This book is absolutely beautiful…from the life lessons between family and those who become our family to the actual beauty of the setting. I felt like I was in the book with the characters. I laughed, I cried, I got angry, I was surprised. Rosey Lee writes beautifully and with perfect description. I didn’t see certain moments coming and was completely surprised…it was fantastic!

This book was like therapy in a book, which was probably intentional, but the character development the reader gets to see in real time as they read the book makes for a good book. I loved the connection that the mother and daughter in law have in this one.

I like how this book is somewhat portrayed by four women in the bible and their stories are intertwined together. As with some families it's hard to communicate your feelings and share your needs until you come across a hardship time, then it all spills out. The characters in this book are trying to come together to grasp what they can and help each other in the most genuine way they can. If you like reading stories about families and their challenging ways of dealing with each other than you might like this book too.


*Thanks to NetGalley & WaterBrook for allowing me to read an ebook copy in exchange for my honest opinion/review of this book!

I'm a sucker for a book with strong female characters, and this had it in spades. Families are hard and The Gardins of Edin show how complex characters navigate the world and each other.

A novel that explores the complexities of family, love, and friendship it follows four women of the Gardin family as they struggle to hold things afloat after the loss of their family member Beau. “We can’t let this family fall apart because the person who held it together passed away.”

While things may appear picture-perfect, life for these ladies is far from it. Ruth runs the family business and tension has intensified around her ownership since Beau passed. Mary and Martha add fuel to the family tension when they begin to undermine the decisions Ruth makes for the business.

I really wanted to like this book but it was real meh the entire time. The pacing was too slow for my liking and I just wasn’t vibing with the characters. Naomi was the eldest of the group yet I felt Ruth, Martha, and Mary were right up there in age with her. I wasn’t looking for any messy drama which there was some here and there. I just wanted more from the story in general. It lacked a lot of depth and had no clear direction in my opinion.

Martha and Mary were too old to be acting the way they were toward Ruth. Just complete brats . . . I get they felt some type of way about her since she married into their family TWICE‼️ But it’s not like she came in trying to run and control everything after marrying Marlon or Beau. Things just happen, they passed away and left their money to their WIFE which just so happened to be Ruth. Their actions displayed pure jealousy. Then Ruth’s mother was madness that woman was deceitful and money hungry. Her presence was the juiciest part of the book. Mary and Tynan’s situation what was the relevancy?

Overall, the book was okay some might find it enjoyable and entertaining. I just think this one wasn’t for me. Special thanks to the author & @waterbrookmultnomah for my advanced copy‼️

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I just couldn't like the characters - all women, but a complex family dynamic. They all seemed to whine a lot and I just didn't connect with any of them.

The concept is good - 4 women in a family living close together and helping each other - and the family business. Showed the different sides of family conflicts and how different ladies handled them.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

Congratulations to debut author Rosey Lee for publishing The Gardins of Edin. This story, set in Edin, Georgia, features four women in the Gardin family who live on the family estate. They've experienced significant loss and are now the stakeholders of Gardin Family Enterprises. Their challenge is finding the balance between living in harmony as family members while also being business partners.

It's important that readers know what to expect from this novel:

- The title and several character names (Ruth and Naomi, Mary and Martha) are Biblical, but the characters' faith lives aren't explored.
- The story has a great deal of drama, both conflict between characters and crises in their lives.
- Caring for one's mental health and physical health are themes throughout.

I appreciated that four women with big personalities were the focus, and I'm always interested in dysfunctional family stories, but this felt like it moved from one high drama situation to another to another throughout the entire story. Acknowledging the importance of mental health was a plus, and a couple of chapters felt like therapy sessions in a powerful way.

Thank you to WaterBrook and NetGalley for the review copies of this debut novel. 3.5 stars rounded up.

This story was so boring. It was such a drag. I never really got into it. I didn't care about any of the characters or what they were going through. It makes for a descent story, but it just wasn't for me.

What a beautiful and heartwarming story centering around four women and their family dynamic. At times I laughed, cried, was frustrated, and happy. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. There were a couple of plot twists that I did not see coming. The author did a phenomenal job in her storytelling. The story flowed effortlessly between all the characters and I came to care for each one.

An amazing debut novel by Rosey Lee. I highly recommend The Gardins of Edin. This family will stay with me for a long time.

Thanks to author Rosey Lee, WaterBrook & Multnomah, and NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I initially picked this up because of the cover--so pretty! I definitely loved it and thought the designer did a fantastic job.

The read was a hard one, and ultimately a DNF, sad to say. The premise was interesting (and again, that cover!)--but the bickering between Mary, Martha, and Ruth got really old, really fast. Additionally, I felt the book would have benefited from another round of editing to tighten up word choice/selection and pacing, and increase showing over telling.

I received an eARC of the book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this story about family drama set during the holiday season. This would be a delightful Christmas read. I could see this as a Hallmark movie.
The characters have biblical names and a glimpse of the personality that might match. The title is also a play on biblical references. The nerd in me loved the historical references. Themes that I noted include: mental health, family love and loyalty and family rivalry (Kardashian style).
There was so much I enjoyed about the book but the writing prevents me from rating this higher. The tension addressed by the family seems unrealistic. The problems and how the characters address them was unbelievable. The conversations seemed disjointed and characters were underdeveloped. I think I understand where the author was trying to go but didn't always enjoy the journey.
Thanks @netgalley for the read.

This was a new author to me, and this was such a delightful story full of family, faith and forgiveness. These characters took me on such an emotional ride, and I had a hard time putting this book down. This book shows the strengths of Black women. This was a new author to me, and It won't be my last time reading a book from this author. It was such an enjoyable page turner and the perfect story for a faith based movie.

I really loved this book. It was a great story about a family of women learning how to relate and rebuild after suffering loss. I loved the themes of therapy and taking care of yourself. I wish the backstory and more about Ruth’s childhood was shared. We got an overview into what lead them there but I would’ve liked a little bit more about them. Overall it was a great read. I’d definitely recommend it.

The Gardins of Edin is a good but slow-paced story about complicated family interaction. The characters are interesting although it took me a little bit to keep them straight. The only thing I really didn’t enjoy was the large volume of descriptions of clothes and shoe brands etc. For me it just bogged the story down a bit.
Thank you to NetGalley and Waterbrook & Multnomah publishers for the opportunity to read for my honest review.

I could see pieces of myself and my family in Rosey Lee’s debut novel The Gardins of Edin. This inspiring story revolves around four Black southern women brought together by marriage, circumstance and a shared purpose. When their relationship begins to fall apart, they must find their way back each for their own peace and to preserve their sacred legacy.


I love the notable parallel to biblical women of the Bible. It helped me understand each character beginning with Ruth Gardin. She has lost her husband and inherited the leadership of the family business. She secretly never felt like a true Gardin. Naomi, the matriarch of the family has always been the go-between when it came to Ruth and her nieces Mary and Martha. She is to ready to hang up her mediator hat and live her own life. Both Mary and Martha have had a close bond since they were born. No longer, children, Mary and Martha begin to confront their differences. Living on the same property in separate homes doesn’t make things any easier for any of them. When a man named Nicholas comes along the women are forced to face their feelings about each other, hidden secrets, and deal with personal truths.


I did not want to give much of this story away. Rather, I believe each reader should see for themselves what makes this story relatable for them. Lee addresses matters that compelled me to consider my own personal relationships with other women. At the end of the book there are book club questions that may be helpful for all readers. I have recommended this book to friends and look forward to reading more of Lee’s work.

Beautifully written, with memorable characters, this is a story that will stay with me for a long time. A brilliant read!

Rosey Lee has written short stories which I have read, loved and wished they were longer. So when I found out about her debut novel, Gardins of Edin, I knew I had to read it.
I love the characters and their Bible names, how each character has their own issues.

This story has drama with different emotions between the four relatives and how they overcome their resentment and jealousy and begin to forgive and love.

I requested a copy from NetGalley, but in no way was persuaded to leave a positive review of Rosey Lee's book.

Overall: 4 stars

This is a book about a family learning to communicate with each other after the death of the family member that was the glue that held the family together. Due to this miscommunication, all were dealing with the same issues, but afraid to express that to each other. It took two different medical emergencies to bring the family together and get them to learn to communicate with each other.

I loved how the book focused on healthy cooking while keeping the taste of soul food. It also normalized the importance of mental health and seeking help when needed.  

I received this as a digital arc and physical arc in exchange for a for an honest review.

Following four Black women bound together by a multimillion-dollar family business in Georgia, this story reminded me of Queen Sugar but with peanuts instead of sugarcane. It explores love, loss, and jealously, and the pace was a little slower than I would’ve preferred. But the Southern characters and plot twists made powering through worth it.

Fans of TV shows like Succession Dallas or Dynasty or will appreciate this multi-generational tale where business meets personal, but with more realistic characters, and significantly more grown-up behavior.

Sure, there’s plenty of drama that kept me turning pages, but The Gardins of Edin is about grown-ups who value relationships and family and, when help is needed, turn to therapy and their faith.

I appreciated reading about the four women who make up a successful black family peanut business, based in Edin, Georgia. Ruth, matriarch Naomi, and sisters Mary and Martha, each have their own journey to tread, and I appreciated the dash of romance, along with how the novel tackles the questions of how we deal with grief, belonging, and the joy and challenges of family.

A heart-warming page turner, that still makes you think. I didn’t want to leave the Gardin family behind, and I hope to read more stories from this author, including set in the same universe of Edin, Georgia.