Chick Lit at Its Finest

This novella is a quick read with not a lot of romance, but it has a lot of love shown throughout the story.  

Vera is relatively newly widowed and has just moved into a new condo.  Her reason for moving was to be closer to her daughter and grandchildren, but her daughter just moved away.  This will be the first Christmas Vera will be alone and she's feeling rather isolated.  She hasn't really gotten out to make any new friends. 

Fiona is the neighbor's almost five-year-old daughter who is wise beyond her years, but still very much a little girl.  She calls on Vera to help when her mother falls ill and has to go to the hospital.  She sees a quilt Vera has made and wants to have one for her mother for Christmas.  Because Christmas is so close, Vera has to enlist help from strangers and that brings together a varied group of ladies who wish to learn to quilt.  

Eleanor is a bitter woman who is a recently retired therapist, also newly widowed, but life has dealt her a hard blow and it manifests in the bitterness. She rejects any kindnesses offered towards her. 

Beverly is an exuberant woman who wishes to learn quilting because of memories connected with her grandmother.  She wants to restart the quilting group that had once been a part of her church. All she needs are the skills to learn to quilt. 

Tasha is a young lady (compared to the other three) who works in her aunt's florist shop.  She is talented in design and color and wants to expand her design chops to include textiles. 

Fiona is the lynchpin of this group, bringing together a disparate collection of personalities, breaking through barriers, and touching hearts wherever she goes. 

I love Melody Carlson's novels and this one touched my heart on many levels. I love quilting almost as much as I love reading. Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a Nordic Star Quilt for your Mama. 

Revell Publishing provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.  

 

The Bookshop of Secrets

 The title had me at "Bookshop." After working in a used bookstore for fifteen years and handling valuable books, I was drawn into The Bookshop of Secrets like a moth is drawn to light. I learned what makes a book valuable and how to sell those valuable books at reasonable prices.  The story that is presented in this book is one that is tragic in so many ways, but it is still uplifting and satisfying to read. 

Hope Sparrow (nee Emily Carrington) has come to Wanishin Falls, Michigan, to find the books her mother left to her before she died.  She knows they were shipped to the Dusty Jackets book store, but what she finds in the Dusty Jackets is a man within the throes of dementia whose memory comes and goes.  She also finds the man's grandson, Ronan, who loves his grandfather and step-grandmother dearly and would do anything within his power to help them. Through the Ronan's help, Hope finds some of the books that are missing and encounters a sleazy book seller.  Piece by piece, she puts together the real legacy her mother left for her and finds out where her true home is.

Mollie Rushmeyer has written a book that has it all, from sleazy businessmen to unscrupulous treasure hunters, to wounded souls, to hope-filled characters who build up the wounded and make them a home.  This was one of the most rewarding books I've read in a while.  I hope to read more by Mollie. 

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a first edition three volume set of Jane Eyre.

Harlequin Romance provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own. 

I've read Robin Lee Hatcher books for a long time.  I worked in a used book store for fifteen years where I was first introduced to her secular writings.  She's always had a way with words, and now, she has worked faith into her stories seamlessly.  

Olivia has moved to Bethlehem Springs, Idaho, after a rather bitter divorce in which her ex-husband used his wealth and power to wrest custody of their daughter from her.  Now he is dead and he has left no resources for their daughter, Emma.  Olivia has had to go to Florida and bring Emma back to Idaho.  Emma hates Olivia, hates her circumstances, hates the small town life, hates being away from her friends (who turn out to be fair-weather friends), and hates her life, in general.  Part of the issue is that her father poisoned her mind against her mother and mislead her about her mother's feelings toward her.  The one thing she did find palatable in Bethlehem Springs is the theater group. 

Tyler Murphy has been hired to investigate Olivia and Emma for Emma's paternal grandfather.  Tyler doesn't anticipate falling for the woman he's been scoping out.  He is involved in the theater company as a technician, so he had a front row seat to the dynamic between Olivia and Emma. 

One of the driving factors in this novel is a diary written by a local woman in the 1930s during the height of the Great Depression.  It also held the key to the reparation of Olivia's and Emma's relationship.  

I've read a very similar stories using a diary to describe what life was like in another period of history.  It seems that when a plot device is new, every author starts using it and then it becomes a trope.  It makes the story predictable and to a certain degree less enjoyable because of the predictability.  While Robin did an admirable job using the diary, it wasn't until deep into the novel the reason for the diary being included was explained.  The use of the boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back formula was another factor in the predictability of the story.  I still appreciate Robin's writings and will probably still pick up her books when they are offered. Four Stars. 

Thomas Nelson Fiction provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own. 

 

A Thousand Moments

Rosemary is a non-descript literature teacher who has some precocious, match-making students who want to give her a makeover and set her up with the local librarian.  They start with her wardrobe, then move on to make up, hair, and nails.  What happens is she leaves the librarian, Sheldon, gob-smacked.  

The library is falling to pieces around Sheldon's ears and he wants nothing more than to keep it going, but there is no funding for the library.  Often new books are acquired through his own funds.  Rosemary finds a way to go to the townspeople and recruit help or supplies to give the library a face-lift, and this endears her even more to Sheldon.  

The more time they spend together, the more attracted they are to each other.  Kelly Moran has written a rather sweet novella that brings two like-minded individuals together by way of some meddlesome teenagers.  Funny and heart-warming, this book is a quick read that will satisfy a craving for sweet romance.  Four strong stars.  

Smashwords Publishing provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own. 

 

By Way of the Moonlight

This book has a lot to offer for readers of romance novels.  There is Depression Era coming of age, World War II romance, horses, and contemporary romance. I have many friends who would enjoy this book.  Elizabeth Musser has written a deeply contemplative novel that tells two stories--the story of Barbara Dale Butler growing up through the Depression and her love of horses.  There is a story of Allie Masset, Dale's granddaughter who has inherited Dale's horse ranch/riding stable.  

Elizabeth has used the dual time aspect of the novel in the most cohesive way possible.  Allie is trying to learn about her grandmother's life while at the same time trying to save her grandmother's legacy.  All her grandmother's life, the family homestead has been the target of unscrupulous relatives, and Allie is finding out that Nana Dale had sold it to one of those relatives who wants to take the ten acres and make a housing development, but a letter from Nana Dale gives hints to Allie that there may be a way to save the homestead.  This becomes Allie's obsession to the detriment of her relationship with Austin, her once fiancé. 

I learned a lot of things about horses, riding, the Sand Pounders of the Coast Guard, and about my own faith.  Elizabeth is not shy about showing how much faith sustains us in the hardest of times and that gave me a mental boost while I read the book.  

One of the things I learned about horses is that flea-bitten is not a pejorative, but a designation of color.  It is a primarily white or grey horse with darker spots all over the body of the horse.  

This is not a story to rush through, but to read in increments, slowly digesting the tidbits and nuggets of truth woven into the fabric of the narrative.  It is a five-star book, with two thumbs up, and an equine therapy center.  

Bethany House Publishing provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own. 

 

 

I'd Read the Phone Book if Pepper Wrote It

It's only been in the last few years that I have been introduced to Pepper Basham's fiction works and I have LOVED every book by her that I've read. Sometimes I can plow through a book in just a sitting or two and gather enough of the plot to satisfy me.  This book takes some extra thought and creates some introspection, even though it is a rather light-hearted romance. 

Pepper is widely read and it shows through her use of quotes within the book, but my favorite quote sums up the whole of the book for me.  “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.”  e. e. cummings. 

Izzy Edgewood, a librarian,  is the victim of her cousin, Josephine's,  matchmaking schemes, because her other cousin is away at university and isn't in Josephine's cross-hairs.  Josie, as Izzy calls her when she wants to make a point, has signed Izzy up for a dating website.  Through the website, Izzy meets Brodie, who lives in an island country off the coast of Scotland. Brodie is the last in a long line of book sellers.   The heritage of the island is Celtic, Norse, and English.  The government of the island has offered a stipend for anyone who marries or convinces someone to emigrate for a job.  Brodie is interested in the stipend for his sister's sake, but the more he comes to know Izzy, the more he falls in love with her for herself.  When he has the opportunity to visit Izzy in her home town, it's a chance he just can't pass up, even though that means facing her whole family with all of its quirks and foibles. 

Pepper has used an epistolary format for ninety percent of the novel and it delineates the thought processes of all the characters in a first person narrative.  While she did implement a bit of the Romance Novel Formula, it works extremely well for this novel.  

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a Gandalf the Grey costume for a literary parade. 

Thomas Nelson Fiction provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.