I borrowed this novel from my sister Hope. It is the latest book by Jan Karon who is famous for her Father Tim/Mitford series novels. This book centers around the boy Tim and his wife Cynthia adopted early in the series. It is time for Dooley to be married!!
STORY SUMMARY
Dooley has just graduated from vet school and is now a full-fledged veterinarian of small animals. His clinic is right on Meadowgate, the farm that he and Lace, his soon-to-be wife, will run.
Lace Harper has been his soul mate ever since they met as young children. Since money is tight for both of them, all they want is a simple country wedding. But are weddings ever really simple?
They decide to do a potluck reception in the shed and have dancing on the porch. The music will be supplied by his friend Tommy's country band. Everything seems to be falling into place.....
until the bull shows up. And the little boy they plan on adopting.
Will everything come together for this country wedding?
MY THOUGHTS
This novel was endearing to me as I thoroughly enjoyed almost all of the Mitford books. However, the style is a bit different which threw me off.
The chapters are cut up into chunks and I had trouble knowing which character was "speaking". It tended to be very confusing.
I did like hearing from Lace and her thoughts about her upcoming wedding and her relationship to Dooley. The little boy, Jack Tyler, is a total surprise that was very pleasant although a bit far-fetched with the way he was brought into the family. The author did a good job explaining how/when the biological mother gave up her rights to the boy but that left the question of what happened to the grandmother who had custody. (then again, the setting is in the south so maybe things move faster and differently down there in the foster care system than up here in NY!)
Overall, this is a "feel good" book. Typical Mitford style and setting.
Definitely not my fave. I think it's time to retire these characters.
In my opinion, this book is appropriate for ages 12 and older.
On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, I rate this a 7.
4 comments:
Thanks for the review. I had wondered about this book. The Mitford series is a good one, but like you said, it may be time to move on.
I agree with you, it was interesting to hear Lace's perspective, but other than that I wasn't really impressed with this book. I think it's definitely time to draw the series to a close. For me, the best of the series was the first five or six books. Then, the book that had Fr. Tim go back to his hometown was so beautifully written. I think she should have ended it there!
I think I have only ever read one Mitford book and that was back in my teens or early adulthood. Just never was interested enough to continue with it.
I've read all of the Mitford books TWICE and loved them but I haven't read Jan's last two!!! Gram and I read them and love them :)
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