All Booked Up by Melody Carlson centers on Riva Owen, a widow in her early sixties. Her husband passed away more than a year before and left her with a lot of medical debts. She’s contemplating selling the Victorian home where she grew up. But one thing holding her back is her book collection in what she calls her library. She still has all her husband’s books there as well. She just can’t bear to get rid of them–they are like friends to her.

When a friend mentions that Riva could make good money renting out her upstairs rooms, Riva has to think long and hard about whether to take in boarders. Doing so would allow her to keep her house. But it would disrupt her quiet lifestyle. She finally decides to give it a try and ends up with four women renting out rooms in her home. She only knows one of them, Laurel. Windy is a new acquaintance with a hippie background, Kitty is Laurel’s hairdresser, and Fiona works at a nearby cafe.

Things start off well, but soon the different personalities clash. The rest of the book is taken up with the issues that come up and how they are worked out.

I enjoyed reading a book about “older” women. I think they were all in their sixties except Kitty. I liked the bookish references but felt there could have been more, given the title and description of the story. I also appreciated the discussions about grief.

Melody has written over 200 books, and I have enjoyed the few that I have read, mostly Christmas novels. But this book was a disappointment to me in some ways. I felt the book took a while to get where it was going, but then the ending seemed rushed. The resolution of the biggest “problem” housemate seemed unrealistic to me.

I got frustrated that everyone kept telling Riva she was repressed and inhibited, pulling her into experiences she really didn’t want to get into. I wanted her to stand up for herself and quit giving in and going to these outings where she then tried to sneak out early. She tells the group later that she was stuck after her husband’s death and thanks them for nudging her out of her comfort zone. True, it’s good to try new things some times. But I felt the friends would have been better to encourage and suggest rather than push and insist.

Two of the women like Windy’s brother, Marcus, and seem totally childish in their jealousies.

Though this is Christian fiction, anything of a Christian nature is only mentioned sporadically until near the end.

Some reviewers felt as I did, but others loved the book. So don’t let me discourage you from trying it. You might like it, too, and I’d love to hear what you think of it.