Bar Maid by Daniel Roberts is a novel set in the late 1980s. Roberts’ story follows Charlie, the somewhat strange eighteen-year-old and handsome second son to Jee-Jee and Rose Green, who took up a job as a counsellor at a summer camp. There he meets Lucia, a fellow counsellor. They went from doing their job to talking about college to sharing a parting gift. Both shared a teary farewell before each departed to their respective destinations. Charlie arrives home in New york city to prepare for his move into college and a date with Monica Miller, his girlfriend, with tips he got from John, his older brother. The date didn’t go as he had planned as he ended up spending the remainder of it alone in a bar. He moved into college the next day, accompanied by his father.

During a visit to miss Pettibone, his advisor, Charlie, discusses his schedule for the day with her. She told him to visit an oyster bar and he promised to return and share his experience with her. At the oyster bar, Charlie meets Paula who works there as a barmaid. Charlie and Paula became close after Tommy, Paula’s boyfriend, beat up Charlie for snitching on him. Paula ends up being fired from her job, decided to move back to her hometown and asks Charlie to go with her which he did. They began a relationship and Paula became pregnant. The pair got married and went on their honeymoon.

However, tragedy struck as Paula suffered a painful incident that threatened to break them apart but it didn’t. An unwelcome visit from someone from Charlie’s past caused Paula to leave him with help from Mrs Henderson, her mother. Charlie in a state of distress set out to find Paula but tragedy struck again. Did Charlie and Paula find their way back to each other?

The positive aspect of this book is that the characters were introduced in detail. Roberts made it easy to follow the characters’ thoughts from his point of view. I did not find any negative aspects in this book.

This book was professionally edited as I didn’t notice any errors as I read through it. It was easy to read with a nice plot. It contains language and some sexual content.

I rate this book a 3 out of 4 stars. I found this story interesting and captivating. I recommend this book to young adults and mature adults who enjoy a good romance and believe in second chance love.