Review: Beyond the Garden by Ashley Farley

Beyond the Garden

by Ashley Farley

Publisher: Kindle Press

Pages: 236

Format: eARC

Buy the Book: Amazon

Goodreads:  All is right in Ellie Pringle Hagood’s world. Recently married to the man of her dreams and in anticipation of the big family she’s always wanted, she focuses on restoring the large home she inherited from her grandmother on Charleston’s prestigious Battery. Abbott, the father she adores, lives just down the street from her. She treasures her beloved housekeeper, Maddie, who offers wise counsel and loving support, and is the closest thing to a mother she’s ever known. Two days a week, she volunteers for an art program she piloted at an elementary school. But then, in the midst of all her happiness, comes news that throws Ellie’s life into a tailspin. Her brother-in-law has been murdered in Key West, and her sister, Lia, is wanted for questioning in the investigation. No one in Ellie’s family has seen or heard from Lia in the seven months since she disappeared and left her twin three-year-old daughters in Ellie and Julian’s care. The newlyweds, with several questions nagging at them, fly off to Key West in search of the missing sister. Where is Lia? How is she connected to her husband’s murder? What will become of her twin daughters? The two are only at the beginning of their quest for answers and solutions, and the path they take turns out to be far more torturous and complicated than expected.


Kritters Thoughts:  Ellie Pringle is back and if you haven't read book one, I would hesitate reading further as I am going to completely spoil some of the plot of book one in my review of book two!

Ok, you have been warned.

Ellie Pringle is back and married and housing her long lost sister's twin daughters.  In the beginning of this book her life is in a pretty good spot, but of course in a fiction book, life can't stay all sunshine and rainbows for long!  Quite a few things go wrong and there are a few storylines going on at the same time in this book, they are very different storylines so easy to keep them straight, but this book had quite a bit jammed into few pages.  

The storyline that I loved the most was watching Ellie piece together a new kind of family.  With the help that is hired in her home, to the girls that she "collects" she is able to create a new family that works just right for her and her husband.  I loved that it was so far from conventional but seemed just so right for her.  

After finishing this book, I was ready for another book with Ellie and the antics that are her life.  I hope there is more after this one, maybe a time jump that centers around Lia's twins and maybe the good and evil twin storyline can be repeated in an interesting way . .

Rating: absolutely loved it and want a sequel

Ebook 2019 Challenge: 11 out of 100


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