AUDIO BOOK REVIEW FOR - PUZZLE PIECES - BY - BETSY BRANNON GREEN

pic and description taken from Goodreads

DESCRIPTION:

Presley DeGraff is a young woman on the run. With nothing but the clothes on her back, her escape from the ruthless manipulations of her former fiancé leaves her with little time to hide. There is only one person to whom she can turn, only one place she may be safe . . . Haggerty, Georgia, is known for its Southern hospitality and quirky inhabitants. For Presley, her Aunt Violet’s home in the tiny town is a lifesaving haven. Her aunt, along with a cast of delightful friends and neighbors, warmly welcomes her. For the first time in so long, she feels hope—a hope that hinges on hiding her past. But the dreams of solitude that she had envisioned quickly fade when a disturbing discovery is made in her aunt’s backyard: a human skeleton. At the first hint of crime, Haggerty’s own amateur sleuth, Miss Eugenia, is on the case. Along with handsome Haggerty resident Mac and sprightly ninety-nine-year-old Loralee, Presley is quickly drawn into a mystery spanning generations of Haggerty’s history. But when news coverage of the investigation digs up Presley’s own secrets, it’s up to her new friends to come to her aid, by whatever means necessary.

MY REVIEW / THOUGHTS:

I am loving audio books more and more.  I never seem to get a chance to sit down and read any more.   It's so sad :(.  BUT, give me an audio book and I can do all the things I need to do and still get to listen to a book!

I think I am going to do this review a little different.  I don't think I can really review it the way I want to without giving too much away.  It is such a fantastic story!  It has wonderful characters and a beautiful setting.  There are two stories going on in this book.  One, is Presley's story, and the other is about an 80 year old murder.   I feel I may be copying some of my favorite blogger's style, but that is not my intention.  I just think I can give a better picture this way.

Here are just SOME of the wonderful characters in this book and why I like them.

1.  Presely - She is the MC.  Right off the bat her story grabs you.  She is trying to escape an ex-boyfriend.   She is in a hospital after an accident, that required a lot of facial reconstruction.  She has a wonderful Dr. and an orderly who are helping her escape the hospital, to buy her time to get away.  Presely, is kind, compassionate, scared, beautiful (inside and out), and educated woman.  She was handed a bad deal and is trying to find a new life.

2.  Aunt Violet - She is Presely's Aunt.  She had offered Presely a place in her law practice after her parents were killed.  She is such a great woman.  She doesn't make much money in her practice because most of her work is pro bono.  She is kind, loving, compassionate, and hard working.  She is also always on oxygen.  She is old, but such a wonderful woman.

3.  Miss Eugenia - Now this woman is fantastic.  This is the kind of old woman I want to be :).  She has a little dog, that she loves and that goes with her every where.  What I love most about her is her wit, and snarkyness...hehe  She is so hard headed and fabulous.  I loved her.  She is fiercely loyal, and loves her home town of Haggerty. 

4.  Loralee - this woman is 100 years old.  I think I liked her just for her age.  I would love to know someone who has lived that long.  Loralee has stories to tell about Haggerty, that brought this place to life for me.  She is amazing.  She is such a sweet, loving woman.  The whole town seems to want to help take care of her.

5.  Celia (sp????) - is the town's skank.  In reality she is anything but.  She has been dubbed this by marrying an old man, who died and left her all his money.  There is so much more to her, but the town has turned their back on her.  Her only friends are Aunt Violet, and her group of women and men that practically live at Aunt Violets house.  She is beautiful, kind, and genuine.  A very misunderstood woman.  It's so sad.  It is also one of the reasons I could never live in a small town.  People don't forgive easy in small towns.

6.  Mac - oh Mac.  He is the town's tow man, the repo man.  He is such a great guy.  He is also on the bad side of most of the town of Haggerty.  He played Pro-football for a time and was blamed for loosing the Superbowl for his team, and Haggerty seems to think he threw the game.  Not many are willing to listen to the "real" story.  He is so kind, compassionate (notice I say this about a lot of the characters.  But they are!), hard working, strong, beautiful and fabulous.  He is so yummy.  I mean just yummy.  He was immediately one of my favorite characters.  Mac, and Presely seem to have an instant connection.  Mac is snarky and fun loving.  

7. Wyatt - Mac's cousin and also a lawyer.  He is a nice guy, but he is one of those guys who doesn't want people to know how "good" he really is.  He seems to be a forever bachelor, but there is so much more to him.  He just doesn't let any one get close enough to see how wonderful he is.  Except this wonderful group that comes out of Aunt Violets home :).

8.  Preacher Pat - Is also Macs cousin.  Pat is wonderful from the moment he is introduced in the book.  Of course how could he not be?  He's a preacher :).  I feel for him.  He feels he has to take care of every one in Haggerty because he is the Preacher.  Who he really wants to take care of , he thinks he can't because of the town he lives in.  People are not very forgiving in Haggerty.

Now the setting.  Haggerty, Georgia, sounds like such a beautiful place.  I know I could never live in a small town, but IF I had to Haggerty, Georgia doesn't sound like a bad place to live.  I love how green everything is.  I love how Loralee brings this place to life in her story telling.  I could see the flowers, and the trees, the river, everything.  It was just beautiful.  The author did a wonderful job of putting me in this book.  I loved it.

The only complaint I had about this book, was the narrator.  It's a good thing the story pulled me right in, because this narrator is not my favorite.  It makes me sad when such a great book doesn't have a narrator I like to listen to.  She seems to narrate a lot of Covenant Communications books.  I appreciate her doing the audio, I just wish I liked her voice more.

If you like stories about mystery, murder, seedy ex-boyfriends, friends, family, love, and small towns, you will like this book.  My only suggestion is to get it in book form, not audio.  I really loved this authors writing.

Source:  I bought this book for myself.  I was not compensated in any way for this review.  These are my own PERSONAL thoughts on the book.

MY RATING:

I think I would have made it higher if I liked the narrator :(

WHERE TO BUY:

     

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

pic and bio taken from Goodreads

If you're not familiar with my books, I write mystery-suspense novels. I am LDS (Mormon) and so are some of my characters, but I have loyal readers from many different faiths. My goal is to engage the reader in my books. I want to make them laugh and cry and worry and dread the end.

Most of my books are set in the fictional town of Haggerty, Georgia - which is loosely based on my grandparents' hometown of Headland, Alabama (the most wonderful place on earth). Each book has an ample supply of romance, suspense, Southern hospitality and even recipies!"