Ladd Springs in Tennessee has been home to the Ladd family for six generations. Now, though, the property is at risk from multiple directions. Ernie Ladd, the current owner, promised his sister on her deathbed that he would leave the land to her daughter, Delaney Wilkins, and Delaney's daughter Felicity--but Ernie can't forgive Delaney for having married the son of an old rival, even though the marriage did not survive. Hotel developer Nick Harris wants to buy the property for the latest addition to his hotel chain. Neighbor Clem Sweeney is taking advantage of Ernie's loneliness and sense of isolation--and has found a secret in the forest that, if he doesn't get caught, will make him rich.

And Ernie, even though he has plenty of money to do so, hasn't paid the property taxes in three years. If he doesn't do so soon, Nick--who is willing to pay a fair price and make provisions for the family in the deal--will wind up buying the property for back taxes.

The conflicts among the family spiral even further out of control when Delaney finds armed men trespassing on the Ladd property, seemingly having found something very, very interesting about a boulder in the woods.

The family and personal conflicts here are beautifully developed. Delaney's love for the land, Ernie's resentments and regrets, Nick's vision of "Serenity Springs," and Clem's jealousy and greed are all palpably real. We get a gradual unfolding of the sometimes painful family history, as well as Nick's background, experience, and dreams.

It's a thoroughly enjoyable novel. Recommended. ( )

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. I really loved the story and the characters. Lots of excitement and fun. The writer kept the love of family first and even brought in a family feud over land to round out the story. I was disappointed that at the end of the book even knowing it was setting up a series that there was no real closure for so much of what was going on. Even with all that I did enjoy the book but wished it was a smoother ending instead of being forced to buy the next book in the series to find out what happened. ( )

Overall, it's a good story line, but I just can't see myself reading this again. The characters are a little interesting, but I do think they could use some more fleshing out. I really wanted to see more chemistry (a stronger chemistry, really) between Nick and Delaney. At certain points, it seemed too weak to believe that one was interested in or attracted to the other. ( )

I won this as a goodreads first-read giveaway. It was a good book but a little slow at the beginning. The list of characters and how they were related helped a lot. ( )

LADD SPRINGS introduces us to the Ladd family as they live in the eastern Tennessee mountains. Before the story opens, we are given a cast of characters which introduces us to exactly who the family members are in relation to each other.

The main characters in the story are Delaney, her Uncle Ernie, Clem Sweeny and Nick a hotel developer interested in purchasing the Ladd land. As the story begins we see Delaney in the woods coming across some trespassers, which introduces the reader to the mystery of the land. Delaney is upset as she is attempting to get Ernie to give the land to her daughter, but for some reason that isn't happening. The story goes on to give the reader a little mystery to solve, while leaving the reader with the mystery of just what Jeremiah has to do with the land, as he is the black sheep of the family and is he or Clem the father of Casey Owens. I found the descriptions of the land almost perfect. The hot springs, trails and horseback riding. One thing I missed was the smoky description and those mountains do look like they're covered in smoke.

The characters and storyline are generic and although the reader likes them, they are not memorable ones such as Willy Loman, Randall Flagg or Sipsy (DEATH OF A SALESMAN, THE STAND, FRIED GREEN TOMATOES AT THE WHISTLE STOP CAFE). They didn't really move me when I was reading the story. There were generalities in the story which could have made this story more memorable, such as Clem. What was the reason he was playing music loud? Why did his mom want him off the property? How did he discover the gold? What exactly happened between Clem and Annie? What made Jeremiah to leave? I'd have also liked to seen more of the relationship between Ernie and Albert and Jeremiah and Sussanah?

In short, I found this story to be one I would read to pass the time in an airport layover. I concentrate on the story because it's there and I'm there, but not to the point that I'll miss my flight announcement. Now this is the first in a series, and I realise that many of my questions could be answered later on, but with the generics involved in this story, nothing makes me want to continue reading. I don't really feel anything for the characters, I don't hate them, I don't like them. To me, they're just there and when I read the description I expected much more. ( )