A THREAD OF TRUTH (Marie Bostwick)

This is novel #2 in the Cobbled Court series and I enjoyed it just as much as the first.  This series focuses on real women with some big problems that are made somehow smaller with the help and support of friends.  While the first in the series featured quilt shop owner Evelyn Dixon, this one focuses primarily on Ivy Peterman, a mother of two on the run from an abusive husband in Pennsylvania.  Ivy finally left when her husband hit their 6-year-old daughter, Bethany.  Seeking shelter in the New Bern women's shelter, Ivy is hired part time at Cobbled Court Quilts and is soon welcomed as part of the quilt circle.  Reserved and not completely honest about her past (she has told everyone that she is the widow of an abusive man), Ivy lives in terror that her husband, Hodge, will discover her whereabouts and come after her.  After accidentally appearing on camera during a Quilt Pink special being filmed at the shop, her fears are intensified.

I don't think I will ever get tired of stories about women banding together in mutual support and friendship.  This series has a bit of an inspirational element, but it is not cloying or preachy.  It's just nice.  I know that I will continue to read the series, just because it makes me feel good about humanity. The big message here is that you can overcome, or at least cope with, practically anything as long as you have true friends in your life.

WHO DO YOU LOVE (Jennifer Weiner)

This novel would make a great movie.  Rachel and Any meet in a hospital waiting room one night when they are 8 years old.  Rachel, the daughter of an affluent Florida family, was born with a "broken heart" and is recovering from her most recent surgery.  Feeling better and touring the hospital in her wheelchair, she meets Andy who is all alone, nursing a broken arm with no parent in sight.

Throughout the years their paths cross again and again.  Rachel marries a man approved by her family and has 2 children, living a picture-perfect life in an affluent suburb.  Andy, son of a poor single mother, discovers a talent for running, his ultimate escape from fear, poverty, and loneliness.  When their lives fall apart, both Rachel and Andy are forced to confront their good and bad decisions and to re-evaluate their priorities, eventually discovering that it all boils down to who you love.

Some of the reviews on Amazon describe this novel as disappointing or boring, but I didn't find it to be so.  I enjoyed it from the first page to the last.  Maybe I'm just a sucker for stories where people end up figuring it all out at the end!  I'd recommend it!

AGONY OF THE LEAVES (Laura Childs)

Who could have wanted restaurateur Parker Scully dead?  This is the question being asked by tea shop owner Theodosia Browning after she discovers the body of Parker, her former boyfriend, floating in one of Charleston's Neptune Aquarium's tanks during its grand opening, one of the city's premier social events.  Theo disagrees with the local police, who believe that Parker drowned accidentally, after she notices what appear to be defensive wounds on his hands.

Author Childs leads Theo and her friends on a merry chase as they juggle business with amateur detective work, blending and serving tea, baking, and catering social events while tracking down clues and suspects.  Could one of the area's competing restaurant owners have had a hand in Parker's death?  What about the new restaurant he planned to open?  Several near miss accidents, a charity scavenger hunt, and a lot of exciting action blended with Childs's delightful tea-related details make this one a winner.