Greetings!  You made it to my stop on the Inn at Hidden Run by Olivia Newport Celebrate Lit Book Tour.  Today I will share my thoughts on the book, information on it and the author, have some words from her, a schedule of the other stops, and information on the giveaway.  So keep reading and don’t forget to enter.

My Thoughts

The Inn at Hidden Run by author Olivia Newport is a dual time period (contemporary and historical) Christian mystery romance.  Author Newport is a grand storyteller.  She weaves past and present together flawlessly into one poignant tale.

This is the contemporary tale of genealogist Jillian and her attorney father, Nolan, from Colorado who together trace family histories for people.    It is also the tale of a family of doctors and the yellow fever outbreak in Memphis, Tennessee in late 1870’s.  The family turned up in research when Jillian began helping Meri, a new girl in town.

This is a very interesting plot.  The author did a wonderful job with research and providing an authentic story.  I am a historical fiction lover over contemporary, so needless to say, I enjoyed reading that portion just a tad bit more.

Author Newport’s tale pulled at my heartstrings.  Parts of it brought tears to my eyes.  I was invested in both of the intertwined storied.  Her style of writing is easy and unrushed.  She allows you to soak in all of the details and transport yourself to a different locale or era, and sometimes both.  The characters were well rounded.  They had good points and flaws.  Some of them felt like new friends and I wants to have coffee with them.

The historical section read very authentic.  The characters were likable and genuinely cared for people.  I learned a lot about Memphis and the Yellow Fever.   Like I said earlier, this is a well researched, organized, planned, and written novel.

The inspirational and faith element is laced throughout this lovely book.  Life lessons of forgiveness, grace, finding God’s Will for your life, family, love, caring for ill, and hope are just a few things I found inside the pages.

I definitely would recommend this book.  Get a book group together so that you will be able to toss some questions around.  Genealogy lovers will enjoy the book as will mystery buffs.  Contemporary and Historical fiction will each have a section to like and one to test.  It gets a 4 out of 5 stars from me.

A copy was provided by Celebrate Lit but I was under no obligation to write a review.  These are my own honest thoughts.

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!

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?

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

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