THE LACE MAKERS OF GLENMARA - Heather Barbieri

From the inside flap: "You can always start again." Kate Robinson's mother once told her, "all it takes is a new thread." Overwhelmed by heartbreak and loss, the struggling twenty-six-year-old fashion designer follows her mother's advice and flees to her ancestral homeland of Ireland, hoping to break free of old patterns and reinvent

She arrives on the west coast, in the seaside hamlet of Glenmara. In this charming, fading Gaelic village, Kate quickly develops a bond with members of the local lace-making society: Bernie, alone and yearning for a new purpose since the death of her beloved husband, John; Aileen, plagued by doubt, helplessly watching her teenage daughter grow distant; Moira, caught in a cycle of abuse and denial, stubbornly refusing help from those closest to her; Oona, in remission from breast cancer, secretly harboring misgivings about her marriage; Colleen, the leader of the group, worried about her fisherman husband, missing at sea. And outside this newfound circle is local artist Sullivan Deane, an enigmatic man trying to overcome a tragedy of his own.

Under Glenmara's spell, Kate finds the inspiration that has eluded her, and soon she and the lace makers are creating a line of exquisite lingerie. In their skilled hands, flowers, Celtic dragons, nymphs, fish, saints, kings, and queens come to life, rendered with painterly skill. The circle also offers them something more--the strength to face their long-denied desires and fears. But not everyone welcomes Kate, and a series of unexpected events threatens to unravel everything the women have worked so hard for...

********************************

This wonderfully told story walked a thin line of sap and warm tale. Kate walks around Ireland, trying to get her cranium together, meets a nice traveling tinker who gives her a ride to a nice little village with nice ladies who make lace and teach Kate after giving her a place to stay for a little while and she teaches them to make a cottage industry with their skilled hands and lovely lace.

Kate also meets a gorgeous Irish man who melts her heart, but he has a tragedy he's trying to overcome and isn't sure he wants to commit his heart again.

All of this could have been overwhelmingly sappy, but for me it wasn't. I loved reading this book. There were enough bumps to roughen the smooth road of the story. There were characters I loved, some I wanted to slap. I want to go live in Glenmara and learn how to create the lace and go to the pub and listen to the music of a Friday night fest.

A lovely story and I do like my lovely story breaks from time to time. This one definitely fit the gentle bill.

Five sparkly Irish lace diamonds.....