In the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains lies a small town with a big heart—and a chance to begin again . . . When Hannah Montgomery buys a lavender farm in Blue Hollow Falls with three friends, she’s creating a life she never imagined—one she hopes will honor the memory of the sweet young son she tragically lost years ago. Standing on the porch of the sprawling farmhouse, looking out on row upon … looking out on row upon row of those lush purple plumes, Hannah is ready to embrace this fresh, new start . . .
Then she meets Wilson McCall. The stonemason hired to fix their crumbling chimneys and leaky roof is quieter than most folks in the Falls. Hannah’s not surprised to learn the widower struggles with his own grief. Who could blame her if she finds joy in making Will laugh again, or if she feels a poignant kinship when she sees him with his teenaged son? But her deepening friendship with Will reminds Hannah that there’s a part of her that still needs to heal—awakening a tender yearning to have a life that isn’t just good enough, but lived fully—even if that means taking risks once more . . .
Praise for Donna Kauffman
“Charming characters, emotion galore, a small town—you’re going to love Donna Kauffman!” —Lori Foster
“We all know where there’s Donna Kauffman, there’s a rollicking, sexy read chock‑full of charm and sparkle.” —USAToday.com
more
I adore the Blue Hollow Falls series and this addition will not disappoint.
A wonderful story for two broken souls who take the chance of falling in love again. Hannah has arrived in Blue Hollow Falls to buy a lavender farm and to start a new life. Wilson is a stonemason, that has been hired to fix the chimneys of the farm. Soon a friendship develops between the two but are they both willing to open their hearts up again.
Loved these characters, very heartwarming and full of emotion. Loved Will’s son, Jake.He is so open to Hannah and Will’s friendship that is growing into so much more. Loved this story, so much more than a romance, I highly recommend.
In this third book of the series we are introduced to Hannah Montgomery who has, along with three friends, purchased a lavender farm. She is trying to make a new start for herself and hopes to honor the memory of her son at the same time. Enter Wilson McCall a man with his own tragedies and grief to deal with. Wilson has been hired to fix several items in the house that comes with the farm. As time goes by and the two spend more time together Hannah is able to bring some laughter into Wilson’s life. The two feel a connection but will their grief be to much of a barrier or will they be able to break through and both find true happiness. Along the way she realizes that she must heal herself if she will ever be able to move forward and share happiness with another. Will Wilson come to such a realization or will his grief get the better of him? This was such a charming and heartfelt read that will have you crying, laughing and rooting for love.
It feels like I have been waiting forever for Lavender Blue and Will’s story but in truth, it hasn’t been that long. It is just that this the third book of the Blue Hollow Falls series (no worries, it is a standalone, however I cannot imagine NOT reading about this small mountain community) with some novellas in between. For me, Will has stood out from the beginning so I was anxious to read his story and why he was the way that he was. My complaint to the author is that while I fell in love with Blue Hollow Falls, and the main characters of the other stories, I picked a favorite right from the first book. And then I had a second favorite. And then…well, you get the idea. The stories and people just keep getting better and better!
Lavender Blue is about Wilson (Will) McCall, his son Jake, and Hannah Montgomery. Hannah was a new character for me; she and some friends (talk about “characters”!) purchase a lavender farm and the story really focuses around the property. That’s where the title comes from.
I can’t do the story justice so I will give you some highlights – Will lost his wife oh so long ago, while he was serving overseas. He never had the chance to say goodbye and feels such grief, even after so many, many years. His son Jake…he is such a wonderful young man! Will has done an amazing job of raising him, with the help of the good folks in Blue Hollow Falls. Jake plays a big part in this story, as he should, because Will and Hannah grow closer and a teenage boy in the mix is a pretty big deal. Read LB for the wonderfully woven tale of why and how this comes to be.
Hannah and her friends are also dealing with some huge life-changing issues so all the people in Blue Hollow Falls weave themselves into each other’s lives…and of course, stick their nose into the budding relationship between Hannah and Will. I just adore these busybodies! And the animals, well, they play a part as well and I can just picture how soft and cuddly and crazy they are, from the book descriptions.
I cannot say enough about Blue Hollow Falls and all the people I’ve come to know and love. Lavender Blue made me read-sniffle again, but in an entirely good way, and I missed everyone when I finished the story. Definitely recommend this book and the entire series.
Wow! What a wonderfully amazing story. So many emotions felt from this story. I knew from reading the previous books in the series that Will McCall would be a great hero with a wounded heart but Hannah’s history came as a surprise to me. She was just an amazing person. So strong and sweet. I have no more words. This story was just so beautiful. Read it with a box of tissues though.
I was waiting for Will’s story, and Donna Kauffman didn’t disappoint. What could have been maudlin was uplifting and made me smile. I loved this couple, and I love her books! And of course, all of my favorite characters from past stories were there, cheering them on.
Copied from Goodreads posting:
Just a smidge under 5. Beautifully written. The author is able to make the locale and inhabitants of Blue Hollow come alive. Not only are the main characters, Hannah Montgomery and Wilson McCall, fully fleshed out but MS Kauffman continues to add depth to people already introduced in earlier works (Addie) and to begin to breath life into those who will most likely appear in future books.
The book deals seriously with grief but there is warmth and humor throughout. I do not know if everyone would have the same outlook or philosophy but it is consistent and feels right. I think the development of individuals works best in those moments when there is more conflict or action (the scene in the barn early on and the final realization –not giving more detail as to not spoil these for future readers) than in the general discussions amongst the inhabitants of Blue Hollow but the whole is wonderful. Strongly recommend!
How do you deal with grief…This story is a contrast of two people who dealt with it very differently, one chose to get stuck in his grief and the other by giving to others. I love the sensitive touch Donna gives dealing with this difficult subject. She gives us a deep, sensitive and emotional story filled with love and healing. Hannah Montgomery lost her son 7 years ago. Wilson “Will” McCall lost his wife/soul-mate about 7 years ago as well.
Hannah is in Blue Hollow Falls with 3 friends who met in The Friday Morning Grief Group. They’ve decided to be “Life Warriors” and dubbed themselves “The Fearsome Foursome”. They’ve chosen to pay tribute to their loved one by being bringers of light, positive thinking and spreaders of joy. Awesome, just awesome! They’ve gone into business together at Vivi’s inherited lavender farm in Kentucky’s Blue Mountains and decided to open a Tea House & sell various lavender products at their new venture.
Will retired from his career in the military to raise his young son, Jacob now 14 after his mother passed away. He’s a very talented stone mason and has bottled up his grief, burying it away undealt with. He’s a man of few words and doesn’t make friends because he’s withdrawn from people. His mother’s dear friend Addie Pearl Whittaker, whom we’ve met in previous books is a font of wisdom in this story and I loved her character dearly. She tells Will that he’s got his feelings about Zoey bottled away but they’re still fresh because he’s never dealt with them. Jake has inherited his mother’s gift of singing and Will’s of fiddle playing. He’s a natural talent and Will can’t deal with it. Will used to make beautifully crafted fiddles and perform with Zoey. Will finds himself hurting Jake because he can’t watch and cheer Jake on when he performs. Will keeps getting bombarded with grief he doesn’t know how to deal with so he closes it off and retreats hurting those around him who care.
Then he meets Hannah and is drawn to her joy. There is chemistry between them. Will feels something for a woman for the first time since Zoey. Hannah finds herself pulled toward Will as well but Jake’s the same age as her son would have been posing a situation she has to look at. As their relationship grows Will finally opens to Hannah to find how she did the “work” to find joy in her life once again since he feels stuck. She gives him the gift of another way to see things he hadn’t considered.
I am so glad I rediscovered Donna’s author’s voice when I ARC read Kate Pearce’s Anthology A Season To Celebrate. I’m really looking forward to reading Avery, Cheyenne and Vivi’s love stories.
This is the third book in the Blue Hollow Falls series. Donna Kauffman’s characters are so real that I could hardly wait to see what was happening in their lives now. I was thrilled for Will McCall to get his story. He has had a hard time getting over the death of his wife and hasn’t always made the best decisions as far as his son goes, only because of his pain . Hannah enters the picture when she goes in with her three friends to work the Lavender Blue Farm. Hannah has also had a great loss, but she has found a new way to deal with her loss.
I really enjoyed this book all the way through. I couldn’t put it down because I just had to know what was going to happen next. I loved how Hannah helped Will through so many hard times. She is a very positive person, who only shares her grief when she feels it will help someone else.
All the characters appear in this book at some point and I was so happy to catch up with them. I love Addie and Bailey with all of their wisdom. You see all the characters work together to help each other in these books.
This book was emotional and thought provoking. I loved how Hannah had worked through her grief and how she handled it . I think anyone who has lost a loved one could take good things away from this book. I think it is one of the best books that Donna Kauffman has written.
Now I can hardly wait to see what happens with all of Hannah’s friends from the Lavender Blue Farm.
I enjoyed this story. It starts with with 4 women who all have the loss of a loved one in common. They have come together to start a business revolving around Lavender. Hannah lost her 7-year-old son several years ago. As the women fix up the farm house and plan their business adventure, Hannah meets Will, a stonemason who has suffered his own loss. Can the two of them heal and fall in love again?
This is a nice romance and I love the characters. They story and writing moves along nicely and really grabbed my attention. I wonder if the author is planning to tell each woman’s story. The only thing I didn’t care for and stopped me from giving it a 5 star rating were the love scenes. There was only one or two, but they were a bit more detailed than needed. In fact I don’t think they added to the story.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book.
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Hannah and Will’s story in Lavender Blue by Donna Kaufman, book three in her Blue Hollow Falls series and I really struggled to put it down; visualizing the beauty of this place through its descriptive words. This is a story of two grieving souls struggling, along different paths after losing a loved one. Grab a box of tissues and curl up while enjoying this wonderful story enriched by friendship, love, grief, humor, and healing.
Will McCall, a widower, is a stone mason, learned at his grandfather’s knee. After the death of his wife and also his mother Will left the military returning to Blue Hollow Falls to raise his son. His grief truly broke him, leaving him lost and with living an empty existence. Hannah Montgomery and her friends, also survivors of grief, moved to town to open a lavender farm. Hannah, an illustrator for children’s books, lost her seven-year old son in a car accident, which was also the end of her marriage. Will, repairing the stone work around the old farm house, finds Hannah intriguing and interesting, wanting to spend time with her. Hannah is interested in the quiet, hot man in the white t-shirt.
Hannah is the yin to Will’s yang, wanting to help heal the brokenness in Will from his loss. She is the perfect antidote in assisting him move forward, working through those powerful emotions holding Will’s heart hostage and putting it back together again; open to loving another. Will’s teen son Jake, neighbor Bailey and Addie Pearl all play a role in supporting these two in healing as well as a loving relationship. Healing from grief appears in a variety of forms, and love blooms when you least expect it.
Ms. Kauffman, a talented story teller, wrote a joyful, funny, tender sweet, emotional and heartwarming tale that is not to be missed. She provided a story rich with sexy banter, a little steam, emotion, and endearing characters not only giving Hannah and Will a chance at having a solid, loving future together but also a wonderful community of supportive friends. I highly recommend Lavender Blue to other readers and look forward to the next book in this outstanding series.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
Lavender Blue, the third book in Donna Kauffman’s Blue Hollow Falls series, is a wonderful, heartfelt read about dealing with loss, moving on from the past, and being open to finding love again.
Hannah Montgomery has come to the Blue Ridge Mountains to start fresh as a partner with three other women in Lavender Blue Farmhouse & Tea Room. The quartet met in a grief group where Hannah was learning to deal with losing her son and, subsequently, her marriage. They formed a unique sisterly bond and decided to tackle new goals, take new risks and jump into life full on.
Wilson “Will” McCall, a stonemason and former marine, is working on the renovation of the tea room. A widower, he is raising his son, Jake, as a single parent. Will is attracted to Hannah but feels he would betray his wife’s memory to pursue her.
Kauffman deftly builds the attraction between Hannah and Will and brings them both out of emotional hibernation. They are helped along by a charming, quirky cast of characters that butt their noses in with the best of intentions. You will also really enjoy Kauffman’s descriptive prose that paints visual pictures of the lavender fields and surrounding town.
I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Since Wilson McCall appeared in the first book of this series, I have been dying to know his story. He obviously had some major stuff going on, but he definitely wasn’t talking about it. Then he had an unexpectedly emotional reaction to Jake’s learning to play the fiddle in Bluestone and Vine. That just broke my heart for Will, and I was thrilled for him to get his HEA.
The path to that HEA is very emotional. I didn’t even try to count the number of times I had to wipe tears from my eyes in order to keep reading. Given the synopsis, that wasn’t a big surprise. The surprise was how uplifting the discussions of loss were — but in a realistic way, not a patronizing way. Everyone is this book has lost at least one important person, and they all have ideas about dealing with loss to bring to the table. If I had to pick a central message for this book, it would be that those of us who are still living have to find ways to honor and remember those we have lost while we live the best way we know how. Having just lost my mother last year, this resonated with me.
Hannah is a new character in the series, and I enjoyed getting to know her. She is very grounded and in touch with herself. She is also very thoughtful and compassionate. I loved her. She is exactly the kind of woman I would love to go to dinner with or hang out with.
I also really loved the friends Hannah brought with her into Blue Hollow Falls. Those women are hilarious, and I hope they are getting stories soon. I love this series, and the characters that populate it. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
This author is one that can for sure provide the escape you need for a moment to fall into a excellent read. Hannah and her friends where the characters you would love to have as friends. They have a lavender farm that needs a bit of help here and there that Wilson has been tasked to provide. The development of the relationship between Hannah and Wilson is the joy in reading this one. The feelings that it heals and also grows is also a factor that plays on our emotions. Delight from beginning to end.
I have never read a book of Donna Kauffman’s that I have not loved and this one is no exception. What I will tell you is that this story brought with it a lot of really strong emotions and at times I just kept the Puffs right next to me!
Hannah Montgomery, along with her 3 friends, decide to buy a lavender farm in Blue Hollow Falls. Each of them have things from their past that they are trying to put behind them and thought this new adventure just might do the trick. Hannah’s past involved her teenage son that she lost way too young.
The ladies hire Wilson “Will” McCall to help fix up the old farm. Hannah is strongly drawn to Will and quickly realizes that Will has lost someone very close to him….his wife. Will also has a 14 year old son, Jake, who just happens to be the same age that her son, Liam, would have been. As Hannah and Will bond over their grief, the normally quiet Will is in awe of how Hannah handles the past. He would very much like to move on with his life because it has been 10 years since Zoey died but he just isn’t sure how. For once Will is ready to try and move on with his life but as Hannah gets closer to Will and Jake, she is not sure if she will really be able to handle a teenage boy in her life that reminds her a lot of Liam.
As Will and Hannah navigate through this emotional roller coaster ride, they both have to figure out how to honor their past while at the same time embracing these new feelings that they have for each other.
I just adored these characters. They were both so real that I felt like I could really be friends with either of them. Will seemed like the perfect guy that you would want loving you because when he finally does give his heart, he gives it 110%! Hannah on the other hand didn’t need much encouragement when it came to Will…she was ready to jump head first into that hunk of a man! I loved Hannah’s fresh, uplifting way of life. I wish more people in the world were like her. Overall this book was perfect! This was another great addition to this series and I hope we get to read Hannah’s friends stories in the near future! 😉
I’m mopping tears as I write this. This, dear friends, is a Kleenex book. But in the BEST possible way. I admit to a little skepticism when I saw who the next hero was because while Will most definitely deserved love, he seemed so broken, I couldn’t imagine the woman who’d set that to rights and so often this setup can turn out like a hot mess. But oh! Hannah is perfect for him. And for Jake. They’ve all experienced and been shaped by great loss, and seeing Will and Hannah come together, working through all those powerful emotions was just a privilege to be on the sidelines for. Lavender Blue delivers on ALL THE FEELS. It’s simply beautiful. Clearly this series has a special place in the author’s heart and now, absolutely, in mine.
I received an ARC through Netgalley.
Will finally gets his happily ever after! Will McCall is a stonemason whose wife died at a young age, leaving him to raise their son, Jake, on his own. Will’s never gotten over the loss of his wife but with the arrival of Hannah Montgomery in Blue Hollow Falls he may finally be ready to deal with his grief and move on.
Hannah buys a lavender farm with her three friends. She’s ready for a fresh start after losing her young son years ago. Although Hannah experienced a different loss than Will’s, she does understand grief. Together they learn how to move on with life after tragedy. There were more than a few tears shed through their journey to happily ever after.
Lavender Blue is the third full length book in the series and should appeal to anyone who likes small town romances. The book can be read as a standalone.
I received an ARC for an honest review.
I am so in love with this series! Donna has created an amazing group of charecters, each so different but at the heart of it all, all the same. So full of love for each other and their community. Paints a picture of a life I would love to be a part of.
In this story. Will comes to the forefront. He has been the quiet worker bee up until now. He is living his life, not looking for anything in the love department, then gets face to face with the woman who shows him love again. He is reawaken by Hannah, her grace, her beauty, her heart. They have an interesting story, don’t want to give it away, you will enjoy it, almost a guarantee!
I’m looking forward to more stories about the charecters of Blue Hollow Falls. I wonder who will be next?!
Awesome! This is a very touching story full of friendship, lost loves, deep hurts, heartbreak, renewal, and newfound love. This book has its emotional ups and downs – both Hannah and Will are dealing with an intense loss that makes moving forward with life and love terrifying. With the help of Will’s son, Jake, and their friends at Blue Hollow Falls, they break down those fears and find love. Excellent read!
https://binblogsbooks.wordpress.com/2019/01/23/lavender-blue/
After reading Seth and Pippa’s love story in Bluestone & Vine, I was madly in love with the hope that Will and Jacob would get their own story. Kauffman told such a soothing and realistic story with Seth and Pippa’s love, I was definitely up for more. I was not disappointed. Kauffman weaved a beautiful story of tragedy, grief, and redemptive love with passion, friendship and joy. Readers were treated to an honest, open, deeply moving friendship turned romance built on mutual understand of loss, laughter, and a willingness to do the hard work for something worth fighting for.