Bed & Breakfast

Rating:
Summary: Interesting theme of trying to break-free of one's "culture"
Review: I really enjoyed this book. It had an engaging storyline and the dynamics between the mother and her daughters, as well as the relationships between the sisters themselves, were quite believable and sometimes too close to home. The youngest sister, however, was not as developed a character as she should have been - she was mostly ignored by the author and was an incidental character. The southern locales in the book are interesting, and I was initially drawn to the book by its title, as I own a bed and breakfast, although not in the same circumstances as Josie in the book. Her nemesis guest made me chuckle - I know that woman! I highly recommend this book as a good rainy afternoon read; happy endings earn my recommendation, and I don't think my saying it ends happily will spoil the reader's enjoyment of Bed & Breakfast.

Rating:
Summary: Everyday People, Christmas Family Friction in Nostalgic B+B
Review: The theme Lois Battle addresses in her nostalgic southern Bed and Breakfast is domestic discord. The setting is Christmas, a time all the rest of the world seems to be enjoying a season of hope, peace, love and family togetherness.
Following a decade of separation, a widowed mother of three grown daughters is prompted to plan a special Christmas reunion after witnessing a friend's close encounter with death.
The ensuing friction and strife that occur stem from old established patterns of sibling rivalry, jealousy, and unforgiven past transgressions. The myth of a happy family reunion Josie has dared to dream is shattered. The manner in which the author neatly ties together her themes and resolves most of the conflicts to our satisfaction, even managing to end the novel on a happy romantic note, makes this book an enjoyable read to curl up with. The book has many well developed believable characters, and explores many familiar problems friends, families , and couples experience in real life. .

Rating:
Summary: Everyday People, Christmas Family Friction in Nostalgic B+B
Review: The theme Lois Battle addresses in her nostalgic southern Bed and Breakfast is domestic discord. The setting is Christmas, a time all the rest of the world seems to be enjoying a season of hope, peace, love and family togetherness.
Following a decade of separation, a widowed mother of three grown daughters is prompted to plan a special Christmas reunion after witnessing a friend's close encounter with death.
The ensuing friction and strife that occur stem from old established patterns of sibling rivalry, jealousy, and unforgiven past transgressions. The myth of a happy family reunion Josie has dared to dream is shattered. The manner in which the author neatly ties together her themes and resolves most of the conflicts to our satisfaction, even managing to end the novel on a happy romantic note, makes this book an enjoyable read to curl up with. The book has many well developed believable characters, and explores many familiar problems friends, families , and couples experience in real life. .

Rating:
Summary: A book you will keep on your shelf
Review: There is always the book that you can't discard even when you clean off the shelves to make room for new books. This is one of those books because you will always remember it as a pleasant experience-- you will truly enjoy this one!

Rating:
Summary: A book you will keep on your shelf
Review: There is always the book that you can't discard even when you clean off the shelves to make room for new books. This is one of those books because you will always remember it as a pleasant experience-- you will truly enjoy this one!

Rating:
Summary: Not great but a good and a true book
Review: Too many characters in too short a book leave the reader wishing for more depth -- the book jumps from mother Josie to the two older daughters, Cam and Lila, and never focuses on third daughter Evie at all -- but the story rings TRUE. As an Army brat (I even spent a good part of the summer of 1963 in Beaufort, SC, where the story is set), I can hear the truth in every line of dialogue between Josie and her war-hero husband, Bear. It's much more a story of a military family than it is of a Southern family, for all of the local color, but it's well worth a first, second, or even third read.