The Lumby Lines by Gail Fraser

Title:  The Lumby Lines
Author:  Gail Fraser
Publisher:  New American Library
Publication Date:  May 2007
Format:  Paperback, 336 pages
Age Group:  Adult
Series:  Lumby (Book 1)

When Mark and Pam Walker discover burned out Montis Abbey while on vacation, they realize their dream of completely changing their lives could become reality if they restored Montis and turn it into an inn.  Little does the couple know what they are in for however as some of Lumby's residents are reluctant to welcome outsiders into the small town.  Mark and Pam forge ahead and bring their friend Brooke along to help research the original structure of the monastery so it can be restored with as much historical accuracy as possible.  The majority of the town slowly warms up to the couple with the main holdout being William Beezer.  Beezer seems to have ties to the monastery that no one fully realizes and he is also the owner of the town's only newspaper, The Lumby Lines.

I found The Lumby Lines to be an incredibly enjoyable story.  The characters were interesting and often quirky.  Although I only learned bits and pieces of some of their stories in this book, I can tell there is much more to discover.  I really enjoyed how Fraser wove in the description of the town, the sections of the newspaper, and the background on the characters right along with the main plot of restoring Montis Abbey.  Although it took me a little time to get used to the jumps between these ideas at the beginning of the book, once the story really took off things smoothed out.  The newspaper sections often added a bit of humor when the main characters were having a rough go of it.  The Lumby Lines was a quick, light read for me and I am really looking forward to continuing with the other books in the series and learning more about the residents and history of Lumby.

Here is a complete list of the books in the series in order:

1.  The Lumby Lines
2.  Stealing Lumby
3.  Lumby's Bounty
4.  The Promise of Lumby
5.  Lumby on the Air (coming later this year)

Thank you to Caitlin at FSB Associates for sending me a copy of The Lumby Lines for the purpose of providing my honest review.


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