Review: The Memory House by Linda Goodnight

The Memory House

by Linda Goodnight

Publisher: HQN Books

Pages: 384

Format: ebook

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  Memories of motherhood and marriage are fresh for Julia Presley--though tragedy took away both years ago. Finding comfort in the routine of running the Peach Orchard Inn, she lets the historic, mysterious place fill the voids of love and family. No more pleasure of a man's gentle kiss. No more joy in hearing a child call her Mommy. Life is calm, unchanging...until a stranger with a young boy and soul-deep secrets shows up in her Tennessee town and disrupts the loneliness of her world. 

Julia suspects there's more to Eli Donovan's past than his motherless son, Alex. There's a reason he's chasing redemption and bent on earning it with a new beginning in Honey Ridge. Offering the guarded man work renovating the inn, she glimpses someone who--like her--has a heart in need of restoration. But with the chance discovery of a dusty stack of love letters buried within the lining of an old trunk, the long-dead ghosts of a Civil War romance envelop Julia and Eli, connecting them to the inn's violent history and challenging them both to risk facing yesterday's darkness for a future bright with hope and healing.

Kritters Thoughts:  Set in a small town in Tennessee in the sweetest inn - the Peach Orchard Inn and the owner Julia is still trying to put her life back together after her son goes missing.  Her marriage dissolved after he went missing and she is trying to put all her effort into the inn.  An interesting character ends up on her doorstep and she takes a chance and it changes her life.

The above story is the main story, but there are some chapters interspersed that take this story to the next level.  It is a historical storyline taking place in the same inn during the Civil War and a time when the house became a hospital and the habitants must try to survive the upheaval and the war. 

I absolutely adored both stories in this book.  When there are two stories in one book, I tend to favor one over the other, but I thought both stories in this book were strong and could have lived on their own which I love.  Although at moments it was obvious that there were glaring similarities in the stories and what the characters may need to learn, I still enjoyed it.

I especially loved Julia, she was just such a fantastic character.  She was vulnerable in just the right places and strong at the right time, I could see Julia as a friend and I love when I feel that way about a character!

I knew when starting this book it was part of a series and as a rule follower, I started with this book, book #1, I will be reviewing book 2 and 3 over the next two days.  Come back to see if I liked them as much as this one!


Rating:  absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2017 Challenge: 23 out of 50