Monthly Archives: November 2013

Coming Soon….

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… On a Bookshelf Near You!

This is what I am looking forward to in December.

 jan bride

Publication Date:  December 24, 2013
Publisher : Zondervan

Goodreads:   Who can work in a house that’s overrun by contractors and carpenters? Not Madeleine Houser, a successful novelist who gladly accepts the help of her octogenarian friend, Ginny, to arrange for a temporary office in the charming bed and breakfast owned by Ginny’s friend, Arthur. Maddie’s never met the innkeeper––but a friendship grows between them as Maddie and Arthur leave messages for each other each day. To Maddie’s alternate delight and chagrin, she seems to be falling for the inn’s owner––a man who’s likely many years her senior––and who she’s never even met

What is coming soon …. to a bookshelf near you?

Let me know – I am always looking for  a good read!

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

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Hope today finds you surrounded by ones you care about, who care about you!

Enjoy today!  I am thankful for my friends and family close and far.  I am also thankful that God has allowed me to share this day with both my children and their families.

Have a wonderful day!!

 

All For One

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Author:  Melody Carlson                      all for one
Publisher: David C. Cook
Pages:  336
Genre:  Christian Fiction
Source: Purchased

Goodreads:  Brimming with heart, humor, and a bit of mystery, this third book in Melody Carlson’s lively new Boomer series packs a poignant punch! Life is heating up for the four Lindas—and it’s not just hot flashes! Abby’s losing sleep over her husband’s health and neglecting her bed-and-breakfast dreams. Caroline may have waited too long to put her Alzheimer’s-afflicted mom in a care facility. Marley’s hard-won independence is threatened by her grown son’s neediness. And Janie’s having a hard time being everyone’s rock as the relationship she counted on falters. Add to that a house fire, a missing set of dishes, a bully brother, plus a half-crazy blonde named Donna, and things get really complicated. But with each new twist their lives take, the Lindas are learning that good friends are the best family a girl can have.

Ope’s Opinion:  Melody Carlson continues to keep me reading in this third of four book series.  She keeps developing each character while bringing in new people with twists and turns.

With each book there is a different one of the Linda’s I seem to relate more closely to.  It is great to see women who gather around each other in all situations.  They stay honest with each other through the ups and downs.  

I am ready for the last one. I hope she finishes as strong as has been through the first three.

Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
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Sweet Expectations

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Author:  Mary Ellen Taylor                            sweet expectations
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Pages: 352
Genre:  Women’s Fiction
Source: Joan Schulhafer Publishing

 

 

Goodreads:  Daisy McCrae knows that change can be sudden—and devastating. And while it doesn’t have to be a bad thing, change has the power to turn your whole world upside down….

Running the family bakery and living in the store’s attic might not be Daisy’s dream life, but she’s beginning to understand what being content feels like. And then she gets some unexpected news. In one moment, Daisy’s calm existence turns into chaos. Now she’s struggling to keep it together, especially with renovations at the bakery spiraling out of control.

But when a box of recipes and mementos is found hidden behind a wall in the bakery, Daisy suddenly has something to cling to—a mystery that echoes her own troubles and gives her the opportunity to figure out what she really wants out of life…

Ope’s Opinion:  This sequel will not disappoint you!  It is very well written.  I stayed up very late finishing this book.  It was too hard to put down.  You do not have to read the first one in this series to enjoy this book, but it would make it better.

You will be able to relate to at least one of the sisters.  They each have their own story.  I didn’t want to do anything but read.  This book kept my attention from beginning to end.

I will read more of Mary Ellen Taylor.

 

 

Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
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The Union Street Bakery

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Author:  Mary Ellen Taylor                                bakery
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Pages: 352
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Joan Schulhafer Publishing

 

 

Goodreads:  Life can turn on a dime. It’s a common cliché, and I’d heard it often enough. People die or move away. Investments go south. Affairs end. Loved ones betray us…Stuff happens.

Daisy McCrae’s life is in tatters. She’s lost her job, broken up with her boyfriend, and has been reduced to living in the attic above her family’s store, the Union Street Bakery, while learning the business. Unfortunately, the bakery is in serious hardship. Making things worse is the constant feeling of not being a “real” McCrae since she was adopted as a child and has a less-than-perfect relationship with her two sisters.

Then a long-standing elderly customer passes away, and for some reason bequeaths Daisy a journal dating back to the 1850s, written by a slave girl named Susie. As she reads, Daisy learns more about her family—and her own heritage—than she ever dreamed. Haunted by dreams of the young Susie, who beckons Daisy to “find her,” she is compelled to look further into the past of the town and her family.

What she finds are the answers she has longed for her entire life, and a chance to begin again with the courage and desire she thought she lost for good.

Ope’s Opinions: This story is an amazing read!  I am not a historical reader in general, but I love this one! The history was woven in the contemporary story seamlessly.   I enjoyed the setting.  I go to Alexandria often, so I could see where they were in my mind.  

These sisters are so real! The whole family treats each other like I think most families do.  It isn’t always positive, but you can feel that they honestly love and care about each other.  I would want to be part of this family.

This story just kept me flipping the pages as fast as I could.

I could have lived without the foul language and the ghost.  Neither of those added any enjoyment to the story for me.

I am ready to read the sequel and I am glad there is one.

 

Rating: Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
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Elly in Bloom

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Author: Colleen Oakes                                                                elly in bloom
Publisher:  CreateSpace Publishing Platform
Pages: 324
Genre:  Women’s Fiction
Source:  BookSparks

 

 

Goodreads:  What would you do if you had to design your lover’s wedding?

Surrounded by lush flowers and neurotic brides, chubby 32-year old Elly Jordan has carved out a sweet little life for herself as the owner of Posies, a boutique wedding florist in St. Louis. It’s not bad for a woman who drove away from her entire life just two years ago when she found her husband entwined with a red-headed artist.

Sure, Elly has an embarrassingly beautiful best friend, a terribly behaved sheepdog and a sarcastic assistant who she simply calls “Snarky Teenager”, but overall her days are pleasantly uneventful. As a bonus, her new next door neighbor just happens to be an unnervingly handsome musician who has an eye for curvy Elly.

Just when she feels that she is finally moving on from her past, she discovers that an extravagant wedding contract, one that could change her financial future, is more than she bargained for.

With the help of her friends, staff and the occasional well-made sandwich, Elly bravely agrees to take on the event that threatens to merge her painful history with her bright new life, and finds herself blooming in a direction she never imagined.

Elly’s voice, both charming and hilarious, will appeal to those readers who have been looking for a new voice in chick-lit, and will give women of all sizes the realistic heroine they’ve been waiting for.

Ope’s Opinion: This was a very good read.  It had a lot of humor it.  The story kept a very good pace.  It was deep enough to become involved with the characters, but the story lines kept moving, so I did not get bored.

I realize this was about a florist, but at times the flower descriptions were a bit much for me.

I liked the characters – they were well developed, realistic and fun to watch change and grow.  Elly especially grew through facing her fears and standing up  for herself.  It was good to read about a woman who has struggles, then becomes strong.  It was also good to see her not repeat her mistakes.

I am looking forward to Elly in Love.

 

Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
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Hometown Ties

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Author:  Melody Carlson                                 hometown
Publisher:  David C. Cook
Pages: 336
Genre:  Christian Fiction
Source:  Purchased

 

 

Goodreads:  In this second installment of Melody Carlsons engaging Four Lindas series, four fifty?something women discover you really can go home again . . . but its not always easy! After decades out of touch, four fifty?something childhood friends have returned to the little coastal town of Clifden, Oregon, where they grew up. They look forward to supporting one another as they reinvent their lives. But second acts can be a challenge, and each woman feels the stretch. Widowed lawyer Janie struggles to leave the past behind. Emerging artist Marley wrestles with painters block. Empty?nester Abby fears no one takes her seriously, while beautiful Caroline has all she can do to keep her Alzheimerspatient mother at home . . . and wearing clothes! Plus, old resentments and new misunderstandings are beginning to strain the friendships they all count on. Can the Four Lindas sisterhood continue to thrive in the close quarters of one little hometown?

Ope’s Opinion:  This is the second book in The Four Linda’s series.  It is even better then the first one.  It carried the reader along in all four of their lives.  I really like how the friendship from when they were young has developed and continued into their adult lives.  They  take care of  each other.  It is really nice to read about women who are supportive of each other – not catty or back stabbing.  I would wish everyone friends like them.

Someone said these books had a christian tone.  I like it said that way.  It is not preachy, but you know God is a part of their lives.

I am looking forward to reading the third one.

 
Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
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As Young As We Feel

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Author:  Melody Carlson
Publisher: David C. Cook                      as young
Genre:  Christian Fiction
Pages:  352
Source: Purchased

Goodreads:  Once upon a time in the little town on the Oregon coast, there were four Lindas—all in the same first-grade classroom. So they decided to go by their middle names. And form a club. And be friends forever. But that was 47 years and four lives ago. Now a class reunion has brought them all—the New York lawyer, the empty nester, the frustrated artist, and the aging starlet—together again in their old hometown, at a crossroads in their lives. They’re about to explore the invigorating reality that even the most eventful life has second acts…and there’s no statute of limitations on friendship.

Ope’s Opinion:  There are so few books written about friendships between women in their fifties, so I am really enjoying this one.  It is great to see friendships that can survive so many changes in their lives.  Each one of these main characters is in a different place with marriage, work and children, but they can relate to and support each other.  

It is great to get invested in their lives, knowing this is the first of four books to read about them.  This is a Christian fiction, but is not at all preachy or pushy.

I am ready to read the second in the series.  I want to see what the  Linda’s do now and how they develop their friendships.

Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
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Screwed

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Author:  Laurie Plissner
Publisher:  Merit Press
Genre: Contemporary Young Adult                      screwed
Pages: 304
Source: Merit Press

Goodreads:  Flattered by the attentions of Nick, the cutest guy in school, seventeen-year-old Grace Warren, captain of the math team, lets down her guard and gets pregnant the night she loses her virginity. Hopeful that Nick will drop to one knee and propose when she breaks the baby news to him, Grace is heartbroken – Nick wants nothing to do with her. Her best friend, Jennifer, thinks she should get an abortion, but Grace is certain that her morally upright parents will insist that she keep the baby. After she comes clean to her super-religious, strait-laced parents, they surprise her by insisting that she terminate the pregnancy to avoid humiliating the family. But when she sees the fetus on the ultrasound, she decides she can’t get rid of it. Deciding to save the tiny life growing inside of her, Grace must face the consequences of being that girl – the good girl who got knocked up.

Ope’s Opinion:  Maybe I am unusual, but I can not imagine any parents like Grace had.  That part of the book just did not seem realistic to me.  

I did like Grace, her neighbor ( who took her in ) and Charlie.   Jennifer was sarcastic, but a true friend to Grace.  It was good to see a different out come from an unexpected pregnancy.  I really liked the way Grace took responsibility for her own actions.

The “f” word was over used and ineffective.

I would like a sequel – I want to know where Grace and Charlie are now, how is the baby and what is Grace’s relationship to her parents.

Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
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Grounded

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Author:  Angela Correll                          grounded
Publisher: Koehler Books
Pages:  274
Genre:  Women’s Fiction
Source:  Angela Correll

Goodreads:  New York City flight attendant Annie Taylor is grounded, putting a halt to weekends in Rome and her jet-setting lifestyle. Soon her noncommittal boyfriend’s true nature is revealed, and to top it all off, she loses her apartment.
With nowhere else to go, Annie leaves the city for the family farm in Kentucky, a place she’s avoided for years. She finds a shotgun-wielding grandmother, a farm in disrepair, and a suspicious stranger renting the old stone house.
The country quiet haunts Annie with reminders of a past that can’t be changed. She tries persuading her grandmother to sell the farm, but is met with stubborn refusal? Yet in the midst of her crashing life, Annie sees a glimmer of hope for a second chance.
Jake Wilder is contemplating jumping off the corporate ladder to follow his passion for sustainable farming. He’s almost ready to propose to Camille, a girl who wants more, not less. Annie believes Jake is about to make a terrible mistake, but does she have the right to tell him?
As the summer heats up, so do Annie’s unexpected feelings for Jake and her interest in the land. When a sudden phone call comes from New York, Annie is forced to choose between coming to terms with her past or leaving it all behind.

Ope’s Opinion:  I really like the title of this book.  At first I thought Grounded referred to the fact that Annie was a flight attendant who was grounded – and that was part was true.  As you read on you see how she is brought down to earth ( grounded ) by her family.  Then you see her working in the garden with her grandmother and see how that brings her back to where she belongs ( grounded ).  The author did a wonderful job of making the point.

The pace of this book was slow and steady.  It was a very refreshing book to read.  It was all about relationships.  There was no foul language ( which I really appreciate ).  Overall, just a great enjoyable book.  I really hope there will be a sequel to this book.

Rating:  Four Chairs – I like this book so much I know several friends to share it with.
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