Customer Reviews

Serendipity

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read all her books and they just keep getting better and better. This offering carries a deeper spiritual theme than the others and it really ministered to me in an area that needed the message in this book.
Maggie Rose is a wonderful woman, full of love and joy. She marries Todd Valmer and moveds to Gooding, TX, where several earlier books are set. They don't love each other and his mother is to live with them, having suffered a stroke and needing care. This is one of the reasons Todd married Maggie. When they arrive at his house, it is just one room! His mother is hateful and mean spirited toward Maggie, not believing she is good enough wife material for her son. Maggie stays cheerful and full of the grace of God through everything thrown her way. There is a lot more to the story and I won't give anymore away, but this book can teach a person how a child of God is supposed to live. I absolutely loved itg!

Cathy Marie Hake brings out the best in each of her books. They always leave me wanting to continue with the life of each character. Her writting makes me feel like I am in the story. The way she writes Maggie's hillbilly twang just makes the whole story even better. Anytime I pick up a book by Cathy Marie Hake I can't put it down. This story is connected to a string of books about a Fictional town called Gooding. Please start with the book, Fancy Pants, Forevermore, then, Whirlwind, That certain spark. the characters show up in each of the following books as part of the town. so enjoy/

I am a die hard Cathy Marie hake fan, i have read her books backwards and fowards many times. And i waited for a year for this book, but this was not Hake who wrote it. The book did not flow well: from the problems that Maggie and Todd had, to the basic plot. I did not see the evidence of my favorite author there.

Though, this book had it's charming points, it lacked background needed to get the readers to see the developing love between Maggie and Todd. It was like one day Maggie loved Todd and the next she wanted to get away from him. Or she decided not to chase him, yet you didn't get a feel that he actually cared what happened to her. It was really truly a mess.

My advice is to read it and see what you think, but for me there were some parts that was truly the Hake magic that i know and love, and the other that screamed "This is the first time i've ever written a book!". Harsh i know, but sadly true. At any rate i still love her and can't wait to read her next book, she's too precious an author to lose.

Hey we all have some bad days right? :D

Have you ever read a story where had a problem with either the characters or the plot so much that even though you eventually find yourself liking the story, you still can't fully get into it? That's what happened when I read this book. While eventually I found myself liking some of the characters and the story line finally grabbed my attention, due to earlier events I just could not get myself into the story as I normally would have.

Even though I have enjoyed Cathy Marie Hake's books in the past, this one fell kind of short to me. It took me a while to get into the story. When I started the book, I felt like I was dumped into the middle of the scene and felt a bit lost trying to figure out everything and everyone. As the story moved on, I did learn to like Maggie's character quite a bit. However, I did not like Todd from the beginning and his character didn't really grown on me throughout the book. It seemed to me that the only reason why Todd wanted to marry Maggie was just to find a caretaker for his mother. You can't tell me that he had fallen in love with her that fast after meeting her. I just got really annoyed with how he treated her in comparison to his mother. His mother is a completely different story in herself. I understand her feelings of helplessness after the stroke and I can see how she felt like she could have been a burden after the situation with her daughter. Still, it was getting to the point where she didn't want her son being married at all and instead of allowing Maggie to help them, she wanted her out of the house. She insults everything about Maggie and Todd doesn't really do anything to stand up for her. Even by the end of the book, I still didn't feel as if everything was resolved between the three of them.

Overall, this story probably is not my favorite of Hake's books. While I did like Maggie's character, the other two main characters just did not gel with me and I never got attached to them. I think this book is part of the Gooding series but as there is only a brief mention of Gooding, you don't need to read the other books in order to understand this one. Die hard fans of Hake will probably enjoy this book but casual fans should proceed

I would call the other Cathy Marie Hake books I've read more light-hearted. So I wasn't expecting this book to be so serious. At first I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but as I kept reading, I decided it was a keeper. I really enjoyed the story. There was one detail I felt was left undone at the end, but I am thinking that little detail I was looking for might show up in a later book in the same locale, and I think I can see Hake's reason for doing so. I applaud Hake for trying something different, and still think it was five stars, even though I tend to like more light-hearted romances.

Maggie Rose is the only woman in Carver's Holler, and she cares for a bunch of old men. She barters for a living, and makes soaps, lotion and perfumes from roses. Now her uncle is pushing her to marry--only trouble is, there's no eligible men. Maggie says that God would have to bring a groom by.

That very evening, during the worst snowstorm the areas seen in years, Todd Valmer and his mother are kicked off the train when his mother suffers a stroke. He is given vague directions to the doctor's house--but the directions lead him to Maggie Rose--the area healer. There are no other doctors in the area.

Todd Valmer is desperate. His mother needs a caregiver when she doesn't recover as quickly as he hopes. He offers Maggie Rose a position as his wife, caring for his mother and for his house while he works the fields--but this does not a marriage make. Wills clash...is there any hope that love will follow?

I've loved some of Ms. Hake's books, so I was anxious for the opportunity to read SERENDIPITY. I don't have to review this book, as I bought it with my own money, but I'm going to because I have an empty spot on my blog.

I couldn't get into this book as quickly as I wanted to. The old men wanted to kick Todd and his sick mother out because they are "Yankees," but really, they are from Texas. Since the story is set in Arkansas... well. Which one is further north? Plus the ending left much to be desired. This is not my favorite Cathy Marie Hake book. I see a lot of five star reviews for this book. I'm sorry to be one of the lower ones. But don't let my opinion influence you. You might love it.

I love any chance to visit with the folks of Gooding Texas, and Cathy Marie Hake delivered another winner. All of the books are stand alone. In Serendipity Magpie becomes the newest citizen of Gooding. She has a heart as big as Texas and only desires to have her husband's love. Meanwhile she deals with an angry , bitter Mother-in-law. G-d does send her blessings in the form of the women of Gooding , especially one Linnette Richards whose only desire in life is to be married. This is a great story , shows G-d's mercy and grace without being "preachy".
I hope Cathy continues to write about the ciizens of Gooding.

The beginning of the book was reminiscent of Snow White with Maggie caring for her numerous quirky elder "uncles." This is an interesting twist on the "marriage-of-convenience" plot line; instead of dependent children, Todd has an ailing mother that needs caring for and Maggie presents a competent and beautiful relief to his dilemma. I am not a violent or angry person, but I would have taken a frying pan to Maggie's mother-in-law for all the hateful venom dripped comments that came spewing out of her mouth. The tension between Maggie and Helga sometimes produced some comic scenarios that were amplified by their cultural differences. Todd was too emotionally recluse and too much of a Mama's boy for me to truly appreciate him as the hero of the story.

I was missing the necessary connection with the storyline and the characters to fully enjoy this book. The rhythm of the narrative took some time to grow accustomed to in the beginning. I wasn't completely convinced by the ending, especially after a cliche farming/prairie event that regularly appears in storylines to bond the main characters (don't worry I won't reveal it). This was a pleasant read with some important moral lessons, but it fell short for me, especially when compared to Cathy's other books which I found very entertaining.

Rating: 7/10

First reviewed here: [...]

Good wholesome tall tale with plenty of graciousness and generosity. Could not put it down such a good storry.

I don't believe I've ever read one of Cathy Marie Hake's books before. I really enjoyed her unique characters and the blending that goes on when a Scottish darling becomes the bride of a Texas German farmer with a desperately needy mother-in-law thrown in to cloudy the waters. The rose legacy makes for a great side story and I wish she'd included if any of it was based on fact. This is a great story to illustrate dealing with conflicts coming from multiple personalities (one per person), cultures and expectations. I look forward to searching our library for further volumes as her fans abound.