Summer on Blossom Street

It's time for a visit with the ladies at Blossom Street.

Here's the blurb for the Summer On Blossom Street:

Knitting and life. They're both about beginnings—and endings. That's why it makes sense for Lydia Goetz, owner of A Good Yarn on Seattle's Blossom Street, to offer a class called Knit to Quit. It's for people who want to quit something—or someone!—and start a new phase of their lives.

First to join is Phoebe Rylander. She recently ended her engagement to a man who doesn't know the meaning of faithful, and she's trying to get over him. Then there's Alix Turner. She and her husband, Jordan, want a baby, which means she has to quit smoking. And Bryan Hutchinson joins the class because he needs a way to deal with the stress of running his family's business—not to mention the lawsuit brought against him by an unscrupulous lawyer.

Life can be as complicated as a knitting pattern. Just ask Anne Marie Roche. She and her adopted daughter, Ellen, finally have the happiness they wished for. And then a stranger comes to her bookstore asking questions.

Or ask Lydia herself. Not only is she coping with her increasingly frail mother, but she and Brad have unexpectedly become foster parents to an angry, defiant twelve-year-old.

But as Lydia already knows, when life gets difficult and your stitches are snarled, your friends can always help!

I'm a huge fan of Debbie Macomber, I love the way she writes about relationships, either between men and women, family and friends. She has the ability to draw you in, and keep you interested in these people until the end.

In this book we're introduced to several new characters, Casey, a child who is having trouble adjusting with Lydia and her family. Phoebe who is trying to get over a man with a sex problem. And there's also Hutch, who under his doctors advise took up knitting to relax. And then there's the old favorites: Anne Marie and Ellen are dealing with the appearance of Ellen's biological father; Alix and Jordan are ready for parenthood but Alix is having problems with her nicotine addiction.

It was a well spent afternoon. But there was a tiny little problem. I wished that we got more of Casey and Lydia. I wanted to know more about Casey's background.

Summer on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber (4/5) General Fiction; Published: Mira (2009); Series: # 5, Blossom Street; 2009 100 + Reading Challenge (75);