Customer Reviews

Endless Chain (Shenandoah Album)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am an Emilie Richards fan. I have read just about all of her books and this one is definitely one of the best ones in her collection. I am really happy to see that the characters that I love so much in The Wedding Ring have been reintroduced in this book even though they are just supporting characters. Nancy, Helen and Tessa are back only this time, the story revolves around Rev. Sam Kinkade and Elisa Martinez. Sam Kinkade is the young reverend that has taken over the small community church. He has also set up the parsonage house to be an afterschool tutoring program to help teach English to the Hispanic children in the community. Elisa is a young Hispanic woman who is hired to be the church's sexton. She also works at the local nursing home.

They both have histories that neither are willing to share but have baggage in which neither could trust the other just yet. Sam is also engaged to a lovely woman named Christine who lives in Atlanta. However, he could feel an intense attraction to Elisa who is also surrounded by mysteries of her own. And this novel is their story.

This is perhaps one of the most intense-written novels in awhile that is from Richards' collection. This one has another story written into Elisa's story ~~ there is a story of a runaway slave tied to Elisa's past ~~ and Elisa's life runs parallel to it. Elisa is also a runaway but from a different sort of circumstances. Richards really writes more intensely of a political nature that is surprising as well ~~ she writes intimately of a civil right that most Americans have taken for granted, freedom from being perscuted by the government.

This is a compelling book ~~ one that you will not be able to put down. I cannot believe that other readers have not discovered Emilie Richards ~~ I have always found her books readable and likable and just wonderfully written. This book is much better than a lot of her earlier works ~~ and more enticing too. It may be about two people who meet each other and fall in love ~~ but it also had other stories tied up in that romance. It is about people and dreams and memories and where they have been before they met their soulmate and what is going to happen next. It is a book that keeps you interested in what is going to happen with the characters long after the last page has been turned. It is a book about life.

If you haven't read Richards' books yet, I highly recommend that you start with this one. It is the second book in the Shenandoah Album series (the first one would be The Wedding Ring) ~~ but you can start with this one as her books are not written in a sequel ~~ just of familiar characters introduced in Wedding Ring.

2-18-06

In Toms Brook, Virginia, Minister Sam Kinkade enjoys working with the congregation of the Shenandoah Valley Community Church until his programs to help the growing Latino population adjust runs into strong opposition including nasty vandalism. On the plus side he hires Elisa Martinez to serve as liaison between the communities that Sam represents.

Though engaged to a social climber, Sam is intrigued by Elisa who remains a mystery but is terrific as a sexton. Unbeknownst to Sam, Elise is on the run changing locations, jobs, and names often so as to hide her identity and insuring she stays detached. However, first the congregation's quilting circle, then the rest of the members and finally Sam have gotten inside her heart so that this time vanishing into the night will leave her scarred forever with memories of what could have been if only. However, as she lingers, Elise' past arrives in town forcing decisions by one and all.

ENDLESS CHAIN is an intriguing community drama that will have the audience wondering what or who is Elisa running from and what will happen to her and her beloved Sam when the past catches up to her. This work is inspirational although the well written story line does not offer miracle clean ups but provides a miraculous tale of redemption, and second chances with a congregation coming together with the nurturing healing of love, which is the miracle. Emilie Richards provides her audience with a beautiful and wonderful character driven contemporary romance.

Harriet Klausner

I picked up this book after reading the first of the Shenandoah series. The first book was sweet and a fun read but this book was terrific. The story was wonderful! I loved the characters and was glad to see the characters back from the first book. The Author understands quilters, their quirks and the beauty of the art that they love.

I read the first book in this series (Wedding Ring) and could not wait to get this book. Emilie Richards writes a very nice story and it keeps you tuning the pages. It is a great story about the lives of many people and the trials and tribulations each person goes through. This book is a great read and when you finish the book you can't wait to read Emilie Richards next one.
I highly recommend this book.

In the tradition of her first quilting novel, Emilie Richards has continued the story of Toms Creek,VA.
Ms. Richards continues to develop the characters from the first book in this trilogy, while introducing new and exciting people from the community. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Elisa and Sam and how they both fit so intricately into the fabric of this area. You can easily image yourself as part of this community and look forward to seeing how the story will "turn out." This story is one to be read and savored.
In addition, I encourage those readers who are also quilters, to explore the quilting books that go along with the stories. Ms. Richards descriptions of the quilts in the book makes you want to see the quilts themselves.

After leaving his previous job as a minister in a rather glitzy church were being seen is more important then doing good, Sam Kinkade has settled into the town of Toms Brook, VA, the same setting as Richards previous book Wedding Ring. With many of the same characters, the author weaves a new story around the church and their new Sexton, Elisa Martinez, a refugee from Guatemala.

Sam and his fellow parishioners have opened up La Casa Amarilla on the grounds of the church to act as an education program for the Hispanic children new to the area. But as the story progresses we see that everyone has a secret, including the pre-Cival War home that houses the school.

With precise storytelling, Emilie Richards unwinds a wonderful addition to her Shenandoah Album series that brings the residents of Toms Brook into our homes and makes the reader a wonderful addition to the close knit community that cares for one another in a way that now seems foreign to most of us.

Emilie Richards books have a depth that continually amazes. This time, in this book she takes us back in time....sort of connecting the dots between now and during the Civil War from the Southern perspective. Richards is forever teaching.

This is the third book of the Shenandoah Album series. The first two were so enjoyable and this one does not disappoint. For the most enjoyment read all three in order, but it isn't necessary as all the books stand alone.

The love story is interesting and tangled. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about the difference in cultures of the two main characters and how they finally merge the two. Blending their cultures and beliefs pose a trial but one they are able to overcome together with the help of a town and it's people who are pulling for them.

Very well written. Hard to put down. Characters interesting and believable.