“If we don’t tend our ground, something else will grow there. The choice is up to us.”

What a beautiful thought to consider at the beginning of a new year. I’d better get busy ‘weeding’!

Right from the first page, Ashley Clark kept me spellbound. I didn’t expect that the sequel would be as good as or better than the series debut, but it is! I was instantly hooked as I read about two young women who risked everything to hide a precious heirloom so that it wouldn’t get into the wrong hands. I felt compelled to read to discover if the heirloom would be uncovered and placed into the hands of the rightful owner. This mystery and the resulting tension echoed throughout the story and I absolutely loved how the author tied it all up for me. Clark pens a tightly woven story and every once in a while reminds us that we are all interconnected

Things I loved:
✔️The phrase ‘Emily Gilmore-ing’ !!!
✔️Tension created when one had to choose between family obligations and love
✔️References to broken things/places/people being restored
✔️Reminder of the importance of history
✔️Reminder of the hope that beauty offers us
✔️Encouragement to find the ‘bluebirds’ in our lives
✔️Watching the relationship develop between paint and nectar
✔️Reminder that beauty fundamentally changes people
✔️References to redemption; especially the metaphors
✔️Waiting for a bluebird to pop up in the narrative!
✔️Charleston setting and Renaissance artists

Shout out to the cover designer! Stunning.

I’m loving my ‘holiday’ in Charleston. Next up is the Christmas novella to accompany this series.