Small Town Archives

May 3, 2021April 29, 2021

Long Walk Home (Oaksmith)-Books On Tour-Feel Good Romance-Available Now

By now, visiting Chelan feels like a refreshing quick vacation to a memorable location. The Alvarez sisters are still working to save Blue Hills Vineyard, succeeding in little steps.

In this book we get Lola’s story. She’s the youngest, and even though she was in the first two books, this is the first time that I really felt that I got a grasp of who she was.

I’m pretty sure that the author plotted it that way, giving each sister the focus deserved in each of the books. I like how this was done, because it not only gave each of the sisters the spotlight, but it also laid the groundwork for the family drama.

And boy, does that play a part in this one.

Lola has some great ideas to help expand the success of the winery, but as the youngest, she isn’t taken very seriously, especially by Carmen (the oldest).

There’s some typical sibling rivalry here, as well as some stereotypical characterizations. The hard-headed oldest sister, the free spirit younger sister fighting for her voice to be heard…anyone with siblings will recognize the dynamics.

It doesn’t help Lola that her first love, Gus, has come back to town, making it difficult for her to concentrate on her plans to show Carmen how profitable her ideas can be.

As a fan of cooking shows, I especially liked the scenes in the kitchen. Neil was an especially memorable character because he was just like several well-known tv chefs.

Blue Hills Vineyard reminds me of the vineyards in Northern Virginia – I have many fond memories of tastings and overnights there. The descriptions in the book are vivid enough for me to picture the entire layout in spite of being in a different state.

Shout out to Daisy as well. I felt a special affinity for her because I have a dog with one blue eye and one brown eye. So yeah, I related to a dog in the story.

The romance is sweet, the characters are realistic, and the setting is idyllic. Sometimes that’s all you need for the perfect read.

Author bio:
Ellyn Oaksmith is the USA Today and Kindle bestselling author of addictively fun love stories. She has never run a winery, been attacked by drones or nearly drowned someone but she loves putting her characters in challenging situations. Ellyn also enjoys chatting with readers on social media. Especially when she should be writing.

Ellyn began her writing life as a screenwriter in Los Angeles which, outside of writing hours, is exactly as crazy as it seems in the movies. After hightailing it back to her native Seattle, Ellyn began writing comedic romances and never looked back.

Ellyn lives in Seattle with her husband. She’s part of a competitive rowing team. You can often find her on Lake Sammamish rowing in the dark.

Author website: www.EllynOaksmith.com
Facebook: @EllynOaksmith
Instagram: @EllynOaksmith

June 16, 2020June 12, 2020

Books On Tour (Review): Sweet Pea Summer by Alys Murray

I would be hard-pressed to find a series that makes me feel calmer than this one. There is something about stepping into the world of the Anderson sisters that feels like a comforting hug. I was taken with The Magnolia Sisters, and in re-reading my review, I had to laugh. I didn’t care for May. Ironic, because I loved her as the main character in this book.

To be honest, she had me when she dressed up as Claire from “The Breakfast Club” for Annie’s 80s party. I think my issue with her in the first book was that we honestly didn’t get to see much of her, and what we did, she was pretty negative.

In this installment, with her at the forefront, we finally get to understand why she is so prickly. I’m not going to give it away, but let’s say that she has good reason to have put a shell around herself.

Just like the first book, you know that Tom and May are meant to be together (he’s the Bender to her Claire, and they both have a fondness for British murder mysteries), but their history keeps getting in the way.

Amazon: https://bit.ly/2MJddfi
Apple: https://apple.co/3eYW51g
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2BR2xcF
Google: https://bit.ly/37cqFSB

Annie meddles (again – I love this girl and hope she gets her own story even though she isn’t an Anderson sister proper) so that Tom and May are forced to both confront their past and figure out their present and future. It’s not an easy road, and all of the pitfalls they face felt natural to the setting and the people.

The author does a fantastic job of capturing small-town life, from the nearly decade-old gossip to the community pulling together for a festival (pretty sure I worked with Miz Greyson at some point). I think that is what makes this series so likable. The people may get obnoxious and meddlesome, but they are ultimately there for each other.

I especially liked how the author started the book like a storyteller was setting the scene. It completely set the tone for me. That was nicely bookended, in not quite the same way, but with a fitting finish to the story.

I can’t wait to get Rose’s story. And I’m mentioning Annie again because by now she is pretty much an adopted Anderson sister. Can we make this happen?

Author Bio
Alys Murray is an author who writes for the romantic in all of us. Though she graduated with a degree in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and a Master’s in Film Studies from King’s College London, her irrepressible love of romance led her to a career as an author, and she couldn’t be happier to write these stories! Currently splitting time between her home state of Louisiana and London, she enjoys kissing books, Star Wars, and creating original pie recipes for all of her books. Tobey Maguire is her Spider-Man.

Website: www.alysmurray.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/alysmurrayauthor
Instagram: www.instagram.com/writeralys
Twitter: www.twitter.com/writeralys

May 16, 2020May 13, 2020

Blog Tour (Review): This Is How I Lied by Heather Gudenkauf

I’m not exactly sure how to classify this book. It’s not exactly a psychological thriller, but it’s not really a crime/mystery either. It’s twisted and has a LOT going on. It seems as if everyone is lying at one point or another, and as the story progresses, it becomes more difficult to tell who is telling the truth and when.

What I found especially interesting about this book was that none of the characters particularly grabbed me. I didn’t relate to any of them, but I think it actually worked better that way because I was able to read it with a detachment. This enabled me to have a more critical eye in looking for clues to the truth. It was a different experience in reading (and I always like new things like this).

I will say that I found Nora to be one of the most unpredictable characters I have ever “met.” I flip-flopped on whether she was just brilliant and misunderstood or a complete psychopath. There were several aspects to her character that could be interpreted in many ways. To be honest, I’m still not entirely sure about her.

The writer tackles multiple issues in this book, some of which may be difficult for some readers. Dating violence is one example, but the author does handle it tactfully. It’s not graphic and does not last through the whole book. There is another situation that could be disturbing to some, but to mention it would give away the plot. I know that’s unhelpful, and I’m sorry for it. But I’m sure you can find it in other reviews.

There is a mystery to be solved, and there are several possible suspects. At any given point, any of them could be guilty. There was a lot of build-up to the big reveal, which occurred in an extremely intense confrontation.

But then, it seemed like the end was very rushed. For example, one plotline was tossed off with an “I’ll never know who did this” when the action in question played a fairly significant part in one character’s story arc. There were also a few other summary sentences about important points that just seemed to fizzle. It was almost as if the writer wanted the story to be wrapped up quickly.

Ultimately, it was a story about an event in a small-town (the author did capture the claustrophobia of small-town living quite well), and how the impact of that event carries on over the years. Then it becomes a matter of revenge. How far would you go to enact revenge on an old wrong? I recommend this book, but just know that this is only one of the questions you may find unanswered.

Author Bio

Heather Gudenkauf is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of many books, including The Weight of Silence and These Things Hidden. Heather graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in elementary education, has spent her career working with students of all ages. She lives in Iowa with her husband, three children, and a very spoiled German Shorthaired Pointer named Lolo. In her free time, Heather enjoys spending time with her family, reading, hiking, and running.

Social Links
Author Website
Twitter: @hgudenkauf
Instagram: @heathergudenkauf
Facebook: @HeatherGudenkaufAuthor
Goodreads

April 13, 2020April 13, 2020

Book Review: The School Mistress of Emerson Pass by Tess Thompson

I am a huge fan of this author’s Cliffside Bay series, so I was very excited to see that she was branching out into a new series with a historical setting. I am happy to say that all of the trademarks of her writing are still present.

The premise (young, pretty, schoolmistress shows up in a wild west town) is one that is familiar and dear to me. I grew up in Northern California, whose modern history is built on the Gold Rush of 1848-49. I quite literally grew up on stories about people who came from the East to make money to send back home, intending to return but winding up staying.

Field trips were to Sutter’s Mill and ghost towns, and vacations were spent in the Sierra Nevadas, where some mining towns have modernized, but retained their history. The author’s descriptions of Emerson Pass, therefore, felt familiar and allowed me to be comfortable in the setting. She did a great job of bringing the town (warts and all) to life.

I also liked how she had a cross-section of characters filling the town. None of them were caricatures, and they seemed like they could have been built on real people (pretty sure this author does a LOT of research to get things just right). Everything about the characters and situations rang true.

I have to give a special shout out to the Barnes children. I liked how each one had their own personality and weren’t just lumpy children. There is sometimes the tendency of authors to focus on adult characters at the expense of children, but that’s not the case here. This is good, especially considering that Quinn is a schoolmistress – the individuality of all of the children is essential.

I very much enjoyed this book, and I look forward to more visits to Emerson Pass.

March 27, 2020March 27, 2020

Books On Tour (Review): The Daughter She Lost by Lauren Westwood

This book went a completely different way than I thought it would, and I couldn’t be happier about that. I do love it when a book surprises me like that. Although, now that I think about it, even if the book had been more straightforward without the intrigue (more on that later), I still would have enjoyed it.

The author set the scene perfectly in the opening chapter with Amanda’s drive through the fog on her way to Avalon Springs. Aside from being well-described and atmospheric, it also illustrated the mental fog that Amanda was in personally.

As always, I know that sounds cryptic, but I don’t want to spoil anything in this review. Suffice to say that the fog that Amanda encounters on the California Coast can hide many secrets. And that is another thing the author gets absolutely right: small-towns and their hidden stories.

(On a side note, the descriptions of the location, the redwood groves, in particular, reminded me of growing up in the SF Bay Area and our cabin in the Sierra Nevada that was surrounded by giant redwoods. Good memories.)

In an isolated area, there are not always options for…well, almost anything. It is effortless for people to grow up and stay in the area because it is comfortable or because something is holding them to it. Both are true in Avalon Springs. Add in the recession or the diminishment of industry, and you can get more of a ghost town.

It also applies to the people of such a town. Their lives are often inextricably woven together, whether by choice or by circumstance. That is what Amanda finds herself in the middle of as she tries to uncover her past. The characters’ interactions weave together naturally, and nothing feels forced or trite. I liked how even Amanda’s kids were fully-realized characters and not just “props.”

The intrigue of who knew what, or who did what, had me second-guessing what I thought I knew. It also kept me turning pages, but not in a roller coaster “what’s going to happen next” way. Rather, it was the slow revealing of secrets and unraveling of lies that made this an entertaining and thought-provoking read.

Author Bio

Lauren Westwood writes dark and romantic women’s fiction and is also an award-winning children’s writer. Originally from California, she now lives in England in a persnickety old house built in 1602, with her partner and three daughters.

Lauren loves hearing from readers, so if you wish to get in touch, please visit her here: