Behind Love's Wall by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Behind Love's Wall
by Carrie Fancett Pagels

ISBN-13: 9781636090696
Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Barbour Fiction
Released: November 1st 2021

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Two successful women, a hundred-and-twenty-years apart, build walls to protect their hearts. Modern-day Willa, a successful interior decorator, is chosen to consult for the Grand Hotel’s possible redesign. She discovers a journal detailing the struggles of a young woman, Lily—which reveals dark secrets. The renowned singer wasn’t who she pretended to be. As Willa reaches out to Lily’s descendant, a handsome and prominent landscape artist, she lets down her guard.


My Review:
Behind Love's Wall is a romance set in both 1895 and 2021. The author tried to pack too much in, though. In the past, we have Lily's story, but also the story of her hotel maid and the continuation of Maude's family's story from "Maude’s Mooring." In the present day, we have Willa's story but also flashbacks and a mystery from Willa's mother's past. Both Willa and Lily didn't know who their father was and uncovered that information while on Mackinac Island. But it got downright confusing when a lot of people in the area had the same last name and some modern people had the same names as the people in the past. Just too many people and too many stories to keep track of easily.

I enjoyed Lily's story. She feared that she was going to become mentally ill like her mother and was attracted to a kind man who lost his father in a fire started by her mother. Her singing act was also under threat of being broken up. In modern day (with COVID restrictions causing difficulties), Willa fell for a super-handsome but cranky landscaper. I'm not sure why she's attracted to him beyond his looks. He's dealing with his own worries about a possible mental illness and kept flip-flopping between asking to see the journal and questioning why Willa was asking him about the journal and his ancestors (mentioned therein) right now. Especially since she should be trying to come up with a redesign that will win a contract with the Grand Hotel. The "redesign" was mostly there just so they could find the journal. There were no sex scenes or bad language.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.