Tag Archives: Walnut Creek

The Loyal One by Shelley Shepard Gray – a Review

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The Loyal One by Shelley Shepard Gray – a Review

 

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Description:
When Katie Steury hires her old friend Harley Lambright to remodel her rundown old house into a charming bed and breakfast, she does so with trepidation. Though they are longtime friends, they’ve always had a rocky relationship, thanks to her being partly responsible for his most recent breakup. But while they may not always get along, she needs someone to trust with her secrets, and Harley is nothing if not trustworthy and loyal.

Katie has always reminded Harley of a bright hummingbird—she is small and flighty, moves a mile a minute, and she possesses a very sharp beak. He’s hesitant to accept the job because of his history with Katie. But when he realizes that Katie’s been hiding her mother’s hoarding, he agrees to help her because it’s clear she needs someone on her side.

Both soon discover that clearing the debris in one old house also means they have to do some clean-up in their lives, forcing them to reevaluate their past and their future. This somewhat painful process reveals that Katie isn’t the only one with secrets. As the house gets a second chance, so, too, does their relationship. Now all they have to do is open their hearts—and hope and pray that their new bond will also stand the test of time.

 

 

Review:

The Loyal One by Shelley Shepard Gray is the 2nd book in her Walnut Creek series. The Loyal One returns to Walnut Creek and the group of 8 friends that we got to know in the first book, who all have decided to stay in town and be there for each other.  This is a mixed group of men and women, who are Amish, Mennonite and English.

This story revolves around Harley Lambright and Katie Steury, who have always been friends, but neither of them thought of any thing beyond.  Katie is in the midst of trying to fix up her run-down house, and hires Harley to remodel the house into a bed and breakfast.  Katie has always been outspoken, and at times this used to rattle Harley, but now he is sympathetic to her concern for anyone to see the condition of the house where her mother hoarded things.  Katie does not want her friends to see how she lives now, and is trusting Harley to keep her secrets.  But this is a group of friends that stay together no matter what, and when they accidently see the house, they will bond together to help Katie, especially to allow them to help her and not be embarrassed.

Slowly the relationship between Katie and Harley grow beyond friendship, as both change their ways and begin to understand each other, not to mention their new feelings.  The Loyal One is a sweet story about romance, friendship, family and bringing everyone together.  It was really nice to see everyone again, but most importantly it was wonderful to see despite their different backgrounds and personalities, they will always be friends and help each other.  There was also a side story showing the friendship building between Harley’s brother Kyle and Gabby, who is English.  This was a nice feature to see Kyle bring out Gabby and her brother to spend time with his family.   Very nicely done.

The Loyal One was a simple story of friendship, family, love and a sweet slow built romance, with a great group of secondary characters. I look forward to the next book in this series, which is well written by Shelley Shepard Gray.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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The Patient One by Shelley Shepard Gray – a Review

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The Patient One by Shelley Shepard Gray – a Review

 

Amazon / B&N / Kobo / iTunes / Google Play / BAM / Book Depository

 

Description:
When word had gotten out that Andy Warner had committed suicide, everyone in Walnut Creek, Ohio, had been shocked. For seven men and women in their twenties, some Amish, some Mennonite, and some English, each of whom had once counted his or herself as one of Andy’s best friends, it had been extremely painful.

And, maybe, a source of guilt.

Years have passed since they’d all been together last. Some of them got into trouble. A couple got into arguments. Eventually they all drifted apart. But even though none of them really saw each other anymore, there was a steadfast certainty that they’d always have each other’s backs—even when no one else did. Their bond was that strong…until Andy did the unthinkable.

Now the seven remaining friends, still reeling from Andy’s death, have vowed to look after each other again. As far as they’re concerned, it doesn’t matter that they’re now in their twenties and have drifted far apart. They need to connect again…for Andy.

 

 

 

Review:

The Patient One by Shelley Shepard Gray is the 1st book in her new Walnut Creek series. The Patient One was a nice story revolving around a group of friends who come together after the tragic suicide of one of their group.  However, the group went their own way for a number of years, hardly seeing each other, and now with the suicide, they each feel the guilt that they should have been around for their deceased friend.  Those who left Walnut Creek return and they are determined to unify their close friendship and help one another.  The mixed group of 7 men and women, are  Amish,  Mennonite, and English, but that never bothered them, as they all remain good friends.

The 7 friends each deal with their grief, but this story centers around John (Amish) and Marie (English) as they rekindle the attraction they had for each other.  John deals with his desire to become more English, and leave the Amish life.  He lets his family know, and they accept his desire, knowing that he will remain close to them, as they knew this was his desire  long ago.    Marie having moved back to Walnut Creek, learns later about John‘s decision and is very happy.  Together they will work on their future, as well as learn how to deal with the grief of losing their friend.   The other 5 members are close to John and Marie, and they all help support one another.

There was also a side story showing the friendship building between John’s 16 year old sister, Molly who due to an accident is confined to a wheel chair, and Danny, a local 17 year old boy.  Danny befriends Molly, who works part time at the library, and despite John’s negative reaction, their friendship grows.  This was a nice feature to see Danny bring out Molly to go out and enjoy her friends.  There was also another accident with some students which also bring about handling the loss of life.

The Patient One was a story of friendship, bonding, guilt, grief, love and struggling to deal with the emotions of tragedy.  I this was a nice simple story of life, and well written by Shelley Shepard Gray.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher

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