The Cottage on Juniper Ridge Book Review

I was ready to go back to the Icicle Falls series when I finished my other books.  I got a whole bunch more out of the library and I was ready to continue where I left off in the story of the people in this small town.   The Cottage on Juniper Ridge (Life in Icicle Falls) by Sheila Roberts was a perfect trip back to this quaint town with a new person who just moved into the cottage on Juniper Ridge and was trying to re-invent her life to live more simply.

Can a book change your life? Yes, when it's Simplicity, Muriel Sterling's guide to plain living. In fact, it inspires Jen Heath to leave her stressful, overcommitted life in Seattle and move to Icicle Falls, where she rents a lovely little cottage on Juniper Ridge. And where she can enjoy simple pleasures—like joining the local book club—and complicated ones, like falling in love with her sexy landlord, Garrett Armstrong. Her sister Toni is ready for a change, too. She has a teenage daughter who's constantly texting her friends, a husband who's more involved with his computer than he is with her, and a son who's consumed by video games. Toni wants her family to grow closer—to return to a simpler way of life. Other women in town, like Stacy Thomas, are also inspired to unload their excess stuff and some of the extra responsibilities they've taken on. But as they all discover, sometimes life simply happens. It doesn't always happen simply!

It was a great read that I got to read a lot of while sitting on the playground watching my son.  Luckily there is a table out of the sun where I get to do a lot of reading.  On Friday, I promised him we could stay after school because he was bummed that we had to leave after only 30 minutes on Tuesday because we had soccer practice and we went for a haircut after school on Wednesday and then his Magic Tree Book Club on Thursday so he needed to run around.  We were there for an hour!!  I was ready to read more but if we didn't get home then I wouldn't be ready for dinner even though everything was prepped and just waiting for me to get home.  Luckily, it gave me a big chunk of time to read this book and make great progress.  I finished it Saturday morning while avoiding doing the long list of things that I should have been doing instead.  I really enjoyed this escape and this book following the newcomer to Icicle Falls trying to simplify her life from Seattle to something that she could actually enjoy.  No more working two jobs and barely scraping by, she was going to learn to relax and use her kitchen.  It was a great story that I could totally relate to with a few recipes included, it was a great inspiration story based on simplifying life to have a better life.  I hope that you check it out at your local library or bookstore and see for yourself.  If you are looking for a small town pulling together in tough times, this book is the perfect fit for you.