What a fun piece of British chick lit! Nina is a soon-to-be-out-of-work librarian who takes the plunge, leaves city life behind for Scotland, and opens her own traveling bookstore in a big van that she can barely handle driving. And, of course, there are love interests and a best friend and other people who she helps along the way. After reading a very serious, sad book, I think I was in the right frame of … Read More “The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan” »
Category: Romance
The Second Chance Boutique is a fun piece of British chick lit. Fran owns a second-hand wedding dress boutique in London where she has a knack for matching brides to the perfect dress for their personalities, even while she herself wants nothing to do with marriage. Rafael is a wealthy philanthropist with a well-funded family foundation, an alcoholic sister, a chip on his shoulder, and no time for the frivolity of love and marriage. Since … Read More “The Second Chance Boutique by Louisa Leaman” »
Jill Mansell is back! I’ve really struggled with the last couple Mansell books that have been published in the US, but It Started With a Secret redeems her. I highly recommend this as a fun summer read. Lainey and Kit lose their jobs working at a French chateau after the business fails, and they make their way to Cornwall to take over as household managers of a private estate. While there, they shake things up … Read More “It Started with a Secret by Jill Mansell” »
I have to admit that I’m reading this series in the wrong order. (Matchmaking for Beginners is on my TBR shelf still.) But after reading this book, I can’t wait to read that one. And I still really liked this one. “Whatever happens, love that.” This is the mantra bequeathed to Marnie — along with a Brooklyn brownstone and a matchmaking business — by Blix, her ex-husband’s late great-aunt. Marnie is 33, in love with … Read More “A Happy Catastrophe by Maddie Dawson” »
Set in Chawton — where Jane Austen lived while writing three of her famous books — right after the second World War, a group of eight people come together to create the Jane Austen Society. The characters have very little in common, but for their love of Jane Austen, but it’s enough for them to create their own community. The first half of the book is slow. Perhaps if I was more in love with … Read More “The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner” »