Just received word that Ladd Springs received 5 stars from the Indie Reader Discovery Awards!

LADD SPRINGS

Mystery/Suspense/Thriller

Dianne Venetta

5 Stars

Delaney Wilkins lives in the eastern mountains of Tennessee. Its beautiful, untouched country has been in her family for generations. Current owner, Ernie Ladd, Delaney’s uncle, refuses to sign over the title to Delaney’s daughter, Felicity, like he promised his sister, Susannah, on her deathbed. Complicating the acrimonious relationship between Delaney and Ernie is the arrival of Nick Harris, a hotel developer who wants to buy the land and build another in a line of eco-hotels amid the pristine wilderness, Clem Sweeney who has discovered a secret about the land and wants it for himself, and Annie Owens, who claims the land is rightfully hers, but hasn’t yet proved the paternity of her daughter, Casey. Family legacy battles greed in a race for the coveted property.

Author Dianne Venetta has written a winner with LADD SPRINGS, the first in the Ladd Springs series. Her descriptions of the eastern Tennessee landscape are beautifully detailed, enough so that it’s a character in and of itself, but not so much that it becomes unwieldy. The family feud between Delaney and Ernie is believable, as is the inclusion of Annie who claims to be family by way of the paternity of her daughter, Casey. In many ways, the battle could be between any family anywhere, and that’s part of what makes it intriguing. Outside of the family, there’s Nick, the handsome hotel developer, who serves as both foe and love interest for Delaney, and Clem, as the resident, idler bad guy. In general, all of the characters are well fleshed out, and play their intended parts well. Venetta takes her time with the story, keeping it well-paced and never rushing things just to move it along.

LADD SPRINGS isn’t a hardcore mystery, but appealing nonetheless for those who enjoy a good, solid story.

Reviewed by K.J. Pierce for IndieReader

****This month you can get ALL five ebooks for only $7.99…just in time to add to your summer reading list. Each book in the series has received 4 stars or better!

Available for your kindle and kindle apps. Ladd Springs Boxed Set

And I mean “no strings attached” at all. Win a $10 gift card to Amazon, Barnes & Noble — you name the book retailer — all you need to do is leave a contact email. That’s it. For real!

Hosted by “I Am A Reader Not a Writer,” this hop offers nothing but good fun and lots of prizes. Now that’s what I call warming to the heart on a cold, blustery January day! And what better for a cold day than to cozy up with your favorite book?

Book #1 in the Ladd Springs series

If you’re new to my website, LADD SPRINGS is about as cozy as they get. A bit of mystery, a bit of romance, this 5 book series takes you on a whirlwind of adventure of drama and family feuds in the eastern Tennessee mountains, including fiesty females and charming heroes. It all begins with a heated battle for the property rights to Ladd Springs and ends in an explosive grand finale of trouble, trauma and triumph.

And in the spirit of “no strings attached,” you can download book 1 in the series for FREE (ereaders only) but hurry, offer valid for a limited time only!

Do you love sequels? How about full-blown series? If so, you’ve come to the right place! This week I’m joining a blog hop dedicated to both!

A lucrative offer to buy Ladd Springs puts Annie Owens and Cal Foster on opposite sides of the Ladd family fortune. Each has a stake in the outcome, both have secrets to hide.

After years of battling the Ladd family, Annie Owens has finally procured her daughter’s legacy, title to Ladd Springs, a mecca of streams and springs in the eastern Tennessee mountains—only she can’t afford to keep it.

Cal Foster’s father owns the biggest bank in town and has devised a way to help Annie retain the property, but when hotel developer Jillian Devane offers to buy the land outright, Annie is torn. She’s tempted by the huge sum of money—money that will secure her daughter Casey’s future, something Cal cannot guarantee.

According to Annie’s sister, Lacy Ward, an insider with the Ladd family, Jillian’s proposal is tainted by revenge—the depth of which Annie has no idea. She only knows the woman is out to compete with the upcoming Ladd hotel making any deal with Jillian Devane tantamount to betrayal.

When Cal is offered a position with Hotel Ladd, Annie is backed against a wall. Selling to Jillian will end any hope for a future together with Cal, a man she has come to love. But it isn’t until Casey’s romance with Troy Parker blows apart that Annie’s decision is made.

Will “selling out” exile Annie from the Ladd family, including any chance for happiness with Cal Foster? Or can she find a way to make amends, ending a long-standing feud once and for all? Find out in this episode of Ladd Springs…

If you’re like me and like to read them in order, begin with Ladd Springs, followed by Ladd Fortune! As part of this giveaway, enter to win book #1 where it all begins…

Delaney Wilkins finds herself at odds with hotel developer Nick Harris over a deathbed promise and a mysterious find in the Tennessee forest.  Both are after title to Ladd Springs, a mecca of natural springs, streams and trails in the eastern Tennessee mountains, a tract of land worth millions.  But Ernie Ladd, current owner of the property and uncle to Delaney, is adamantly opposed to them both.

Felicity Wilkins, Delaney’s daughter, deserves to inherit her family’s legacy, but neighbor Clem Sweeney is working against her, ingratiating himself with Ernie Ladd.  Clem is also harboring a secret that will make him a very wealthy man—unless the others stop him before he can bring it to fruition.

Complicating matters is Annie Owens.  Ex-girlfriend to Jeremiah Ladd, Ernie’s estranged son living in Atlanta, she declares her daughter Casey is Jeremiah’s, making Casey every bit as entitled to the property as Felicity—only Annie hasn’t proven this claim.  Yet.

All are fighting to get the property, but only one will walk away with the gold.  Which will it be?

a Rafflecopter giveawayNow get hopping! You’ve a bunch more to go!!