It was only 1 year ago that I reviewed Dear Carolina, written by my talented friend, Kristy Woodson Harvey.  Dear Carolina is Kristy’s first book, a wonderful story with characters that are easy to love.

So I was thrilled to be asked, once again, to review Kristy’s latest book, Lies and Other Acts of Love, released today!

I confess, I found this story even more riveting than Dear Carolina (and Dear Carolina was fabulous!)  The multiple viewpoint of the story, woven between Lynn “Lovey”, the matriarch of this family, and Annabelle, Lovey’s granddaughter, kept my interest and made it difficult to put the book down.

    {via}

Like Dear Carolina, this book takes place in Kristy’s beloved North Carolina.  After reading both books I feel a deep kindred spirit with the women of the south. I’m not trying to over-generalize, but the women are often strong, highly principled and well bred, these are characteristics I’ve always admired.

In this story “Lovey” is a woman of wisdom, due in part to her 60 year marriage to the love of her life, Dan, and  raising 5 daughters.  You don’t bear 5 children and grow older without getting wiser along the way.  With that wisdom there are nuances to truth, and the occasional white lie can be beneficial to all concerned.

Annabelle is a beautiful and caring young woman, with what she believes to be a perfect family.  Her life becomes a little less idyllic when she breaks her engagement with the man most would consider her ideal mate, to marry a musician.  Annabelle is convinced Ben, her musician husband, is the love of her life, much like her grandmother [Lovey] and grandfather’s [Dan “D-daddy”] devotion to each other.  Her youthful idealism is inspiring, but as most of us know, maturity teaches us that live isn’t always black and white.

There are some unexpected events and an exciting finish makes this book a favorite story of family, love and life lessons.

If you need an extra something for someone for Mother’s Day, this book would make a wonderful gift.  In any case, I believe you will enjoy Lies and Other Acts of Love.   ♥ Karen