Customer Reviews

Lover's Knot

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love quilting books (or books with quilting themes in it). I love Emilie Richard's books simply because she is a thorough writer and she always introduces a new character from a previous book, so you feel like you are among friends. Her books has a way of drawing you into the story ~~ or in this case, a story within a story.

It starts out with Kendra almost losing her life in an attempted carjacking attack. Six months later after extensive therapy, she decides that she needs to go and live in her husband's grandmother's cabin. She takes Isaac's quilt, called The Lover's Knot ~~ with her as well. Isaac remains behind in Washington D.C., and Kendra fearing the end of her marriage, decides to recuperate away from the city and in the mountains. Little did she know that she would find a new home among the citizens that live in the tiny town. And little did she know that she would discover Isaac's grandmother's deep secret.

Isaac was given up for adoption as a child. He didn't have an easy childhood as his adoptive father was mentally abusive. So he didn't want to know anything about his biological family because he thought they were just as bad for giving him up for adoption. Turns out his grandmother Leah had a story and that story haunted two of her friends for years. It talked about being relocated from their home which has been turned over to the government to make a park. It gives a bit of history as well and Leah shares her stories through letters.

It's a bittersweet novel and a very wonderful one. Kendra and Isaac find themselves through history and simple daily life in the country. It's a big contrast to the high-power living in a big city ~~ and very relaxing.

Only Richards can write like this ~~ full of warmth and sunshine and hope. Her novels have always made me curl up on the couch and relax with a cup of tea on hand. It's wonderful, cozy and engrossing. Always.

10-3-06

LOVER'S KNOT is the third book in the Shenandoah Album stories and, for me the best book in this series. The beginning of the story takes place in Washington, D.C. and then eventually moves on to Tom`s Brook, VA. I know these areas pretty well. So, reading this story brought many familiar images to mind.

Kendra Taylor, is a successful writer who lives with her husband in Washington, D. C. One evening on a trip to the pharmacy, she's mugged and shot twice. Recovery is made even more difficult because in some ways, she blames her husband, Isaac, for not being there when she needed him. Since they own a small cabin in Tom's Brook, Virginia, she goes there to be alone. She needs to recuperate and also to decide if she will stay in the marriage. Isaac had actually inherited the cabin and an old quilt from his natural grandmother, who he never knew, because he had been given up for adoption as a baby. He has a lot of mixed feelings about families since his adoption experience was not a happy one and he does not want his wife staying in the isolated cabin and searching back in his past.

As Kendra recuperates, she becomes more and more interested in the lady who had owned and lived in the cabin. She also wants to know more about the old quilt. and why it was left to Isaac. Meeting people from the community, she begins to learn about Isaac's real family and their history. The story also takes the reader into the history of Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Mountains.

This is a well done and for me, touching story!

This is the third book in the Shenandoah Album and it also is a great read. Emilie Richards brings in more people along with the ones from her first two books.You will really enjoy this book. It is a story that keeps you highly interested and you don't want to put it down. You feel like you know these people and you want to live in their part of the world.

I always look forward to Emilie Richards return to Toms Brook and wasn't disappointed with this newest story. The old characters are here, but mingled in with the Toms Brook family is an intriquing story of a woman searching to find out an answer to her unhappy marriage. She is still in love with her husband but discover that they have gone their separate ways through work and self-absorption. Kendra has undergone a very traumatic event in her life and seeks solace in the isolation of the Toms Brook mountains. Richards weaves her story cleverly around a quilt her husband has inherited and the story it unfolds to effect both of their lives. I was especially intriqued by the history of the Shenandoah National Park and had never realized the heartaches and sorrows that families uprooted from their homes suffered. As always, Richards manages to bring her story to a satisfying end, but I will look forward to her next novel when I can again immerse myself in the lives of the Shenandoah Valley.

In Washington DC the mugger almost killed reporter Kendra Taylor. Physically she has recovered however mentally she suffers from a form of battle fatigue syndrome as she fears every shadow. Needing time to heal from the trauma, she leaves the capital for remote the rustic cabin once occupied by the grandmother of her husband Isaac.

Kendra uses her time away also as a chance to determine whether she wants to remain married to Isaac. As she recovers her sense of worth, Kendra begins to restore the cabin and think deeply about her relationship with Isaac whom she knows she still loves at the same time she investigates a lovingly made quilt left to Isaac that though created years ago might provide answers to the confused reporter.

LOVER'S KNOT is an intriguing character study that focuses deeply on the aftermath of a traumatic event, but through the star, readers also see the collateral damage to her loved ones. The story line is owned heart and soul by Kendra who has not mentally healed from the mugging, which in turn has her concentrate on her life including her relationship with her beloved spouse. Her investigation and subsequent findings re the quilt enhance a terrific family drama, past and present, filtered through the frightened emotionally scarred heroine.

Harriet Klausner

Lover's Knot was the third book of the Emilie Richards Quilting Series. I read this book because I enjoyed the first two books. I loved the way the story went into the lives of Kendra and Issac in the present and showed the trauma that Kendra went thru and the changes she needed to make in her life because of the trauma. It also told of the story of Kendra and Issacs childhood and the fears they were both trying to overcome because of it. It pulled them apart and brought them together again while also weaving in a story of the Lovers Knot quilt. If you are a quilter you will love this series of books.

Everytime I read E. Richards Books' I am always surprised how the story draws me in; this is not exception. A very good read, waiting for the next.

Emilie Richards has quickly become one of my favorite authors. And this series ranks right up with her other books. If you are a quilter, I think you will enjoy the descriptions of quilting in the past and present, and how the art was woven into the fabric of individual's lives.

I thought this was a great book from start to finish. I loved the two separate storylines going between the present and the past. I truly enjoyed every bit of this book - and stayed up WAY too late because I was so into the story/stories. I definitely recommend this book to anyone. Now I can't wait to read all the other books by Ms. Richards.

I have read the previous books leading up to Lover's Knot and I love this book. I find it hard to put down. I love the way Emilie Richards writes. I'm also learning about the different quilts and what they mean. Such interesting stories.