Haunting Jasmine by Anjali Banerjee takes place on a small island in Puget Sound. Jasmine, smarting from a painful divorce in L.A., takes up her Aunt's offer to run her bookstore while she takes a trip to India. Jasmine arrives on the island, where her family lives, determined to avoid her parents and turn her Aunt's dusty, messy bookshop into a more modern place. The bookshop has other ideas, and thanks to Ganesh, the Indian god who helps removes objects from your path, well...Jasmine is in for some changes. This bookshop is no ordinary place--it's full of the ghosts of Jane Austen, A.A. Milne, Edgar Allen Poe, and many others. And only Jasmine and her Aunt can see and hear them. They're really good at pointing out the most perfect book for each customer.
I loved this book! It was fun, touching, and reminded me why I love books so much. Pick it up and join Jasmine on her journey towards healing and happiness.
My other book pick has been long anticipated by me and many other fans of Sarah Addison Allen. The Peach Keeper is another wonderful book set in the small town of Walls of Water, North Carolina. Willa's old family home, the Blue Ridge Madam, has been restored to it's former glory by Paxton Osgood and her family. Willa's family lost the home and their position as society leader in town in the 1930's, when the government banned logging and her family's logging empire fell apart. Many years later, Willa is the owner of a hiking store and lives quietly in town, with regrets of not finding out more about her grandmother and father's lives.
But there's something strange in the air, and when the old peach tree in the front yard is taken down, a skeleton is found tangled in it's roots. Who is it?
What do Willa's and Paxton's grandmothers, both in the local nursing home, have to do with the skeleton, and the founding of the Women's Society Club?
Of course there's romance, too. Paxton's unrequited love for Sebastian, the local dentist, and Collin, Paxton's brother who returns to help her landscape the Blue Ridge Madam, has his eye on Willa. All of them grew up in Walls of Water, and all of them have secrets to keep.
Oh, I wish Sarah wrote more than one book a year!
Thank you for this wonderful review of my novel, HAUNTING JASMINE. I love Sarah Addison Allen as well. I'm going to buy THE PEACH KEEPER!
ReplyDeleteHaunting Jasmine sounds really good. Good find, Ms. Cadoo. I'm going to add it to my list. I can't believe how fast you read Peach Keeper. Well, actually I can believe it. I'm just amazed.
ReplyDeleteAW: It's a quick read--you can finish it in one day. And I liked it alot! Game of Thrones, however, is taking me a bit of time. Welcome to the blog!
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