story overall, suspenseful towards the end, with interesting ties between the characters revealed later on, Some may like the inclusion of the Underground Railroad history thread and family links,.This was a solid, a good clean mystery with a Christian perspective, The story starts a little slow but then picks up steam about halfway in, I think the author's recent books are more beautifully written than this one, but this is still enjoyable, Refuge on Crescent Hill by Melanie Dobson is a story of family secrets and one womans journey home, Camden Bristow was a photographer who traveled the world taking photos of amazing sights and documenting tragic events, Until one day when the calls for her work stopped, Left destitute, her only option is return to her grandmothers home on Crescent Hill, As she heads there, she has no idea what awaits her or what secrets will be revealed once she gets there Alex Yates is the charge of the economic development for the same town of Etherton but every one of his ideas has been shot down by the city council and he is desperate for the next idea.
Alex is running from his own past and a secret hes desperate to keep hidden, Stephanie EllisonCarter is a student writing a research paper about the Ellison family, She learns that her family had some jewels stolen and the theft
could be linked to the disappearance of one of the Ellisons slaves.
As their journeys began to merge, their own personal secrets will be revealed, Will Camden finally find a home Is there someone who is trying to sabotage Alexs attempts to boost the town How are Camden, Alex and Stephanie linked to the Crescent Hill
I thoroughly enjoyed Refuge on Crescent Hill.
Having read Ms. Dobsons books before, I was eager to dive into this one and it did not disappoint, From the opening page to the closing epilogue, the story is driven family secrets, evil plots and twists and turns of a great mystery.
I enjoyed all the characters, even the villains fit well especially the ones you wouldnt suspect, When the connection between the three characters are revealed, it is an emotional moment for the characters as well for the reader, It reminds you that we might be strangers but our family pasts may be connection through an amazing story of strength, courage and bravery.
Even though I wanted to strangle Camden at times for being an idiot, I cheered for her by the end, I highly recommend Refuge on Crescent Hill,
Refuge on Crescent Hill
is available in paperback and eBook
This was a good book, It had a lot of suspense, There are a lot of characters to keep track of but I liked how it all tied together at the end,
I really enjoyed this storyline, It flowed well after the/way point, a bit slow in the beginning as it is setting up the characters and setting, There arepoints of view so that gets confusing at first,
The characters are well thought out and have distinct traits,
I think it is more of a mystery than a suspense though there are a few suspenseful times,
It is clean: romance and language thank you very much
The Christian element was there but not overbearing,
A satisfying ending. though there was one point in the end that I did not feel was explained and jumped there
There are several typos, formatting issues and grammatical errors that had me double checking.
Overall a worthwhile read,
I really enjoyed this book, there is history, characters that you really start caring about as well as a mystery that keeps the pages turning.
The ending was a bit to quick and rushed but still a good book, A captivating story of a mansion in a small town in Ohio with a history dating back to the Civil War, Our heroine seeks peace and a place of refuge so she sets out to find her grandmother, the only person who has shown her genuine affection.
Unfortunately, she is no longer alive and so now Camden has to decide to stay and make a new life for herself or return to New York City.
Many plots interweave as the story goes on, The past seems to enter into the future, Her grandmother was a loving person who carried out her generosity in marvelous ways, Camden feels compelled to continue her work,
A very enjoyable read, I won this through the goodreads first reads giveaway program, Moving home after a recent job loss was supposed to reassure Camden Bristow and give her time to decide what to do next, But when she arrives in Etherton, Ohio, she discovers that her grandmother, who she hasn't talked to in years, has passed away and "home" is an empty mansionyears old.
Not exactly the comfort Camden was looking for, What happened to the house she played in as a child, the bedtime stories that told of secret passageways and runaway slaves, and all those family memories When antiques start disappearing and footsteps are heard, some of those memories start to creep back and Camden wonders if her grandmother's bedtime stories might actually be true.
What really happened here at Crescent Hill How was her grandmother involved Who still has access to the house And for what purpose As she works to uncover the past and present mysteries harbored in her home, Camden also uncovers secrets about her family that could change the townand her lifeforever.
This was a quaint story for light reading, It was a little slow early on, but interesting enough to keep me turning the pages to finish indays, The novel was fairly realistic and believable except maybe for the death at the end of the book, that seemed a bit out of character, and stupid when you're about to get caught.
The Christian parts did not bother me at all, most of us have seen people live their faith and shouldn't be surprised when we read about it.
Even if you haven't believed yet, the parts relating to the Christian faith make up such a small part of the book, you'll still enjoy the story.
I won this book through First Reads, I found this a light and refreshing read, although I didn't ever get emotionally involved with the story, I was interested enough to keep reading until the end, wondering what would happen, but the conclusion was rather anticlimactic and the characters were far from dynamic.
Still, I can see why people would enjoy this book, It's solidly written. I got this either for free or for really cheap through Amazon, It was a good story and worth reading but I wouldn't recommend someone go out of their way to get ahold of this book.
Camden Bristow has lost her job, is out of money, and decides that going home to her grandmother whom she has seen in a couple of years is her best solution.
Only when she arrives in small town, Etherton, she finds her grandmother has died and no one informed her, The mansion is falling apart that has been in the Bristow family for overyears, and it is now belongs to Camden, Will long ago secrets bring this family home to destruction or development with Alex Yates, a town councilmen, along to help
Dobson has created a wonderful plot that combines history and suspense into one lovely package.
This is a character driven mystery that revolves around an historic mansion, what will be done with it, and the young, new owner who is at a crossroads in her own life.
Filled with a handsome hero, Alex Yates, and a couple of villains, Edward and Jake Paxton, who were also long time original family, the characters were well developed.
The only reason I didn't give it awas that the thread with Stephanie felt awkwardly placed a couple of times and didn't appear to be woven in well.
But still an enjoyable read,
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley, Opinions are mine alone. I was not compensated for this review, I was a bit disappointed in the end of this, We had a decent little mystery/drama through the book, with the play at romance between the two main characters, That romance wasnt really fully developed and then suddenly at the end, . . theyre engaged ehh not believable. Entertaining and fun read, but I had some issues, This novel really held promise as an interesting mystery tying together two different plotlines, In the main plot line, Camden is a worldtraveling photographer who has lost everything but her car and one camera b/c of the bankruptcy of her last employer.
Her only hope is her grandmother back in Ohio at the family mansion, Crescent Hill, In the secondary plot line, Stephanie is writing a research paper based on her family's mystery of the missing plantationera jewelry: did a runaway slave abscond w/ them What ever happened to him
Camden goes to Ohio and finds out that she barely missed her grandmother's funeral that her grandmother left Crescent Hill to her and that Camden's estranged halfsister wants the mansion.
Who knows why as it is crumbling down, and is supposedly haunted, Alex Yates works for the city and has to bring new income into the town or lose his job, He thinks buying Crescent Hill and turning the land into an economic driver would be great for the town, maybe something to do w/ its history as a stop on the Underground Railroad He didn't count on actually liking Camden.
And then there's nogood Jake Paxton and his conniving grandfather, ALSO wanting Crescent Hill, . . b/c of the legend of the hidden treasure in the house,
This all sounds great, doesn't it And parts of it work really well, Someone is making Camden think she's crazy, and the leadup to the climax is VERY gripping I honestly couldn't stop reading, BUT, the tying together of the two story lines, and the resolution of the novel are both so anticlimactic as to leave the reader feeling really flat.
There is also the possible budding romance between Alex and Camden, which simply takes too long to develop, And Jake is SUCH a bad guy that he is merely a stereotype, not sympathetic in the least, But what really dropped my rating on this book was the overtly evangelical Christian message that I wasn't expecting, All the typical evangelical tropes are there: girl has fallen away from the God of her grandmother, but turns to Him in an hour of need man is hoping God will help him heal over the loss of family members and really annoyingly after last week's SCOTUS ruling: abortion is murder, and no selfrespecting woman would do it, not even an abused teenager.
Deep, DEEP sigh. This drops the book into the highstar to lowstar range, but b/c of the great leadup to the disappointing climax, I'll give it.
stars, rounded down to. Camden lost her job from a bankruptcy, so went back to Crescent Hill in hopes to stay with her grandmother Rosalie but to find out she died days before.
A suspenseful book Synopsis amp with Spoilers,: Camden Bristow is a freelance photographer, She uses her photography to highlight people in compelling situations around the world, This type of life allowed her to avoid putting down roots or connections to people or places, Her family is broken and connections with each other all but severed, except for her memories of her Grandmother Rosealie, A few times during her childhood, she was able to experience love and connection to her Etherton, Ohio Grandmother, to her town, her faith, and her home.
Camden wrote the occasional letter to her Grandmother, but she had not seen her in person for years,
But suddenly Camdens life implodes the bills for her recent photo junket to Asia are not paid by Grant Haussen, the businessman that hired her, in fact, his business was closed, their doors chained, and even Grant had to look for other work.
Her credit card has reached its limit and her apartment rent is past due, She is slated for eviction, With no options left, she puts her meager possessions into her car and heads for the mansion on Crescent Hill and her Grandmother,
She arrives at Crescent Hill, but cannot find her Grandmother, but is able to connect to her old friend Jenny and Jennys husband Dan.
She finds out that her Grandmother just died the week before after a battle with cancer, Dan, the attorney for her Grandmother meets with her and lets her know she is now the owner of Crescent Hill, Before she falls asleep that night in her old bedroom in the mansion, she reads her Grandmothers letter, Her grandmother writes that her prayer for Camden is that she would embrace the future and the purpose that God planted in Camdens heart.
Grandma Rosealie said she recognized that Camden loved people even as a child and that love is seen current in how she photographs people.
She tells Camden to love, serve, protect, fight for people and then give them to God LOC, This proves to be somewhat prophetic, Grandma Rosealies verbal trust to Camden ties the story together, It swings the book into the mystery of Crescent Hill, the mystery of Etherton, the mystery of the strange lights, noises, amp happenings on the third floor of the mansion, the mystery of the jewels, and how it all connects to the Underground Railroad and the purpose that her Grandmother Rosealie entrusts to Camden.
We met Alex Yates, a man who wants to do the best for the city in the job he was hired to do.
We meet nefarious characters, such as Edward, Jake, and Lisa who are part of Camdens extended family, We meet Louise Danner who is the mayor of Etherton, but seems to be somewhat unfocused concerning what is good for Etherton, We meet a university student researcher, Stephanie Ellison, who is doing a paper on the missing Ellison jewels, She traces some leads to the underground railroad and Crescent Hill, Past and present meet in this story, good and evil, as well as altruistic motives versus selfish, materialist motives, It is a good story, with themes of forgiveness, I would read more from this author,
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Melanie Dobson