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Blossom Street Brides: A Blossom Street Novel

Review

Blossom Street Brides: A Blossom Street Novel

Debbie Macomber is back with more warm tales centering on A Good Yarn, the Seattle knitting shop. As Blossom Street series fans know, Lydia Goetz owns the shop with her sister, Margaret. Lydia's life is perfect in many ways. She continues to adore her husband and enjoy her children, but has a couple of nagging concerns. A Good Yarn is barely staying afloat financially, and her slow season has yet to begin. Added to that worry is the concern she feels for Casey, her adopted daughter, who is suddenly besieged with terrible nightmares that she refuses to confide in her. Watching her elderly mother decline, Lydia fears that her mother's impending inevitable death will further challenge Casey's well-being, since granddaughter and grandmother are very close.

On a lighter note, Lydia is puzzled over reports that mysterious baskets are appearing here and there around the city. In each basket is a note saying "Knit me!", along with yarn, needles, and instructions for scarves that eventually will be given to the needy but first must be taken to A Good Yarn. The fact that the yarn in the mystery baskets has A Good Yarn price tags on it adds another layer to the puzzle. Lydia has no clue who to thank for the resulting publicity and increased business in her shop.

"Debbie Macomber amply delivers her signature engrossing relationship tales, wrapping her readers in warmth as fuzzy and soft as a hand-knitted creation from everyone's favorite yarn shop. She layers these love stories, making them emotionally rewarding."

Lauren Elliott works in a jewelry store not far from A Good Yarn. She is devastated by the recent news that her sister ("her younger sister") is expecting a baby. While she's pleased for her sister, she can't help dwelling on the fact that, at age 34, she is not only unmarried but her longtime boyfriend, Todd, has multiple reasons why they can't even discuss getting engaged. When she strolls by A Good Yarn, she admires a lovely baby blanket displayed in the shop's window and decides to make one as a gift for her sister. Little does Lauren know that that decision will eventually guide her to her heart's desire, in the form of a seemingly unlikely candidate for a serious commitment.

Another customer of A Good Yarn also recently learned of an impending birth in her family. Bethanne Hamlin Scranton is purely delighted to hear that her son and daughter-in-law are expecting a child. She, too, decides to knit the baby blanket displayed in the shop's window (a decision that will intersect with Lauren's in a delightful way). The only problem with Bethanne's new status as expectant grandmother is that it appears to give her ex-husband, Grant, permission to continue his pursuit of her, even though she is ecstatically happy in her marriage to Max. This situation is complicated by Bethanne and Max's long-distance relationship and also by the fact that Bethanne's daughter is relentless in her hatred of Max and her continuing hopes that her parents will somehow reunite.

In BLOSSOM STREET BRIDES, Debbie Macomber amply delivers her signature engrossing relationship tales, wrapping her readers in warmth as fuzzy and soft as a hand-knitted creation from everyone's favorite yarn shop. She layers these love stories, making them emotionally rewarding. The delightful mystery about the knitting baskets adds intrigue; when that puzzle is unraveled (or, as knitters say, "frogged"), the answer is both obvious and a surprise. Although there's a tendency for a bit of repetition, as more than one character catches another up on events that already have been described, that's a quibble that most readers probably won't mind, instead choosing to empathize with the characters and find satisfaction in their struggles to solve relationship quandaries.

Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon on March 28, 2014

Blossom Street Brides: A Blossom Street Novel
by Debbie Macomber

  • Publication Date: March 31, 2015
  • Genres: Fiction, Romance
  • Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
  • Publisher: Ballantine Books
  • ISBN-10: 0345528867
  • ISBN-13: 9780345528865