Quilted by Christmas
November 4th, 2014. Filed under: Tuesday's Tempting Reads.Quilted by Christmas
By Jodie Bailey
Quilts tell stories of love and loss, hope and faith, tradition and new beginnings. The Quilts of Love series focuses on the women who quilted all of these things into their family histories. A new book releases each month and features contemporary and historical romances as well as women’s fiction and the occasional light mystery. You will be drawn into the endearing characters of this series and be touched by their stories.
A grandmother’s last wish is to communicate God’s love through an Irish chain quilt.
Taryn McKenna believes she’s easy to forget. Abandoned by her parents and left behind when her high school sweetheart joined the army, she vows to never love again and throws herself into her love for the outdoors and the pursuit of a college degree—something no one else in her family has ever accomplished. Her goal, as a young teacher in the hills of North Carolina, is to leave a legacy in the lives of the middle-schoolers she teaches.
When Taryn’s grandmother Jemma, the only other person who ever held her close, has a heart attack that reveals a fatal medical condition, Taryn is corralled into helping Grandma work on a final project—an Irish chain quilt that tells the story of her history and the love Jemma knows is out there for Taryn. As the pieces of the quilt come together, Taryn begins to see her value. Can she learn to believe that God will never leave her behind even though others have?
ISLAND BREEZES
Quilts and secrets. Both are tying Taryn up in knots. Her grandmother fractured her arm when she fell off a ladder. Then things continued down hill a bit.
Except for Taryn’s former sweetheart reappearing in her life and coming to her rescue more than once. Taryn had to fight to keep old feelings buried. She knows that her secret will someday have to be exposed. It’s a secret that will rip her love apart again.
I had to read this book twice. And, yes, I cried both times, so you’d better have that box of tissues nearby as you near the end of this book.
Thank you, Ms Bailey, for this story and for teaching me about ballad quilts.
***A special thank you to litfuse for providing a review copy.***
Jodie Bailey is Tarheel born and bred. After 15 years as a military spouse, she settled with her family back in North Carolina. She is the author of the military suspense novel Freefall and is a contributor to a devotional for military families, Fighting Fear: Winning the War at Home. While not working on her next novel, she teaches middle-schoolers to love writing as much as she does.