Review: The Widows of Braxton County by Jess McConkey

The Widows of Braxton County

by Jess McConkey

Publisher: William Morrow

Pages: 384 

Format: eARC 

Buy the Book: Amazon  

Goodreads:  Family secrets can bind and destroy

Kate is ready to put her nomadic, city-dwelling past behind her when she marries Joe Krause and moves with him to the Iowa farm that has been in his family for more than 140 years. But life on the farm isn't quite as idyllic as she'd hoped. It's filled with chores, judgmental neighbors, and her mother-in-law, who—unbeknownst to Kate until after the wedding—will be living with them.

As Kate struggles to find her place in the small farming community, she begins to realize that her husband and his family are not who she thought they were. According to town gossip, the Krause family harbors a long-kept secret about a mysterious death that haunts Kate as a dangerous, unexplainable chain of events begins.


Kritters Thoughts:  A long and winding book about feuding families who are surrounded by secrets from the past that still live on in the present and this new outsider comes in and shakes things up.  Poor Kate meets a man online and moves to the middle of nowhere into his family's farm and is thrust into the small town life where there are always eyes watching you and willing to report your going ons to everyone.  I was immediately drawn to her and wanted to know how she would react in the situations that she was put through.

There were definitely some twists and turns and a few I predicted, but I wasn't disappointed when I guessed it right because it was still in the details.  The tid bits from the past that told of Hannah's story and the beginnings of the feuding were sparse and I kind of wished that there was more, but only because I loved how it unraveled.  The way Hannah's story connected to Kate was seamless and it showed how much has changed in the freedoms that women know have and as cheesy as it may seem, it made me so thankful in the freedoms that I have as a woman in our current times.

Although it could be qualified as historical fiction, I would recommend this to readers who don't tend to read the genre because the historical parts were few and far between and completely added to the present day story.

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2013 Challenge: 50 out of 50

Disclosure of Material Connection:  I received one copy of this book free of charge from TLC Book 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.