Summary: Sunny never expected to find herself owning a centuries old silk mill in the shadow of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains or becoming a half-sister to a ten-year-old named Bailey. Once the shock subsides, she plans to cash in and head back home. But the overgrown greenhouse she finds on the property calls out to the gardener in her, and she senses Bailey's need for nurturing too. And someone else is making it hard for Sunny to leave: Sawyer Hartwell, an Iraq War hero who wants to make the old mill a creative hub for the artisans of Blue Hollow Falls and wants Sunny to share his vision, and his life sexy as this ex-soldier may be, she's not sure she's ready to give love a chance.
From her free-spirited mother, Sunny Goodwin learned the value of peace, love, and Jerry Garcia. The inheritance from the father she never knew? That's a little more complicated...
Sunny never expected to find herself owning a centuries old silk mill in the shadow of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains . . . or becoming a half-sister to a ten-year-old named Bailey. Once the shock subsides, she plans to cash in and head back home. But the overgrown greenhouse she finds on the property calls out to the gardener in her, and she senses Bailey's need for nurturing too...
And someone else is making it hard for Sunny to leave: Sawyer Hartwell, an Iraq War hero who wants to make the old mill a creative hub for the artisans of Blue Hollow Falls . . . and wants Sunny to share his vision, and his life. But sexy as this ex-soldier may be, she's not sure she's ready to give love a chance...
"We all know where there's Donna Kauffman, there's a rollicking, sexy read chock‑full of charm and sparkle. Kauffman's characters are adorably human and so very magnetic." --USAToday.com
Includes excerpt from the author's forthcoming book: Bluestone & Vine (pages [333]-345).
Sunny never expected to find herself owning a centuries old silk mill in the shadow of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains or becoming a half-sister to a ten-year-old named Bailey. Once the shock subsides, she plans to cash in and head back home. But the overgrown greenhouse she finds on the property calls out to the gardener in her, and she senses Bailey's need for nurturing too. And someone else is making it hard for Sunny to leave: Sawyer Hartwell, an Iraq War hero who wants to make the old mill a creative hub for the artisans of Blue Hollow Falls and wants Sunny to share his vision, and his life sexy as this ex-soldier may be, she's not sure she's ready to give love a chance.
After her free-spirited mother's death, Sunny (Sunshine Meadow Aquarius Morrison Goodwin) discovers that she has inherited a run-down mill in the Blue Ridge Mountains and a ready-made family: Bailey, her 10-year-old half-sister, and Addie Pearl, the ex-wife of the father Sunny never knew. Then there's Sawyer Hartwell, a hot Iraq War hero who is trying to turn the mill into a haven for local artisans. Sunny's career with the U.S. Botanic Gardens researching rare orchids means that her life is firmly (we can't resist) planted in Washington, D.C., but her attraction to Sawyer, her need to be there for Bailey, and the allure of the beautiful if neglected mill greenhouse keep drawing her back. Kauffman launches her Blue Hollow Falls series with an endearing tale.--Quillen, C. L. Copyright 2017 Booklist
Kirkus Book Review
In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, a war vet and a horticulturist share the inheritance of an old mill.When Sunny Goodwin receives word of an inheritance in the mountains of Virginia from a father she never knew, she doesn't expect to gain a family. But the additions of a precocious, all-seeing 10-year-old half sister, a force-of-nature stepmother, and a handsome young manwho might be her brother from an extramarital relationship of her father'sto her recently solitary existence lead to gains of all kinds. The first is the inheritance of property on which sits an old silk mill, which her maybe-brother, Sawyer Hartwell, is restoring. As a horticulturist for the U.S. Botanic Garden, Sunny has no need for the mill or what the family has planned for it, but she does fall in love with another part of the property: a greenhouse, beautiful but sadly run-down and consumed by the nature around it. As Sunny's relationships with the family, including her finally-revealed-to-be not-brother Sawyer in particular, grow, the pair struggles to reconcile their personal goals with their strong desire for each other. Kauffman (Starfish Moon, 2016, etc.) is masterful at scene painting, which draws the reader into the idyllic setting of Blue Hollow Falls and its surrounding ridges, but her storytelling is lacking. Even had the fact that the love interests are not, in fact, siblings, been verified far sooner than it is, the pacing and conversations are off just enough to be noticeable. The overall story, however, is compelling and cute once readers aren't worried about incest, and this is the start of a promising series. A nice story that, while a bit plodding, is fresh in ideas and scenery. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Author notes provided by Syndetics
Donna Kauffman is the USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of over 70 novels, translated and sold in more than 26 countries around the world. She is the recipient of multiple RT Book Awards, a RITA® finalist, a National Readers' Choice Award-winner, and a PRISM Award-winner. Born into the maelstrom of Washington, D.C.'s politics, she now lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia surrounded by a completely different kind of wildlife. A contributing blogger for USAToday.com, she is also a DIYer, a baker, a gardener, and a volunteer transporter for the Wildlife Center of Virginia and Rockfish Sanctuary. Please visit her online at www.DonnaKauffman.com.
TextPublisher: New York, NY : Zebra Books, Kensington Publishing Corp., [2017]Copyright date: ©2017Description: 345 pages ; 18 cmContent type: 
Book