1. Colette Blake, a newcomer to the Blossom Street neighborhood and the shop, is welcomed by Lydia—but not by Margaret. Why do you think that is? Is Lydia right about the reasons for Margaret’s hostility?

2. Although Jordan says, “I know this isn’t really your kind of thing,” do you think he truly understands Alix’s feelings about the wedding? Does he try hard enough to understand or do you find his attitude unintentionally dismissive?

3. If you’d been in Colette’s shoes and had discovered something potentially incriminating about your boss, how would you have handled it? Do you approve of the way she handled it? What might her alternatives have been?

4. When Colette first reconnects with Steve, did you feel this was a relationship she should pursue, a relationship with a possible future? Why or why not?

5. Lydia, Brad and Margaret’s husband, Matt, all see Margaret’s overprotectiveness of Julie after the attack as inappropriate, if understandable. Her desire for vengeance, however, is disturbing to all of them. If Margaret were your sister, what would you say to her? How would you try to influence her behavior?

6. Lydia chooses a prayer shawl for this knitting class. In chapter twelve, the various knitters discuss the significance of the shawl and its pattern. Do any of their comments have particular meaning for you? Are there any comments or observations you’d add if you were part of their discussion?

7. Colette is keeping her pregnancy a secret, but accepts (however reluctantly) a date with Christian. Why does she do this—and do you agree with her reasons? What do you think of her decision not to tell him about the pregnancy? Does it seem logical to you under the circumstances?

8. Lydia and Brad consider adoption. Do you feel they should adopt a child? Why or why not?

9. Friendship, especially among women, is an important and recurring theme in Debbie Macomber’s novels. In this story we watch the friendship between Alix and Colette take root and grow, despite the initial awkwardness between them. Why do you think they develop such a strong bond?

10. Do you identify and/or sympathize with Alix’s feelings about her “circus” of a wedding? How would you advise her to deal with Jacqueline and Susan? Or do you feel she should just accept their involvement for the sake of family peace?

11. Why, for that matter, do you think Jacqueline and Susan Turner are so insistent on taking charge of the wedding at all?

12. Lydia and Margaret have a difficult time coping with their mother’s decline, and her care has become solely their responsibility. This is, of course, a dilemma many people face. Would you make the same decisions Lydia and Margaret have?

13. Her relationship with Elizabeth Sasser is an increasingly important one to Colette. Alix’s friendship with Sarah Turner, Jordan’s grandmother, is also significant. Do you think these two relationships with much older women are at all similar? How are they different? What benefits do they bring the younger women—and the older ones?

14. Christian’s disappearance in China is a turning point in the story. Were you surprised by this development? Would you agree that it clarifies Colette’s feelings about him? Did you believe, at any point in the book, that Christian was capable of the crime he seemed to have committed? Did you feel he should have shared the truth with Colette—and did you understand why he didn’t?

15. Like friendship, forgiveness and reconciliation are central themes in this book. Which instance of forgiveness made the most impact on you? If it was Margaret’s forgiveness of Danny Chesterfield, what do you think brought her to the point of being able to forgive him?

16. Which character in this book did you like best? Which one would you most want for a friend—and why?