Sunday, August 26, 2012

Knit One Pearl One One by Gil McNeil



 4 Star

Knit One...
With the new cafe to run, a Stitch and Bitch group addicted to cake, her firecrackerbest friend Ellen launching a new television series, and imperious but lovable local film star Grace poised to announce some exciting news, life doesn't seem to begetting any calmer for Jo Mackenzie...
Slip One...
And as for romance, with her two boys and headstrong toddler Pearl keeping her very busy, Jo can barely work out what to make for supper, let alone what she wants to do with her budding relationship with Martin, the hapless but endearing local carpenter who can spend hours finding the perfect plank. And then Daniel, Pearl’s globe-trotting dad, turns up out of the blue...
Purl One...
But at least there are new ice cream flavors to taste at the cafe—who knew raspberry ripple could make such a difference on a stressful day? ...

Kathryn - 4 Star

I love this series and just couldn’t believe my luck when I found there was a third installment out there that I hadn’t read.  I had missed Jo’s fabulous children who are just as enchanting in this novel as they were in the first two and the addition of baby Pearl did not alter the boys’ characters one bit.  Pearl brought her own larger than life personality to the family and is utterly charming.

Jo is the mother I wish I could be (unfortunately I am just not that calm and relaxed). She takes the three kids, her business and the chaos of the small village and runs with it to create a peaceful life.  I’ve really no idea how she does it but reading these novels makes me calm and relaxed and I find patience in myself while reading about her life.

Jo is also very relaxed about her love life –unlike women in other novels of the genre.  She is entirely focused on her daily challenges and doesn’t put much thought into herself or her romantic interests. This novel tries to give her that part of her life back but the character of Jo just doesn’t allow for the interruption and it seems a refreshing change somehow.

I have one complaint about this third installment and that is that I found the backtracking and character explanation interrupted the flow of the story.  The people were either given too short a description that seemed to be shoved into the action or they were given no back story at all.  I think some of the people involved are could be a vague shadow of their original characters for those picking up this novel as a stand-alone book.

However I really enjoyed this installment by McNeil and would never hesitate in reading another- the children and Jo have captured my heart.

Connect with Gil McNeil here:

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