Fast Paced & Suspenseful!

This is a fast paced and suspenseful read that kept me intrigued and wondering page after page. The author has done an excellent job creating characters and story, and the events that unfold along the way. This book will most definitely appeal to a wide audience of readers--both young and old.

G. Miki Hayden Author of Writing the Mystery A Macavity winner and Agatha and Anthony nominee

A Fine, Engrossing Novel...

After a riveting start in which young Peejay's father is abducted, released, and never returns home to the family that loves him, the story skips ahead to the efforts of the grown-up Peejay to come to grips with her mysterious past, as well as her burgeoning sexuality. Still seemingly confused by the adult world of romance and mating, Peejay is abused by a "friend" and wonders if she's falling in love with another woman.

Her grandfather just dead and her mother long deceased, Peejay is a wealthy young woman, but one who has an ambition to write and a desire to resolve the issues of the past. Why did her father never return, yet send a rose on her every birthday? She uses her grandfather's notes on his search for his son (Peejay's journalist father) and contacts some of the people who might know the story of his disappearance.

While on her quest to find the father she so loved, Peejay discovers a great many other hidden truths, as well as a man she can love and who treasures her, in return.

Claudia McCants has written a fine, engrossing novel filled with unique characters and the strange byways a young woman's life may take when she sets forth on the road to discovery. Believability is the watchword here and McCants takes us into a world of the "party people," as well as the affluent and famous. Revelations come through many avenues and, before the book is through, arson and murder and more will have the reader eagerly turning to the next page.

We don't know until the grand finale, if, ultimately, Peejay will find her father, but we do have the feeling, throughout, that she is a well-defined enough young person to find herself.

An excellent debut novel, written with a sure and writerly hand.

Pat Browning Author, FULL CIRCLE

A Richly Detailed Story!

"DREAM TAPESTRY is reminiscent of Daphne du Maurier’s REBECCA, a richly detailed story of a naive young woman’s journey of discovery. Peejay Novak mourns a father who disappeared without a trace. Pursuing the truth to its bitter end, she learns to take chances and make choices, emerging as a 'brave new woman' fully in charge of her life."

Joan Hall Hovey Author of 2001 Eppie Winner, NOWHERE TO HIDE

This one has it all!

"Claudia McCants' DREAM TAPESTRY comes at you like a runaway train. This one has it all - Mystery, Romance, Sex, Intrigue, Suspense... Hard to believe this is a first novel! Definitely an author to watch in the future."

Nancy Mehl Reviewer for MyShelf.com

An engrossing novel...

Peejay Novack’s young life was impacted deeply by her mother’s death from cancer and her father’s strange disappearance when she was only thirteen years old. A reporter, on his way to interview a presidential campaign aide who had a story to tell that could change the results of the upcoming election, Logan Novak seemingly dropped off the face of the earth. Now, years later, Peejay’s beloved grandfather is dead, and she feels truly alone. Her life changes when she meets a famous author who wants to write a book about her grandfather’s life. Elizabeth Briteful is different from anyone Peejay has ever known. Her sense of freedom and abandonment intrigue the lonely young girl. As Peejay explores the possibilities her new life presents to her, and an awakening of her own sexuality, her troubling dreams lead her on a search for the truth about her father. Old and new relationships start to change and she begins to question the things and people she once had faith in. When a good friend is found dead, she suspects that someone around her knows more than they’re telling.

DREAM TAPESTRY is an engrossing novel. It’s well written, and the characters are sharply defined. The plot will keep you involved and guessing every step of the way. One warning: there is explicit material that may not be everyone’s cup of tea.

Ms. McCants is a novelist who will definitely be heard from again. I’m looking forward to it.

Review by Molly Martin WordWeaving.com

Highly Recommended...FIVE STARS!!!

Thirteen-year-old Peejay is devastated when her beloved father Logan disappears. Logan's father, Josiah, tries to fill some of the void for the little girl while he embarks on his own search into the disappearance. When Peejay's mother, Jackie, succumbs to the cancer ravaging her body, Peejay feels especially alone. The only family she has left are Jackie's mother, Margaret (who is not a particularly lovey grandma) and Josiah Novak..

Why her father left Peejay and her mother when they needed him the most continues to trouble the youngster as she grows into adulthood and prepares to take over the family publishing business. Each year on her birthday Peejay receives a lovely bouquet...the card reads, "Love, Daddy". Over time, Peejay begins to realize all is not quite as it may seem at first glance. A box filled with her long absent father's belongings -- from when his desk was emptied at the publishing house -- begins to unravel a little of the mystery.

Claudia McCants has produced a spellbinder in her Brave New Woman Mystery, DREAM TAPESTRY. The pain young Peejay feels is palpable, and her growing sense that something is not quite right draws the reader straight into the tale and continues on to the end of the book. Couple the quick pace used by William Manchee in his STAN BRASH series with the likeable group of actors found on the pages of Christine Spindler's Inspector Terry series for an idea of the excellent reading to be found in DREAM TAPESTRY.

Writer McCants has filled her pages with believable, well developed characters who might well be people you believe you may have met. DREAM TAPESTRY is a well written, deftly crafted tale sure to please the most discerning.

Sylvia Matthews Wicked Company Book Reviews

I couldn't put it down until the end...

This story opens with the disappearance of Logan Novak, a Washington journalist. It was, in fact, the opening of this book that hooked me. I had to know what happened to him. That doesn't come right away. First we are taken through Logan's daughter's need to find him -- Peejay has always wanted to know what happened to her father. Since his disappearance happened when she was a child, she didn't have much to go on in her search but she was determined to succeed. The one thing she didn't have to deal with was any worry about finances.

There are many people involved in Logan's disappearance so the waters are very muddy. In her search, Peejay is confronted with her own naiveté, having been protected from the realities of the world all her life by her grandparents. This one thing comes into play often in her choices about who she can trust. She sort of finds romance, but she is not sure about how to have a relationship so she takes what people offer her at face value. I found her to become involved in situations that seemed unrealistic. This in no way takes away from the story, rather it makes spicy the ingredients for the many situations she gets involved in.

As she finds her way through the pool of people who each have their own agenda in her search, she never loses sight of her goal and she has no choice but to grow up along the way. A few times I thought I knew who was behind Logan's disappearance, but I was wrong each time as the use of red herrings was skillful. Sometimes red herrings are glaring and annoying but not here. Often the pacing of a book makes the ending seemed rushed and contrived, but this story is fast paced from beginning to end. I read it in one sitting, I couldn't put it down until the end and I looked up and the sun had risen while I read.

Barbara Buhrer Reviewer for Murder Express

Unforgettable characters

Logan Novak, investigative reporter, arranges a secret meeting in the mountains to gain information about the forthcoming presidential campaign. He brings along his wife, Jackie, and his 13 year old daughter, Peejay, as a cover. He leaves the motel for the meeting and never returns. His mother-in-law, Margaret Lothrop, publisher of the magazine, The American Review, claims to have received a phone call from him in which he tells her he is leaving his family. They refuse to believe this. Peejay and her grandfather attempt to find him, but are not successful.

Ten years later Peejay is alone in the world. Her father is still missing; her mother is dead of cancer; her grandfather died of a heart attack; her grandmother is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease.

She is lost and when she meets Elizabeth Briteful, a successful author, their friendship flourishes. Peejay persuades Elizabeth to write a biography of her grandfather while she is to do one about Elizabeth. Through her friendship with Elizabeth she gains confidence and discovers her own sexuality.

Haunted by questions about her father's disappearance, she begins to delve into the past to seek answers. She is assisted by Elizabeth and detective Peter Slichtor, who had handled the missing persons report when Logan went missing ten years ago. Murder, violence and deceit follow their investigations with a surprising climax.

This is a well-written intriguing romance suspense novel. The characters are well-defined and unforgettable. They are believable with their lives intertwined. The story is full of suspense, romance, deceit and betrayal. It is a portrayal of a woman determined to find the truth. There are some sex situations which may be off-putting to some.

Marc Sadowski Book Review Cafe

A Fresh New Voice...

With great detail and imagination, author Claudia McCants weaves dreams and a quest for the truth for her character, into a very good story.

Peejay Novak has many things in her life that she needs taken care of. Her family is being taken from her one by one, leaving her truly alone. She is left dealing with her dreams, which are quite frightening. Will she ever be able to truly find herself?

A fresh new voice is here and her name is Claudia McCants! I really enjoyed this book and recommend it immensely. I thought it was a little long--close to 500 pages--but still a good read.

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