NEW RELEASES
Fairytale of New York - Miranda Dickinson (2009)
Rosie Duncan came to the United States from England to start a new life. But when her new start goes horribly wrong, she moves from Boston to New York where she starts working at Kowalski's florist shop. Moving ahead six years, Rosie now owns Kowalski's and has two helpful assistants Marnie and Ed who also serve as two of her closest friends - both have been there for her from the start and have never asked her to divulge her past. The only person who knows what happened is Rosie's friend Celia, who is a New York Times columnist. Celia throws a party, asking Rosie to be the last-minute replacement florist. There Rosie is introduced to Mimi Sutton and Nate Amie. While Mimi instantly loves Rosie's floristry work - and recommends her as the florist of the moment to all her upper-crust friends - Nate seems to be more interested in Rosie than her flowers. Soon, Rosie and Nate have a blossoming friendship and the chemistry between them is undeniable. The only problem is that Nate is engaged to Mimi's daughter, Caitlin, and Rosie has sworn off men. Because of Mimi's recommendations, business has never been better. Kowalski's is getting jobs with all the top clients in the city and even booking major events like the Grand Winter Ball and weddings where money has no limits. Then Nate asks Rosie to take on a major commission - his friend's wedding. But Rosie is shocked to see who the client is - David Lithgow - the whole reason Rosie came to New York. Although the story flows nicely, it takes too long to find out what happened in Rosie's past. And with all the build-up, it was kind of a letdown when you actually find out what happened. Another thing that is sure to drive some readers crazy is the fact that Rosie has two suitors - Nate and her assistant Ed, with whom there is obvious chemistry. It takes the whole book for her to choose one of them and it would have been nicer if it was a little sooner so that we could see their story develop as a couple. However, despite all of this, the story still has a lot of heart. It has wonderful characters and is a compelling story of forgiveness, redemption and faith in the future. (AS)
