Synopsis (from Goodreads): A savage rape on hallowed ground. Secrets buried for decades by the town’s most influential family.
Now Ourania D’Andre will learn the Great Oak’s secrets as construction begins at the Fagan mansion. She can’t afford to turn down a job that promises to stir up the long-buried guilt—and the passion—she shares with powerful Troy Fagan.
She’s already juggling the most important job of her career with her new responsibilities as a foster mother for young Walt and Emma Korchek. And there’s a hard, older man on the construction crew with eyes void of emotion—cold and killing. The secrets of his brutal past will pose a grave threat to the children in her care. Will she find the courage to face him?
Now Ourania D’Andre will learn the Great Oak’s secrets as construction begins at the Fagan mansion. She can’t afford to turn down a job that promises to stir up the long-buried guilt—and the passion—she shares with powerful Troy Fagan.
She’s already juggling the most important job of her career with her new responsibilities as a foster mother for young Walt and Emma Korchek. And there’s a hard, older man on the construction crew with eyes void of emotion—cold and killing. The secrets of his brutal past will pose a grave threat to the children in her care. Will she find the courage to face him?
My Thoughts: This is the second book I have read by this author and I have to say, she has not disappointed me at all with either book! The author does an amazing job of making you connect with her characters that you feel like you know them on an intimate level.
Ourania is an electrician that has been contracted to help remodel a new wing in the Fagan mansion. Troy Fagan is against having Ourania do the job but his sister overrides him and hires her anyways. Troy does not want Ourania there because she stirs up memories of his brother, Jason, who was murdered years ago. It doesn't help that the new wind is where Jason's room was.
At the same time as Ourania gets this job, she also gets two children. Ourania has never been married and never had kids but when her mother, the head of CPS, asks her to foster Walt and Emma, she relents. Walt and Emma have been abused by their father and Ourania knows what they are going through. She was also abused as a child. They start to get into a routine and be happy. If only they could rid themselves of the children's father, all would be good.
While working in the mansion one day, Ourania finds a box in Jason's old room. In the box are letters that could change everything. Now Ourania must decide what to do with these letters.
This book was an incredible read! It was full of mystery and suspense and love and family. I enjoyed reading about adoption and multi-racial families as my own family is embarking on this same journey. I enjoyed the relationship between Ourania and Emma and Walt and between Ourania and Troy. The characters were so life-like and you can't help but fall in love with each and every one of them.
This book was wonderful and certainly did not disappoint! I can't wait to read what Christine Nolfi has in store for us next!
A thousand thanks for the lovely review!
ReplyDeleteIt was worth every word! I loved reading it :)
DeleteLovely review! Christine is absolutely becoming one of my favorite contemporary writers. She has such a knack for pulling you in and immersing you in the stories and characters! So excited for the next in her Liberty series!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Casee Marie! Without dedicated reviewers like you and Book Loving Mommy, this last year would not have been so successful. Treasure Me was mentioned by USA Today as among the best of the Indies, listed in Midwest Book Review as "highly recommended" and recently became a finalist in the 2012 Indie Book Awards. Now I must do the same for TREE--enter contests and work on finding review in print media. A lot of work made all the more easier by the encouragement of reviewers like you!
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