Worthy Opponents

 

Spencer is the apple of her grandfather's eye.  He owns and manages a high end small department store in lower Manhattan.  As time goes on, the store is in a less desirable neighborhood frequented by gangs.  As she grows up, Spencer loves spending time at the store, working with her grandfather as she grows up.  She develops a love for retail and dealing with customers just as he does.  When her beloved grandfather dies and her father inherits the store, he sees it as a burden.  His years at the helm of the store bring the store down.  When her father dies early in his life, Spencer inherits the store and brings it back to it's shining star status.  However, the old building and neighborhood it is in continues to deteriorate.  Her chief financial officer encourages her to find an investor.  Spencer is not interested because she knows she will have to give up a percentage of ownership in the store.  She meets with an investor.  It doesn't go well.  They are not big enough and there is not enough volume in the store.  She's not interested in expanding to other areas or moving to a better area of town.  The tragedy strikes the store and changes everything.

One of the best aspects of this story is the relationship between Spencer and her grandfather.  Will she carry on his legacy?  This book left me with such a heartwarming feeling.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and the publisher.