About the Book

A Father-Daughter Genealogy Team Link Present to Past on Family Tree

Meri flunks out of medical school—and runs from her parents. Genealogist Jillian Parisi-Duffy’s digging traces the family long tradition of doctors to an ancestor saved during a yellow fever outbreak in Memphis in 1878. As Meri’s family closes in, Jillian gets the final puzzle pieces in place just in time for them all to learn the truth. The Inn at Hidden Run is the first book in the Tree of Life series. Readers will come back to backdrop of a lovely mountain town of Canyon Mines again and again to explore and celebrate unforgettable family stories that inspire them to connect with their own family histories and unique faith journeys.

Click here to purchase your copy!

About the Author

Olivia Newport’s novels twist through time to find where faith and passions meet. Her husband and twentysomething children provide welcome distraction from the people stomping through her head on their way into her books. She chases joy in stunning Colorado at the foot of the Rockies, where daylilies grow as tall as she is.

More from Olivia

Of Family Lines and Family Lore

I suppose it all started in a cemetery.

Once, while a group of relatives were visiting a cemetery, one of my cousins and I wandered off and looked at all sorts of graves, speculating about the names we read and the lives they represented. We were duly scolded both for separating from our families, which caused some consternation, and for being disrespectful—though I think the second accusation was a false one!

Just because we were young children didn’t mean we were disrespecting the dead. Quite the opposite. We were respecting lives long forgotten with our curiosity about who they were and what legacies they left.

These days a lot of people are interested in genealogy. Entire TV series spin around the theme, and DNA kits show up in Christmas stockings. Lost branches of family trees find the main trunk—sometimes with big surprises.

My new Tree of Life series is set in the backdrop of a lovely Colorado mountain town I hope you’ll want to visit often, where a father-daughter genealogy team link present to past on family trees and characters learn about who they are, where they come from, and their unique faith journeys as they discover their own Tree of Life.

It all starts with The Inn at Hidden Run. When Meri arrives in Canyon Mines because she wants to run away from her family, true answers come from understanding the past that generations have forgotten—the accounts from another time and place no longer handed down but that still form the backbone of the family’s story.

What’s the backbone of your family’s history? How is it shaping your own future?

My Thoughts

The Inn at Hidden Run by Olivia Newport is the first novel in Tree of Life series. The story is set in Canyon Mines, Colorado where Jillian Parisi-Duffy, a genealogist, lives with her father, Nolan Duffy (a lawyer and mediator) in a beautiful Victorian home. Meri Davies arrives in town just when Nia Dunston needs a new assistant at The Inn at Hidden Run. It is obvious to Nia that Meri is running from something and she wants Jillian and Nolan’s assistance in helping Meri. Meri’s family is comprised of doctors and nurses going back over a hundred years. Her family expects her to become a doctor, but that it not what Meri wishes to do with her life. Meri flunks out of medical school in under eight weeks (must be a record) and has fled to Canyon Mines to avoid her family. Jillian dives into Meri’s family history to find out why the family is insistent on every member going into the medical profession while Nolan uses his skills as a mediator to keep Meri in town. The town is comprised of caring people who watch out for each other. The Inn at Hidden Run is a dual-time line story. We are taken back to Eliza Davies in 1878 in Memphis, Tennessee when the yellow fever epidemic ran rampant through the town. The historical sections relate to Meri’s family history (and in the Author’s Notes we learn that some of the historical scenes are based on true events). I thought the novel was well-written with a gentle pace. There is plenty of coffee and food in the story. Nolan believes that plying people with food will get them to slow down, relax and open up. I like how the two time frames are brought together in the end for a sweet ending. The Christian elements are beautifully incorporated into the story. The add just the right touch. The author took the time to establish the characters and bring them to life. I liked Olivia Newport’s descriptions of the lovely town, the various shops along with the delectable delights they serve, and the beautiful Victorian homes. It was interesting to learn about a genealogist and how their research can be used in different ways (not just for a family tree). I am curious to see how Nolan and Jillian help others in the rest of the Tree of Life series.

To celebrate her tour, Olivia is giving away a grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of The Inn at Hidden Run. Be sure to comment on the blog stops (schedule below) for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click here to enter and Good Luck. Thank you for joining me today. Tomorrow I am featuring The Refuge by Ann H. Gabhart. I hope you have a blessed day. Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader