In the Shadow Garden by Liz Parker Published by Forever on September 13, 2022
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 336
Format: Paperback
Goodreads
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I’m a fool for a good witchy book so I was excited to receive early access to IN THE SHADOW GARDEN.
About In the Shadow Garden
Addison’s family’s been emotional healers in the small Kentucky town of Yarrow. People come to them, ask that their negative feelings are taken away and then the Haywood family member feeds it to the plants in the family’s shadow garden.
But now the garden seems to be struggling. Maybe dying. So more townspeople are turning to the Bonners’ bourbon to take away memories, Except that something seems to be wrong with the corn harvest too. Addison feels responsible because her magic doesn’t work right so she can’t help with emotional healing.
The problems with the shadow garden and corn seem to be tied to the summer of forgetting when the entire town chose to forget things. But what exactly did they forget? And why?
A Bonner funeral happens, bringing home a son that the town’s forgotten and now secrets are coming to light and changing everything.
My thoughts about In the Shadow Garden
At the start of the book, you’re going to be referring back to the family trees, as you meet members of multiple generations of Yarrow’s three founding families – the Haywoods with the shadow garden, the Bonners with the bourbon distillery, and the Bakers who own the market. Happily, Liz Parker gives every character a distinct voice and POV. So once you’ve met the cast, you won’t have any trouble keeping characters straight.
Family is the heart of this book – both the warmth and love and the darker, colder sides. And how secrets can strangle. I love the relationships Addison has with the other Haywoods – even when they disagree, they’re still a family. Contrast that with the coldness of the Bonners, their manipulations and secrets.
Yarrow is a charming small town, with a tea shop, market, distillery, and of course, festivals and farmers’ markets. Incredibly idyllic, especially when you add in the gorgeous produce from the shadow garden.
Liz Parker’s descriptions, especially of produce, tea, and bourbon, are incredibly rich and lush. You can nearly smell and taste what she describes.
You get:
- Witchy family
- Multiple POV
- Small town
- Second chance romance
- Generational secrets and feuds
- Garden porn
- Tea shop and tea leaf reading
- Bourbon
- Close family
- LGBTQIA+ rep
- Diverse
This is magical family perfection – generational feuds, enchanting love stories, gorgeous shadow garden, magical bourbon, tea leaves revealing the future long-hidden, cloaked by lies and magic.
In closing
Liz Parker’s created a town of people that it’s incredibly easy to fall in love with. Yarrow sounds utterly enchanting. For fans of Erin Sterling and Lana Harper.
Thank you, Forever for the DRC!
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