Review: Ladd Springs by Dianne Venetta

Ladd Springs by Dianne Venetta

Publisher: BloominThyme Press

Pages: 285

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon 

Goodreads:  Delaney Wilkins finds herself at odds with hotel developer Nick Harris over a deathbed promise and a mysterious find in the forest. Both are after title to Ladd Springs, a mecca of natural springs, streams and trails in the eastern Tennessee mountains, a tract of land worth millions. But Ernie Ladd, current owner of the property and uncle to Delaney, is adamantly opposed to them both.

Felicity Wilkins, Delaney’s daughter, deserves to inherit her family’s legacy, but neighbor Clem Sweeney is working against her, ingratiating himself with Ernie Ladd. Clem is also harboring a secret that will make him a very wealthy man—unless the others stop him before he can bring it to fruition.

Complicating matters is Annie Owens. Ex-girlfriend to Jeremiah Ladd, Ernie’s estranged son living in Atlanta, she declares her daughter Casey is Jeremiah’s, making Casey every bit as entitled to the property as Felicity—only Annie hasn’t proven this claim. Yet.

Kritters Thoughts:  A dispute over land and inheritance take center stage in this book as a family battles over long held grudges and issues as the eldest Ladd decides who should inherit his property.  I loved that a book with such heritage took place in the South and with a dispute over land.  With many extended family members, I had to diagram this family out, so I didn't miss all of the connections between them all.  

Although a slow start, once a few incidents occurred  this book picked up and kept at a barreling pace until the end.  At one point, there was no way I was going to walk away from this book because I had to get to the end.  The characters were fantastic, not overly described as to leave some of the imagination in the hands of the readers, I still felt like I had a sense of this family's history.  The land was the other big component and I just loved how the author described the landscape, it made me want to find this plot of land and vacation for a week to experience the springs and the forest.

With a cliff hanger ending, I am hoping that the author is planning on continuing this story and will eventually answer the open ended questions left hanging.  I would definitely be interested in reading the sequel to see where the characters and the land end up.

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2013 Challenge: 31 out of 50

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from Partner in Crime Tours.  I was not required to write a positive review in exchange for receipt of the book; rather, the opinions expressed in this review are my own.