The Dress Shop of Dreams: A Novel

Interesting premise, and kudos to the marketing department, but this book reads like a high school creative writing project. The author's painstaking description of things that should have been shown, not told, were frustrating. It lacks all of Sarah Addison Allen's lyrical prose, so if, like me, you were directed here after buying her latest book, do not be fooled. Waste of $8.

I thought this would be a fantasy read about many people discovering truth and wisdom to help in their lives. It turns out to be recovery from bereivement of the shop owner's grand-daughter. I hope she recovers but I won't finish it to see.

Magical Realism, not a genre I am familiar with or one that I intentionally went looking for, but that is what I found from the first page of this book. I found myself sinking into the lives of Cora and all those that entered the little dress shop, a place of wonder that just seemed to know the right music to play when a person walked through the door.

At first, I was not too sure how everyone fit together, but as the story went along, I realized that I was reading a braid. I know that sound funny, but all the couples, or the people that should have been couples were interwoven in the most curious of ways.

Cora Carraway – Orphaned as a young girl and was raised by her grandmother in the dress shop. She has grown into a brilliant scientist who is now questioning the death of her parents. She spends her days lost in her own world where the only constant is numbers.

Ella Sparks – Cora’s grandmother. The owner of the dress shop, on All Saints’ Passage, who spends her days sewing beautiful dresses that make the owner’s realize their true potential (wear this dress and you’ll find what your missing: confidence, courage, power, love, beauty, magnificence….) by sewing a special little star into the seams of the dresses with her needle and red thread weaving possibility into their dreams.

Walt – Since he was four years old, Walt has been in love with Cora but she has never taken notice of him. He spends his days working in the bookshop that he has dreamed of his whole life and recently has taken a second job as the Night Reader on the local radio station narrating books that appeal to his female listeners, but embarrasses him.

Father Sebastian – Spends his days listening to the confessions of others but is hiding his own secret.

Dylan – Who is replying to the letters that Walt has been receiving at the station. This is the outlet that he needs to help him stay in touch, since so much of his time has been taken up caring for his ill father. Listening to the Night Reader has opened up emotions that he thought were long since dormant.

Officer Henry Dixon and his wife Francesca – Henry never stopped loving his wife and until that decisive moment, Henry had no idea why Francesca wanted to take their son Mateo back to Italy. Once all the words were said, the picture became clear and Henry loved her even more for it.

Milly – who closed herself off from the world, after the death of her husband, until she heard the Night Reader. With the perfect dress from the shop, she was going to make Walt fall in love with her. Little did she know, but her heart was really in love with someone else.

Intertwined with passages of the books that Walt is reading on air, the Dress Shop of Dreams takes the reader through the trials that each face in finding the one true person that they are meant to be with. Part romance, part magic, the Dress Shop of Dreams grabs the reader from the very first moment and holds on until the very last page, the very last word, when the writing in the journal that Walt’s mother had left for him is revealed. Walt has spent years trying to decipher the symbols in this journal. He knows that it has to be important, but he just cannot decode this message. That is until the right person discovers the answer. That is an awesome moment and the perfect ending to this wonderful book.

This novel has similarities to Sarah Addison Allen in the "magical" motifs, but the characters are not as well developed and the plot is a bit contrived. That said, it is a pleasant, quick read for simple entertainment. There were a couple of "good grief" moments when the plot was pretty silly, but for the most part, the style was readable and relaxing.

Red stars sewn into a dress.. such a simple thing, but something that can change the lives of others. Or at least change how they see themselves and the world around them.

Menna Van Praag's "The Dress Shop of Dreams" takes a smidge of magic, a bit of love, some heartbreak, a chuck of mystery, and a whole lot of confusion and intertwines it into the stories of four couples, apart yet connected in ways we see unfold throughout the book. Starting with an elderly woman who owns a dress shop with a little something extra, we are introduced to her analytical granddaughter, the man who loves her, and a priest holding a secret close to his heart. Other characters may not be as central to the story, but they have their own tales to tell and their interactions with our main cast flesh out a convoluted tale of love.

When I picked up this book, I was intrigued by the description. When I started reading it, I found myself never wanting to put it down. In some ways the story is simple: Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, girl falls in love with boy. But just like real life, nothing is that simple. In this story, it's even more complex as the past comes back to haunt - and heal - and misunderstandings get in the way of the ending we all want. While this is essentially a "Happily Ever After" story in the tradition of fairy tales, the journey is not smooth and not everything works out as planned. The author does a great job at balancing the good versus the bad and working out and ending that leaves you mostly happy and very satisfied. This is more than just a romance, it's an adventure braided throughout with magic, real life, and maybe even a murder. I highly recommend this modern-day fairy tale for anyone who has ever wanted a fairy godmother or a little extra something in their life.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I originally selected this book because the description said it was perfect for fans of Sarah Addison Allen...an author who has mastered the telling of a magical story. The book began in a promising way...describing a magical dress shop and an owner who helps women to find what they are missing with the perfect article of clothing. We are also introduced to Cora and Walt,two individuals who are perfect for each other, but just can't find the magical connection. Then, the book lost its charm. The story of Cora is a sad and depressing one...she is an orphan, and we learn quickly, the death of her parents may not have been accidental. How awful. Then, we meet the lovely detective who is going to help her discover the truth, and even he is struggling as a divorcee who is still in love with his ex-wife. Walt is an idiot who decides to lead on a perfectly nice, though slightly nutty widow...and then there is Walt's boss...jeesh! And that's without factoring in our shop owners deep dark and slightly creepy secrets. No one is happy or making good decisions. Of course, everything wraps up neatly in the end...but wow...what a struggle to get there. There is magic, but it's not a story that leaves you with that feel-good blanket of calm and happiness like a Sarah Addison Allen book...so consider yourself warned.

I received a copy of this title from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

Full Disclosure: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Delightful. That is the word that I would use to describe this book.

The Dress Shop of Dreams follows the lives of several characters: Cora, a scientist who lives only in her brain; her grandmother, Etta, a dressmaker who owns the dress shop of dreams; Walt, the bookstore owner who has loved Cora since he was 5 years old; Milly, a widow who stopped living after her husband died; Dylan, Walt's producer at the local BBC station (Walt reads books on the radio at night); and Sebastian, the local Catholic priest who wonders if he'll ever be forgiven for his past transgression.

Cora's parents were also scientists, but they died when Cora was only 5 years old. She has made it her life's work to follow in her parents' footsteps and change the world. Etta worries about Cora, because Cora is unemotional. Etta decides that Cora needs a little push to open up her heart, or she will miss out on Walt. Walt has declared his love to Cora, but was rebuffed when she assumed he was just drunk and making a joke.

This book was just a wonderful, dreamy trip through the lives of the characters. The characters were layered and real. This is the first book by Menna Van Praag I've read, and I am definitely going to check out more.

Some favorite moments:
• When a woman needs courage, for example, life might throw a few things at her to draw it out. When a woman needs to love herself, she might be lonely while life leaves her without external hearts to hide in.
• They don't know exactly what they're looking for, but they always imagine it will be far away and hard to find.
• In a few hours, she'll wake up weeping, her heart cracked wide open. This, Etta knows, is the cost of love. It's a great shame, she thinks, that the heart cannot feel joy without also feeling pain, that it cannot know love without also knowing loss.
• When you shut down your heart you protect it from pain but you prevent it from feeling anything at all.
• He had no idea they (women) were so sensitive, so hopeful, so primed for love that they will imagine the possibility for it in every unintended gesture and word.
• I believe that soul mates will always find each other, that true love will weather all storms, that people who want to be together will always find a way, that once our hearts find a home in another then they will stay, that false love will fade away and be forgotten in time.
• If two hearts truly love each other then they always will, even when they are apart. Unless they both let go. But if one holds on then it's because the other one hasn't yet let it go either.

Highly recommend.

© Angela Risner 2015. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from the store or Angela Risner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Angela Risner with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Cora Sparks' life revolves completely around two things: science, the field where her passion lies, and her grandmother Etta, who has taken care of her ever since her parents died in a fire when Cora was just a little girl. Etta owns her own dress shop and has the magical ability to help women pick the perfect dress that will help them with the issues they are dealing with; help them make their most secret dream come true. To save Cora from all the hurt and pain that was waiting for her after her parents' death, Etta used her magic to make sure Cora would not be able to feel the sadness. However, this has turned Cora into the pragmatic scientist she is today, unable to empathise with others or feel love. Etta wants Cora to realise what is right in front of her in the shape of her best friend and bookshop owner Walt and wants her granddaughter to not miss her chance at happiness and love. Yet things don't exactly go according to Etta's plan, and suddenly Cora's life is filled with lots of unexpected changes and events through which she has to find her own way.

This novel managed to exceed all of the expectations I had, and I honestly loved it from start to finish. The storyline was already captivating from the first few pages, but managed to continue to surprise and entertain me as the story progressed. Both Etta and Cora are wonderful characters; different from one another but both with a fascinating story to tell. I really enjoyed the author's writing style and how we were able to see things from the perspective of several of the characters. The different points of view and storylines were all connected to each other in an amazing way, and I honestly didn't want to have to put the book down for even a second. I would love to visit Etta's dress shop, hidden away in a street in Cambridge, with its gorgeous dresses, the music that starts playing as soon as someone walks in... Such a magical place!

And that's exactly the word to describe this novel: magical. I love the magical realism genre, and Menna van Praag definitely managed to create an amazing novel that fits this genre perfectly, with a lovely touch of romance and mystery at its core. I really want to applaud the author; she's a wonderful storyteller and this novel will certainly stay with me and will be one I can't recommend to others enough. I don't often mention quotes in my reviews, but the one at the start of this novel definitely made an impression on me: "If two hearts truly love each other then they always will, even when they are apart. Unless they both let go. But if one holds on then it's because the other one hasn't yet let it go either." 'The Dress Shop of Dreams' is a beautifully written, captivating and magical story that held my attention from start to finish; quite simply a must-read!

Since her parents’ mysterious deaths many years ago, scientist Cora Sparks has spent her days in the safety of her university lab or at her grandmother Etta’s dress shop. Tucked away on a winding Cambridge street, Etta’s charming tiny store appears quite ordinary to passersby, but the colorfully vibrant racks of beaded silks, delicate laces, and jewel-toned velvets hold bewitching secrets: With just a few stitches from Etta’s needle, these gorgeous gowns have the power to free a woman’s deepest desires.

Etta’s dearest wish is to work her magic on her granddaughter. Cora’s studious, unromantic eye has overlooked Walt, the shy bookseller who has been in love with her forever. Determined not to allow Cora to miss her chance at happiness, Etta sews a tiny stitch into Walt’s collar, hoping to give him the courage to confess his feelings to Cora. But magic spells—like true love—can go awry. After Walt is spurred into action, Etta realizes she’s set in motion a series of astonishing events that will transform Cora’s life in extraordinary and unexpected ways.

--My thoughts. Breathtaking. You have a main story going on here. Cora and Walt. Cora being a nerdy scientist who's parents died in a fire and Walt owns a bookstore and neither can see the forest for the trees. Then you have the grandmother, who owns the dress shop, and it does fantastic brilliant things when you come in. The music plays, so magical! I wish I had a grandma like Etta! The cakes, I drank some Maraschino cherry tea while reading this book, it went so fantastic with the chocolate cherry cakes they were eating!

Just the way Praag writes is so fantastic and out of this world, I can't get enough. You have lots of other characters, and there is a mystery, did Cora's parents really just die in the fire or were they possibly murdered? Grandmother Etta has her own secret too. Will Cora and Walt be able to make the love connection or does this world have other people for them? Each character you come to love, I can't say one is my favorite more than the other.

Read it today, let Praag put her spell on you!

I received a copy of this book electronically from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

One of my favorite authors is Elizabeth Goudge. Her books are filled with optimism, with a sense that if we just have faith, and wait, and do what seems right, all will come right in the end: goodness and love (in the broadest sense) will prevail. I felt much of the same sense of hope and promise of joy to come in Menna van Praag’s The Dress Shop of Dreams. Both authors express a similar spirituality, although Goudge’s is more overtly Christian in flavor, while van Praag’s is for the most part a quiet magic that a reader could imbue with almost any recognized faith, or none. Both writers also deal with the joys and sorrows of more-or-less ordinary people, who become far from ordinary in the authors’ capable hands.

That said, stylistically van Praag is not at all like Elizabeth Goudge. The Dress Shop of Dreams is written mostly in present tense, with the exception of a number of flashbacks or memories. I’m not usually a fan of present tense, but van Praag writes deftly, and before long I barely noticed.

And I loved her characters, and became invested in almost all of them: Cora, with her penchant for counting and her locked-away heart; Walt with his unspoken love for books and Cora and his magnificent talent for reading aloud; Etta with her subtle dressmaker’s magic and her gift for seeing into people’s hearts; Henry the policeman, in love with justice and his ex-wife; Sebastian the priest, who feels he no longer has anything to give; Dylan and Millie and even Francesca. All of them have dreams and hopes; all of them are seeking healing and love. As the novel progresses, the connections between them grow or become apparent.

There is a bit of a mystery in the book, but I would not describe it as a mystery novel. I figured out the culprit before all was revealed, but it didn’t matter; the focus isn’t really on the mystery itself but on Cora’s pursuit of the truth, and on the various characters’ relationships.

The Dress Shop of Dreams is not a fast-paced or action-filled novel. Rather, it’s a quiet celebration of life and of love. And it’s filled with funny moments, though it’s not a humorous novel on the whole. It would make a wonderful choice for a book club: it’s not a difficult read, the plethora of characters and their choices and mistakes offer plenty of material for discussion, and the book’s quietly optimistic tone might be a welcome respite after darker novels.

FTC disclosure: I received a review copy from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are entirely my own.
Review originally published on The Bookwyrm's Hoard blog.

There’s something magical about Etta’s dress shop. LibraryReads called it a “cute little book… recommended to readers who want to be charmed by the possibilities of love.” That’s what is so delightful about Van Praag’s story that is set in Oxford and Cambridge.
Etta has raised her granddaughter Cora since she was five years old. As the story opens, it’s Cora’s twenty-fifth birthday. She wishes she had her parents to celebrate with her, but they died in a mysterious house fire. Etta never truly believes that the fire that killed her daughter and son-in-law was an accident, but once the police closed the file, she never has the time to delve further into the matter. Not with raising a child and running a business. She has a secret weapon that she sews into a seam of every article of clothing.
Cora is now a brilliant scientist, who has blocked the memories even the most innocent of memories. Even as a child, she was obsessed with numbers. She is collaborating with an old friend of her parents. They seem to be on the brink of a major scientific breakthrough.
Just down All Saint Passage from the dress shop is a bookstore where Cora likes to spend three evening a week reading the lives of famous scientists. She has known the proprietor, Walt, since she was child. Walt, it is clear to everyone but Cora, has been in love with her since he was four years old. And on top of that, he makes the best cherry pies she has ever eaten. He has a glorious voice and has recently taken a job reading classical literature over the radio. When it becomes painfully obvious that Cora will never return his feelings, he looks for love in other places.
The novel is full of tales of requited and unrequited love. Etta has dreamed of a man she knew briefly fifty years ago; and he loved her but was committed elsewhere. Then there is the manager of the radio station where Walt works. He has taken to answering Walt (a.k.a. the Night Reader) and has revealed his innermost feelings to a woman on Walt’s behalf. The woman, Milly, is trying to overcome her grief on the loss of her husband.
Cora decides that she must investigate the death of her parents, and lo, readers stumble on the last love story. Officer Henry Dixon, his estranged wife Francesca, and their son, Mattie.
Sound complicated? It’s not. The characters are well defined. The plot arcs in all the right places with endings, and beginnings, where they should be. Those who enjoy magical realism will enjoy this sweet novel.

**I received an e-copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

I also think it's good to know that I am the one who requested this, after I saw Sarah Addison Allen recommend it. And I'm so glad she did. This book was awesome. I didn't read it very fast because I didn't want to reach the end. Menna made me care so much for the characters that I couldn't stand it when they were doing it wrong! I wanted to shake them sometimes.

This is about a woman who stitches magic into the dresses she sells, Etta. She has a granddaughter, Cora, who is....a little socially awkward, but really she just has no interest in people or feelings. And Etta's neighbor and bookshop owner, Walt, who has loved Cora since he first met her as a little boy. They are the main characters. Secondary characters include Walt's boss, Walt's wanna-be-girlfriend, a police detective determined to help Cora solver the mystery of her parents death, and a priest whom Walt often confides in.

This book has wonderful flow between all the characters. And even when you can't stand who they are with, you don't dislike any of them. You just want them to get with the right people. There is such a sad undertone in everyone's life, but at the same time she touches all of them with the joy that only living can bring.

The basic plot is that Walt wants Cora to love him, and Etta wants Cora to open her heart and start feeling things already. Even if that means moving through the grief of losing her parents when she was a girl. Once she does that, Etta tells Cora what she has always suspected - the fire that killed her parents was no accident. That sends Cora off to investigate, while Walt is reeling from the assumed rejection from Cora. He decides to move on and meets Milly, but can he love her?

My favorite character was Devin, Walt's boss. He is such a sad man, and such a good man. When he isn't at work, he is caring for his aging father - who is suffering dementia. A while ago he started answering Walt's fan mail, and in that time he has learned so much about women. He had no idea that women had such feelings and realized what an fool he's been. It renders him immobile, until a love letter arrives for Walt.

There's a touch of magic in these pages.

That would look beautiful on you," she'll suggest gently. "Why don't you try it on?"

Etta Sparks may send a young women into the dressing room with one of her lovely dresses, but what she's providing is much more than a pretty frock. When a woman comes out and sees herself in the mirror, she rediscovers a lost piece of herself.

In THE DRESS SHOP OF DREAMS by Menna Van Praag, Etta raises her five-year old granddaughter, Cora after her parents are killed in a house fire under suspicious circumstances. While growing up, Cora's determined to be a scientist like her parents were and says she's going to "save the world." She grows up, becomes a PhD, dedicating her life to science and sets out to discover the truth behind her parents deaths.

We have two different worlds merging within THE DRESS SHOP OF DREAMS. One is based in magical realism and dreams, the another with evidence based facts and what can be seen and verified. The question is, can the two coexist? Will the characters destined to be together, overcome the obstacles, real or imaginary, intent on keeping them apart?

THE DRESS SHOP OF DREAMS has many characters and complex plotlines. I needed to jot down notes, which was helpful for me. I found each character rich and distinct, particularly Cora and Walt. Ultimately, the novel is a beautifully written fairy tale love story for adults.

FYI: I read on Goodreads that Menna's inspiration for the location was a street she remembered growing up as a little girl in England - All Saints Passage. She found it "enchanting and magical." She loves wearing dresses and believes they can be "transformative." She wears Karen Millen www.karenmillen.com purchased at the Market Street shop in Cambridge. You too, can buy these delightful designs at better stores and boutiques. I'm heading out shopping once I post this.

Thank you to Netgalley www.netgalley.com and Ballantine Books www.BallantineBooks.com for providing a kindle copy for an honest review. You can go to www.mennavanpraag.com to read all about MENNA and feel free to check out www.cindyroesel.com for my reviews.

Scientist Cora Sparks has carefully guarded and controlled her emotions since the traumatic death of her parents in a house fire. Her grandmother Etta is concerned that Cora is missing out on the love of her life by refusing to look beyond her research and see Walt, the handsome bookseller who has loved her since his childhood. Fortunately, Etta is armed with magic and with a few careful stitches in the beautiful dresses she creates and sells, she can help her customers and granddaughter see their potential.

It took me three days to read the first 70 pages. I was having a lot of trouble getting into the story and was distracted by every little thing. This is pretty unusual for me and I was just about to toss it aside when something (magically?) clicked. I devoured the last two thirds of the book in an evening.

The Dress Shop of Dreams by Menna Van Praag has a lot of characters with a lot of angst and love-sickness and drama going on in their lives. While Cora starts to feel again and open her heart to Walt, she also begins investigating her parents' deaths. Walt, believing that Cora will never return his love, tries desperately to fall in love with Milly, a young widow who is enraptured by Walt's voice and his love letters. Etta, too, is haunted by the love she gave up years ago.

A love letter to romantic classics, The Dress Shop of Dreams is filled with magic and enchantment and love.

It's a fairy tale of sorts, where all the characters' stories are woven together and wrap up with happy endings. It's fanciful, airy, and frankly, reminds me more of a perfect summer evening than a book for winter. Really The Dress Shop of Dreams would be enjoyable any time of year.

I received a complimentary copy of The Dress Shop of Dreams in exchange for my honest review. No additional compensation was received.

I will finish this book, I will finish this book, I will finish this book! This became my mantra the further I delved into this novel. I’m the type of person that unless a book is super trashy or awful, I will finish it. I wanted to love this book. I really did. I set out with the best of intentions because the author was supposed to be akin to one of my favorites, Sarah Addison Allen. I was expecting to be wowed, impressed, blown away. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel any of those things about The Dress Shop of Dreams. It was simply simple. An okay read. Something I read and then thought, “Well, that’s done. What’s next?”

I know, I’m making this book sound super appealing, right? Well, let me break it down for you. I felt like this book had an identity crisis. It tried to be a clever, mysterious, magical love story. I would have preferred that the author picked one, or maybe two, of those things and done them well, instead of doing all three just so-so. It’s like a restaurant that offers too many things on the menu. Everything tastes mediocre, not fabulous as it potentially could if they chose to master a few select dishes.

Additionally, there were also way too many story lines to follow, that even though they all made sense with one another in the end, almost made it feel like the book was trying too hard. First, Cora, the orphan, scientist, and granddaughter. Second, Etta, the grandmother and dress shop owner. Next, Walt, the bookshop owner and longtime best friend to Cora. Then, weave in Dylan (Walt’s boss who is falsely corresponding with several women under Walt’s name), Milly (Walt’s girlfriend who is struggling to find herself after her husband’s death), Henry (the detective helping Cora solve the mystery of her parent’s death), Francesca (Henry’s alcoholic ex-wife), Dr. Baxter (Cora’s boss and, as we eventually discover, a murderer), and Sebastian (the priest who intersects multiple character’s lives). Whew! And even still, I feel like I’m probably forgetting a few characters. Again, if the author would have picked a few less story lines and given more attention to details and really solid character development, I would have liked this book a lot more. I felt like I got a sampling of a lot of characters, when really, I’d prefer to go more in depth with just a few characters.

Just so I don’t sound super negative and hateful of this book, I do need to mention that I did find pleasure in certain parts, or truly, I would not have kept reading. For one, it was very easy to read. It was also very easy to want to keep going to the next chapter because you didn’t often learn a lot about one character before the author shifted to another one. I also liked the concept of the dress shop and how the dresses picked the women; it was not the women who picked the dresses. Kind of a cute concept. All in all, this book had elements to enjoy, but on the whole, I think it left something to be desired.

I found this story truly enchanting. As I read I felt I recognized the cadence and timber of the writing style and finally realized I found the style to be reminiscent to that of Mitch Albom's "The First Phone Call From Heaven", although the storyline itself is so very much different.

This tale intertwines the lives of five different couples all of whom pivot around Cora Carraway, a young, emotionally distant scientist trying to make a discovery that will help all humanity in the way her deceased parents had worked to do. Cora's grandmother, Etta, has raised her since her parents perished in a house fire when Cora was five years old. Etta owns a very special little dress shop, one where confidence is found and dreams are made possible, all by the special stitches Etta adds for her customers. Now the time has come to open Cora's heart, to enable her to solve the mystery of her parents' deaths, and to find love of her own. As a result, Cora finds the courage to discover the truth, begin a new life, and decipher the very special book that bookstore owner and friend since childhood, Walt, was left by his mother at her passing.

This book spins a special fantasy in current times, bringing people who should have been together together, and demonstrating that it is never too late for love--whether it be romantic, of self, unrequited, or selfless.

I recommend this delightful story. Sit back, suspend disbelief, and enjoy Cora's tale.

Reading THE DRESS SHOP OF DREAMS by Menna van Praag will reignite the spark in all of us who believe in true love prevailing, enchanting dresses, and a bit of magic to give us that push we need to accomplish our goals.

The book is told in the third person yet from multiple characters’ perspectives. However, the story mainly centers on Etta Sparks and her grandmother, Cora Carraway. Etta and her dresses are truly what cause all these events to unfold after years and years. When Etta stitches a small red star into Cora’s t-shirts (she’s not a dress sort of gal), Cora takes off on a mission to find out the truth concerning the death of her brilliant inventor parents nearly 20 years prior, opening herself to feelings and, most importantly, love, while encouraging others along the way to act --- although sometimes they have been for the worse rather than for the better.

I was truly charmed by this book and felt that it was in the same girl-power, love-discovering, magical atmosphere as van Praag’s previous novel, THE HOUSE AT THE END OF HOPE STREET, which I absolutely adored. The characters were all so diverse and realistic, each with their own elaborate stories to tell. Each one of them encountered many obstacles, both of the heart and through other close people, even from some who were thought to be well known and entirely uninvolved. This was a very intricate novel with ties linking the characters in the most curious and interesting ways, like a nearly invisible yet resilient web.

My favorite character would have to be Cora. I truly admired her determination, sense of justice, passions, and getting the chance to grow and learn with her on her life-changing journey. I could probably most relate to Walt, as he is a simple man with simple dreams, who loves books, is very observant, and has an amazing hidden talent (I’m still waiting on that last one).

My favorite part was the ending, when I felt that the pieces fell precisely into their rightful places, and everyone, myself included, was content and truly happy. On the flip side, all the times that my beloved characters had to endure incredibly unfortunate incidences was my least favorite part. Still, I honestly wouldn’t change a thing, although I would’ve liked to learn a bit more about a few of the lesser characters’ pasts.

I would recommend THE DRESS SHOP OF DREAMS to anyone wanting a magical, enchanting read with both sorrow and joy, hope and despair. Overall this is a great novel for any reader who enjoys romance, mystery, a mild thriller, an inspiring story, and contemporary fiction all wrapped into one.

Reviewed by Sara J.

This is a sweet, charming tale with characters that are easy to love. If you like magic realism and you are looking for a story to take you away from everything, this would be a good book to choose.

I liked the characters right away. This is one of those stories that will transport you away from your daily stresses and make you smile and feel warm inside. The relationships between the characters, (both family and love interest,) are interesting and different from other books. You feel as if you have gotten to know these people within the first few chapters and after that, it is like you have become part of the story yourself.

The magical surprises in this book are many and as the story continues, you find yourself hoping that everything will work out the way you want it to.

This was a great book, with a lot to recommend it.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher as part of the shereads.org blogging program. All opinions are my own.

Cora's parents were scientists who both died in a house fire when Cora was very young. Cora grows up to be a scientist herself, wanting to carry on with her parents' work in developing an agricultural system that had the potential to end world hunger. Cora allows herself to become so consumed with her work that she misses the fact that there's this whole other part of her life just waiting to be unlocked, if she could just manage to get out of her own head once in awhile. Cora's grandmother sees it though, mostly through witnessing the swoony looks Cora's bestie Walt keeps throwing her way... to no effect. Walt and Cora grew up together, now Walt runs the bookshop across the street from Cora's grandmother's dress shop. Walt is stumped that they could spend nearly every day together without Cora picking up on even the slightest hint of his romantic interest in her. Cora's grandmother, Etta, is desperately hoping her special brand of magic will finally work on Cora's heart.

Etta runs a special sort of vintage dress shop in that all the dresses seem to pick their owners rather than vice versa. A woman will come into the store with something specific troubling her and Etta will lead said woman to the perfect dress that will help the woman find that special something she needs --- courage to go for a job she wants, or to approach someone she has an interest in, maybe just finding that sense of self-love again, the ability to see your own beauty where you couldn't before. Once the special dress is found, Etta stitches in a little star to lock in the magic so to speak and the customer is off to conquer her new life! But for some reason, the magic never seems to have an effect on Cora, though Etta keeps trying. Etta has her own story of heartbreak that she reveals to the reader little by little, and she's determined not to have the same sadness tarnish Cora's heart.

This story had such a wonderful mix of everything that makes reading fun! You got humor, warm family moments between Cora and her grandmother, romance that actually makes you laugh and root for the characters instead of cringing, wanting to throw the book. Van Praag even throws in a little mystery in that Cora has always had a sneaking suspicion there might have been something suspect about the death of her parents. When she actually starts to have it investigated, she uncovers some shocking information about who she thought she could trust!

The Dress Shop of Dreams is pure, fantastic, whimsical escapism. It's a bit like a modern fairytale, that vein of magical realism running through it, but with a twist! The plot doesn't always follow the arc you might expect, which was part of the fun, actually. :-) It's not all cotton candy fluffness though -- there are some touching heart truths that Van Praag weaves in that I thought gave the story a sense of realness. There are multiple characters who all seem to be grieving something or someone, nursing broken hearts or wounded souls in different ways that keep the plot interesting as you see all these minor stories within the big plot unfold, illustrating how everyone's got their pasts and their secrets to heal. The one issue I had with the minor storylines though is every now and then, the novel would just jump between scenes without a definite sense of a break, which, at times, was frustrating. Silky smooth transitions are so underrated.

I enjoyed getting to know nearly every character in this story. The one exception to that would be Milly. Her obsession with becoming pregnant at any cost, regardless of how it might mean lying and scheming to get what she wanted, really bothered me. She was a creepy clinger around Walt to boot. Wasn't a big fan of hers. Otherwise, loved this story all the way around and can't wait to get into Van Praag's other works. There was something here that reminded me of Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic (not surprising then, that in her author interview at the end of the book Van Praag mentions Hoffman as one of her favorite authors), and looking over the synopses of Van Praag's other novels, magical realism, at least on some level, seems to be a common thread throughout her writing style -- which I'm all for! :-)

This book has it all. A fantastically well-written and constructed story that will become a beloved addition to many a story collection. The characters provide an adventure that includes love, family, intrigue, suspense, a wee bit of magic, appreciation of fashion, the inner doubts that many face and more. I enjoyed all the great twists and turns that the story brought into the mix, and did it so well.

This story has some sub stories interwoven into the words and characters seamlessly. These sub stories caught me by surprise at times and I never quite knew how they would impact the main characters at any given moment. I have to say that I love the way all the characters were impacted by individuals decisions and the overall conclusion for each person.

The author writes in a way where you feel the emotions and the depth of these emotions clearly from the beginning. The insight Menna has into the human psyche and thoughts is fantastic and quite prevalent in the words.