For Love of Words

by Dacia Wilkinson

At thirty-five years old, Alison Draper has returned home to the small community where she grew up to finish her Masters Thesis, hoping to draw from its serene landscapes and homespun inhabitants for inspiration. She has no topic in mind. At all. Procrastinating on a decision, on even beginning research, she chooses instead to enter the small bookshop on the edge of town, hoping to find an intriguing novel to sweep her into a distant land. What she discovers instead is a handsome man with graying hair wearing a velvet dinner jacket who will forever alter the course her life.

Genres: M F Romance, Fiction

Paperback

First published June 3, 2013

About the author

A wife of 19 years, a mother of 6, a trade school instructor, a business owner, and an author ... all rolled up into one forty-one year old woman with graying hair who's loving life. Who would have thought?
:) I work for Vatterott College, NorthPark Campus, in St. Louis, MO, teaching English Comp I. I'm on LinkedIn, Facebook, have a blog ... www.daciawilkinson.wordpress.com. Excited to find "GoodReads" to be sure!

Reviews

[Nancy E Johnson]

Story and words

I could not resist a book called For Love of Words, in part because I rate words as my favorite tools. Yet, this thought-provoking tale could. just as easily have been called For Love of Story. As Alison, the narrator returns home to prepare her thesis, she finds herself confronting her past. From her complicated relationship with free spirited and unconventional mother, to a burgeoning romance with an old friend, and her almost unacknowledged yearning for her unknown father, Alison is searching. What she finds is a jewel of a bookstore, a mesmerizing reader named Henry, and a purpose for her life. The importance of Words, and story emerge in an unexpected but compelling fashion. I found this a wonderfully satisfying and deeply thought-provoking read.

[Jackie Watts · Rating 2 out of 5]

....a bit of a disappointment. The concept of the story (storytelling as an art) was interesting to me. But, I could have done without the romantic story line, it became "Harlequin-like" a points. Also, lots of typos in the ebook...

[Chiara · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the beginning, I was frustrated and disappointed. The stars were aligning for the protagonist and everything good was happening; everything she wanted, she got. I kept waiting for there to be a twist, for the husband to be a murderer or something, but the twist never came. Then it dawned on me......this book is basically a Hallmark movie. And once I recognized that and accepted it, I enjoyed this book for what it was instead of hating it for not being what I expected to be. It is a cute, heartwarming story of a woman who finds way more than she was looking for in a little bookshop on the edge of town.

[Shannon Yarbrough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Starlight Alison Draper, Alison for short, has returned home to work on her second masters. She seeks inspiration for her thesis in an old bookstore called Stories. There, she meets the Saturday story time teller named Henry, a debonair fellow with a pipe and velvet jacket whose voice captures both children and adults. He inspires Alison to research the art of storytelling for her thesis.

At the bookstore, Alison runs into Todd and his daughter Lily. Todd, a widow, was the awkward nerdy kid that Alison didn't speak to much in high school. Now, Todd is all grown up. Other than obsessing over his bulging arms, Alison notices that fatherhood has been kind to him and has turned Todd into quite the attractive man.

Morrison, Alison's mother, is a carefree spirit who enjoys spending time with Henry as he reads to her plants. Her beaded bracelets and long flowing skirts are to be expected from a woman who changed her name to honor the lead singer of The Doors and named her daughter Starlight.

Together, Todd, Henry, and Morrison celebrate individuality and help Alison to form a love of words, especially those spoken aloud. Alison has always kept a journal where she pens words and sketches to capture the moment. But the people in her life help her to take her talents one step further.

Dacia Wilkinson must be Alison because her own love of words shines through. Not only does Henry quote from such classics as "Alice in Wonderland" and "Tom Sawyer," but the author paints beautiful scenes of Alison lost in the bookstore or seeking out her favorite creative spot, always with notebook in hand. The book moves at a nice leisurely pace as Wilkinson takes her time introducing her readers to each character. I really felt like I knew these people once I'd finished reading.

Those expecting a face paced love story need not look here. This is a book you should savor over coffee or a rolling fire. Take your time and celebrate the life words as the author intended.

[Kay · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book about the love of books and especially reading aloud for the Story made me want to read the actual classics mentioned as I endured the plot. This book had its charm but too many fictional conventions for me. I started reading this book while traveling in an airport and it seems very good away-from-home airport fare as it's about a young woman who returns to her small town and is casting about for what to do next in her life. She wants to complete a thesis for her masters but does not know what about until she visits a small bookstore and hears an amazing children's reading one morning. I still had a lot of this book to read once I got home but finally got through it.

[Bethany Swafford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this one more as its main focus was on reading and how it can be a form of art when its done well. However, the spiritual aspects I found to be out of place, and the romance was horridly rushed.

[Farrah Pope · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading as an art

Great message, but really no climax to resolve. Nothing too detailed to relate to any one type of person. Has the workings of an American classic.

[Alison]

kindle 265

[Tracie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book!!!