Abandoned by an eccentric father on the eve of her twelfth birthday, Justine Cook has lived with her fair share of unanswered questions. Now, ten years later she leaves her life in southern Michigan and heads north to the mysterious town of Lantern Creek after seeing his picture in a local newspaper. Once there, she discovers her father had been leading a double life and meets the autistic … brother she never knew—a young man who is mute but able to read her mind.
When a local girl who looks like Justine is mysteriously murdered, she joins forces with sheriff’s deputy Dylan Locke to capture the killer. But the more they dig for clues to the past, the closer they come to discovering a secret someone will kill to protect. Justine begins to show signs of supernatural power and eventually must stop an immortal enemy that has hunted her family for generations.
more
Justine is on the trail of her wayward father, who abandoned her and her mother years ago, after a photograph of him turns up in a local newspaper. Her search takes her up north to a small town called Lantern Creek. Along the way she meets a few new characters to her life. Including a brother, Adam, that she never knew she had. Adam is mute but is able to speak to Justine through telepathy. With their combined forces they try to figure out the family’s deep-seated roots that are shrouded in mystery.
Okay this book has a very slow beginning for the type of book that it is. The writing style in the beginning is even repetitive in some points. It’s almost like the author was holding out just a little bit longer to hit you with the really good stuff.
The characters are both lovely and interesting which also makes for a very compelling read. The romantic aspect of the book is written beautifully. The twists and turns, some of which definitely caught me off guard, were also a very pleasant surprise. Somehow the author managed to mix mystery, paranormal, adventure and romance all together without having it come off as fictional vomit. I know that doesn’t sound appealing but please believe me when I say that that is a very big compliment because this is something that is very hard to do without having the book come off as cheesy or overwhelming for the reader. This book was neither. It was engaging and the reader was immediately sucked in as soon as the story picked up in about the 5th chapter.
I had a lot of mixed emotions going into this book but once the book started to pick up I was totally on board for the ride. And indeed, what a ride it was! I cannot say bravo to Kemp enough for being able to bring all these elements together and interweave them so cleverly. I am really in awe. So bravo my dear! You deserve the praise!
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery with a touch of romance and a bit of the supernatural
I’m beyond excited to recommend this book! I want to shout my review from the rafters!! I can’t, so I hope you can read this with the same enthusiasm I write it with!
Laura Kemp can weave a phenomenal story and it was truly a recipe for the flawless novel!
She used several different genres in the wisest of ways!
We are gifted a paranormal thriller, romantic suspense, magic realism & even horror in between these pages. All of our delights are satisfied; some we didn’t even know we had.
For the ones new to us; Extra Shout Out to Kemp! I had no idea I was totally into the horror genre. Yet! I was feeding on this! She delivers horror so well with her evil character!! I was petrified! The main characters cat rubbing against her leg made me jump! AAHH! So Scared!
I was so wrapped up in everything that was happening I was truly losing myself. This story is just delicious; can I say that? Truly! Delicious! I ate it up!
From the moment you open the book and meet Justine Cook and learn about her father leaving her, you are told of things that you must find the answer to and you do not want to let go until you know the answer.
This book is just unstoppable! It’s like a train that has run off tracks, and you are in your seat looking out the window as the reader. Imagine that feeling in your belly! Yes! That was how I felt! Exactly that! It’s unreal!
It was our Book Club Read and when we all met online to discuss it, it was extremely lively. Every character was championed, so each character is extremely loved! Or feared! From the main characters like Justine to the more peripheral characters like Iris! We spoke of the spookiness, and the magic, and the romance!! The dog and the cat!! We spoke of the locations!! We were all so excited about “Evening in the Yellow Wood”! Laura was there; she had to realize that she wrote a truly spectacular story!
We have already asked to have her next book in our Book Club! Because we know it will be just as extraordinary! By the way….She said yes!!
This book is not to be missed by anyone! I repeat; It is such a delight of all genres!
To say I am a fan of Laura Kemp’s writing is not enough. I will be following her, fangirling her, and reading all of her books!
Waiting on the next! Torture!!
I absolutely loved this book. It kept me on my toes from beginning to end with twists and turns. The characters, the story, the whole thing was fantastic!!!!
Definitely recommend this!!!
I was truly impressed with Laura Kemp’s debut novel, EVENING IN THE YELLOW WOOD. This novel has something for everyone, such as family issues, romance, mystery, murder, folklore, and what I enjoy, the supernatural. Kemp blends them all so expertly and gives the reader a story they can’t put down.
Justine Cook’s father leaves her and her mother leaving just a note and a birthday present when she was twelve. Now in her early twenties, she sees a newspaper photo of him which takes her to Lantern Creek in upstate Michigan searching for him and seeking answers to her many questions. She learns that her father loved another woman who she had a son with – her younger brother. Little does she know that her ancestry is filled with supernatural powers, some of them which she inherits. While in Lantern Creek, they kick in, and she and her brother, who’s autistic, speaks to her reading her mind and thoughts. Together their supernatural powers are stronger, and they must stop an immortal enemy before it gets them. But then there is Dylan Locke, the blond, handsome cop whose dreams have haunted him of Justine for many years. He is also a part of the folklore, and he and Justine’s love for one another is the rare kind of love that every woman longs for.
Kemp kept me glued to this book. She is an extremely talented writer and her imagination is boundless. Her novel is a totally captivating supernatural tale that kept me riveted and on edge. Take the action-packed supernatural mystery, the romance of star-crossed lovers, folklore that goes back for generations, and Kemp gives you a ride and an incomparable concoction like you’ve never read before. It’s that good.
BOOK REVIEW: Evening In The Yellow Wood by author, Laura Kemp
Description- Abandoned by an eccentric father on the eve of her twelfth birthday, Justine Cook has lived with her fair share of unanswered questions. Now, ten years later she leaves her life in southern Michigan and heads north to the mysterious town of Lantern Creek after seeing his picture in a local newspaper. Once there, she discovers her father had been leading a double life and meets the autistic brother she never knew—a young man who is mute but able to read her mind.
*****
With a hole in her heart, a mother who refuses to be supportive; consoling, empathetic and loving, and not a clue where to begin, Justine sets out on a journey of self discovery that will lead her to much more than she bargained for. With her feet now planted in the mysterious Lantern Creek, a town full of the quirky, eclectic and downright spooky, she is soon to find that she has stepped into a place where the past and present soon bend into a parallel universe, and she holds the key to its secrets.
Author, Laura Kemp has masterfully created as her debut, a suspenseful, romantic, powerful yet haunting tale that is the epitome of a true genre-bending narrative that flows seamlessly between past and present. Ms. Kemp pulls together a Shaman, a spunky old woman, a Talisman, a cantankerous landlord, Totems, true love, and the supernatural together into the “captivating, and creepy”….. she has created a world that will have you on the edge of your seat! A journey that is wonderfully mysterious and thrilling.
I thank Ms. Kemp for my personal, signed copy, of The Evening In The Yellow Wood that I not only thoroughly enjoyed, but in doing so, was able to review at a 5 Star status.
5 Stars
#EveningInTheYellowWood
#Laura Kemp
#PandaMoonPublishing
Wild Sage Book Blog
Novels & Latte Book Club
This was an exquisite blend of mystery, fantasy, romance, and just plain awesomeness. I didn’t really know what I was getting into but once I started it, I just couldn’t stop reading. This was such a fantastic debut and Kemp has a voice that is unique and electrifying. I can’t wait to see what she does next!
I love this book because it had a little of everything in it from supernatural to mystery and romance that make them blend very well together. Once you picked up couldn’t put down. I felt a very spiritual part of the book when reading it. It flowed together really well. Laura you did a awesome job loved the characters and when I read the book I felt like I was there in Lantern Creek.
I don’t typically read books with paranormal sub-plots but this book is so much more – witty and funny enough to keep me from being too scared (don’t read this alone at night though!) The story has unique and interesting characters, romance, and suspense, along with a heartfelt message of finding our roots.
I loved this debut novel by Laura Kemp. Justine moves to the small town of Lantern Creek to search for her father that left just before her 12th birthday. After she arrives, the visions begin, she discovers she has a brother, and she falls in love. That is just the beginning of Justine’s adventure. I highly recommend Evening in the Yellow Wood to those who like thrillers with a paranormal twist. I won this book in a giveaway. Thank you Laura Kemp for my signed copy.
Laura Kemp, Author of “Evening in the Yellow Wood” has written an intense, unique and captivating novel. The Genres for this novel are Paranormal, Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller. The timeline for this story is set in the present and goes to the past when it pertains to the events or characters in the story. The author describes her unusual characters as complex, complicated, and full of suspense.
Justine Cook’s father abandoned her and her mother when she was twelve. Justine is a Journalist and has always been seeking why her father left. Somehow, Justine thinks she sees him in a newspaper in another town and is drawn to leave home and find him. Justine seems to meet a strange cast of characters. There seems to be a feeling of deja vu from some of the characters who seem to be attracted to Justine in the town of Lantern Creek.
Justine is starting to hear folktale stories about strange events in this town. Two young women are murdered, and strange things begin to happen. Justine finds that she is capable of seeing certain visions, and has certain strengths. As Justine is pushed to find out more details, she realizes that someone will go to great lengths to kill her.
This is an edgy, intense, and at time frightening story that had me totally engrossed. I would highly recommend this novel for those readers who enjoy a story with Paranormal activity, and thrilling suspense.
I love a book written by an author who clearly knows their setting intimately and Evening in the Yellow Wood by Laura Kemp is an exquisite example. The details of northern Michigan come alive on the page and are described in vivid detail through the voice of Justine, a young woman looking for a change in her future and answers to her past. She finds both in her new home on Lake Huron where ghost stories mingle with romance and summer job humor, the characters guiding her on harrowing and emotional quests. Building her own historical mythology, Kemp creates a well-paced world with creepy villains and suspense, sexy love scenes, and heartfelt narration. Adam, a child with autism, is authentically written, yet another example of the author’s wisdom come to life on the page. The ending is so satisfying that the book could stand alone but you’ll want to find out what comes next for Justine in the sequel, Snow in Summer and another in the trilogy coming out soon. I sure can’t wait to read more of Kemp’s tales set in the yellow wood.
This book is a wild ride with a little bit of everything. I don’t know how the author nailed down a genre. It has romance, mystery, paranormal happenings, suspense, with sprinklings of humor. I’m usually really good at figuring out plots, but I’ll admit I guessed a couple things wrong in this one. I had to stop reading it before bed because I wouldn’t be able to sleep for wondering what was going to happen next. It’s hard to talk about the plot without giving spoilers, but a couple people I had pegged for bad guys weren’t in the end and vice versa. Now onto the next book in the series!
Well, shoot!
Justine has it all!! Suspense, supernatural thrills, and romance… can I be her?
Poor thing… she needs all the help she can get… and then not all that help, indeed!
Great read, kept me guessing until the end and that’s what makes this book so exciting!
Can’t wait for Snow In Summer!!!
Laura Kemp is a new Author to me …I was captivated by this book ..Laura weaves a fast paced book of paranormal,family drama,romance,mystery about her father and the immortal enemy that has hunted his family for years . The Story begins with Justine when her father leaves her and her mom when she was just 10 yrs old,Justine is now an adult and working at a local newpaper when she sees and article with a picture of her father in a small town in Northern Michigan..so Justine decides she is gonna move there for the summer to try and find her father ! What she finds when she gets there is super natural and very confusing to her until the prices of the mystery start to fall in place ..this is a must read !
Being unfamiliar with Laura Kemp’s work, I had no idea what to expect, when I started reading her debut novel, Evening in the Yellow Wood.
From page one, I was drawn in as I happily followed the heroine, Justine Cook, a smart, warm, funny, relatively self possessed twenty two year old, as she left her “flatlander” hometown and heads up to northern Michigan in search of her father who’d disappeared 10 years earlier.
As the book unfolds, Kemp reels us in as she skillfully weaves a tale of love, intrigue and love lost, and she keeps reeling until the very last page.
One of the many things I enjoyed about this book is how easy it was for me to be involved with her cast of characters who are in turn appealing, quirky and even a little sinister.
Beautifully written, I appreciated how she gives, what is for me, the right amount of rich detail so that I could almost smell the pines of small town northern Michigan, though not so many that I got bogged down in detail thus losing the plot of this wonderful and engaging story!
Intriguing, suspenseful and just plain fun, Evening in the Yellow Wood is a both a multi-layered love story and a mystery with some wonderful paranormal activity tossed in for thrilling effect.
If you’re looking to spend a few pleasurable hours with a charming and at times spine tingling read, I would would HIGHLY recommend you pick up a copy of Laura Kemp’s Evening in the Yellow Wood and dive in, trust me, you won’t be disappointed!
This book is only a little over 200 pages but packs alot in those pages. The beginning was a little slow for me but I couldn’t read the last 100.pages fast enough! The historical background of Justine’s family was intriguing and the supernatural characters had me hiding under the covers . I am not a paranormal reader but this story was fantastic and I highly recommend reading it even if you are not a paranormal reader.There is murder, mystery, suspense, romance and family secrets.
Thank you @lkempwrites @pandamoonpublishing and @suzyapprovedbooktours for including me in this tour.
Evening in the Yellow Wood is so unlike anything else I’ve ever read, and in a good way! Kemp uses northern lower Michigan as a realistic backdrop to a story filled with mystery, ghosts, love, and personal discovery, and blends all of these genres seamlessly. I loved the addition of Adam to the story, as accurate portrayals of those on the autism spectrum are near and dear to my heart. The close bond he shares with his newfound sister is something I hope to see in future books in the series. I also liked Dylan, a much more complex character than you might expect, and could picture him immediately. This was a thoroughly enjoyable read and I can’t wait to read the sequel!
Justine’s father suddenly abandoned her and her mother when she was just twelve years old. Years later while still living in Southern Michigan, she sees a picture of him in a newspaper from the small town of Lantern Creek. Now desperate, she upends her life and leaves the only home she knows in search to find him. And the answers to so many questions. What she found was not what she expected. Her fathers double life, a brother she didn’t know she had, local women who look like her being murdered, and mysterious visions that leave her with more questions than answers.
I don’t usually read paranormal books, but this one was nicely written and wasn’t overdone. I did get lost at times with some of the characters, but every page had me intrigued and wanting to know more! The author did a nice job of combining a little bit of everything in this story. Mystery, secrets, loss, paranormal vibes, and love. It all blended well for a solid read!
Thank you to the author for my copy in return for an honest review
In Evening in the Yellow Wood, by Laura Kemp, Justine Cook sets out on a journey to find the father that abandoned her ten years prior after glimpsing his picture in the local newspaper. Left behind by the father she adored at the age of twelve, Justine grew up with a mother she didn’t connect with and an abundance of unanswered questions about why he left. But shortly after arriving in the strange town of Lantern Creek, Justine begins to uncover truths she couldn’t have imagined about her father, her family, and most of all herself.
Evening in the Yellow Wood is a very unique story, distinct from anything I’ve read before. I was intrigued by the synopsis, despite it not being the type of book I’m usually drawn to. The first half of the book was a slow burn for me and I found it a bit difficult to really get into the story. I was surprised by how quickly some of the paranormal events were weaved into the storyline, with relatively little buildup, and how the characters didn’t seem as alarmed as I would have expected as a result. Also, I found it a bit difficult to keep track of some of the historical characters that were introduced and their ties to one another. Halfway through I was left feeling like this was one weird book…
Yet as I continued to turn the pages the relationships between the characters started to solidify and as the pace of the story picked up I found myself embracing the weirdness of the storyline and rolling right along with it. I became invested in the characters, in their eccentricities, and in figuring out how all the pieces of this generations-long family saga would ultimately come together. This book pushed me outside of my reading comfort zone and I was happy to follow where it led!
Thanks to Suzy Approved Book Tours, Laura Kemp, and Pandamoon Publishing for including me on this tour!
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/bookcoffeecozy
Laura Kemp delivers a masterful story of mystery, magic & romance all rolled into one.