The Dress Shop of Dreams. Finished 1-21-15, rating 4.5/5, fiction, 336 pages, pub. 2014

Since her parents’ mysterious deaths many years ago, scientist Cora Sparks has spent her days in the safety of her university lab or at her grandmother Etta’s dress shop. Tucked away on a winding Cambridge street, Etta’s charming tiny store appears quite ordinary to passersby, but the colorfully vibrant racks of beaded silks, delicate laces, and jewel-toned velvets hold bewitching secrets: With just a few stitches from Etta’s needle, these gorgeous gowns have the power to free a woman’s deepest desires.

Etta’s dearest wish is to work her magic on her granddaughter. Cora’s studious, unromantic eye has overlooked Walt, the shy bookseller who has been in love with her forever. Determined not to allow Cora to miss her chance at happiness, Etta sews a tiny stitch into Walt’s collar, hoping to give him the courage to confess his feelings to Cora. But magic spells—like true love—can go awry. After Walt is spurred into action, Etta realizes she’s set in motion a series of astonishing events that will transform Cora’s life in extraordinary and unexpected ways.

from Goodreads

I received this from the publisher courtesy of She Reads.  You can visit to enter to win all 4 of the books for winter!

I fell under the book’s spell even though Cora is not a warm and fuzzy person.  She exists only to follow in the footsteps of her genius scientist parents who were killed when she was only five years old and to visit her grandmother at her dress shop with a side trip to the bookstore three days a week.  Walt works at the bookstore and has been in love with Cora since they were kids but his social cluelessness has not moved the relationship forward even an inch.  So, Grandmother (Etta) takes matters into her own hands (literally) by using the magic of her needle and thread to open Walt’s heart and then Cora’s, but the best intentions do not always lead to the best results and the two go off on different paths entirely.

I loved Etta and the special gift of her dresses, and this small aspect of magical realism made the book sparkle and shine.  If there were a dress shop like Etta’s in Cleveland you can be sure I’d be stopping by.  It’s the dress shop that lends the book its lightness since everything else is much more serious in nature.  Every storyline starts with a lie.  Etta has one she’s been keeping for 50 years and Cora’s search into her parent’s deaths lead to more lies and betrayal. Walt gets himself a girlfriend under false pretenses and Henry, the policeman helping Cora, knows that a lie is at the heart of his divorce.  Once the truth starts coming out then all can be forgiven.  Maybe.

It had me charmed from the beginning and once I started I didn’t want to stop.  I only wish that maybe it could have been a little bit longer because there were so many secondary characters with their own stories that I felt a little shortchanged at the end when Cora found her truth.  Perfect for fans of Sarah Addison Allen

The Girl Who Chased the Moon. Finished 1-29-13, rating 4.5/5, magical realism, 269 pages, pub. 2010

Something suddenly caught her eye. She quickly stepped to the balustrade.  She thought she saw something in the woodline beyond the gazebo in the overgrown backyard.

There! There is was again. It was a bright white light-a quick, zippy flash-darting between the trees. Gradually, the light faded, moving back into the darkness of the wood until it disappeared completely.

Welcome to Mullaby, North Carolina, she thought. Home of ghost lights, giants, and jewelry thieves.

Chapter One

Emily recently lost her mother, the only family she has ever known, and is shipped off to her grandfather in North Carolina.  Julia is from Mullaby but left as a teenager only to return as an adult after her father died.  Both plan on  being there for  short time, but both find themselves with reasons to stay in the quaint, close-knit town full of secrets and charm.

I loved Allen’s first book Garden Spells and found myself almost as enchanted with this quirky and magical tale of lost love and the trials of growing up.  She has a talent for making stories that are light and still satisfying.  Oh, and romantic.  Emily and Julia both found men to appreciate them even when they didn’t want to be appreciated.  Julia’s story of her teen years carried the novel for me and I was happy to see her get her happy ending (this is Sarah Addison Allen so I don’t think I’m spoiling anything by saying that).

I like magical realism, especially when done well, and need to read more.  Let me know if you have a favorite.

This was from my personal library and I decided to read it after I saw it on Carrie’s 2012 favorites list.

Finished 1-12-09, rating 4.75/5, fiction, pub. 2007

She’d learned the hard way to avoid hiring anyone local if she could help it.  Most of them expected to learn something magic or, at the very least, get to the apple tree in the backyard, hoping to find out if the local legend was true, that its apples would tell them what the biggest event in their lives would be.

Chapter 1

Claire Waverly and her sister Sydney, were part of the Waverly’s of Bascom, North Carolina.  The family that was just a bit off, strange, and they had that magic apple tree in the back yard.  Claire stayed in the family home after her mother and grandmother died, but Sydney had escaped to New York and beyond as soon as she could.  The sisters had never been close, so when Sydney returned to Bascom with her 5 year old daughter in tow, Claire was surprised. 

Claire’s gift was affecting people’s mood and feelings through food.  The garden was always in bloom, even if she had to put up with the trouble-making apple tree.  Sydney had spent most of her life denying her Waverly roots, but even she found her special gift when she returned home.  The only other family still around was a great-aunt who had the gift of giving people, even complete strangers, trinkets that they would soon need. 

I loved this book.  Loved it.  It had romance, charm, and drama.  The relationship between the sisters was compelling and the magical elements made it very light and fun.  The reason that drew Sydney back to Bascom was a shadow hovering over the Waverlys and it provided a grounding effect for this magical story.  I was drawn into their world and didn’t want to leave. 

In my first two years of blogging I gave out a total of five 5 star ratings.  This was very, very close, but I’m giving out my first 4.75 rating.  I think this means that I’m going to have a year of reading  great books 🙂

This came from my personal library and I want to thank  Debbie, Mary, Amanda, Allesandra, Soft Drink, Bonnie, and Melissa for recommending it.  Here’s what they had to say…

“Easy read, nice story.” Debbie

“I loved this short novel and will probably read anything the author writes.” Mary

“Magical realism.  A bit of fluff.”  Allesandra

“Spellbinding story with a twist of magic, loved it.”  Bonnie

“You’ll like it.”  Amanda

“Cute magical realism story.” Soft Drink