Trouble In Store By Carol Cox Book Review

// Trouble In Store //

 

A Novel

 

By Carol Cox

 

{Review By Bethany}

 

Title: Trouble In Store
Author: Carol Cox
Source: Won on a Good Reads First Reads giveaway

Number Of Pages: 346

ISBN: 0764209566
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers

Publication Date: June 2013
My Rating: 5 out of 5 Stars

 

//Book Description//

 

Taken From GoodReads.com

 

"Fired from her most recent governess position, Melanie Ross must embrace her last resort: the Arizona mercantile she inherited from her cousin. But Caleb Nelson is positive he inherited the mercantile, and he's not about to let some obstinate woman with newfangled ideas mess up all he's worked for. He's determined to get Melanie married off as soon as possible, and luckily there are plenty of single men in town quite interested in taking her off his hands.
The problem is, Caleb soon realizes he doesn't want her to marry up with any of them. He's drawn to Melanie more every day, and he has to admit some of her ideas for the store unexpectedly offer positive results.

But someone doesn't want the store to succeed, and what used to be just threatening words has escalated into deliberate destruction and lurkers in the night. When a body shows up on the mercantile steps--and the man obviously didn't die from natural causes--things really get dangerous. Can Melanie and Caleb's business--and romance--survive the trouble that's about to come their way?"

 

//Bethany's Review//

 

{N o t e :: I received a free copy of Trouble In Store from the publisher, which I won from a Good Reads First Reads giveaway on GoodReads.com. I was not required to write a review on Trouble In Store, and all thoughts expressed in this review are my own, honest and unbiased.}

 

Trouble In Store is a exciting read that combines mystery, Christian values and a delightful, page-turning story! Trouble In Store is the first book written by Carol Cox that I have read, but it most certainly won't be the last as I fully enjoyed each and every page of this story! I was very impressed and look forward to reading more of her novels in the future.

 

Trouble In Store starts off with Miss Melanie Ross, a former governess who is fired due to a situation with children she was watching, however the situation wasn't seen in honesty, and Melanie is sent off. She was orphaned at a very young age, and now has no family top turn to except for her cousins who runs a mercantile in Arizona, who died a couple months ago-leaving her with no one. As a last resort, Melanie goes to her cousin's store with hopes of starting fresh and making a comfortable life in Arizona. When her cousin died months ago she was extended a inheritance to inherit her uncles mercantile which he had worked at with his friend and business partner before his death. But when Melanie gets to Arizona she finds that inheriting the mercantile isn't going to be as easy and she thought. She find that her cousin's business partner, who has also mysteriously died, has a nephew named Caleb, who is a candidate to inherit the mercantile just as much as Melanie. But when mysterious notes are left and danger lurks, Melanie and Caleb must work together to bring justice to their relatives deaths and safety to the town while trying to keep the mercantile from going under at the same time.

 

Personally, I loved Trouble In Store. There was so much going for this book, and even though it's the first time I've read any of Carol's books, I was very impressed with the lovely writing and intriguing story. One of the things I loved about this book is how mystery is a very big part of the book, especially towards the end. At first when I saw the cover of Trouble In Store I didn't expect a novel containing a nice bit of mystery, but really enjoyed it in the end and think it made the novel so much more enjoyable. I also loved the title and the pun! This book reminded me a bit of Karen Witemeyer's book A Tailor-Made Bride, since a large portion of the book takes place in the mercantile and has the distinct feel of a new town getting started.

 

I also enjoyed how this book was relatively low-romance, being that the romance didn't really kick in until three-fourths of the book, and there were only two kisses. It was just enough romance to keep it interesting, but not so much that is overpowering. This book was also very clean, and the main characters had strong Christian morals, which always raises my love of a book instantly.

I also loved the different characters in Trouble In Store. I enjoyed how you get to meet lots of unique people from the town, through scenes of them in the mercantile, and fell in love with all the various characters. I felt like there were just enough characters to keep it interesting and guessing as to the suspects to the mystery of how Caleb and Melanie's uncle and cousin died, but not so many that you forget everyone and have a hard time keeping up. I especially loved Levi, Caleb's son from his marriage that ended when his wife died shortly after Levi was born. I always love children characters that play a big part in the story, and Levi was no exception.

 

In all, I was very pleased with Trouble In Store and would highly recommend it to ladies who love historical fiction that is clean and has a nice touch of mystery! I'd like to sincerely thank Bethany House publishers and Good Reads First Reads for the ability to read this delightful novel!

 

P.S. Want a chance to win a copy of Trouble In Store? If so then check out this current giveaways for a copy over HERE and HERE! Note: I do not claim to endorse or be a part of these giveaways. I just thought you guys would enjoy knowing about them, even though I'm not a part of them.