A Life With Books

Tess Delaney lives a fast-paced life as a provence specialist for the Sheffield Auction house in San Francisco, CA. She has no family, other than her mother Shannon, who is also a career woman with little time for her daughter.

On a day where Tess is supposed to have a meeting with the possibility of being promoted, Dominic Rossi steps into her life to inform her that a grandfather she's never known, is hospitalized in a coma and Tess is listed in his will as leaving her half of his estate. His property is an apple orchard named Bella Vista located in Sonoma County. The other half is willed to a sister she's never known, named Isabel. Tess flies to ArchAngel, CA where the estate is located and meets her sister and discovers much more about the family she's never known. Tess struggles with wanting to return to San Fancisco, her job and way of life there. However, she's also finding that she likes Archangel and the new people she's meeting.

This book is filled with family secrets, history, different points of view from different characters, romance and some characters you'll love to hate. In between chapters you'll find recipes that go along with the story.

In the beginning I didn't care for Tess's character because she was so preoccupied with her life, but not really 'living' her life. It was nice to see the change in her personality once she acclimated herself to her new surroundings. I enjoyed the flashback chapters which give us background on her grandfather's early life during WWII.

I'm glad I waited to read this book because now I can move right into reading the second book in this series called 'The Beekeeper's Ball' which is Isabel's story.  I've received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from NetGalley.com and will be reviewing 'The Beekeeper's Ball' in the coming weeks.  Feel free to pre-order your copy below!

The book begins by taking you back to when Ruby Jewell, the book's main character, struggled with a deep depression over the loss of her sister, Daisy. The first thing I thought was 'this is going to be a very sad and depressing book; I'm not sure how far I will continue on with it.' The book continues with how on one early Spring day the leaves of ivy, the hydrangea bush, crocuses and many other flowers outside of Ruby's window, awaken her to begin to move out of her depressed state. Ruby was a law student, but this particular Spring day led her to a new business venture of becoming a florist. As she tells people who ask about her business, "The flowers saved me." The book is filled with the expertise Ruby has gained about flowers and their healing powers. She specifically chooses flowers by what type of 'healing' she believes each person needs in their life at that particular moment. Whether it be cancer, a gift for an anniversary, wedding, ladies luncheon, birthday, funeral, etcetera. Ruby is in tune with her customers in the small town of Creekside and she is in some ways a therapist to her customers. She listens to them and decides which flowers would be best for their situation. As the story progresses, you can see how much of a giver Ruby is. To a fault, she is filling everyone else's life with happiness and forgetting about her own needs. She's never fully healed from her sister's passing and is afraid to get close to anyone. There are many characters in this book, from Nora and Jimmy, Ruby's assistant and the delivery man for the shop, Will, the boy who walks Ruby's beloved dog Clementine, John Cash, the new veterinarian in town and Captain Dan Miller, PhD, and also the town astronaunt. These are just a few of the many characters you will meet in this lovely book set in the town of Creekside. I was pleasantly surprised by the reality of this story. I'm not sure if all florists are as involved with their customers as Ruby is with hers, but it was very nice to read about the connections she had with them and how caring and considerate she was towards them all. The only part I could have done without was the in-depth descriptions of the flowers. I personally didn't even know what half the flowers were that I was reading about. I guess the author felt if you're a florist, and a passionate one at that, this is how you'd think about flowers while you're deciding what arrangement to create for the specific occasion. This was the first book I read by Lynne Branard and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to reading more books that she has written. 

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Truly enjoying this ARC copy of The Art Of Arranging Flowers.  I'm at the point where I don't want to put this book down so I can see what happens next!  Very emotional book.  I really feel for the main character.

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Emberly Fallon is an attorney who is on vacation in London with her friends Kate and Annie.  They find themselves in a pub with the famous pro-tennis player Niccolo Bartoli and get invited to sit at his table.  There is a natural connection between Nico and Emberly, but she tries to deny this because she does not want to get involved with a celebrity.  Her biological father is a high profile celebrity and Emberly vowed to herself and her mother that she would steer clear of self-centered men who live to be in the limelight.

Emberly cautiously agrees to a date with Niccolo and continues to have mixed emotions.  Their date doesn't end on a high note and Emberly and her friends soon return back to their lives in Washington D.C. Oddly enough Emberly and Nico continue to run into one another in different cities by chance.  First when Emberly has to fly to Miami for work and a second time when she is attending a family member's wedding in Cincinnati.  Eventually she gives into her emotions and finds herself meeting up with Nico in New York for a weekend getaway.  She has a run in with some paparazzi and is not feeling comfortable with this aspect of the relationship.  She then begins to receive threatening text messages from someone.  She believes 'The Messenger', as she refers to her or him, is either an ex-girlfriend or someone close to him, possibly on his team.  The texts become quite serious and the messenger has blatantly told her not to tell anyone about the texts.  She is afraid for Nico's safety, as well as her own.  Will Emberly end her relationship with Nico in order to keep them both safe?  Will she ever find out who's sending the texts?

An excerpt from Precious Words:

 

Annie reached for Emberly’s arm. “Oh, he’s too hot to resist. We’re getting his

autograph, and you’re coming with us.” Emberly felt herself being propelled

forward as Annie and Kate firmly tugged on her wrists. Embarrassed by her friends’ exuberance but refusing to make a scene, she decided to hide behind Annie and Kate as they approached the table.

 

The four swarthy men were huddled at a round table tucked in the corner of the

pub, eating sandwiches and talking rapidly in Italian. Nico was sitting in the

corner facing the three girls, sipping what appeared to be lemonade. His head

jerked up as Annie boldly announced, “We’re sorry to bother you gentlemen, but our friend here would like to get Nico’s autograph for her mother, who is probably his biggest fan.”

 

Nico appeared amused at this unusual request and smiled at his companions.

“Sure. Which friend are you referring to?” His confused gaze fell on Annie and

Kate. The two girls quickly stepped apart and pulled Emberly forward despite her resistance. She smiled timidly, mesmerized by Nico’s inky dark eyes and glowing smile. Nico’s smile faded and he stared silently at Emberly. She watched his eyes trail from her face to her long blond hair, which lay casually across one shoulder.  He seemed to be drinking her in as his gaze settled back on her face. It felt like an eternity before he spoke. “Hello,” he said softly without taking his eyes off her.      

 

                                  

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I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

In Tammy L. Grace's debut novel called Finding Home, we are introduced to Sam Cooper who has recently divorced from her husband Marty after 25 years of marriage due to his unfaithfulness. Sam decides she needs a fresh start away from the home in Seattle where they resided.  Along with her dog Zoe, she relocates to a community called Friday Harbor on San Juan Island where she owns a vacation home. She purchases a coffee shop/book store and hires Jeff, the local handyman, to update the shop. They quickly become friends and Jeff introduces Sam to many of the locals on the island.

There are many charming characters throughout the book, young and old. You can't help but want to get to know everyone in this small, quaint town a bit more! It is a very sweet and inspiring read.  In the future, I hope to see a series of books focusing on the different shops, their owners, updates on characters in previous books and some of Sam's mouth-watering pie recipes! I hope that is what Ms. Grace has planned for her readers!

I would be remiss if I did not mention that this book reminds me of Debbie Macomber's 'Cedar Cove' series, which I loved!!!! If you're also a fan of that series I would suggest you read Finding Home by Tammy L. Grace.

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Evening Stars by Susan Mallery My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is the third book in the Blackberry Island trilogy. The story focuses on Nina Wentworth, who was also in book two. Nina works for Andi's pediatric office as her nurse. The book focuses on how Nina has always been a caretaker for her family. Nina's mother is flighty to say the least, so Nina's always taken on responsibilities for their family. She helps keep their family antique shop, Blackberry Preserves, afloat even though the shop barely makes any money. Nina's sister Averil is having trouble moving forward in her life. Averil and her husband cannot agree on starting a family and Averil has been saying she is going to begin writing a book, but has stalled on it. Her husband Kevin just wants their life to move forward and Averil isn't sure what she wants. Her solution is to take a break from her life and go back home to Blackberry Island to think things through. Her husband isn't overjoyed by her solution, but is patient with her. Nina hires a new part-time employee for the antique shop after the employee her mother hired steals from them. Cindy, the new hire, turns out to be a great addition to the shop and helps them become more profitable. Through most of the book Nina and Averil's mother Bonnie, is off on a road trip with her life partner Bertie, looking for merchandise for the shop. Nina deals with the return of her former high school boyfriend Dylan returning to the island. She also is the attraction of a younger man named Kyle whom she babysat his sister when she was younger and he reveals he always had a crush on her. In her eyes she views Kyle as a fun fling and Dylan as a friend to lean on during stressful times with her family. Although this wasn't a terrible book, it definitely wasn't my favorite in this series. I did not like how Nina's character was made out to be so responsible for everything in her mother and sister's lives. The fact that Bonnie's life partner Bertie did not step up and make Bonnie take more responsibility in her life angered me. It was also upsetting that Nina felt she had to be the one to be in charge of so much in her family at such a young age. As for Averil, her character just seemed selfish and lost to me. In a lot of ways Averil was more like her mother and Nina was the total opposite. My favorite parts of the book were Nina juggling her relationships between Kyle and Dylan. I felt the writing towards the end of the book was more intriguing than the writing throughout the story as a whole.

This is the story of Avalon's town librarian, Maureen Davenport. She is finally getting her chance to direct the town Christmas play, but she will have to work with Eddie Haven who volunteers with the program each year to fulfill a community service requirement. Eddie is not a Christmas enthusiast and this bothers Maureen. 

The story also touches on the story of Daisy Bellamy, her son Charlie, his father Logan and Daisy's crush, Julian. 

The main reason I read this book is because it was the next book in the series and you kind of have to read it in order to get to the next book. Not my favorite in this series, but not my least favorite either.

The main reason I read this book is because it is part of a series. The characters, Kimberly Van Dorn and Bo Crutcher weren't very likable to me. I definitely could've skipped this book. Hoping the next book in this series is better.

Moon Shell Beach - Nancy Thayer 

Moon Shell Beach is about childhood friends, Lexi Lainey and Clare Hart.
The book starts out with a brief background of the girls as children and then teens. The book then flashes forward ten years with a bit of explanation of events that took place within those past ten years.

Nasty things they said to one another broke up their friendship years ago, but now Lexi has moved back to Nantucket Island.

I had a difficult time connecting with these characters because they both held onto relationships with a man for too long a time that they both knew were not right for them. A lot of wasted time in their lives over men that were not right for them and were not faithful to them. I guess I just like stronger character traits in the books I read and this really angered me that they'd settle for these men.

I haven't read any other books by this author other than this one. I want to read the Hot Flash Club series and hope that the women in that series have more strength and courage.