COMFORT SONGS

Reconciliation and romance flower in this latest installment of a multigenerational family saga set on a lavender farm in the Texas Hill Country.

Fish returns to Comfort, Texas, for her follow-up to Comfort Plans (2017). When 35-year-old Luke English, a recording company executive in Nashville, discovers that award-winning country singer July Sands is retiring at the age of 53, he decides to track her down and convince her to change her mind. But when he arrives at Lavender Hill nursery, run by July’s 29-year old daughter, AJ, he meets opposition, as the younger woman is determined to protect her mom and help her heal from three decades on the road. She’s also coping with her own issues; her ex-boyfriend left her struggling with debt, and her elderly grandmother, Inez Worthington, is having difficulties due to encroaching dementia. Inez is the mother of July’s ex-husband, Roger, and she believes that that her son is a far more talented singer that July is; July and Roger used to perform together. Luke’s mission is made more difficult when Roger arrives at the homestead, as well. Fish’s expressive prose vividly evokes the family conflicts, the hard work of running Lavender Hills, and the colors and scents of the Texas landscape. She threads themes of creativity, self-fulfillment, and healing throughout the narrative and complements them with gardening tips from Lessons from Lavender Hill, the book-within-a-book that AJ has been working on. The characters are well drawn and complex, especially the likable AJ, who struggles to reconcile her growing attraction to Luke with her loyalty to her family and her business responsibilities. She finally realizes that recovery is a process that takes time—much like the patient work of gardening. Flashbacks to Inez’s long-ago romance with Roger’s father in the 1950s add poignancy, and the impact of dementia on the family provides additional depth.

A satisfying romance for gardeners and music lovers alike.