Join the millions who have fallen in love with New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown in her landmark hundredth novel.At the end of her rope, single mom Lily Anderson is determined to move her rebellious children in the right direction. That means taking away their cell phones, tablets, and computers—at least temporarily—and moving to the house where Lily grew up in the rural town of … in the rural town of Comfort, Texas. But Lily has a bigger challenge than two sulking kids.
The house comes with Mack Cooper, high school teacher and handsome longtime renter. The arrangement: just housemates. But Mack’s devoted attention to the kids starts to warm Lily’s resistant heart. Then Lily finds an old leather-bound book in which five generations of her female ancestors shared their struggles and dreams. To Lily, it’s a bracing reminder about the importance of family…and love.
Now it’s time for Lily to add an adventurous new chapter to the cherished family journal—by embracing a fresh start and taking a chance on a man who could make her house a home.
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Put on your comfy slippers, grab a cuppa, curl up in your chair and dive into this story. It was such a wonderful read, so real I felt like I was there.
This is the author’s 100th book I hear, well done it’s a winner.
Lily is a great character, she comes from a line of strong women not afraid to correct their mistakes…that would be the men in their lives. A fresh start with two children, away from peer pressure and her ex.
The discovery of the journal, would it change their lives? Knowing your ancestors thoughts for over 150 years and realising times change but not actions and thoughts. Most made mistakes but moved on. The other characters in this story also made a delightful read. I really enjoyed this book.
The Family Journal is another hit by Carolyn Brown. This is a contemporary story of Lily Anderson, a single mother with two children. When her children act out she decides to take away their electronic devices and move the family to her small hometown of Comfort, Texas. There is only one slight problem. Her family home is being rented by a friend, Mack Cooper. In a small town, this is fodder for gossip and at first, Lily’s children don’t care much for Comfort. Lily finds an old family journal, dated back to the 1800s and this journal becomes a bound bringing the family together. Ms. Brown once again tells a story as a friend would. She shows that things aren’t always insurmountable and good things do happen to good people. Great read and I would definitely recommend it for those that like contemporary fiction.
THE FAMILY JOURNAL by Carolyn Brown is her 100th novel and it is my favorite to date! This is a wonderful, heartfelt and endearing story of a divorced mother who has decided to make a new start with her children in her childhood home in rural Texas.
Lily Anderson has had enough. She caught her disrespectful teenage daughter smoking a joint and has found out her preteen son is sneaking out to drink beer and smoke cigarettes with his friends. Her ex-husband gave Lily full custody in the divorce, so she has taken all their electronic devices and is packing up and moving out of Austin to her rural childhood hometown of Comfort, Texas. Lily is desperate to get her children back on the right path.
Mack Cooper has been renting Lily’s home since the death of her mother and raising goats on the property while also teaching ag classes at the high school. Lily is willing to share the house with Mack until she decides if they will be staying or moving back to Austin when the school year is over. Never married and having been cheated on not once, but twice Mack is happy with the company, but wary with his heart.
As Lily and her children begin to find a new normal, friends and reconnect, Mack plays an active part in their lives. Lily is also able to bond with her daughter over an old journal found in her mother’s desk. Passed down in her family for generations from mother to daughter, Lily and her daughter learn of all the strong women in their family’s past in their own words.
Will Lily be able to make this move work for herself and her children? And will she stay in Comfort to take a chance on a new man to make her house a home?
I curled up on my couch to start this book after lunch and I could not stop reading until the end. Having raised my son as a single mom, I could easily empathize with the trials Lily was going through with her children. Mack was a strong and steady hero for both Lily and her children and I feel the cozy romance was written perfectly for their situation. All of Lily’s childhood friends in Comfort added depth to the story. The most intriguing parts for me were reading the journal entries. I had to keep turning the pages because I was as interested in the women’s stories as Lily and her daughter.
This is an all around wonderful story of family love that I can highly recommend!
What an amazing story! I love single mom stories and I also love small town stories – put them together and I am head over heels in love! Carolyn Brown is an amazing author! The Family Journal is so much more than a romance story, it’s a story of family and finding yourself. Five huge stars!!
The Family Journal by Carolyn Brown is a powerful story about the love of a single mom for her kids. Lily Anderson is at the end of her rope. Her two kids are out of control, so she has packed up and moved her family back to Comfort, Texas. Her parents’ house comes with Mack Cooper, a high school teacher and a handsome longtime renter. Arrangements: housemates. But Mack’s devoted attention to the kids begins to warm Lily’s heart. She discovers a journal written by five generations of her female ancestors who shared their struggles and dreams. Through it, Lily rediscovery the importance of family and love. The journal itself will make you laugh or cry along with Lily and Holly as their fragile bond heals and brings them closer than ever. Carolyn Brown’s characters come to life on the pages with strengths and weaknesses we can all recognize. The Family Journal is a powerful story about the importance of family, love, healing, and trust. I’ve won this book in a Carolyn Brown’s giveaway, and this is my honest review.
A novel of healing and embracing who you are, loving your self and the people around you. It’s of coming home, and it’s never too late for that! It’s about the journal of all the woman that have come before and how similar their lives are when it comes to the things that matter. Strength and the fortitude to keep going on even when it seems impossible. Coming home to her mother’s house, that she never even got around to cleaning out, was harder than Lily thought it would be. Her children are angry with her for forcing them to move and she is sharing the house with Mack a man she feels sparks with. She has her friends again, life is simpler and her kids will come around, she hopes. It’s a story of the simple life, small town Texas and family and enduring friendships. It’s an emotional read at times, for me atleast, and I really enjoyed it. It was a wonderful way to spend my day and I have nothing but praise for the author and her story. Thank you for another story that took me away and another life I got to live.
Reading a Carolyn Brown book is like coming home again. You feel joy, contentment and love.
Single mom Lily Anderson found her fourteen-year-old daughter Holly in the library bathroom with a marijuana joint and that was the last straw. When Lily confiscates all of Holly’s electronics as punishment Holly tattletales on her twelve-year-old brother Braden by telling Lily that he has been sneaking out and smoking cigarettes and drinking beer with his friends. That revelation gets Braden’s electronics confiscated also and finalizes Lily’s decision to move the family away from the city of Austin, Texas to the small town of Comfort, Texas where Lily was born and raised and from which she couldn’t wait to escape come time to attend college. Going home to Comfort, Texas where she inherited her childhood home after the deaths of her parents. Going home to the house she and the kids will be sharing with Mack Cooper who is renting there. Would this move bring Lily’s family back together again? Is Lily making the right decision?
Carolyn Brown always somehow stikes right to the heart of the matter in her stories. She portrays her characters’ faults as well as their positives and their weaknesses as well as their strengths. Thus she brings her characters to life on the pages of the book and makes the reader want to get to know them. She tells the story here of a divorced mom who moves back home to better her life and the lives of her children who all benefit from the entrance of vo-ag teacher Mack Cooper into their lives. Carolyn Brown does an excellent job of contrasting Mack with Lily’s ex-husband Wyatt. The reunion of Lily with her two best friends from high school added additional joy to my reading of this story. This gave me a sense of how these three women were truly sisters of the heart. The introduction of Granny Hayes delighted me as this character helped portray the essense and goodness of small town living. The family journal was an excellent bridge to Lily’s healing of her doubts as well as an opening to reconnect with Lily’s rebellious daughter. I’m sure the reader will feel good after reading this story and close the book with a sigh of contentment for a story well-told.
Congratulations to Carolyn Brown on this her 100th book!
The Family Journal by Carolyn Brown a noteworthy four-star read. This is my first read by this author, and I don’t know how as I will be going back and checking the huge back catalogue out as the writing style is very nicely done. The web of tales that are weaved in this novel will keep you hooked, it does wander a little at times and that’s why I only gave it a four, but it has the bones of a very good story. The characters all have a great role to play, Lily was a great character and one who made me think fondly of my mum when I read of her struggles with Holly, it reminded me of mine with my own mum many years ago. When you add the history with the journal it gave you a great grounding. When you add Mac and his trouble with his twin, it adds a sense of drama and passion that will whirl you up. If you like your romance with history then you wont want to miss this story.
Lily has decided to move back to Comfort Texas, taking her children with her , her daughter has been caught in the bathroom with a joint, then she finds out her young son has tried alcohol. Going back to her childhood home…. only someone she grew up with is renting from her Mack, Arrangements will have to be settled when they get back home to the goat farm… as time goes on things will workout, Lily finds a journal that many family members from the past hundreds of years ago have written in,… I found this to be a very intriguing a story I just couldn’t put down and normally I don’t read a book into settings but I did this one I love this story.and I truly would recommend it to anyone normally books do not ever bring tears to my eyes but this one had a couple spots.. Granny Hayes.. was one of my favorite characters…
Thank you. Netgally for this Early read..Thank you Carolyn Brown for this wonderful Story