The Gold in these Hills by Joanne Bischof Review

 Happy Friday Friends :)

I hope you've all had a great week, and I want to thank you all for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.

This weekend is going to be a fun one for me as I've got some exciting things going on. Tomorrow I'm actually going out of town with my best friend for a bestie day where we plan to do some shopping, try some fun restaurants, and maybe go for a walk in a beautiful park. Then Monday I'm going to be heading out to the lake for a couple of days to spend some time with my parent's and my nephew. I'm especially excited that my aunt is going to join us for a day, as I haven't got to see her much since COVID started.

I'm also excited to get to read some great books while I'm at one of my favorite places, and I hope to finish a book or two while I'm gone.

Today though, I'd like to share a review for an upcoming book release with you all.

Joanne Bischof's The Lady and the Lionheart (review here) is one of my all time favorite books, but for whatever reason, I'd never got around to reading any of her others books. I finally had the chance to, and today I'm here to share with all of you what I ended up thinking about it.

The Gold in these Hills by Joanne Bischof:

Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Thomas Nelson

Publication Date: August 31st, 2021

Genre: Christian Fiction/Dual Timeline

Synopsis:

Two second-chance love stories, hope across the centuries, and the legacy that binds them together.

Upon arriving at Kenworthy, California, mail-order-bride Juniper Cohen was met by the pounding of the gold mine, the rowdiness of its prospectors, and her greatest surprise of all: the love of the kind man who awaited her. But when the mine proves empty of profit, and when Juniper’s husband vanishes, doubt and discouragement are as prevalent as the pioneers fleeing this dwindling boomtown.

As winter blows in, Juniper pens a series of letters to her husband but fears she is waiting on a ghost—or worse, an outlaw. Carving out survival for her and her young daughter in a ghost town requires trusting in the kindness of a few remaining souls, including the one who can unlock the mystery of her husband’s disappearance.

A century later, trying to escape the heartache of his failed marriage, Johnny Sutherland throws himself into raising his child and restoring a hundred-year-old abandoned farmhouse in California’s San Jacinto Mountains. While exploring its secrets he uncovers the letters Juniper wrote to her Dearest John and is moved by the handwritten accounts that bear his name. Having learned that truth and courage go hand in hand, Johnny dares to love again, and armed with lessons from the past, a modern-day romance unfolds in the very same mountains that once held a love story that touched history.

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

The Lady and the Lionheart by Joanne Bischof is one of my all time favorite books, and dual timelines are one of my favorite book types. To put it mildly, I was really looking forward to finding out how the author of one of my favorite books was going to tackle a dual timeline.

The Gold in these Hills caught me up in the story rather quickly, and I felt my heart breaking for everything that Juniper (in the past) and Johnny (in the present) were having to navigate through. Their marriages have gone in directions that neither of them could have ever seen coming, and they're both left wondering is this all there is to life? When Johnny ends up purchasing a fixer upper historic property that belonged to Juniper many, many years ago, he feels a connection between the two of them as he navigates through some of her old belongings to help a new friend try and make sense of her story. Poignant, thought provoking and engaging, I ended up enjoying certain parts of this one, but it definitely wasn't what I was expecting.

I want to clearly state that I loved how strong the faith element is in this one, and how in many situations, Juniper especially, uses what she's going through as a visual representation of Jesus' sacrifice on the Cross. I loved how it felt both authentic and realistic, and that part really stuck with me.

However, I can't say that I loved this one, and it definitely wasn't what I was expecting. I kept feeling like the story felt like it was missing something, and while I really enjoyed the first half of it, the second half fell flat and ended up feeling to me like the story was incomplete. I wasn't left feeling satisfied with how everything wrapped up, and ended up with more questions than answers. It really missed the mark for me, and while I appreciated how effortlessly the two timelines weaved together for the reader, it isn't one of the better dual timeline books I've read over the years, and I don't foresee myself rereading it.

Final Rating: 3/5.

Thanks so much to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to advance read and review this!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Thomas Nelson) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks so much for reading guys! Have a great rest of your weekend :)