A Journey to New Books – Stray Affections - From September 11, 2009

This is a story of healing and renewal. Cassandra Higgins quit using her God-given talents years ago after much heartache and loss. She has always believed she isn’t very smart and that has also caused her to put away her dreams. One day, while on her once-a-year special shopping trip, she finds a delightful snowglobe that she just has to have. Little does she know that that snowglobe will change her life forever in countless ways and the lives of those around her. The story is heartfelt, true-to-life, and fun. You will enjoy the characters and find at least one that you can relate to. I also like that the story is set in Minnesota, where I’m from. I recommend cuddling up with your favorite canine, feline, bunny, or hamster and enjoying this wonderful story.


Book Summary:
The last thing that Cassandra Higgins expects out of her Sunday is to be mesmerized at a collectors’ convention by a snowglobe. She’s enjoying some shopping time, with husband Ken at home tending their brood of four young boys, when she’s utterly charmed by the one-of-a kind globe containing figures of three dogs and a little girl with hair the color of her own. She can’t resist taking the unique globe home– even if means wrestling another shopper for it!
The beautiful snowglobe sparks long-dormant memories for Cassie, of her beloved Grandpa Wonky, the stray she rescued as a child, and the painful roots of her combative relationship with her mother, “Bad Betty” Kamrowski. Life in Wanonishaw, Minnesota is never dull, though, and Cassie keeps the recollections at bay, busy balancing her boys, her home daycare operation, and being a good friend to best pal Margret. But after a strange–flurrious, as Cassie deems it–moment happens with the remarkable snowglobe, Cassie and the people she loves are swirled into a tumultuous, yet grace-filled, and life-changing journey.
With the quirky, close-knit Midwestern small-town feel that made Charlene Ann Baumbich’s acclaimed Dearest Dorothy novels so popular, Stray Affections invites you to experience the laughter and the healing of second chances.


Author Bio:
Charlene Ann Baumbich is a popular author and speaker and an award-winning journalist. In addition to her Dearest Dorothy series of novels, she has written seven nonfiction books of humor and inspiration. A bungee-jumping, once motorcycle-owning grandma and unabashed dog lover, Charlene lives with her husband and rescued dog Kornflake in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She loves telling stories, laughing whenever possible, and considers herself a Wild Child of God.