Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Larkspur Cove by Lisa Wingate

Hi Readers!

I can see why Lisa Wingate is popular. I found Larkspur Cove to be quite a different kind of read. Andrea has come back "home" to Larkspur. The first problem she has it getting stuck in the deep mud with a flat tire, in the dead zones where she can't get a wreck to her straight. Where she has come back to, well  it is a lake, and a cove, and some dangerous places like the Sissortail. The area itself is made very real in this book, so that you feel like you have been there or knew someone who lives there pretty well.

Andrea has barley made it through the worst year of her life, but she isn't sure that it is totally "over" yet. To top things off her son is getting into trouble, but that leads her to more conversations she isn't sure she wants with Mart. Mart is the local game warden, and an ally she hadn't expected.

Life is pretty interesting around this cove and lake. Lots of wildlife, lots of folks keeping to themselves and lots and lots of secrets. In an area where people are clannish, and mysterious, Andrea finds herself working as a Social Worker for children. Not the easiest of jobs even in the nicest of towns, but much more challenging in these back-wood back-water kinds of areas.

Before long Mart and Andrea are smack in the middle of trying to sort out the truth behind a little girl named Birdie who is living with the town recluse. It brings up all kinds of questions about parenting, and is the child safe, and where did her mother go, and why would she leave her with this man? They are getting closer than they planned just working on taking care of solving the problems surrounding Birdie, but are they even ready for a "relationship" or able to handle the secrets and all the things that are not being talked about?

Over all quite an interesting read! A tip to readers, when you see the name of the person under each chapter, it is because each chapter is written in the first person and it swaps back and forth between our characters. I was at least four chapters in and a tad confused before I sorted it out.

One of the neat things about this book is the quotes from the wall. When you read it you will see what I mean. That was a super nice touch to the opening of each chapter.

Carol


This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Larkspur Cove
Bethany House (February 1, 2011)
by
Lisa Wingate


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lisa Wingate is an award-winning journalist, magazine columnist, popular inspirational speaker and a national bestselling author of sixteen books. Her first mainstream novel, Tending Roses, is in its eighteenth printing from Penguin Putnam. Tending Roses is a staple on the shelves of national bookstore chains as well as in many independent bookstores.

Recently, Lisa’s Blue Sky Hill Series, set in Dallas, received national attention with back-to-back nominations for American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year Award for A Month of Summer (2009) and The Summer Kitchen (2010). Pithy, emotional, and inspirational, her stories bring to life characters so real that readers often write to ask what is happening to them after the book ends.

Lisa is one of a select group of authors to find success in both the Christian and mainstream markets, writing for both Bethany House, a Christian publisher, and NAL Penguin Putnam, a general market publisher. Her bestselling books have become a hallmark of inspirational fiction. Her works have been featured by the National Reader's Club of America, AOL Book Picks, Doubleday Book Club, the Literary Guild, Crossings Book Club, American Profiles and have been chosen for numerous awards.

When not busy dreaming up stories, Lisa spends time on the road as a motivational speaker. Via internet, she shares with readers as far away as India, where her book, Tending Roses, has been used to promote women's literacy, and as close to home as Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the county library system has used Tending Roses to help volunteer mentors teach adults to read. Recently, the group Americans for More Civility, a kindness watchdog organization, selected Lisa along with Bill Ford, Camille Cosby, and six others as recipients of the National Civies Award, which celebrates public figures who work to promote greater kindness and civility in American life.


ABOUT THE BOOK
Adventure is the last thing on Andrea Henderson's mind when she moves to Moses Lake. After surviving the worst year of her life, she's struggling to build a new life for herself and her son as a social worker. Perhaps in doing a job that makes a difference, she can find some sense of purpose and solace in her shattered faith. For new Moses Lake game warden Mart McClendon, finding a sense of purpose in life isn't an issue. He took the job to get out of southwest Texas and the constant reminders of a tragedy for which he can't forgive himself. But when a little girl is seen with the town recluse, Mart and Andrea are drawn together in the search for her identity. The little girl offers them both a new chance at redemption and hope--and may bring them closer than either ever planned.


If you would like to read the first chapter of Larkspur Cove, go HERE.

The book link is: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764208217

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