Mornings on Main. Jodi Thomas

Today it is my pleasure to welcome Jodi Thomas who is here to introduce us to her new book Mornings on Main - and so straight from her pen ....

I’ve always loved wandering the main streets in small towns.  Stepping into the shops.  Talking to the people.  Sometimes all you have to say is, “How are things going?” and an hour later you’re still listening. In MORNINGS ON MAIN, I wrote about the people of Laurel Springs.

Like most people in small towns, my daily life is woven between generations.  I never remember a time when I said, “I’m not sure what to do or which way to turn.”  I’ve always had relatives around, not only giving me advice, but pushing me in what they think is the right direction. So when I began MORNINGS ON MAIN I knew I wanted to show those threads.

My main character, steps into a town and a world foreign to her.  She’s a drifter who doesn’t pack even her memories as she moved from place to place. When Jillian takes a job in Laurel Springs, she finds far more than what she planned.  Eugenia Larady, Gram to her family, has owned a quilt shop for fifty years.  The quilts lining her walls hold the history of the town and its people.  As Gram’s mind slips, Jillian rushes to log all the stories and quilts with the help of Eugenia’s great-granddaughter, Sunny,who is hell bent to make her own wild memories as fast as possible. As the stories of lives in the town come to light, so do secrets and loves that have lasted a lifetime.  Jillian is drawn in and forced to question her lifestyle.

So step into my world of Laurel Springs,

Jodi Thomas 

http://www.jodithomas.com/

www.facebook.com/jodithomasauthor

                       

In Mornings on Main there is another delightful story by Jodi Thomas, set in a small town in Texas that has perhaps seen better days. But what counts are the warm hearted characters that populate the town and with the touches of humor that Jodi Thomas does so well, this book was all I had hoped for.

But wait... there's more! I hadn't realised that one of the shops on Main is a quilting shop and that Gram, the darling old lady is a wealth of knowledge and has such a love for the many quilts that have found their way into her shop. I just loved finding out about the various quilts - their history and the way in which they told  the stories of people from the town.

Wandering into this small town is Jillian - a wanderer since birth really. She now has nobody - totally alone, her father ditched her when she started college, and she has kept up the wandering ways she learned as a child with him. Right from the beginning she has made it clear, she isn't stopping, just spending a few months and then moving on.

Connor is the mayor, and owner of a lot of property in the town. But that doesn't make him rich as a lot of it is now land with old disused factories that knew better times. He is a part time unpublished writer, father of teen Sunnie and carer of his ageing Gram. It sure keeps a man busy. When he meets Jillian though, his heart begins to pine for something he has been assured he can't have.

So the mix of the quilting, the interaction of the characters, the small mysteries, the humor and warmth of the story kept me happily reading along. Yes and some romance too of course, sweet and gentle - perfect. For more than one set of characters too!

And of course it all ended too soon, I so hate leaving these small towns where I feel like I could just fit in so well.

Published: Harlequin

Date: 10th April 2018
Pages: 384
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
 

A Christmas Affair by Jodi Thomas

From the Author - Jodi Thomas

Often when I write a book there is a story that I didn’t have time to tell.  A person who didn’t get their happy ever after ending.

Maria, Dakota’s sister in INDIGO LAKE, was that person.  I wanted to see her with her own story.

The fact that she is blind is only a part of the story.  For one time, one moment, she wants to feel alive.   She sets out to make her dream come true.  In her mind she can’t see forever, but she’s daydreamed of having an affair with the kind storekeeper she talks to every week.  Since her accident she’s never felt fully alive, so she decides to give herself a gift for Christmas.  An affair with Wes Whitman.

Even if it only lasts one night, she’ll have a memory to keep.

Only, he wants far more.  Wes wants forever.

I look forward to my readers stepping into the familiar setting of Crossroads, Texas, and celebrating Christmas with Maria and Wes.

A CHRISTMAS AFFAIR was set up to be the last journey in the Ransom Canyon Series, but the stories in my head keep dancing.  More ranchers.  More mysteries.  More love stories.  Folks from Crossroads kept standing in line waiting for their story to be told. 

Last month I stepped back into Crossroads with Book Seven!  Good News: A CHRISTMAS AFFAIR should be included in the back of Book Seven.

I wrote MORNINGS ON MAIN (out in April 2018) in my study upstairs with winter tree branches brushing the windows that surrounded me on three sides, but this summer I crossed my patio and opened the little room outback that we call the bunkhouse.

Ransom Canyon was waiting there.  Pictures, maps, family trees and a four foot stuffed pony I thought I had to save from the discounted table at Boot City the Christmas I started doing my research on ranching.

I felt like I’d been on a journey and was stepping back among friends.  After dusting and clearing the white boards, I began. A neighbor asked me once if I ever got lonely out in that tiny bungalow.  I had to say no.  I’m surrounded with friends. I hope my stories come alive and readers feel that way too.

Enjoy A CHRISTMAS AFFAIR and know that there will be more to come.

Jodi Thomas

I've just finished reading the novella - A Christmas Affair, and I loved getting back into Ransom Canyon and watching Wes and Dakota have their time in the sun, or that would be snow and Christmas lights really.  Maria is a romantic and as it turns out Wes is not only romantic but wants to be a keeper as well.

When I read the first paragraph I relaxed into the story so easily. There is something about Jodi's writing that says " I'm a master writer". 

As well as Maria and Wes, we get an update on how her sister Dakota and her beau Blade are doing. Very satisfying.

Making an appearance for the first time is fifteen year old Travis who comes into town, to be cared for by his three uncles. Although before long it looks like he is caring for them. I loved him and chuckled at his comments. 

It is so wonderful to know there are other characters knocking on the door wanting their story told in Ransom Canyon. Jodi Thomas does small town stories like no other, I find none more readable or satisfying than hers.  Already watching out for Mornings on Main.

http://www.jodithomas.com/

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Any Dream Will Do. Debbie Macomber

Published: Random House - Ballantine
Date: August 8th 2017
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 352
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
          

Shay Benson adored her younger brother, Caden, and that got her into trouble. When he owed money, Shay realized she would do anything to help him avoid the men who were threatening him, and she crossed lines she never should have crossed. Now, determined to start fresh, she finds herself in search of a place to stay and wanders into a church to escape from the cold.

Pastor Drew Douglas adored his wife. But when he lost her, it was all he could do to focus on his two beautiful kids, and his flock came in a distant third. Now, as he too is thinking about a fresh start, he walks through his sanctuary and finds Shay sitting in a pew.

Any Dream Will Do by Debbie Macomber sucked me in right from the beginning and I couldn't believe that it was 352 pages long. It felt like 100. It is delightful, warm and entirely a 'feel good' book. And... just a little different to her other books to make me sigh with happiness when I had finished.

I loved the characters. Shay is a little hard edged to begin with, but then her life has been no picnic and she has had it tough since childhood. Now being 'played' by her brother and having just completed three years imprisonment, she is in danger of being out on the street until she meets Drew Douglas.

Sure Drew is a pastor, but he is still in depression after losing his wife Katie and could himself be in danger of losing his role at the church. However in reaching out to help Shay he finds friends who reach out a hand to him and lift him up and out. He has two adorable children Mark and Sarah, they take  up a good space in the story and I really liked that.

As well there are a circle of people around Drew and Shay who are minor characters but are mostly very likeable or a little prickly but redeemable. There are a couple of homeless men who caught my attention, both wonderful and showed a side of Shay that said so much about her. I would have liked to see a little more of them.

There is a little bit of mystery towards the end that seems to put Shay in danger of losing what she has worked so hard for. That mystery wasn't difficult to work out ( I think the reader was meant to do so), but it all works out of course. 

A charming, warm and uplifting story.

Beach House For Rent. Mary Alice Monroe

Published:Gallery Books
Date: June 20th 2017
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 384
Genre: Southern Fiction
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
                     

Mary Alice Monroe,bestselling author of the Lowcountry Summer series, returns to her beloved Beach House series with the highly anticipated follow-up to Beach House Memories and The Beach House.

Beach House for Rent is #4 in Mary Alice Monroe's Beach House series. I hadn't read the previous books so I can say this is a very good stand alone, and I am sure lovers of the series would also relish this beautiful addition to it.

The characters:

Cara is just turning fifty and she is having a life crisis. While happily married to Brett for the last ten years, she feels she is missing out on something, a passion and purpose in life over and beyond what she has now. Once a very successful advertising agent she is now questioning where her life is going. As the story unfolds and as it turns out her whole life is turned upside down in this book and it is a slow crawl out of the deep hole she finds herself in.

Heather is a young woman who lost her mother in a car accident that Heather too was in. Always a shy person she now suffers from panic attacks and social anxiety. However what she does have is a passion for painting and she has just won a commission to paint some southern seabirds for some stamps. When her father arranges for her to spend the summer in the beach house she is really anxious about it - however it turns out to be a very healing and growing time for her.

The setting:

If you love the beach and the sea and the sand and the romance of a beach house then you can indulge in this book - it is alive with the sights and sounds and beauty painted in words for you to envision by Mary Alice Monroe. The beach house - Primrose Cottage is delightful, who wouldn't want to spend a summer in it, no one in their right mind would sell it.

Nature:

As in all the novels I have read by Mary Alice Monroe the flora and fauna of the southern coast of Carolina is wonderfully brought to life. Through Heather's eyes we see the wonders of the birds and the turtles. We also get a peek into the life of canaries as Heather as three gorgeous birds that bring her so much joy.  And of course there is a strong theme of environmental care running through the story.

The Extras

I liked the small cast of secondary characters, the men in Heather's and Cara's life, the friends they both make or already have. I especially enjoyed having a little mention of a couple of characters from the lowcountry series.   All in all a very enjoyable read.

Talk of the Town Rachael Johns

Published: Mira
Date: May 1st 2017
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 4416
Genre: Country Romance
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
        

Lawson Cooper-Jones has two priorities in life – his son, Ned, and the survival of the dairy farm that has been in his family for generations. Despite the best efforts of the town matchmakers and the determined pursuit of local girl Adeline Walsh, Lawson’s heart belongs still, and only, to his late wife.

But when a flat tyre strands Lawson and Ned in nearby Rose Hill, he’s surprised to find a woman living alone in the old general store of the deserted town. Ned immediately forms a bond with the beautiful stranger called Meg, and Lawson is surprised to find himself captivated by her too.

Talk of the Town was a book that drew me in right from the beginning and kept me engaged all the way through. There wasn't big drama or lots of action, but relationships that mattered and caught at my heart.

Would you buy a house in the middle of a town where people no longer lived, except for someone called Crazy Archie? Live in an old house that was once a country store. Well you wouldn't find me doing it, however that's what Meg does, and there is an air of mystery about her that makes you wonder what led her here? What's her past? 

Then there is a very likeable dairy farmer Lawson and an eight year old son who has his head on straight and is a total delight. Add into that mix Tabitha, Lawson's sister who is another one who has her heart and head in the right place.  Throw in a couple of dogs, a ghost who resides side by side with Meg and a rather spiteful, but not totally lost wanna-be-girlfriend of Lawson and the scene is set.

I loved the Western Australia country setting, the romance, the twists and turns and the just downright wonderfulness of the right kind of relationships and the opportunity of second chances.  And who is the talk of the town? Read the book and find out!

Keep them coming Rachael Johns. 

Wedding Bells for Nurse Connie. Jean Fullerton

Published: Orion
Date: 5th May 2016
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 432
Genre: Historical Fiction
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
                 

It's 1948 and the nurses of the East End of London are making the most of life post-war. For Connie in particular, things are looking rosy as she looks forward to planning a future with her sweetheart, Malcolm. But, as many a young bride-to-be has proved, the course of true love never did run smooth and Connie finds herself having to grapple with interfering mothers and Malcolm's reluctance to set the date.
But while there are many obstacles to overcome before walking down the aisle, at least Connie can relax in the knowledge that she'll soon be married to the man of her dreams, can't she?

Life at work isn't all smooth sailing either. The newly-formed NHS is keeping the nurses of Fry House extremely busy and as ever in the life of a nurse heartbreak lurks at every turn. But there are some new faces to keep things interesting. And one in particular might be the answer to all of Connie's problems...

I was introduced to this book by Sam over at Sam Still Reading with her review of Wedding Bells for Nurse Connie.  I placed it on my 'would like to read' list of books and finally I reached it. I have always been a little partial to medical fiction/romance, with a long history of Sue Barton when growing up and then everything I could lay my hands on written by Lucilla Andrews, including her memoir which receives a mention at the end of the book. Although that was just one book that she used for research, there were many, and it shows. The book rings with authenticity of the time period just after WW11 when England was changing over to a National Health Service.

Connie is a capable, compassionate nurse and she carries out her role in varying circumstances, always thinking of her patients and going the extra mile for them. Often it is not easy in the face of challenges that old, uncaring traditionalists bring to their roles. Take a doctor and a priest to showcase the worst of their species. I loved how Connie helped her patients and in some cases changed things up for them. Her boyfriend Malcolm was a bit of dead wood, and his mother was something else! 

Coming to rescue the practice from an unscrupulous doctor, Dr. Hari MacLaughlan - part Indian, part Scottish, comes into the picture, sets the nurses a-twittering and while horrified at what he finds in his new place of work and living quarters, sets about bringing some decent medicine to the area. He works with Connie's nurses at Fry House, and its not long before Hari is noting that Malcolm doesn't seem to appreciate Connie all that much, even though there is a wedding date set. Dr. Hari meets a fair bit of discrimination which would have been typical of that time, very overt. However he handles it really well, he is an old hand and there is not too much you can throw at him as he has been a Japanese war prisoner.

I enjoyed the book, I felt like I was right in the middle of a drama TV series - the details were rich and gave a very full picture of the life and times of the various characters in the district and in Connie's family and nursing area. 

Dragonslayer. Emilie Richards

Published:
Date: February 2017
Format: Kindle edition
Pages: 278
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Own book
Rating
              

Dragonslayer is the story of a minister who has lost his faith in God and a woman who, despite being surrounded by poverty and gang violence, has never lost her faith in humanity or the Corners, the inner city neighborhood where she grew up.

Thomas Stonehill and Garnet Anthony couldn't be more different, ice to fire, but both are determined to make the Corners a neighborhood where residents will be safe to enjoy a wealth of opportunities. After a personal tragedy Thomas, once the minister of a megachurch, forms a ragtag congregation in an abandoned store, despite his own doubts that God listens or cares. Garnet, a nurse, runs a maternal health clinic that she's carved from nothing.

When warring gangs threaten Garnet's clinic and personal safety, Thomas takes action to protect her, despite his conviction that he must remain a man apart. Neither of them is prepared for the startling outcome.

Dragonslayer by Emilie Richards was a book that I loved from beginning to end. This was a book that was first published in 1993 and won the RITA in the USA in 1994. Very well deserved I would say. Emilie Richards has now republished this book, updating it no doubt, because it fits very well in today's world. A timeless story. I am just grateful that she has republished it and that has made it available for me to read.

It is a powerful, emotional life affirming book. It totally captivated me. I loved the characters, the pacing, the complex issues that it tackles. It is a multi-layered book, not just a simple romance. 

Thomas is a pastor in a tough area. He is a strong but tortured man. Very well able to handle himself in the gang infested environment yet with a caring if lost heart and soul. He has lost his faith and his meaning in life. Immediately I was intrigued and was longing to know his back story, which did unfold to my great satisfaction as the book moved along.

Garnet is quite the opposite to Thomas, she has grown up in this area and also has a back story that makes her really interesting. Now she works as a nurse/director of a small endeavour to help mothers bring their children safely into the world and hopefully keep them that way. Garnet is strong and tough, a go-getter. She believes she knows the gang members and will be relatively safe on the streets. She is full of life, dresses in warm bright attire and exudes energy and life. 

When the two meet they clash, in good ways and a relationship springs up that tests them both and eventually leads to something wonderful. But first they must make the journey and that is a whole books worth of happenings. 

This book spoke to my heart and soul. One I savoured and relished.

On Second Thought. Kristan Higgins

Published: HQN Books
Date: 31st January 2016
Format: e-ARC
Pages: 480
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Rating:
                  

Ainsley O'Leary is so ready to get married—she's even found the engagement ring her boyfriend has stashed away. What she doesn't anticipate is for Eric to blindside her with a tactless breakup he chronicles in a blog…which (of course) goes viral. Devastated and humiliated, Ainsley turns to her half sister, Kate, who's already struggling after the sudden loss of her new husband.

Kate has always been so poised, so self-assured, but Nathan's death shatters everything she thought she knew—including her husband—and sometimes the people who step up aren't the ones you expect. With seven years and a murky blended-family dynamic between them, Ainsley and Kate have never been overly close, but their shared sorrow dovetails their faltering worlds into one.

On Second Thought by Kristan Higgins was a read that I couldn't put down. I came back to it any time I had, other things I thoroughly enjoy were put aside. I was totally hooked into this book, I laughed and at times a few tears slipped down from the sheer perfection of some of the relationships and how they worked out.

The book is told from the point of view of two sisters. Kate the older one, not long married to Nathan has found the love of her life and is hoping for a child, until the unthinkable happens and a freak accident takes him from her. She becomes the widow, encased in a grief locked inside her. Nathan's family are very much part of this story and the way the relationship with Kate develops is very interested - especially Kate's mother-in-law. 

Ainsley is the younger sister, they share the same father but not the same mother. However Candy has raised Ainsley and while Ainsley doesn't quite feel the love there, she finds a few surprises along the way.  Ainsley has been in a very long term relationship with Eric, the guy with the size of an ego that blinds him. He is a total ass. Ainsley is so kind and caring and loving she hasn't really seen him for who he really is.  When it all turns to custard it turns out Ainsley and Kate begin to share things never shared before and the development of their relationship is deeply satisfying.

I warmed very much to both sisters, perhaps Ainsley a little more at first, but both of them are wonderful women, finding their way together through tough times. There extended family provide extra entertainment and Gram Gram - Candy's mother and the girls grandmother is totally incorrigible and a load of fun.

While this book is more than romance there are a couple of wonderful guys also in the story who really 'get' the women and are there for them. 

On Second Thought was a delectable, delightful read - it hit all the right buttons for me, I was captivated by every part of it.