A Thing of Beauty by Lisa Samson

★★★★★
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It's a wonder to behold what happens when love moves in…

Former child star Fiona Hume left the biz a decade ago, after she left rehab. She retreated to Baltimore and bought an old mansion downtown with dreams of restoring it into a masterpiece – maybe creating an artist's studio for herself. And living an artist's life.

That was the plan.

Ten years later, Fiona's huge house is filled with junk purchased at thrift stores, yard sales, or picked up from the side of the road. Each piece was destined for a project, but all she's got so far is a piece of twine with some antique buttons threaded down its length.

Her money has almost run out. She will soon lose her house and will be forced back into acting.

So it is that Fiona comes to rent out a room to a local blacksmith, Josiah. Little by little, Josiah magically transforms Fiona's home into something beautiful. She comes to life again. Her relationships heal and she experiences, perhaps for the first time, what it means to be human, what it means to be loved, and what it means when we let go and allow the wondrous workings of forces far bigger than we are to take over.

Lisa Samson’s A Thing of Beauty is a quirky, delightful story, containing so much more than the boy-meets-girl love story I assumed from reading the synopsis. Fiona Hume is a stubborn, opinionated, broken protagonist and despite her problems, I liked rooting for her. Watching her grow in her relationships and view life with a fresh perspective makes for a fun and rewarding reading experience. A heartfelt novel of love and forgiveness with plenty of witty cultural references, A Thing of Beauty is a highly enjoyable read and I would recommend it. I can’t wait to read more from Lisa Samson in the future.

Thanks to BookLook Bloggers, I received a copy of A Thing of Beauty and the opportunity to honestly review it. I was not required to write a positive review, and all the opinions I have expressed are my own. (I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”)

About the Author

Lisa Samson is the beloved author of the award-winning novels Quaker Summer and The Sky Beneath My Feet. Publishers Weekly recently compared her style to that of Anne Tyler.