A Sparkle of Silver

Author: Liz Johnson
Genre: Mystery/Suspense/Romance

Uncovering the past can lead to an unexpected future . . . 

Millie Sullivan plays a 1920s-era guest during tours of a palatial estate on the shore of St. Simons Island, Georgia, where her great-grandmother was a real guest ninety years ago. When Millie learns of a lost diary that may contain the location of a hidden treasure on the estate and reveal the identity of her great-grandfather, she sets out to find the truth of her heritage--and the fortune she desperately needs. But it won't be easy.

When security guard Ben Thornton discovers her snooping in the estate's private library, he threatens to have her fired. Still, her story seems too ludicrous to be fiction, and her offer to split the treasure is too tempting to pass up.

Get ready for a romantic escapade through dark halls and dusty corners that will have you holding your breath and sighing with delight.

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Reviewer: Nora St. Laurent

This is a sweet time slip love story with splashes of danger and romance. Ben and Millie are working at the Chateau; Ben as a security guard and Millie as part of the house guided tour; where they search for clues to a possible treasure. In the 1929 story line there is a mystery involving Ruth Whitman, mother to Joy; Millie’s Grandma who told her about a diary. Millie is also in search of Joy’s family line – things weren’t clear as to where her Grandma fit into the family tree?

Millie didn’t plan on having a partner in her search, but when she was caught in a part of the house she was forbidden to go, with an old diary in hand, she spills the beans and pleads for Ben not to turn her in. Maybe he could help, and they could split their findings. Together they seek to find clues that will lead to a hidden treasure.

I enjoyed the Georgia, St. Simons Island setting and the compelling mystery,  history and danger as Ben and Millie try to uncover information that will lead to a pot of gold. This is a fun read with characters you could cheer for. This is the first novel in the Georgia Coast Romance series.

Book provided courtesy of Baker Publishing.

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Reviewer: Mindy Houng

"You know that every single one of us is more than the worst thing we've done. All of us. We bear the image of our Maker."

And that quote sums up the message of this fabulous book. If you're a fan of the author's Prince Edward Island Dreams series and her Love Inspired Suspense books, you're definitely in for a treat. This book is a contemporary romance with a throwback to the 1920's via a journal and a good dose of intrigue and mystery. Such a wonderful combination for this lover of contemporary, historical, and suspense romance!

The setting of St. Simons Island, Georgia is gorgeous. The author's masterful writing gives color, sound, and smell to the beautiful landscape and brings forth an intricately woven plot with real, down-to-earth characters.

​Millie is poor and just wants enough money to be able to bring her beloved dementia-laden grandmother to a place where she can be safely taken care of. Ben is an adjunct history professor struggling to right the wrongs his mother went to prison for. Their worlds collide when they become involved in a treasure hunt instigated by Millie's grandmother's memory of her own mother's stay at the infamous Chateau. Both Millie and Ben are wary, cautious, under-the-radar kind of people who don't trust people easily. Yet their shared sense of loyalty, hard work, and compassion brings them together and welds them together as partners. As they become more entrenched in their treasure hunt, they also learn things about each other that they must wrestle with. Forgiveness for their past and realizing that their past does not define them must be learned the hard way.

The book addresses the heartache involved in loving and caring for someone with dementia. It also delves deep to ask what is truly important and necessary in life - is it money? Fame? Recognition? Easy life? The flashbacks to the 1920's, right before the stock market crash, provided through Millie's great-grandmother Ruth's journals show much of what our human hearts crave but also how foolish and deceptive our hearts can be. Millie and Jeremy's present day chase through the Chateau itself and its grounds provides intrigue and suspense that keep the pages turning. Great-grandma Ruth's journals also add to the mystery surrounding the possible treasure and what may have happened to it.

What a wonderful beginning of an exciting new series from Liz Johnson! I can't wait to read the second book! 

Book provided courtesy of Baker Publishing.

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Reviewer: Rebecca Maney

"She just wanted to be able to say that all was well with her soul."

Except, at the moment, nothing seemed to be going well. Having just been advised that her beloved grandmother needed a higher level of skilled care than the Golden Isles Center could provide; Millie Sullivan has a mere ninety days to relocate her; requiring her to work a virtual miracle. The only ray of hope arrives when Grandma Joy unloads a bombshell of family history. Millie's great grandmother's journal spoke of a treasure hidden on the grounds of the posh Chateau Dawkins on St. Simon's Island where she had been a summer guest; also intimating that her daughter Joy may have been the result of a summer tryst. Treasure, plus long-lost rich relatives? It could be the answer to all of Millie's problems. First things first, she must find that journal!

Chateau security officer Ben Thornton cannot believe his eyes. A lovely young woman, who is obviously on the Chateau staff, is rummaging through the library, a restricted area to guests as well as employees. He is obliged to turn her in . . . . except that she distracts him long enough to relay the most bizarre story about locating an old journal and looking for hidden treasure. Against his better judgement, Ben becomes the newest (and only) member of Millie's treasure hunting team.

Light and likable, "A Sparkle of Silver" tests just how strong love can be!

I received a copy of this book from the author and publisher. The opinions stated above are entirely my own.

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