Table for One

by Georgiana Daniels

Successful stockbroker Lucy Brocklehurst hasn't had a date in four years. In a town where the ratio of single women to men is 7:1, she's determined to wait on God for the perfect mate-as long as it's the hot new youth pastor at her church. Lucy will do anything to get his attention, including volunteering for the youth group. Through a series of misadventures on the teen outings, Lucy finds herself falling in love with a kindhearted chaperone named Edgar Flowers. But when their relationship grows serious, Lucy discovers the lengths his recently-widowed mother will go to in order to keep them apart. What starts out as harmless interference turns into an all out tug of war, with Edgar as the prize! Will Lucy crumble under the scrutiny of her would-be mother-in-law? Or can Lucy and Edgar's budding romance survive the schemes of his meddling mom?

290 pages, Paperback

First published January 11, 2008

About the author

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Georgiana Daniels is an author and homeschooling mom, and she’s currently pursuing a master’s degree in library and information science. “Busy” is her middle name, but if she finds a nugget of free time, she enjoys knitting, reading, and fumbling around on the piano to the dismay of others. Though previously published in romance and women’s fiction, she’s dipping an anxious toe into cozy mysteries—because murder and mayhem are so much fun!

Reviews

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucy's life is a series of calamities - most minor, many of her own doing. They make for a comical story of a single Christian woman's quest to find her place.

As a Catholic, single women pursuing pastors is something I have zero experience with, but I read it often enough in Christian fiction and see how it makes for interesting reading about what must be a somewhat common experience.

Lucky for Lucy, she soon discerns which guy is for her. But crotchety - no, just plain mean - Mrs. Flowers is in the way. Despite the light touch the author gives this story, I felt real sympathy for Lucy, despite her own part in her near-disasters. At every turn, she's met with family, friends, and co-workers who are more interested in meddling or chastising than coming alongside her.

It all ends happily enough, of course. An enjoyable read filled with humor and a little food for thought.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Product Description




Successful stockbroker Lucy Brocklehurst hasn't had a date in four years. In a town where the ratio of single women to men is 7:1, she's determined to wait on God for the perfect mate-as long as it's the hot new youth pastor at her church. Lucy will do anything to get his attention, including volunteering for the youth group. Through a series of misadventures on the teen outings, Lucy finds herself falling in love with a kindhearted chaperone named Edgar Flowers. But when their relationship grows serious, Lucy discovers the lengths his recently-widowed mother will go to in order to keep them apart. What starts out as harmless interference turns into an all out tug of war, with Edgar as the prize! Will Lucy crumble under the scrutiny of her would-be mother-in-law? Or can Lucy and Edgar's budding romance survive the schemes of his meddling mom?


My review:

Table for One was laugh out loud funny. I mean really funny. I felt bad for poor Lucy who seemed to make more bad decisions than good ones, but I loved her anyway. She was a great heroine. Edgar was a fabulous hero, too, even if he was a momma's boy. I don't think I would've handled his mother as graciously as Lucy had. My favorite line in the story is Cricket. Cricket. That is during a part of the story where everything stops and no one makes a sound. Isn't that a fabulous way to describe how things go quiet and everyone stares at you. :) I totally loved the author's voice and I think she did a great job with the first person present tense point of view. That is very difficult, but she pulled it off. And this story was mercifully free of cliches. The hilarious thoughts and comments that Lucy had were incredibly well-thought out and very funny. This story touched my heart and tickled my funny bone at the same time. The spiritual arc was superb. I just can't say enough good things about Table for One. I'm thoroughly impressed!

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I laughed a lot through this one. It was a Feb. 14th read for me and I did enjoy it. The misadventures with the mother of the guy she was interested in, the chasing of the youth pastor, I just found it totally humorous, but had serious notes too.

[Fiction Aficionado · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this novel up after having read the recently released Shadows of Hope by the same author because I was looking for a lighter read and curious to read more of the author’s writing. I loved the premise: Lucy Brocklehurst is a successful stockbroker who has her eye on the new youth pastor, but through a series of misadventures, she finds herself taking notice of the quiet, kind-of-nerdy Edgar Flowers. The problem? His mother is definitely NOT quiet and is determined to keep them apart.

This is written in a chick-lit voice (solely from Lucy’s point of view and in first person, present tense), and I loved the writing style, but the characters bordered on being caricatures at times, and I found several of Lucy’s misadventures more embarrassing than humorous. Lucy is also somewhat immature at the beginning of the novel, and I had hoped to see evidence of her maturation as the story progressed, but it seems to come rather suddenly at the end, leaving me less than convinced.

I highly recommend Shadows of Hope, but Table for One didn’t quite make it for me.

[Joyce Petit · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a cute, funny book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

[Erica Vetsch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quirky, fun, touching. Love this book!