The Writing Desk - Rachel Hauck

Tenley Roth should be flying high; she's just won a coveted award for her debut novel that has sold very well, and her boyfriend has just proposed.  However, the award was one named after her great-great-grandfather, so she doubts the integrity of having received it, and now she's under deadline for a second book, for which she has zero inspiration.  On top of that, the mother who left Tenley when she was a child has now called imploring her estranged daughter for help through chemotherapy, just as her fiance wants them to fly to Paris.  Should Tenley take the chance to get to know her mother?  Can she find the seeds of a successful second novel in the hidden corners of an old mansion in Florida?  Or will she find something even better?

There are several intertwined stories within this book, alternating between the Guilded Age and Tenley's contemporary  life.  It always feels a little jarring to bounce between such disparate scenes, but I was intrigued and curious to find out how the stories would tie together.  I appreciated Birdie's determination in an era where women were seemingly content to be married off to the men their fathers agreed upon.  I didn't quite get Tenley's fascination with a robe and slippers that belonged to someone she hadn't known, but her struggles to find whether she was more than her family's legacy kept me rooting for her.  While I felt that the book contained too many character and scene shifts to really get invested in the characters lives, the link between the families and generations kept me guessing.

I give this book 3 stars; I think I could have been fully engaged in either Birdie's story, or Tenley's story, but the jumping back and forth just left me feeling disconnected from either of them a bit too much.  Maybe if their generations could have been written close enough that they could have actually met at the end, that might have helped solidify the relationship.  I have, however, enjoyed all of the previous works of Rachel Hauck's that I've read, and I will continue to look forward to any future novels!

You can find The Writing Desk HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

To Have and to Hold - Three Autumn Love Stories

This collection of wedding novellas includes:
Love Takes the Cake, by Betsy St. Amant
The Perfect Arrangement, by Katie Ganshert
Love in the Details, by Becky Wade

Three authors join together in this autumn-themed collection of short, romantic wedding stories.  In Love Takes the Cake, Charlotte finds herself baking for a wedding involving the worst Bridezilla she's encountered, but also giving her the chance to interact with her mysterious weekly patron.  Is he available or isn't he?  Should she even be wondering, because he doesn't look safe, and "safe" is what she wants, isn't it? Amelia finds herself literally running into a handsome man in The Perfect Arrangement, and somehow that invites him into her life more than she intended.  What will happen if he finds out just how intertwined their lives are?  In Love in the Details, Holly is coordinating a wedding where her ex-boyfriend, her high school sweetheart, is the best man.  Having broken up with him years ago, under false pretenses, what kind of interactions can she expect?  Should she let her heart get more involved?

This collection involved some of my favorite romance authors, and I jumped at the chance to review it.  I probably shouldn't have jumped quite so quickly, as it turned out I had already read two of the three novellas!  I guess I'm consistent in my author choices.  Despite the slight disappointment of 2/3 of the book not being new, I enjoyed the book anyway.

Novellas are a difficult genre for me to enjoy; either there isn't enough time to develop the characters well, or the characters are well done and the story feels too short.  These three stories, however, manage to create well-rounded characters, and feel complete within their limited space.  Of course, it doesn't mean I wouldn't love to read longer novels with these characters!  In particular, I would love to see Will and Charlotte take on life together, and to see how their difficult backgrounds play out in their life as a family.  I really loved Nate and Amelia's e-mail exchanges, and would enjoy reading more of their movie-banter references.  Also - who was the mystery man for real?!  Holly and Josh's story served pretty well as a stand-alone, but how would their lives change going forward?

I give this collection 5 stars; short, easy to read, yet complete, this is a great book for some light, fun reading.

You can find the authors:
Besty St. Amant HERE
Katie Ganshert HERE
Becky Wade HERE

All three authors have active social media presences, and I recommend you follow them!

You can find To Have and to Hold HERE.

I received this e-book, via NetGalley, from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

The Wedding Chapel - Rachel Hauck

Jimmy Westbrook, affectionately known as "Coach" to generations of Heart's Bend football players and fans, has kept a secret from most of the people who think they know him.  Sixty years ago, he built a wedding chapel on his father's land, for the woman he intended to marry.  Sixty years later, he's still single and figures maybe it's time to sell the chapel.  First, however, a magazine wants to photograph the chapel, and sends Taylor Branson, a former Heart's Bend resident, as the photographer.  Taylor's own marriage and family issues are tangled in knots, but she senses something in Jimmy and the chapel that needs to be settled.  Sixty years and 3 generations of secrets might bring more truth than anybody bargained for.

I was looking for a light romantic book to escape into for some easy summer reading, and a book called The Wedding Chapel seemed just the ticket.  However, much like the characters, I got more than I bargained for.  Without giving any spoilers, this book gives the reader a lot to think about regarding marriages and how lightly some folks enter into them, what gives folks the right to be called family, and how to change the family legacy one's been handed.  Even with the knowledge that a character is trying to change the patterns he lives out, he acknowledges that "it was hard to harvest words that were never sown."  The book also highlighted how seeing people you love work through their own difficulties can give you courage for your own.  "[Their] journey had righted a lot of relationships this past year and set a course for new ones.  But not without the tears that come with confession, repentance and forgiveness."  Even with courage to change, change is not easy or without consequences.

There were so many good things about this book, but there were a few that gave me pause and kept me from rating it higher.  Every character seemed to have secrets, and while they were hinted at heavily, not every secret was eventually revealed.  Also, while the author did a great job of taking the spotlighted relationships of her main characters seriously, there were several major issues, life choices, and character traits that were brushed aside lightly and almost winked at, as if not a big deal.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  I liked that relationships weren't perfect, and that there were consequences to misunderstandings and bad choices.  I also can't help but like a character who's "stuck more this place than Lorelai Gilmore is to Stars Hollow." Ahem.
I give this book 4 stars.

You can find A Wedding Chapel HERE.
You can find the Author's website HERE.

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Love Arrives in Pieces - Betsy St. Amant

Stella Varland has not ended up where she expected; divorced at 25, depending on her parents for assistance and job leads, she suffers debilitating panic attacks over her memories of being left.  Now, she has a chance at a fantastic job to boost her interior designer resume, only it comes at the cost of working with the man who broke both her and her sister's heart and caused years of rift between them.  Chase Taylor has returned to Bayou Bend, also damaged but with a renewed faith and a determination to not waste any more time.  Can these two broken people find healing, or will they get in each other's way of finding the true Healer?

When I started this book, I hadn't realized it was a sequel to All's Fair in Love and Cupcakes. If I had realized they went together, I would have tried to read them closer together, because it was hard for me to remember the backstories of the characters who carried over.  It would have been helpful to remember afresh the hurt and heartache between Kat and Stella, and to know how Chase and Lucas were connected.  Even so, this book functioned fairly well as a stand alone.  On the surface, it was just another light romance, but there was a lot of deep stuff there to uncover about our brokenness and how the healing can seem just as hard as staying broken.  The author uses some unusual characters to get her main characters to think - the "homeless" woman, Dixie, and the fire department chaplain serve as catalysts for changing how Stella and Chase see not only each other but themselves as well.

The only hard part of this book for me was to believe that Stella could reconnect with Chase so quickly.  If he really had caused a years-long rift between Stella and Kat, it seems natural that there would have been more distrust or conversations, or that he would have had to prove that he'd really changed.  There just weren't enough details on why he'd run; there were a lot of allusions to Kat having reinterpreted the story of what happened, but her version versus what really happened were never fleshed out.  I think a flashback to what had happened and what each of the three of them had felt at the time would have served to make the story fuller and more cohesive.

I enjoyed this book, and give it 3 stars.  The themes of brokenness and beauty added depth to the story that made it more thought provoking than a typical romance.

You can find Love Arrives in Pieces HERE.
You can find the Author's website HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

The Dandelion Field - Kathryn Springer

Ginevieve Lightly and her daughter Raine have landed in the town of Banister Falls, Wisconsin.  After bouncing from town to town, Raine asks her mother to stay put until she graduates.  Gin agrees reluctantly, but keeps her suitcase packed in her closet.  With such tentative roots put down, Raine finds herself drawn to the popular Cody Bennett, a senior that the whole town looks after since his dad, Max, died in a fire when Cody was six.  Gin is equally drawn to Dan, a fellow fireman, Max's best friend, Cody's confidante, and who has a tangled relationship with Cody's mom, Evie.  Will Dan's loyalty be tested between the family he's cared for all of these years, and the single mom and daughter who have come to town?  Will Gin and Raine run at the first sign of trouble, or can they weather it together, and strengthen these fragile relationships?

There were so many complex relationships in this book, and they were handled well.  The single mom and her daughter, the teenage romance, the lifelong friendship with romantic undertones that hadn't been explored, the widowed mom and her son, the mentor relationship between Dan and Cody, and Dan's extended family.  The lives of the characters were well-woven together and the complexities served to deepen the book beyond a romance or teenage trouble story.  I especially liked Dan's family; while they served as minor roles in the book, they anchored who Dan was and were there to serve as mentors and shoulders to lean on.

I don't want to spoil the "scandal" in the book, but I will say that I felt like it was dealt with well.  It wasn't condoned, but was handled with compassion and grace, and all outcomes felt realistic and honest.

I give this book 4 stars; it handled a tough topic well, and the characters were realistic and likeable.  The minor plot lines were woven in well-enough to serve the main story, but developed just enough to enrich it.

You can find A Dandelion Field HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

A November Bride - Beth Vogt

In A November Bride, personal chef Sadie McAllister has just been dumped by text. Again.  She grapples with lingering childhood insecurity over the teasing she endured, and wonders if she'll ever find someone who makes her feel beautiful.  Just as she's offered a great job several states away, her long-time friend and serial dater, Erik, asks her out.  On a real date.  Can she trust him?  Will they ruin their friendship?  Or can they build something beautiful out of a lifelong friendship?

I enjoyed Sadie and Erik's story; their friendship and the leap it took to let them move beyond it felt real, and even with the compressed storyline of a novella didn't feel extremely rushed.  As with many of the Year of Weddings novella, I did feel that the wedding itself was forced into a timeslot due to the construct of the series.  While I can appreciate the desire for a short engagement, especially between friends who have known each other so long, going from *just* friends to married in just a month feels incredibly short.  However, I did enjoy the unusual twist to the wedding scene.

I give this novella 3.5 stars; I enjoyed the characters, and their relationship - both as friends and as more.

You can find A November Bride HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.  This is a new author to me, but one whom I intend to look for again!

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

October Bride - Katie Ganshert

Emma's dad has terminal cancer, and when she discovers his Bucket List only has 1 item remaining on it, she will do whatever she can to help him complete it.  Only, the last item is to walk her down the aisle, and she's missing a groom to meet at the other end.  When she confesses her wish to her long-time friend, Jake, he offers to be that man for her - a fake wedding to give her dad what he dreams of.  But can Emma follow through?  Can she fool her dad, and her heart, into a fake wedding?

The Year of Weddings series has been a little hit or miss for me, but this one was definitely a hit.  My only problem with it was that I wanted it to be a full novel!  I wanted more of Jake and Emma's story!  While the author managed to not make the story feel overly rushed in so few pages, I really wanted to be able to savor their connection and history, and let it build up to the inevitable ending.  I wanted to get to know the side characters, too - the best friend Lily, the smirky brother Liam - oh and I want their story, too!

As far as novellas go, I give this one 5 stars - It's hard to make a novella compact but satisfying.  I can only hope that the author decides to expand this story though and give us some longer books!

You can find October Bride HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE. (I highly recommend all of her books!)

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

All's Fair in Love and Cupcakes - by Betsy St. Amant

Kat Varland enjoys baking in her aunt's bakery, Sweetie Pies, but she longs to serve more gourmet flavors than vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, the only recipes allowed in the bakery.  So she practices her unique combinations on Lucas Brannen, high school football coach and her best friend.  Her best friend who happens to have fallen in love with her, and to show her, decides to sign her up for a reality baking show. He wants Kat to know how good she is, but he didn't count on the show's grand prize being a year's internship in New York - a long way from Bayou Bend, Louisiana.  If she wins, can he let her go?  Or does he hope she loses?

In general, there were no big surprises in this plot, best friends who have individually realized they have feelings for the other, yet don't want to ruin their friendship by putting those feelings out there if the other person doesn't feel the same way.  However, the reality competition was fun, and Kat and Lucas were fairly cute in their attempts to preserve their friendship while hiding their feelings.  Kat's cupcakes sounded delicious, and I really wished my copy had included the recipes she prepared (It looks like the final editions will include at least some of them, but the early release left them out).

This was a good summer read, and I really really want a cupcake now.
I give this book 3 stars.

You can find All's Fair in Love and Cupcakes HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

A March Bride - by Rachel Hauck

Susanna Truitt is a simple girl from Georgia, whose family runs a BBQ shack.  A simple girl, who just happens to be engaged to the king of Brighton.  She knows she loves Nathaniel, but is the life she's meant to live?  Can she be happy so far from her roots and family and friends?  Can Nathaniel make her give up all of the things that make her the woman he fell in love with?

My overall impression of this book was that I liked the characters, but I wanted more story.  Turns out that there is much more to the story, in fact, there's another whole book that comes before this one.  I wish I had read the backstory to Susanna and Nathaniel in Once Upon a Prince before reading A March Bride.  I think I would have appreciated where they'd come from to get where they were at the beginning of this novella.  As it were, it was an awkward way to begin a book and left me feeling like I was trying to catch up.  Even so, I really liked how Susanna took the time to evaluate what made her who she was - was it her country? Was it her career? Was it her family?  How much could she give up and still be who she was?  It felt authentic, and gave depth to her character in this short excerpt of her story.  I really wanted more to the supporting charcters, too; where did the prophetess-like lady in the woods come from? What's her story?  What about Suz's sister and Nathaniel's cousin - will they end up together?  I don't know how much of the Royal Wedding Series features the same cast of characters, but I might have to look into it!

I give this book 3 stars.  I wish I had known that it was just a piece of a bigger story, instead of a short story in its own right, but even so, I was able to enjoy the complexities the characters were forced to consider in such a short time.

You can find A March Bride, the 4th in the Year of Weddings series, HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

A February Bride - by Betsy St. Armant

Allie comes from a long line of women who believe in breaking a man's heart before they can get hurt.  As much as Allie loves Marcus, she believes that her family history proves that she is incapable of a stable, loving marriage.  So rather than go through a messy, painful divorce later, she chooses to leave him at the altar, for his own good.  A short time later, however, her best friend and ex-fiance's sister, Hanna, brings Allie back into her life, and consequently back into Marcus's.  Can they find a new normal during this time of celebration for Hannah? Can they be friends?

I should have known that a book about a bride, set in February, would lend itself to be sappier than others.  A Valentine's wedding?  Couple's showers?  The book opening with a bride running away?  I found this novella to be the least believable of the Year of Weddings series so far.  With the premise already set in the title, the book only has so many directions it could go, and so it's rather predictable from the outset.  There were just too many convenient twists in this short story for me to get past to enjoy it.  I wish that the aspect of getting past your family's mistakes and generational legacy could have been built up a bit more; I think that could have made for a deeper story, with more room for growth than occurred in this one.

I give this novella 2 stars.  It had potential, but fell a little short for me.

You can find A February Bride HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

A December Bride - Denise Hunter

Layla O'Reilly has worked hard to make herself acceptable to the people in her town; having lived her life being judged by her neighborhood and her family, she fights to keep up the appearances that will help her new career as a house stager.  When her date falls through to her ex-fiance's wedding, she is forced to accept an offer from his best friend, Seth, so as to not show up alone.  Her desperate plan backfires, however, when Seth announces their engagement to help her save face.  Suddenly, the whole town thinks they're getting married on Christmas Eve, and her business opportunities are expanding.  Can she keep up the farce for the sake of her business?  How can she pretend to be in a relationship with the man who she feels sabotaged her previous engagement?

This novella is short and sweet, yet manage to pack a good bit of character development into a few amount of pages.  We can really feel Layla's need to be accepted by her family and the town, and her desperation to overcome her past and create her own future.  She manages to grow, even in the short amount of time the book covers, to be able to look past her hurt feelings and see that she may have misjudged Seth over his part in her fiance's betrayal.  Layla's cousin, Jessica, only appears briefly in a few scenes, yet the author makes me hate her snootiness.  I was excited to see some familiar characters in this story, Beckett and Madison, from Barefoot Summer, make an appearance - as Beckett is Layla's brother.  Knowing Beckett from the previous novel, I wished for some more depth to their sibling relationship, but that relationship would have been extraneous to the point of this plotline.  Maybe the author will decide to continue these relationships in a later novel - I'd be in for that!

So - another short, sweet romance.  I like romances where the man works to win the woman, and it's not overly sappy or unbelievable.  Seth makes a few grand gestures, but they're not out of line with the the story or his character, and they enhance the plot rather than making me roll my eyes at the over-the-top romantic gestures.  I give this novella 3.5 stars.

A December Bride is the 2nd novella in the Year of Weddings series.  You can find it HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

I received this galley from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

A January Bride - by Deborah Raney

In this second installment of this year's worth of novellas, Madeleine Houser has been unwillingly transplanted from New York to live in her sister's house while it's being refurbished and to visit their ailing mother in the nursing home.  Finding the construction to be distracting to her deadline of finishing her next novel by January, Maddie agrees to her neighbor's plan that she do her work in the currently underused inn run by the widower Arthur Tyler.  Assuming that Mr. Tyler is an elderly man, she agrees to the plan and finds the inn to be a delightful place to work, made more so by the burgeoning friendship with the inn's owner, forged through written correspondence only.  Mr. Tyler has also assumed the author utilizing his dining room is an elderly lady, but takes enjoyment in their almost daily letters. Will the two ever meet? What will happen to their assumptions, and hearts, should that happen?

I picked this novella for review on a bit of a whim, noticing that several of my favorite authors were included in the year's worth of monthly stories.  I was delightfully surprised to find this such a light, fun read.  While the setting felt a bit contrived for growing their friendship under the guise of each expecting the other to be a senior citizen, the writing of notes was a fresh idea, and I enjoyed the efforts they put into composing them so carefully.  I also enjoyed the book's true octogenarian, the sprightly Ginnie with the twinkle in her eye.

While I wouldn't read this book for depth, a light romance is good for the reader's soul every now and then. I'll be sure to pop back into this series over the year for some more!

You can find A January Bride HERE.
You can  find this installment's author HERE.

I received this e-book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

Beloved - by Robin Lee Hatcher

Beloved is the third book in Robin Lee Hatcher's Where the Heart Lives series.  Dianna Brennan has been living in Idaho with her adoptive mother, waiting for her husband Tyson to be declared dead so that she may move on with her life and marry Brooke Calhoun.  However, on the evening of their engagement party, instead of being presented with a death certificate, Dianna is confronted with Tyson himself, not only alive, but desiring for Dianna to stand by his side as his wife during his campaign for Senator.  Can she pretend to be the happy, smiling wife required for a candidate's appearances?  Can she live in his home and continue to hate him?  Or will she be convinced that he's changed and allow her heart to be open to possibilities she'd thought gone forever?

When I requested this book, I didn't realize it was part of a series I'd read and reviewed before.  I read the first book Belonging, which focused on Dianna's sister, Felicia, and reviewed it here, but never read book 2, Betrayal, which follows the story of their brother, Hugh.  Even with not having the complete story to this point, this book read well as a standalone novel.  I just found myself wishing I knew what had happened to Dianna's siblings along the way.

Tyson Applegate had a lot of reasons to ask for forgiveness, and was determined to not only tell people he'd changed, but also to demonstrate that the change went deeper than appearances.  While he worked hard to show Dianna and his father his remorse, they were also forced to look within and examine their own hearts and motivations.  I enjoyed that, while all of the characters were flawed in their own way, the growth that occurred was neither quick nor easy.  Each character had to make their own decision whether they could actually change, or whether they would remain mired in the mistakes of their pasts.  As Diana remembered her adopted father asking her, "Do you want to be right...or would you rather be righteous?"

I enjoyed this book, and while I wish I had read book 2 as well, the characters and story in this book were enjoyable on their own.  I give this book 3.5 stars.

You can find Beloved HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

I received a copy of this book from Zondervan, in exchange for my honest review.

The Wishing Tree - by Marybeth Whalen

Ivy Marshall left Sunset Beach, North Carolina, five years ago, turning her back on everything that her family expected of her, and assuming they slammed the doors behind her.  Now, the husband she left everything behind for has cheated on her, and so Ivy decides to use the excuse of helping her sister, Shea, with her televised wedding as a reason to run away from Elliott and return home to her family, her childhood memories, and...her ex-fiancee.  Can she mend fences within her family while she's here?  Can she re-fan an old flame?  As she is asked to work on Shea's Wishing Tree, an old family wedding tradition, Ivy is forced  to face her own wishes for the wedding she never had, and try to figure out what wishes she has for her future.

This book did not wow me.  Ivy, as the main character, drove me a little crazy.  For most of the book, she is so focused on reconnecting with Michael, her ex-fiancee, and ignoring Elliott, that she's not even trying to evaluate how she's gotten where she is.  She unceremoniously dumped Michael 5 years ago for Elliott, and now she's equally quick to want to switch back.  There is no sense of her even wondering if this is the right thing for her to do.  She eventually comes to realize that she needs to be forgiven as much as she needs to extend forgiveness, but it was hard to care about things working out for her when she seemed to care so little for the lives of the people around her.  While some of the other characters in the book were more likable, none of them were really given enough depth to save the book.  The theme of forgiveness and family, and looking to make a better future, no matter your mistakes in the past, could have been hit a little harder and made this book much richer.

I give this book 2 stars.  I kept hoping that Ivy would get beyond herself to make some changes, and so I kept reading, but I wish there had been more.

You can find The Wishing Tree HERE.
You can find the author's blog HERE.

I received a copy of this book from Zondervan, in exchange for my honest review.

Interrupted - by Rachel Coker

When we meet Alycone Everly, she is a girl of fourteen who has been slowly forced into isolation by a mother whose mental health is deteriorating.  Feeling shunned from town from people who think her mother is crazy, Allie cares for her mother by herself, with only her neighbor friend Sam knowing how bad the situation actually is.  Upon her mother's sudden death, Allie is taken to Maine to Beatrice, the woman who wants to adopt her and be her mother.  Allie refuses to allow Beatrice to take her mother's place, and thus keeps Beatrice, and the love she has to offer, at arm's length.  When Sam shows up unexpectedly next door in Maine, she continues to keep herself aloof, trying to protect her heart from further loss.  Can Sam, the boy who was always there, find a way to help her open up, and find both love and faith?

This book intrigued me, as it is a young adult work, written by a young adult.  Rachel Coker was only fourteen herself when her first book was published.  I really wanted to read a book written by a teen for teens.  I was not disappointed.

Although the book started off a little bit slowly, once Allie lost her mom and had to decide on her own who to be and what to believe in, the story picked up quickly.  She held herself so tightly wound and separate from anyone who wanted to love her, that it made me ache for her and want to help her open up.  Her struggle with wanting to believe in God, even though her mother despised Christianity, felt honest and real, and I was glad to see her overcome the obstacle.  Once she did, the change and peace in her life, even though it didn't change her circumstances, was visible to those around her.

I give this book 3 stars.  Allie had to face so much on her own, but she grew through it and was able to change and grow, and that was an interesting journey for the reader to take.

You can find an excerpt of Interrupted: Life Beyond Words HERE.

I was provided a copy of this book from Zondervan in exchange for my honest review.

The Guest Book - by Marybeth Whalen

In The Guest Book by Marybeth Whalen, Macy Dillon has had some family issues in her life.  Her father died 10 years ago, but her mother still celebrates his birthday, and still has a "shrine" dedicateed to him in her house.  They talk about him to Macy's daughter, Emma, whose father has been out of the picture since she was born.  Until recently, when everything begins to change.  The pictures in the shrine start coming down, and Emma's father, Chase, starts coming around.  Then, Macy's mother, Brenda, announces that she would like to take the whole family on vacation at the beach house they haven't been to since the year after her husband died.  The beach house with the guest book where Macy carried on a pictorial correspondence with an anonymous "artist" boy every year.  A boy she never met, but could never stop thinking about.  Will this trip finally solve the mystery of his identity?  Will Macy find both the answer and love in the same place?

I liked the plot idea of this book; 5-year-old Macy was too young to write an entry in the guest book, so her father encouraged her to draw a picture instead.  She never dreamed that someone would respond to it.  The idea of budding artists teaching each other about themselves through nothing but drawings, and developing a friendship through them was such a fun, intriguing concept that fit in perfectly with the setting of a beach and once-a-year vacations.

However, I did not find Macy to be a particularly likable character.  She can't kick her ex out of her life, even though she knows she doesn't want to be with him.  This hesitation is partly because of her obligation to keep him in their daughter's life, but others around her fear that he's her fall-back plan, which he does seem to be.  Then, when she is strong enough to leave him behind and go on vacation, she finds not one interesting man to date, but three.  She says that she wants only to find out who "the artist" is, but she can't bring herself to ask the question immediately.  Instead, she strings each of them on, until she does get up the nerve to ask and decides to walk away from anyone who isn't the one she's looking for.

I don't want to spoil the ending, and it is hard to give an honest opinion of how I felt about it without doing so, but I will say that the way the book turned out was dissatisfying for me.

There were good moments along the way that made this book better than I may have made it sound above.  Macy does discover that God is the true Artist, and that she shouldn't waste the talents He has given her.  Although the ending belied her discovery, she does recognize that "whoever the artist was suddenly didn't matter so much anymore.  She wasn't sure she was ever supposed to find him.  And that was okay.  She'd found Someone much better instead.  Someone she could count on no matter what."  Between her reconnection to God, and the healing she found in her relationship with her brother, the book added some depth to what could have been a shallow story.  The mystery of the artist's identity certainly kept me up too late, trying to reach the conclusion, and a book that keeps me intrigued is one I don't regret reading.

So, I give this book 3 stars.  I wish that Macy had followed through on her discoveries, and had been or become somewhat stronger than the book left her, and I didn't like the conclusion of who she ended up with, but those are both personal preference issues that didn't really affect the quality of the book.

The author has a blog HERE, and she's even running a contest based on this book - you could win a copy or a trip to North Carolina!

I received a copy of this e-book for free from Zondervan, via Edelweiss, in exchange for my honest review.

Harriet Beamer Takes the Bus - by Joyce Magnin

Harriet Beamer Takes the Bus, by Joyce Magnin, tells the story of Harriet Beamer, a woman who is known for making random bets, collecting salt and pepper shakers, and baking cookies.  Not a woman known for taking risks and setting off on adventures.  Until, one of those random bets sees her giving up her house and moving across the country to live with her son and daughter-in-law.  Rather than do it the quick and easy way, Harriet decides to take the opportunity to do something she has never done.  She sets off on her trip, not by plane, but by public transportation, vowing to use as many local forms of transportation that she can, and collecting as many salt and pepper shakers as she can to add to her collection.

I wanted to like this book.  I loved the idea of Harriet's adventure, and I loved the picture of her in her bright red sneakers.  However, the story itself just didn't ring true, and was not well-written.  There was no real mention of Harriet having money, yet she never balked at expenditures like buying a brand new Droid phone, or buying clothing in a train station, or staying at a Ritz-Carlton hotel.  Eventually, she told a pair of strangers that she was a "wealthy widow," which also seemed odd - would a 72-year old advertise to people she doesn't know that she is rich?  Of course, it was just fodder for the storyline for those same strangers to try to rob her.

Details in a book are important to me.  Not that I like long descriptions of things, but I do like consistency in the details.  So it bothers me when a character takes note of seatmate's "Hershey bar-colored eyes," and then turns to said seatmate and tells her that she has the "bluest, sweetest, eyes" she's ever seen.  I don't know about you, but where I come from (only 30 minutes from the actual aforementioned Hershey), their chocolate bars don't tend to be blue.  There are several other instances of text that escaped an editor's notice, or perhaps suffered from a re-write that didn't get checked - saying "good afternoon," when it's after midnight, or talking about the time differences across the country incorrectly.

Although the story really is a cute one, the inconsistent details and the pacing of the travel really detracted from the enjoyment of the book.  It looks like it is book one in a series, and I have to say that I probably won't be watching for book number two.

I received a digital version of this book for free from Zondervan in exchange for my honest review.