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The lives of two young women are connected across 100 years in The Curse of Misty Wayfair by Jaime Jo Wright from Bethany House. Thea Reed and Heidi Lane are each searching out their own answers in the romantic suspense novel that I recently read to review. Through their seeking answers, they each discover that Misty Wayfair and her supposed curse upon the Coyle family is impacting their own lives. As a fan of mysteries, I really enjoyed The Curse of Misty Wayfair. I read it in about four days because I was so excited to see what happened next to Thea and Heidi.
The Curse of Misty Wayfair tells the tale of Heidi Lane (in the present day) – the daughter returning home to help her sister run a resort lodge and visit her mother who is in the grip of dementia – and that of Thea Reed – a traveling photographer who lives in 1908 and is seeking answers of her ancestry. Both ladies are living in Pleasant Valley which seems to be anything but pleasant.
Great Characters
Sometimes when an author splits a story between two main characters there are problems – underdeveloped characters and plotlines – but Jaime Jo Wright introduced a well-developed supporting cast and a strong story linking the two ladies over 100 years. I loved reading about noisy Mrs. Brummel, quiet Rose, the Amos couple, and the secretive Simeon – all of whom were part of Thea's story – as well as Heidi's sister and brother-in-law and the Crawford family who helped Heidi answer her own questions.
Potential Spoilers Ahead
The Curse of Misty Wayfair opens with Thea taking a memento mori – a photograph of a deceased person – which takes us to Heidi purchasing an album in an antique shop with that very same photo of Mary Coyle taken by Thea. This was the beginning of a personal connection to Heidi Lane as I enjoy looking through old photographs in antique shops and have purchased some from the mid-1800s and early 1900s (although none were memento mori).
The physical resemblance of Heidi to Mary is what begins the connection across the years. Over the course of Wright's book, we learn of Heidi's anxiety (which created a second connection for me) and see how Rhett Crawford helps Heidi reign in her anxiety at various events – a car accident, a fire, etc.
As Thea finds out who she is and what became of her mother, I found myself wanting to know more of her life and that of Simeon Coyle. I was very sad when I read the last page of The Curse of Misty Wayfair as I wanted to follow both Thea and Simeon and Heidi and Rhett on their journeys as couples.
End of Potential Spoilers
Both Thea and Heidi discovered with the aid of others that focusing upon God – the Creator – was what was really important on their journey to find themselves.
I recommend The Curse of Misty Wayfair by Jaime Jo Wright to those who enjoy romantic suspense, Christian fiction, mysteries, or historical fiction. Wright did a wonderful job weaving together the mystery of a small logging town, a scandal, and the present day.
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A Mom's Quest to Teach:
sounds like you very much enjoyed this book. :) always good when you read a good one eh?
ReplyDeleteYes! Good books are sometimes are to find and I love when one is enjoyable to read and review.
DeleteI've not read one of her books before but I have heard many a recommendation.
ReplyDeleteThis was the first I have read by her...added her to my list of authors to check out.
DeleteHmm - sounds interesting. And I really like the quote you shared at the end about discovering our Creator. Nice!
ReplyDeleteYes...the conversations that both ladies had about finding out who they were in relation to the Creator were fantastic.
DeleteI love how you read and review so many fiction books. I tend to gravitate towards non-fiction but I'm working on including more fiction.
ReplyDeleteI think I find fiction easier to read and review b/c when I read non-fiction I want to take notes on everything - makes me read them more slowly.
DeleteI've been meaning to read Jaime Jo Wright's books and somehow still haven't done so. This one looks really good and I needed this reminder to put it back on my TBR list!
ReplyDelete