Evening in the Yellow Wood
Evening in the Yellow Wood by Laura Kemp
Print & ebook, 281 pages
Published December 12th 2018 by Pandamoon Publishing
Abandoned by an eccentric father on the eve of her twelfth birthday, Justine Cook has lived with her fair share of unanswered questions. Now, ten years later she leaves her life in southern Michigan and heads north to the mysterious town of Lantern Creek after seeing his picture in a local newspaper. Once there, she discovers her father had been leading a double life and meets the autistic brother she never knew—a young man who is mute but able to read her mind.
When a local girl who looks like Justine is mysteriously murdered, she joins forces with sheriff's deputy Dylan Locke to capture the killer. But the more they dig for clues to the past, the closer they come to discovering a secret someone will kill to protect. Justine begins to show signs of supernatural power and eventually must stop an immortal enemy that has hunted her family for generations.
My thoughts about Evening in the Yellow Wood ~~
(I love to note the first lines of the books I'm reading. First lines can really grab a reader's attention and I love seeing where the author takes the reader after their first lines.)
First lines—"It was Tuesday afternoon, the sun hot on my pink shoulders as I sat dangling my feet in the shallow end of the community pool."
I didn't know much about this story going in. I originally was drawn to the cover—those yellow leaves were exactly what I was seeing this fall on my walks every day. They really made me think about this book... and then I started reading it.
I immediately fell in love with Laura's writing style. The words flowed easily off of the page into my head and I found myself becoming completely immersed in Justine's world. And then things started getting creepy and weird, but trust me, it was in a totally good way. It's just that since I really didn't know much about the story, it kind of caught me off guard. But the surprises in the story-line were great and kept me captivated.
I read this during the week of Halloween and let me tell you, that was the perfect time to read a book like this. Spooky, creepy, strange characters and happenings—yep, it had it all!
I loved this book and loved the character of Justine and the whole story surrounding her. This is Laura Kemp's debut novel and I am so excited to see what else she has in store for her readers!
I won a copy of Evening in the Yellow Wood from the author and this is my honest opinion.
And happy news!! Book two, Snow in Summer, is out on November 18th so I don't have to wait long to go back to this exciting world and see how Justine is doing!
It’s been a year since Justine Cook defeated an immortal enemy that had hunted her family for generations. Settling into a peaceful life with her boyfriend in the small town of Lantern Creek, Michigan, she hopes to escape the events of the summer before. But the past won’t let go so easily.
When a woman named Amanda Bennett survives a fall from a cliff on Mackinac Island, it triggers a series of events that reawakens the past. Soon Justine and her brother Adam are pulled into a mystery that threatens to destroy the new life they have worked so hard to create. As people begin to die- people only Amanda Bennett can see- Justine must race against time to destroy a dark power she thought she had buried the summer before. ~ Amazon
About the author
Laura is a teacher who loves to write about her home state of Michigan. She has a B.A. in Creative Writing from Western Michigan University where she studied under Stuart Dybek, and has had her short fiction and poetry published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Word Riot, Tonopalah Review, SaLit and SLAB: Sound and Literary Art Book. “The Pursuit of Happiness,” – a short story she wrote while at WMU, was chosen as a finalist in the Trial Balloon Fiction Contest.
When not writing, Laura enjoys musical theatre, hiking, swimming, reading and performing with her Celtic band- Si Bhaeg Si Mohr. She also enjoys spending time with her husband and children as well as her dog, two hamsters, two gerbils, ten chickens, two horses and eight (and counting) cats.
Laura loves to connect with readers on her blog: laurakemp.author@blogspot.com (Sea Legs on Land), as well as on Facebook, Twitter (@LKempWrites) and Instagram. (lkempwrites)
Evening in the Yellow Wood recently received a Bronze Medal in the Readers' Favorite annual book contest, and will be featured in the 2019 Miami Book Fair. ~ Goodreads
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