🌼📻☕🍽️ "This Side of Yesterday" 🍽️☕📻🌼 (The Mosaic Collection #8) (2020) - Book Review
MY REVIEW
Series:
The Mosaic Collection (Book #8)
Paperback:
292 pages
Publisher:
Darlene Books (February 29, 2020)
Language:
English
ISBN-10:
0692896341
ISBN-13:
978-0692896341
Click Picture for Purchase Link (Paperback)
“Ginger
Mooreland is stretched beyond her limit. Her beloved grandfather she cares for
is showing signs of dementia and she is in danger of losing the Jukebox Café,
which has been in the family for generations. Without the Jukebox she’s not
sure how she can take care of her grandfather. The confidence that has
bolstered her in the past is replaced with doubt.
Mike, the
pastor of the local community church, has become a close friend to Ginger over
the years. As their feelings for each other grow, Ginger questions whether she
needs one more thing unsettling her life.
Convinced
that his wife, Irene, who disappeared shortly after Pearl Harbor is still
alive, Grandpa sends Ginger on an unlikely quest to uncover the truth. As
Ginger traces the threads of Grandpa’s past and deals with her doubts about the
present, she discovers far more than she ever expected for her future.”
Thank you in advance to The Mosaic Collection
and JustRead Publicity Tours for providing a complimentary advance review copy.
A positive review was not required. All words and thoughts are my own.
While this is part of the Christian and
Faith-based “The Mosaic Collection”, the previous novels are not connected to
this one, and not required to be read. The Jukebox Café was introduced in the “Hope
is Born” anthology that was previously released. Which, I have not read.
This does well as a standalone read. If I hadn’t researched the novel, author, or collection; I wouldn’t have known about the previous story.
This does well as a standalone read. If I hadn’t researched the novel, author, or collection; I wouldn’t have known about the previous story.
This is the fourth Mosaic Collection book I’ve
read (previously “A Beautiful Mess”; “More Than Enough”; “Road to Happenstance”).
Each one is different, but each one contains an element of faith.
This falls more under fiction/romance.
There might be some content warnings for
readers who have issues/struggles with certain subjects:
* Dementia
* Mental Health
* Japanese Internment (slight plot spoiler)r
* Foster Care/Foster Kids (perception of foster
kids)
First off the author tackles the sensitive, but
not often talked about, subject of dementia. While it can happen at nearly any
age, it is more common in the aging and elderly. Ginger’s grandfather, Walter,
is 98 and well within the age group.
Despite his problems and lapses, he is in
relatively good health. Ginger is not only “managing” her grandfather (as she
has no other family), but also the struggling Jukebox Café. She seems to have a
hard time keeping waitresses around. This is one open-end I would’ve liked to
have figured out, but the author doesn’t wrap up that plot in this story.
The story deals more with the café’s struggles
and a new element – the disappearance of Ginger’s grandmother, Irene, shortly
after World War II. The woman left and never returned. Where did she go? When
Walter returned home, Irene had gone missing. Now, with Walter’s cognitive
functions declining, finding Irene becomes a priority. But, Ginger can’t seem
to find time to help.
She’s even helping a local foster mom, Megan,
with a few things around her house. It ramps up when Megan’s husband Greg is
injured while doing a repair.
Another complication in Ginger’s life – pastor Mike.
He is always there for her, and while they dated, nothing became of it. Still,
he wants to help Ginger in any way he can – the café, watching her grandfather,
or searching for Irene. A sweet (and slow) romance builds between the two.
Ginger soon learns that her grandmother’s
heritage played a huge role in her disappearance – this is where the issue of
the Japanese internment is mentioned.
Meyer crafts a beautiful story with saving a
beloved café, natural disasters, uniting foster kids, finding love, and finding
a lost loved one. There are strong elements of faith, and some scriptures are
used. The reader will see how the characters rely on God and their faith to see
them through. Readers will see that they don’t have to go through things alone
with they do have friends to help out.
A quick spoiler, one of the kids’ brothers is
reunited with the other, but there is a problem. That is not resolved by the
end of the story though and I would’ve liked to see how the boy turned out.
Pastor Mike also has a secret which comes to
light when a “tagger” hits certain businesses in the area, including the café. This
is wrapped up quickly in passing though.
Overall, this was a quick read with short
chapters and an easy flowing style. The author didn’t “rush” the scenes, but
she didn’t linger on them either. I felt there were places she could’ve
expanded, but it didn’t stop the overall storyline.
It was, for me, slow to get into at first –
but, after a while, I found I couldn’t stop reading it. And, I actually read it
in less than a day (started late in the evening, finished early in the morning).
There were a few typos, but this was otherwise
well written.
Readers will be pleased with the “happy ending”
of the story and provides a message of hope.
RATING:
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ –
Goodreads
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ –
Bookbub
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐–
Personal Rating (see rating explanation in this blog: https://readingexcursions.blogspot.com/2020/01/rating-system-2020-changes.html)
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Angela D. Meyer lives in Nebraska
with her husband of over 27 years. They have two children, both of whom they
homeschooled and graduated. She is the author of the Applewood Hill series
and is a contributor to The Benefit Package, a devotional
compilation.
Angela graduated from college with a degree in
Teaching English as a Foreign Language, but instead of working overseas, she
spent several years in New England as a nanny. She co-teaches a women’s Bible
study at her church and serves on the advisory board of her local Christian
writers’ group, Wordsowers.
She enjoys the ocean, beautiful sunrises and
sunsets and hopes to someday ride in a hot air balloon. Her aim in life is to
love God and love others.
She can be found on the following social media accounts:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/angeladmeyer/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AngelaDMeyer
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