Reviews

The Spring at Moss Hill by Carla Neggers

jordinl25's review against another edition

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medium-paced

4.0

debbiereadsbooks's review against another edition

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lighthearted medium-paced

3.0

jemifraser's review against another edition

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A nice addition to the series. I liked both MC's personalities and the town of Knights Bridge is always fun to visit!

ssejig's review against another edition

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3.0

Russ Colton is in Knight's Bridge because Daphne Stewart has an uneasy feeling about the master workshop she's going to be doing there. We met Daphne in previous books (she lived in Knight's Bridge for two years, but as the last surviving family member of the sawmill owners, she has ties to the town. She also had 40 years as a fabulous costume designer in Hollywood, even won Oscars) but Russ is brand new to KB, no ties. He's been assigned to an apartment across from reclusive children's book illustrator, Kylie Shaw.
And why is Kylie reclusive? It's never really explained. Oh, there are throw away sentences about the fact that she just doesn't want people to know, but never WHY. There was no trauma in her past, no wanting to stay out of the limelight. She just didn't feel like it. And then freaked out that the new PI in town was going to discover her identity. It felt like a tempest in a teacup.
Reading through the book, it felt like there were several story lines that ran parallel to each other, but that never really overlapped. As if there were a warp but no weave, if that makes sense. There was no reason for them all to be in the same book.
Overall, it was okay, but not one of the better Knight's Bridge books.

mainebookworm22's review against another edition

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3.0

I really enjoy reading the Swift River Valley series. I enjoy the way that Carla describes the town and the surrounding areas. It is always nice to revisit the recurring characters. With that said, I enjoyed this one more than the last one I read (Echo Lake). The character interaction did not seem forced and there was no forced mystery, just small town gossip and small town drama. The only issues I had were the Travis Bowman storyline and that the romance happened way too fast. I get that this is a romance, but spend less time on backstory and more time having the characters get to know each other. I am really intrigued by Marty's character and would hope that at some point, he will get his own book.

katherineep's review against another edition

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3.0

I always love a visit to Knights Bridge but I do have to say that this one wasn't my favorite. My primary problem was that secret that Kylie was keeping just didn't seem that big of a deal. I can get why she didn't want to advertise who she was but I had a hard time understanding her level of worry about being discovered. I kept expecting there to be a crazed stalker or something in her past but there wasn't. I was also surprised with how much of an impact some rumors about faulty construction on Moss Hill had. Both the contractor and the architect are trusted members in Knights Bridge and they were both confident in the solidness of the building but we seemed to spend a lot of time on Ruby's worries about the building and that would impact the class she had scheduled with Daphne Stewart. Ruby herself needs to learn yoga breathing or something. I get that she's young but she's also incredibly wound up and at times just rude - especially to Kylie who she doesn't even really know.
But there was a lot I enjoyed in this story as well. Kylie is an interesting character and I loved seeing her process for her work. It was good to see her allow herself to have fun and become more involved in the community. I liked Russ' character as well and I liked how he handled his discovery of Kylie's secret. They're both pretty closed off private people so watching them get to know each other was really lovely. I also liked catching up with the O'Dunn clan - especially the mother who I haven't seen much of in awhile.
As I have come to expect from this series Carla Negger's writing is immediately engaging and the world of Knights Bridge is beautifully drawn. I liked seeing a bit more of Dylan and Olivia and I really like both the characters. It was also nice to catch up with Julius and Loretta and Daphne is always entertaining. Even though this wasn't a favorite I still enjoyed reading it and will definitely be looking forward to the next book in the series!
While both characters are new to the town there is a lot of discussion about Daphne and her costumes so if you're interested in reading this I definitely recommend reading That Night on Thistle Lane first. It's a wonderful story in it's own right and will clear up the hows and whys of who Daphne is and the rest of the details.
Full Review: http://iwishilivedinalibrary.blogspot.com/2016/01/spring-at-moss-hill-review.html

keys_on_fire's review against another edition

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2.0

I read this because it was the selection for the book club I attend. I had heard of the author, but had never read any of her books before. I honestly don't know what this book was trying to be. The romance felt contrived and happened WAY too fast to be believable. The 'mystery' aspect of it never really got off the ground and by the time I realized what the mystery was supposed to be, it was over and not threatening at all.

I realize that this was the 6th book in a series, & it seems like the author may have brought characters back from previous books. Maybe I was just missing out on familiarity with these characters that would have pepped this up a bit. I have read Robyn Carr's Virgin River series, so I understand that revisiting characters that you fell in love with in earlier books can be fun/nostalgic and make you feel like you really know the folks. It's possible that this book just isn't meant to be a standalone story.

I wanted to like the main characters, but the female lead just seemed wishy-washy & the male lead was painted to be a tough guy. It didn't make much sense to me that these two mad a good match. I guess I would be tempted to try and read another book just to see if this is typical of this author or just a bad egg.
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