A Mile in My Flip-Flops...Review

About the book:
Thirty-something Gretchen Hanover is stuck. Seeking solace from a broken heart, she traded her wedding plans for home improvement shows and ice cream—but she knows she can’t live on Ben and Jerry’s forever. She also knows that her enthusiastic Lab puppy has outgrown her tiny apartment.

The perfect patch for Gretchen’s dilapidated plans? She’ll become a first-time house-flipper. As ideas go, it’s daring and genius. She’ll take out a short-term loan, buy a fixer-upper, renovate it, resell it, and use the profit for an adorable house of her own. What could be easier?

But Gretchen’s plans to flip quickly flop when the house turns out to be in worse shape than she expected. She is relying on her retired contractor-father, but he wants to draw in his carpenter friend Noah Campbell. And although Noah is handy with tools, Gretchen isn’t so sure about the baggage he brings with him. Will she be able to loosen her grip on the tools when it seems Noah may be her only help?

A whimsical look at color swatches, mismatched curtain rods, and the building of relationships, A Mile in My Flip-Flops reminds us that it takes faith to renovate the heart, as well as the home.

Gretchen Hanover is a thirty-something kindergarten teacher whose fiance dumped her just before their wedding. After 18 months of consoling herself with ice cream and HGTV, she decides she needs to do something with her life. Her solution? To flip a house, just like it's done on HGTV. She convinces her dad to co-sign on a short-term loan and she purchases a disaster of a house.

Gretchen's dad, in a bit of matchmaking, convinces her to hire his carpenter friend, Noah, to help the project along. Predictably, Gretchen learns a lot about herself and her relationship with God and, along the way, falls in love with Noah.

A light, easy read with lots of little details about renovating, decorating, ex-spouses and best friends. The moral of the story? Life doesn't always go as planned, but trust in God and He'll take care of it. Carlson has a descriptive way of writing and it's easy to visualize her story. The title is a cute play on words.

A charming, funny book: perfect for escapist reading.

Thanks to my local library for having a copy I could borrow.  You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 8/08

* * *
3/5 Stars

Comments

  1. Thanks for commenting on my blog... sounds like you're a book lover as well - and I definitely want to try this one. I'm a huge fan of HGTV and house flipping so it sounds really interesting... besides, being a mom of young kids, I love to escape into chick lit!!! I know, shows how deep I am, lol...

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  2. I love the cover art for this one -- very cute! This sounds like something I'd enjoy. I, too, turn to HGTV in times of stress.

    Found you via J. Kaye's blog and thought I would say hello. Your blog is beautiful!

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  3. This sounds like a really good read, I've put it on my wish list! thanks

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  4. Sounds fun. Thanks for the review.

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