All Booked Up by Melody Carlson

 

Widowed empty nester Riva Owen lives in the Victorian house that's been in her family for three generations, but finances have become a challenge she can no longer ignore. Her daughter is pushing her to move, and after considering all her options, Riva knows selling would be the smartest course. But she just can't bring herself to leave decades of memories--and her cherished library filled with hundreds of books.

When she pursues an alternative--opening her home to women like her who need a room to rent--Riva is unprepared for the mix of personalities and peculiarities of her new housemates. She is even more unprepared for Marcus, the handsome and handy older brother of one of her new tenants. The possibility of finding love again feels overwhelming, even as her tenants seem to have romantic schemes of their own.

Warm your heart with a story of found family, book lovers, and a second chance at love. 

 

About The Author

 Melody Carlson has written more than 200 books (with sales around 6.5 million) for teens, women and children. That's a lot of books, but mostly she considers herself a "storyteller." Her novels range from serious issues like schizophrenia (Finding Alice) to lighter topics like house-flipping (A Mile in My Flip-Flops) but most of the inspiration behind her fiction comes right out of real life. Her young adult novels (Diary of a Teenage Girl, TrueColors etc.) appeal to teenage girls around the world. Her annual Christmas novellas become more popular each year. She's won a number of awards (including Romantic Time's Career Achievement Award, the Rita and the Gold Medallion) and some of her books have been optioned for film/TV. Carlson has two grown sons and makes her home in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and yellow Lab dog. To find out more about Melody Carlson, visit her website at http://www.melodycarlson.com/

 

My Review

This was such a great faith based read, and the struggles of widowhood.
What a hard decision, but what was she going to do? The author does focus on the lonliness, living alone, no one to talk to and the grief of loosing a spouse.
Riva is having to make some very hard decisions, she is in debt, yet owns a beautiful big home. Should she take in boarders?
We are with her as she takes some boarders, but things cannot run smoothly, and we are there for some major decisions that must be made, made me think that maybe living alone wasn't so bad!
We are offered some really good friends, some that we wonder if they are friends, and others that need to be gone, but is that the Christian way to do it?
I loved this read, and will looking for more from this author!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Revell, and was not required to give a positive review.