Beth Pattillo

Sometimes life has to unravel before you can knit it together...On the third Friday of each month, Eugenie, Ruth, Esther, Merry, and Camille meet at the Sweetgum Christian Church to enjoy the two things that connect them: a love of knitting and a passion for books. Their camaraderie remains unthreatened until Eugenie, the town librarian, introduces an angry teenager into their midst. Eugenie also gives them a new reading list: the classic novels of girlhood that young Hannah has never read. Little Women. Pollyanna. Heidi. Books that remind the women of the hopes and dreams they have lost along the way. With each click of their needles, the ladies of the Knit Lit Society unravel their secrets: A shadow from Eugenie's past haunts the controlled order of her life. Merry's perfect little family is growing again--but will she continue to feel her identity slip away? Camille dreams of leaving town but is bound by ties of love. And the sisters, Ruth and Esther, must confront a lie they have lived with for over thirty years.As Hannah is reluctantly stitched into their lives, the women discover the possibility that even in sleepy Sweetgum, Tennessee, they can still be the heroines of their own stories.From the Trade Paperback edition.

Can you have your (wedding) cake and eat it, too?Betsy Blessing is about to have it all--the chance to be senior minister of Church of the Shepherd and a long-awaited first date with her best-friend-turned-love-interest, David Swenson. But David's unexpected marriage proposal and a developer's surprise offer to buy the dying downtown church building thrust Betsy into a whirlwind of decisions. Betsy's future mother-in-law, editor of Budget Bride magazine, plans to feature the nuptials in an upcoming issue, but is Betsy ready to buy her wedding gown at Goodwill and register for china at Chips-n-Dings? And not everyone at Church of the Shepherd thinks relocating to the suburbs is a great idea. Can Betsy persuade the naysayers that she can lead them to the Promised Land?Factor in a homeless man named Booger, a demanding parishioner with a broken hip, and David's clandestine meetings with his former fiancee, and Betsy has more than she can handle. Is happily ever after out of reach for the fabulous Reverend Blessing?From the Trade Paperback edition.

American Claire Prescott doesn't really understand Mr Darcy's appeal. But when she agrees to stand in for her sister at a Jane Austen seminar in Oxford, she finds herself holding a lost version of Pride and Prejudice. As she reads the first draft, she uncovers a long-hidden secret about the iconic Darcy, as well as the truth about Austen's own struggle to find the right hero for Elizabeth Bennett. And when a tall, dark and dashing stranger crosses her path, will the staid Claire suddenly discover her own inner Lizzie Bennett?

When Gwyn Barrie inherits a mysterious legacy donated by an anonymous benefactor, she is sure it's too good to be true -- and it is. For along with the legacy comes the man named as the sole trustee of the money: Handsome, charming Jason Radley. Eight years ago, Gwyn and Jason were in love -- until Gwyn disappeared for reasons Jason could never understand. Now fate has brought him back into her life again -- along with the funds Gwyn so desperately needs. But Gwyn's good fortune quickly sours when someone begins to follow her all over London -- someone who may even want her dead. Frightened and alone, Gwyn has only Jason to turn to. But can she trust the man who broke her heart so many years ago -- and fight the passion that is seething so close to the surface? Soon nothing is what it seems as Gwyn and Jason are swept up in a terrifying game of greed and lust -- where the stakes are nothing less than their lives...

"[Pattillo] creates a sweet story of redemption that will go down well with knitters as well as the knitting-challenged." -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY"The Sweetgum Knit Lit Society cries for a sequel." -- BOOKPAGEOnce a month, the six women of the Sweetgum Knit Lit Society gather to discuss books and share their knitting projects. Inspired by her recently-wedded bliss, group leader Eugenie chooses "Great Love Stories in Literature" as the theme for the year's reading list--a risky selection for a group whose members span the spectrum of age and relationship status.As the Knit Lit ladies read and discus classic romances like Romeo and Juliet, Wuthering Heights, and Pride and Prejudice, each member is confronted with her own perception about love. Camille's unexpected reunion with an old crush forces her to confront conflicting desires. Newly widowed Esther finds her role in Sweetgum changing and is surprised by two unlikely friends. Hannah isn't sure she's ready for the trials of first love. Newcomer Maria finds her life turned upside-down by increasing family obligations and a handsome, arrogant lawyer, and Eugenie and Merry are both asked to make sacrifices for their husbands that challenge their principles.Even in a sleepy, southern town like Sweetgum, Tennesee, love isn't easy. The Knit Lit ladies learn they can find strength and guidance in the novels they read, the love of their family, their community--and especially in each other.Beth Pattillo learned to knit in the second grade. She is the author of the book, Heavens to Betsy, the recipient of the Romance Writers of America Best Inspirational Romance Novel in 2006, and its sequel, Earth to Betsy. Beth lives with her husband and children in Tennessee.