Susan R. Opel
It’s no secret I love to make cards. I mean, I’m pretty sure you get that.
But there’s something else I’m pretty passionate about—reading. My trips to the Bookmobile as a child resulted in stacks of books from Judy Blume, L.M. Montgomery, Margaret Mitchell, Charlotte Bronte, and later biographies like Coal Miner’s Daughter (man, I loved that book!) and anything related to the Kennedy family.
I read up in a tree. I read to avoid having to do the dishes. I read deep into the night. And that passion gave way to the desire to be an English teacher. The writing? I could’ve skipped that part, but sharing my love for literature with my students was what I cherished.
Still today I treasure the time I have to read. Now I favor John Grisham, Tami Hoag, and Sue Grafton, and I’m always up for a good bit of historical fiction. I’ve even created a list of my essential must-reads here if you’re interested.
Along the way, I’ve picked up a few paper-crafting-themed novels. It excited me to see two of my favorite things merged into one. But I was let down by the frivolous and somewhat cheesy story lines. It seemed like the authors were just trying too hard.
Until now.
Let me introduce you to my friend Courtney Walsh. . . .
Courtney is the author of A Sweethaven Summer. She is a very talented scrapbooker and has changed my mind that a paper-crafting-themed novel can actually be GOOD.
Click the cover to order your copy now!
Click the cover to order your copy now!
Quick synopsis a la Susan R. Opel: single mom Suzanne dies before she is able to reveal to her daughter Campbell who her father is. Campbell finds portions of a scrapbook that her mother made while summering in an idyllic lake town in Michigan (!) which leads her on a journey to find Suzanne’s childhood friends to see if she can uncover clues to who her father might be. Each one of the four friends known as The Circle—Suzanne, Lila, Jane, and Meghan—have kept parts of the scrapbook revealing their time together in 1987 before Suzanne mysteriously left Sweethaven for good. Any more than that, and I’ll ruin it for you!
I have this habit of turning back the corner to pages that have an especially scintillating turn of phrase. I like to revisit those pages once I’ve finished the book and really think about how proud the author had to have been after writing THAT sentence! Here are two of my favorites from A Sweethaven Summer:
“She pretended she didn’t miss his touch as soon as they disconnected.” (pg. 192)
“The lie smacked at her like a child throwing a tantrum.” (pg. 252)
You see? That’s some good stuff right there!
I really loved this sweet story. Filled with intrigue and excellent character development, I looked forward to every new chapter, and when I came to the very end, all of the loose ends that needed to be tied up were all there, to my delight!
Since I love reading AND card making, I thought I’d make a Sweethaven-inspired card.
Sweethaven Miss You Card by Susan R. Opel
Obviously I drew inspiration from the color palette of the cover, but the sparkly embellishment and tulle were meant to mimic the lakeshore, and the sentiment poignantly fits the theme of the story about childhood friends.
I asked Courtney if she’d be willing to share her novel with one of our readers, and I’m happy to say that she agreed! And not only is she willing to part with one copy, she’s giving away three. One GRAND PRIZE WINNER will receive A Sweethaven Summer as well as Courtney’s first book Scrapbooking Your Faith, and a box full of creative supplies (see the photo below)!
Just a little teaser of what you could win!
Leave a comment telling us about your favorite childhood friend. Your comment will register you for the chance to win a copy of A Sweethaven Summer and maybe just maybe be our Sweethaven Grand Prize Winner! All comments must be received by Thursday, April 12th at 5 pm MST.
Looking forward to getting this book! My favorite childhood friend was John. We met when I was 14 and he was 16. My first Love. We would date on and off for several years but eventually our lives would take separate paths; mine to law enforcement, his to the military. We would only speak or see each other a few times over the next 40 years, but each time was like we had never parted. Friendship, deep love and respect is all we would share. We would both end up happily married to others. In fact, I would meet the 2nd love of my life on the exact same date (9/21) as I had met John, many years earlier. John set the standard in my life, for all who would follow…..Love you, John.
My favorite childhood friend was Terri, met her when I moved to Washington when I was in the 4th grade and to this day we are still friends living in the same town. We enjoyed each other’s company so much as kids (still do) and wanted to do everything together. Our parents became good friends as well. I loved her family thinking she had a perfect family and she felt that way about my family. We did so many things together,made so many wonderful memories I will cherish forever.
I’ve heard such great reviews about this book…looking forward to getting it and making it part of my summer reading collection…definitely scrapbooks are a great way to discover the past!! This for the chance to win!
Jeanette
I would love to read this book. I have spent many hours reading as a child as many books as I could get my hands on and carrying that love over as an adult. I was an Army brat so I had many childhood friends and unfortunately have not stayed connected to them since we didnt have the luxury of Facebook. My oldest friend I met in Germany when I was 12. We still kept I touch even without facebook and continue to keep in touch today. We were fast friends in a small military community and I have so many fond memories of our time there.
I met my best friend when I was 8 and we’ve been friends ever since. We’re like kindred spirits, I couldn’t live my life without her. She was the maid of honor at my wedding and the Godmother to my oldest son.
My Sweetest childhood friend was Heather. We did everything together but as time went on we both upended up moving away and lost touch. Wish I knew where she was…
I don’t even know what to say except “THANK YOU”…for this post, for the sweet comments & for sharing stories of your own childhood friends!
I love this so much and can’t wait to send my book out to three of you!!
My best childhood friend would have to be Sarah Gabbey. My first name is Gaby, so really it seemed as though we were meant to be! We met in kindergarten and in the first grade Sarah was diagnosed with juvenile type one diabetes, low and behold the next year I was also diagnosed with it. If that doesn’t bond two kids, I don’t know what would! Luckily our school always placed us in the same class room each year so that we were able to care for each other as well as test our blood sugars and eat our snacks to make sure our blood sugars didn’t bottom out. None of the other class had the special 10AM snacks , so I was very lucky that if I had to stand out, I had her with me.
Thanks so much for the chance at such an awesome giveaway! Sounds like an amazing read!
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