Purple Book Covers

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Like many previous Top Ten Tuesday topics, when I saw this prompt I wondered if it would be difficult to find covers to fit the bill—but a little exploring quickly revealed that I'd have more work narrowing it down than I would have imagined. This easily could have been twenty covers instead of ten! But I had to cut it off somewhere, so here you go. 💜

"The Purple Nightgown" by A.D. Lawrence


"A Cowboy for Keeps" by Jody Hedlund


"Now and Then and Always" by Melissa Tagg


"More Than Words Can Say" by Karen Witemeyer

The Madison River Romance series by Janine Rosche

"The Elusive Miss Ellison" by Carolyn Miller


"Hereafter" by Jody Hedlund


"Lavender and Lace" by Tara Grace Ericson


"The Piper's Pursuit" by Melanie Dickerson


"The Governess of Penwythe Hall" by Sarah E. Ladd

Find more Top Ten Tuesday posts at That Artsy Reader Girl.

"Roots of Wood and Stone" by Amanda Wen {with a giveaway!}

"If he stopped, the pain would catch up with him."

"She was just a diversion they were forced to deal with. The unexpected wrinkle in their carefully ironed plans."

When Garrett Anderson dropped by Sloane Kelley's office to donate an old satchel he'd found while cleaning out his grandmother's house, neither of them knew their lives were about to change. Sloane, annoyed that he assumed the museum would accept any old items with ties to local settlers, tries to give it back. But then the diary tucked inside catches her attention, and the adventure begins.

Sloane preserves history because she doesn't know her own. Abandoned as an infant, she's always sought answers to her roots. Websites devoted to helping connect adoptees with their birth parents haven't yielded any clues as to why her mother might have left her on a bus that spring morning thirty years ago.

Garrett is a frazzled financial planner trying to get things squared away for the long-term care of his grandmother, who is slipping away more and more with dementia. While his sister has given up much to care for Grandma, it's getting to be more than Lauren can handle. As the numbers guy, Garrett realizes that they are going to need to sell Grandma's house in order to afford her care, but it's hard to get the place ready to sell when it's been in his family for generations.

The discovery of Annabelle Collins's diaries brings delight to the heavy task of cleaning out Grandma's house. Annabelle, a nineteenth century pioneer, started recording her thoughts as a 9-year-old left at her aunt's house while her father went off to fight in the Civil War. The diaries trace Annabelle's life through her journey west, her marriage, motherhood, and beyond. Annabelle's story draws Garrett and Sloane together, and some of the very truths they seek may be found within those yellowed pages.

I loved so much about this story. The themes are sweet and relatable—family, difficult decisions, seeking answers to questions which may never be answered. Amanda Wen brings the Wichita, Kansas, setting vividly to life, both in the contemporary and historical settings. All the characters are well-rounded, the romances will make your toes tingle, and the faith element will stir a desire to connect with God more fully yourself. An extremely well-done debut—I will be watching for more from this author!

I received my copy of the book from Read With Audra. All thoughts in this review are my own.

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