Monday, April 23, 2018

It All Started In The Quilt Shop In Alice's Notions


publisher's notes:

In this quaint mountain town, things aren't always what they seem. 

World War II widow Alice Brighton returns to the safety of her home town to open a fabric shop. She decides to start a barn quilt tour to bring business to the shop and the town, but what she doesn't know is sinister forces are using the tour for their own nefarious reasons 

Between her mysterious landlord, her German immigrant employee, her neighbors who are acting strange, and a dreamboat security expert who is trying to romance her, Alice doesn't know who she can trust.

my thoughts.....

I enjoy a good mystery and Alice's Notions was fun to read.  Poor Alice went through quite a bit in this roller coaster ride in the early days of the cold war.  She was a war widow, who opened a quilt shop to bring about community in her small town.  A quilt shop seemed just the thing she thought other women would enjoy.  A place to gather, sew and find all the notions and fabric they needed to create comfortable homes.  At one of her first sewing circles she mentioned an idea for a quilt block tour.  On the tour, the participants would paint a quilt block on their barn.  They could make it a community event and invite people from other towns in the area.  The ladies in the circle thought it was a wonderful idea.  She never dreamed, however, that there would be resistance from others for both the shop and the tour.  

The book was definitely a sign of post war feelings, including prejudice against German people immigrating to America.  Alice herself felt prejudice against Greta, a displaced young woman from Germany who knocked on Alice's door as part of a program Alice signed up for.  She had no idea she would get Greta....her husband was killed in Germany and she just didn't think she could house or employ a woman from Germany.  

Her landlord Rick had prepared a modern apartment above shop for Alice filled with all the modern conveniences.  He took many opportunities to let her know that women should not be owning businesses when men had returned from war and needed to resume their positions as the breadwinners.  As a widow, this was no small annoyance.  He was a well to do man about business but she had no idea what that business could be.

Others around the circle included, Lois, who was married to Alice's lone brother Pete.  Lois was an interesting figure who hadn't bargained for life in the back country, complete with wood stoves for cooking and an outdoor privy.  

The Toliver's were such a helpful couple and the Mrs. was a bossy woman who would take over the Quilt Barn Tour....but things just weren't as they seemed and Alice found mystery after mystery as the community event drew near.  Could she keep this event from being shut down before the big day?  Could she trust these people who seemed to want to sabotage this event?  

It was fun to read this story, set in a very interesting time in our history.  Alice was a wonderful heroine and she had a hand in an incredible mystery!  I recommend this to the reader looking for a different type of mystery, it will keep you turning pages...you will just want to know what happens next! 

  click here to purchase your own copy!

About The Author:
Tamera Lynn Kraft has always loved adventures. She loves to write historical fiction set in the United States because there are so many stories in American history. There are strong elements of faith, romance, suspense and adventure in her stories. She has received 2nd place in the NOCW contest, 3rd place TARA writer’s contest, and is a finalist in the Frasier Writing Contest and has other novels and novellas in print. She’s been married for 39 years to the love of her life, Rick, and has two married adult children and three grandchildren. 
Tamera has been a children’s pastor for over 20 years. She is the leader of a ministry called Revival Fire for Kids where she mentors other children’s leaders, teaches workshops, and is a children’s ministry consultant and children’s evangelist and has written children’s church curriculum. She is a recipient of the 2007 National Children’s Leaders Association Shepherd’s Cup for lifetime achievement in children’s ministry.

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