Review: Making Waves by Lorna Seilstad

Book Cover and Synopsis:
When spunky Marguerite Westing discovers that her family will summer at Lake Manawa in 1895, she couldn't be more thrilled. It is the perfect way to escape her agonizingly boring suitor, Roger Gordon. It's also where she stumbles upon two new loves: sailing, and sailing instructor Trip Andrews. But this summer of fun turns to turmoil as her father's gambling problems threaten to ruin the family forever. Will free-spirited Marguerite marry Roger to save her father's name and fortune? Or will she follow her heart--even if it means abandoning the family she loves? 

My source for book: Personal Library

My Thoughts:
Making Waves is a lot of fun in most regards, with Marguerite as the spunky heroine. She doesn't let tradition dictate her actions, and she's willing to plot and scheme to work around society's expectations of a lady in order to get what she wants.

I was amused and impressed by the creativity behind Marguerite's scheme to learn the art of sailing. Most captains wouldn't even let a female on board their sailboat in 1895, so obviously teaching one how to sail was completely out of the question. Because of the circumstances I expected that Marguerite would end up disguising herself as a man, but she actually did nothing of the kind. And that's all I'll say because I don't want to spoil it!

At first I wasn't sure that I was going to like Trip (Marguerite's "sort-of" sailing instructor), but he quickly grew on me. I did think he was sometimes a bit hard on Marguerite, though this can mostly be attributed to some issues in his past. Something that I thought was kind of cool was when Marguerite mentally compared Trip to her "boring" suitor, one of the (many) large contrasts she noticed was the fact that Trip actually prayed and had a relationship with God. Though just a small part of the story, to me this bit was pretty powerful.

Though I overall enjoyed the story, I do admit there were some things that irked me. Mainly, the fact that Marguerite wouldn't get rid of the "boring" suitor that her parents pushed her towards. This seemed to go against her otherwise spunky personality, and in fact her personal maid (who is also her close friend) even commented on this. I really just wanted Marguerite to ditch the guy, but in reality this was the basis for most of the conflict so I do admit that it was essential to the plot.

Despite my dislike of the "boring" suitor, ultimately things turned out well and the ending is one that I think most readers will approve of, much as I did. "Making Waves" is the first in the Lake Manawa trilogy, and I was ultimately entertained enough that I've already started in on the second book in the series. Obviously, I wouldn't hesitate to read another of the author's books! :)

My Rating: 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.