Pink Chicks Book Corner

This book is about a former slave named Rachel who runs away from a plantation to search for her children who were taken away from her. The Emancipation Act of 1834 supposedly freed the slaves in the British held islands of the Caribbean, but the slaveholders found a way to circumvent that: by labeling them apprentices and refusing to free them. Rachel finds a way to leave and starts her journey to find her children. From Barbados to Georgetown to finally Trinidad Rachel and eventually her daughter Mary Grace search for their family. Mary Grace is found in Barbados and accompanies her mother in her search for her siblings and she finds love on the way. Rachel searches for answers, even though some are not what she expected or hoped for. Each of her children experienced hardship and tragedy, one even forging a new life for herself based on lies about where she came from. This story is well written and moving especially toward the end. Rachel and her family have to deal with grief and da

“ It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”. That well known line opens the well loved story of Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy. The story opens with the Bennett family,specifically the mother giddy that a rich gentleman is moving into the neighborhood and what that could mean for her five daughters. Jane and Elizabeth are the two eldest daughters and Mrs.Bennett schemes that Jane and Mr.Bingly, the gentleman in question, should fall in love. Jane and Bingly do fall in love in spite of her mother but are kept apart later by his sisters and his friend Darcy. Mr.Darcy does not make a good first impression on the neighborhood, especially on Elizabeth, and is considered prideful and arrogant by her and others of her immediate circle of friends. Things change throughout the story however that change Elizabeth and Darcy and how they perceive each other. I love how they go from adversaries to realizing that they were

This is a non-fiction biography of the wife of William the conqueror who won England in 1066 and ruled thereafter. Matilda was the daughter of a Flemish duke and a French princess who William courted roughly an married. Matilda was very educated and intelligent as well as being very short, not even 5 foot!  Even though she was small, Matilda made her mark on England and Normandy, making her a great queen and duchess during this period. At first, William and Matilda’s relationship was rough. Williams temper and his attitude toward women was not great,  but they eventually had affection for each other for a time. They had thee sons who would later cause trouble among the family, and three daughters who would not. Matilda was a very good queen. She was regent for her husband when he was not present, and did very well managing the kingdom and duchy. It was interesting to read about how well educated she was and how her mother encouraged her, and this helped her throughout her life. Matilda

Lunar Love  is a story about rival matchmakers finding love unexpectedly- with each other. Olivia is of mixed race Asian heritage . She becomes the head of Lunar Love, the in person matchmaking service her grandmother founded, when her aunt steps down. The challenges come right away and that includes competition, at least in Olivia’s mind, from Bennett O’ Brien and his new dating app that matches personalities based on the Chinese zodiac like Lunar Love does. Olivia feels like Bennett will put her families business out of business and tries to get information about his app by creating a profile that she knows will match Bennett. Through coincidence he finds out that the woman he went on a date with is the owner of Lunar Love, a matchmaking service that helped his parents as it turns out. Intrigued by Olivia, he makes a bet with her to see who can match each other successfully. Olivia agrees an they match each other with clients that they think have the best chance to win their hearts.

The second book in the Tales   from Ivy Hill , continues the stories of Jane, Rachel, and Mercy from the first book. Jane is in charge of The Bell Inn, left to her when her husband died. She faces some challenges in a former maid with a child who Jane encouraged to come back to the inn that might discomfort her brother-in-law. Jane also has to deal with pain from her past in order to move forward in her life.               Rachel moved out of her home of Thornvale after the estate went to a distant cousin. She moved to the home of her friend Mercy and Matty, Mercy’s aunt. Rachel was left all her fathers books with the stipulation that they had to stay together and not be sold off. At first she doesn’t know what to do with them, but then she is encouraged to start a library. A room in the cottage is transformed into a library and it is a hit with the village. Meanwhile, Rachel has to deal with a couple suitors while managing her popular library. Nicholas Ashford makes Rachel an offer of

February has started as a good reading month for me. The first book I read is The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill ,the first book in the Tales from Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen. I really liked this book. The story is about a new widow Jane Bell, who is struggling to come to terms with her husband leaving her in charge of his family’s inn after his death. Adding to her stress, her mother-in-law, Thora, returns to the inn after being informed by a staff member that the inn is falling into disrepair. The relationship between the two women was never warm, even a little hostile in some instances. Thora struggles with the fact that her son left the inn to Jane, who was raised a gentlewoman and has no experience running an inn. Both women have to work together to save the inn when the bank threatens to sell the inn if their business does not start being profitable. The relationship growth between Jane and Thora is well done and an enjoyable part of the story. I liked the love story between Thora and Walte