Mallory Farrell finds herself divorced with grown children and rambling around her huge Victorian home she has remodeled to perfection. She has an upscale thriving home decorating business but feels alone and left behind. What does she do now? Things begin to change when she receives notice that she has inherited her beloved grandmother's tourist shop in Seaport, Oregon.
She packs up to go and prepare it to sell. It holds so many happy memories of her childhood and her grandmother. Seaport is no longer a tourist hub. She is surprised the sad condition the little shop has fallen into and the town. An old high school friend, Grayson Matthews, offers to buy it. Mallory considers selling until she finds out he plans to tear it down along with many other shops to build a modern mall. She is horrified and refuses. Then her strong creativity and passion as an interior decorator is awakened! She decides to remodel and open a new business, one the town has never seen; a home decorating store. She envisions it inspiring business owners to revive their shops too.
Fully committed, she sells her home, finds someone to care of her clients at and moves to Seaport. Making a dream come to life is not without obstacles. Her journey is certainly filled with those. Some of them crushing, but she doesn't give up.
This book is so descriptive you will feel you are right there watching everything unfold. Ms. Carlson is a master at using details to bring the story to life. Her first glimpse of her grandmother's shop made me think of some of the little shops we'd visit while on vacation in Galveston Island 40 years ago. Trinket, shells, plastic toys, all dusty and reminders of the past. Not much you'd want to buy but fun to look at.
I so enjoyed watching the shop turn into something amazing. I could picture the beautiful things in her inventory as she arranged them. It was very satisfying to be a part of it and not lift a finger! There are so many unexpected surprises along the way.
I felt her overwhelming disappointment with each problem that arose, but felt inspired as she pulled herself and faced them head on. I saw a huge lesson in not judging people's motives by appearances. They may as with her are the very ones that are your true friends. Also sometimes we have to put aside our pride and ask for help. This was such a fun read!
I received this book from Revell Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All the opinions stated are my own.
She packs up to go and prepare it to sell. It holds so many happy memories of her childhood and her grandmother. Seaport is no longer a tourist hub. She is surprised the sad condition the little shop has fallen into and the town. An old high school friend, Grayson Matthews, offers to buy it. Mallory considers selling until she finds out he plans to tear it down along with many other shops to build a modern mall. She is horrified and refuses. Then her strong creativity and passion as an interior decorator is awakened! She decides to remodel and open a new business, one the town has never seen; a home decorating store. She envisions it inspiring business owners to revive their shops too.
Fully committed, she sells her home, finds someone to care of her clients at and moves to Seaport. Making a dream come to life is not without obstacles. Her journey is certainly filled with those. Some of them crushing, but she doesn't give up.
This book is so descriptive you will feel you are right there watching everything unfold. Ms. Carlson is a master at using details to bring the story to life. Her first glimpse of her grandmother's shop made me think of some of the little shops we'd visit while on vacation in Galveston Island 40 years ago. Trinket, shells, plastic toys, all dusty and reminders of the past. Not much you'd want to buy but fun to look at.
I so enjoyed watching the shop turn into something amazing. I could picture the beautiful things in her inventory as she arranged them. It was very satisfying to be a part of it and not lift a finger! There are so many unexpected surprises along the way.
I felt her overwhelming disappointment with each problem that arose, but felt inspired as she pulled herself and faced them head on. I saw a huge lesson in not judging people's motives by appearances. They may as with her are the very ones that are your true friends. Also sometimes we have to put aside our pride and ask for help. This was such a fun read!
I received this book from Revell Publishing in exchange for an honest review. All the opinions stated are my own.
Second Time Around by Melody Carlson is an engaging and entertaining story. I can always count on Melody Carlson to provide a story that will capture and hold my attention. I like the author's friendly writing style. I was quickly drawn into Mallory Farrell's story. After the wedding of Mallory's daughter, Mallory's home is feeling empty. She loves the house that she spent years lovingly restoring and Mallory likes her interior decorating business. Mallory feels that everyone is moving on but her. When Mallory learns that she inherited her grandmother's shop in Seaport, Oregon she feels this might be the answer. Mallory decides to turn the shop into home décor shop as well as offering her interior design services. The contractor Mallory hires completes the shop portion of the project, but he ignores the apartment above which is desperate need of a makeover. Mallory opens her shop with rave reviews. She is surprised when a design show host wants to feature her shop and her apartment on the show. Mallory must swallow her pride and ask for help. Can the project be completed before the television production crew arrives? Second Time Around is a clean, inspiring story. I liked the characters (well, most of them). They are friendly and relatable. Mallory has some contentious relatives. I like how she dealt with them. I appreciated the life lessons in this story. The setting was delightful. A small, coastal town with friendly residents. I understood why Mallory did not want people to see her colorful apartment. She is an independent woman which made her reluctant to ask for help especially from someone who wanted to demolish her building for a mall. Second Time Around came to an end much too soon. Second Time Around is a cute coastal tale with a wonderful wedding, a hollow home, an unanticipated inheritance, construction quandaries, design dilemma, a tv predicament, and a man with a plan.
