This is Where it Ends by Cindy K. Sproles Review

 Happy Wednesday Friends :)

I pray today finds you all doing well, and I'm so thankful you chose to stop on by The Preppy Book Princess for another book review.

I'm Kirby, and I'm thrilled you're here.

Usually I share reviews with you all on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays each week. However, this week I ended up missing Monday's post as I was away for an overnight trip with my hubby, and wanted to focus my time and attention on him.

While we were away unfortunately, we had several situations come into play including an emergency back home, and it was a bit of a stressful experience.

I'm thankful today that everyone is okay, and that I'm able to have this day just to catch up around the house, spend some time in Bible study, and spend some time getting back on track with reviews for you all.

Today's review is for a recently released Christian historical fiction title, and I hope you'll all keep on reading down below for my full review.

This is Where it Ends by Cindy K. Sproles:

Source: Publisher as Part of the Revell Reads Blogger Program

Publisher: Revell

Publication Date: June 1st, 2023

Genre: Christian Fiction/Historical Fiction

Synopsis:

Award-Winning Author Pens a Unique Southern Tale

When Minerva Jane Jenkins was just 14 years old, she married a man who moved her to the mountains. He carried with him a small box, which he told her was filled with gold. And when he died 50 years later, he made her promise to keep his secret. She is to tell no one about the box or the treasure it contains.

Now 94, Minerva is nearing the end of what has sometimes been a lonely life. But she's kept that secret. Even so, rumors of hidden gold have a way of spreading, and Minerva is visited by a reporter, Del Rankin, who wants to know more of her story. His friend who joins him only wants to find the location of the gold. Neither of them knows quite who they're up against when it comes to the old woman on the mountain.

As an unlikely friendship develops, Minerva is tempted to reveal her secret to Del. After all, how long is one bound by a promise? But the truth of what's really buried in the box may be hidden even from her.

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

I had read Cindy K Sproles' What Momma Left Behind a couple of years ago, and I hadn't ended up enjoying it. I was a little hesitant to pick this one up, since it does take readers back to a similar Appalachian mountain setting like that one did. The synopsis still intrigued me, especially the notion of secrets being all tied into a mysterious box from fifty years prior, and so I decided to give another one of her books a try.

I am going to go ahead and start off by stating that I don't think this author's writing style works for me personally. While there was much to love about the beautiful story that connects a lonely 94 year old mountain woman with a young reporter who has recently found his way to her, the story was extremely slow moving and sluggish, and it took me quite awhile to get around to finishing it.

Minerva and Del's chance encounter grows into a beautiful friendship, and this story does a lovely job of tackling grief, loneliness, and how scary it can truly be to trust and let someone else in after years of hurting. While a large portion of the story does revolve around a quest for missing gold that Minerva is rumored to be connected to, the story ended up twisting in a much different manor than I was expecting, and I loved that.

I was all set to give this one a two star rating since I was having a hard time working my way through it, but then the lovely ending came along, and I found myself with genuine tears in my eyes. Everything came together and got me truly thinking, and I ended up enjoying this one more than I expected to.

While I am a big fan of Christian romances, it's sometimes nice to pick up a Christian fiction novel that doesn't focus on romance, and instead is about friendship, faith and living with secrets that can truly eat you alive. I ended up not being a fan of the writing style personally, but there were still many enjoyable elements that redeemed it in my eyes. 

If you're on the lookout for a clean, historical tale with a lovely faith element, and no romance, then this might just be the book for you.

Final Rating: 3/5.

Thanks so much to Revell for allowing me to read and review this title!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher (Revell) as part of the Revell Reads Blogger Program. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own, and this is my honest review.

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