Book Review ~ Finding Sanctuary

A couple of months ago, we dived in and bought an iPad, for various reasons. One of them was that, I wanted to be able to download e books from my public library.

As I started to peruse the different titles and authors, “Gathering Shadows” by Nancy Mehl caught my attention.

From the cover; 
Wynter Evans is a promising young reporter for a television station in St. Louis, but even a bright future doesn't take away her pain over the disappearance of her brother nine years ago. So when she stumbles across a photograph of a boy with an eerie resemblance to him, she can't pass up the chance to track him down. With research for work as her cover, she sets out with one of the station's photogs for the place where the picture was taken: the town of Sanctuary. Almost as soon as she arrives, she meets the town's handsome young mayor, Rueben King, and together they begin to uncover long held secrets that could tear the small town apart and change everything Wynter thought she knew about her life. As the truth of her family's past hides in the shadows, it's clear someone will stop at nothing to keep the answers she's searching for hidden forever--even if the cost is Wynter's very life. 

Gathering Shadows is built on such an interesting premise. Investigate reporter, missing brother, quiet “Mennonite” community. The story started out a little slow, but I liked how we learned a little bit here and there from Wynter, and eventually from her father about their family life. Every piece of information the author allows us to discover, slowly places the pieces of this puzzle together.

Naturally, there is light romance in the novel between our heroine and the honorary mayor of Sanctuary. However, their romance, although sweet, was not the driving force in the story for me. As I passed the halfway point in the book, the action and suspense in the story began to pick up and the romance begins to feel like a good fit.

I really enjoyed this story from start to finish. The author did a great job of creating a suspenseful story that kept me guessing over portions of the mystery until the very end. I definitely look forward to reading more books in the “Finding Sanctuary” series. 

How about you? Have you read any of Nancy Mehl's books?

This was the first time I've read this author and I really enjoyed the story. I love books with a mystery or a little suspense attached to them. Definitely a page turner from the first chapter. For once I didn't figure out “whodunit” until it was revealed. I had my ideas but, oh boy, was I wrong!

Take Care