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 reasonsBetween her mysterious landlord, her German immigrant … 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.
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This historical suspense novel is set shortly after the end of World War II. Alice Brighton, widowed by the war, returns to her small home town of Burning Bush, West Virginia to start over. She opens a new fabric shop, Alice’s Notions, hoping to support herself and bring business to her town.
But nothing is the same. Her new landlord, Rick Morrison, is often away. He’s nice-looking but bossy. Her employee is a German immigrant. Old neighbors have changed.
Alice organizes a barn quilt tour to bring customers to the town. Why are so many up in arms about it? Who can Alice trust in the fearful environment following the war?
This novel is an eye-opener about the troubled environment and real danger to everyday folks after the war.
Once the story snagged my interest, it didn’t let go. The suspenseful quality drew me in as I tried to figure out who to trust along with Alice. Many aspects of 1940s life included in the story make this an enjoyable read.
This is an exciting, fast-paced novel of intrigue and suspense set during a critical time in our nation’s history, just months after the end of WWII as many soldiers return – and many do not. The characters are developed through dialog and action, and the mystery is multifaceted.
Alice’s beloved husband Joe was killed almost at the end of WWII. She was told it happened at the Battle of the Bulge. Immediately after, her parents died in a single-car crash. She left the apartment she had in New York City and returned home to Burning Bush, WV. After settling back in, she leased a building that had a two-bedroom apartment on the second floor where she could live. The first floor was a storefront for Alice’s Notions, for fabric, yarns, quilting, and almost anything needed for sewing or yarn crafts.
Alice applied to sponsor a displaced refugee from Europe, someone who could live in the apartment with her and work for her shop. Days before the store opening, Greta Engel arrives at her shop as she injures her ankle. Greta, a German, is not who Alice anticipated. She refused to have a German woman there after losing her husband to the Nazi war machine. When her landlord, Rick, drove her back from the hospital, Greta had the stock put up and arranged beautifully, so Alice would let her stay at least until she could ditch the crutches.
One would think that in beautiful Burning Bush, the citizens would primarily be concerned with getting their town revitalized after the war. That the challenges our Greatest Generation fought for and many died for would no longer exist. There is still a threat US shores. No one would anticipate the real cause behind women being accosted and injured, and farms being denied the privilege of participating in Alice’s plans to have a very special tourist event that would bring in people willing to visit the unique shops and craft items.
The men and women of Burning Bush are defined well throughout. Alice and Greta are my favorites. Their conversations, including Greta’s reactions to American idioms and how she sometimes misuses words or phrases bring lightheartedness necessary to help their relationship grow. Their prayers and faith through tough times are inspiring! Some of the men and women in town seem to advise Alice through kindness, but she learns that some she thought she knew, clearly, she did not. One of the two men she has met is telling the truth. Is it Luke, the well-dressed nephew of the Toliver’s, close friends of her parents? He says he has a security position and is privy to information the average person is not. Is it her landlord, Rick, who seems mysterious and dangerous even though he says he knew Joe in the military and that they were not at the Battle of the Bulge.
This very solid author of Christian historical and suspenseful romance novels has gifted us with an intricate plot, particularly enjoyable as it encompasses all three descriptives. The plot has many curious twists and turns. Historically, it shows life at the end of the Depression and end of WWII. We are reminded of some of the songs from the 1940’s and 50’s as well as movie stars who brought family-friendly movies to viewers, movies with hopes and dreams and values. The bad guys/ gals included at least one surprise to this reader, and the ending was very satisfactory. I very much enjoyed this novel, and highly recommend it!
From a grateful heart: I won a copy of this ebook from the author, and was under no obligation to provide a review.
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!
This is the first book by Tamera Lynn Kraft that I have read. Her writing style is easy to read and follow. This particular story takes place right after WWII. Mystery and intrigue abound as the story unfolds and the plot is cleverly crafted so that the reader is always guessing the motive behind each character until near the end of the book. The only two things I knew for sure until the end were that Alice is not a spy and that Joe, her deceased husband, died while working as a spy for the US government during the war. I tend to usually read contemporary suspense so this was a nice refreshing change of scenery for me and I really enjoyed the journey.
Alice and Rick are likable, multidimensional characters. Alice does learn through the events in the book that she cannot judge a person by his/her appearance or background.
If you enjoy a well-written historical romantic suspense, you will definitely enjoy this book.
I was given a copy of this book from the author/publisher via Celebrate Lit Tours. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own and subjective.
My review is 4.5 Stars
Alice’s Notions is a great read! It deals with a number of heart issues, prejudice, grief, forgiveness, trust.
There are many references to songs, movies, and actors from the “current” day in the story. My husband and I really enjoy the old songs and movies, so it was fun to see them mentioned here. At first, when Alice kept mentioning that someone looked like an actor I was thinking it was a little much, but then it was explained that this had been a game that she and Joe had played, so it made sense. It did seem like the references were a bit overdone, however, at least to the actors and movies. Hearing what songs were playing was much more fitting and natural.
Alice was a lovable character. She had a stubbornness that kept her trying to make her store work despite the opposition she faced from her landlord. When she discovered that the refugee she agreed to sponsor was German, her initial reaction was to have her sent back. After all, she was under the impression that the Germans killed her husband. However, circumstances placed her in a position in which she needed the help, she allowed herself to look at things differently, saw that she was judging her unjustly, was humble enough to ask for forgiveness and prayed to change her viewpoint.
I loved the way that Alice confronted her sister-in-law and best friend, Lois, about her attitude regarding her (Lois’) husband. She was kind but firm and shared a truth that we should all remember. It is not about what is best for us in a relationship. We need to be willing to look at things from the perspective of our spouse and see how we can be a blessing to them.
I have a better sympathy for the plight of the people in small towns in West Virginia post World War II. Because the town was small and somewhat remote, they relied heavily on traffic coming through on the way to other places. There was not much industry, and so unless the stores drew in business, the people had to work in the coal mines or have their farms be successful. I guess this kind of thing is a problem in any small town, but this story really brought that point home well.
This review was originally posted on AmongTheReads.net
I would like to thank Celebrate Lit for giving me this item. My opinion and review were not influenced by this gift.
From the beginning of this book to the end we follow Alice, first through the eyes of her husband Joe, and then with Alice herself.
We begin in Germany in the waning days of WWII, and the beginnings of Russian seizure. Most of this story takes place in Burning Bush West Virginia, a quaint mountain town, struggling to move forward after the war.
The author has giving us quite a mystery and throughout you will be wondering who to trust, and really what is going on, and when you find out it is so unbelievable, and yet it could have really happened.
We get really involved in the lives of these people, yes besides Alice, there are her brother and his wife, and people that knew Alice’s parents, and of course, the German girl. Now we meet the prejudice head on, and what we believe is not always true.
A real page turner, that will keep you up reading.
I received this book through Celebrate Lit Blog Tours, and was not required to give a positive review.
Alice’s Notions by Tamera Lynn Kraft is set in Burning Bush, West Virginia in April of 1946. Alice Morgan Brighton has returned to Burning Bush after the death of her husband, Joe in the war. She has decided to use her savings to open Alice’s Notions. Burning Bush has not been doing well and needs something that will help attract tourists. Alice has come up an idea and runs it past Mr. & Mrs. Toliver. She wants to have a barn quilt tour. Quilt patches will be painted on various barns around the town and, hopefully, the tourists will stay to eat and shop. Gwendolyn Toliver is all in favor of the notion and immediately sets to planning. Rick Morrison, Alice’s landlord, raises objections to Alice opening a shop and the tour. Rick is evasive about his business dealings, and he takes numerous out of town trips. Alice signed up to sponsor a European refugee, but Greta Engel from Germany is not what she expected. When Alice sprains her ankle just days before the opening of Alice’s Notions, she has no choice but to let Greta stay. What should be a wonderful opportunity for the Burning Bush ends up dividing the townspeople and causing dissention. During the planning, Alice notices that some of her friends are becoming secretive and there is something off about the tour plans. Does someone have a different agenda for the barn tour? Who are they and what is their plan? Alice intends to find out, but she does not know who she can trust.
Alice’s Notions is nicely written, and the story has a steady pace. It has a good flow and smooth transitions. Alice’s Notions is a story with intrigue, mystery, suspense, romance, and overcoming prejudices and anger. The author captured the setting of a small town in a rural area along with how the people felt and acted. Ms. Kraft captured the time-period with the language, dress, and people’s attitudes after the war. It helped that the slang from the 1940s was included along with films and books. I did, though, tire of Rick’s use of “dame” and “doll” when referring to Alice (it was annoying). Greta Engel was a wonderful addition to Alice’s Notions. In the story the author showed how people felt towards Germans after the war. Townspeople would call her Alice’s servant or girl (and other derogatory names) which properly reflected how people felt (it wasn’t right, but it was the attitude after the war based on fear and prejudice). Greta’s misunderstanding of American slang added humor to the story (just the right touch). I enjoyed seeing the relationship progress between Greta and Alice. Alice changed over the course of the book as well. She returned home to Burning Bush because she was afraid to live alone in New York City without her husband. Alice was timid in the beginning. If she is to thwart the evil that has invaded her town, she must step up. The mystery was well constructed, and there will be twists that will surprise readers. There is romance (of course) but it was not over-the-top. There is one steamy kiss. Otherwise, the relationship progressed at a pace congruent to the era. I am giving Alice’s Notions 4 out of 5 stars (I liked it). Alice’s Notions is an engaging novel that will sweep you back to a small town in 1946 that is the unlikely hotbed of a conspiracy.