I'm actually torn with book. I started out liking the characters well enough, and the circumstances with Hallie leaving her beloved Chicago for Cincinnati kept me interested. I had a problem with a few things but overlooked it until about halfway through and it started to annoy me. Hallie is upset moving back to Ohio, understandable but it's a move up with her job and temporary. She has a huge crush on Bo but it seems every time he tells her he needs to speak to her seriously, she blows him off. Her aunt may not seem as crazy if Hallie would put her foot down on a few things instead of just blowing her off as "crazy". She's upset with Bo instead of confronting him she runs away. By the end I was annoyed with Hallie but I did like most of the secondary characters who kept me reading. This was just my feelings others look at it differently, you decide. I thought this was an entertaining book to read. You can't help but like Hallie and want her to succeed. Orphaned at a young age, Hallie Mediate was raised by her (slightly) crazy Great Aunt Grace on the wrong side of the tracks in Cincinnati. Hallie dreamed of escaping her hometown and never looking back. After putting herself through college, landing her dream job in Chicago, and starting a romance with her handsome running partner Bo Pompillio, life is finally exactly as she wants it.That is, until she’s transferred back to the hometown. Not wanting her past to cross paths with her future, Hallie puts her relationship with Bo on hold.When she arrives in town, Hallie finds crazy Aunt Grace rummaging through a dumpster looking for the “perfect” welcome home gift for her niece. That’s just the beginning. After that, Aunt Grace stays busy by dying her stolen poodle’s hair pink and leaving the dog on her apartment roof to pee, throwing bricks out the window at passing neighbors, and climbing every flag pole to kiss the ornamental eagle.Hallie finds some sanity at a local jewelry-making class where she uncovers a hidden talent for beading. When her talent is discovered by a major department store jewelry buyer, Hallie realizes that what she had in Chicago might not have been her dream life after all.When faced with the choice of moving back to Chicago and Bo or taking a leap of faith to start her own jewelry company (with Aunt Grace in tow), Hallie has to make a decision. Will she let her past and her future collide, or will she or keep searching for the happiness she may already have found?
What do You think about Carpe Bead'em (2000)?
I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!! I could not put it down! Awesome characters! I didn't want it to end!
—jen
Fun and fresh, it's a great read about finding what's important and hanging onto it!
—Tdhrjlss
AWESOME BOOK... LOVEED IT....i want to visit the store and have a braclet made!!
—Tasia
This is one of my favorites. I loved everything about this book.
—prolapse
