Blossom Street Brides by Debbie MacomberMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Blossom Street Brides by Debbie Macomber is a 2014 Ballentine publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
BOOK BLURB:
Debbie Macomber has won the hearts of millions of readers with her moving and inspiring stories. Now wedding bells are ringing in the tight-knit community that gathers around A Good Yarn, a store in a pretty Seattle neighborhood. Knitters come to the store to buy yarn and patterns but somehow they leave richer in friendship and love.
Lauren Elliott has waited years for her long-term boyfriend, Todd, to propose, yet he seems more focused on his career than their relationship. When Lauren learns that her younger sister is pregnant before she herself even has an engagement ring, she feels overjoyed yet disheartened. Knowing she can’t put her future on hold, Lauren prepares to make a bold choice—one that leads her to a man she never dreamed she’d meet.
Newly married to her second husband, Max, Bethanne Scranton is blissfully in love. But with Max’s job in California and Bethanne’s in Seattle, their long-distance marriage is becoming difficult to maintain. To complicate matters, Bethanne’s cunning ex will do anything to win her back.
Lydia Goetz, too, is wonderfully happy with her husband, Brad, though lately she worries about the future of A Good Yarn. As she considers how to bring in business, she discovers that someone has beaten her to the punch. Baskets of yarn are mysteriously popping up all over town, with instructions to knit a scarf for charity and bring it into Lydia’s store. Never before has her shop received so much attention, but who hatched this brilliant plan?
As three women’s lives intersect in unexpected ways, Lydia, Lauren, and Bethanne realize that love heals every heart, and the best surprises still lay ahead.
Women's fiction is a genre that I ignored for a long time because I thought it was too heavy in the drama department and kind of depressing. About two years ago, I gave Debbie Macomber a chance and I was blown away. I have found that I really enjoy this genre more and more as time goes on because of how real it feels and it's much more mature reading. I don't know which storyline I liked the best, but I suppose the story of Bethanne and Max made the biggest impact. I have personal experience with a family member that remarried years after a divorce and his grown children nearly caused another divorce. I guess I could relate to the struggles the couple had in that area of the relationship. Long distance relationships are always hard and troubles with Bethanne's ex-husband and daughter made the separation all the more difficult.
I applauded Lauren for having the courage to break things off with Todd. She didn't waste anymore time on a man that wasn't ready for marriage. What an arrogant man he was, and pretty dense too! Whirlwind romances are not always the smartest idea. But, we are talking about adults that followed their hearts and the lesson was that no matter what other people think or if they approve or not, we can't let them dictate to us what works for us. If it's right, it's right. Even well meaning friends and family need to mind their own business. Cheers to Lauren and Rooster!
Lydia is struggling with her adoptive daughter's horrendous nightmares and with trying to build up a more solid business base. An anonymous person leaving baskets of yarn around town has begun to help bring in customers, but who is this mysterious person leaving the baskets?
All the stories in the book are emotional and depicts human nature in a realistic manner. All of us have insecurities and we all think about ourselves and we want and attempt to convince other they want the same thing. Trust is a the root of many issues, as well as unrealistic expectations we have of ourselves and others. I love how Lauren took the advice she was given by her friend, which she asked for, it wasn't unsolicited, and how she was always ready to admit she made a mistake. Even when she isn't at fault she wants to make things right. Too many people let pride get in the way of making a relationship work because they can't say "I'm sorry" first. The sweetest story was Lydia's but it kind of got lost in the shuffle amid the heavy drama between the other couples and some of the secondary characters. Through hard work and tenacity these couples will get their much deserved HEA! After so many novels written in this series, Debbie Macomber has never lost her touch!
This one gets 4 stars
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