Autumn by the Sea (By: Melissa Tag)

Autumn by the Sea
By: Melissa Tagg

Story Line: 4 Stars
Depth: 4 Stars
Faith: 3 Stars
Love Story: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars

Autumn by the Sea captured our attention before we even opened the book! The author, the title, and cover drew us in. 

We have become big fans of author Melissa Tagg, and her writing just keeps getting better with each book. We thoroughly enjoyed the setting, pace, and mystery in this new series. Her characters grow on the reader quickly, and give us much to look forward to as the rest of the series is released. Melissa weaves different layers into the plot so engaging the book kept us turning pages long into the night. 

What caught us off guard - different from Melissa's previous books - was the ongoing mystery will seemingly take more than one book to solve! Therefore we eagerly wait for the next in the series. While we may have preferred a stronger faith aspect to be woven in a little more, we would highly recommend this book to others.

Note: We were given this book in exchange for our honest review.  

From the Start (By: Melissa Tagg)

From the Start
By: Melissa Tagg

Melissa Tagg's newest book is her best one yet! We have enjoyed her other novels but this one was pure delight. So much depth and love in this story; you'll fall in love with the characters and the town of Maple Valley.

Storyline

Kate Walker should be an expert at love since she writes made-for-TV romance screenplays, right? Wrong! Kate has been wounded deeply in love so she remains single; and to top it off her career is in a slump. After a tornado hits her hometown of Maple Valley, Iowa, she rushes home from Chicago to clean up. Not only does she help her hometown and her dad get back on their feet, she meets a certain someone that just might help bring some life and love back to her! 

Colton Greene, a big time NFL quarterback is now injured and no longer able to play the game. Confused as to what his future holds, plus dealing with a past he can't piece together, Colton travels to Maple Valley with his friend to hide out for awhile and maybe get a glimpse of what a normal life is like. He meets Kate and enlists her to help with a project. As the two spend time together, they both realize their need for a new purpose in life, but will it include each other?

Depth

Melissa Tagg brought so much depth into this story. Kate and Colton both deal with very real issues, especially Colton who was raised in the foster care system and still, to this day, can't reconcile parts of his past. The author also brings in a few side stories of people dealing with hurt and pain and does a fabulous job writing about it. You will become part of their lives and come to care so much about the characters. We thoroughly enjoyed the journey of this book.

Faith

With so much depth in this story, we were hoping for a good balance of faith and dependence on the Lord. Melissa Tagg did a great job doing just that. There may not have been a deep exploration of what faith is, but the story was full of lessons that we even found ourselves pondering. Themes of forgiveness, love, surrendering to God's will, reaching out to others and trusting in the Lord were all present.

Love Story

Kate and Colton are great mix. The friendly banter they start out with is so enjoyable; we found ourselves laughing along with them. As we got deeper into the story we got deeper into who they are and what they are made of. The love that starts to blossom is real and beautiful. A few scenes were downright adorable.

Overall

Pick up this book and enjoy every page of it - we sure did. We look forward to Melissa Tagg's next book in the series and cannot wait to journey back to Maple Valley again. Great job Melissa on a fabulous start to a new series fantastic series.

Find it on Amazon: From the Start

Novella - Three Little Words (By: Melissa Tagg)

Three Little Words
By: Melissa Tagg

If you plan to start the new Walker Family series by Melissa Tagg, you won't want to miss this little novella that gets things going! 

Ava Jane Kingsley (sister to Autumn Kingsley, heroine from Melissa's last series) is at a college class reunion when she runs into her old nemesis, Seth Walker. Ten years ago, the two of them sparred continually through debates in the school newspaper and certainly weren't called friends. But surprisingly, their reunion leads to a connection, built mostly over email as pen pals - she in Minnesota, he in Maple Valley, Iowa. One year and hundreds of emails later, Ava reaches a crossroads in her career and, on a whim, decides to take Seth up on his offer to visit.

But when she arrives, Ava is confronted with unexpected circumstances, unexpected feelings for Seth that go beyond friendship, and a serious girlfriend he plans to marry. As they each seek the Lord's plan for their lives, will they both have the courage to say the three little words that would matter most?

This novella is a fantastic introduction to the Walker Family series - we can't wait to read the stories of the rest of the family!

Find it on Amazon: Three Little Words