What sets this book apart is its tremendous variety of taste, environment, ideas, style. Locations really run the gamut; the book is divided into continents, so Africa (for example) gets just as much attention as does Asia. The scope is fabulous: non-chic locations like a rustic cottage on the Baltic Sea, a windswept beach house on the English Channel. The north African featured homes are especially interesting. So there is a beautiful array of styles and ideas on how to highlight a special environment.

Not a source book (no index or listings of architects and products), but an excellent style book. The photos are first-rate, with beautiful balance of detail shots and whole rooms. Quite a lot of landscaping can be seen, even if it's about "interiors", so that's a bonus.

Need not be decorating a seaside home to be able to love and even use this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed Abby's quest for freedom, Marsh's quest for peace and quiet and Rick's quest for something real. I also enjoyed the fact that the "mystery villain" actually WAS a mystery for quite a bit of the book, and that I was surprised to learn who it was. And I'm still laughing at the concept of a cat named Puppy!

This book is a good entertaining read, but it's also full to the brim with useful, edifying subject matter, a perfect blend of romance, intrigue and good, solid Christian faith. In other words, you'll enjoy reading this, but be careful- you just might learn something!

I am thrilled that this book finally gives some long overdue credit to one of the pioneers of modern residential architecture.

Lottie Bernham came to Merham as a war refugee and became such fast friends with Celia, the daughter of her host family, that she rarely returned to her home in England. The two remain close until Celia falls in love and brings her fiancé, Guy, to meet her family.

From the moment she sees Guy, Lottie cannot take her eyes off of him. Although she tries to avoid him, they seem to be thrown together. He even enjoys the company of the residents of Arcadia House when the rest of the town is scandalized at the behavior of the artists who purchased it. When one of the artists paints a mural depicting Guy and Lottie in love with one another, they must decide between passion and propriety.

Fast forward 50 years, when the new owner of Arcadia House decides to turn the place into a fancy hotel. Daisy takes on the job of remodeling the building, moving into the hotel during its renovation in order to provide a home for herself and her daughter.

When the carpenters come across the mural hidden behind years of growth and decay, she decides to have it restored to its former glory. Now Daisy must come to terms with her future and Lottie must come to terms with her past.

Jojo Moyes has a way of drawing the reader into the story, of making the reader turn the page to find out what happens next. The characters, with all of their flaws and the hardships they face, ring true for the reader. Although part one focuses on Lottie, part two focuses on Daisy so that we see the changes in the people and the town of Merham from an outsider's perspective. The stories of the two women parallel each other, in more subtle ways than often seen in novels.

Five decades later, Daisy Parsons arrives at the small back to sleep village to renovate Arcadia into a luxury hotel. The villagers once again abhor the thought of amoral outsiders descending on their hamlet. Insecure from a failed relationship, Daisy discovers a mural that portrays scenes from the mansion's ignominious past. Daisy's work begins destroying the emotional cocoon that Lottie has resided since her teen days.

WINDFALLEN is a well-written comparative character study that interweaves the past and the present into a cohesive tale. The story line enables the audience to see deep inside the two women so that everyone understands what motivates both and the tenuous relationship and bond which forms between them. Though limited in action, Jojo Moyes provides readers with a deep drama that focuses on the long-term impact of personal opportunity costs.

Harriet Klausner

During our all-too-brief stay in Carmel, we walked the tree-shaded streets and explored the white sand beach. We could see houses and cottages half-hidden behind spectacular foliage and vine-covered walls. They looked lived in and inviting. Of course, we strolled more or less randomly, following Carmel's narrow lanes where they would lead us.

At a local bookshop we purchased a copy of Cottages by the Sea. This excellent volume showed us what no uninvited guests could view on their own. We dreamed of being able to enter the gates that its author and her photographer did, and to view the warm interiors of the cottages whose exteriors we glimpsed. We were heartened by the author's quiet but firm thoughts about preserving Carmel, and villages like it from development and unplanned 'progress.'

We had not known about Carmel's 'artistic' past, and this book led us not only to Tor House, but to the poems of Robinson Jeffers, a volume of which we found in another shop. The illustrations in this book are wonderful. The text provides a brief history of a place that I can assume is like no other in America-or in the world.

We have one complaint. Some of the reproductions of documents and plans were too small to be legible. Perhaps they could be enlarged in a later edition? But all in all, this book added much to our experience of Carmel, and we highly recommend it to anyone who loves this type of modest domestic architecture. We have bought copies for our friends in the UK who plan to visit the US. And because of it, we hope to return to Carmel.

As with most novels, I read page after page anticipating the "big moment", the "turning point", a "climax", anything to cite as the work's purpose or point. I never did quite accomplish that.I found myself reading and rereading looking for the part that I must have skipped over accidentally. I have yet to find the secret chapter.

But what I accomplished wasn't known to me at the time but became clear after reflecting. The goal of the book is to help its readers acquire an inner peace within themselves; one that I found to be best appreciated in one's older years. I dont think that I was ready to read the book presently, but can see myself one day rocking in a glider totally enjoying and appreciating Jewett's novel.

A collection of quiet "sketches," this volume is a reminder of the fine writing produced by some of the earliest American realists. Critics have recently revised their first opinions of the book as a "small success" and now consider it a classic of American literature. The stories revolve around a young writer who goes to the coastal town of Dunnet Landing, Maine. In the company of Mrs. Todd, a venerable and locally revered herbalist who gives her lodging, the writer comes to know and write about the people of the area. The result is a fascinating look into personalities shaped and distilled by life on that severe coast into persons of rare character. This edition also contains eight of Jewett's best short stories, including "A White Heron" and "The Queen's Twin."

No plot devices or car chases here--this is a book to read on a rainy afternoon when nostalgia and melancholy threaten to overwhelm. It's comfort food like grandma used to make--reassuring, soul-fortifying, and full of the capacity to cheer. It's also addictive--once you take a bite out of Pointed Firs, you can't stop.

Similar author: Mary Wilkins Freeman

Lydia was out on a romantic vacation with Abe, her current beau. When her boyfriend drowns during a diving excursion, she thinks she'll never find someone again, for men see her blonde hair and assume that she is stupid. But when she finds out that Abe has embezzled $3 million from her father, she seeks the help of a sexy Irish scuba instructor -- and gets more than she bargains for.

The Dominant Blonde is an engrossing and sensuous read. By far, one of the best romantic mysteries I have read in quite a long time. Don't be fooled by its silly cover, read this gem! You won't regret it!