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What To Keep
What To Keep by Mary Schramski released on Jul 26, 2005 is available now for purchase.
304 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
December 31, 2013
This book surprised me as a harlequin I was expecting a light romance. I think it would have a higher average rating if it was not a harlequin because it is NOT A ROMANCE! More a nontraditional anti-segregation family thing. I really liked this book.
By saying "not a romance" I don't mean there was no romance in the book but that it was not what is commonly thought of as a "Romance Book". Many people will not read a book labeled a "romance novel" (which is a silly prejudice) and will therefore miss this book which is an amazing character study and a beautifully written book.
By saying "not a romance" I don't mean there was no romance in the book but that it was not what is commonly thought of as a "Romance Book". Many people will not read a book labeled a "romance novel" (which is a silly prejudice) and will therefore miss this book which is an amazing character study and a beautifully written book.
February 1, 2010
This time picking up a book from the $1 discount bin equals a FAIL. This book was utterly forgettable. The characters were weakly drawn, the plot predictable from the start, and the writing mediocre at best. The upside was that the book proved perfect for reading on the cardio machines at the gym - you don't have to think too much, yet you do get somewhat wrapped up in the story, making the workout time pass a bit quicker.
October 11, 2010
A quick, easy read. I liked the historical parts mixed in with the present-day. Although sometimes that made things a bit too disjointed - and I think the historical story was left hanging. That irritated me a tad. I did like the friendship between Juliette and Tildy - and was happy with the ending in regards to them.
September 6, 2019
Juliette Carlton lives in Las Vegas, works as a blackjack dealer, has gone through her third divorce from a slick talking loser. Living in a crappy apartment with minimum furniture - the ex took everything when he moved out - life is not good, but it is all she knows.
Getting a message to call some lawyer in North Carolina is just the beginning to learning more about herself, her family and life in general. Seems she has been left Magnolia Hall, a home built during the Civil War. Apparently she is the last of the family line.
Her memories of her father's family is vague. She only lived there a very short time when she was little, and never got close to the uncle who lived in the house. Her family upped and moved to Las Vegas where her father walked out of her life and she grew up with a mother who made no bones of wishing Juliette wasn't there.
Figuring she could sell the house and have money to 'straighten out her life' she finds that she might as well go back, see the property, and get it on the market. This is made possible by getting fired from her job.
When she arrives there she find Tildy Butler coming to the house on a daily basis. Tildy was Juliette's Uncle Grey's housekeeper. It seems her ties to the property is deeper than Juliette knows and can even understand.
It is written so you are reading entries from Charlotte's diary - Charlotte was the first mistress of Magnolia Hall and a distant relative to Juliette; and then reading about the current goings on as Juliette navigates Southern culture, climate and learning about her family history. A sort of double story, that ties together well.
I took my time reading to be able to enjoy the ambiance of the story. The events that are revealed from the family history and that happen in the current time weave a story that you find you keep revisiting in your mind.
Getting a message to call some lawyer in North Carolina is just the beginning to learning more about herself, her family and life in general. Seems she has been left Magnolia Hall, a home built during the Civil War. Apparently she is the last of the family line.
Her memories of her father's family is vague. She only lived there a very short time when she was little, and never got close to the uncle who lived in the house. Her family upped and moved to Las Vegas where her father walked out of her life and she grew up with a mother who made no bones of wishing Juliette wasn't there.
Figuring she could sell the house and have money to 'straighten out her life' she finds that she might as well go back, see the property, and get it on the market. This is made possible by getting fired from her job.
When she arrives there she find Tildy Butler coming to the house on a daily basis. Tildy was Juliette's Uncle Grey's housekeeper. It seems her ties to the property is deeper than Juliette knows and can even understand.
It is written so you are reading entries from Charlotte's diary - Charlotte was the first mistress of Magnolia Hall and a distant relative to Juliette; and then reading about the current goings on as Juliette navigates Southern culture, climate and learning about her family history. A sort of double story, that ties together well.
I took my time reading to be able to enjoy the ambiance of the story. The events that are revealed from the family history and that happen in the current time weave a story that you find you keep revisiting in your mind.
May 11, 2017
I found myself thinking of this story even when I was doing other things. Love how it tells of the strength that is found in individuals. Worth the read.
November 12, 2023
It was okay, but the ending felt a bit unfinished.
June 2, 2024
These Next Step Harlequins are always unexpected and interesting. Juliette (the main character) grated on me the whole book and the writing was a bit too spare for me.
Decent plot.
Decent plot.
April 4, 2009
Very nice, easy, light read! Good story, too!!
From back cover:
"She'd never had a real home...So it had never been about "what to keep" in her life; she'd not experienced that luxury. Then Juliette Carlton got a call, one that said she'd inherited a fortune - and could she please claim it? Juliette didn't know what to do. She was a down-on-her-luck Las Vegas card dealer with $38 in her bank account.
Had she hit the jackpot? Or was it just another loss?
At first it seemed the latter. The "fortune" was a dilapidated 14-year-old antebellum house that belonged to an uncle she barely remembered. Beneath layers of dust, every inch of the ancestral home was shrouded in secrets - secrets that would put in doubt everything Juliette ever thought she knew.
She would have to decide what to give away. But along the way, she found what to keep..."
From back cover:
"She'd never had a real home...So it had never been about "what to keep" in her life; she'd not experienced that luxury. Then Juliette Carlton got a call, one that said she'd inherited a fortune - and could she please claim it? Juliette didn't know what to do. She was a down-on-her-luck Las Vegas card dealer with $38 in her bank account.
Had she hit the jackpot? Or was it just another loss?
At first it seemed the latter. The "fortune" was a dilapidated 14-year-old antebellum house that belonged to an uncle she barely remembered. Beneath layers of dust, every inch of the ancestral home was shrouded in secrets - secrets that would put in doubt everything Juliette ever thought she knew.
She would have to decide what to give away. But along the way, she found what to keep..."
April 26, 2016
The story of a forty something woman who's recently been fleeced by husband #3, and is barely holding onto her job as a Las Vegas Craps Dealer. She inherits the family home in rural North Carolina and flies back, putting her bank account in the negative. It's a strange situation as the family home belongs to her fathers family, and she hasn't seen him since she was a little girl and didn't even go to his funeral. The family housekeeper welcomes her home and starts to weave stories about the family, at the same time we get bits and pieces from the diary of the original mistress of the house. It was a good story about family and secrets, and hope.
May 16, 2014
This is a book that moves you and makes you think. Not for the overly-sensitive and not for those who only like to read child-appropriate literature, but I loved the good clean way it handled some of the themes it handled. This is one of those books that will stay with me for my whole life. I love the two main characters.
April 14, 2012
I feel it was a quick read of inspiration, love, and letting go of the bad.. Only thing is I didn't understand the ending, why did she need to go back to Vegas at all then go back to do the bed and breakfast? There was nothing left in Vegas.. unless I'm misinterpreting what her decision was.
August 1, 2014
I picked this book up at my local used book store and finally had a chance to read it. What I liked about it was the storyline: Juliette inherits a 140 year old antebellum house that belongs to an uncle she barely remembers. However it was slow and quite repetitive at times.
June 16, 2008
If you want a quick read that will leave you feeling good, this is it. I found this a pleasant story about finding family and self discovery.
September 28, 2009
Good story & a quick read.
November 29, 2011
This book reminded me of a Lifetime Movie:) So if you like an afternoon of watching that sort of movie, this is a great reading alternative!
August 26, 2013
Total trash but just what I was looking for.
April 5, 2016
Good blend of past and present
This book was pretty good. I enjoyed learning the history of the house and how it ended. It was a good way to blend the two.
This book was pretty good. I enjoyed learning the history of the house and how it ended. It was a good way to blend the two.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews