Book ~ "Relative Happiness" (2008) Lesley Crewe

From Goodreads ~ Lexie Ivy loves her little house in Cape Breton, her big family and the endless sea that surrounds her. She wouldn't trade her life for anything but at thirty she's starting to feel like something's missing. 

Enter Adrian, a charming backpacker who takes a wrong turn at the U.S. border and ends up on Lexie's doorstep, and Joss, an irresistible man who disappears just as quickly as he arrives. Lexie s peaceful life has suddenly become more complicated than she ever imagined. 

Lexie is a librarian living in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, with her cat, Sophie.  At 30, she is the oldest daughter of four and is always there for her family and friends.  It seems like everyone is living the lives they want except for her and she's ready for her turn.

Adrian has been traveling and ends up in Glace Bay.  He has no place to stay so Lexie invites him to be her roommate ... she can use the money and the company.  She starts to have feelings for him and then he disappears.  But she carries on like always.  When Lexie goes on a camping trip with a friend, she meets Joss there.  He works in Alaska and is visiting a friend in Cape Breton.  Lexie and Joss are drawn to each other right away and spend most of the week together.  He is going back to Alaska and makes this clear so they enjoy the time they have.

I liked this story and the characters.  I liked the writing style ... it's written in third person perspective in various voices including Lexie's, Adrian's and Joss', depending on where the focus was.  I lived in Glace Bay for grade eight in the mid 1970s, right around the corner from where Lexie does community theatre.  The story happens in the 1990s and I had a good sense of the people and characteristics.  It was nice to read a book about people from "back home".