Book Review: Marrying Daisy Bellamy by Susan Wiggs

Marrying Daisy Bellamy by Susan Wiggs
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the 8th book in the Lakeshore Chronicles series by Susan Wiggs.

Daisy has been featured in prior books with a focus on her troubles and

relationship with Julian Gastineaux.  Fans of this series waited for Daisy's

story to be told and I think they will be pleasantly surprised by this book.

If you haven't read previous books in this series, there are enough backstory's re-told to give you a feel for events that have happened in the past.

This is a difficult review to write because I don't want to

 spoil the book for those who would like to read it.

That said, the love triangle between Daisy, Logan and Julian continues.

Julian is in the air force, Logan still carries a torch for Daisy and

continues to be an active parent to their son Charlie.

Daisy is no longer a teenager, but a twenty-something woman with a

career as a wedding photographer and aspirations to one day have her

photographs displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

She is a loving, single Mom who has a troubled love life due to the fact

that she's always felt a deep connection with Julian, but he is away in the

air force and Logan is there daily participating in his sons life.

There are many twists and turns in this story.  So much so that I was up

late at night reading because I couldn't wait to see what would happen

next!  I finished this book in 4 days, which is awesome for me since it usually

takes me about a week to get through a book due to Mom duties and

lack of time to just sit and read in a peaceful environment.

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Posted at 5:00 PM  |  by Elle

Book Review: The Summer Hideaway by Susan Wiggs

The Summer Hideaway by Susan Wiggs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Summer Hideaway by Susan Wiggs

is the 7th book in the Lakeshore Chronicles series.

Before I read this book I glanced at some reviews on GoodReads.

  I wasn't thrilled that the main character in this book is dying of a brain tumor, 

as I had just read a few books with characters dying from

 cancer, car accidents or childbirth.  When I read in the summer I like the

story lines to be fun beach reads, not serious, sad and dour.

That said, I was pleasantly surprised  how much I enjoyed this book!

The story focuses on George Bellamy, who has an inoperable brain tumor.
George decides he wants to spend his last days at Camp Kioga on Willow Lake, where he attended camp as a child.  He places an ad on Craigslist for a private care nurse to stay with him while at the camp.  He also has an underlying desire to fix up his grandson, Ross Bellamy, who is returning from Afghanistan as a military med-evac.  George also wants to reconcile with his brother, Charles Bellamy, after being estranged from him for over 50+ years.

There are a few side stories going on within the book itself.  
The first of course is focused on George's limited time and reconciling with his brother.  In order to learn more about the 'why' they've been estranged for so long, Ms. Wiggs takes us back to when the brothers were young and attended Camp Kioga.  I enjoyed these flashback chapters more than I expected to.

The second story line is about Claire Turner, George's nurse.  
She has a secret past she's been hiding for many years and hasn't let
 herself get close to anyone.  She's finding herself caring too much for the Bellamy family and letting her emotions get in the way of protecting her
past life.

Thirdly is the story of Ross Bellamy dealing with returning from war after being away for two years, facing the fact that his grandfather is dying and the unexpected attraction he begins to feel for Claire.  

My favorite part of this book was the storytelling of George's past and second to that was the secret that Claire is keeping from her past.  I didn't feel any real connection between Ross and Claire, so that story line seemed a bit forced to me.

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Posted at 10:01 PM  |  by Elle

Book Review: The Girls Of August by Anne Rivers Siddons

The Girls of August by Anne Rivers Siddons

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I received this book in exchange 

for an honest review from NetGalley.

This is the first book I have read by Ann Rivers Siddons and I was pleasantly

 surprised at how quick of a read this book was for me.

I was a bit surprised how depressing a lot of the storylines were being this 

is supposed to be a 'beach read' kind of book.

The Girls Of August is about a group of women who vacation at a 
different beach houses every August. 

The Girls Of August were Madison, Rachel, Barbara and Cornelia.

The women's husbands were all in medical school when the August beach

vacationing began.  The first beach house the women stayed at was Teddy's wife Cornelia's 

aristocratic family's beach home in Alabama.  Shortly after Teddy went into private practice, Cornelia left Teddy for a college boyfriend. 

 Teddy's second wife , Melinda, clicked with Madison, Rachel and Barbara and became a beloved friend to all the girls ; they considered themselves the 'original' Girls Of August.  

Then after 15 summers of vacationing together, Melinda is killed in a car crash.

The Girls Of August hadn't seen one another in three years after Melinda's death, 

but decide it is time to renew their annual beach ritual.

  Madison and her husband Mac have met Teddy's young, new wife, Baby Gaillard, but the other girls have not.  Baby has offered her family's beach house on the remote Tiger Island for the Girls Of August beach retreat.   Madison, Rachel and Barbara plan a get-together in June so

 they can meet and think over the choice of this particular beach house.  

It is quite an adjustment for the middle-aged women to adjust to the 22 year old Baby

on their vacation.  They all have very little tolerance for some of Baby's behaviors,

which sometimes is comical.  But looming inside these women's minds are the troubles

they are currently facing in their lives.  This is where the storyline doesn't feel like a

light and fluffy beach read any longer.  It becomes a bit depressing and very much reality.

This book kept my attention, but it felt rushed at a lot of points in the story.

I felt like I wanted to know more details, especially toward the end of the book.

I almost hope there is a sequel to this book so that Madison, Barbara, Rachel and Baby's

stories can be further explored.  Not sure if the author has enough content in mind for a

sequel, but there are definitely loose-ends that I would like to be see tied up.

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Posted at 8:00 PM  |  by Elle

Wake-Up Call From My Body!

I've been wanting to write this blog post for quite awhile now. What's been holding me back, you might ask? Well, I really think it is a state of mind for me. Let me start from the beginning....

Saturday, May 24th I was re-potting some flowers. I was on a knee pad on the ground bending over just going about my business. After about an hour I felt a 'pull' in my back. I knew I was done for the day. I proceeded to get the ice pack and just be still for the rest of the day. The next day, Sunday arrives and I'm still hurting. More ice pack ona nd off all day. Monday arrives and I call the chiropractor. There aren't any openings until Wednesday and it isn't with the doctor I saw once before for a shoulder issue, it's with a new doctor, so I take the appointment.

I am thrilled to finally get in to see the chiropractor. She is young; fresh out of college.
She can tell I am not walking properly. She checks my legs and sees that one leg is 2" shorter than the other. She informs me that my hip is out of places, has dropped. This is news to me, as I hadn't had any pain in my hip, just the bottom right of my back. She checks my back and tells me I have nodules (scar tissue) there probably from my hip being out of place. She adjusts my hip she then goes on to do some pressure point/resistance therapy on my back. I am in bad shape and she is amazed that I'm not in more pain than I'm stating I'm in! This begins the weekly visits to the chiropractor. Twice a week that first week, three times the following week, twice the third week, twice the fourth week, once the fith week, once the sixth week and next week will be the seventh week. She also noted to me about the thrid week into treatment that my right butt cheek has mor emuscle tone than the left and I need to start doing the clam shell exercises to try to build up muscle again. She also wants me to stretch the right side of my back out while lying on my side on the bed.

She's been doing something called the graston technique ( www.grastontechnique.com/ ) on my back where the nodules are.
Graston helps to break up the scar tissue; even deeper than a deep massage could even get. All the videos I've found on YouTube show the chiroprator or physical therapist grazing the back up and down with the metal graston tool. Let me tell you, I would love it if that was how gentle she used the tool on me. But no, she takes that tool over each nodule like she's trying to erase something really hard on a piece of paper! And my skin is sensitive so that rubbing makes it fell like my skin is burning; like an Indian brush burn! NOT FUN!!!!

Yesterday she did a bit more graston on me and the nodules, to my surprise, have actually moved higher up my back than they were. They are breaking up and are much better than they were, but I fear this is something I may have to keep an eye possibly for the rest of my life.

Two Saturdays ago my daughter's Girl Scout troop had a Bike & Boat excursion planned and I was okay-ed to go by my doctor. I had an appointment two days before the trip so that I wouldn't be sore before the trip. The doctor told me the biking would be good for me, but the canoeing might be a problem. About half way through the canoe part of the trip my back really started to feel it. I had a lot of fun on the trip, I just wish I felt like I were in better shape. I went to the chiropractor the Monday after the trip and I really needed to be adjusted and have the nodules worked, since I was in moderate pain after the trip.

I was given the okay to start back on my elliptical, just not a high resistance level or any inclines. So this morning I took my 14.5 year old dog for a 2 block leasurely walk and then came home and did 15 minutes in the elliptical. The elliptical should be good for building muscle where I need it as well. It is a bit sore, but nothing terrible. My next appointment is next Friday.

So I guess mentally, I wasn't ready until today to type this all out and re-live it. It's been painful and a learning experience. I've had a lot of time to think about goals, where I want to be physically and how I'm going to go about getting there. I'm aging and I truly need to start protecting my body better. The many days where I couldn't do much because I was in pain really held me back from so many things. I don't want to live my life like this. I have to try to prevent anything like this from happening again in the future by being a better caretaker of my body.

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Posted at 7:30 PM  |  by Elle

Book Review: The Tumble Inn by William Loizeaux

The Tumble Inn by William Loizeaux
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

 I received this book in exchange 

for an honest review from NetGalley.

The Tumble Inn follows the life of Mark and Fran Finley,
 two high school teachers from New Jersey.

Mark and Fran feel they've become stuck in their teaching jobs
but don't quite know what to do about how they're feeling.  
They'd been trying to conceive a child for five years with no success.
Their lives are not what they envisioned.

 Fran replies to an ad in the newspaper 
for an innkeepers position in the Adirondack Mountains.
  She embellishes quite a bit about her and Mark's qualifications.
Mark isn't as fascinated as Fran is about the possibility of this new vocation, 
especially because he knows they don't have the experience the innkeepers job entails.
  When Fran receives a call that the Board of Directors of The Tumble Inn 
want to meet with them, they head up North and so begins the journey of a
new adventure for the Finleys.

Although they don't have the experience, they learn 
through trial  and error about the operations of running the inn.  
They become proficient innkeepers and continue
 operating the inn for the next twenty years.
There are many ups and downs, new experiences, life-changing and tragic
happenings throughout the book.

This heartwarming story is an encouragment to those
 looking to make a lifestyle change and to gain the courage to
try something outside their comfort zone.

View all my reviews

Related articles

• Does Your Inn Run You or Do You Run Your Inn?

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Posted at 7:30 PM  |  by Elle

Musical Monday #10 ~ Vacation by The Go-Gos

Wishing I was on vacation.  

The last 'real' vacation I had was probably in 1999!!!

This week Em is away at camp (her 4th summer there.)

Hoping everyone is enjoying their summer vacation!

Vacation by The Go-Go's on YouTube

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Posted at 1:42 PM  |  by Elle

Independence Day 2014

Happy 238th Birthday America!

http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/july-4th

Photo courtesy of Time For The Holidays

 

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Posted at 2:55 PM  |  by Elle

Book Review: The Beach Quilt by Holly Chamberlin

The Beach Quilt by Holly Chamberlin

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

 I received this book in exchange 

for an honest review from NetGalley.

This was the first book I've read by author Holly Chamberlin.

I read the description of the book before requesting it from NetGalley 

and thought it would be an interesting read.  

The book takes place in a small coastal town in Maine

 and follows two families: the Bauers and the Kanes. 

The focus of the story is on smart, quiet, nature-loving

 sixteen year old, Sarah Bauer and how her pregnancy affects

her family and her best friend Cordelia's family.

Sarah's boyfriend, Justin Morrow, is not supportive of Sarah's

decision to have the baby and neither is his family. 

Sarah finds herself feeling guilty that not only will her life change,

but so will her parents and her sister Stevie's life once she has the baby.

The beginning of the book gives a lot of descriptive details

 (sometimes way too much in my opinion) on the cast of characters.

Each chapter is in either Sarah, Cordelia, Cindy (Sarah's Mom)

 or Adelaide's (Cordelia's Mom) voice.  The story focuses on how each

woman feels about the pregnancy and how it relates to each of them.

I  found myself wishing there were more dialogue

 and less descriptive writing in this book.

One part of the book I found odd was when Sarah's Mom

was making an appointment for her at an OBGYN.

"We have an appointment tomorrow  morning with an ob-gyn in Wells,"

Cindy said.  "I found her online.  She seems to be well regarded. 

 I just hope she doesn't judge Sarah."

Why wouldn't her Mom just take Sarah to her own ob-gyn?

Possibly because she wanted to keep the news confidential 

so she decided to make an appointment in a different town?

Another notable part of the book I liked was this passage:

"  Cordelia sighed, "My mother always says, 'don't be in a rush to grow up.

You'll be an adult soon enough and adulthood lasts a long time."

"She's right," Sarah said.  "You're an adult a lot longer than you're a child.

If you're lucky."  "

This is something I always  try to relay to my own children, ages 11 and 7.

Kids always seem to be in such a hurry to grow up and this part

 really spoke to me because I feel it is important to cherish childhood.

The author was showing here how Sarah was

 thinking about how her childhood would be coming to an end

 because she would be a mother soon.

I liked the storyline, I disliked that it felt slow-moving and that some descriptive

parts felt unecessary.  I was also a bit shocked and disappointed by the ending.  

I don't usually read books about teen pregnancy, but this book

portrayed how this young woman's choice would affect not only her, but

her family, best friend and unpleasant memories for her best friend's mother.

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Posted at 7:32 PM  |  by Elle