Blossom Street Book 1: The Shop on Blossom Street by Debbie Macomber

Harlequin Enterprises/MIRA Books
Contemporary Women’s Fiction
Contemporary Romance
Mass Market Paperback
Rating: 4.5

Lydia Hoffman has suffered through and gone into remission from cancer twice and now she wants to get on with her life. Her biggest dream has always been to open her own little yarn shop. After her dad's recent death she decided it was time and that he'd approve of her plans. Lydia opens The Shop on Blossom Street, A Good Yarn and decides to hold a beginners’ knitting class to draw in some new customers and maybe some friends as well.

Jacqueline, Alix (with an "I") and Carol all join the class and these four women couldn't be from more different walks of life. Through their weekly classes, friendship blossoms between these unlikely companions and all four women find new hope in their life, and a little love as well.

I am so glad I recently found my way into the worlds Debbie Macomber has created with her novels! I keep asking myself why I never tried her before now since I’ve loved everything I’ve read so far. I’ve never even tried to knit something though I know people who enjoy it very much and like the community of knitters that always seem to find each other. Having he art of knitting woven throughout the books gives it a down home feeling where I can imagine women sitting around chatting about their lives as they work on their current projects.

Debbie Macomber always seems to make me cry, in a good way. I was so wrapped up in the lives of the women that I felt Alix’s frustration as she tried to keep up in class and her fear that no matter who she is, she’ll never be good enough to fit in because of her past. As her skill grows, so does her confidence and Alix is like a new woman by the end of the novel.

Jacqueline is the stereotypical blue blood when we fist meet her, but as I learned more about her personal life she became very real to me and I saw her for who she really is – a woman who cares deeply about others and will do everything in her power to help someone else find what they need. I warmed up to her and soon realized she wasn’t the ice queen people who don’t know her think she is.

Carol’s story broke my heart. All she really wants is a baby and no matter how hard she and her husband try, it just isn’t in the cards for them. Her desperation turns to fierce hope as we progress through her story, causing a lot of strain between her and her husband. I was probably more thrilled about the conclusion to her story than the others when she finally has the answers she seeks. And those answers aren’t even close to what I had imagined them to be.

Then there is Lydia, the heart and soul of A Good Yarn and Blossom Street. She is the narrator of this story and we see so much through her eyes. Lydia’s biggest hurdle to overcome is fear. Her little shop is a dream come true and an affirmation of life, as she tells us several times, but even so, Lydia has a hard time actually living instead of existing. The three women she comes to love through her classes open her eyes to what living really means and she is finally able to let go of her fear that one day cancer will return. She comes to learn that even if it does, she can know she made the most of the time she had.

What a wonderful book The Shop on Blossom Street is! I was drawn into the stories of the women and the struggles in their daily lives. I cried with them, laughed with them, celebrated with them. Many more women and men cross the threshold of A Good Yarn and our hearts and I can’t wait to stop by for a visit with Lydia and company again soon.

© Kelley A. Hartsell, April 2008. All rights reserved.

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