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The Fortune Quilt

by Lani Diane Rich (Goodreads Author)

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 662 ratings · 147 reviews

July 14, 2011
"Accept the book with the amber spine.
Return the frog. Take the cab.

What the hell kind of advice is that?"

When Tucson Today segment producer Carly McKay visits the quirky artist’s community of Bilby, Arizona, to do a story on a psychic quiltmaker, she receives an odd reading... and her life falls apart in eerie harmony with what the quilt foretold. Her best f...more

Paperback, 272 pages

Published March 6th 2007 by NAL Trade (first published 2007)

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Feb 25, 2008 Camille rated it 4 of 5 stars

Twice a year our library compiles a "Reader's Choice" table. They compile newer books that are liked by the library staff, but may not getting a lot of cirrculation. I am constantly looking for new reading material and read almost all of their selections. I have yet to be disapointed. I picked up this book off that table this week and again was delighted by something new and different.

I found the Fortune Quilt a lovely story of picking up the pieces of your life after it all comes crashing down....more

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Mar 04, 2008 Laurie rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was a great light read. It does have some interesting characters in it when she goes to Bilby which is an artist community such as a man becoming a woman and other alternative lifestyles. They don't go into it very much and they are secondary characters. I Loved the main character Charly and read through this really fast. It was light and fun and talked a lot about forgiveness and how to make yourself go through the process. Good book

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Jan 11, 2008 Peggy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I LOVED this book! It was so great! It's about a girl who goes to a little town to interview a psychic quilt maker and thinks she's absolutely full of bunk. Before she leaves, the quilt maker gives her a quilt of her own and a reading--vague things like: "return the frog. Accept the book with the amber spine. Take the cab." (The heroine sarcastically asks if that's like "Leave the gun, take the cannoli?") Anyway, when things that were predicted start to come true and her life turns upside down,...more

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Apr 13, 2008 Lauri rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who like romantic comedies.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved Carly's character. I neglected children, husband and housework this weekend because I kept picking up the book!

Three things that could have been a little better developed...
Jannesse and Brandy's relationship.
Christopher sort of disappears in the middle of the book.
I didn't feel like I got to know Will well enough.

Hmmm, maybe the book just needed to be longer. As I was getting to the end of it, I kept thinking, how the heck is she going to wrap this up in the n...more

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Oct 03, 2008 Tanya rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit

I started "The Fortune Quilt" this morning and finished it before dinner; I honestly couldn't put it down. It's the story of one woman's life being "Towered," basically falling apart, and her efforts to rebuild something even better. It's a good old love story with lots of chemistry and tension. The characters are human and loveable. The dialogue is smart and enjoyable. And at the core of the book is the question of whether our lives are ruled by fate or by what we will to be. It made me think.....more

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Jul 08, 2008 Anita rated it 2 of 5 stars

I would have given this more stars if not for bad language. I hate that! I was intrigued by the story and kept going. Carly is a tv producer and does a story on a pyschic quilt maker, Brandywine Seaver. Brandy gives Carly a reading and her life changes topsy turvy in a matter of days. Her best friend (a man)declares his undying love for her, she gets laid off of her job, and her long lost mother shows up.
There were times I laughed out loud in this story. I'm not sure I would reccomend it to mos...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Susan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are some stories that when you read them you simply can't put them down. Then there are others that you read over several days. While still others are simply just okay or complete stinkers.

The Fortune Quilt by Lani Diane Rich is just okay. At one point, I was almost disappointed, but perhaps I was just reading it at the wrong time. I didn't find anything that was really outstanding about it, save for the fact that it was about a mystical woman who makes a lot of quilts and waits for the ow...more

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Mar 28, 2013 Sandra Nachlinger rated it 4 of 5 stars

I love to quilt, so it’s no surprise that THE FORTUNE QUILT caught my eye. But while quilts do play a role in this book’s plot, there’s much more to this novel.

THE FORTUNE QUILT is the story of 29-year-old Carly McKay, a producer for the "Tucson Today" television program. When Carly travels to Bilby, Arizona, to interview a psychic quilt maker, she gets more than a human interest segment. The psychic, who envisions an idea for a quilt, creates it, and then waits until the person it “belongs to”...more

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Feb 03, 2013 Debbie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wonderful story! I'm glad I found it. Sadly, I might have passed on it had it not been a free Kindle book that day, only because I've overdosed on formula romances over the years and developed an allergy to them. I'm fine with a good story that includes some romance, though, and this one sounded like it could be one of those.

It certainly is, and better than I expected. I'm fascinated by quilts, and loved the psychic quilter immediately. Brandy is quite an individual, and for all of Carly's snark...more

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Dec 03, 2012 Carol Ward rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of those wonderful books that make you feel good after you've read it. It's also one of those rare books that I will be searching for in paperback so I can add it to my bookshelves. Yes, I know that it's on my Kindle forever, but nothing will ever replace tree books in my heart.

To be honest, I fully expected this book to be more about quilting. But while a quilt was an important part of the story, there was more to it than that. There was the fortune attached to the quilt, one that...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Terry Crawford Palardy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am a quilter, and so the title, The Fortune Quilt, drew me in first. I was delighted to find that this book was also a romance, with a touch of the "we're not in Kansas anymore" setting. Lani Diane Rich has written a fast paced story in a laid back setting where personal growth and family relationships are key themes.

Three sisters and a dad are abandoned by a postpartum-depressed mother who has named each daughter after a singer: Carly (Simon) is the eldest, Ella (Fitzgerald) the middle child...more I am a quilter, and so the title, The Fortune Quilt, drew me in first. I was delighted to find that this book was also a romance, with a touch of the "we're not in Kansas anymore" setting. Lani Diane Rich has written a fast paced story in a laid back setting where personal growth and family relationships are key themes.

Three sisters and a dad are abandoned by a postpartum-depressed mother who has named each daughter after a singer: Carly (Simon) is the eldest, Ella (Fitzgerald) the middle child who pleases all, and 'Fiver' who chose her own name from a Sesame Street episode 'brought to you by the number Five' because she was not happy with her given name (read the story to see what it was.) Carly, at twelve, takes on a number of maternal duties in the absence of her mother, missing much of her age-appropriate social involvements as a result. She becomes a strong, independent woman who is then unable to establish trust in romantic relationships.

The setting away from home that Carly chooses is so radically different from all that she knew, and in that Oz-like, technicolor place, she begins to discover her own and others' alternate life styles. Having lost her career job, she becomes a store clerk in an art supply shop, where she is befriended by a transgender owner who has left her psychic, quilt-making wife; she also meets a seventeen year old who has been adopted by two gay partners and who has far too much life-advice to share with Carly, right down to the cappuccino flavor of the day. She is surprised by her ex-fiance at her sister's wedding, and again surprised by her best friend's admission of love - all in the course of a few fast months in the Arizona foothills.

The quilt, and the fortune that accompanies it, plays a minor role in the story, but is key in helping Carly to both put aside her former rigid skepticism and open her heart to new possibilities. I did reach for a tissue at a few spots in the story, and did laugh out loud at others. Five stars for this unexpected treasure! (less)

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Oct 16, 2012 Dixie Goode rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: funny

I had never read a book by Lani Diane Rich, but I was in the mood for something light-hearted and brainless after finishing the Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling and this title on my kindle seemed like it might fit the bill.

Well it really didn't, there ended up being a lot of current issues to deal with, a girl who had to turn "Mom" at 12 when her Mother abandons her and her younger siblings then finding herself out of a job due to the economy just as her mom reappears and her best friend declares th...more

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Jul 25, 2011 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-bookshelf

I bought this book because the title interested me and the story line seemed a bit different and I am so happy I did because I loved it! The main character Carly, seems to have it all together until she interviews a woman who is a psychic quilt maker and she receives a quilt of her own. After that, things seem to be changing for the worst and she decides to walk away from it all and start fresh. I would not go as far to say that this was a inspiring book, but I enjoy the idea of packing up, movi...more

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Dec 19, 2010 Traci rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is not the sort of book I would just pick up off the shelf, and if you follow this blog at all, I think you already know that. This was returned by a patron quite a while back, and there was just something about it that made me turn it over and read the back cover. I still didn't think it sounded like "my" kind of novel, but again, something made me put it on a list for possible perusal at a later date.

As they say, don't judge a book by its cover!

Yes, this is teetering on the edge of chick...more

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Apr 13, 2013 Janel rated it 3 of 5 stars

A super cute, light fun read with some some great wisdom sprinkled throughout. It seemed almost too short, and some of the characters seemed kind of sketched out to me and not fully developed. Most of the characters were likable, but I found myself a little aggravated with the two sisters in the book and thought the dad was a wimp that lacked loyalty and understanding to his daughter (Carly the heroine). As soon as the flaky, missing mother (for 17 years!) reappears she is instantly forgiven and...more

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Nov 26, 2012 Lori rated it 4 of 5 stars

There are novels that you love, that stick with you, that become a part of who you are, and there are novels that are pure escapism--both have equal value. This novel falls into the latter. Great light reading. I had a nasty bought of food poisoning and wanted to read something that wouldn't require me to analyze and think too much, and this perfectly fit the bill. Granted, the beginning didn't grab me at all. I don't like starting a book in the middle of a scene, nor do I like starting with dia...more

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Oct 20, 2012 Olga Godim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mainstream

This was my first book by this author, and I was skeptical at first, especially because I downloaded it to my Kindle for free. Unexpectedly, I loved this novel. In fact, I loved it so much that I went to Amazon and bought 5 other novels by Lani Diane Rich. I happily anticipate reading them.
The novel starts on a quiet, even uncertain note. There is no defined hook, nothing ‘explodes’ (as it often does in genre fiction), but the more I read, the more the story pulled me in. By the time I lifted m...more This was my first book by this author, and I was skeptical at first, especially because I downloaded it to my Kindle for free. Unexpectedly, I loved this novel. In fact, I loved it so much that I went to Amazon and bought 5 other novels by Lani Diane Rich. I happily anticipate reading them.
The novel starts on a quiet, even uncertain note. There is no defined hook, nothing ‘explodes’ (as it often does in genre fiction), but the more I read, the more the story pulled me in. By the time I lifted my eyes from the pages and looked at my watch, I was half way into the novel and loving it.
The protagonist, a TV producer Carly, is hurt and confused in the beginning. She has been a surrogate mother to her two younger sisters since she was twelve, when their mother left, and their father, consumed by grief, withdrew into his work. When other girls her age flirted with boys and hung out in malls, Carly nursed her baby sister through illnesses and cooked family dinners every night.
Now at 29, she is stagnating and unhappy in both professional and personal senses. Her career just nosedived, her romantic relationships floundered, and her mother suddenly reappears. And everyone – the father and both sisters – want the woman back.
Carly can’t forgive her mother for bailing out all those years ago. She also can’t forgive the other family members for their instant forgiveness and acceptance. Her life is unraveling from all ends, and nobody seems to care. Feeling bitter and unwanted, Carly does what her mother had done all those years ago: she drives away.
She ends up in Bilby, a small, artsy town, where she is trying to make sense of what has been happening to her. She is re-imagining her life, learning to love and accept and forgive. In a way, Carly’s arrival in Bilby is the real beginning. Before that moment, the humor that permeates the story is almost invisible, unshaped. Carly too seems only half-formed, blurry at the edges. Only when she reaches Bilby, not only as a place on a map but as a way of life, her personality solidifies, and the author’s humor at last bursts to the surface.
“You have been Towered,” one of Bilby residents says to Carly. The reference to Tarot’s Tower and its meaning of upheaval is amazingly fresh. In all my readings, and I read a lot, this book is the first time I found this reference, and I appreciate its originality and its universal truth.
Practically everyone in Bilby, as well as the town herself, had been Towered, at least once. Wounded people came to Bilby to heal and stayed because the town accepted them. In Bilby, there is no need to hide, to pretend. The citizens of Bilby can be themselves, and in turn, they accept every newcomer, no matter how whacky or cranky, thus passing the torch of healing forward.
The town is like another character in the novel; with her own quirky personality and her therapeutic ambience. She was a mining town before, but after the mines closed, the town refused to die. Like her current residents, she reinvented herself as an artists’ retreat, a town of misfits, a refuge and a nursing ground for the injured creativity.
I love this short novel. Although it might be classified as chic lit, its lightness doesn’t have a fluffy component, and its simplicity is enriched by the author’s irreverent but subtle humor. The novel is tightly focused: no unnecessary words and no extraneous characters. The plot and the narrative are crystal clear and inviting. I want to go to Bilby. I want to live there. And although Carly leaves the town in the end, she leaves transformed and better for the change. And her journey makes a charming story I’d recommend to anyone.
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Feb 05, 2013 Tina rated it 5 of 5 stars

What a fun read! Really enjoyed this book. Carly is an associate producer for a local tv station, goes to do a show, receives a reading from a psychic quilt maker, Brandywine. She gets "towered", her mother returns home after abandoning the family for 17 years, Carly runs back to Bilby and to Brandy to tell Brandy to take her quilt and the reading back, ends up staying. Then she re-imagines her life and she becomes a retail clerk in an art supply store. Her boss is a transgendered woman, her lan...more

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Feb 12, 2008 Danielle rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book. It was a quick read, straightforward, and I enjoyed the author's wit. I found her descriptions not too weighed down with details but there were enough to make me feel involved in the story. I would have given it an additional 1/2 star if that was possible, but 4 stars would have been too many given that there was S&S (swearing & sexual inuendos) that I don't feel were absolutely vital to the story line.

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Oct 23, 2012 adventurat rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, authorsihavemet, e-book, fiction, romance

I've like Lani since I met her on a Nanowrimo-promoting book tour with Chris Baty in 2004, and I've seen improvement in every new book. This book is no exception. I absolutely loved it. I'm all about characters and relationships in fiction, and this book cracks that nut, in spades.

All the characters - even the bizarre crazy ones - feel like real people, and they relate to each other, and to the protagonist, Carly, in genuine ways. Crackling dialogue, tension and interest on every page -- includ...more

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Oct 22, 2012 June Ahern rated it 5 of 5 stars

"The Fortune Quilt" by Lani Diane Rich was a delightful surprise read! I don’t really enjoy chick-lit or romance, but this book caught my eye because of the psychic reading part.

I was curious to how Ms. Rich would approach it and also weave a psychic into a story. For the past forty years as a psychic medium, I’m open to reading books that include but have been more disappointed than not. This is not the case in "The Fortune Quilt". Ms. Rich smoothly writes in the psychic reading parts and as s...more "The Fortune Quilt" by Lani Diane Rich was a delightful surprise read! I don’t really enjoy chick-lit or romance, but this book caught my eye because of the psychic reading part.

I was curious to how Ms. Rich would approach it and also weave a psychic into a story. For the past forty years as a psychic medium, I’m open to reading books that include but have been more disappointed than not. This is not the case in "The Fortune Quilt". Ms. Rich smoothly writes in the psychic reading parts and as subtly the message is slowly revealed.

The story begins at a wedding in the Mckay family. The middle daughter, Elle, is being married and her two sisters - big sis Carly and little one, Five are the maid of honor and bridesmaid. Dad is there, but not Mommy dearest. More on her as the story goes on. Didn't exactly warm up to her though. At the wedding are some of Elle's old boyfriends - yes, there all friends - and one is Will. Keep an eye on that one.

Back to the psychic part: The person receiving the quilt reading is Carly McKay, a twenty-eight year-old television producer who has been assigned to travel to the very small town of Bilby, Arizona, to do a story about a psychic quilt maker. During the interview the reader named Brandywine (Brandy) tells Carly that she gets psychically inspired to make quilts for people although she has no idea who they are for or what the boxes in the quilt are about. Sometimes it takes years for the person who the quilt is for to show up. The quilt Carly receives along with a taped reading was made twelve years previous their meeting. Brandy says she, like her clients, doesn’t completely understand the meaning of the reading, but trust it will make sense later.

Part of Carly’s reading says, “"Accept the book with the amber spine. Return the frog. Take the cab” and that Carly’s life is going to take a sudden change. It does on all fronts - bada boom bada bing: family (the mother abandoned them when Carly was twelve, Carly’s job and love live -

When I started the story I honestly didn’t think I’d finish, but there’s humor – the story like the psychic reader continues to grow, and grow and grow in magic and clearness. The story has romance – both the sadness of lose and the bliss of wins! The characters experience angst, hope and faith (as the story speaks of), and silliness in characters’ personality along with paranormal element that the reader can trust, could be, maybe.
It’s a short story and quite frankly, I’m enjoying the short stories authors are starting to write. It begins; it grows in magic, rises to the crescendo and ends with sweetness.
I could see and hear the characters clearly – I got them (mostly. A few I wanted to shake or yell at) – oh wait to you read it! The surprise characters in Bilby!
I will most definitely read another of Ms. Lani’s books. Right on, Sister Author! You wrote a winner!

The Skye in June (less)

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Oct 15, 2012 Connie N. rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, humor-light, chick-lit

Surprisingly delightful book of a skeptical TV producer who interviews a psychic quiltmaker, receiving a reading herself before she leaves. There's a lot of light-hearted humor and some interestingly profound moments of introspection. I found the characters entertaining and quirky, and the story uniquely different from the usual contemporary romance. Nice, light, funny, and altogether enjoyable. I'll definitely read more by this author.

Favorite quotes:
An indication of Carly's quirkiness: "It oc...more

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Feb 17, 2013 Terri Tinkel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: female-friends, mother-daughter-family

I really enjoyed this story. It wasn't too heavy or filled with sex and drama. It was an interesting book about a young female magazine producer who is working on a human interest story about a woman who creates one-of-a-kind quilts. Along with the unusual quilts, the creator also provides the new quilt owner some insight into their own future. Of course the young female producer is skeptical until some odd things start happening to her after she is gifted with a beautiful quilt along with a mes...more

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Feb 20, 2009 Stasha rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-books, hobby-stuff

I grabbed this off the readers choice shelf at the library mainly for the quilt aspect. It turned out to be another re-inventing yourself after a layoff book. I'm beginning to wonder why these books are drawn to me? In this case, after losing her television job and having one of the worst days of her life, Carly finds herself returning to the home of a psychic who gave her a quilt and a reading. As Carly's life is shattered and she picks up the pieces, she helps puts the lives of her new friends...more

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Aug 18, 2010 Fluffy Flowers rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction-chic-lit, fiction

Every once in a great while I find a book so funny that it makes me laugh out loud. And even rarer than that is a book that makes me laugh out loud several times. The Fortune Quilt by Lani Diane Rich is one that made me laugh out loud not once, not twice, but many times.

I loved this book. Mostly because the characters were so awesome. As Jennifer Crusie says on the back cover "Great snarky voice." That's what I enjoyed most. Our heroine, Carly McKay, has some of the wittiest comebacks I've heard...more

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Mar 09, 2013 Hildy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Darn.
I really wanted to love this book. I just finished reading A Little Ray of Sunshine last week and I was dying to read something else by this author. I couldn't wait. Unfortunately, this was just okay for me. It had some hilarious dialogue but because I didn't connect deeply to anyone it fell flatter than it should have. I think the characters weren't developed well and I didn't really know enough about anyone. Oddly, I think I cared most about her mom and dad. Their feelings seemed real to...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Janell rated it 5 of 5 stars

While I had expected 'The Fortune Quilt' to be a fluffy read, I was pleasantly surprised and quickly drawn into Lani Diane Rich's story. Being a quilter, my anticipation had been for the storyline to more closely follow the life of a quilter, but I was wrong. I was slightly confused in the beginning as the story opened during a wedding and the characters were introduced, but soon after, I began appreciating the conversational style between the main character, Carly, and those with whom she inter...more

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Jan 15, 2010 Rossy rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: chick lit fans

Recommended to Rossy by: Tammy

Shelves: chic-lit, challenge-144-books-2010, challenge-tbr-2010

This was a great book. Really likeable characters, good humor yet a very substantial & emotional plot!

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Nov 06, 2012 Alicia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was another random Kindle read. Enjoyable, mainly for the main character's 1st person voice, which is very funny. Though it's pretty clear the author had seen Broadcast News a few too many times on late-night Lifetime TV reruns, because she is pretty much a carbon copy of Holly Hunter's character in that movie. Just sayin.

3 stars instead of 4, because the love scenes are...unbelievably awkward. I mean, it's like she began writing a love scene, freaked herself out, then nipped it in the bud...more

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Nov 07, 2012 Brenda Margriet rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Carly is a television producer who visit a psychic quilt maker as part of her job. Then her life is turned upside down, just as the psychic predicted, and everything goes wonky.

Loved the tone of this book. First person present tense can sometimes feel odd to me, but really enjoyed it in this one.

The characters were fun, and just a little bit odd. I would like to visit their town...it seemed like an interesting place to visit. And I always like a beta-male hero. Will was sweet and sexy, without c...more

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Quotes from The Fortune Quilt

“there's a theory that when two people form a relationship, they form a third spiritual entity. When the relationship dies, that entity dies. Grief is a completely natural response, and it's almost impossible to move on if you don't allow yourself to experience it.” — 8 people liked it

“When you knit, if you get something wrong and keep knitting, then when you discover it, you have to rip out all those rows of stitching to go back and fix it, Life is like that. Sometimes, it has to rip out all the stitches to go back and fix what's wrong.” — 2 people liked it

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