Monday, March 26, 2018

MORNINGS ON MAIN BY JODI THOMAS



Jodi Thomas is one of my favorite western authors. In fact, some of her books are on my keeper shelf. For the last few years, her books have been set in West Texas, which is where she lives. MORNINGS ON MAIN is set in East Texas, in the small town of Laurel Springs. 

Jillian James is a wanderer. Except for two years at university, she has never lived in one place long enough to make friends or belong. Her father, who disappeared when he left her at university, would never reveal anything about her mother or why he moved so often. His motto was “pack nothing from the past, not even memories”. Because she has only a few scribbled notations of his, she chooses the first zip code he mentions to learn if that might be where her life began.

When she looks for a job, Conrad Larady, mayor and newspaper owner, hires Jillian to work at his grandmother’s quilt shop, A Stitch In Time. Jillian warns him that she only plans to be in town for three months. She is to photograph and catalog each of the quilts in the shop before his grandmother’s Alzheimer’s means the stories are lost forever. Jillian enjoys hearing Eugenia relate the stories.




Before long, she and Conrad become friends. Jillian also meets Conrad’s teenage daughter Sunnie, who does not live up to her name. Sunnie loves Eugenia, though, and is very good with and to her. A Stitch In Time is central to the town and through her work there, Jillian meets many of the locals.

Conrad is amazed at how detailed Jillian’s quilt write-ups are and how clear her photographs and he submits several to large newspapers for her. Jillian has no plan to develop attachments, but she is growing closer to both Conrad and Eugenia.

As with each of Jodi Thomas’ books, this one has a sense of community. Like each of the small towns I’ve known, Laurel Springs is filled with quirky characters as well as those who are mainstream or average. I love the warm feeling produced by her small-town novels and this is no exception. Her words weave a wonderful mind picture.

This is the first of her new series. I’m eager to read the coming titles and learn more about the residents of Laurel Springs. This book deserves 5 stars. I was furnished an ARC of this book for an honest review, which this is.



New York Times bestselling author Jodi Thomas is a fifth-generation Texan who sets many of her stories in her home state, where her grandmother was born in a covered wagon. She is a certified marriage and family counselor, a Texas Tech graduate and writer-in-residence at West Texas A&M University. She lives with her husband in Amarillo, Texas.



Caroline Clemmons writes western contemporary and historical romances. Her latest is a time travel romance, TEXAS LIGHTNING, which begins on a ranch in 1896 and moves to the same ranch today.
Through a crazy twist of fate, Caroline Clemmons was not born on a Texas ranch. To make up for this tragic error, she writes about handsome cowboys, feisty ranch women, and scheming villains in a small office her family calls her pink cave. She and her Hero live in North Central Texas cowboy country where they ride herd on their rescued cats and dogs. The books she creates there have made her an Amazon bestselling author and won several awards. 

Find her on her blog, website, Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, Google+, and PinterestClick on her Amazon Author Page for a complete list of her books and follow her there.

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Subscribe to Caroline’s newsletter here to receive a FREE novella of HAPPY IS THE BRIDE, a humorous historical wedding disaster that ends happily—but you knew it would, didn’t you? 

1 comment:

  1. What a sad, yet interesting, life Jillian has had in this story. To have no family history and, worse, to be told not to even cling to memories would be devastating. No wonder this character does not form attachments to other people.
    I want to wish you great success with MORNINGS IN MAIN, Jodi. I am enticed by the mystery of Jillian's childhood and parents. I imagine it will be quite a bumpy ride reading as this story unfolds. It takes a great deal of talent to write such a story.
    All the best...

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