In the rich, evocative prose that earned high praise for WEDDING RING and ENDLESS CHAIN, Emilie Richards crafts the third tale in the Shenandoah Album series, resonant with the power of love and family ties
Confused about her troubled marriage, Kendra Taylor needs time to sort out her feelings. Retreating to an abandoned cabin left to her husband, Isaac, by the maternal grandmother he never knew, she is quickly welcomed into the rural community of Toms Brook. She soon becomes curious about a beautiful heirloom quilt and the past Isaac has always refused to explore. The unusual quilt clearly has a story to tell, and Kendra hopes that helping her husband connect with his roots may also help him reconnect with her.
At first Isaac's reluctant visits to the cabin only underscore the difficulties in their marriage. But as circumstances force them to piece together a new relationship, Isaac discovers that the history of a family he never knew may hold the key to his future.
As a passionate story of strength, loss and desperation unfolds, the secrets of the quilt are revealed and the threads of an unraveling marriage are secured.
I'm the author of seventy-something novels, including romance, women's fiction and mystery. When We Were Sisters debuted in June 2016, a stand alone novel about two foster sisters traveling back into their past together. I loved writing it and love the cover my publisher chose.
I'm also excited about my recent series, Goddesses Anonymous, which started with One Mountain Away and was followed by Somewhere Between Luck and Trust. The third book in the series, A River Too Wide, came out in July 2014. The Color of Light debuted in August 2015. Will there be more? We'll see.
I'm also putting up my newly edited romance backlist and love re-reading and updating them a bit.
Last year my husband and I moved from Virginia, to Osprey, Florida, the state where both of us were raised, met, and married. In the summer we live in Chautauqua, New York. I'm a quilter, knitter, kayaker, and the mother of four children, whom I regard as my greatest creative endeavors. And now there are four wonderful grandchildren to spoil.
Visit me at my web site, emilierichards.com, and my blog, www.emilierichards.com/blog. You can also find me at Twitter and on my Facebook reader page.
Loved this book, as good as the previous two in the series. Some of previous well loved characters. However the story of Kendra and Isaac was so engrossing that I wasn't pining for past characters. Loved the cat and dog! Ten and Rug! Liked the parallel of Isaac and Caleb and how Isaac was able to reach out to Caleb. One aspect I like about these books are that Emilie Richards includes flashbacks that do not seem intrusive, they are well placed and used. Thoroughly good read.
Loved this all over again in the reread by audiobook. Narrator did a fantastic job again, and if I could would award story and narration double the five stars.
The third in the Shenandoah Album series, this story focuses on Kendra Taylor, who's coming off a near-death experience that leaves her wounded in body and spirit. To escape where she was nearly killed and a marriage she feels was also a casualty of the shooting that nearly killed her, she goes to the little cabin willed to her husband from the grandmother he never knew.
In that little cabin, desperately in need of being razed or renovated, Kendra finds a quilt whose pattern holds a series of clues to a mystery.
Isaac, Kendra's husband, is guilt-ridden that Kendra was nearly killed because he didn't leave work early enough to get the medicine she needs. More importantly, he can't understand and doesn't approve of her insistence on moving into the Appalachian mountain cabin, away from help, away from her work, away from him. Does this mean the end of their marriage? It seems so.
But as Kendra studies the quilt and begins the slow process of healing with the help of neighbors and friends in little Toms Brook, who refuse to leave her alone, she also charts the journey of Isaac's grandparents during the depression of the early 1930s and the events that lead to the deaths of Jesse and Birdie. Did Isaac's grandmother do it? What really happened, and how does the quilt, its top done in the Lovers Knot pattern, help Kendra and Isaac return to each other?
A story filled with the threads of secrets that gradually bind a compelling couple together.
This is a wonderful story of the mystery of a Lovers Knot Quilt. Very well written and very interresting. I want to read more of her books.
The background story is about the Applachians and how they were forced to give up their land in the 1930's for Shenandoah national park. I believe it's the first "eminent domain" case in the U.S. The title is misleading, it's not a romance novel, it's in reference to quilting, in which Kendra, the main character, is trying to find the origin of a quilt that was inherited by her husband's grandmother. That said, I would probably not recommend it for most men, it still is more aimed for women. by Kim Bunn
I really really enjoyed this book! I didn't want to walk away from K.C and Isaac at the end. I wanted to step through the pages and sit on the little log cabin porch and watch Black Beauty slither from under the porch. It makes me want to drive the hour to the Blue Ridge Parkway and look at the area in a new light.
What I love best about these characters is how they are all flawed...even the animals have issues. None of the characters are over done, but instead are completely realistic. I've already recommended this book to others. I can't wait to read more of the series.
I was interested in the development of the Shenandoah Park, and the 'mystery' of the Lover's Knot quilt...quilting/handwork and nature are two of my favorite things, so this was a fun read for me....I really expected the 'bodies in the cave' to be more of a 'The English Patient" issue and less of what it was....matter of fact I was disappointed in the reveal of history. I liked my ideas better...
This is the second novel I’ve read by this author and the first one I've read in the Shenandoah Album series. I don’t know how much the other novels in this series are connected to this one, but this is a complete, stand-alone story.
Lover’s Knot is a complex story about family, history, and finding yourself. While most of it takes place in modern time, there are a few chapters that go back to the 1930s during the time of the Great Depression. I loved the historical element of the story, especially the talk about the Virginia hills and the families living there. I have roots in that part of the country, so I found it very interesting.
The characters are very real and multi-dimensional. A lot of the story is about a modern day, busy couple finding what’s been missing in their lives. The story also touches briefly on child abuse (mostly verbal), alcoholism/drugs, and the after-effects of being car-jacked and shot at, so there may be some triggers there.
There is a bit of a mystery woven through the story as well.
It is very well-done, and I recommend it. I will definitely be reading more of this author’s work.
The third of the Shenandoah album (or Sunday quilts) series of Emilie Richards it is certainly the best. It follows the same pattern as the other - a person that finds troubles in modern city life finds a redeeming refuge in the country-side, a cabin by the river where most of out childhood fantasies would live for ever more.
What made this book to stick our for me was the wonderful backstory about the past, which it is revealed gradually and the mysteries are not revealed until the very end. The genial concept of a particular pattern of American quilt is always in the epicenter of the story makes that book also a treat.
I would be thrilled if Ms Richards decides to come up with a second pentalogy of 'Shenandoah quilts' series.
A story of 2 people, a marriage heading for the rocks, and a quilt. Kendra after being shot by a man wanting her car, feels she must get out of the city where it happens and heads to a home in the Shenandoah Valley to try to regroup and get her life back together. Her husband, Isaac, was left a cabin by a grandmother whom he never knew. He was given up for adoption at an early age and his adoptive father was abusive so to him family is just a word and means nothing when it comes to his past. This is a story of searching, healing and the love of the people of a small community. I really love this series and would recommend it to anyone.
The story based in the hills of Va, includes f;lashbacks to the lives of the folks who previously lived on the farm where Kendra and Isaac have a cabin. Because of the number of characters involved it may be a bit confusing to follow all the trails the book follows, but in gerneral you could feel the history of the earlier settlers settling into your skin. There are several twists and turns toward the end of the book- they sure kept me guessing.
This is a clean, family friendly drama/ love story. It's very well written! I don't generally like drama stories because they can get wordy and drawn out with nothing happening. But NOT this one! This one I really enjoyed! The story takes place in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia near Shenandoah National Park. It's a well told story about a man and wife each trying to remember who they are and decide who they want to be. An entertaining story with characters you can fall in love with.
An unexpected third entry in the "Shenandoah Album" series (with a fourth to come--only three were planned), this is a good book but should have been longer in order to unravel some of the plot lines, instead of jumping to solve them in an epilogue. What there is, is a really good story with interesting characters.
As good as the first of the series. I love the way Richards blends serious issues of the day or of history with relationship building and adds a touch of humor (mostly through the irascible Helen) to keep the reader moving forward. The stories of the earlier neighbors in the Shenandoah especially interest me.
I liked this book so much better than the second one in the series. The mystery had some genealogical elements. There was romance, but it was a rekindling of a couple who were already married. The characters were flawed, but very likeable. There were also some great moments with a snake that lived under the house. I couldn't ask for more.
In this third installment of the series - the author delves into the struggling marriage of Kendra and Isaac and long ago family ties to the Blue Ridge Mountains. I loved it and couldn't put it down! I love history and this book has me wanting to learn and read more about the residents of the Blue Ridge Mountains who were evicted to make way for the Shenandoah National Park.
Quite readable and appealing, like the other books in the series. I've been reading the Shenandoah Album novels out of order, but still enjoy them. I appreciate the attention given in this novel to the evictions caused by the establishment of Shenandoah National Park. Although the characters in the novel were fictional, the evictions and the pain they caused were very real.
This was an enjoyable book to listen to while quilting and working. I enjoyed the characters and I didn’t predict the mystery ahead of time so I liked that about it a lot.