Family Fiction published by Sourcebooks Casablanca 26 Apr 22
This series is about life in small-town Americana with heartwarming characters. What started out with a bang has seemed to fizzle in the recent years. This is the last book in the series, which starts out as a heartwarming story of the town’s beloved couple who finally complete their family by adopting an eight-year-old girl who has been left orphaned by circumstances.
Midway through the author decided she needed a romantic element, so she threw in a second-chance romance for a couple of high school sweethearts who grew up in Blessings. The two stories are completely unconnected, other than they happen in Blessings, making it very confusing to readers.
Carlie’s experiences of dealing with the grief of losing her mother, her only caregiver for years, and being transplanted in a new town amongst new people, a new school, and new relationships is really well written and has a strong emotional impact on the reader. Deborah and Ladd and their supporting cast of characters are also well fleshed out. Having been high school sweethearts, once they drifted apart when they went away to college. aging parents have brought them back and given them a second chance to rekindle the chemistry that has never died out.
I feel that this would have been better as a collection of short stories about Blessings, Georgia than trying to make it one story with two totally unconnected plot lines. It’s dizzying as we switch from one story to another. I kept waiting for the characters to intersect in some way, but that never happens.
All in all, not one of my favorite stories from the author.
Grade: C
Summary:
There’s never a dull moment in Blessings, Georgia:
- An orphaned little girl desperately needs a new home
- An eager couple is ready to welcome her with open arms
- Friendly neighbors are always there for each other
- In this southern small town, good things happen to good people
Ruby Butterman and her husband, Peanut, cannot have children, but they’re given a second chance at a family when eight-year-old orphan Carlie is left in their care. It’s a challenge for Carlie to adapt to a new town, a new school, and a new family, and when she gets bullied at school, Ruby and Peanut discover how to step up as parents, and how to make a forever family for their beloved little girl.
No excerpt available.
