The Cover: Such a beautiful cover! Makes one want to walk down that dirt road amongst the flowers and trees over hanging.
The Story: What a great title and fitting to the cover design. I do love reading southern stories and about generations of people’s lives. I’m not really into heavy romance so I hope this one fits the bill for me as far as my reading taste goes. The story sounds great and I am adding this one to my to-read pile! -Stephanie Hopkins
Glory Road by Lauren K. Denton
Paperback, 368 pages
Published March 19th 2019 by Thomas Nelson
Written in Lauren Denton’s signature Southern style, Glory Road tells the story of three generations of women navigating the uncertain pathways of their hearts during a summer that promises to bring change–whether they’re ready for it or not.
At thirty-eight, garden shop owner Jessie McBride thinks her chances for romance are years behind her and, after her failed marriage, she’s fine with that. She lives contentedly with her fiery mother and her quiet, headstrong daughter. But the unexpected arrival of two men on Glory Road make her question if she’s really happy with the status quo. Handsome, wealthy Sumner Tate asks her to arrange flowers for his daughter’s wedding, and Jessie finds herself drawn to his continued attention. And Ben Bradley, her lingering what-could-have-been from high school days who’s known her better than anyone and whom she hasn’t seen in years, moves back to the red dirt road. Jessie finds her heart being pulled in directions she never expected.
Meanwhile, Jessie’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Evan, is approaching the start of high school and trying to navigate a new world of identity and emotions–particularly as they relate to the cute new guy who’s moved in just down the road. At the same time, Jessie’s mother, Gus, increasingly finds herself forgetful and faces a potentially frightening future.
As all three women navigate the uncertain paths of their hearts and futures, one summer promises to bring change–whether they’re ready for it or not.
Previous Cover Crush
The Cover: The vibrant colors caught my attention at first. That is a fantastic first impression to the cover. The background, the way the Lady is holding the flowers…this book just bumped up at the top of my wish-list.
Yesterday I spent the day with work, reading, organizing my craft area-it’s gets messy real fast-and cleaning out some stuff in the basement. I’m been on a cleaning frenzy of late and it has been a real eye opener on fast things get piled up! I hope you all are having a good week and I want to share one more thing before I go. Recently I made an abstract with acrylic paint and I pinned it to a velvet board and placed it in a wood shadow box. It looks great in the shadow box but was unable to get a decent picture of it without the reflection from the glass.
The Orchard House
The background and the image of the pocket watch grabbed my attention. I love textures and the depth it gives the cover. The premise looks pretty intense and with themes that hit close to home during this time but its important to read about history, humanity and survival.
From a young age, I have always been fascinated with Jane Austen and her stories. Not knowing the full history of the period in which she lived in at the time, I was at first, drawn to the characters relationships with their families, friends and town people. Then as I got older, I became more aware of the romantic interests, social aspect and the education and roles of women of that time. That is when I realized how important stories like Austen’s are to society.
I love vintage images and this one is really atmosphereic. I like reading period pieces and this one looks good even though it has a sad tone to it in the description. The genre is romance and I normally don’t read those kind-of stories, but I will be keeping my eye on this one. -Stephanie Hopkins
I’m currently reading two books right now but this story took front and center in the first page. I spent the better part of the evening-yesterday- reading it and it was a struggle to put it down to sleep. I’m half way through and it’s all I can think about. This story has ceased hold of my heart. It’s the story for the ages and a story that I want to shout from the roof tops about how extraordinary and evoking it is. I can’t remember the last time I have been transported and completely immersed in the characters lives. It’s as if the character’s hopes, dreams, longing, plight is your own. This is the story and the writing I have been waiting for! -Stephanie Hopkins
Layered Pages 