Poppy Alexander (1)

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. I liked the characters and they felt fairly realistic. I liked the small village feel with the quirky characters. I was rooting for the main character Jess to make some friends and not be so lonely. The book was fairly clean. I read it on vacation so I wasn't paying as much attention, I think there was some blasphemy and maybe some mild profanity but I don't think there was much because I would usually notice a lot of that. There was some kissing but that was as far as it went. It was just a really sweet story. I look forward to reading some more by this author.… (más)

I loved this book, I needed an easy to follow story, loveable characters and the book of books were the icing on the cake. A librarian, Jess Metcalf loses her beloved grandmother, Mimi. Mimi took over raising Jess when her parents died in a terrible auto crash.

Jess loved her librarian job but she also loses because the low budget. She takes a drive to another town and is enchanted by the sweet looking cottage for sale. She makes a quick decision to buy. But what will she do when her money gets low and there are no nearby positions avaiiable, How will she deal with deep grief over her grandmother? A beginning romance, getting to meet the neighbors. It is a very comfortable book that you will want to read on a rainy evening.… (más)

Kate is a war widow and a single mother in Bristol, and everything is going wrong in the run-up to Christmas. Her job's a joke, she's broke, her love life's DOA... Heh. Also, her late husband's grandmother is in a care home that she can no longer afford, her son is struggling at school, and her manager at work is a creep. Then there's Daniel, who also knows loss and is struggling to re-enter life after the death of his sister.

This was not the fluffy, feel-good Christmas story I was expecting. There are a lot of serious issues involved - probably too many. - and they get tied up a little too neatly at the end. Still, I very much enjoyed the read because Kate and Daniel were both worth rooting for.… (más)