About the Book

A Father-Daughter Genealogy Team Link Present to Past on Family Trees Meri flunks out of medical school—and runs from her parents. Genealogist Jillian Parisi-Duffy’s digging traces the family long tradition of doctors to an ancestor saved during a yellow fever outbreak in Memphis in 1878. As Meri’s family closes in, Jillian gets the final puzzle pieces in place just in time for them all to learn the truth. The Inn at Hidden Run is the first book in the Tree of Life series. Readers will come back to backdrop of a lovely mountain town of Canyon Mines again and again to explore and celebrate unforgettable family stories that inspire them to connect with their own family histories and unique faith journeys.

Click here to purchase your copy!

 

In My Opinion

While genealogy is an interesting thread for a book (I mean, if people weren’t interested, there probably wouldn’t be multiple companies making money off our DNA), however, it’s not a compelling enough thread in this particular book.

Let’s start with a few things that just didn’t work for me. First of all, the title didn’t really fit. Not one of the characters who have a point of view voice in The Inn at Hidden Run have much of anything to do with the actual inn. But, in truth, I’m not sure of what would have worked. This book is really about Meri and her issues with her family. For me, the story would have worked so much better if Meri got a voice and Jillian and Nolan were supporting characters. It would have also alleviated a lot of the telling that was happening.

That said, I did enjoy visiting this Colorado mining town and meeting some of the residents. Also, the second timeline set in 1878 Memphis during the yellow fever outbreak was interesting to follow and the way the two stories tied together worked somewhat well.

Overall, this wasn’t quite what I expected and not quite compelling enough to push it out of a middle review range.

Disclosure statement:
I receive complimentary books from publishers, publicists, and/or authors, including NetGalley. I am not required to write positive reviews. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

About the Author

Olivia Newport’s novels twist through time to find where faith and passions meet. Her husband and twentysomething children provide welcome distraction from the people stomping through her head on their way into her books. She chases joy in stunning Colorado at the foot of the Rockies, where daylilies grow as tall as she is.

 

 

 

More from Olivia

Of Family Lines and Family Lore

I suppose it all started in a cemetery.

Once, while a group of relatives were visiting a cemetery, one of my cousins and I wandered off and looked at all sorts of graves, speculating about the names we read and the lives they represented. We were duly scolded both for separating from our families, which caused some consternation, and for being disrespectful—though I think the second accusation was a false one!

Just because we were young children didn’t mean we were disrespecting the dead. Quite the opposite. We were respecting lives long forgotten with our curiosity about who they were and what legacies they left.

These days a lot of people are interested in genealogy. Entire TV series spin around the theme, and DNA kits show up in Christmas stockings. Lost branches of family trees find the main trunk—sometimes with big surprises.

My new Tree of Life series is set in the backdrop of a lovely Colorado mountain town I hope you’ll want to visit often, where a father-daughter genealogy team link present to past on family trees and characters learn about who they are, where they come from, and their unique faith journeys as they discover their own Tree of Life.

It all starts with The Inn at Hidden Run. When Meri arrives in Canyon Mines because she wants to run away from her family, true answers come from understanding the past that generations have forgotten—the accounts from another time and place no longer handed down but that still form the backbone of the family’s story.

What’s the backbone of your family’s history? How is it shaping your own future?

 

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Olivia is giving away a grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of The Inn at Hidden Run!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter. https://promosimple.com/ps/e1c1/the-inn-at-hidden-run-celebration-tour-giveaway

 

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, May 18

The Avid Reader, May 18

The Power of Words, May 18

Daysong Reflections, May 19

Texas Book-aholic, May 19

Through the Fire Blogs, May 20

Lighthouse Academy, May 20

A Baker’s Perspective, May 21

To Everything A Season, May 21

Reflections From My Bookshelves, May 22

Pause for Tales, May 22

Hallie Reads, May 22

Bigreadersite, May 23

By The Book, May 23

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, May 23

All-of-a-kind Mom, May 24

Connect in Fiction, May 24

Maureen’s Musings, May 25

Seasons of Opportunities, May 25

Inklings and notions, May 25

Tell Tale Book Reviews, May 26

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, May 26

Godly Book Reviews, May 27

janicesbookreviews, May 27

Retrospective Spines, May 28

Mary Hake, May 28

Quiet Quilter, May 29

A Reader’s Brain, May 29

Remembrancy, May 30

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, May 30

Just the Write Escape, May 31

Moments, May 31