Review: Lumby's Bounty by Gail Fraser

Lumby's Bounty by Gail Fraser (Book 3) Publisher: New American Library (Penguin Books)
Genre: Fiction
Trade Paperback, 329 pages
Book Source: FSB Associates
My Rating: 95/100
[My review of Book 1 and Book 2]

From the author's website:

When a silly scheme commits Lumby to building a balloon for the regional festival it must host in twelve short weeks, the town's worthies take up the challenge, wreaking havoc along the way as test balloons suffer hilarious fates. But two foreigners who are visiting Saint Cross come to their rescue; Kai, a sincere young man who discovers his destiny is not in the priesthood, and his brother, Jamar, who brings his own brand of charismatic mischief to the scene and involves several locals in a wildly romantic real estate venture. As the festival approaches, the monks of Saint Cross Abbey, now nationally known for their good works, struggle to deal with the masses of devotees-and more than a few nutcases-flocking to take up residence on the monastery grounds. But in the end, the skies clear and The Bounty of Lumby, breathtaking in color and size, lifts off the ground and floats gently over Montis Inn.

My Thoughts:

This is the third book in Fraser's Lumby series, and it continues to give the reader a hilarious glimpse of life in the small town of Lumby.  The usual suspects are back: the Walkers, the monks of the abbey, Joshua and Brooke; these characters are the main cast in every book so far.  They are involved with whatever the main event of the story is.  The event, in this case a hot air balloon festival, also brings in other Lumby residents or visitors to the story.  So in case you are wondering whether you would be bored reading about the same people over and over, you won't.

This time around we meet brothers Kai and Jamar, two visitors from the island of Coraba in the Indian Ocean.  Boy oh boy are these two night and day.  Kai is serious and Jamar is quite the free spirit.  Luckily for Lumby they know all about hot air balloons, and generously offer their expertise to the town.
We also get to know some of the locales a little better, like Brian Beezer, the town mischief.  Apparently he is very creative.  He sees a situation and figures out a way to make it work to his advantage.  Sounds misguided but it's not.

All in all I enjoyed my time in Lumby.  These books always pull me out of my reading slump, and remind me what life could be all about.  Don't sweat the small stuff and be nice to others.  Simple but rules to live by.  Reading these books are like sitting down with friends over a cup of coffee and a slice of cheesecake.

By the way, if  you haven't read these books and are curious as to why I love them so, go check out the newsletter that Gail Fraser has started.  It's called Simply Lumby and you can read the latest issue here: newsletter ( http://www.lumbybooks.com/newsletters.php )

There are contests, giveaways, recipes, gardening articles and a taste of Gail's writing.  The back issues are listed at the bottom of the web page.  So please, go see for yourself, why I would move to Lumby in a heartbeat.

Thanks to Caitlin from FSB Associates for my review copy.

2010 Challenges Met: 100+

 

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