On her way to San Francisco to find her brother, Caleb, who went missing three months ago, Camriann Coulter meets Judith and Kenzie, who both have their own mysteries to solve in the booming West Coast city. The women decide to help each other, including rooming together and working at Kenzie’s cousin’s chocolate factory.Camri’s search for her brother, an attorney, leads her deep into the … the political corruption of the city–and into the acquaintance of Patrick Murdock, a handsome Irishman who was saved from a false murder charge by Caleb. Patrick challenges all of Camri’s privileged beliefs, but he knows more about what happened to her brother than anyone else. Together, they move closer to the truth behind Caleb’s disappearance. But as the stakes rise and threats loom, will Patrick be able to protect Camri from the dangers he knows lie in the hidden places of the city?
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My Review of “In Places Hidden” by Tracie Peterson
The first thing I said after finishing “In Places Hidden” by Tracie Peterson was: “ When is Book 2 Coming Out!”
“In Places Hidden” is Book 1 in the Golden Gate Secrets series and it’s a page turner for sure! Not only is it filled with mystery, intrigue, and surprises, it also has a sweet romance and a reminder of how life was in the early 1900’s in San Francisco.
Camrianne Coulter, the main character in the story, is an independent young women who is highly educated and from a wealthy family in Chicago. She is active in the Woman’s Sufferage Movement and is very out spoken.
She also has a strong faith in God and prayer.
She travels alone to San Francisco to search for her missing brother, Caleb, and meets two other women of different backgrounds on the train. The three soon become friends and all end up staying together in Caleb’s home in San Francisco.
The story winds around the search for Caleb and the people Camrianne and her friends meet in San Francisco.
Faith, prayer, and trust in God are a very prominent part in all of their everyday happenings.
I really enjoyed this book and I do look forward to reading the next book in this series .
I received this book from Bethany House Publishers but was not required to give a positive review. All opinions are my own.
—Leona J. Atkinson
A lovely romantic story of three young ladies who join forces as they travel to San Francisco to unite with loved ones. Challenges of corruption tempt to derail them, but divine intervention is always the winning force in the end!
What a page turner! This is an intriguing story of early San Francisco and the unruly and dangerous goings on of the time. Three young woman travel there together from various backgrounds and for various reasons and form a lifelong bond. It includes danger, heartache and loss, love and romance. The thing that gets them all through the trials and tribulations is faith in God’s abundant love and mercy.
Written in the 1900’s in San Francisco and the Barbary Coast, a place you would not want to live. She did a good job with the sights and smells of the areas she visited. The main character, Camri, is an upper class, well education lady who thinks if you are not educated you are worthless. Throughout the story she learns through her heart, her new friends and God that she is so misguided. I enjoyed meeting the three ladies, their different talents and outlooks on life they brought to the story. I am always surprised by how badly the Chinese, Irish, and Blacks were treated early in our history. When I need a brake from a non-fiction or a very complex book, I enjoy an easy to read book. This was easy to read much like an Amish book. I am looking forward to read the next two.
Tracie Peterson is a terrific author, she does her research. If it’s a historical
drama or romance book, you can count on the historical part being accurate.
Her books are very infomative and inspiring. I can count on being transported
to another era, she dercribes her characters in such a way that you actually
believe that you know them.
I can’t wait to continue the story in the next book. LOVE the characters and so easy to be drawn into their lives.
Love all your books!
Love this author
Not usually a mystery reader but this had Inspirational characters each with a story of their own and good clean romance. I especially loved the change in Camris beliefs about education.
Peterson never fails to deliver wonderful faith-based stories!
Set in SanFrancisco in 1905, the book centered around 3 women who met on the train with their own issues and goals. Camri, looking for her missing brother, discovers, among other things that she is a bit of a snob about education and women’s issues. An enjoyable read.
Tracie Peterson can really touch my soul with her characters! I can see my flaws when her characters see theirs!
Tracie Peterson is one of my favorite authors. I’ll ready any book she authors.
I was captured by the description of this book and the idea of a trilogy set in turn of the century San Francisco. I was interested in a town I know little about during a time period that seems to be ignored in fiction as it is before WWI and after the Civil War. Then I started reading. I was captured in the premise and of the three ladies who found friendship on their independent journeys west. It was interesting that through their days on the train they were instantly attached at the hip, so to speak, and Camri was inviting these unknowns to stay with her at her brother’s home. NOT something that would begin to happen in today’s world. But it did, and it worked, and sometimes you just have to step out of faith in your ability to read people and provide those opportunities for friendship and encouragement.
Here’s where the book sorta fell apart for me. First, Camri is not likeable. I mean I get her but I want to smack her like every other page. Even her contrition as she realizes how almost fatally legalistic she is in her beliefs falls flat for me. Second, lets talk about the conflict/drama/action what have you. She is in San Francisco to find her missing brother. I hear all about the church, her job, Patrick, the Wongs, even the attorney her brother worked for but I get very little about actually trying to find her brother. Then when it actually comes down to her brother it’s too neat with several loose ends that never get addressed. While that is wrapped up with a perfect bow and ample glitter there’s another little side-effect situation from her brother that needs to be wrapped up but again a bit too much glitter for me to appreciate it.
The bones are there for a good story. The intrigue, a different setting, some corruption and a missing person (or two), and a murder (or three). The writing is solid, for the most part, but could have used another comb with content editing to clear out some clashes in the way certain characters spoke and to clear up some rather large dangling threads that needed to be woven back in as opposed to just being clipped. I’m still in for the future of Golden Gate Secrets novels though. I’m interested to see where her friends’ stories take us. Perhaps they will be more sympathetic and maybe even tie up some of the loose ends from ‘In Places Hidden’.
I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by Bethany House. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
Can’t wait to read books 2 and 3 a must read
In Places Hidden Is a very Tracy Peterson book, which means it was well done. This book was set in the 1900’s early in San Fran. Wow was it a time back then – it was Woo hoo – you have got to read it to know it. The author does her homework for these historical stories. It is about corruption, power, pride, prejudice , ignorance and GOD’s divine intervention with it all. Now wouldn’t you want him to be. Camri sure is one – she is one of the three main women of the book. To know the other two you are to have to see for yourself. I received a copy of this book from the Publisher and Netgalley; all of the opinions expressed in this review are all my own.
if you would like to read more of my Christian book reviews go to christianlybookreviewers.blogspot.com
In Places Hidden by Tracie Peterson is the first book in the Golden Gate series. The story takes place in 1905, in the booming city of San Francisco. Camri Coulter, with the help of Patrick Murdock, is searching for her brother. What she discovers is political corruption running rampant. Although there is danger in the search for Caleb, it is not too much of a concern to anyone, or so it seemed to me. The story was a very slow start for me. Nothing really happened until over half-way through the book. Camri was supposed to be looking for her missing brother but to me she didn’t do too much “looking”. Still, the storyline was interesting and entertaining. I enjoyed the wee bit of Irish dialogue that was inserted throughout. Overall, I would recommend this book if you like a sweet romance with just a touch of danger.
I received this book from Bethany House publisher’s in exchange for my honest review.
In Places Hidden by Tracie Peterson is the first novel in the Golden Gate Secrets series. Camriann “Camri” Coulter has journeyed to San Francisco in late November of 1905 to locate her missing brother, Caleb. On the journey she meets Judith Gladstone and Kenzie Gifford. Each woman has their own quest that has brought them to San Francisco. The three women decide to pool their resources and help one other. They move into Caleb’s house and Kenzie helps them obtain jobs at her cousin’s candy factory. Caleb has been missing for over three months. Camri begins her search by speaking with Caleb’s boss, Mr. Henry Ambrewster. It seems Caleb took Patrick Murdock, a local contractor being tried for murder, as a client and got a not guilty verdict which angered some bigwigs in the city. What lengths would these high-powered individuals go to silence Caleb? Camri teams up with Patrick to discover her brother’s whereabouts and uncover the corrupt people responsible.
In Places Hidden is well-written and it has some interesting characters. Kenzie’s candy maker cousin, George Lake is a quirky individual with exacting standards (he is very twitchy). Camri is an intelligent woman who believes in education and suffrage (she likes to pontificate on the value of education especially). I was happy to see her alter some of her opinions and behavior by the end of the book. I had a little trouble getting into the story, but once I did, I was curious to see how matters would play out. I did feel we were given too much backstory on each of the ladies. Since each woman (Judith, Camri and Kenzie) will have their own book, we did not need so much detail on Judith and Kenzie in this installment. It made for a tedious beginning. The Christian elements are strong throughout the book especially having faith in God to get a person through the troublesome times in life. I felt the romance between Camri and Patrick proceeded at a little too quickly. Since In Places Hidden is part of a series, I felt the author could have let their romance progress at a slower speed (which would have been in keeping with the time period). I will be curious to see how Judith and Kenzie’s stories unfold. In Places Hidden is a light, historical romance with touch of intrigue that will appeal to Tracie Peterson’s fans.
This read had me mesmerized, and quickly page-turning, and I had to have answers. Now I’m looking for the next book in this series, and hope those who are so evil get there just due.
What a wild, sinful, and immoral city San Francisco was, and although this is a fictional book, it does have a lot of historical fact.
Can you image back in the early 1900’s receiving, or not hearing from your brother who is about two thousand miles away, and not knowing where he is, or if he is even alive. This is why Camri Coulter is in the West, and she meets two women while traveling there, in rather dire circumstances, and takes them under her wing and offers them shelter.
So many life lessons here, and you will be quickly caught up in this story, with evil so prominent you will have to wonder who is going to come out alive at the end. So many people hurt, and why? Greed.
Don’t miss this one!
I received this book through the Publisher Bethany House reviewer program, and was not required to give a positive review.
always enjoy tracies books can’t wait til next one comes out