I wanted to love this by all the positive reviews I saw but I just couldn't fully give this book my all. It was beautifully written and had a lovely story line it just wasn't my cup of tea. I usually ONLY read mystery/thrillers but wanted to try something different. Don't let this deter you from this book because I'm sure a lot of people will really enjoy this I'm just not one of them.

A wonderful novel about loves lost and found, fairy tales, libraries, gold and forgiveness.

Harry Crane has lost the love of his life and decides life is not worth living. A bureaucrat for the Forestry department, Harry has always loved trees and found safety and comfort within them so he heads to the forest with the intent of taking his life. He is saved instead by a little girl, her mother and a broken branch. There is also a book and a librarian involved. The story brings together a whole cast of characters who are all involved together and who all help each other and themselves along this unusual journey.

A fun, insightful, feel good read that keeps the reader engaged. I really enjoyed Harry's story and everyone in it.

This is a crazy, full of nutty characters book with a fabulous story connecting all of them im a fairy tale based adventure.
Harry Crane devotedly loved his wife and lost her to a moment in time he daily lives to regret. Amanda only loved Dean, a strong, burly outdoorsman felled by an aneurism. How Harry and Amanda come together to drive this fantastic plot is touching, fun and, in some cases, laugh out loud at the antics of the supporting cast. Add in Amanda’s daughter, Oriana, and her fairy tale book that drives Harry along and you have the best story ever.

You're walking into a forest of trees....and you get lost in this novel.

Jon Cohen beautifully intertwines trauma and grief with human connection. I think what I loved most about this is the powerful message that Jon conveys through Harry's Trees. Harry Crane suffers a loss with the death of his wife in a tragic accident and lives the next year in somewhat of a daze. Amanda and her daughter Oriana are also suffering from a loss and push through their tragedy the best they both know how.

These three characters stumble upon one another ultimately by fate. Amanda, Oriana, and Harry connect deeply through their loss, grief, and love. The characters are so raw, real, and beautiful. The supporting characters of Ronnie, Olive, and Wolf add even more to the ultimate depth of the story.

Cohen balances a unique mix of nature, fairy tale, and reality in this story. I loved how Oriana brought the magic to life as part of her healing.

The only issues I had with this one is that Cohen references many latin terms for the trees and I wasn't particularly fond of this. It got a bit much for me ... but others may love this. I found some of the story to drag in some areas but overall this was a very unique and different story!

I feel that this is going to be a very high contender for fiction fans!

3.75 stars :).

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Harlequin for the advanced arc.
Publication date: 6/12/18
Published to GR: 5/19/18.

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time and did not want the story to end. The characters and the message you get from the writer are real and you will savor each word you read. The descriptions and emotions are well written.

I fell completely under the spell of this book. I loved spending time with all these characters--even Stu and Wolf--and I really enjoyed the fairy-tale cast of the story. I loved Olive the quirky the librarian, Harry and Amanda and Oriana, and all the secondary characters that I found myself rooting for throughout the book. The author does a great job making us feel the emotions his characters are dealing with and I found myself totally invested in seeing that they worked through their pain. There are some weaknesses to the story and, to be honest, I am not sure that the chemistry between the two main characters is thoroughly established, but I still really liked it.

This book will appeal to readers of Nicholas Sparks and Matthew Quick, and others--lots of authors that are well-loved at our library. I am definitely buying this for my library and am looking forward to sharing it with our patrons.

Loved this book. Didn’t want it to end. Highly recommend.

Love love love. Incredible book. Fabulous book club pick too

Before you pick up Harry's Trees and think you want to read it, think again. It's way too long and doesn't have the Phaedra Patrick / Sarah Addison Allen vibe I was expecting it to. I love trees too, but Cohen has taken Harry's love of trees and dedicated too many pages to it. While the friendships between Harry, Amanda, and Oriana do develop, it takes too long for it to grow. It's a frustrating read that will make you want to put it down and not think about it ever again. I almost gave up fifty pages in and now wish that I had.

Trees. I'm a fan. The woods, the understory, my unending quest to uproot and destroy garlic mustard to protect the ephemerals and native woodland plants - show me a novel set in the woods, with a tree-loving tomboy who lost her father, a forester who lost his wife, and belief in magic, or at least in the power born of doing good, and I'm totally going to buy this book.

The opening pages are ponderous and guilt-laden, as a man blames himself for his wife's untimely demise. His brother Wolf is a bully, and a giant tree at their childhood home is the refuge for young Harry Crane.

Oriana is a charming character, the girl who lives in the Pennsylvania woods, at least as much as her widowed mother will allow.

Unfortunately, too many minor characters get their own POV pages, and the more villainous they are, the more annoyed I am by the "Captain Obvious" prose.

The old, spinster librarian is more authentic than the villains. The book she treasures, "The Grum’s Ledger," is a life changer for Harry and Oriana, in ways that remind me of all those movies about Paying It Forward and doing good deeds. There's a fairy tale quality at work, or a New Age optimism.

I found myself skimming pages, because the prose is a bit dry, and the assorted POVs wearying. I do like the final image of Wolf and a certain dog. That alone makes the novel worthwhile.

My expectations were high, given that Jon Cohen received an NEA fellowship for creative writing, and is the co-writer of a film directed by Steven Spielberg. His screenplay skills must be stronger than his prose.

Harlequin fans are sure to love this. For me, this novel had too many tropes of the romance genre, or tropes of Hollywood feel-good films. I'm likely a harsher judge than others would be.