Welcome to the Blog Tour & Giveaway for The Secret of Willow Inn by Pat Nichols, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!
ABOUT THE BOOK
Title: The Secret of Willow Inn
(Willow Falls #1)
Author: Pat Nichols
Publisher: Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas
Release Date: January 10, 2019
Genre: Inspirational Contemporary Fiction
Two women fighting for their dreams, one who’s long lost hers, are united by tragedy and a long-held secret.
Pregnant with her first child, Emily Hayes is eager to help her mother finish transforming an estate into the Willow Inn and write a novel about Willow Falls’ colorful history. A tragic event threatens her parents’ plans to refurbish an abandoned hotel and transform the obscure Georgia setting into a tourist destination.
Sadie Lyles left Willow Falls a murderer who’d killed the town hero. She returns as a despised felon and seeks solace in the town’s café. Emily struggles to unite the close-knit community and becomes Sadie’s biggest advocate. She strives to uncover the truth about the crime and save her town from dying.
To appease her father, Rachel, a VP in his Atlanta real-estate-development firm, relegates her acting dream to secret performances for imaginary audiences. After meeting charming, flirtatious Charlie Bricker, manager for Willow Falls’ future vineyard, she vows to break free from her father’s control.
The tragedy and Willow Inn’s secret past launch Emily and Rachel on a collision course with destiny and truth.
PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Pat Nichols is proving it’s never too late to follow your dreams.
During the spring, summer, and early autumn of her life this side of heaven, she and her high-school-sweetheart husband struggled and triumphed through life’s peaks and valleys. They raised two children, welcomed four grandchildren—one is with the angels—bought a Corvette, and ticked off every item on their travel bucket list. Now approaching her winter years, she ignores the minor aches that come with age and is grateful she can still paint her own toenails and dance with her hubby.
Following twenty-five years in six different management positions with an international beauty company, Pat launched career number two as a novelist and freelance editor. She chose women’s fiction to honor her daughter’s strength in the face of significant health issues and the loss of a child. Her corporate experience, working with hundreds of amazing women from all walks of life, inspires her to create stories about women who confront challenges in the pursuit of their dreams.
Although she writes five days a week, she and Tim—her best friend and number one fan—continue to celebrate their fifty-plus-year marriage. They lead a small group, volunteer for church guest services, participate in two social organizations, and spend time with family and friends. She thanks God for the blessings that brought her joy and the challenges that continue to strengthen her faith, skills, and resolve.
Pat was born in Illinois, grew up in Orlando, and has called Georgia home since the eighties. She lives in an Atlanta suburb, is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Word Weavers, Christian Pen, and Gwinnett Church (a campus of Northpoint Ministries).
CONNECT WITH PAT NICHOLS: website | Facebook | Twitter
Review
If you remember, I spotlighted this book last fall (the end of October to be exact). I chose to do that because the synopsis intrigued me. You aren’t going to hook me by a pretty cover, I might look a second time but that’s not what draws me to a book. You are going to hook me with an engaging synopsis. Bonus points, and faster to the checkout with it, if there’s mystery and intrigue. Romance is just a sidebar, build me a story that I can engage in and romance is just a sidebar. I’m not a bodice ripper type reader. My local bestie? Her go to. I tried to pull her to the plot side, I really did. The synopsis of this book hits all the high notes. Small town (everybody literally knows everybody), big goals, bigger dreams, and something hiding in the backdrop. A secret, a mystery, intrigue. Take my money!
I feel like anything I want to share about how much I love this book will just give away vital plot points. I need you to be as taken as I was by this book, and to be surprised as I was (more than once!). Kudos to an author that can catch me off guard, especially multiple times in the same book. I tend to pride myself on figuring things out long before I’m meant to. Not this time. Pat Nichols pulled one over on me twice. Twice! Perhaps, because it has been a minute since I finished reading this book, but I have nothing of which to not gush about. Seriously, I have nothing of which to pick at. Well, let me backtrack that and really nitpick. . . in not a bad way. First, I can’t imagine how the people in Willow Falls had no idea that someone was looking at the property that would become the vineyard until it was put in the paper. I think, in a town this desperate to bring in revenue that would have been a thing. Secondly, Pepper is seriously a whirlwind! Just a smidge of a spoiler for ya here, why on earth would she choose to completely revamp the menu to a high end over the top deal for one night. I felt like they were so desperate that they were willing to set their country roots, their small town charm, to the curb just to attract money. Be who you are, m’kay?
For a town with a lot of history, a lot of heartache, they hold on to promise like a toddler with anything that they aren’t allowed to have. Perhaps that’s not the best analogy but I’m going to stick with it. They’ve overcome the shadow of murder, even with the accused out of prison and back in their midst. They’ve overcome the loss of Emily’s parents, their hope for the hotel that was going to be a huge step to saving their town. They’ve even overcome themselves, their bitterness and grudges. With a little help from Rachel, an outsider, they can overcome so much more. Rachel is the key to the vineyard and even the hotel getting back on track. Rachel, who is trying to shed the shackles of her overbearing father, the corporate world he wants to steep her in, and figure out what her own future holds – not the one he has for her. Honestly, ‘The Secret of Willow Inn’ is as much about secrets as it is redemption and of finding self. Everybody needs that now and then. A bit of redemption and a lot of finding self.
TOUR GIVEAWAY
One (1) winner will receive a $10 Amazon Gift Card from the author.
Enter via the Rafflecopter giveaway below. Giveaway will begin at midnight February 4, 2019 and lasts through 11:59pm February 11, 2019. Open Internationally. Void where prohibited by law. Winners will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or a new winner will be chosen.
Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.
Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!
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(Annie here) – I LOVE your review. It’s quite engaging. Thank you for being a part of JustRead and your participation in this tour. We appreciate you!
Annie, I’m delighted you enjoyed the review, I did too. The Secret of Willow Inn is book one in the Willow Falls series. There is a lot more to come in the lives of Emily, Rachel, and Sadie.
Stopping by to say cheers on th is tour, nice review, sounds like a good book.
Hi, I hope you have the opportunity to read The Secret of Willow Inn, book one in the Willow Falls series. There is much more to come in Emily, Rachel, and Sadie’s lives.
I live in a small town, and always enjoy stories based in one.
Small towns are such fun. I loved writing about Willow Falls and the characters.
Thanks for not giving away any spoilers! 🙂
I hope you have the opportunity to find out first hand what happens to Emily, Rachel and Sadie.