Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge, from HarperCollins Focus via #Netgalley for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it. All opinions are my own.
Unraveling the tangled roots of her family takes her places she never expected.
Veronica Stratton, a specialty food broker with a business on the cusp of brilliant success that would change the trajectory of her life, visits her parents in idyllic Estes Park for Christmas. She's fresh from a breakup with her longtime boyfriend, so she's eager to reconnect with her beloved family in the mountains and forget about her troubles for a few days. But with the holiday comes a DNA test from her younger sister that confirms her secret suspicions: she's adopted. Having the truth out in the open leaves her feeling unmoored in ways she didn't anticipate.
With so much of her life in upheaval, Veronica is looking for an escape. Inspired by her best friend, she plans to go to Europe to see four of the places listed on her DNA ancestry report. She treks to County Mayo in Ireland; the Dordogne region of France; the countryside of Lombardy in Italy, and Copenhagen, Denmark. She hopes to learn about where her family lived while also making connections for her rapidly expanding business, but she finds that each stop brings her visions of her ancestors that raise more questions than they answer. And among those pressing questions is how charming Irish castle keeper Niall Callahan will fit into her visions for the future.
Review:
How to you double rate a book? This is one of those books that needs a rating for what it COULD have been, and then for what it is. Sigh. The concept was great, and initially I thought it was heading in the right direction, with Veronica looking for family along the way of each location her sister booked for her, or at least for exploring places her family was from...nope. And there is the rub. Instead we get echoes of the past aka visions, that give Veronica some 'family lore' and along the way tidy up her personality to make her a stronger version. Buzzzzzzz. Please re-edit the book- take that stuff out, add in some contact with living breathing family that could show her the same strengths and the book might head back to 5 star land. But the vision stuff just makes you roll your eyes by the second instance and loose all substance with the book. SOOO much is missed on the adoption angle until the very end, and it just gets tied up in a bow. If you like books all over the place- rom com, family drama, mystical, fictionized history, then this book will appeal. Solid 3, but coulda been a 5.
About the Author:
Internationally bestselling author Aimie K. Runyan writes to celebrate unsung heroines. She has written numerous successful historical novels and is loving her foray into the exciting world of contemporary fiction. She is a many-time finalist for the Colorado Book Award, a nominee for the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers' 'Writer of the Year,' and a Historical Novel Society's Editors' Choice selection. Aimie is an adjunct professor for the Drexel University MFA in Creative Writing Program and strives to be an active speaker and educator in the writing community. She lives in the beautiful Rocky Mountains with her wonderful husband, two (usually) adorable children, two (always) adorable cats, and a dragon.
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