A riveting story of love, loss and betrayal.
The Blue Ridge mountains make a wonderful setting for a second chance and the people of a small town are both loving and memorable. I finished this book the same day I started it, could not put it down. I loved it.

And Then There Was You....

I honestly don't even know where to start with this book. Sad tears, happy tears, frustrating tears, and more. I knew from the start that this book would take me a on an emotional ride. But don't let that stop you from reading it! I want to pack up my things and move myself to Chestnut Ridge.
I knew that Natalie and Randy would share a connection to each other. Randy was so patient and understanding with Natalie. And let me tell you, Natalie needed that. Natalie was sure put through the ringer. She experienced so much loss and hurt along her way, that you knew she needed to find some happiness. She found happiness and so much more along that way. She found family again in Chestnut Ridge in the most exciting and sweet way.
Grab this book and you won't be disappointed! Be prepared to shed some sad and happy tears along the way.

And Then There Was You, by Nancy Naigle, is the story of young widow Natalie Maynard in the aftermath of a dual loss. First, her beloved husband Jeremy is lost to her in a tragic accident. Then, a few years later, the grieving Natalie is bamboozled by a serial con artist, losing her money and belongings to a man she thought truly cared for her.
In the aftermath of the second loss, Natalie meets Detective Randy Fellowes of the Richmond, VA, police department. Randy takes a distinctive interest in Natalie’s case, wanting to help her overcome this obstacle and find the villain that has disappeared. After months of living in limbo at her best friend Sheila’s home, Natalie pulls herself together and decides to move to her beloved Jeremy’s cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains outside of the small town of Chestnut Ridge, a few hours northwest of Richmond. On her first night in Chestnut Ridge, Natalie meets elderly Orene, whose lovely home had been posted online as a B&B. Although that is no longer true, Orene is more than happy to open her home to Jeremy’s young widow.
In fact, Orene was set to help Natalie however possible, from the job offer from Jesse to simply befriending the young widow. As she does so, things are kept from Natalie that may be hurtful. But the relationship Natalie’s job working with seniors brings to her in the form of octogenarian Paul Granstaff may be a key to both past and future.
This is such a good, original story! Ms. Naigle has created a cast of wonderful characters and a heartfelt plot that mirrors societal issues such as loss, grief, and those that try to swindle from others. I very much enjoyed this book and only hope it is the first of many set in Chestnut Ridge!

Oh how I love Chestnut Ridge! Once you read this book, I feel like you will too! Natalie finds herself in quite a predicament and retreats to her remote cabin that she inherited from her late husband. The life she begins there will be so different from the life she lived before, but she finds she wouldn’t change it! Really enjoyed this one!

This book was seriously the sweetest, and the most inspirational romance read.

Natalie gets conned from everything her late husband left her, she thought she was on the right path with this new man in her life, but the way he set her up, was horrible. She meets Randy, who is the detective on her case and hes really liking her but the timing is all wrong. There is heavy attraction and I loved how everything turned out.

She decides she wants to start fresh and forgets that her late husband has a cabin a few towns away, and she comes into an amazing town who remembers her husband and welcomes her with open arms. There is a huge town secret, and it involves her late husband, but the way this book ends!! OMG had me in tears. I would read more from this author, especially if there is part of a series.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 stars
🔥(kissing only)

[ Thank you @smpromance and @netgalley for the eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own! ]

PUB DATE: June 27, 2023

THOUGHTS:

After being scammed by a professional con-man, Natalie has lost everything she owned. She remembers her late husband’s fishing cabin in Chestnut Ridge. It’s there in that town where she begins to heal, fall in love with the town and it’s people, and also over time find love again.

This was a super sweet love story. I liked the bit of mystery with solving and catching the con-man. I loved how the town welcomed her with open arms where Jeremy was well loved. Natalie’s cabin up in the mountains sounded so heavenly and peaceful.

Detective Randy Fellowes was respectful of Natalie and her wishes of just being friends at first. But it was so sweet to see over time and distance how they both gravitated towards each other more and more.

Overall, if you’re looking for a book with small town charm, a bit of mystery, and some light romance... this is the one for you! 💕

Natalie is a widow and now the victim of a romancing con artist who has literally walked out the door with everything she owned. She is shaken to her core. She no longer trusts her judgement in anything. When she remembers the little hunting cabin that her husband owns up on a mountain, she heads out to the solitary life and begins to rebuild her life and her self-esteem. The handsome detective working her case might play a part in that!

This is a book about deceit and heartache. It's about those getting just what they deserve in the end. It is about finding friends, romance and trust in yourself. I really loved it. It left me feeling warm and happy.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

This is an emotional and touching book that starts off with a strange happening in the life of widow Natalie Maynard as she returns home to Richmond from a vacation to find that a man, she trusted has conned her out of all of her possessions and home. The detective on the case, Randy, is drawn to Natalie and spends time over and above to try to solve her case. He is hoping that she will one day become a friend as well.
After a while, she remembers that her husband left her a cabin in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, so she moves up there to regroup. We met some wonderful people in the book, in both Richmond and the small mountain town of Chestnut Ridge. The townsfolks all open their hearts and arms to Natalie, widow of their special hometown son, including a reclusive older man needing some extra help. She doesn't have any family and soon finds that family can be anyone who cares for you and opens themselves up to you. It was nice to see Natalie begin to heal and take a chance at life again. There are surprises in store as the book wraps up and ends with a great ending.
I received a copy for the purpose of an honest review, and these are my thoughts and opinions.

I did not expect to love And Then There Was You as much as I did, but it was perfect. I read it in a single night, during the middle of a severe thunderstorm and it was the best cozy story for a night in. It gave me Virgin River vibes and I absolutely loved everything about this book!

Nancy never disappoints. This story is a good example of what happens when you put your heart in the wrong place. Left to struggle with building a new life without funds, without a vehicle, basically without a family she moves herself to a small town and unknowingly to a small town detective. He isn't looking for romance, but it finds him anyways. A story that will capture your attention and your heart.

Thank you to St. Martins Press for my complimentary eARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really liked And Then There Was You. I read it all in one lazy summer day. Sometimes you just need an inspirational story to make you believe in the goodness of people. This is that story.

Natalie’s world came crashing down with her husband’s death. So she was over the moon with happiness when she met Marc. He was so good to her. Until it turned out he wasn’t who he said he was.

I think Nancy did a wonderful job weaving the unfortunate world of scammers into a love story. If just one person is able to have the courage to step forward with their own story Nancy will have done her job.

Looking forward to returning to Chestnut Ridge.

Perfect for readers who enjoy:
Found family
Second chance

And Then There Was You (Chestnut Ridge #1) by Nancy Naigle
I love how Nancy welcomes me into her story and makes me want to live there. Natalie and Randy meet when she is scammed by a con artist. She is a widow who has been taken for everything. As he works her case there is angst, deceit, heartbreak, insecurity, laughter, tears, discovering family secrets, wonderful friends, finding love and happiness. I hope there are more books in this series.
Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Informative Wonderful characters Great world building Page-turner Entertaining Happily Ever After Witty Tear-jerker Easy-to-read Romantic Unpredictable.

And Then There Was You is a captivating story by Nancy Naigle. This is Natalie Maynard’s story of loss, falling prey to the unscrupulous, then finding healing is a small mountain community. Natalie has loss the love of her life before trusting the wrong person. From that event she continuedly doubts herself. I enjoyed seeing the small Virginia mountain community take her in as one of them, restoring her faith in herself as well as others.

Of course, Detective Randy Fellowes was a favorite character of mine. He pursued the Romero conman, determined to catch and stop him no matter how long it took. Justice is not always found but thankfully it can be so in this work of fiction. Later on there is a subplot mystery that was just as interesting to be solved with Randy Fellowes on the case too.

And Then There Was You I a clean romance with faith elements. It is also a story of growing stronger, community support and found family. The plot was solid with great character development that make it all come together in one wonderful read. I look forward to the second installment of the Chestnut Ridge series.

An ARC of the book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley which I voluntarily chose to read and reviewed. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Nancy Naigle is the queen of sweet wholesome romance. She writes beautiful characters full of love and emotion, always painting a remarkable, close-knit, small-town setting. And Then There Was You is an adorable romance with a heartwarming happily ever after. You can never go wrong with a novel written by Nancy Naigle.

Natalie Maynard fell prey to a con artist, losing almost everything she owned and her life savings. While she worked closely with the detective assigned to the case, she tried to piece her life back together. This ultimately involved moving to Chestnut Ridge, a small town her former husband had been from.

I felt for Natalie from the start. Back from a dream vacation to Mexico, the home she thought she had was empty, and there was no way to contact her new fiance. It had moved fast, and was too good to be true. She had already lost her husband and thought she was starting over, kicking her into grief all over again. His old truck was found and his hunting lodge remained in her name, so she was able to move to the small town where everyone knew everything about each other, and made her feel comfortable right away. She and Detective Randy Fellowes got along very well, becoming friends with the hope for more. While this also feels too good to be true, there's more of an established history for Randy, and he's far more open to her questions than the conman ever was.

While this book is part of a series, it doesn't matter if you've ever read books based out of this town or not. You have the characters and the town, the river to fish in and the areas to sit and relax with nature. The small town has its own stories of the fairy rocks nearby, which is a cute and quirky touch that doesn't really play a huge role in the plot but maybe links back to other books in the series. Overall, this is a lowkey romance, low on heat and high on promise for a better future together.

Loved it. Thrilled to see it is the first of a series. I am eagerly awaiting the next one. This is so much more than a romance. Family issues. Small town friendliness and compassion. Nancy Naigle has become one of my favorite authors. She does not disappoint. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

This is such a wonderfully sweet story. Natalie meets Randy when she is conned out of everything she owns. This is the start of a slow and careful relationship. The plot is about resilience and having the faith to trust again. With the help of some wonderful characters, Natalie finds joy in life again and gains a family. The author weaves a wonderful story that will leave readers feeling hopeful.

Then There Was You by Nancy Naigle is the first in her Chestnut Ridge Series. Natalie Maynard lost her first husband and thought she had found love in someone else who turns out to be a con-artist. Randy Fellowes is the detective assigned to Natalie’s case to bring justice. The two become friends. Natalie decides to reinvent herself by moving to her husband’s old fishing cabin.

“Being emotional, even vulnerable means the past meant so much to you. But we can’t stay there. Can we?”

I thoroughly enjoyed Then There Was You and appreciated this gentle romance. The main characters were very relatable, experienced growth and had depth. The setting of Chestnut Ridge was delightful and the people there were charming. The story had some complex family issues giving the story nice depth. I was very invested. I loved learning about fairy stones.

“Legends tell of fairies weeping when they heard of the the crucifixion of Jesus, and their tears crystallized into tiny cross-shaped stones.”

Then There Was You has charm, beautifully flawed characters, and a wonderful setting in the mountains of Chestnut Ridge. Nancy Naigle is quickly becoming one of my favorite new to me authors. I highly recommend Then There Was You and look forward to revisiting Chestnut Ridge in the future.

I was given a copy by the publisher and not required to write a positive review.

I so love the books by Nancy Naigle. She connects your emotions right with the characters of her stories and you want to just reach into the book and give them a hug or ask them "what the heck are you thinking" you know what they are thinking but they don't.
This is a wonderful story about redemption, lost loves, self doubt and feelings of inadequacy. Natalie Maynard is a woman who has lost her husband, soulmate, man of her dreams and her prince charming. He has been killed in a car accident and she feels like she can not go on. He has some frequent flyer points so she decides to use them and starts traveling. Because she is in first class and pampering herself she finds that on several flights she is sitting next to the same man. Marc is caring, sensitive and seems to be an overall good guy so she starts a relationship with him. But, he is really deceitful and full of secrets that come home to roost in the worst way possible. Because of this situation she meets Randy, a police officer in her hometown. Now she realizes that she has been taken advantage of and has almost nothing left.
She finds out that her late husband has a cabin in the small town of Chestnut Ridge and though she has only been there once she feel it will be a safe place to recoup and find herself again.
We are privileged to start meeting the people of the Ridge and I will tell you if I could find that cabin and move in with my books I would be moving this afternoon. The people there know of her husband, know of her and take her in like the lost child she feels like. So many things start to come out about her past and Randy and her begin to spend a lot of time together building a wonderful relationship. Randy though thinks that people are keeping secrets from her so he set out to not only work her one case but find out about what is going on.
Although it is never good to keep things from people, we find out why they have been doing it and understand how the past needs to remain there and that the future can be happy ever after.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this ARC copy.

Natalie was married to Jeremy until he died in a car crash. After that, her life changed to the point she lost almost everything. What she had left was the hunting camp. She decided to pick herself up and move on. She had money before, and she could make it again.
When she arrived at the cabin, she felt like she was home. It felt like life had brought her to where she belonged. The book kept me reading to see how her life would change after finally coming to the cabin. Like the mountain road she climbs to get to the cabin, this story has its own twists and turns, Hope is always there, but hope sometimes isn't enough, so I had to keep reading to see if life was truly going to bring her to a better place.
I received an ARC from St. Martin's Griffin through NetGalley.