Are you ready for a great summer beach read? Veni, Vidi, Vero by Gretchen Rose is ready to give you a year-long adventure on Florida’s sunny coast. After her divorce, Tara Cahill moves to Vero Beach to be near her father and friends. Being solo, she is open to adventures and new beginnings which include house renovations, becoming a surrogate mother to motherless kids, restarting a musical career, surviving a hurricane, and kindling a new romance. Along the way, she encounters a disparate group of characters, some menacing, some entertaining, all of them interesting. She befriends and is befriended by a housekeeper whose family needs financial and medical help, a teenager with growing pains, the organizers of an elegant fundraising ball, and ultimately, a desirable but elusive man. And what about that mysterious lottery ticket in her car?

This very enjoyable read by Gretchen Rose includes a wide range of characters, keeping me on my toes while trying to connect them to the plot. Although these connections seemed tenuous at times, she skillfully portrays a criminal, a drug addict, a pregnant teen, a working grandmother, and the hoi polloi of Vero Beach society. Their lives are well defined and relevant to the main character’s life. As Tara discovers her new home, the author’s colorful, vivid description of the Florida landscape and scenery provides a magical background to Tara finding new relationships and new adventures. Despite mishaps and disasters, Rose lovingly describes an attractive lifestyle of family and community in Veni, Vidi, Vero. Relax and enjoy!

Veni, Vidi, Vero follows the lives of a group of people living in Vero Beach, Florida. Written by Gretchen Rose, the book starts off with the murder of Eric Brady by a US Army Special Forces vet over a lottery ticket worth 2 million dollars. Forty-year-old Tara Cahill, who recently separated from her adulterous husband, moves to Vero Beach in search of a better life with her teenage son Josh. She incorporates herself into the household of a handsome man named Nathan, where she teaches his son Harry the piano and acts as a parental figure to his rebellious teen daughter Jennifer. Tara also helps the housekeeper Willie deal with the cancer diagnosis of her daughter Cerita. Meanwhile, a burgeoning romance develops between Tara and Nathan.

Veni, Vidi, Vero is a heartwarming and humorous tale of people whose lives loosely intersect with each other, changing the trajectories of their respective paths. Author Gretchen Rose masterfully utilizes multiple POV characters to capture the hopes, dreams, and struggles of people that differ in age, gender, and socio-economic class but find common ground through their humanity. The pacing is suitable to its intricate plot, and the narrative follows different storylines that converge towards the final third of the book. The characters are vivid and distinct yet feel relatable due to their realistic depiction. The story revolves around Tara, but Gretchen Rose still manages to provide ample page time to the rest of her characters. I thoroughly enjoyed Veni, Vidi, Vero. I would highly recommend it.