About the Book
Book: When I Meet You
Author: Olivia Newport
Genre: Christian fiction
Release Date: May, 2020
Book 3 in the Tree of Life Series: A Father-Daughter Genealogy Team Link Faith Journeys on Family Trees
A trunk abandoned at Denver’s Union Station more than a century ago leads Jillian and Nolan to untangle the mystery of its contents—including correspondence with the head of Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency Denver office. While Nolan digs into the legalities of the findings, Jillian searches for the descendants of a stolen identity who might not be who they think they are on Colorado ranch land. When Drew seems anxious to hear what Jillian has to say but his Great Aunt Min slams the subject closed—twice—Jillian is all the more determined to find out what happened to the woman who never claimed her luggage, why Min doesn’t want to talk about it, and what will happen for Drew if he gets the answers he seeks.
When I Meet You is the third book in the Tree of Life series by Olivia Newport. You’ll want to return to the lovely Colorado mountain town of Canyon Mines again and again to explore and celebrate unforgettable family stories that will inspire you to connect with your own family histories and unique faith journeys.
Click here to get your copy!
About the Author
Olivia Newport’s novels twist through time to find where faith and passions meet. Her husband and twentysomething children provide welcome distraction from the people stomping through her head on their way into her books. She chases joy in stunning Colorado at the foot of Pikes Peak.
My Thoughts
When I Meet You
by Olivia Newport
Book 3 in the Tree of Life series
Rating: 4/5
After reading a fast-paced romantic suspense book, reading this story was a little slow for me but the ending was satisfying and I’m glad I stuck it out to the end. The book goes back and forth between the past and present stories which is something I do enjoy but sometimes, it could get confusing to keep track of who’s who. The author does her best to tell you who’s she’s focusing on but sometimes, I read too fast to keep track. All in all, this was a fascinating story and brilliantly woven together. The author will keep you guessing till the end.
As someone who has not read the previous books in this series, I just want you to know that it is not necessary. The main character, Jillian, is a professional genealogist who has her own family history to solve while delving into another mysterious steamer trunk and its contents. The mystery of all the official documents inside the trunk is what leads her on a merry chase to find out what happened. On the path to discover what happened to the owner of the steamer trunk, she finds Drew and his Aunt Min who seems to be hiding something. Can Jillian and her father figure out what happened to the owner the steamer trunk?
So for some reason I was expecting more romance in this book, but I would categorize this as a mystery with a hint of romance. Though there is some character development, telling the story and unraveling the mystery is the important part. The characters have their flaws but the emphasis is more on finding out the truth and restoring the steamer trunk to its rightful owner. As someone who can’t trace her own ancestry that far back, it was fascinating to see what a genealogist could do. The advances in technology have allowed us to find our ancestors with just one “spit in a tube”, which I have done. I loved the old tied in with the new.
I highly recommend this book if you enjoy history and stories within stories to uncover the truth.
My thanks to the author, NetGalley and CelebrateLit for providing me with an ARC of the book. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own. No positive review was expected and no compensation received.
More from Olivia
Stolen Identity or Stolen Secrets?
Years ago I made a business trip to a country in Asia. Somehow I managed to pack for two weeks in carry-on luggage. This was before everyone started carrying electronic devices that required a bag of their own, and the impoverished area I visited had only intermittent electricity anyway.
When it was time to come home, my luggage met the requirements to keep it with me as I traveled halfway around the world through several airports. But at the boarding gate, a woman pushed a cart stacked with six oversized and overstuffed suitcases, insisting she had to take all of them on the plane. Her argument was that she couldn’t risk losing her personal belongings. She was moving back to the States, this was everything she owned, and she just wasn’t having this nonsense about abiding by the same limitations as the other 300 people in line or that none of those bags would fit in an overhead compartment anyway. The airline staff began waving people around her to get the large aircraft boarded on time for an international flight. She was one of the last people to take her seat—without her bags.
I admit I prefer keeping my bags with me and getting in and out of airports quickly. And once my bags didn’t come off the same plane I did, and it took a few hours for them to be delivered to me.
But what happens to truly unclaimed baggage? One-half to one percent of baggage that goes through American airports is never claimed. Airlines will try for ninety days to find the owners. If they can’t, they have to do something with it. Generally it’s sold, sight unseen, to the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Alabama. There it is opened and sorted into what can be cleaned and sold in their store, what might be donated, and what has no value and is disposed of as trash. They find some pretty interesting things!
But my brain goes back to the curious question of why the baggage is unclaimed in the first place.
It’s not just because the airline lost it. We’ve all seen the lines of suitcases that baggage handlers remove from the circling conveyer belt because they’ve been around enough times that it’s obvious no one is there to pick them up after the flight. People got off the plane and left the airport without their bags. Why?
My new book, When I Meet You, raises the same question about travel in the railroad era. A trunk abandoned at Denver’s Union Station more than a century ago surfaces, leading genealogist Jillian and her lawyer father, Nolan, to untangle the mystery of its contents—including correspondence with the head of Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency Denver office. While Nolan digs into the legalities of the findings, Jillian searches for the descendants of a stolen identity who might not be who they think they are on Colorado ranch land. When Drew seems anxious to hear what Jillian has to say but his Great Aunt Min slams the subject closed—twice—Jillian is all the more determined to find out what happened to the woman who never claimed her luggage, why Min doesn’t want to talk about it, and what will happen for Drew if he gets the answers he seeks.
When I Meet You is the third book in the Tree of Life series. Return to the lovely Colorado mountain town of Canyon Mines again and again to explore and celebrate unforgettable family stories that will inspire you to connect with your own family histories and unique faith journeys.
Visit www.olivianewport.com or find me at www.facebook.com/OliviaNewport.
Blog Stops
Through the Fire Blogs, May 28
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, May 28
Texas Book-aholic, May 29
deb’s Book Review, May 29
For the Love of Literature, May 30
Lighthouse Academy Blog, May 30 (Guest Review from Marilyn Ridgway)
A Reader’s Brain, May 31
Blogging With Carol, May 31
Older & Smarter?, June 1
CarpeDiem, June 1
Inklings and notions, June 2
All-of-a-kind Mom, June 2
Hallie Reads, June 2
Betti Mace, June 3
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, June 3
For Him and My Family, June 4
Bigreadersite, June 4
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, June 5
Worthy2Read, June 5
Pause for Tales, June 5
Just the Write Escape, June 6
Inside the Wong Mind, June 6
Tell Tale Book Reviews, June 7
Connect in Fiction, June 7
Daysong Reflections, June 7
She Lives To Read, June 8
Read Review Rejoice, June 8
A Baker’s Perspective, June 9
Mary Hake, June 9
Remembrancy, June 9
Moments, June 10
With a Joyful Noise, June 10
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Olivia is giving away the grand prize of a $25 Amazon Gift Card and a copy of the book!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
https://promosimple.com/ps/fa0b/when-i-meet-you-celebration-tour-giveaway
Thank you for this review. I didn’t review this book, couldn’t find time to read it during the tour but I sure want to. I have read many books by this author and love them. Thank you for your review!! Sounds amazing!
Blessings Joy
Can’t wait to read your new book
Thank you for sharing your honest thoughts. I enjoy time-slip novels. I’m looking forward to reading this series.