Category Archives: Fiction/Literature

For the last three years, I’ve enjoyed reading a Christmas novel by Nancy Naigle. All three have been set in various small towns in North Carolina. While I am not from that area, my mother grew up in the mountains outside of Asheville during the latter years of the Great Depression. It’s always a treat to get a peak at that area of the country.

In this story, Liz Westmoreland is a successful project manager. She has always dreamed of owning an Inn or Bed and Breakfast like the one that her grandparents ran for many years. Truth be told, Liz wanted their old inn, Angels Rest but it was sold years before.

When the opportunity arises to buy the old inn, sight unseen, she grabs it. Reality hits her square in the face too late when she finds it in total disrepair.

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In Nancy Thayer’s latest novel, it is Christmas time in Nantucket. Christina Antonioni is the owner of a toy store that is located in a set of historic shacks on the wharf in Nantucket. Along with the other owners, they scramble to make ends meet, especially during the winter when visitors don’t often arrive at the island.

A young girl, Wink, becomes a valued friend who helps Christina during the busy Christmas season.

The shop owners are shocked when the new owner of the wharf raises their rent to a degree that is unfeasible for all. Christina, by nature of her relationship with Wink and with Wink’s uncle, is voted the voice of the shop owners to speak with the wharf owner. That is because Wink and and uncle are granddaughter and son of the Scrooge of a landlord.

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When I think of heart-warming tales with a Christian influence or message, I always think of books written by Debbie Macomber. Her books also deal with real life scenarios and don’t gloss over the pain and suffering that part of real life.

In this story, Laurel McCullough, is dealing with both the decline of her grandmother, Helen, and has given up the dream of having children (either her own or adopted.) She is sad and her husband Zack is trying his best to support her in her time of need.

Helen is having increasing difficulty remembering things. Because of that, Laurel and Zack have moved in to help her. Even so, it is becoming increasingly obvious that Helen needs someone to help her while Laurel and Zack are at work.

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I was first introduced to Meg Cabot with her Heather Wells mystery series. I then read a few of her stand-alone books and really enjoyed them. When I saw that she had published a new book, I definitely wanted to read it. I didn’t realize that it was the second in a series at that time.

While I really enjoyed much of the book, I was a bit surprised by the single somewhat graphic sex scene. I also heard a little too often about the fireworks going off in the shorts of our main character, Bree Beckham. I had forgotten that Ms. Cabot had once written erotic novels under the name Patricia Cabot so, in retrospect, I should not have been as surprised as I was.

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Gina has just been unceremoniously dumped by her husband when he discovers that his secret girlfriend has become pregnant. Gina ventures out into the night and, while distraught, ends up running into Izzy who is out riding on her motorbike.

Izzy ends up losing her job and she and her teenager daughter have nowhere to live. They end up living with Gina and end up turning her world upside down.

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This is the story of two women who are starting over in life as middle age approaches.

Jenna is an intensive care nurse who divorced her surgeon husband decades earlier. She has spent her life, since then, focusing on raising her two children, Paul and Allie. Now, both children are off to college, though her ties to both are still deep.

Maureen is a librarian and married while still in college when she she became pregnant with her daughter, Tori. The marriage didn’t work out and she has been single ever since.

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This is a story about two childhood friends. Keeley and Isabelle. Keeley was middle class and Isabelle was from a rich family. The two things they had in common was that they lived in the same Nantucket town and they both wanted to be famous writers when they grew up.

Their common interest kept them together until a romantic interest tore them apart. At that point, the lives moved apart rapidly and for what seemed like forever.

Keely managed to make her dream come true and is a famous author. When events in her life turn her in circles, she retreats back to Nantucket to help her mother.

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I was intrigued by the short blurb I read about this story. I was, for some unknown reasons, expecting a time travel book and instead, the book is a mix between ghost story and science fiction with a very long romance. While it wasn’t what I expected, it was still a good read.

My only problem with books set in the fairly recent past, as this one is, it’s easy to spot anachronisms and those can be distracting.

Once I was able to get over those small issues, I was able to enjoy the love story and the innovative idea behind it. I also appreciated the author explaining (in the follow-on notes) how it mirrored, to a degree, the relationship she has with her husband. I can relate to that as, due to illness, my world has become smaller than most others experience.

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In this story, Mimi Huish, is visiting her father and his partner at their new home in The Cotswolds. She encourages, even insists, that the two of them get out and meet their new neighbors in the charming village they now live in. They are afraid that the people in this small hamlet are not ready to accept the lifestyle arrangement that they share.

It is far from the truth, but in getting to know their neighbors, a situation arises that changes the lives of many in the village.

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When I first started this book, I thought it was going to be a suspenseful mystery. While there are elements of both, the novel is really more of a fictional literature style book. It explores the relationship between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law.

The story is told from both points of view and is set both in the past and in the present with a small peak into the future at the end.

Lucy lost her mother when she was young and is thrilled at the prospect of having a mother-in-law to love and admire. Diana is definitely an admirable woman; however, she is not a person who it is easy to relate to – that is, unless you happen to be a recipient of her charity for unwed mothers.

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