Tagline: After her dear friend Libby passes away, Jamie fears her new neighbor won't carry on her lovely sidewalk library. But when Libby's nephew, Patrick comes along, Jamie finds hope for the library's future...and maybe even for love
Observations: I'm going to do a stream of consciousness analysis this week. I have new book coming out next week and am crunched for time.
I LOVE the idea of sidewalk libraries. I have toyed with the idea of making one myself. (See below for a link to a comprehensive website about this phenomenon.) So to pair this with the idea that her best friend's library might go neglected--immediate heartstring tug.
His hair was thick and dark, his eyes coffee brown with a hint of stubbornness in them--exactly as Libby had described him.
Wait, I thought Libby was gone. Oh, there we go. It's her nephew, so Libby told Jamie about him before she passed.
The faint, woodsy scent of his aftershave conjured images of cozy evenings by a fire.
Love this construct of a scent conjuring images. It doesn't have to be a scent. It could be the sight of some nice biceps, or the sound of deep male laughter. Must use this myself. LOL
OMG. Jane Austen's Emma. I love that book. I loved the movie.
Okay, after the part where Jamie opens the novel, I sped through reading the rest of the story without stopping to think about anything analytical, which is a great thing. It means my editing brain turned off and I could just enjoy the tale. I'll have to go back and point out all the good stuff.
--That the book echoes Libby's own matchmaking attempts
--The repeated, humorous use of "Darling Patrick" and "my neighbor Jamie."
--The reveal of Libby's dastardly plan using the book to get them together.
--This sentence: "Patrick's laugh twined around mine, warming the space between us." LOVE
--The two of them connecting quietly over the pain of divorce.
--The big surprise at the end that he's not selling the house after all.
I absolutely adored this story.
Little Free Library info: https://littlefreelibrary.org/
Photo by Rick Obst (Flickr CC license)
5 comments:
I agree - just realized when I opened this blog that I was behind on reading my WsW stories, so read it quickly and LOVED it! It flowed. It wound back on itself several times as you pointed out. It had great imagery. I will definitely go back and reread several times. And learn.
Funny story - when I was in Denver this summer for RWA conference I stayed with my daughter. The neighborhood was full of sidewalk libraries. I thought, wouldn't that make a great WsW story - then totally forgot about it. I really do need to take a small notebook on my walks :-) So fun to see this story.
Good luck with your book, Kate. I just got one out last week, the reason I am so behind on catching up with WsW stories :-)
Congratulations on your books, Kate & Deb.
Ditto on the congratulations, Kate and Deb.
I loved this story. So well written and a wonderful premise. I love the idea of little libraries.
Thanks, Pat and Tamara :-)
Deb
Very nice putting the little library in the story. I liked the characters. I figured Patrick was keeping the house!
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