest. I loved the big Sicilian family. Malachi - 6’6” of bad boy on the outside and scared little boy inside! And, who can forget Michael, whose terminal battle becomes the glue that holds everything together.

This is a book I’ll keep in my heart for a while!

Thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this digital ARC in return for an honest review..

I love anything she writes, but this one had me crying in the dark after I finished it, remembering Jewel's reunion with her estranged father...and everything else. O'Neal has a gift for description unlike anyone I've ever read. The main character is a 40yo widow returning to her hometown with her teen son and her dear friend who is in his final days. So, so rich. Read anything by this author and you'll be glad you did.

Barbara O'Neal consistently write such strong stories. The characters were real-flaws and all. I loved the story of how love can prevail and family is everything.
Note that this is a rerelease of a book written under the name Barbara Samuel over 20 years ago. I kept thinking it sounded familiar but I enjoyed it just as much all these years later.

No Place Like Home was all over the place. Jewel moves home with her son and her best fried who is sick. She had a falling out with her father and stays away from anywhere he is but it also seems like she wants him to forgive her or at least have a relationship with her son. She was bouncing around so many places and saying so many things that it was hard to keep up. You think this is about family but then a mysterious person shows up and it becomes a love story with a .......... ending?!?

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I have been reading Barbara O'Neal,s books for years. She makes the Southwest come alive with her intricately developed characters, her touch of magic, and her gorgeous settings. Always a must read.

I couldn't get into this book. It felt like a cheesy romance with the introduction of Malachi so soon in the storyline. There were PAGES dedicated to Jewel's appearance and the debate of whether or not Malachi was too young for her. What started out with a good family drama quickly turned into a DNF for me. Maybe this author isn't for me.

Jewel at seventeen left her Pueblo, Colorado home and moved to New York, with her boyfriend. Billy who was a musician and his best friend, Michael, Now her son, Shane, is seventeen, Billy has passed away, and she is the caretaker to Michael. She got a phone call that she has inherited her aunt’s Pueblo farm and one hundred acres of land. She decided to move back home, the home she hasn't been back to since she left at seventeen. Her son would meet his relatives and Michael would spend his remaining time with them.
Moving back home, was difficult, but she was welcomed back by a strong community, embraced by the rich Sicilian traditions of her family, and Shane got to meet his relatives for the first time. Now that she has come home, she has to face that her father has never forgiven her. This is her life now, and she faces it the best she can. Her son is sneaking out at night, and her family puts him to work in the restaurant, like all his relatives have done. We see the changes in Jewel and Shane.
When I started the book, I thought home is Pueblo, but as I read the book, home is so much more. Hope you choose to read the book to see what home is.
I received an ARC from Lake Union Publishing through NetGalley.

Girl goes home, wants forgiveness of her father and introduce the grandson that he's never met. I found this book to be rather repetative of other books I've seen. I wouldn't recommend it.

No Place Like Home tells the story of Jewel, who left home at age 17 to move in with musician Billy and his best friend, fellow musician Michael, to the chagrin of her large Italian familly. Years later, Billy has died and her Aunt Sylvia dies, leaving her home to Jewel, where she moves from her home in NYC back to Pueblo, Colorado, the home she had left so many years before. With Jewel are her son with Billy, Shane, and Michael, who is dying from AIDS. This is such an amazing story about love, family, redemption - and most importantly forgiveness and hope.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This author sure knows how to tug at those heartstrings. My what an amazing book of love, forgiveness, and family. It’s surely never too late to go home and this book shows that. It’s never too late to get forgiveness and your family is always there for you.so grab your tissue box and hold on to your heart tightly as you read this book.

The love between family, friends and lovers was so strong in this book. The writing was so well done I had some strong emotions with this one! Emotional, heart wrenching and so well thought out.

This book is a good read done in this authors usual style. She is a master at creating books with good familial drama and the complex relationships in most families.
Her books are like old friends and cozy blankets.

I loved this book, it was sad and happy and just such a great read, but then I would expect nothing less of Barbara O'Neal, one of my favourite authors, even though this is a re-issue originally published in 2002!

Jewel is part of a large Italian family, but always wanted to escape her small town, and when she was 17 ran off with a musician, whom she had a child with. Eventually he self-destructed, but she stayed with his gay best friend, Michael, who is also Jewel's best friend. But Michael is very ill and Jewel has been looking after him for a long time and things are very tight money-wise. Then Jewel's aunt in her hometown dies and leave her her house, so Jewel, Michael and Jewel's son, Shane, relocate to the house and leave New York.

Once back in her home town after 20 years away Jewel reconnects with all her family again, and there's a lot of them! She slowly starts to find her feet, setting up a bakery business, and finally manages to find Michael's brother, Malachi, who she's been trying to get hold of for a while to tell him how ill Michael is. Sparks fly when Jewel and Malachi meet, and I can't say I blame her, Malachi is a great character!

I loved all the family dynamics in this story, everyone knowing each other's business, but always there when you needed them. Shane of course didn't want to leave New York, but even he found his place within the family he hadn't really met that often. Michael and Malachi were fabulous characters, and even though Michael was very ill there was a lot of fun throughout the story.

The only character I didn't like was Jewel's annoying father, who hadn't spoken to her since she left at 17, and as far as he was concerned she wasn't his daughter anymore. He was so blatantly rude to her, completely blanking her most of the time, but to the point of calling her a whore at one point. I found him beyond annoying. He did come around eventually, but that didn't make me like him any more.

In the end there was lots of laughter, some drama, lots of family issues and some very sad parts, which you knew were coming, I definitely had leaking eyes towards the end! But ultimately a really lovely book that I would thoroughly recommend.