Mini Reviews - The Canterbury Sisters + No River Too Wide

Goodreads:  The Canterbury Sisters by Kim Wright

Blurb: Che Milan’s life is falling apart. Not only has her longtime lover abruptly dumped her, but her eccentric, demanding mother has recently died. When an urn of ashes arrives, along with a note reminding Che of a half-forgotten promise to take her mother to Canterbury, Che finds herself reluctantly undertaking a pilgrimage.
Within days she joins a group of women who are walking the sixty miles from London to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, reputed to be the site of miracles. In the best Chaucer tradition, the women swap stories as they walk, each vying to see who can best describe true love. Che, who is a perfectionist and workaholic, loses her cell phone at the first stop and is forced to slow down and really notice the world around her, perhaps for the first time in years.

Through her adventures along the trail, Che finds herself opening up to new possibilities in life and discovers that the miracles of Canterbury can take surprising forms.

My Thoughts:  At first I thought this was going to be a DNF.  Che is pretentious and judgmental and the rest of the tour group aren't much better.  But as this story continues I was quickly caught up into the stories and begin to become interested in the characters and the stories they had to tell.  Each woman is far more complicated than they appear and each story brings out more about not only the storyteller but the listeners.  Angelique was my favorite character but I felt like I connected to each one - even Che - by the end.  My Rating:  Really Liked It!

Goodreads:  No River Too Wide (Goddesses Anonymous #2) by Emilie Richards

Blurb:  On the night her home is consumed by fire, Janine Stoddard finally resolves to leave her abusive husband. While she is reluctant to involve her estranged daughter, she can't resist a chance to see Harmony and baby Lottie before she disappears forever.

Harmony's friend Taylor Martin realizes how much the reunited mother and daughter yearn to stay together, and she sees in Jan a chance to continue her own mother's legacy of helping women in need of a fresh start. She opens her home, even as she's opening her heart to another newcomer, Adam Pryor. But enigmatic Adam has a secret that could destroy Taylor's trust and cost Jan her hard-won freedom.

My Thoughts:  I forgot just how much I love Emilie Richards and her ability to handle difficult topics and create such complex characters.  I loved Jan and all the rest of the characters in the book.  I especially loved that all was not unicorns and rainbows between Harmony and her mother but it was handled in such a way that I sympathized and related to both women.  While this is the second in the series this book is a stand alone.  I want to continue the series just so I can hopefully get peeks of all the characters I grew to love in this book.  If you enjoy women's fiction where you connect with the characters and become caught up in the story this is a can't miss book.  My Rating:  Loved It!