Sonoma Rose: An Elm Creek Quilts Novel (The Elm Creek Quilts Book 19)

Book excellent condition

I LOVE this series -- I always buy the hardback within a week of it's availability. But, after reading 18 others in this series, I expected a whole lot more about quilting and was thoroughly disappointed. Mind you, I am NOT a quilter, but fell in love with quilting as an art (still as an outsider)when I started reading these books many years ago. There were so many opportunities she could have taken to insert quilts (even in a small way!)and didn't take them, I was almost starting to get mad!I was also VERY disppointed there were NO references at all to the current characters. Could she not have "book-ended" the story with references/plot about the current Elm Creek Quilters? Maybe they found an old quilt? A bottle of wine? A photograph? A marriage certificate? A newspaper clipping? A receipt from the doctor? Anything! I was disappointed that was left out entirely. I wanted to see just a glimpse of our beloved characters!None the less, it was a good story with solid characters, although a bit darker than her usual and rushed to a finish and smashed what could have been good plot/story into the short Epilogue. I was also overwhelmed by the history of the era (informative, but too heavy in some places) and the details of wine making (informative, but too many details). The story was heavy with long paragraphs with less dialogue than usual, too. Plus, I had to reach back into the back corners of my memory to figure out how these characters connected to the others from her series. All of that was ok only because I love the series so much. I'm patient and loyal. If you're not, you might get frustrated with this one (as I also did with "The Wedding Quilt" but stuck with it anyway).Here's to the next book ("The Giving Quilt") which I know will include plenty about quilting with our long lost characters of today!!! And here's hoping she keeps writing! There are many stories still to be told!

I was really excited after waiting soooo long to get this book. The story started out pretty much like all of Jennifer's books do, giving us a bit of history which is common in all her books. It helps bring new readers up to the current storyline. This book however, never stopped talking about Rosa's abusive past life with John which took up nearly half the book or more. Occasionally it would come back to the present in the story, but soon it would go back for another several pages talking about how Rose actually came to Sonoma County. I was a little disappointed having read the other books and knowing that is where she went with Lars and her children. Jennifer is a great story teller and a great quilter as well. I also really missed it when this young woman didn't find any ladies who were quilters as well as farm wives although I seen how busy these farm wives were during the day. They still had the evenings free for family and friends. Quilting seemed to be something of the past in this book..... well, the book itself seemed more about the past than the present as well. I hope Jennifer will write another book about the Sonoma Rose Vineyards and Orchards later on. I would love to find out if Rosa ever finds quilters in this northern California town and what if anything she find out about the Nelsons to whom she sold her old adobe and ranch.I was really disappointed to wait so long for this book and expected to read about Rosa's NEW LIFE with LARS. Never got that, at the end of the book, they were finally married, but hadn't really started their new life together. Whoopie!!!

All the products arrived on time, even ahead of the scheduled dates. They were in excellent shape.

ENjoyed the story line and wanted to read more but the story ended. Epilogue was great.

Though not as much the story of quilts this book held my attention. Great story line and well developed. On to the next one!

Most of my media exposure to Prohibition centers around Chicago and other big cities where the mafia flourished, so reading this book gave me an inside look at what that era must have been like for vintners in California's beautiful Sonoma Valley. I have lived in Sonoma and it was fun to identify familiar areas in the book. I didn't live there during Prohibition but have talked to old timers who told of having the streams turn red with wine that had to be dumped. As with all good historical fiction, history comes alive when told in the context of stories about people who can express emotions and portray day-to-day living conditions of the era. Truly an interesting read.

Sonoma Rose covers what it was like to live in California during Prohibition. At the same time, it shows how a Quilt can give comfort, & a connection to our loved ones. Past, present & future generations can connect with the quilter,when admiring their work.This whole series of books shows how men, or women can over come hardships together. Quilting has always given comfort, peace & a way for artistic expression. It is craft anyone can do. It just all depends on how far you want to get into it. No one should ever feel inadiquate about their level or skill of quilting. Any effort is a gift of love. Jennifer Chiaverini has showed us how it happens. The one constant through the whole series are the charcters & how friendships, family, and the Quilt can influence our lives.

I really enjoyed this book, though I wouldn't call it an 'Elm Creek' novel. It's a spin-off, and picks up where 'The Quilter's Homecoming' finishes. In fact, the first couple of chapters overlap, as we leave the story from Elizabeth's point of view (in The Quilter's Homecoming), and now take up the story from Rosa's point of view. It has no link whatsoever to Elm Creek, and only a very slim link to Elizabeth, who came from Elm Creek.However, Jennifer Chiaverini is a master at a good story, especially historical ones, and despite this not being an Elm Creek book, and only a passing mention to Quilting, it's still a very good story. It follows the tale of Rosa, Lars & the children as they escape from the abusive John and search for a cure for Ana & Miguel's mysterious illness, which has already claimed the lives of their older brothers & sisters.They find refuge with the warm and friendly Cacchione family who own a vineyard. But this is late 1920's, early 1930's, so owning a family vineyard in Probition era is not easy. The Cacchione's activities threaten to reveal Roas & Lars' secret. I thought the potrayl of Lars ongoing struggle with alcholism was very realistic. An extremely good story, really enjoyed this book.

I've read (and own!) all the Elm Creek books. This book follows on from an earlier book that was one of my least favourites so I wasn't particularly excited about it coming out. However, having read it, I really enjoyed it. My only criticism is that there is hardly any quilting in it - a few quilts get a mention and a brief description, but I think they could have been edited out and the story would have still been a good one, whereas with other books in the series the actual process of quilting has been more intrinsic to the plot.

Another winner from Jennifer Chaiverini,whilst writing about the modern day trails and tribulations of running a quilt camp(which any quilter would give their right arm to visit) you also get back stories of how today's family has arrived were it is. Very cleverly using previous mentioned characters to broaden the story you get to here a lot of American history without really knowing it. Wonder what the next book is going to be about.

Liked this book a lot. It answers a few questions left from previous books.

Although part of Elm creek quilts this story could be read in isolation. Interestingly the tale is one of love, betrayal and finding a place to be a family