Revell Book Blogging Tours Presents: The Dilemma of Charlotte Farrow (Avenue of Dreams, #2) by Olivia Newport

Charlotte Farrow, maid in the wealthy Banning household on Chicago's opulent Prairie Avenue, has kept her baby boy a secret from her employers for nearly a year. But when the woman who has been caring for her son abruptly returns him, Charlotte must decide whether to come clean and face dismissal or keep her secret while the Bannings decide the child's fate. Can she face the truth of her own past and open her heart to a future of her own? Or will life's tragedies determine the future for her?
This compelling story set against the glittering backdrop of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition captures the tension between the wealthy class and the hardworking servants who made their lives comfortable. Author Olivia Newport expertly portays social classes while creating a story of courage, strength, and tender romance.


About The Author

I’m imagining you. You walk past as I water my front flowerbeds and we wave. You check the time as we both stand in a long line at the grocery store. You sit in front of me in church. I’m at my table in the coffee shop and you’re at yours.

We may smile politely and move on with our separate lives. Or one of us may speak, a simple invitation to conversation, and the words flow between us.

Here the adventure begins. When we meet someone new, we never know where it might lead.

I’ve been married for over thirty years and have two twenty-something kids. We live in stunning Colorado at the foot of the Rockies, where the day lilies in my back yard grow as tall as I am. (No short jokes, please.)

Not every piece of my life is pretty, though. Some days I want to throw out whole chunks. But I am living each day looking for the grace of God to me, in me, and through me. Having your companionship along the way will help uncover a lot of great stories.


My Review:

This book started with The Pursuit of Lucy Banning, when Charlotte Farrow arrived in Chicago with her infant son. With the help of Lucy, who found a woman to care for "Henry", she was able to go into Service at the Mansion.
This book opens with the woman who was caring for Henry, literally dropping him off, as she had to leave home. Now Charlotte has a big dilemma, she is not allowed to be married or have a child and keep her job. Lucy would have helped her, but she is in Paris on her honeymoon.
To top all things the evil man who is her husband has discovered her, and she is worried about the safety of her baby.
Staying with the family at the mansion is a relative of the family, there for a visit to find a husband, who takes a real shine to the baby. Will Charlotte tell who the baby is or do as Moses mother did years ago to save him?
There is also a sweet love story here, but will Charlotte be able to open her heart, or will her husband find her? Travel along with Charlotte as we visit 1890's Chicago, and the closing days of World's Columbia Exposition. Delightful, and a real page turning fast read.

I received this book through the Publisher Revell and their Blogger Program, and was not required to give a positive review.



Available January 2013 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group