BOOK REVIEW- STUCK IN MANISTIQUE by Dennis Cuesta

Near the midpoint of the Upper Peninsula, along a Lake Michigan bend of shore, is the town of Manistique, Michigan. Mark had never heard of Manistique before the death of his estranged aunt, but as sole beneficiary of Vivian’s estate, he travels there to settle her affairs. As Mark tours his aunt’s house for the first time, the doorbell rings.

Days after graduating medical school, Dr. Emily Davis drives north, struggling with her illicit rendezvous on Mackinac Island. She never makes it—on the highway near Manistique, her car collides with a deer, shattering the car’s windshield. Stranded for the night, Emily is directed to a nearby bed and breakfast.

Maybe it’s a heady reaction, the revelation that his aunt, an international aid doctor, ran a bed and breakfast in retirement. Or perhaps he plainly feels pity for the young, helpless doctor. Regardless, Mark decides to play host for one night, telling Emily that he’s merely stepping in temporarily while his aunt is away.

As a one-night stay turns into another and more guests arrive, the ersatz innkeeper steadily loses control of his story. And though Emily opens up to Mark, she has trouble explaining the middle-aged man who unexpectedly arrives at the doorstep looking for her. 

Will these two strangers, holding on to unraveling secrets, remain in town long enough to discover the connection between them?  AMAZON 3 Stars

I have mixed feelings about this book.  While it had parts I liked, others not as much.  It was descriptive when it came to different locales in the story.  At times it felt like a travel log and at others it had a lot of history in it.  It also was kind of slow in the beginning and it caused me to have a hard time getting into it.  
But it was also a quirky story when it came to the people in the book,  and that I did find interesting.  
Mark has a fear of crossing bridges.  And that phobia has a name which I never thought about before.  It's a gripping fear that makes his life difficult.  Especially when it comes to traveling to Manistique because crossing the bridge was a must to get there. It was also fun that Mark and Emily have such different feelings when it comes to bridges.  
I did like both of the main characters and they were complex people, not just flat, and predictable.  They had depth, which I enjoyed. And some of the humor between the two of them was just plain funny. 
The people in the book are not only the locals but also "guests" that show up at the B&B.  It was an unexpected surprise for Mark and he felt like he was way over his head.  He felt more like a ringleader for a circus than someone supposed to be running and bed and breakfast.  And I could see why he felt like a ringmaster, and some of it was funny and some sad.  It was at times an emotional story no matter how you look at it.  
I did like how the story ended and the way that they got there.  

I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley and these are my honest opinions of it.