What could have been view as just another romance goes much deeper with family secrets and race relations...the characters move through the story with humor and grace. There is an immediate connection with the characters who are rich and multidimensional. This author is new to me, but having enjoyed this story so much...I couldn't put it down once I started reading...I know I'll be seeking out more of her books.

This book was provided by the Publisher and Netgalley, I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

Barwell's Folly was a book that really highlighted and explored the life of an author who was tragically killed along with his wife and some of his children. Dori Bardwell and her brother are the only family that was not killed. Her father was a white author who wrote a book about slavery. He even had a replica plantation house built. Dori resides in the home but it is maintained through a foundation that her father set up. Dori struggles with the feelings she has about her father. He was an alcoholic and a difficult man who did not speak about his past. Her mother also did not speak of her past. When a wealthy publisher gets involved with Dori and the foundation, he begins to make claims that he was collaborating with Dori's father when he was killed. Dori suspects he is not telling the truth and that he has a hidden motive. When he hires an intern to come and organize all of her father's things, Dori knows she must protect the manuscript her father was working on when he was killed. Things get complicated when the media discovers Dori has made a statement that has been called racial. She is unprepared for the backlash she receives.

Joe Gagnon is the ex boyfriend Dori has tried to avoid. When he becomes the new landscaper for the plantation, she comes to realize he might be the friend she needs to help her find her way. Joe repeatedly works to protect Dori's best interest. By doing so, old feelings are rekindled and their relationship is given a second chance. Dori begins to explore the past her father and mother tried to escape from. In doing so, Dori comes to realize what is important and she comes to an acceptance of her father and sees the value of his work.

I found the book to just be okay. I was not a big fan of the profanity in the book that seemed unnecessary to me. I did enjoy watching Dori and Joe develop but the rest of the story I struggled to really stay engaged in.

Eudora (Dori) Bardwell is one of two children left in the Bardwell family after a tragic accident killed her entire family. Her father was a Pulitzer Prize winning author who wrote one on the best known books on anti-slavery. He died with somewhat grandiose ideas as to his legacy which left his two surviving children in virtual poverty. Dori is working two jobs to make ends meet. The family home has been left to create a memorial focused on her fathers writing and she is left to the mercy of the Board who run the legacy, a group of people not quite committed to making her life easier. Then comes out a really bad joke that Dori makes in referring to Blackface and all hell breaks loose. It appears that Dori's parents falsified their past and as a way of avoiding the media madness that breaks about her gaff, Dori decides to go on a field trip to Georgia with her officially designated black friend Maya. What she discovers changes everything.

This book, originally sold as a romance novel quickly turns into something more meaningful when it begins to tackle the subject of race relations in the USA and gives a white girl a hint of what African descent people deal with as an everyday occurrence. The romance in toe story isn't all sugar and spice and all things nice, but it is still a lovely romance to watch blossom. There are real questions tackled about what a real relationship looks like in this modern age. The characters are strongly written and feel realistic. The effects on society that websites like Twitter are explored briefly. There is also a point made about domestic violence.

This book is more than a silly romance to be consumed and forgotten the next day. The topics covered will have an effect on the thinking reader.

A satisfying read.