Category Archives: Buncombe

Buncombe

by | January 3, 2012 · 5:29 pm

Deeanne Gist. Maid to Match. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2010.

Tillie Reese has only ever had one dream: to become a lady’s maid and travel the world with her mistress. It’s 1898, and she’s currently the chief parlor maid at Biltmore, the grand estate built by George Washington Vanderbilt just outside of Asheville, North Carolina. Opportunity strikes when Bénédicte, Mrs. Edith Vanderbilt’s French lady’s maid, leaves her post. As Tillie prepares herself to compete with another ambitious maid interested in the position, fate intervenes in the form of a new footman.

Mackenzie “Mack” Danver is not accustomed to polite society. He’s been highly educated, but his upbringing in a cabin in the Unaka Mountains combined with a short temper cause most city dwellers to dismiss him as an uncouth, wild mountain man. However, his twin brother, Earl, works as a footman in the service of the Vanderbilts, and when Mrs. Vanderbilt accidentally meets Mack, she can’t wait to employ him and show off her pair of matching footmen. Tall, muscular, and handsome, Earl and Mack make quite an impression in their livery. Mack isn’t happy with the idea – he would much prefer the freedom of his mountains. But his parents are dead, and his younger siblings are in the clutches of a nefarious orphanage director. Mack has to work if his brothers and sisters are ever going to have a good home again, and the Vanderbilts pay very well.

Mack’s regrets quickly disappear, however, when he sees Tillie for the first time. In fact, it’s love at first sight for both of them, but a lady’s maid isn’t married, and Tillie refuses to give up on that dream. As a lady’s maid, she would wear the same fine clothes as Mrs. Vanderbilt, be exposed to art and science, and have the money to take care of her family while also giving to those in need. Is there any way for her to follow her heart, while still fulfilling her dreams?

A sweet love story from the Gilded Age, Deeanne Gist’s Maid to Match will enchant lovers of well-researched, inspirational romance.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010, 2010-2019, Buncombe, Gist, Deeanne, Historical, Mountains, Romance/Relationship

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by | December 31, 2011 · 10:23 am

Mark de Castrique. The Sandburg Connection. Scottsdale, AZ: Poisoned Pen Press, 2011.

As this novel opens, Blackman and Robertson are working on a routine surveillance case for an insurance company.  Has that UNC-Asheville professor really been disabled by a recent back surgery, or is she trying to pull a fast one? When Sam sees her heading for a hike up Glassy Mountain, he follows with his camera, hoping to get evidence that will sink her case.  Instead, after Sam hears the woman yell “NO!” he rushes to her, only to find her barely clinging to life after a hard fall.

Janice Wainwright does not survive the fall. Feeling that Sam is under suspicion, Sam and Nakayla begin to investigate all aspects of the professor’s life.  She is survived by a teenage daughter, a sister who was distant and disapproving, and a colleague with whom she shares a painful history.  Teenage Wendy is distraught but reluctant to accept her aunt’s comfort.  Instead, Wendy throws herself into the care of her pet goat, a goat that is related to the ones kept by the poet Carl Sandburg when he lived near Glassy Mountain.  As in the previous Sam Blackman mysteries, this is a tale that weaves very contemporary interests with the history and literary culture of the Asheville area.  Even when the outlines of the mystery becomes clear, this book still contains surprises that will delight Sandburg fans, history buffs, and those who enjoy a good mystery.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Buncombe, deCastrique, Mark, Henderson, Mountains, Mystery, Novels in Series

by | December 21, 2011 · 8:24 am

Jenny Hubbard. Paper Covers Rock. New York: Delacorte Press, 2011.

Alexander Stromm describes himself, as does everyone who knows him, as a “good, solid kid.” His best friend, Glenn Albright Everson III, is a “golden boy”: blessed with golden looks, golden athleticism, and golden intelligence. Alex has always wanted Glenn’s life, with his perfect, wealthy family and beautiful girlfriend. Alex’s mother left when he was five, and he has never stood out in anything, until his junior year at the Birch School. On September 30th, both he and Glenn stand out for being the boys who were with Thomas Broughton when he drowned. Since the accident happened because they were drinking vodka and diving in the nearby river, Glenn and Alex decide to lie to avoid being thrown out of school. But someone else saw them at the river that day and watched them pull Thomas’s body from the water: Haley Dovecott, the brand-new fifth form English teacher.

Glenn is convinced that Miss Dovecott, an extremely perceptive young woman, knows more than she says she does, and he’s determined to eliminate that threat. The problem is that Alex is falling in love with her as she encourages his poetry, and he doesn’t want to hurt her. It’s also possible that Glenn is hiding other, more terrible secrets that played a role in Thomas’s tragic death. Uncertain and grief-stricken, Alex retreats to the library each day, writing his thoughts, confessions, and poems in a small journal that he hides behind the school’s copy of Moby Dick.

Paper Covers Rock is this narrative, through which we trace the tale of a young man coming to terms with death, his own emerging sexuality, and the cruelty of a world that encroaches on even the most remote and sheltered places. A difficult, but poetic and thought-provoking read for young adults.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Buncombe, Children & Young Adults, Mountains

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by | September 30, 2011 · 9:40 am

John Hart. Iron House. New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books, 2011.

Michael knows how to kill, possibly better than anyone else alive. He dispatches his victims without emotion or drama, a virtue that makes him nearly invisible in New York City. He is the Old Man’s silent, deadly shadow. But before New York and the Old Man, there was Iron House.

A lifetime ago, he was a small but strong boy who protected his weaker, younger brother Julian at the Iron House Home for Boys in the Smoky Mountains. But one day something horrible happened, and 10-year-old Michael became a fugitive, fleeing into the snowy wilds of a North Carolina winter. He never saw his brother again, and just as he ran from Iron House, Michael also runs from his past. He is content to kill the dishonest and criminal, to be the Old Man’s strong right arm, to leave the boy he once was at Iron Mountain…until he meets Elena.

Carmen Elena Del Portal is more than just a woman; Michael suddenly finds that she is his whole life. When she finds herself pregnant, he knows he has to start over one more time. But the New York underworld won’t give him up so easily. The Old Man may wish for Michael to find a good life with a wonderful woman, but his henchmen are a different story. In no time Michael is on the run again, back to North Carolina and the brother whose existence he tried to protect by denying it. But if he thinks that life is simpler outside the Big Apple, he’s wrong. Dead wrong.

John Hart writes lovely prose, filled with a complicated cast of mobsters, lost boys, corrupt politicians, beautiful but mysterious ladies, and witches. Iron House looms over it all, a stark presence of which Michael, for all his running, may never be free. For an immensely entertaining, complex thriller, try Iron House!

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Buncombe, Chatham, Hart, John, Madison, Mountains, Piedmont, Suspense/Thriller

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by | June 28, 2011 · 5:27 pm

Bobbie Pyron. A Dog’s Way Home. New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2011.

Abby Whistler, age eleven, knows that Tam is her true north star. It doesn’t matter that Tam is a Sheltie; nothing feels more right than when they are together. But then the unthinkable happens: a terrible accident, and Tam and Abby are separated with hundreds of miles dividing them. Still, Abby refuses to stop believing that her Tam will return, and the little Sheltie, filled with an indomitable spirit, will do anything to see his girl again.  Both Tam and Abby make new friends, encounter heartbreak, and discover their strength as they desperately attempt to reunite.

Bobbie Pyron has crafted a novel filled with the magic and dangerous beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains and its inhabitants- an inspiring tale of determination and the power of love. Although highly suspenseful, this heartwarming tale will delight both parents and children, and you will cheer for the intrepid Abby Whistler and her true north star, the sweet and soulful Tam.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library Catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Buncombe, Caldwell, Children & Young Adults, Henderson, Mountains, Pyron, Bobbie, Suspense/Thriller, Transylvania, Watauga

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by | June 17, 2011 · 4:22 pm

Bruce E. Johnson. An Unexpected Guest. Asheville, NC: Knock on Wood Publications, 2011.

The Pink Lady of the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, has mystified guests of the grand hotel for nearly a century. Although visitors over the years have suspected paranormal activity, no one can explain the Pink Lady’s presence. Who is she, who was she, and how did she meet her unfortunate end?

In this novel, the origin of the Pink Lady is revealed. August 27, 1918 is a special evening for the Grove Park Inn. Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and John Burroughs have come to the resort, and their attendance is providing the inn much publicity and fanfare. During an evening movie, however, the body of a young, beautiful woman in a silk pink dress is discovered. Did she fall? Did she jump? Was she pushed? As Fred Seely, president of the Grove Park Inn, races to cover up the crime scene, he panics over what this incident could do to his struggling business and unpleasant family ties (his father-in-law is the inn’s namesake). Was Seely set up by his disgruntled brother-in-law? Seely’s skill in meticulous planning, much like his designs of the hotel, will become very useful as he makes evidence of the Pink Lady’s death disappear. Concealing her spirit, however, will prove much more difficult.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2010-2019, 2011, Buncombe, Historical, Johnson, Bruce E., Mountains, Mystery

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by | January 6, 2011 · 5:35 pm

Karen Hawkins. Talk of the Town. New York: Pocket Books, 2008.

Divorce is not what Roxie Treymayne expected. After discovering her husband’s affair with his law partner, she is determined to go a little bit wild. She spent years playing the perfect Raleigh country club wife, and now Roxie wants to be who she really is. Roxie transforms her prudish look with a tattoo, a navel ring, revealing clothes, and a bleach blond ‘do. She is ready to start over in some far-away city when she gets the news–her mother has suffered a mild heart attack and Roxie is needed back home in Glory, North Carolina.

Roxie does not plan to stay in Glory for long, but bumping into Nick Sheppard, the new sheriff, makes her consider staying even after her mother recovers. Although Nick spurned Roxie in high school after a brief romance, the two still share a mutual attraction, and the tension is thick whenever they are together. In the meantime, Roxie has taken over her mother’s volunteer activities, which includes spending time with the three-member Murder Mystery/CSI-Watching Club at the local assisted living center. The club’s trio thinks that they are on to a real-life murder mystery, and Roxie helps with the investigation. Fortunately, this means that she and Nick begin seeing more of each other and building their trust in one another.

Although Roxie never imagined moving home, she finds happiness, love – and a little bit of suspense – in Glory, North Carolina.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Buncombe, Hawkins, Karen, Mystery, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Romance/Relationship

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by | December 26, 2010 · 3:37 pm

Karen Hawkins. The Glory NC Books.

 

Glory, North Carolina, might seem like the typical quiet Southern town, but much happens there to keep life interesting. While many who grew up in Glory could not wait to move to bigger cities like Raleigh or Atlanta after their high school graduation, some find themselves back home after a few years away. Two siblings, Mark and Roxie Treymayne, returned after their mother’s illness. Although they planned to be back just temporarily, they have found reasons to stay. Mark and Roxie have discovered worthwhile careers at Roxie’s new newspaper business, The Glory Examiner, and entertainment in antics of a group of local geriatric crime-hunters. Most exciting for the siblings, though, is the fact that they have both found passionate, loving relationships–Mark with Susan, a reporter and Roxie with Nick, the sheriff. As it turns out, you can go home again.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2010-2019, Buncombe, Hawkins, Karen, Mountains, Novels in Series, Novels Set in Fictional Places, Romance/Relationship, Series

by | September 17, 2010 · 9:18 am

Lois Gladys Leppard. The Mandie Collection, Volume Three. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2008.

This selection of novels in the Mandie series follows the heroine chronologically.  As Mandie and the Holiday Surprise opens, Mandie is back at school in Asheville, eager to return home for the Christmas holidays.  Mandie’s nemesis, April Snow, attempts to get Mandie in trouble by letting Mandie’s cat, Snowball, out of her room.  But Mandie and Snowball are both soon free to leave for home.  The mountains are beautiful at Christmas and there is a mystery (stolen presents and strange footprints in the snow), but there are bigger developments.  Mandie’s mother is pregnant.  Mandie does not take this news well, but soon she is distracted by an important invitation. President McKinley has heard of Mandie’s work on the hospital and has invited her to the forthcoming inauguration for his second term.

In the other novels in this volume, Mandie and the Washington Nightmare, Mandie and the Shipboard Mystery, and Mandie and the Foreign Spies, Mandie is in new places–Washington, DC, on an ocean-liner bound for Europe, and in London.  But first she has to return from school and accept that she will no longer be her mother’s only child (Mandie and the Midnight Journey).

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Buncombe, Children & Young Adults, Leppard, Lois Gladys, Macon, Mountains, Mystery, Novels in Series

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by | September 10, 2010 · 11:19 am

Lois Gladys Leppard. The Mandie Collection, Volume Two. Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House, 2008.

The five novels in this volume take Mandie over familiar territory–the mountains of North Carolina–but also include a trip to the beaches near Charleston, South Carolina. Mandie is trying to learn to become a lady as her teachers in Asheville demand, but back in Franklin, she wants to visit old friends, roam the neighborhood, and just be herself.  And there are always things to investigate! Vandalism at a hospital, an abandoned mine, buried treasure, and church bells at midnight all attract Mandie’s attention, and she mobilizes her friends to get to the bottom of each mystery.

The titles in this volume are: Mandie and the Medicine Man, Mandie and the Charleston Phantom, Mandie and the Abandoned Mine, Mandie and the Hidden Treasure, Mandie and the Mysterious Bells.

Check this title’s availability in the UNC-Chapel Hill Library catalog.

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Filed under 2000-2009, 2008, Buncombe, Children & Young Adults, Leppard, Lois Gladys, Macon, Mountains, Mystery, Novels in Series

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