"Moonlight on the Millpond" Review

About the book:

This first book in the Tucker Mills Trilogy from beloved author Lori Wick follows Jace Randall as he leaves his childhood home to help his Uncle Woody Randall run the saw mill in Token Creek. Jace diligently focuses on work until he meets the visiting niece of local storekeepers. Jace pursues her until she finally agrees to attend a picnic with him and take a chance.

But before the relationship has a strong foundation, the couple separates because of gossip fueled by Jace’s sister. Later, when she admits her wrongdoing and shares her testimony of a new faith, the couple must decide whether to try again. Will the sister’s example of faith and transformation be enough to restore broken dreams?





Moonlight on the Millpond
by Lori Wick
"Tucker Mills" #1
Publication date: March 1, 2005
Harvest House Publishers
285 pages
Audio CD read by Barbara Rosenblat


My Take:

I read this book years ago, but I needed something to listen to in the car during the off season from football. (ESPN radio is my listening choice during football season!!!)

The audio CDs were available at my local library, so I decided to give this another read (or listen!)

I have read many of Lori Wick's books. In fact, Lori Wick was one of the authors who first got me reading more Christian fiction. I had read this one before, but it turns out that I didn't really remember much of it.

To start this book was interesting, and I liked getting to know the characters. I really liked the supporting characters in Jace and Maddie's lives. Jace's Uncle Woody, the housekeeper Clara, Maddies aunt and uncle Cathy and Doyle, the pastor and his wife....I loved them all.

As novel kept going, however, I started to not like Maddie as must as I did at the beginning of the book. It kind of just got boring after a while, especially when so many things kept keeping the two of them apart. It almost seemed sometimes that they spent more time apart than together! (And how many times can you use the plot device of someone getting accidently drunk and not remembering what they did the night before?)

***POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT***

I also wish that the ending could have been wrapped up a bit more quickly, and I really wanted to actually experience the conversion of the characters rather than it just being implied. I felt like I invested so much in their spiritual lives and then was just left hanging at the end.


***SPOILER OVER***

I will say that the narrator for the audio book was pretty good. Her voice was kind of rough-sounding, but it gave an interesting effect to the male voices.

Overall, I thought this book had potential but that ultimately it didn't really go anywhere. If you want to read something by Lori Wick, I recommend her "Place Called Home" series.

The audio book made for something nice to listen to in the car, though, and I will definitely pick up another audio book in the future.

I will give Moonlight on the Millpond ... 3 Bookworms.