Wednesday, April 2, 2014

The Reading Circle by Ashton Lee

The Cherry Cola Book Club is meeting again but their troubles are still around.  Maura Beth has negotiated an opportunity to stay open one more year.  She's trying to prove to a Councilmember the library is important.  All the Councilmember cares about is developing the site the library is on and he wants the library gone...

Kensington Books sent me a copy of this ARC for review (thank you).  It has been published so you can grab a copy at your local bookstore.  You might want to get the first in the series to see how long this fight between Maura and the councilmember has been going on.  He's a stubborn man.

This is a small town and everybody knows everybody else's business.  Like they know Maura Beth is sweet on Jeremy, the men want to pick books they want to read, and the women all have varying opinions too.  When there's a storm and the library is damaged, Councilman Sparks thinks it's a perfect time to shut it down.  Too bad one of the members of the Cherry Cola Book Club remembers there was library money that went missing years ago and can blackmail him with that.

Maura Beth and Jeremy seem to have broken up and she's very sad.  Then she finds he was coming to the book club meeting on the stormy night and had an accident on the way.  She's worried about him but her heart feels better because he must care about her.  

For a bunch of old folks, there are going to be several weddings this summer.  And even Maura Beth and Jeremy are in the group.  As for the library, it's going to get a gift of land that will give them a beautiful new location that should draw people because of the peaceful setting.

Of course, I don't imagine Councilman Sparks will be sitting quietly by and letting that happen without causing some trouble.  And there's a new romance brewing at the end of the story, even if the lady involved doesn't realize it yet.

Mr. Lee's books are peaceful cozy reads that make you feel like you're at home.   The odd characters were a lot like those I met when living in Chehalis.  Do you recognize any of them?

Happy reading.

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