When We Found Home by Susan Mallery

             I have a problem.  All too often when I have things to get done, all I want to do is read.  Then I do, not getting done what I should as a result.  Ah, well, at least I can say reading is not the worst way to spend my time.

                It’s not easy for Malcolm Carlesso to welcome two new sisters into his life, but that is exactly what he has to do.  His grandfather, Alberto, has discovered his son fathered two daughters.  Excited to have more family than he previously thought, Alberto invites his granddaughters to come live with him and Malcolm.

                One of the granddaughters is Keira, a twelve-year-old.  She is already living with the Carlesso family when the book begins.  Not sure what to do with a girl of that age, Malcolm, a grown man, does not have the best relationship with her.

                Callie is the second granddaughter. She is in her twenties and is a felon trying to get her life back on track.  Learning she has any family at all is a great surprise to Callie.  Finding out it is a wealthy one is even more surprising.  Having nothing to leave behind, Callie decides to take a chance and move in with her newly-found family.

                Callie and Keira hit it off right away.  Maybe it’s because they’re both female, or it might be the fact they have similar, unprivileged backgrounds.  Callie was raised by a single mother, while Keira spend time in foster care.  Or maybe it’s as simple as their personalities worked well together.  No matter what the reason for the connection, Callie and Keira getting close so fast makes Malcolm see just how much he is the odd man out.

                Malcolm is very different from both his sisters.  First, he is much older than both of them.  He has also lived with his grandfather since he was about twelve years old.  His mother brought him to Alberto before she died.

                Another big difference is how constrained Malcolm is.  Unlike his sisters, he has the responsibility of running the family business as well as the family itself.  These are worries and concerns the others do not have.

                When Keira is hit by a car, Malcom realizes he has yet another responsibility: to improve his relationship with his sisters.  He hasn’t met Callie at this point, but when he does, he tries to use the lessons he’s learned from Keira’s accident to grow a positive relationship with her too.

                To help guide Malcolm through these new family dynamics is Delaney Holbrook.  She works at the coffee shop in Malcolm’s office building.  Before Keira’s accident, she knew both Keira and Malcolm, but did not realize they were connected.  After the accident, she discovers the connection, and goes about helping Malcolm become a better big brother.  It is a long process, even though Malcolm does try.

                Delaney, in the meantime, has her own things to deal with.  Her fiancé was killed, and now she is taking her life on a new path.  She left her career in finance and is in school to become a naturopath.

                The thing is, Delaney isn’t exactly sure of anything she is doing with her life.  Nor is she sure she still loved her fiancé, Tim, at the end.  At least not the way a soon-to-be married woman should.  She and Tim wanted such different things in life, making her question their relationship.  To make matters worse, all the people who knew her when she was with Tim, keep saying how much she must miss him, making Delaney think it is wrong for her to move on with her life.       

Tied Up in Knots/Artwork by Kate Dorsey

                Let me tell you, I really think Malcolm got a bad rap in this book.  No matter what he did, he was in the wrong, and all blame fell on him.  No one else had any fault in relationships not improving.  It was always him, which was not at all fair.  Malcolm was going through emotions and changes too, just like everyone else.  It must have been a shock to him to realize he had siblings when he was raised as an only child.  Then to have to take responsibility for them, including acting like a parent for Keira, that is a lot to handle so quickly.  Malcolm was not perfect, and he did have work to do, but to put all the blame and problems on him was completely unfair.

                I also didn’t think it was fair how everyone kept bringing Tim up to Delaney.  It’s very understandable why she felt no one wanted her to move on.  In a way I don’t think they did.  By Delaney moving on with her life, it would mean she would change and those around Delaney wanted her to stay as she always was.  Plus, moving on would mean pushing Tim further into the past.

                Tim certainly didn’t like Delaney growing and changing when he was alive.  He wanted her to stay as she was when they started dating in high school.  She was supposed to keep the same goals and dreams as him, which she didn’t.  No wonder Delaney spent so much time being confused.  When you have to fight for permission to be who you are, life becomes a very rough road.

                All in all, despite my frustration at certain storylines, this is a good book about people who have things in their lives to figure out.  There are some bumps along the way as they do, but as with every Susan Mallery book I have read so far, it is good to know everything will turn out alright in the end.