At news of her father's death, Tressa Harlowe becomes the poorest heiress in England--mainly because her father didn't see fit to trust anyone with the location of his amassed and well-hidden fortune, and their laborers and creditors are waiting eagerly for long-awaited funds. As friends, family, and fortune hunters, under the pretense of offering condolences, descend on the estate to try to find the treasure for themselves, Tressa finds herself leaning on the new manager of the vineyard, Donegan Vance. But can they find the hidden fortune before they lose the estate?
There's a lovely Gothic flavor to this story, with an old castle, rumors of hidden treasure, and a possible saboteur. Tressa is a sweet, creative heroine, but no doormat. And while Donegan is a little rough around the edges and apt to jump to wrong conclusions where she is concerned, he's also a wonderfully wise and thoughtful hero.
There is a lot of food for thought--and biblical teaching--in this story, the most obvious being the metaphor of the vine and the branches. But there's also God's role as Father--the perfect Father our human father can never be. I appreciated that though Tressa often turns to God, it takes a long time to learn that God is the only one she can lean on, trust implicitly, and be loved by unconditionally--one of those simple things that we ourselves should know, yet it can be just as difficult for us to learn as for Tressa.
I thought it interesting how money proved to be an idol in so many different ways in the story--in the traditional sense for Tressa's mother; as something hated by Tressa's father yet given the power to consume his thoughts and cloud his dealings with everyone, including his daughter; in Donegan's case, not as something to be loved or hated, but rather the key to righting his mistakes; as a (deceptive) form of security for Tressa's cousins. How easy is it for us to fall into the same traps?
It's a lovely story, with beautiful, lyrical writing. I look forward to more from the author!
Thank you Revell for the complimentary book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.
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