Katherine Reay

Dear Readers,

Every time I read a Katherine Reay book I feel as if I have gone on a vacation with a favorite family member.  I love meeting her characters and getting to know them and working through the issues that are part of their lives.  Katherine understands that a mini vacation alongside a strong story line is very important to the reader. The Portrait of Emily Price is Katherine's newest release.

I wasn't sure I was going to like Emily Price when I first started reading this book.  She was very worried about making sure everything in her life and in her sister's life was perfect.  She needed to take care of everyone and making sure nothing bad happened and if it did, Emily would fix it.  But trust me, you will begin to understand her more as the book goes on and it is worth the journey to understand her.

Emily is sent to Atlanta to restore a family home and their valuables after a home fire.  She is very very good at her job and has no time for distraction as there are important things to get done and then hurry back to Chicago to make sure her sister finds a job once again.

Chef Benito Vassallo, Ben, is trying very hard to be that distraction.  It seems like love at first site, which is unusual enough for Emily.  But when she accepts his marriage proposal and moves suddenly to Italy.  Where she meets a family very different from her own.

Emily is not perfect and acts like the control freak when she arrives in her new home and that is where she really started to endear herself to me.  I kept trying to get her to stop, but she refused to listen to me.  I don't know what her problem was, I was just trying to help.  Okay okay I understand what I did there.  But that is what is great about this book, you will find yourself doing the same thing.

Also you get to run off to Italy with a dreamy Italian guy and live in a perfectly described village.  For me it was like visiting all over again.  Of course that only made me want to go a visit again. Thank you Katherine for giving me this chance to visit one of my favorite places on earth along side with a new family member.

Happy Reading,

Katherine Reay

Dear Readers,

Have you ever dreamed of taking a trip to London, England?  Katherine Reay offers you a chance to take that trip a little less expensively.  The Bronte Plot takes us on a journey to all those places that readers dream of visiting while they walk the streets and alleyways of London.  But she has a different idea in mind than just relaxing, she wants us and her characters to find themselves and let go of a past that is holding them back.

Lucy Alling works for a designer but some of her methods are a bit shady.  When she is caught, it not only costs her her relationship with her boss, but her boyfriend as well.  She is not sure where to turn, until her boyfriend's grandmother, Helen, requests that Lucy join her on a buying trip to London.

There is more to this trip than just an antiques buying trip, it is a way to confront their past and to make sure those ghosts are forever put to rest.  Both Helen and Lucy have something in their past that they are not proud of, but each must find the answer for themselves.  

Not only do we get to journey along with Lucy and Helen to some of the great writers' walking tours of London, we walk alongside as each of them finds their way to self forgiveness.  Along the way we might even get a chance to ask ourselves some of the same questions that they ask.

I will admit it was fun to go on this trip with Lucy and Helen, but it really just made me want to go to London again.  I am sure you will enjoy the journey as much as I did.

Happy Reading,

Katherine Reay

Dear Readers,

Every one of us has been touched by cancer, whether it was a family member, a close friend or yourself, it is something that we all seem to have in common.  I have walked with several different people on their journey with cancer.  No journey is the same for any of them.  Each fight is a very personal event and everyone reacts differently to the treatment, but one thing that journey can do is draw us all closer.

Lizzy and Jane by Katherine Reay is a book about two sisters, many years apart in age and yet with so much in common.  They haven’t spoken in years because of what happened when their mother was dying of breast cancer.  Jane is now in her own battle with breast cancer and Lizzy, because of the pleading of their father, returns home to help while Jane’s husband is overseas.  The tension between the two has had several years to build and it will take something major to clear the air. 

I really liked Katherine’s first book, Dear Mr. Knightley, but there is something very special about this book.  I think it is because it is a topic that so many of us can relate to.  Stress levels are elevated during a time of illness and we struggle to keep our emotions in check, but sometimes they win and we say what we are actually thinking.  That is why I liked this book so much.  The characters are very real, their emotions are at times raw but they come from the heart when dealing with something that can take a loved one away. 

If you have never gone to a cancer clinic with someone while they are receiving chemo, Katherine does a really good job of showing how it is.  How everyone cheers each other on during their treatment, but how they grieve when someone loses the battle.  It can be a very beautiful place to visit even if it makes you uncomfortable at first.  And once again, the emotions are real, from those who are just putting in time to get it over with, to others who are so very angry, but have no place to direct their anger. 

A very interesting read and one I will recommend to many others.

Happy Reading,

Katherine Reay

Dear Readers,

Dear Mr. Knightley by Katherine Reay is a book that I didn't know what I was getting into when I first started.  When I realized the book was written completely in letter form, I thought it was going to be tough slugging through it.  I have read other books in this form or diary form and I don't usually enjoy them because they don't always flow well.  This one is well worth the read, I enjoyed it and really related to the character even though her life and age are completely different from mine (while I was on vacation I read it in one day).

Samantha (Sam) is an orphan who has been in and out of the system for years.  She has learned to deflect everyone from her life and from knowing her better.  She makes her friends in the books she reads.  Austin, Dickens, the Bronte sisters to name a few.  She thinks it is working for her until she is forced once again back to the home because she loses her job because she does not relate well to others.  So true and it is a harsh realty for her to learn.  

Sam accepts a scholarship from a foundation that is willing to pay her tuition to a grad school, even if the degree isn't quite what she thought she would be doing, journalism.  But while learning how to write she has to learn more about herself and to trust people with her story.  

Sam is a real 3D character.  She has flaws, she has beautiful gifts to give others and she longs to be loved by a true family.  A forever love.  What she learns along the way is something we can all relate to.  She hides behind masks and refuses to let anyone in.  She figures if she hurts someone first then she is safe, but of course that means she never is open enough to trust anyone either. 

I really could go on and on about this book, but I might give some of the storyline away and it is something you need to discover for yourself.  I will say though that with her first novel, Kathleen does a great job of making you want to meet her characters and love them just for who they are.  I am excited to see what she does with her next book.

Happy Reading.