Born of Gilded Mountains by Amanda Dykes (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

Title:  Born of Gilded Mountains

Author:  Amanda Dykes

Narrated by:  Sandy Rustin

Publisher: Recorded Books

Length: Approximately 14 hours and 11 minutes

Source: Audiobook purchased from Amazon.com.  Thank you to Bethany House Fiction for the physical copy of the novel as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour.  I'm a bit behind on my post due to my son's graduation party and sickness in the family.

Which fictional character would you love to have as a best friend? I’ve always thought Jo from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott would make a great friend.

Born of Gilded Mountains is the story of two friends. They started as pen pals as children, but an unfortunate misunderstanding has cut the ties between them.  One of them has become Mercy Windsor, a famous actress.  After a scandal, she decides to purchase an abandoned estate in Mercy Peak Colorado, the home of her old pen pal, Ruby/Rusty Bright.  What happened to Rusty?  What happened to the Galloping Goose Railcar No. 8 which disappeared years before carrying mail that could have changed the lives of many?

My thoughts on this novel:

·       There was a lot going on in this novel and I liked it.  It was a story of friendship, a story of an entire town, and an engaging mystery.  It moved at a gentle pace throughout the story.

·       I really wanted to know what happened to Galloping Goose Railcar No. 8 and enjoyed the suspense as the main characters solve this mystery. 

·       There is also a fun treasure hunt that involves Rusty’s father and his friends leaving clues to the treasure.

·       Speaking of characters, I LOVED the characters in this novel.  Mercy Peak had a lot of interesting characters.  I felt like I got to know them throughout the novel, and I enjoyed reading about them so much.  I felt sad when the novel ended.

·       I always enjoy the golden age of Hollywood, so I liked the snippets about Mercy’s (Marybeth’s) time in Hollywood and the scandal that brought her down.

·       I also enjoy stories about mining and enjoyed the bits about mining in this old Colorado mining town.

·       This is also a story of grief.

·       This is a clean read and a good Christian story.  The theme was how God redeems and restores the broken parts of our lives.

·       There was a sweet romance in this novel, but the true focus was on friendship.

·       I enjoyed the unique storytelling. There are flashbacks to help with the treasure hunt, and newspaper articles. There are also scenes written like a screenplay of Mercy Windsor’s life.

·       As I have been doing a lot lately, I listened to this book on audiobook during my drive time.  Sandy Rustin was a great narrator and really brought the story to life.

Overall, Born of Gilded Mountains was a beautiful story of friendship and community, while also a riveting suspense and mystery.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

When newcomer Mercy Windsor arrives in Mercy Peak in 1948 after a scandal shatters her gilded world as Hollywood's beloved leading lady, she is determined to forge a new life in obscurity in this time-forgotten Colorado haven. She purchases Wildwood--an abandoned estate with a haunting history--and begins to restore it to its former glory.

But as she does, her every move tugs at the threads of that mountain's lore, unearthing what became of her long-lost pen pal, Rusty Bright, and the whereabouts of the infamous Galloping Goose Engine No. 8, which vanished years ago, along with the mailbag it carried, whose contents could change the course of countless lives. Not to mention another fabled treasure that--if found--could right so many wrongs.

Among the towering mountains that stand as silent witnesses, the ghosts of the past entangle with the courage of the present to find a place where healing, friendship, and hope can abide amid a world forever changed.

AUTHOR BIO

Amanda Dykes's debut novel, Whose Waves These Are, was the winner of the prestigious 2020 Christy Award Book of the Year, a Booklist 2019 Top Ten Romance debut, and the winner of an INSPY Award. She's also the author of All the Lost Places and Christy Award finalists Yours Is the Night and Set the Stars Alight. Find her online at AmandaDykes.com.