Tuesday, November 29, 2016

Undiscovered Treasures by Carole Brown

About the book:

Caroline and her brother own Undiscovered Treasures, an antique, collectibles, and junk shop in rural West Virginia. She's waiting for the right man to come along, missing the good specimen right in front of her eyes. Andy is an up and coming artist who paints what Caroline thinks are depressing scenes. Friends since childhood, Andy loves Caroline but thinks he's not good enough for her.

Caroline is besotted when handsome Linc shows up in town, wanting Caroline to write a Christmas play for his church. She thinks he is everything she has ever wanted in a man. Andy is unhappy about the slick man going after "his girl" but he has problems of his own. His paintings are being stolen right out of his studio. He enlists Caroline's help to uncover the thief.

My review:

This is the third novel in this series and the first I have read. It took me a while to get oriented. While this book can be read on its own, having read the earlier books will fill in the historical and descriptive gaps not covered in this one.

Caroline is a testy character. She is argumentative, prickly and cranky. She was a hard character to like. Andy is a thoughtful and much more gentle character. He is a dear, being so patient with his pursuit of Caroline. I had mixed emotions about Linc. Brown did a good job of making me suspicious of him. I was disappointed that the secrets behind this character were left uncovered. Perhaps they will be in a later novel.

The plot had several aspects to it that kept me reading. Caroline's romantic thoughts are interspersed with her trying to uncover the thief of Andy's paintings. Brown drops hints but adds red herrings to keep us wondering who the villain is.

I would have liked more description. I felt like I was unable to really visualize the setting and many of the scenes. Reading the earlier novels in the series may help there.

This is a character driven romantic mystery. Much of the novel covers the thoughts of characters, such as the insecurity of Caroline. I recommend this novel to readers who enjoy reading of the ruminations of characters more than action packed scenes.

You can find out more about the book and read a guest post from the author here.

My rating: 4/5 stars.

Carole Brown loves to weave suspense, tough topics, romance and whimsy into her books. She and her husband live in southeast Ohio and have ministered nationally and internationally.

Story and Logic Media Group, 286 pages. You can purchase the book here.

I am taking part in a blog tour of this book.