Yarn Tales

Okay, time to get my reviews updated! I am soooo behind! Let's start with a couple knitting-related books.

First up, Laced with Magic, Barbara Bretton's sequel to Casting Spells. I enjoyed this installment of Bretton's series quite a bit. Maybe not quite as much as the first, but definitely still worth reading and continuing the series.

In Laced with Magic, Luke's ex-wife Karen suddenly shows up in Sugar Maple. First, Chloe didn't even know that Luke was married before, let alone had a daughter who passed away. Karen's arrival puts a damper on Luke and Chloe's relationship. Even though, Chloe is not particularly fond of Karen, she does agree to help save their daughter's spirit, who happens to be trapped by evil fae leader, Isadora. And just when you think everything has been worked out and Luke and Chloe can move on from the whole episode in this book, it ends with quite a bang! A cliffhanger that will leave your jaw touching the floor! Now, I can't wait to read the third installment to see what happens!

Source disclosure: Borrowed this one from the library

Spinning Forward is a debut novel from author Terri Dulong. When I spotted it on Shelf Awareness, I jumped at the chance to receive a review copy. After all, I was already hooked on Barbara Bretton's knitting series. And Spinning Forward was touted as the first in a series as well. Though this is decidedly very different from Bretton's light-hearted fare.

Sydney Webster loses her husband in a tragic car accident, only to find out that their idyllic New England life may not have been quite what she thought. In fact, her husband had a large gambling problem, taken a second mortgage out on their house that he couldn't pay, and left her with no inheritance, no house, nothing. She decides to pack up her meager belongings and move to the Keys where her best friend lives.

Spinning Forward is a story about one woman's journey to find herself again in her fifties when her whole life has been turned around. She focuses on what she can do, finds herself, new friends, and even love. She also randomly discovers who her birth mother is (Sydney was adopted and never really cared to look for her birth parents before now) and has a chance to forge a new relationship with her. Knitting plays a large supporting role in this story as Sydney decides to open a yarn shop in Cedar Key as a way of starting over and "spinning forward" into life.

While I found this book to be mildly entertaining, I think it might have been good enough as a stand alone novel. It is supposedly the first in a new series about Cedar Key from Dulong. But I have a hard time seeing where else the story is going to go. Everything seems to wrap up very well at the end of this and I'm not sure the characters or story hold my interest enough for me to pick up the second book. However, perhaps I'm just not the right age to fully appreciate the book either. I think Dulong's intended audience may have been more women of my mother's age. Despite not being wowed by this one, I may read the jacket of the second book just because I am curious where Dulong plans to take the characters.

Source disclosure: Review copy sent to me from the publisher after I read about the book on Shelf Awareness.