Guest Post: Inheritance of Secrets

Title: Inheritance of Secrets

Series: Coventry Saga #6

Author: Robin Patchen

Publisher: JDO Publishing

Release Date: April 19, 2022

Genre: Christian romantic suspense

“I didn’t do right by your mother. Or by you. Find her and do what I never had the courage to do.”

Her father’s deathbed confession changed everything for Aspen Kincaid. The mystery of her mother’s disappearance was unsolvable, or so she’d believed.

It seemed her dad had lied to her all her life.

After inheriting a house in New Hampshire—a house Aspen hadn’t known her father owned—she travels thousands of miles, desperate to fulfill his dying wish. But some residents of Coventry don’t want Jane Kincaid’s daughter digging into things they think should remain buried forever.

Renovating the secluded old house on the mountain should be the next step in Garrett McCarthy’s contracting career, but Aspen’s arrival in town stirs up old animosities in Coventry that he’d known nothing about. All he wants is to complete the job, hoping it’ll open doors to new opportunities. But when he’s asked to keep an eye on Aspen’s activities, he feels he can’t refuse. How can he honor his beautiful, vulnerable client and remain loyal to the people who need his help?

Join Aspen and Garrett as they attempt to solve a thirty-year-old mystery—without becoming its latest victims.

PURCHASE LINKS*: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookDepository | BookBub

MORE BOOKS IN THIS SERIES

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robin Patchen is a USA Today bestselling and award-winning author of Christian romantic suspense. She grew up in a small town in New Hampshire, the setting of her Nutfield and Coventry Saga books, and then headed to Boston to earn a journalism degree. Working in marketing and public relations, she discovered how much she loathed the nine-to-five ball and chain. After relocating to the Southwest, she started writing her first novel while she homeschooled her three children. The novel was dreadful, but her passion for storytelling didn’t wane. Thankfully, as her children grew, so did her writing ability. Now that her kids are adults, she has more time to play with the lives of fictional heroes and heroines, wreaking havoc and working magic to give her characters happy endings. When she’s not writing, she’s editing or reading, proving that most of her life revolves around the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. Visit https://robinpatchen.com/subscribe to receive a free book and stay informed about Robin’s latest projects.

CONNECT WITH ROBIN: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

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GUEST POST

Anything that you’ve never been asked before but wished you had been?

There’s one question I’d love to answer: How have your trials made you a better writer?

I’d had my share of trials before I started writing novels when I was 40. In fact, at that point, I thought I’d had more than my share.

And then my kids started turning into monsters… er, I mean teenagers. I’m kidding of course. They were awesome. Well, they were about 75% awesome-ish, 25% monster-ish.

Or maybe it was 50/50.

Anyway, the teenage years were hard in my house. My oldest started the ball rolling with drugs. My daughter jumped into the fray with a couple of pretty rough mental health issues. And then my younger son joined the party with a sense of…let’s call it adventure, shall we?…that landed him in some interesting scenarios—some involving uniformed officers.

Oh, and then there was his car accident, which probably would have killed him if God hadn’t intervened. As it was, he spent ten days in the hospital, seven of those in ICU.

Add to that my husband’s job issues—he was unemployed or underemployed for about 2½ years—and yeah. We had some trials.

But the thing is, all those trials made me a better writer.

My older son’s drug addiction taught me humility and a whole boatload of faith. Oh, and you know that Scripture that tells us to “pray continually”? His addiction taught me how to do that. (Here’s a hint: If you can worry continually, you can pray continually. One is our natural inclination, and the other is a choice we make a million times a day.)

My daughter’s mental health issues taught me compassion and patience for people who don’t look and act and think like I do. Through Lexi, I’ve learned that I don’t have to have all the answers, and some problems are a lot more complicated than they look from the outside.

My younger son’s ornery ways taught me not to take myself too seriously. And his car accident taught me that God is faithful beyond measure. He was with my youngest on that highway, supplying the help he needed, while I sat on my sofa scrolling Facebook.

My husband’s employment issues taught me that God is the Provider, He always knows what’s best, and His timing is never late (even if it feels like it is).

When I was young, I thought I had life pretty much figured out. You do A and B, and you get C—as if life were some simple algebraic equation.

What I’ve learned is that you can do all the A-ing and B-ing you want, and you still might end up with rehab and ICU.

All those lessons didn’t just make me a better person—though I hope they did. They made me a better writer.

Because of the trials, I can write with authority on subjects I’d known nothing about—addiction, mental health, the court system, and a whole lot of other things to boot.

More than that, though, I can craft authentic, multi-faceted characters with real problems that require complex solutions.

Because of what we’ve endured as a family, I am better able to write stories with characters who are dealing with messy and scary and complicated situations. I try to show the characters working through their issues, digging for solutions and coming up with eternal truths.

I’m not saying I’ve got it all figured out, not by a longshot. But I know more than I did when I started because of all I’ve been through. I hope that’s reflected in my stories.

(And I am happy to report that my eldest has been drug-free for 6 years. He’s a missionary, and he just married a beautiful likeminded woman. My daughter is healthy and happy, and my baby is fully recovered from his accident and pursuing his dreams. My husband has a fabulous job, and I’m reaping the benefits of all those lessons and praying we never have to go through any of that again. I’m happy to confine those trials to my poor unsuspecting characters.)

TOUR GIVEAWAY

(1) winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card and paperback copies of the first 5 books in the series, Glimmer in the Darkness, Tides of Duplicity, Betrayal of Genius, Traces of Virtue, and Touch of Innocence!

Be sure to check out each stop on the tour for more chances to win. Full tour schedule linked below. Giveaway began at midnight April 19, 2022 and lasts through 11:59 PM EST on April 26, 2022. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to the policies found here.

ENTER GIVEAWAY HERE

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