WHERE SECRETS SLEEP By Marta Perry

Publisher:  HQN Books
Expected Publication:  February 24, 2015
Pages:  384
Genre:  Contemporary Fiction
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About the Book: 
In Amish country, not everything is as simple as it appears...

After suffering a terrible betrayal, Allison Standish flees Philadelphia for the small Amish village of Laurel Ridge. There, she comes into an unexpected inheritance—her late grandmother bequeathed her a mansion housing various shops. Allison intends to sell Blackburn House, until one of her tenants, single father Nick Whiting, challenges everything she believes about her estranged grandmother and the Amish community, and she decides to stay—temporarily.

Soon, strange stipulations in her grandmother's will bring to Allison's door distant relatives and seething townsfolk who think Blackburn House shouldn't belong to an outsider. As anonymous threats escalate, Nick is protective of Allison, and she finds herself falling for the handsome carpenter. But when she discovers her grandmother's death may not have been accidental, Allison must face the truth that someone wants her gone…permanently.

Wanda's Thoughts:  Allison Standish, an interior designer by profession, was off to Lancaster County to claim the property she’d been left in her grandmother’s will. An Italian mansion, Blackburn House, dating from the 1850’s, was her inheritance left by a grandmother who’d never acknowledged Allison’s existence while she was alive. The bequest was conditional on certain requirements being fulfilled. The ownership of Blackburn House would be hers only after she’d run it successfully for a period of one year. If Allison failed to meet the challenge, ownership would be passed on to Brenda Standish Conner, a cousin.

Amish life was prominent in the area and had been since the 1700’s. Sarah Bitler, an Amish woman, and a very heartwarming character, had a shop in the mansion marketing quilts. She’d been rather close to Evelyn Standish throughout her life. Mrs. Standish had been a very proud and strong-willed woman, but had shown Sarah much kindness, setting her up with the quilt shop in Blackburn House.

Allison gets settled into Blackburn and meets Nick Whiting and his son, Jamie. And the story unfolds as bad things begin to happen. It seems someone wants Allison out of the mansion.

The author writes in a comfortable and well-crafted style making it a simplistic read and the conclusion was satisfactory, but rather predictable. Unfortunately this one just failed to capture my attention. I found myself caring very little what happened to the characters, and found myself skimming – it went on too long. My rating is 3 stars.

I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

About the Author: 
Marta Perry is a Pennsylvania-based author of over 35 novels, many of them inspirational romances. She uses her rural Pennsylvania life and her Pennsylvania Dutch heritage in writing her books, especially in her Pleasant Valley Amish series for Berkley Books and her new Amish-set suspense series for HQN Books.

Marta and her husband live in a centuries-old farmhouse in a quiet central Pennsylvania valley. They have three grown children and six beautiful grandchildren, and when she's not busy writing her next book, she's usually trying to keep up with her gardening, baking for church events, or visiting those beautiful grandkids.