Guest Blog, Book Review and Giveaway: The Comforts of Home by Jodi Thomas

As fall settles in around the Panhandle of Texas, I’m getting excited about THE COMFORTS OF HOME coming out Tuesday, Nov 1, 2011. My favorite time of year is fall with the cool nights and sometimes rainy days.  The perfect weather to curl up with a book.

Since the idea of a small town of Harmony first began to form in my mind, I wanted to write about not only the ‘important’ people in a place who make the community run, but also about the quiet people who live their lives and get lost in their dreams.  COMFORTS is a book full of possibilities in love and life.  Read it on a cool winter day and I promise it’ll warm your heart.

In a closing note, I’d like to add that you are going to love a new character I introduce.  He’s just a kid (17) with long hair, and a dream to make it big in the music world.  We’ll be watching him grow up and fall in love several times before he figures women out. 

Come along with me to Harmony.  We’ll have a grand visit with the people there.

Wishing you much love and laughter in your life,

Jodi Thomas

www.jodithomas.com

www.facebook.com/JodiThomasAuthor

The Comforts of Home by Jodi Thomas

Publisher: Berkley

Publish Date: November 1, 2011

Paperback, 320 pages 
Fiction, General Fiction with romantic elements
 ISBN: 978-0425244487

My Review:
Coming back to Harmony with each book is like coming home to me.  Jodi manages to make the town of Harmony, Texas feel like my own home town and it's inhabitants like people I know and run into at the store.  Even though there are usually six months between installments, I fall right back into town life and the life of the people the story focuses on.  Yet if this was the first Harmony novel you were to pick up, I think that would be fine as well.  Jodi goes into enough back story to familiarize you with a character so a new person to the Harmony books wouldn't feel lost.

The Comforts of Home is different from the first two Harmony novels which focused mainly on one couple while focusing on the town too.  Now of course those two couples are settled down and we get to see some of them in this book which is a real treat.  But in this installment, several story lines are focused on.  Here several romances are given the spotlight and several characters with minor roles in earlier books are also given the spotlight.  Reagan and Noah are ever-present and I am glad for that - I want to continue to see them grow up in the town of Harmony.  I also love how Jodi uses people of all different ages in her books.  She doesn't focus on 20-something couples or even 30-somethings.  There is even a couple who broke up in WWII in this one who are either trying to reignite the fire or keep it going, depending on who's gossip you believe.

So there is romance, and that is wonderful, but the characters are what really make these books and The Comforts of Home is no exception.  Getting a closer look at Tyler, Kate, Ronelle and several others was great in this book.  Such different people with different lives, yet they can all come together when needed.  And of course some new faces are introduced and there are some definite interesting ones there as well that I can't wait to see more of in future books.

I won't give too much away but suffice it to say that the plot moves along swiftly.  I never wanted to put it down and I didn't want it to end.  I definitely don't want to wait until April for the next book, but I guess I will have to.  Until then I have the various stories going through my head and hopes and dreams for the characters to come.  So far Ms. Thomas has not disappointed and I don't expect her to anytime soon.  The Harmony series is like a roaring fire on a cool fall or winter day, comforting and relaxing, something that just makes you feel like you are at home.  That's what The Comforts of Home is like and it's perfect for these coming late fall/early winter days so make sure you get a copy and see for yourself.


My Rating: 5.0/5.0

About Jodi

Jodi Thomas is the NY Times and USA Today best-selling author of 34 novels and 11 short story collections. In June 2011, WELCOME TO HARMONY won a RITA, the highest award for contemporary
fiction. Jodi currently serves as the Writer in Residence at West Texas A&M University in Canyon,
Texas.


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About The Comforts of Home:

In Harmony, Texas, twenty-year-old Reagan Truman has found her place, and found her family. But with her uncle taken ill and her friend Noah lost and disheartened with his life, Reagan is afraid of ending up alone again, and she's not the only one. When a terrible storms threatens the town, the residents of Harmony are forced to think about what they really want. Because making the connections they so desperately desire means putting their hearts at risk...

Giveaway:

I have been given 1 copy of The Comforts of Home by Jodi Thomas to giveaway to the readers of this blog. Simply leave name and email in Rafflecopter to enter.  Additional entries are available but not required.  Giveaway open to US/Canada only.  Giveaway runs through October 25, 2011.

FTC Information: I received this book from the publisher for an honest review.