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The Secrets of Paper and Ink by Lindsay Harrel Review

Good Morning Bookish Friends :)


I hope your week is off to a great start, and I want to thank you all for joining me today here on The Preppy Book Princess.

In 2018, I had the opportunity to advance read Lindsay Harrel's The Heart Between Us, and I loved it. I thought it was such a poignant story about healing, learning to truly rely on God's never ending mercy, and mending relationships that once seemed incapable of being mended. You can read that review here

When the opportunity arose for me to get to read Lindsay's upcoming 2019 release, I was pretty excited to put it mildly. However, I wasn't sure if she could possibly top her 2018 release, but I was looking forward to finding out.

Today I'm here to share with you all what I thought after I finished The Secrets of Paper and Ink.


The Secrets of Paper and Ink by Lindsay Harrel:



Source: Publisher Via NetGalley

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: February 26th, 2019

Genre: Christian Fiction/Women's Fiction

Synopsis:

Lindsay Harrel presents a powerful story of healing, forgiveness, and finding the courage to write your own story.

A year after the death of her abusive fiancé, domestic violence counselor Sophia Barrett finds returning to work too painful. She escapes to Cornwall, England--a place she's learned to love through the words of her favorite author--and finds a place to stay with the requirement that she help out in the bookstore underneath the room she's renting. Given her love of all things literary, it seems like the perfect place to find peace.

Ginny Rose is an American living in Cornwall, sure that if she saves the bookstore she co-owns with her husband then she can save her marriage as well. Fighting to keep the first place she feels like she belongs, she brainstorms with her brother-in-law, William, and Sophia to try to keep the charming bookstore afloat.

Two hundred years before, governess Emily Fairfax knew two things for certain: she wanted to be a published author, and she was in love with her childhood best friend. But he was a wealthy heir and well out of her league. Sophia discovers Emily's journals, and she and William embark on a mission to find out more about this mysterious and determined woman, all the while getting closer to each other as they get closer to the truth.

The lives of the three women intertwine as each learns the power she has over the story of her life.


(synopsis from goodreads)


My Review:

The Secrets of Paper and Ink is a beautifully written story about three incredible women on a journey of healing, forgiveness, faith and discovery. Lindsay Harrel has an amazing talent for writing characters that truly come to life on the page, and right from the beginning, this charming story will draw readers into the heart warming journey radiating throughout.

The story focuses around two women in the present time, Sophia and Ginny, and the story of a woman unfolding in the past named Emily. Sophia is a woman's therapist, but trials she recently went through as the victim of domestic abuse have made her unsure of her place anymore, and she decides a change of scenery may lead to the healing she's in desperate need of. Ginny has recently been handed some harsh life circumstances. She left her family on not great terms after they refused to accept her for who she truly is, and she began a fresh chapter in her life in a new country with her husband and the town of Cornwall's bookstore that they purchased as newlyweds. However, her husband has walked away from both her and the bookstore, and she's struggling to keep the bookstore afloat that was never her dream in the first place.

When Sophia answers Ginny's ad to come and work at the struggling bookstore, the two begin a powerful friendship that will help both on the journey to healing and discovering God's master plan for their lives. When a discovery of a journal in a box of donated books hints at a story that appears to never have been finished of a young woman from the eighteen hundreds, Sophia and Ginny are compelled to try and figure out the mystery behind the journal. In the process, they end up drawing upon the help of Ginny's brother in law William to help them upon their quest.

Words can hardly describe just how amazing this lovely story is, but I can honestly say that I enjoyed it from start to finish. Lindsay Harrel speaks to the truth that there's a story inside each and every one of us, and whether or not we ever get to finish it, depends upon whether we can truly learn to rely on God's direction, and trust Him to truly reveal the perfect plan He has for our lives. I found both the contemporary and historical chapters to be equally compelling, and while I enjoyed that romance plays a component for each woman in her own way, I also liked that the story doesn't strictly focus on romance, and instead is also heavily about healing, friendship and faith.

From reading The Heart Between Us, I knew that Lindsay Harrel does not shy away from writing about tough subjects, and that continues in this one with themes of domestic violence, and abandonment running throughout. While this may not be a truly heavy story, it's a beautiful story that's not afraid to tackle tough subjects, and showcases just how important healing truly is before one can ever fully move on.

I couldn't have honestly enjoyed this more, and I highly recommend it. Also, if you're a fan of Lindsay's previous novels, you'll want to look out for small reference to The Heart Between Us!

Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lindsay Harrel is quickly becoming a voice to watch for in the Christian fiction market, and I look forward to seeing what else she has in store for her reader's in future book releases.

Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for the opportunity to advance read this!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.


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