Sunday, May 23, 2010

Guest Review - - The True Love Quilting Club

The True Love Quilting Club
By Lori Wilde
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: April 13, 2010






Actress Emma Parks thinks she’s hit rock bottom when she becomes scandal bait, her roommates kick her out of their New York apartment, and $250 is all that stands between her and destitution. Then she’s arrested and booked on assault charges brought by the lecherous Broadway producer whom she hits where it hurts most. To her surprise, she’s released and offered a job that takes her back to Twilight, Texas, the only place that ever felt like home. Emma spent her fourteenth year in the little town back when she was Trixie Lynn Parks, and her memories of the town and Sam Cheek, her first love, are warm and vivid even after sixteen years.

She’s not the only one who remembers. Sam Cheek is now Twilight’s veterinarian, a widower with a troubled young son and a Border Collie named Patches, but Trixie Lynn and the year they shared as best friends and sweethearts remain a part of him.

Add Emma and Sam’s history to Twilight’s history, its Sweetheart Tree, and Sam’s matchmaking aunt and other members of Twilight’s quilting club, and the conclusion of this story cannot be in doubt. But the journey to the HEA, like the proverbial path to true love, is anything but smooth. Old wounds require healing, and separate dreams must be reconciled. With Twilight and its endearing cast of characters in supporting roles, The True Love Quilting Club is a story with a great deal of sweetness and some surprising sizzle.

Wilde’s first Twilight, Texas novel, The Sweetheart’s Knitting Club, won a host of fans. Not only do many of the characters from the first novel make an appearance in the second book, but the centrality of the town to the story and the reunion and second-chance-at-love themes also link the two books. Fans of the first book and other readers who like small-town stories, quirky characters, and reunited lovers will likely be charmed by this book.

I enjoyed the book. I found Sam with his beta steadiness an appealing hero. I also liked the blend of humor rooted in reality, such as Emma/Trixie Lynn’s fear of dogs, with the genuinely poignant moments, such as those with Charlie, Sam’s son. I would have liked for the story to have been less predictable, and I was bothered by Wilde’s occasional lapse into prose that in my eyes at least shaded into purple. For these reasons, I awarded it three and a half stars.

~Janga

4 comments:

  1. I read reviews of the first book in this series and this one sounds good too. Stories and series based on small towns are usually good. You have a feeling of community, recurring characters, and what better place for a romance to take place.

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  2. I have enjoyed both books in this series!

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  3. Janga, I really enjoyed THE SWEETHEARTS' KNITTING CLUB, so I'm sure I'll be reading this one as well.

    Thanks for the review!

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  4. Librarypat, I'm a fan of small town romances too. Robyn Carr, Susan Wiggs, and Toni Blake fictional places are all favorites. And my own work is set in a small, Southern town. :)

    I'm glad you enjoyed Wilde's books, Cheryl. She creates some wonderful characters.

    Gannon, if you loved Knitting Club, I'm sure you'll love Quilting Club too. I should have mentioned the quotes from quilting club members that serve as chapter epigrams. They are great fun.

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