THE COTTAGE ON JUNIPER RIDGE by Sheila Roberts is book four
in her
Life in Icicle Falls series. If you aren't a fan of
series, not to worry. You could totally
read this book as a stand alone. Jen Heath receives a book
from her sister
on how to simplify your life. After reading it for a bit,
Jen decides to do just
that. She puts her condo in Seattle up for sale and
relocates to small town
USA also known as Icicle Falls. She instantly falls in love
with the town and
the people there as well.
The cottage she is renting is owned by Garrett
Armstrong. He is recently divorced and his ex burned him
badly. He is
very leery of giving his heart away to someone new and
definitely not
someone who is flaky like his ex. When he meets Jen his
first impression
of her is way off, based on a few things that go wrong when
she first moves
in. Yes she should have told him she wanted to plant a
vegetable garden
before she got the tiller and started digging. But did he
really think she
broke the septic lines on purpose? Hahaha it only gets
better.
You are also introduced to Stacy Thomas. She is married to
Dean who
thinks his wife is a pack rat or the very least, beginning
to become a
hoarder. She can't help herself. She always finds things
on sale and
compulsively buys them. When they are decorating their
house for
Christmas Dean of course is complaining about how much stuff
he has to
move down from the attic and Stacy is having a tough time
finding spots to
put the decorations on. Maybe she does have a problem. She
also read
the same book that Jen did about simplifying your life.
When her
grandmother has a stroke and has to be put in long term care
Stacy and
her family go to her house to pack it up so they can put it
up for sale. Wow,
there is so much stuff to go through. Now Stacy is thinking
about her own
stuff and realizes it's time to downsize. She talks it over
with Dean and
together they come up with a plan to lighten their load.
She is going to
open up Timeless Treasures where she can match her things up
with
people who will take them home and love them as much as she
does.
Every time I pick up one of Sheila Roberts' books I lose
myself in it and THE
COTTAGE ON JUNIPER RIDGE was a perfect way to spend the day.
Once I started to read this book I couldn't put it down. It
was nice visiting
Icicle Falls and visiting with old friends and making some
new ones. The
book club that Jen and Stacy are in have all read the
Simplicity book and
they are all trying to better their lives because of it. Do
you think your life
needs to be simplified? THE COTTAGE ON JUNIPER RIDGE will
make
you think about it. I really enjoyed watching all of these
women try to apply
the challenge of making their lives more simple. Sheila
Roberts has a real gift of
making all of her characters so relatable and real to the
reader. The
positive female friendships make you want to go out and make
some new
best friends. I am a huge fan of Sheila Roberts' books and
I truly think THE COTTAGE ON JUNIPER RIDGE is
my favorite so far.
Can a book change your life? Yes, when it's Simplicity, Muriel Sterling's guide to plain living. In fact, it inspires Jen Heath to leave her stressful, overcommitted life in Seattle and move to Icicle Falls, where she rents a lovely little cottage on Juniper Ridge. And where she can enjoy simple pleasures—like joining the local book club—and complicated ones, like falling in love with her sexy landlord, Garrett Armstrong.
Her sister Toni is ready for a change, too. She has a teenage daughter who's constantly texting her friends, a husband who's more involved with his computer than he is with her, and a son who's consumed by video games. Toni wants her family to grow closer—to return to a simpler way of life.
Other women in town, like Stacy Thomas, are also inspired to unload their excess stuff and some of the extra responsibilities they've taken on.
But as they all discover, sometimes life simply happens. It doesn't always happen simply!