Tuesday, September 25, 2018

The Road to Magnolia Glen

GIVEAWAY
HILLMAN, PAM
THE ROAD TO MAGNOLIA GLEN

Natchez, MS -- 1792

Bitter since his eldest brother abandoned their family in Ireland, Quinn O'Shea travels to Natchex, Mississippi, ready to shuck the weight of his duty and set off on an adventure of his own. It's time Connor, as head of the family, took responsibility for their younger siblings. While aboard ship, a run-in with three half-Irish sisters lands Quinn in the role of reluctant rescuer. Though it may delay his plans, he cannot abandon the Young sisters, especially the tenacious yet kind Kiera.

Upon arriving in the colonies, Kiera Young prepares to meet her intended and begin her new life. But she soon discovers it's not a marriage of convenience her brother-in-law arranged, but a far more sinister deal was negotiated for her and her sisters.

Quinn offers to excort his charges safely to Breeze Hill Plantation and his brother's care, fully intending to seek his freedom elsewhere. But the longer he remains, the greater his feelings toward Kiera grow and the more he comes to realize true freedom might be found in sacrifice.

My Review:

Psssssttttt....Connor, I'll always love you best but your brother, Quinn...he's the kind of reluctant hero I can dust off my fainting couch for. Irish. Brooding. Gallant in spite of himself. Disgruntled verging on contented if he'd just stop seething long enough! The inner turmoil flies off the page and clobbers an unsuspecting reader right between the eyes! What's not to love, right?

Well, Kiera isn't a fan at the start. Not from their first little dust off  on the ship heading to America and not once they land and part ways but...doesn't Quinn go and transform into a hero on her? A grumpy one who doesn't hide the fact that he has his sights set on leaving asap. Blissful sigh. I do so love a struggling romance where both parties valiantly try not to fall for the other. And Quinn and Kiera give it a good try...but fail miserably in the end which -- yay -- results in a sublime happily ever after!

But not too soon because there's a villain afoot...in fact I whooshed out a startled gasp just after the 100 page mark when I suddenly realized that..well...not sure if I was slow on the uptake...but bam -- I made a text to text connection (that's school library talk for finding a tie between two books.) You don't need to have read The Promise of Breezehill to grasp the nefarious goings on but if you have...well, you'll appreciate them all the more. Cue the scary organ music and start turning pages faster!

And the really fun thing about this story is that we have ample opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with Connor and Isabella. And even though Connor is a bit of grouch in this book, he still set my heart aflutter. Pair that with the palpitations Quinn was giving me and you can imagine the state I was in by the time I reached the end. Rapturously discombobulated about sums it up!

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like a chance to win a copy of The Road to Magnolia Glen, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you add your email in a comment, remember to use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday September 30 2018.

49 comments:

  1. I love it when something makes me smile before it's even eight in the morning and this review sure did! The war for hearts of the O'Shea brothers! Like you, I think Connor will always be my favorite and didn't he have an attitude in this book but Quinn is obviously cut from the same cloth and equally swoony. And yes, seriously creepy villain!
    Pam Hillman is writing the best stories in this Natchez Trace series, can not wait to see what happens next! Great review!

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    1. lol glad I could make you smile. Though I'm worried about the third book. What will we do when there are three O'Shea brothers causing havoc with our delicate reader sensibilities? We might consider a bulk order of defibrillators to maintain the health of dedicated readers.

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  2. This author always makes me want to grab her books. Love the review! Can't wait to read it. lattebooksAThotmailDOTcom

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    1. Thanks, Susan! Hope you get a chance to read this one soon. Good luck!

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  3. I got Kindle edition of this recently...when price reduced. After your great review, I can't wait to read it...pushing it up front in my TBR books.

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    1. Ooohhh -- a smart shopper! But inquiring minds want to know how you push an ebook up in a digital TBR pile? I mean, I just physically shuffle mine around and then I just have to reach for the top book but yours are all jumbled up in cyberspace somewhere. It makes my head hurt just thinking about it! lol

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  4. OH!MY! Great review, KAV!
    psalm103and138atgmaildotcom

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    1. Thanks, Caryl. It's a great book! Good luck!

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  5. Great review for a great book! Sounds like a must read! mauback55 at gmail dot com

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    1. Isn't it scrumptious? Thanks for sharing your seal of approval, Kim.

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  7. This is based on an interesting time in history, and the town of Natchez is a treasure-trove of history and old architecture. Enjoyed the review! Thanks!

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    1. Shhh --- don't tell anyone but before I read this series I'd never heard of Natchez! And definitely an interesting time period. I'm amazed that the human race survived when you think about all the perils our ancestors faced on a daily basis! Good luck, CC.

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  8. Quinn sounds right up my alley. turtle6422(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. I'll fight you for him, Jana Leah! Good luck!

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  9. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed this review! I was so anxious for you to read this second book to see how Quinn measured up in your mind. Connor is still #1 in my book too, and Quinn is so delightfully different in personality! He had eyes for Keira only from the get-go, even as hard as they tried to deny the attraction! ;-)

    Not sure we can take any more heart palpitations from these O'Shea men!! But it's going to fun to try anyway

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    1. We'll need to get our hearts in condition for book three!!!!

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  10. (deep sigh) I do love me some Irish, even when they're brooding! ;) LOL!

    Many Blessings,
    Amada
    amada_chavezATyahooDOTcom

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  11. Sounds good. Thank you for sharing.
    .leliame54(at)aol(dot)com

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  12. Oh my, thanks for the reminder! I’ve had this book for a while so I need to read it soon. Loved the first book in the series!

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    1. Definitely nudge it up to the top of your TBR pile, Pam!

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  13. This series sounds good! I'd seen the covers, but never really looked into them. My mistake!

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    1. I think the covers are lovely -- so unique but now other publishers seem to have been inspired by them so I'm seeing more like that. And this isn't a series you want to miss, Elly, not with the way you love historical fiction! Good luck!

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    2. I agree about the covers. I really like the idea of having a picture of not only the hero/heroine, but also the setting where the story (at least partly) takes place! It helps us readers to know what the author envisioned while writing (and gives us a realistic background for our dreams when we finally put down our books to go to sleep 😉 lol)
      Carolyn Miller's new trilogy (releasing next year) has a similar kind of setup. They. Are. Gorgeous!

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  14. I read one of Pam's early releases, but it's been a good while. I would love to reacquaint myself with her writing.

    pattymh2000(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Here's a good place to get reacquainted. Good luck, Patty!

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  15. Oh my loved your review, but yes I must read the first one too. becci43atgmaildotcom

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    1. Thanks, Becky. It's an awesome series! Good luck!

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  16. Ohh! I love loved the first book (actually read all the way to the last chapter only to discover my copy was missing the LAST FEW PAGES!! and then had to wait for a new copy to come in the mail!) I can't wait to read more in this series!
    pocoauthorATgmailDOTcom

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    1. Aaaaaahhhhh! I can't believe that happened to you!!! That's a reader's nightmare!!!! And I bet your copy wasn't the only one like that. Must have been a bad run. Oy. You definitely want to meet Quinn! Good luck, Nicole.

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  17. This book looks so fantastic! The cover's lovely and the blurb intrigues me. I'd love to win a copy.
    whthomas13 at yahoo dot com

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    1. It's absolutely positively fantastic! Good luck, Winnie!

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  18. I love when a book discombodgulates me!

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  19. I love books that give me heart palpitations! Thanks for the review.I'm adding this one to my tbr list.
    arletta(DOT)boulton(AT)gmail(DOT)com

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    1. Hope you get to read it soon, Arletta. Good luck!

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  20. Great review! Thanks for sharing. :)

    maddycroneATgmailDOTcom

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  21. Oh, I have the first, but not this second one yet! Would love to be able to continue the series. Pam has such a way with words and weaving history together. Thanks for the chance!

    LLWaltz [at] gmail [dot] com

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    1. You absolutely must continue the story! Good luck, Laura!

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  22. Thanks for the giveaway!

    ladysnowangelphotos(at)gmail(dot)com

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  23. Such a pretty cover and I love the title! Looking forward to reading Magnolia Glen.
    pbclark(at)netins(dot)net

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