Starri Knight is a big believer in fate. How else to explain the compelling connection she feels to the stranger she pulls out of a wrecked car on the very same road where her parents died twenty years earlier? Alongside Auntie Ona-May, the only mother she’s ever known, Starri saves Rusty O’Sullivan’s life—just as Ona-May once did when Starri was an orphaned babe. But convincing Rusty he has something to live for is going to take all of Starri’s faith in miracles . . .
 
Like a wish he hadn’t even known to make, Starri landed in Rusty’s life, filling him with a longing for a family. . . . Then Jackson Landry, a new lawyer, turns up to present a surprise that will change the direction of his life: An inheritance from the father Rusty never knew—and the promise of the family he’d never had. It’s a lot for the hard-bitten loner to
accept as love rushes into his life . . .
 
A sense of duty has Rusty heading to Honey Creek to deal with his father’s estate—and find his lost siblings. But having a family is one thing; learning to love them is another. Good thing new friends are by his side to help him along the way.

Titles in the Someday Valley series include — Strawberry Lane —♦—

NetGalley ARC

Title:  Strawberry Lane
Series:  Someday Valley #1
Author:  Jodi Thomas
Genre:  Contemporary Romance
Published:  April 25, 2023
Publisher:  Zebra, Kensington Books
My Rating:  4.5

As a long-time reader of this author’s interesting worlds, I’m always excited when a new series begins, and Strawberry Lane is an excellent novel to introduce us to the Someday Valley series.

Several strangers are about to have their lives intersect with the death of one man who didn’t do well at all by his children… or perhaps he did by staying away.  On this night Rusty is about to wreck on a muddy, washed-out road up the hillside that will set events in motion that will change not only his life but bring those strangers together as a family as well.  Lives are about to be changed, and we won’t know exactly how the shattered pieces fit until the series ends.

There is never a cliffhanger, but there are some happy-for-now couples, and the main focus shifts a bit to different characters throughout not only this story, but the series to come.  There are a lot of people whose lives will be changed by these events.  I wasn’t lost in tracking them and saw their inclusion as an overall introduction to who we’ll interact with in the novels later in the series.  In my opinion, there is always world-building in any new series, even if we the readers think we know everything there is to know about a small town.

I enjoyed myself immensely in this world.  There are characters who will steal your heart immediately and others who hold back on giving up much information.  I adored Starri, and I just love Ona-May’s personality.  And I will always love seeing some familiar faces from Honey Creek in any story.  I had fun here, and if you enjoy a romance that speaks to the family that didn’t know they were connected, and discovering secrets that change lives then you’d love this novel.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story.It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Release date: April 25, 2023

Available in print, audio, or for your favorite e-reader