A Stitch in Time in Applewell – Lilac Mills

Released On: Canelo
Pages: 314
Released On: 12/05/2022

Gracie rescues old clothes and cast offs from Applewell’s charity shop, making them into cute and fresh outfits, which she then sells in her little shop. Turning a profit is hard at the best of times, let alone when new arrival Lucas appears.

After running away from the village in his teens, Lucas has finally returned to an uncomfortable amount of fanfare and gossip. His job requires him to streamline homeless charity, UnderCover, and his plans to do so risk putting Gracie out of business.

The pair of them exchange harsh words but when Lucas’ niece cuts up his sister’s wedding dress, there’s only one person he can think to turn to. Along with repairing the dress, will Gracie patch up her relationship with Lucas? Or is that a stitch too far?

*****

Thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.

I adored the previous in the series “Make Do and Mend in Applewell” and was really glad to visit the village again. I admit, I did prefer the former book to this one, but not because of anything wrong with this one. It’s just the former was set at Christmas, and because I identify as Mrs Claus, that was always going to come up trumps. I like that, whilst this is book three in the series, you can read them all as standalone stories.

The more I read of this type of book, the more I’m determined to find a quaint little village to move into. Perfectly one with an enigmatic, mysterious handsome man in who I keep bumping into.

I really liked the integration of the serious topics – abandonment, loneliness, relationships, pregnancy, grief, homelessness – into an uplifting positive story; they fit in naturally and it doesn’t feel like Lilac has had to force them in.

Quite often I struggle with the chemistry between lead characters as it’s often very unnatural, but the chemistry between Gracie and Lucas leaps off the page from the very start. And not only that, the chemistry Gracie has with her friends is so warming and just full of heart.