A Father-Daughter Genealogy Team Link Present to Past on Family Trees Meri’s family has been producing doctors for so many generations that no one remembers why, so when she flunks out of medical school, she runs as far from her parents as she can get. In the small mountain town of Canyon Mines, Colorado, she takes a job at the Inn at Hidden Run B&B. And waits. It’s only a matter of time. … a matter of time.
What she doesn’t count on is genealogist Jillian Parisi-Duffy and her father, Nolan, having her back when it takes everything she has not to bolt again but to stay and face the truth that only unfolding her family’s history will reveal. While Nolan works on keeping Meri calm—and in town—Jillian pulls out of her gems of information she doesn’t know she has and arranges the puzzle pieces.
But none of that changes the fact that Meri’s family is closing in to haul her back to her “real” life. When their arrival inflames tensions and Meri finally does bolt, Nolan and Jillian may be out of time.
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.
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I heard someone say recently that they measure the goodness of a book by whether or not it makes you cry (i.e. is so well written that you become emotionally invested with the characters). While that doesn’t work for every book, or every genre (for example, suspense), I think it might be a good rule of thumb in general for women’s fiction or romance. Based on my 5-star rating, I’m guessing you can ascertain that there were tears involved. Good tears – happy, cleansing tears.
This book primarily follows Jillian, a genealogist. Jillian resides in a small town outside of Denver, with the gorgeous backdrop of the Rocky Mountains, without the bustle of the big city. Her best friend, Nia, runs The Inn at Hidden Run just down the street. Nia finds a girl on her doorstep looking for a job right after she lost her assistant, so she hires Meri on the spot. She senses something brewing beneath the surface in Meri, though, and requests that Jillian do some digging. Jillian’s father, Nolan, is a professional mediator and his skills are also needed when Meri gets skittish and tries to run.
In the midst of this tale, we’re taken back to the Yellow Fever epidemic that swept through Memphis in 1878. There we meet a young woman named Eliza, who though she is a woman of means, refuses to leave the destitute of the town and works tirelessly with the Sisters to bring aid to the sick and dying.
Ms. Newport’s prose pulls you in to both story lines quickly and draws you in to love the characters readily. It isn’t until the end that you see how the story lines relate, but the conclusion is stunningly beautiful and brought me to tears. Because the story lines take place both in different times and different places, surrounded by differing circumstances, there is less confusion than is typical with a dual timeline, yet the story seems to flow from one timeline to the other seamlessly.
This book had all the feels and without any real romance arc, making this a splendid women’s fiction dual timeline.
The author also gives fun quirks to her characters, such as coffee, mug, and ice cream preferences, dinner blessings and songs sung while cooking. These things make the characters that much more endearing and drew me into the story even deeper.
I would strongly recommend this one to anyone who enjoys historical and/or contemporary fiction, women’s fiction, and books that tug at your heart-strings. This one also had a solid, yet subtle, faith element to it.
I was provided an advanced copy of this book by the author and Barbour Publishing. I was under no obligation to write a review and the thoughts contained herein are my own.
I was captivated by this story using past and present tense telling about the yellow fever epidemic that took place in Memphis in 1878. The details impressed me since I wasn’t familiar with that part of history.
The present tense surrounded a remodeled and updated hotel in a small town in Colorado where a mysterious young woman named Meri shows up and the hotel owners want to find out more about her. Their friends are a genealogist (Jillian) and her father (Nolan) is an attorney and mediator. As the clues are unpeeled, the two timelines come together beautifully.
I related mostly to Jillian and her work ethic (and her coffee) being dedicated to what she believed in.
There is no romance in this historical fiction book. It is the first book in a new series called Tree of Life and I definitely want to read the next ones as they are published.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.
The Inn at Hidden Run by Olivia Newport
“Do you believe in calling? Choosing your path because your path chooses you, or because God puts it before you so plainly you can’t walk any other way?”~Meri (pg 160)
First off, I didn’t know this was a dual-timeline story when I started reading it. That doesn’t bother me in the least, it was a pleasant surprise! Secondly, I think I was more invested in the historical portions of this book rather than the modern day setting. Not because one was better than the other, but because I was fascinated to learn about the yellow jack or yellow fever epidemic in Memphis, TN circa 1878 and how it impacted Eliza Davies’s life. She had a heart especially for children orphaned when their parents died from the disease. She was selfless in giving of herself, helping the nuns in any way she could other than caring for the sick, running errands and taking as much of the burden off the Sisters as possible. I admired her strength and devotion to being the hands and feet of Christ to those suffering. I don’t know if I could have done the same; it would be heartbreaking to watch so many people die everyday knowing you could only do so much to comfort them.
Then there’s Meri Davies running from her family who insists that all members be doctors of some kind. For them, there were no other choices and she especially feels pressure after she flunks out of med school. She wants to be invisible and unknown so she can figure out how to make her real dreams come true; those her family would never understand! Enter Jillian and Nolan who see a wounded soul who needs help to face the hard stuff of life. I think at times they went a little overboard, which irritated me. Eventually, they win both Meri and me over! In the end, they piece her family history together and Meri has a better understanding of her roots & calling in life.
Even as often as the characters frustrated me, it was a better story than I thought it would be. In my opinion, the ending was the best! I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t a stronger faith theme, however. That being said, it’s a story of one families journey to find their place in the world and the strength they found in each other, no matter what life path they chose!
“Sometimes in order to understand ourselves, we have to understand our families.”~Jillian (pg 60)
*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review. *
I really enjoyed this, my first book by this author. I will definitely look forward to the next books in the series. A story of a young, modern-day woman searching for her calling in life (when others seem to have it all figured out for her), side-by-side with the story of her family’s roots (though that part wasn’t immediately apparent). I loved how the father-daughter, mediator/genealogist duo played such a big part in helping Meri, and her family, come to grips with the questions facing her. Great scene-setting and historical detail. I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.
“The Inn at Hidden Run” by Olivia Newport
I really liked this story. A contemporary family with very strong traditions… and the discovery of the foundation those traditions were based upon. I had a bit of trouble getting used to slipping from current time to the 1870’s. But then it became a bit of a relief to swap between the challenges of the two very different time periods. A chance to rest and digest the emotions and challenges presented in each era. Be sure to read the authors note at the end… the perfect ending to the story. I was gifted an ARC by the publisher via NetGalley and this review is wholly my thoughts, my opinions.
The Inn at Hidden Run by Olivia Newport is a genealogical mystery, time split fiction of modern day and 1878 America. I found some parts of the story difficult to understand and like. I could not understand having just met someone that you would conspire to fix her life, whether she likes it or not. The characters in the modern period seem to want to interfere and push another character into what they think is right for her. Poor girl bombarded from all directions by very controlling and questionably well meaning friends and family. The historical period was an interesting story of an American plague and the fight to help the people affected. The history, people, medical and logistical aspects of the period were very enlightening. The genealogy aspects were informative with many helpful facts. I felt the Christian and Scriptural influence was minimal. There was a positive message of helping others which is universal in many faiths but not exclusively Christian.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I appreciate the opportunity and thank the author and publisher for allowing me to read, enjoy and review this book.
I’m going to be honest, I almost bailed here. The writing is OK. It’s the beginning of a series about a genealogist who lives with her lawyer/mediator father and helps people find the stories of their pasts. I found the daughter/father overly abrasive and almost aggressive in how they “befriended” a stranger in town to ultimately help her reconcile with her (also) abrasive/aggressive family. Hence I hated the characters in this story.
To me, the one redeeming factor of the book was the historical facts about an outbreak of yellow fever in Memphis in 1878. I was not aware of that history, and it was related in alternating chapters of the present family and their ancestors. However it really wasn’t enough to overcome my dislike of the characters…which was a shame. I felt like there was potential here for an interesting series, but it’s hard for me to really enjoy a story if I don’t like/enjoy the characters.
Thanks to #NetGalley and #BarbourPublishing for the ARC. The opinions are strictly my own.
I enjoyed this book for several reasons. First, it was a split time story so I was learning about the present through the experience of the past. Second, it was an original idea, using a genealogist as the main character. It makes you think about your own family and its origins as well. Third, I wanted to find out what happened to the main characters.
I must also say this was a free book I received as a giveaway on goodreads.com. However, I was not told to review or even read the book. I did enjoy reading the book and will wait for the 2nd and third books in the trilogy to come out.
I am assuming as you read this review that you’ve read the book description. I’m not going to go back over that in this review. This is more about what I enjoyed about the book.
I literally picked this book because of the cover. I liked the graphics on it and thought the title sounded “small town” intriguing. I kind of scanned the book description and downloaded the book. It was in my to-be-read pile for a month or so. I’d never read a book by Olivia Newport, and just wasn’t in any hurry to get to this one.
If I had know this book was going to be SO good, I’d have read it twice by now. This is not a romantic story. It’s a story about a family that desperately needs to come together in love and acceptance. There’s a thread of faith in this story that even though it seems small. it has huge impact on the storyline.
This author is a great storyteller. This is a “split-time” story: One story takes place in present-day Colorado; the other in Memphis in 1878. Both stories were equally interesting, but I could not imagine how they were ever going to weave together. But weave together they did, and it was amazing when all the details fell into place. It takes a talented author to pull all of this together in such a heart-touching way. I was delighted to finish the book and see that there was Chapter One of a sequel. I’m going to love going back to revisit this community again.
If you love a good story with great characters and the perfect setting, you’ll love this book.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.