Review: Ripples Along the Shore
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 10, 2013
This review will be a little different. I'm going to review 2 books at one time. I recently reviewed Mona Hodgsons' book Dandelions on the Wind: The Quilted Heart series. I really enjoyed the novella and had the opportunity to review the third one in the series but I didn't want to skip the 2nd one. I purchased Bending Toward the Sun from Amazon and then received Ripples Along the Shore to review from the publisher.I really enjoyed these two books just as much as the first one. The characters continued and new stories developed. The second book focused on Emily Heinrich the storekeeper's daughter.  It also continued with the previous story of Maren."Divided between the love of her father and the desires of her heart, Emilie Heinrich must rely on the love and wisdom of the women in her quilting circle for support. Since Emilie is dedicated to her education and to helping her father in his general store, she is convinced she doesn't have time for love. But when a childhood friend returns to St. Charles, Missouri, after serving in the Civil War, his smile and charm captures Emilie's eye and her heart."I really loved the stories behind the quilts in the quilting circle. The first novella didn't mention a lot about the quilting portion of the books but the author seemed to incorporate more in the second and third books. Emily struggles with wanting to please her father and go to school but she also wants to follow her heart.In book three Ripples Along the Shore once again continues with Maren and Emily and their new lives and adds another character: Caroline."When Caroline Milburn steps off the boat and back into her hometown of St. Charles, MO, part of her wishes she could step right back on board and sail away. St. Charles, though home to her beloved friends and quilting circle, hasn't felt like home since the death of her husband. And living with her sister, Jewell's family hasn't provided much balm for her grieving heart. Caroline knows something needs to change--but for now she's stuck sharing her sister's home, and enduring the anger and bitterness of her brother-in-law."Also, it this book a lot of it centered around the ladies and their quilting circle, but this time the circle is going to be broken. Some of the ladies and their families will be leaving to go west and others will be staying. They decide to make 2 different quilts. Caroline is determined to go west but it wouldn't be proper for a widowed lady to travel alone. She's very disappointed when she thinks she isn't going to get to go.With each book new characters are introduced and old characters remain. I assume there will be more novellas in this series. I believe you should start with the 1st one and move through. They are very short around 100 pages and are quick reads. There aren't a lot of surprises but the storylines are fun to read and I really feel like I could be right there with them. If you are looking for a quick and easy read this is the series for you.I received Ripples Along the Shore from Waterbrook Publishing at no charge in exchange for an honest review.