Reading, Writing & Pondering

Tucker is on the run from some family secrets--and to a ski destination to think about skiing and finding a historic ski slope called Hidden Run that hasn't been a working ski run in many years. Can Tucker find the long-ago used ski slope and ski it while he is staying Canyon Mines? Can he forget his family history for a few days so he doesn't have to think about the last words of his grandfather who recently passed away? In The Cradle Lies by Olivia Newport tells both Tucker's story and his grandfather's history through a dual timeline. I did enjoy The Inn at Hidden Run , the first book in the Tree of Life series. However, I think In the Cradle Lies was even better than the first one. This story kept me turning pages to find out more of Tucker's background and to find out what happened to Tucker to cause him to be such a reckless spender and skier. Not only that but there was one surprise that I wouldn't have seen coming except it was alluded to on the b...

Meri has run away from her stressful life and all of her family's pressure to become a doctor. She ends up at the Inn and Hidden Run Bed and Breakfast where she meets Jillian the genealogist and her father, Nolan, the mediation lawyer. As they become friends, Jillian and Nolan try to help Meri face her family struggles in The Inn at Hidden Run by Olivia Newport. Jillian helps the family reconsider their traditions as they look at today's challenges through a view at the past. We follow a dual timeline to get a feel for the people who influenced Meri's family many years ago and take a look at Meri's family struggles today. I enjoyed The Inn at Hidden Run as a whole. The characters were interesting small town people. I didn't like them all to start with but the two that I struggled to like grew on me a bit more by the end of the book. Since this is the first book in a four book series, it will be interesting to see how the characters grow and develop throughout ...