Review: The Innkeeper's Sister

The Innkeeper's Sister

About the Book:

Grayson Blake always has a purpose—and never a moment to lose. He's come home to Honey Ridge to convert a historic gristmill into a restaurant, but his plans crumble like Tennessee clay when the excavation of a skeleton unearths a Civil War mystery…and leads him back to a beautiful and familiar stranger. 

Once a ballet dancer, now co-owner of the Peach Orchard Inn, Valery Carter harbors pain as deep as the secrets buried beneath the mill. A bright facade can't erase her regrets any more than a glass of bourbon can restore what she's lost. But spending time with Grayson offers Valery a chance to let go of her past and imagine a happier future. And with the discovery of hidden messages in aged sheet music, both their hearts begin to open. Bound by attraction, and compelled to resolve an old crime that links the inn and the mill, Grayson and Valery encounter a song of hurt, truth…and hope.

My Comments:

One thing I like about romance novels is that they have happy endings.  Nevertheless, I like the endings to be realistic and sometimes, particularly with books that try to be more than just romance novels, I think the authors sometimes twist themselves (or the story) into knots to get the happy endings.  Things just don't add up, too many abnormal things happen and then voila, happy ending!

The Innkeeper's Sister is part of a series that introduced us to two missing boys--one from the Civil War era and one from the modern era. This story tells us what happened to one of them, and the author's note says that she didn't tell us about the other because it just didn't seem realistic.  I think that took courage on her part as it would be very easy, and very unrealistic, to write the story with both boys being found. 

In the other Honey Ridge books Valery is the drunken sister; the one who doesn't shoulder her share of the weight because she is always hung over.  In this book we learn about her demons and how she has not let them keep her from helping a sister she felt needed her.  We also watch her confront those demons and move past them into a promising future (its a romance novel after all).  

Like the other Honey Ridge books there is one story set in the modern day (Valery and Grayon's story of course) and one set in the Civil War era.  

I enjoyed the book and the series and based on the author's note, I suspect this will be the last Honey Ridge book, unfortunately.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade:  A.  

Book Review: The Rain Sparrow

The Rain Sparrow (A Honey Ridge Novel)

About the Book:

Renowned yet private, thriller writer Hayden Winters lives a life colored by lies. As he is deeply ashamed of his past, his hunger for an honest relationship and dreams of starting a family remain unsatisfied, and he can trust no one with his secrets. He's determined to outrun his personal demons, but the charming old Peach Orchard Inn and a woman whose presence is as gentle as a sparrow's song stops him in his tracks. 

Carrie Riley is afraid of everything from flying to thunderstorms, and pretty much of life itself. But meeting the enigmatic writer staying at the inn emboldens her to learn everything about him. When they discover a vulnerable boy hiding at the inn, Hayden is compelled to help Carrie protect him. Soon they're led to a centuries-old mystery that haunts Hayden's sleep, and his only safe haven is Carrie. As the secrets of the past and present cause their lives to become entwined, all that's left to come to light is love—if the grim truth doesn't tear them apart first.

My Comments:

I love stories set in two different time periods and that is exactly what this second book in the Honey Ridge series is.  You can read my review of the first, The Memory House, here.  Like The Memory House, this story is set at the Peach Orchard Inn.  The modern-day thread is the story of Hayden Winters  and Carrie Riley.  The historical thread is set during Reconstruction and involves a local woman and a Yankee who is working for the family.  While the historical story in The Memory House is told through letters, in this book the historical story is dreamed by Hayden.  The unanswered mystery at the end of The Memory House was the fate of two boys; one from the modern day and one from the Civil War era.  The Rain Sparrow mentions that the boys are missing; however if you didn't read The Memory House  I'm not sure you'd even notice the reference to the modern day boy and I doubt you'd consider the reference to the Civil War boy to be all that important.  There was no resolution to that part of the story, or any real movement toward resolution.  Despite the fact that this book is the second in the series, it stands well by itself, though knowing the back story on some peripheral characters does make the experience of the story a bit richer.  

I'm not usually one to comment on the writing but in this case I will; I loved Linda Goodnight's writing and consider it above the usual writing found in romance novels, particularly series romance novels.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade: A-

The Memory House: My Review

The Memory House (Honey Ridge)

About the Book:

New York Times bestselling author Linda Goodnight welcomes you to Honey Ridge, Tennessee, and a house that's rich with secrets and brimming with sweet possibilities 

Memories of motherhood and marriage are fresh for Julia Presley—though tragedy took away both years ago. Finding comfort in the routine of running the Peach Orchard Inn, she lets the historic, mysterious place fill the voids of love and family. No more pleasure of a man's gentle kiss. No more joy in hearing a child call her Mommy. Life is calm, unchanging…until a stranger with a young boy and soul-deep secrets shows up in her Tennessee town and disrupts the loneliness of her world. 

Julia suspects there's more to Eli Donovan's past than his motherless son, Alex. There's a reason he's chasing redemption and bent on earning it with a new beginning in Honey Ridge. Offering the guarded man work renovating the inn, she glimpses someone who—like her—has a heart in need of restoration. But with the chance discovery of a dusty stack of love letters buried within the lining of an old trunk, the long-dead ghosts of a Civil War romance envelop Julia and Eli, connecting them to the inn's violent history and challenging them both to risk facing yesterday's darkness for a future bright with hope and healing.

My Comments:

On the one hand, this book has "series romance" written all over it, from the (Honey Ridge) after the title, to the setting in a bed and breakfast (what a stage for new characters to come and go) to the parts of the plot that did not wrap up neatly.  On the other hand, this story stands well by itself and frankly, the loose ends, the unanswered questions, make it much more realistic than those books where not only do he and she live happily ever after, all questions are also answered.

Julia's son disappeared one day, and as of the start of this book, there had been no trace of him found. Her marriage crumbled and she became depressed.  She and her sister purchased an old plantation home and have turned it into a bed and breakfast.  At this point it ranks higher on the charm scale than on the profitability scale.  Eli just got out of prison and has just been contacted by his son's great aunt.  It seems the mother of his son has died, and the aunt is too old to raise him.  She wants Eli to take on the job.  On the way there, Eli's car breaks down, he meets Julia, and things go from there.  Taken by itself, this part of the book would be a pretty standard good but not great romance full of hometown charm, an ex-husband who makes you roll your eyes and a bad guy boyfriend for the flakey younger sister.  However, this thread is not the whole story.  

The rest of the story is set during the Civil War, and it too is a romance.  By the end of the book there are several parallels between the two stories but they come together as the letters of the Civil War couple are found by the modern couple.  Sections are dated so it is easy to tell which story you are reading in each chapter.  

I looked up Linda Goodnight and found that she generally writes short inspirational romances.  While it is metioned that characters go to church and pray, we don't hear sermons and prayers are short.  It is a clean romance with no bedroom scenes or suggestions that they happened.  One of the heroines is married and though she has romantic feelings for her hero, her marriage is respected by both of them. 

I don't give many A's and I'd guess that most I give aren't to romance novels, despite the number of them that I read but this book is exceptionally good so I'll give it an exceptionally good grade, A.

Thanks to the publisher for making a review copy availble via NetGalley.