Hi friends, Just a super short note today to say "hi." My Uncle Dave sent me this super short video and I like it so much I've watched it several times. (My Momma says it is one of the cutest dachshund videos ever.) The little doxie does such a good job of sharing a balloon surprise. Of course, I had to share with you!
I hope you are doing well, enjoying some fall weather (none of that here in the south, yet!). Have a great weekend! Love, Abby xoxoxo
Book Synopsis To save her family from financial ruin, Miss Poppy Garrison accepts
an unusual proposition to participate in the New York social season in
exchange for her grandmother settling a family loan that has
unexpectedly come due. Ill-equipped to handle the intricacies of
mingling within the New York Four Hundred, Poppy becomes embroiled in
one hilarious fiasco after another, doomed to suffer a grand societal
failure instead of being deemed the diamond of the first water her
grandmother longs for her to become. Reginald Blackburn, second son of a duke, has been forced to travel
to America to help his cousin, Charles Wynn, Earl of Lonsdale, find an
American heiress to wed in order to shore up his family estate that is
in desperate need of funds. Reginald himself has no interest in finding
an heiress to marry, but when Poppy’s grandmother asks him to give
etiquette lessons to Poppy, he swiftly discovers he may be in for much
more than he bargained for.
My Review Diamond in the Rough is a historical novel set in 1885, the Gilded Age. Poppy Garrison was raised on a horse farm in Pennsylvania. At her family's request, she agrees to spend time in New York with her grandmother, experiencing a social season. Because Poppy is not ready for society life, her grandmother talks a brooding Englishman, Reginald Blackburn, into teaching her etiquette and helping her come out in society. Poppy and Reginald are complete opposites - but somehow they find a tenuous connection.
I was interested in reading Diamond in the Rough because I knew I would enjoy the Gilded Age setting. I also had not read any novels by Jen Turano, but have heard how much fun her books are.
This novel was a delight from the very start. It is what I would call rollicking fun. Poppy is such a character! She is forthright and impulsive and used to life where she can be active and do as she pleases. New York society does not come naturally to her. She finds herself in one predicament after another. In the first, she finds her tiara caught on a gentleman's sleeve while doing a Quadrille at a ball. Later, she goes for a carriage ride in Central Park; the horse takes off at a gallop and Poppy ends up in the lake.
Reginald is very proper and British and he realizes he has his work cut out for him helping Poppy learn etiquette. As they work together, they both learn from each other, and of course there are romantic sparks. However, Reginald has introduced himself as Mr. Blackburn, and has not revealed that he is the son of a Duke, so he has to contend with that as well.
The Gilded Age details are fascinating. I loved reading about Poppy's daily life, with dances, calling hours, carriage rides, and tea rooms. I felt bad for her, though, with some of the difficult social conventions, like uncomfortable, binding corsets that she was not used to.
I found Diamond in the Rough an enjoyable and thoroughly unique book. It has lovely period details, but reads like a historical romantic comedy. It was a refreshing read, and one that I think other readers will enjoy as well.
Author Bio Jen Turano is a USA Today bestselling author and lives in a suburb of Denver, Colorado. Visit her website at www.jenturano.com.
Giveaway One lucky reader will receive a copy of Diamond in the Rough. Enter with the Rafflecopter form below. Giveaway is open to the U.S. only, and closes Thursday, 10/03/19 at midnight. Winner will be notified by mail and needs to respond within 48 hours, or a new name will be drawn. Good luck! a Rafflecopter giveaway
Book Synopsis Francie Meeker and Vi Carothers were sold a bill of goods: find a
man, marry him in a white wedding gown, and live happily ever after.
These best friends never expected to be on the train to Reno, those
“lies in white dresses” shattered, their marriages over.
On board the train they meet June Samples, who is fleeing an abusive
husband with her daughter, and take the vulnerable young mother under
their wing. The three decide to wait out the required six weeks
together, and then they can toss their wedding bands into the Truckee
River and start new lives as divorcees.
But as they settle in at the ranch, one shocking moment will change
their lives forever. As it brings their deceptions and fears into focus,
it will also demand a reckoning with the past, and the choices that a
person in love can be driven to make.
My Review Lies in White Dresses begins in 1952. Longtime best friends Francie Meeker and Vi Carothers are traveling by train to Reno, Nevada to take the "Reno Cure." They will spend six weeks at a ranch in Reno in order to complete residency requirements for a divorce. On the train they meet a young single mother, June Samples, with her daughter Patty. June is a financially struggling abused wife, also traveling to Reno for a divorce As they settle in at the ranch something unexpected happens that changes everything. I was interested in this book from the time I first read the description. At first it reminded me of the classic movie The Women, also about women who traveled to Reno for a divorce. That only made me more curious to read the book! Lies in White Dresses has a wonderful collection of characters. I immediately liked Francie and Vi and their long friendship and support of each other. They are in the same position, headed for divorce, but with different backgrounds -- Vi's husband is a serial cheater, while Francie's husband is a decent man but they are incompatible. The support characters are also wonderful. June is such a sweet, genuine young woman who wants a better life but doesn't know how to start. They meet Willy, who is a bit of a vixen -- with a surprising connection to the women. And there is Virgie. Virgie is the 12 year old daughter of the woman (also a single mother) who owns the ranch. I have to say that Virgie is my favorite character in any novel I've read this year. She reads Nancy Drew books and aspires to be a detective. She's saving money to "attend the Hector Y. Brown Private Detective Academy, which, after two weeks of intensive study, would confer on her an official certificate allowing her to work as a private eye anywhere in the state of California" (p. 14). Virgie keeps a diary where she sorts out mysteries she encounters in her day to day life. She is bright and plucky and always looking for a way to have little businesses here and there to make extra money. And she becomes a hero - although to say more would be a spoiler! The writing in this book is beautiful. Sofia Grant does an amazing job at establishing life in 1950's Reno. I love her descriptions, like the ladies' first glimpse of the Holiday Ranch hotel: "... The Holiday Ranch hotel was sided with white-washed shingles and trimmed with green shutters with cutouts in the shape of Christmas trees. Rustic beams hewn from the trunks of enormous trees supported the slate roof, and stripped lodgepole pine logs served as porch posts. There were wooden rocking chairs and hanging baskets of flowers and a hitching post out front, along with a decorative wishing well. The western theme continued into the parking lot on the side of the building, which was enclosed by a split-rail fence to which several sets of steer horns and a bleached white cow skull were attached. On the other side of the hotel was a garden divided by stone walkways and arches blooming with climbing roses, all arranged around a fountain, the water arcing up from an old cattle trough before splashing down into a mossy, rock-lined pool" (p. 29). I also love the layers of the storytelling. This is a book about women's lives, about women facing adversity and making choices, about friendship. It is also a novel about the way personal history molds lives, and it is a book about love -- love between friends, between family members, and romantic love. Some of the passages in this book - especially later on - were just so beautiful and poetic that I would stop and re-read. I absolutely loved Lies in White Dresses and recommend it highly for fans of historical fiction. This is a beautifully told and ultimately life affirming novel that is unique among other books I have read in recent years.
Author Bio Sofia Grant has the heart of a homemaker, the curiosity of a cat, and
the keen eye of a scout. She works from an urban aerie in Oakland,
California.
Dear Friends, I have a short and sweet share for you today.
I was surfing the Internet, as I sometimes do on a lazy afternoon, and I found a video of a dachshund playing pinball. Her name is Ellie and she gets very excited about the little silver, fast moving ball in the pinball machine. I am pretty sure she thinks she will capture that ball for her own! Ellie is a happy little dog with lots and lots of energy. (I think she may still be a puppy.) I showed this to my Momma and she liked it ... so I hope you do too. This video made me happy and I hope it makes you smile too.
I'll be back next week. Hope your weekend is wonderful! Love, Abby xoxoxo
Book Synopsis Librarian Carrie Singleton
is building a haven, but one of her neighbors is misbehavin’. Can
resident spirit Evelyn help Carrie catch the culprit who made her a
ghost? In winter, the Haunted Library is a
refuge for homeless townspeople. When a group purchases a vacant house
to establish a daytime haven for the homeless, Carrie offers the library
as a meeting place for the Haven House committee, but quickly learns
that it may be used for illegal activities.
As the new Sunshine Delegate, Carrie
heads to the hospital to visit her cantankerous colleague, Dorothy, who
had fallen outside the local supermarket. She tells Carrie that her
husband tried to kill her–and that he murdered her Aunt Evelyn, the
library’s resident ghost, six years earlier.
And then Dorothy is murdered–run off the
road as soon as she returns to work. Evelyn implores Carrie to find her
niece’s killer, but that’s no easy task: Dorothy had made a hobby of
blackmailing her neighbors and colleagues. Carrie, Evelyn, and Smoky Joe
the cat are on the case, but are the library cards stacked against
them? My Review Buried in the Stacks is set in small town Connecticut. Carrie Singleton works at a library haunted by a kindly librarian ghost, Evelyn, whom she has befriended. In this cozy mystery, Carrie faces several issues at once. The library suddenly has become a daytime refuge for homeless people in the community. Several library patrons are upset about this and Carrie steps in to find a way to help the homeless people. In the meantime, her longtime antagonist, Dorothy, the library's reference librarian, dies under mysterious circumstances. Dorothy was the niece of Carrie's ghostly friend, Evelyn, and Carrie begins to investigate both their deaths -- Dorothy's recent passing and Evelyn's from some years ago. This book is the third in the Haunted Library Mystery series. I absolutely love this series of mysteries, and the third volume did not disappoint! I admire Carrie's sensitivity and compassion as she works to not just solve mysteries but also help others. Her friendship with the ghostly Evelyn continues to be a strong point in the books. I also enjoy the small town setting and especially the library locale. I like Carrie's friends, her boyfriend Dylan, and her cat Smoky Joe. The mystery was well written and it kept me guessing. The character development in this series is especially strong, and that makes the mysteries a bit more substantive to me. The social issue of homelessness was handled with sensitivity in this novel. I enthusiastically recommend Buried in the Stacks - and the Haunted Library Mystery series - to other cozy fans. I am already looking forward to reading the next book in the series!
Author Bio Allison Brook is the pseudonym for Marilyn Levinson,
who writes mysteries, romantic suspense, and novels for kids. She lives
on Long Island and enjoys traveling, reading, watching foreign films,
doing Sudoku and dining out. She especially loves to visit with her
grandchildren on FaceTime.
