Book Review: Lucy's Mansion by Deanne Durrett

I was given a free eBook copy of "Lucy's Mansion" by the author in order for me to write a review.  "Lucy's Mansion" is the 2nd book in the "Ordinary Days in Myrtle Hill" series and starts where "The Rogue Trust" leaves off.

I did not read "The Rogue Trust" prior to reading "Lucy's Mansion", but I feel that Deanne Durrett did a good job of recapping the events that took place in the first book of the series so you didn't feel totally lost while reading "Lucy's Mansion".  It probably would be better to read the 1st book first, but it wasn't that bad not having read it first, either!

Becca McGee is just an ordinary woman, a high school history teacher, raising her 12 year old daughter alone after the death of her husband.  That is until she becomes the benefactor of a trust (in the book "The Rogue Trust") The attraction with lawyer J.T. Harrison that started during "The Rogue Trust" continues to build and Becca wants to act on her feelings but is held back by her daughter.  Amy K keeps saying that second marriages are bad for kids.

J.T. Harrison wants to move forward with Becca, but is afraid of another broken heart. He needs to win Amy K over, but another man is also wooing Becca.  Is he too late to win her heart?

While dealing with their feelings for each other, they also face the difficulties that face the woman's shelter which is being housed in Lucy's Mansion.  Will they be able to get around the zoning restrictions and keep the women in their new home?

"Lucy's Mansion" is a good Christian novel without profanity or any physical "liaisons" other than holding hands, hugging, and kissing.  Other than Amy K, I don't recall ever being told what Becca or J.T. looked like, which made it hard for me to imagine them.  The story was written well (other than the typos I found, which are fairly easy to fix in an eBook format) but it wasn't "gelling" with me as much as some books do.  I'm not really sure why, but I didn't feel compelled to sit and read the book in one sitting as I do with some books.  It wasn't like I didn't want to *not* finish the book, though, as it was a nice story with believable characters. One thing that made me wonder was: what was up with the daughter's name?  Amy K ?  Is K her middle initial?  Why was it there? This may have been covered in the 1st book, but I did find is sort of odd.

"Lucy's Mansion" is available on Amazon.com for $2.99.

• File Size: 1716 KB
• Print Length: 208 pages
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00H4FLIBE

UPDATE:  The author contacted me and told me this:  "You are right, Amy K's name is explained in Rogue Trust and Becca and J.T. are described there, too. It's hard to know how much to include from the first book when writing the second."