Babies, Bikes and Broads: The third book in the Cat Rising series [Paperback]

Cynn Chadwick (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Cat Rising Series | Publication Date: October 1, 2008

Tragedy--and her brother's midnight plea for help with his young twins--pulls Cat Hood back home to Galway, North Carolina, in the third book in the popular Cat Rising trilogy.
After five years in Scotland, the place where she'd expected to find both roots and family, Cat is still single (officially), turning forty, and perhaps even more confused and unsettled than when she left North Carolina.
There are good reasons to stay in Galway--and to leave: Her niece, just as angry and independent and contrary as Cat was at that age, is hardly welcoming. Eager as Cat was to reconnect with her best Galway friends, Lily and Hannah, she finds them nearly unrecognizable--and nearly intolerable--given the mad gusto with which they've embraced parenthood. And then there's the reappearance of her high school sweetie and all the bitter memories--and current confusion--her very presence evokes.
But Scotland isn't an easy answer either, and Cat begins to rethink her return when Isobel, once again, refuses to choose between her husband and Cat.
But one thing is clear: Wherever happiness lies, Cat, being Cat, will resist it with every ounce of her being.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"There is...a sincerity to Chadwick's narraitve, and Cat's voice, that carries the the reader along." ---Lambda Book Report --Lambda Book Report

"Torn between familial ties and personal dreams and desires, the complex, passionate characters created by Ms. Chadwick help make for a compassionate and compelling read." EXP Magazine --EXP Magazine

From the Author

Dear Readers,

I have so enjoyed bringing my stories to the page, and now with Kindle and ebooks, I am excited to have the opportunity to reach a wider audience. In addition to my novels, Napping Porch Press is now publishing a series of my "Shorts," both fiction and non-fiction stories exclusively for Kindle. I appreciate all who seek out my stories, and I look forward to hearing how you are enjoying them.

Warmly, Cynn Chadwick

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Bywater Books (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932859624
• ISBN-13: 978-1932859621
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #570,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cynn Chadwick was born and raised in New Jersey but has lived in the South for over twenty years. She is the author of The Cat Rising Series: Cat Rising, Girls With Hammers, Babies, Bikes, & Broads, along with the recently released Angels & Manners, all Bywater Books publications.

In January 2011, Napping Porch Press released the ebook editions of these, as well as both the print and ebook editions of As The Table Turns. Included in her new collection are a series of "Shorts" stories and non-fiction pieces published exclusively for Kindle. Chadwick's novels have garnered Lambda and Golden Crown Literary Award nominations, and placed runner-up for the Bywater Prize in Fiction. Earning both an MA in literature and an MFA in fiction at Goddard College in Vermont, she is currently a lecturer at the University of North Carolina at Asheville where she teaches in the creative writing and masters Programs. Cynn's paintings began as a fun hobby, and has helped bring about Napping Porch Press, which not only publishes Cynn's books, but contains a gallery of paintings, prints, and calendars. Please visit the Napping Porch Press site below.

Cynn lives in the bowl of a spoon-shaped valley in the Blue Ridge Mountainsof Western North Carolina with her mate, Elenna, and their two dogs Arlo and Seamus.

Please visit:
www.cynnchadwick.wordpress.com
www.NappingPorchPress.com
www.Bywaterbooks.com
Facebook: Novelist Cynn Chadwick

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coming Home, January 12, 2009

By 

Bett Norris (St. Petersburg, FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Babies, Bikes and Broads: The third book in the Cat Rising series (Paperback)

Cat Rising: The first in the Cat Rising seriesGirls With Hammers: The second in the Cat Rising series

Cat Hood is finally coming home after five years abroad in Scotland. For the fan of this excellent series, reading Babies, Bikes, and Broads also feels like coming home to a community of friends and family. Author Cynn Chadwick has created a place, the little town of Galway in the hills of North Carolina, filled with characters we've come to know and love, from the slightly mysterious Arlo, to quirky Sophia, Cat's friend and neighbor Delores, Cat's best friend Lily, brother Will.

Cat is summoned home due to a death in the family. She is settled in Scotland; she will make a quick trip, do what is necessary, and leave again. At least that's the plan. Her sister-in-law's death leaves her brother with five-year-old twins to raise alone. Cat doesn't like kids. Even best friend Lily has become a mother. Everywhere Cat turns, there are babies, it seems. Cat feels surrounded by changes she can't adjust to, or doesn't want to accept. A quick retreat seems best.

Of course, family ties have a way of entangling us even when we don't want them to. The reappearance of an old girlfriend also complicates Cat's decision. Her growing affection for the twins lends weight to the ties that bind, while those that reach across the Atlantic seem to grow slimmer each day. As usual, Cat is the last one to see her choices clearly.

Chadwick is a skilled writer. You'll find humor and love, grief, laughter, tears, old betrayals and new challenges, all handled as deftly as Cat handles her carpentry tools, as if they fit in the hand comfortably. I hope she lets us visit Galway again someday.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bring Your Leather..., September 8, 2009

By 

K. Johnson (Twin Cities, MN) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Babies, Bikes and Broads: The third book in the Cat Rising series (Paperback)

After settling in and making her own life in Scotland, Cat Hood is called back home to help her recently-widowed brother and his twins get their lives back on track. Her intent is to stay only a short while, but things get very complicated very quickly.

Cat's lover in Scotland is married. She reconciles with her husband and then changes her mind. That confuses and maddens Cat.

Cat runs into Janey, an old friend whose husband has recently died and left her a lot of money. That money seems to be buying up and developing much of Cat's rural home town, but things aren't always as they appear. There is friction between the women immediately, but they need each other for practical reasons and their relationship develops.

Lily is different from when Cat left. Five years and children will change anyone. In fact, Lily and her partner Hannah help Cat work through her aversion to children even if they are her brother's children.

This is just an outstanding series. It is emotional. It is engaging. It is exceptionally well written.

Bottom Line - If you read nothing else in this genre, grab this three-part series. You'll never regret enjoying these books.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Better Than Expected, January 5, 2012

By 

J. Mason (Houston, Tx) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Babies, Bikes, and Broads (Cat Rising Series) (Kindle Edition)

I don't usually do book reviews. I purchased the entire series of the Cat Rising books. I love the sytle the author uses and the characters she has created. Because of the price I had expected the typical girl meets girl story but this series goes a step beyond the typical. The books offer up a good dose of humor as the drama unfolds. You are drawn into the characters lifes as they struggle to come to grips with changes. It really does offer up quite a variety of storylines in a well blended landscape of fiction.