Watch Us Shine

3.5 stars. Marisa de los Santos returns to her beloved [b:Love Walked In 115076 Love Walked In (Love Walked In, #1) Marisa de los Santos https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1442893276l/115076.SY75.jpg 3000860] series. Although each book focuses on a different cast of characters, they all include people-loving, sensitive, storytelling Cornelia Brown, who is now in her mid-forties and happily married with two young children. Cornelia narrates this fourth installment, but the heart of the story concerns Cornelia's mom, Eleanor. Eleanor has always been a loving and supportive parent, so when she is the victim of a car accident and ends up in a rehab hospital, Cornelia hurries to her side in Virginia. During her “sundowning” confusion, she implores Cornelia to bring her the Northern Lights. Cornelia has no idea what Eleanor means - as far as she knows, her mother has never witnessed that spectacle. As Cornelia desperately tries to figure out how to satisfy her mother's request, the reader travels back to 1967 with Eleanor. She and her older sister Martha have survived their own mother's irrational and violent behavior caused by mental illness and alcoholism. Now Cornelia is finally going away to college and Martha is moving all the way to Northern Minnesota to serve as a personal assistant to a wealthy man. She looks forward to having the freedom to paint that has long been denied by the need to protect Eleanor. At first Martha's letters to her younger sister are optimistic, full of the joy and excitement she feels about finally being able to pursue her artistic dreams. But when Martha falls in love with a troubled man, she gradually becomes less confident and more guarded. Eleanor is helpless to prevent Martha from traveling such a dangerous path, but when Martha finally reaches out for help, Eleanor responds quickly, only to find herself forced to make a life-changing choice.As always, de los Santos' writing is lyrical and lush, with her experience writing poetry easily apparent. She captures the strong bond between Eleanor and Martha, in stark contrast to the veiled hostility between Cornelia and her own sister Ollie, although the latter pair do eventually reach a deeper understanding. A subplot about a recent trauma experienced by Cornelia and her kids could have been omitted to give more space to Eleanor and Martha's more compelling saga. (Frankly, after four books Cornelia is starting to get on my nerves. It's not Always About You, girlfriend!) And to my disappointment, there are just two types of male characters in this book -almost perfect and rotten to the core - instead of the more nuanced personalities provided to the female characters.As of this book, the Love Walked In series has explored the backgrounds of Cornelia's mother, sister, stepson, almost-daughter, and neighbors. I'm not sure how much more gas is left in the Brown family tank, but I suspect I'll keep reading just the same.ARC received from Net Galley in exchange for objective review.