Melody Carlson's Love Gently Falling ~ Reviewed

LOVE GENTLY FALLING
Melody Carlson
Paperback: 192 pages
Publisher: Center Street (January 6, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1455528102



Description:

Rita Jansen is living her dream as a hairstylist in Hollywood when her father calls with news that her mother has suffered a stroke. When she gets home to Chicago, Rita finds her mother is healing but facing a long recovery. Worse, without being able to run their family-owned salon, her mother could lose the business. Rita decides to help, but she only has until Valentine's Day to come up with a plan. 
As Rita takes her mother's place at work, the nearby skating rink she loved as a child brings back fond memories. Rita also finds herself renewing friendships with her childhood best friend, Marley, as well as her classmate Johnny. Although they now lead such seemingly different lives, Rita is surprised by how well she and Johnny connect and how far he will go to help her. Though Rita believes Johnny is only being kind, with romance kindling in the air and on the ice, their friendship may just fall into something more. 

Review: 

Love Gently Falling is about Rita Jansen, a young woman who is currently living in Beverly Hills, working in an upscale salon as a successful hairdresser. When her mother, who owns her own beauty shop in Chicago, suddenly suffers from a stroke, Rita is forced to take time off to come home to see her. After her mother's condition stabilizes, Rita decides to go to her mother's salon, Hair and Now, to see how things are going, and is surprised to see how run down and shabby it's looking. When she finds some of the original décor and furniture in the storage room, she decides to take it upon herself, with her mother's permission, to “make over” the salon. With the help of longtime friend Marley, as well as a former classmate, Johnny, she is able to make the transformation happen in less than three weeks. But when it comes time for Rita to leave, she's having a hard time, not only leaving her family and the salon, but the possibility of a relationship with Johnny.

This was a really cute story. Just nice and sweet. I really enjoyed how Rita took up the task of saving her mother's salon, using her own savings to do so. Not a lot of children would do that now-a-days. It was an enjoyable story.

Review by: Sarah Meyers.