The Cottonwoods
Women’s Fiction/Romance
Camel/Coffeetown/Epicenter Press
Pages 238

Synopsis

When Amber Bradshaw was twelve, her dying mother made her promise that someday she would find the family treasure brought to the U.S. by her great grandparents during WWI. She’s been left the farmhouse they built but the farm on which it stands is to be sold. If Amber is ever to find the treasure, it has to be soon. She locates her great Grandmother Ina’s journal which speaks of shimmering golden coins, but also tells of her bitterness with her husband who stole her dowry and ripped her from her homeland. It’s an all-too-familiar concept to Amber who struggles with her own resentment about having to become a “mother” to her little sister, Claire, after her mother died. With two men interested in her, a heavy decision to make about Claire’s baby, and an agro-company trying to buy the farm, Amber has big decisions to make. Will she choose the right man? Will she keep Claire’s baby? Will she find the treasure? It’s a landscape strewn with snares and Amber is determined not to put a foot wrong.

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Review

I have read several really good books lately and I am happy to say that this is one of those books. It combines history with the present, family dynamics, a mystery, and one woman’s search for her true path.

Amber has made the journey to Apple Falls, Wisconsin, to get the family home in order so that it can be sold. She is from Chicago and has a life there, but what she doesn’t expect is to fall in love with this town and the home. I chuckled at her interactions with the contractor because he insisted on making the home true to the original time period. This included a stove that was heated by fire and not electricity. Despite wanting to modernize the farmhouse, Amber seemed to continually lose out to the contractor. This isn’t a bad thing because his ideas were always so much better.

One of my favorite characters was Great Aunt Irene. Despite being near the end of her days (at a mere 99), she was a spitfire and definitely put Amber through the wringer. She wanted Amber to find her mother’s journal but didn’t know where it was located in the house. That was part of the mystery, the journal and several other artifacts mentioned by Irene. Irene was a take-charge kind of woman in her day and she had quite the story to share with Amber about how she ran a dairy and her one true love.

This book wouldn’t be complete without the family drama when it came to Amber’s sister, Claire. Amber has regrets from her youth that have held her back but a tragedy pushes Amber on a road of forgiveness and rethinking her life and what she thought she knew to be true.

There is a love story/romance brewing. There is something about the neighbor, Hunter, that draws Amber to him. However, another man, Marc, stepped in first but is he who Amber should be with long-term? Are Marc’s motives pure or is there a hole he is trying to fill?

I did mention a mystery – part of it is finding the missing journal/diary. There are rumors about an icon and gold coins, but are they true? It is a trail that Amber follows and at some points almost too late. I loved the adventure and the clues that she found that had to be followed to the truth and the treasure.

The pace of this book is non-stop and it kept me engrossed until the very end. I had a hard time putting the book down and wouldn’t have objected to a few more chapters.

Make sure to read the author’s notes….this is based on actual people and events!

We give this book 5 paws up.

About the Author

Lynda J. Farquhar (penname Lyn Farrell) holds a master’s degree in English and a Ph.D. in Higher Education/Administration from Michigan State University. Prior to her retirement from MSU, she was a professor in the College of Human Medicine where she worked for 30+ years. When she retired, she returned to her first love, writing, and self-published a YA Trilogy, “Tales of the Skygrass Kingdom.” Subsequently, she and her daughter, Lisa Fitzsimmons, wrote a 7-book mystery series, “The Mae December Mysteries,” published by Camel Press under their joint penname, Lia Farrell. Marketing efforts for the Mae December mysteries, as well as much work by Camel on subsidiary rights, deal with Harlequin, have resulted in sales of 22,000+ (to date) for the series. She is now writing a new mystery series, “Rosedale Investigations.” The first is titled, “The Blind Switch” and was released in January 2021.

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