Erin Branscom

All In Thyme is the ideal story to warm your heart: the way the story flows, the characters you can’t help but love, the strong attraction between the two main characters and the bumps along the way that may throw things off track. And with the right narrators it’s the perfect story for an audiobook. Sophie Daniels and Chris Brinkley are more than the “right” narrators – they are marvelous. The pace, the tone, the hint of an accent. The hope, the fear, the pain, the passion. It's all there. They make Mellie and Ty and everyone else come to life and put you right in the middle of the story, picturing the Golden Gable Inn and Mellie’s gardens and hoping, hoping, hoping that all the external obstacles will just melt away so they can have the HEA they both deserve.

Mellie and her young son Kase are hiding from Mellie’s abusive husband. They escaped through the kindness of an observant neighbor and traveled from Mississippi to Freedom Valley, New Hampshire. People to help and protect them, new names, new lives, new plans for the future. A job at the inn, new friends Mellie can rely on, the gardening she loves. Kase is starting to act again like just a little boy, smiling and having fun. But there are still a lot of horrible memories and an almost overwhelming fear that Bradley will find them and force them to return – or worse. The issue of domestic violence is sensitively handled, but well done and frank, not glossed over. Over the past year Mellie has slowly started to come back as herself, not that woman who cowered in fear and always felt she was doing the wrong thing, causing problems, failing. But she is very fragile and believes keeping her and Kase as anonymous as possible is her best course of action.

Except – enter Tyler. A stranger, not long in the area and not planning on being in the area much longer, a little mysterious, but handsome, strong, gentle, protective. Ty is looking for a someday-in-the-future relationship but that time is not now. Mellie isn’t looking for anything except safety for her and Kase. Right now she can’t imagine ever letting her guard down enough to trust another man after what she and Kase experienced with Bradley.

There are sparks when Mellie and Ty meet. Yes, the bright, flashing kind, but also the slow, sweet kind that just wrap around you and work their way in. Sparks that feel like an electric blanket, just promising warmth when you need it. And of course there’s Nova, Ty’s wonderful dog who he says will be a friend to both Mellie and Kase. They miss their dog Sassy they had to leave behind, and Nova soon makes a permanent place for herself in their hearts.

All Inn Thyme is a delightful story from beginning to end. It’s sweet and silly and serious, makes you laugh and swoon and just feel good. And makes you wonder and worry. Mellie can’t truly move forward until Bradley is completely out of their lives. Ty is a good guy, really much more than good, but there’s something he’s not telling. And will that ruin everything?

If you’ve read or listened to the two previous books in the Freedom Valley series you know who the friends are, their backstories, more about the inn and the town. If you haven’t, All Inn Thyme works perfectly fine as a standalone, but believe me, when you are finished with this book you will definitely go back and catch up and eagerly await the next books in the series. Thanks to Home Cooked Books and the author for providing an audio copy of All Inn Thyme. It made me want to extend my daily walk to keep listening while at the same time never want to leave these people I have grown to care about. I voluntarily leave this review and all opinions are my own.… (mehr)