The Ladies of Ivy Cottage: Tales from Ivy Hill Book 2 by Julie Klassen

    Darn these cliffhangers!  Just when I thought things were going to be resolved, the book ended with uncertainty again.  Now I have to wait for book three to find out what is going to happen to these storylines I want an answer to!

    With life becoming settled at the Bell Inn, book two of the Tales from Ivy Hill series turns to those living at Ivy Cottage. 

    After losing her house to a distant heir, Rachel Ashford has moved into Ivy Cottage, the home of her friend Mercy Grove.  Mercy has turned the house into a school for girls.  To feel less like she is being given a place to stay out of charity, Rachel offers to teach in order to earn her keep.  The problem is, Rachel is not very good at teaching.  Still wanting to earn her lodgings, Rachel must figure out another way to earn a living.             

    Rachel’s solution is to open a lending library.  She has inherited all her father’s books, and per his will, she cannot sell them.  A library is the best way to have the books be used and earn a living as well. 

Knowledge/Artwork by Kate Dorsey

    With Mercy’s support, Rachel sets up the library in Ivy Cottage, and it is a hit.  Not only do people check out books, they donate as well.  They also make the library a place for social occasions by forming reading groups; making the library, and her life, better than Rachel ever dreamed.

    While Rachel enjoys the success of the library, what she does not know is it is at risk of being shut down.  You see, Mercy doesn’t actually own the property she lives on.  Her parents do.  They just let Mercy and her Aunt Matilda live there.  The school was something they reluctantly gave permission to, but now that there is a library and Mercy may take guardianship of one of the girls she teaches, they are coming to town to see what is going on.

    The Groves are not coming from London alone, though.  They are bringing along an ultimatum in the form of a man.  Mercy has the choice of either marrying Mr. Norbert Hollander and keeping the house, or staying single and lose the house to her brother.  Either way, she will most likely have to close the school.

    Not liking either possibility, Mercy does give Mr. Hollander a chance.  What she finds is they do not want the same things in life.  Mercy wants children and her girls’ school, while Mr. Hollander would maybe consider a boys’ school, but mostly wants Mercy to be subservient to him.

    Still, knowing this, Mercy is undecided about what to do.  Living with her brother and new wife might not be terrible, but it’s not what she wants.  The situation isn’t helped by the fact there is a man Mercy is interested in.  A man who appears to be taken.

    While losing the library would be sad for Rachel, she does have options.  Mr. Nicholas Ashford, the man who inherited her home, has proposed marriage.  Not knowing Nicholas well enough, Rachel does not accept right away.  It does not help she is still in love with a man from her past, Sir Timothy Brockwell, a man who just found out his father’s character was not what he always thought it was.

    One place where things are quiet, comparatively speaking, is at the Bell Inn.  However, things are still happening. 

    Jane Bell, the owner of the inn, is figuring out how to run the inn without her mother-in-law, Thora.  Thora is away on her honeymoon, and will not be working at the inn even upon her return to the village.  The business of the inn is now truly in Jane’s hands.

    One of the decisions Jane makes is to rehire a maid Thora dismissed.  The maid, Hetty Piper, was getting too friendly with Thora's son, Patrick, for Thora’s taste.  Therefore, Hetty was dismissed.  Now she is back.  And little does Jane know, Hetty will be bringing her daughter along with her.  A daughter that could easily be Patrick’s.

    Jane is also missing Gabriel Locke.  He helped save the inn, but now he is gone.  Jane writes to him in hopes he will return, or at least respond to her letters.  One day Gabriel finally does; and he has some surprising things to say.

    The story of Jane and Gabriel is one of the main reasons I read this second book, and their story is still unresolved!  Now I have to read the third book to find out what happens.  This is the case with Mercy as well.  When the book ends, her life is very much up in the air.  Others are getting happy endings, or at least moving towards one.  I hope she gets one too.