Reinventing Hillwilla

A slow moving but enjoyable story of Beatrice who leaves the city for a quieter life but along the way ends up with Clara, her Foster daughter, gets engaged to Tanner and takes in Vaughan who after her relationship ends is homeless. I did enjoy this book and there is a sequel which I will be getting
I would like to thank the publishers and netgalley for letting me have the book to review and the opinions expressed are entirely my own views and are completely unbiased

Love and Life
This is the most satisfying book! I was not aware that it was a part of a series, now I must read those, too. This book has it all. There is no sex or violence. There is lots of love and the growth it brings. There are plenty of animals who are portrayed in the most realistic manner. There are friends and siblings with all of the good and bad aspects to deal with. A young adult daughter who is making some sketchy decisions and growing more mature because of them. And the love of her life, traveling and not always there to call. Total aspects of a woman's life all laid out and played out for the reader. This is an exceptional story! I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

Several years ago, I read two books about this indomitable woman who lived alone with her faithful dog raising llamas. Beatrice Desmond and Ralph are doing just fine in the Appalachian Mountains of rural West Virginia, until a lost and lonely Clara walks into their lives. I have never forgotten them, the adventures of these three stole my heart, and now they are back.

I read this EARC courtesy of NetGalley and Books Go Social. pub date 11/04/18

I received a free electronic copy of this excellent novel from Netgalley, Melanie Forde, and D. Street Books, Mountain Lake Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read this novel of my own volition, and this review reflects my personal honest opinion of this work. I had hoped to find the first two novels of this series before I started Reinventing, but did not - and though it would have been nice to be in touch with the whole story, Reinventing Hillwilla is an excellent tale all by it's lonesome.

Llamas are extraordinary critters. This novel brought immediately to mind Whitney, a lovely lady llama from Bonnie's Farm in the long ago, whom I loved very dearly. So I adored all the llama parts of this story - but the people were just as intriguing, just as multifaceted as were the camelids. You can't help but sympathize with the foibles of the lovers both young and old, and fall in love with the dogs. Reinventing Hillwilla is a warm, slowly evolving story of life and love, and learning to let go. It is a novel I am pleased to recommend to friends and family, one I will want to read again after I acquire other books by Melanie Forde.

In this third and final book in the Hillwilla series, Melanie Forde takes us full circle with the lives of Beatrice and Clara.
Beatrice is finally coming out of her shell and she is brave enough to tell Tanner about what she truly wants from life. She is taking risks and opening up her heart. Beatrice has come a long way from being a recluse in the mountains of West Virginia to becoming the loving, kind and caring person we always knew was buried deep within her.
When we first met Clara, she was an abused girl of thirteen who was shy, lost and alone. We now see Clara in college and interacting with friends and maybe even a love interest? We see her relationship with Beatrice deepen, then break and then in the end a beautiful renewal.
This series hit so close to home for me on so many levels. I love how Ms. Forde let us into the lives of the main characters slowly and methodically. I grew right along with them and enjoyed their journey more than words can express. What I loved was that the story never got boring; it kept me turning each page waiting for the next unexpected thing to come. One minute sadness overtook me, and the next I was chuckling right along with the antics of the llamas. This whole series was so beautifully written. It’s like the author reached deep inside and took us along on a personal journey of reflection. Thank you so much Melanie Forde for the lessons, the laughter and the tears. Thank you also to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book to review. It was fabulous.

Such a wonderful journey these characters have taken us on! Melanie Forde's Hillwilla feels like a hometown everyone should live in. The characters were well developed in the first book and now, in the third book, they have a life of their own. I'd know them if I met them on the street. A beautiful story of life, with all the hard times and all of the good times. I will definitely miss Hillwilla if there is not to be another book.

I have read another book by this author, Decanted Truths by Melanie Forde. It was an unexpected experience, and when I saw another work by the author available, I decided to give it a try.
This is the final book in a trilogy, a fact I did not pay attention to initially. Unlike other times, this did not unduly affect my reading experience. I was actually glad to catch the tying up of loose ends of all the narrative while being given a brief overview of everything that these people had to bear in the previous two instalments. We have multiple lead characters, and the description begins with a dog giving us a brief intro to what we are about to encounter.
It is a time of change for all the residents in a fictional town. How each of the people deals with what is thrown at them and how they learn to evolve is the bulk of the narrative. The writing is simple but done in such a manner that it is easy for us, as readers, to feel for the characters. Once the story got going, the book was easy to read in a few sittings. I never felt awkward for not having read the previous works.
We have a girl on the brink of adulthood coming to terms with her 'different' upbringing and figuring out her college life as well as other relationships. We have a woman with a different possible future in front of her, but something is holding her back. We also have llamas, mysterious happenings and hospital visits and lots of tears. Some dialogues may feel clunky, but they seemed to suit the mood of the story.
Overall I would recommend this to anyone on the lookout for a drama series with lead characters of differing ages.
I received an ARC of the book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience of this and another work by the same author.