ARC AUDIO REVIEW: A Place to Land by Lauren K Denton

Publication Date: October 4, 2022 Format: Audio Genre:  Rural Fiction/tame romance Narrators: Brittany Pressley

Publisher: Harper Muse Length: 8 hours 57 min Buy: Kindle | Audio

Synopsis

A hidden past isn’t past at all.

Violet Figg and her sister Trudy have lived a quiet life in Sugar Bend, Alabama, since a night forty years ago that stole Trudy’s voice and cemented Violet’s role as her sister’s fierce and loyal protector. Now Trudy spends her days making sculptures from found objects and speaking through notes written on scraps of paper, while Violet runs their art shop, monitors bird activity up and down the water, and tries not to think of the one great love she gave up to keep her sister safe.

Eighteen-year-old Maya knows where everyone else belongs, but she’s been searching for her own place since her grandmother died seven years ago. Moving in and out of strangers’ houses has left her exhausted. After seeing a flyer on a gas station window for a place called Sugar Bend, Maya chooses to follow the strange pull she feels and finds herself on the doorstep of an art shop called Two Sisters.

When a boat rises to the surface of Little River in the middle of the night, the present and no-longer-buried past collide, and the future becomes uncertain for Maya, Violet, and Trudy. As history creeps continuously closer to the present and old secrets come to light, the sisters must decide to face the truth of what happened that night forty years ago, or risk losing each other and those they’ve come to love.

Review: 

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley.com. I am leaving this review voluntarily. 

Violet and her sister Trudy live in Sugar Bend where they run an art store and hide a secret that has both sisters trapped.  One fateful night Violet lost the love of her life and Trudy lost her voice.  Now they make do bird watching and creating sculptures from bits of found objects, shells, fishing line, driftwood etc. 

Maya has aged out of foster care and while trying to discover what is next for her she stumbles upon Sugar Bend and is drawn to it and to the sisters shop.  There she forms a bond with the mute Trudy who takes her under her wing and shows her how to create the sculptures she makes. 

When a boat rises out of the river it brings with it secrets long held that could ruin both sisters.  

This story weaves the past and the present into a sad but believable story.  Ultimately the truth must come out but what will the consequences be? There is a lot here about being true to yourself, realizing that the truth really does set you free and sometimes you need to use your voice to save yourself from yourself. 

Nicely written, clean romance intertwined throughout the book.  Not my usual read but it was a nice distraction. The narrator is easy to listen to and keeps the story moving. 

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