A Year on Ladybug Farm [Mass Market Paperback]

Donna Ball (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 3, 2009

Their husbands were gone, their families were grown, and the future stretched out before them like an unfulfilled promise...

Tired of always dreaming and never doing, Cici, Lindsay, and Bridget make a life-altering decision. Uprooting themselves from their comfortable lives in the suburbs, the three friends buy a run-down mansion, nestled in the picturesque Shenandoah Valley. They christen their new home "Ladybug Farm," hoping that the name will bring them luck.

As the friends take on a home improvement challenge of epic proportions, they encounter disaster after disaster, from renegade sheep and garden thieves to a seemingly ghostly inhabitant. Over the course of a year, overwhelming obstacles make the three women question their decision, but they ultimately learn that sometimes the best things can happen when everything goes wrong...

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade; 1 Original edition (March 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425225879
• ISBN-13: 978-0425225875
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,604 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Donna Ball published her first book in 1982. Since that time she has written over eighty works of commercial fiction under pseudonyms that include Rebecca Flanders, Donna Carlisle, Leigh Bristol, Taylor Brady, and Donna Boyd. She is known for her work in women's fiction and suspense, as well as supernatural fantasy and adventure. Her novels have been translated into well over a dozen languages and have been published in virtually every country in the world. She has appeared on Entertainment Tonight and Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, and has been featured in such publications as the Detroit Free Press, the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Ladies Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, and even T.V. Guide. She is the holder of the Storytelling World award, 2001, the Georgia Author of the Year Award, 2000, Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice Awards for consecutive years 1991-1996, the Georgia Romance Writer's Maggie Award, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Romantic Times, among others.

Donna lives in the Northeast Georgia Mountains in a restored Victorian barn which was the inspiration for A YEAR ON LADYBUG FARM and AT HOME ON LADYBUG FARM. She spends her spare time hiking, painting, and enjoying canine sports with her four dogs-- two golden retrievers, a rough collie, and a border collie.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Different From Her Others, March 15, 2009

By 

J. E. Stephens "Jeanne" (Florida) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Year on Ladybug Farm (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved this book. I couldn't put it down and I read it in one sitting. It was very different than Donna's other books.

Three middle aged women pool their resources and buy an old farm house in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.

I loved reading about their lives and struggles. The descriptions of the house and land made me feel like I was there. This author knows her craft and you won't be disappointed.

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lightweight, predictable but entertaining in your hammock, June 12, 2009

By 

Cherrybomb - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Year on Ladybug Farm (Mass Market Paperback)

War and Peace, it ain't. Heck, I don't think it would favorably compare to bubblegum works like Briget Jones or The Jane Austen book club, but there is something cute about this novel. Perhaps it's just a fondness for ladybugs, but I was able to overlook some serious problems in the characterization and storytelling. My main pet peeve, apart from the way the book is wrapped up, is that the author spends a great deal of time telling us how smart, wonderful, funny and special these three women are but not a whole lot of time showing us that by their actions. Would exceptionally smart and saavy women have gotten themselves into the situation in the first place? Better if the characters had been shown to be more flawed, more gullible, more moved by a desire to run away and take a last big fling - then their decisions would have made sense in the universe the author created.

Again, if you are looking for a book that is heavy on the "Sisters are doing it for themselves" vibe and you want something quick and mindless for your days in the hammock, then give it a try.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spending time at Ladybug Farm, March 17, 2009

By 

K. Bentley (Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Year on Ladybug Farm (Mass Market Paperback)

Nobody creates a sense of place like Donna Ball. Even though Ladybug isn't one of Donna's cozy mysteries or suspenseful science fantasies, she has drawn me in with that rambling old house in Blue Valley. I love how Cici, Bridget and Lindsay rediscover themselves and strengthen their friendship as they restore the house and reinvent the farm.

This is the type of book that makes you kick back, relax, smile and remember (or perhaps discover) the joy and value of nature, community and friendship. And these days, any time spent at Ladybug Farm is time well spent.