Book Review: Born of Gilded Mountains by Amanda Dykes

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What is this book about?

Legends are tucked into every fold of the Colorado mountains surrounding the quaint town of Mercy Peak, where residents are the stuff of tall tales, the peaks are taller still, and a lost treasure has etched mystery into the very terrain.

In 1948, when outsider Mercy Windsor arrives 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 the mountain’s lore, unearthing what became of her long-lost pen pal Rusty Bright, and the whereabouts of the infamous Galloping Goose Railcar No. 8, which vanished years ago–along with the mailbag it carried, whose contents could change the course of countless lives. Not to mention the 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.

Purchase Links: Pre-Order Goodies | Baker Book House | Bookshop.org | Christian Book | Books-a-Million | Walmart | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Amanda Dykes’s debut novel, Whose Waves These Are, is 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 the Christy Award finalists All the Lost Places, Yours Is the Night, and Set the Stars Alight. Find her online at AmandaDykes.com.

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My review:

I believe this is my favorite book to date by this author. What a wonderful story of friendship, hope, and healing. From the first letter between Rusty and Mercy, I was hooked. Each page was filled with poetic prose as we followed Mercy’s journey restoring an abandoned estate and putting together the clues that could answer the town’s lingering questions about a missing train. Between the mystery being solved, the fun amount of interesting characters, and the threads of healing and hope tying it together, this was a great read. Definitely recommend.

What I enjoyed most about this book: 

Beautiful friendship story

What I didn’t like about this book:

Nothing

Would I recommend this book to others? Absolutely. Wonderful characters, beautifully woven inspirational thread, and an interesting mystery to solve. This is a standalone story.

Note: I received this book complimentary as a member of the author’s launch team. I was not required to give a positive review. All of the opinions I have expressed here are honest and my own.

Where can I learn more about this author and their books?

Amanda Dykes, author website

-Loraine Nunley

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