April Books

A Tailor-Made Bride by Karen Witemeyer -- An easy read and predictable book, but OK for when the kids are visiting.  When Hannah Richards is gifted a dressmaking shop in a small town in Texas, she meets J.T. (Jericho) Tucker and his sister, and the other folks in town.  Hannah struggles a bit to find customers in a small town not accustomed to high fashion dresses. 

Threading the Needle by Marie Bostwick -- This continues the Cobbled Court series about a small town in Connecticut. When Madelyn's husband is arrested for running a Ponzi scheme, she is left with little money and only the house her grandmother left her in New Bern, CT.  A place that holds a lot of bad memories.  Madelyn decides to turn the house into an inn and gets to know the quilting circle introduced in earlier books.

A Worthy Pursuit by Karen Witemeyer -- Eh, not that great (too predictable, not very exciting.)  Stone Hammon is a retriever hired to locate a 9 year old who was taken by her teacher Charlotte Atherton.  It was really rather silly and boring to me. 

Laura & Emma by Kate Greathead -- A story about a privileged single mother in New York City and her daughter over the years.  Pretty good...a bit odd, but over all, I liked it.

The Ashford Affair by Lauren Willig -- yes, I do indeed enjoy her stand-alone novels much better than the one I read that starts her Carnation series. Granted, the one I didn't like was her first book (I believe) so she probably improved as she wrote more. This book was much more interesting.  It's the story of modern-day NYC lawyer Clementine Evans and how her life relates to that of her Granny Addie and this mysterious Bea.  The story takes place mostly in New York and Kenya with a little bit of London thrown in there. 

Before Versailles: A novel of Louis XIV by Karleen Koen -- pretty good if you need a longish historical novel about kings and princesses and lovers at court, affairs and such things. Whew. Fairly interesting; it did have me looking up these people!  

Tales of a Shirtmaker: A Jewish Upbringing in North Carolina by Frederick L. Block as told to Susan Taylor Block -- I found this at Southport's free little library so right near Wilmington where this guy grew up. It was OK.

The Mark of the King by Jocelyn Green -- a rather interesting way to learn about the French settlement in New Orleans, Louisiana. Whew, what a tough life for Julianna throughout this book. First she's accused of murder because a mother dies while delivering her child, and later her sentence is traded for life in exile - in the New World. But she must go as a subject of France to help populate this settlement. So, she's forced to marry another convict.  Ugh! 

The Fever Tree by Jennifer McVeigh -- This book started out interesting, then I got mad at most of the characters and didn't like it, but then it redeemed itself and I found it a good read overall.  After her father's death, Frances Irvine is left impoverished with no good prospects: be a nurse to her aunt's many children or marry Edwin Matthews, a doctor who lives in South Africa?  For sure, her English uncle, Sir Hamilton won't take her in.  Frances decides to sail for South Africa, and meets a charming diamond smuggler while en route.  Can William Westbrook change her situation for the better?  Read it and see. 

The Road from Gap Creek by Robert Morgan -- sometimes you just need an old-fashioned Southern mountain story as told from a middle-aged lady's point of view. This is that story by Annie Richards Powell. It has been awhile since I read the earlier story about Gap Creek, but some of the names were familiar.

The Life She Was Given by Ellen Marie Wiseman -- After living her whole life in the attic of her family's home - because she's some sort of monster according to her parents - Lilly is sold as a freak to the circus!  A generation later, Julia inherits her parents' estate when they die - and she uncovers all these secrets. 

While I'm Falling by Laura Moriarty -- Veronica's parents divorced during her sophomore year of college, and life seems such a struggle since then.  She's failing at her job, she's trying to figure out chemistry to stay in her premed major, her mom is acting weird, she can't even do a weekend house sitting job right. What gives?  Pretty good book.