Book Review: The Widow of Larkspur Inn

Rating: 3/5

The Widow of Larkspur Inn by Lawana Blackwell is a pretty good historical romance.  It wasn't super remarkable or innovative, but I really enjoyed the detailed characters and setting.  It was very easy to immerse myself in the village of Gresham, and the characters were so well developed that by the end of the book they felt like old friends.

The story begins with the death of the protagonist's husband.  Distraught over suddenly becoming a widow, Julia Hollis is even more shocked to learn that his business dealings were not what she thought they were.  Faced with being in charge of her own life and wellbeing for the first time ever, Julia must make some tough decisions and quickly learn about running an inn when she is forced to relocate from London to the tiny village of Gresham.  Although it is quite the change for herself and her children, they all quickly adapt and make new friends in their new home.  This story does a good job of illustrating the value of humility, hard work, and good friendships without being overly preachy or banal.  I actually enjoyed this story so much that I went to the library to borrow the other books in the "Gresham Chronicles" series immediately after reading this one.

If  you enjoy historical romances, stories about Victorian England, and stories with a lot of detail, this would be a good read for you.

The Widow of Larkspur Inn

PS: I've started linking my book reviews to the Goodreads page for the book instead of the Amazon page just because Goodreads offers links to most major ebook retailers instead of only one.  I think most people read Kindle books, but if you prefer to buy from Barnes and Noble or iBooks, or some other retailer, you can find all the links at the Goodreads page for that book.

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Book Review: Georgia On Her Mind by Rachel Hauck

Rating: 2.8/5 I finished this book yesterday after having it on my Kindle for a few weeks after I downloaded it when it was free (it now costs $0.99) I honestly wasn't all that interested in it from the description, but hey, a free book is a free book. Once I got around to eventually reading it, I was pleasantly surprised yet unimpressed at the same time. Rachel Hauck has a good writing style and there are a lot of funny moments in this book. Macy Moore, the main character, is rather witty and almost a bit naive, which is fun to read. However, I just could not get past all of the old, recycled Christian romance plot cliches. Seriously, woman has awesome career but neglects her spirituality, woman's career tanks, annoyingly perfect friends gently remind woman about how much Jesus loves her, woman finally meets good man, various hijincks and "big decisions" ensue, woman ultimately makes the "right" decision and they all live happily ever after. I would have loved more drama in the story and was incredibly disappointed by the last several chapters. I was confused by the authors mix of the literal and metaphorical, especially in reference to the bible verse Isaiah 61:3, "...to give them beauty for ashes...", which prompts Macy to leave behind the metaphorical ashes of her corporate life and literally return to Beauty, her hometown in Georgia. If the author was going for subtlety, she failed and may have just gone all in and had Macy's house burn down with all her possessions, but I guess that would be too literal. Also, just once I would like to see a Christian romance where the protagonist's dream goal/profession is actually the "right" thing and they are moved to pursue that goal instead of settling for something else.

I can't highly recommend this book, but if you have a spare 99 cents and want to get a few laughs from an otherwise tired story line, go ahead and purchase this book.

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