Lauren H. Brandenburg

While this book was interesting, it fell a little flat for me.
It had all the makings of a fantastic book, feuding, mystery, and fun characters, I struggled to get into the story.
Roy's job was a bit unbelievable to me. He acted like nothing ever happened in the town, yet was arresting people for a variety of crimes all the time. Also, what police officer doesn't have something to defend himself with?
However, all that said, I really did enjoy Innis's perspective from the past. I found her to be a special and unique character.
All in all, this story was not spectacular but nice if you are looking for a quaint read full of small-town life.

Rating: 3/5
Language: n/a
Romance: some but not much
Spiritual: characters are Christians
Violence: murder mystery

*I received a copy of this novel from the author. All thoughts are my own and a positive review was not required.… (mere)

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book.

The first few chapters of this book left me quite sad, thinking that it was going to be one of those "quirky books", a la Jonathan Safran Foer, setting the story into a Dr. Seuss world, where nothing makes sense and the story is hard to follow. But luckily I was very wrong!
The plot is apparently simple: Margarette Toft and Roy Blackwell are in love and want to get married, even though their families are the equivalent of the Montagues and Capulets. Very much not in love.
As I said it seems simple and basic, but once you get into the story you start to fall for these characters, so full of life and so realistic it's almost scary.
There is also another story, similar and parallel to the main plot, that stood out to me as a very interesting plot twist, but I obviously cannot say anything about it.
Lastly, the book is beautifully written. The words flow in a perfect arrangement and it is honestly a pleasure to read.
Give this book a go and you won't regret it!… (mere)

I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the only one that fell in love with the blurb. I mean, the whole funeral before dying bit intrigue me and I couldn’t wait until I dived into this read. Needless to say that was the only exciting part about this release. The story was sloooooow going and I found my found either dozing off or skimming pages to find something, anything to draw me back into the read. And what did I find? Nada. Zilch. I almost dropped this novel a number of times but was able to pull through and make it to the end. Bless me. Nevertheless this novel would be a good choice for anyone looking to read a book on a heartwarming tale about a family that struggles to cope with the whole riches to rags scenario. Too bad this just wasn’t for me.

… (mere)