I love a good romance, and Spring House delivers.

In this story, pregnant and still grieving the death of her fiancé, historian Megan Buchanan is forging ahead on a dream project: to restore to its original glory the landmark hunting lodge her own great-great-grandfather built on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. With the help of her fiancé’s caring best friend, it’s sure to draw much-needed tourist revenue to Cape Hudson, a town rich in southern history.

However, it’s Spring House, the caretaker’s cottage on the grounds, that holds the most intriguing history for Megan. In a cache of old letters, she’s drawn into the captivating life of a young woman who embarked on her own dream adventure a century ago. With each one, Megan is swept away into her enthralling world—and all its secrets. But Megan has secrets too.

SPRING HOUSE takes place in the past and the present and it is very easy to follow along. You learn about the characters a little at a time and can’t help but feel their pain and grief as well as their happiness. Their family history is intertwined and at times, absolutely heart breaking. Megan Buchanan, who happens to be very pregnant, is trying to deal with the loss of her fiance, Scott Jessup and now has to deal with his mother trying to control her and the baby too. She receives lots of help from his best friend, Rick. Through a bunch of old letters they find inside the house, a sad and gut punching story is revealed.

The history that you learn about in SPRING HOUSE happens during and before World War II. Megan has been hired to restore Spring House and being a historian, she is learning and putting all the pieces to the puzzle in place with the Buchanan and Jessup families. It will all come together for her in the end and along the way you will be pulled right in with these families. Many secrets will come out over time as well, including a big one that Megan is keeping from everyone. She cancelled her wedding two weeks before it was to happen and Scott’s mother, Helen just can’t seem to let that go. She does not know why Megan cancelled, well, not the truth anyway.

SPRING HOUSE is so heart tugging. The talks between Diane and her sister, Claire are at times, heart breaking. She is so torn between finding her way in life and being reunited with her family who were all scattered when their mother died. I found myself so caught up in this family’s lives and turning the pages late into the night. You will not be able to put this book down until you turn the very last page. Mary Ellen Taylor does a beautiful and spectacular job of interweaving the past with the present. I can’t wait to read more by Ms. Taylor.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

If you’re looking for a warm and sweet book about two women whose stories intertwine and overlap with secrets in mystery as well as love, this is the book for you. I love the cover art and the title of this book, it gives it a very cozy field and the book itself in the story inside are perfect. This is such a warm and fun read, you will fall in love with all the characters and the setting and Spring House itself.

Thank you Netgalley for my ARC of this book. I really enjoyed it at times but it was bit confusing with all the different characters

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I'm a bit disappointed that I struggled through this book since there is so much great feedback. There were too many characters for me to keep straight and I often found myself confused.

Megan Buchanan is looking forward to working on her new dream project, restoring the hunting lodge called “Winter Cottage” once owned by her great-great-grandfather and at Cape Hudson on Virginia’s Eastern shore. Megan’s eight months pregnant, her ex fiancé died and his mother Helen is giving her a hard time. She hopes working on the new project will take her mind of her problems and fill in the time until she welcomes her baby daughter. She has plenty of support from Lucy Kincaid who inherited the house and her ex fiancées best friend Rick Markham and he’s the local sheriff.

They decided to start work on the caretaker's cottage first called “Spring House”, the last person to live in it was Samuel Jessup, it’s full of old books and papers and all sorts of things he collected during his years at sea. They discover some old letters, Megan’s determined to solve the mystery of what happened to Diane Hedrick, and she uncovers secrets and memories that have been hidden away for almost a hundred years.
By looking back at the past, Megan realizes she can’t change what has happened in her own life, she needs to make peace with what happened with Scott, embrace her future, with her new baby and Lucy keeps telling her Rick Markham’s interested in being more than friends.
I received a copy of Spring House from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I wish I had read the first book in the series first and three stars from me.

This is such a wonderfully written book. Filled with well crafted characters and an excellent plot, that kept me hooked. I didn't want it to end. I highly recommend it.

It's August 2017 at Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. Adele Jessup is almost one hundred years old and has learned alot about blessings and curses. Adele's great grandson Scott has died in a marine helicopter crash. Scott was twenty seven when he died. Adele can see and talk to Scotts spirit. Scott had been engaged to Megan. Not long after Scotts death Megan is pregnant. It's questioned whether Scott is the father. I loved Megan's passion and knowledge for history. I loved the characters. I loved going back in time and reading about Diane.

I really enjoyed this book! A great story line that kept me hooked and excellent main characters. I would highly recommend this book.

The follow on book from The Winter Cottage, characters reappear but the story is about Megan Buchanan, heavily pregnant, single, ( having walked away from her fiance 2 weeks before the wedding) who is restoring Spring House for her friend Lucy
(Winter Cottage). The story switches between the present and the past and is fascinating. It moves between Cape Hudson and France with ease and you move along with the characters, actually caring about them. It delights me that the acclaimed thriller writer Mary Burton can write such cosy, elegant and warm hearted books such as this. I was actually sorry when I finished reading the book, I enjoyed it so much

Spring House by Mary Ellen Taylor

Spring House is a great summer read, where you can lose yourself between the pages while soaking up the sun.

This was a very enjoyable and interesting read. I really liked how the author divided who had what chapters. I also really liked how we got to know each character, bit by bit. The characters were easily likable, and some - not so likable? in a way and it was easy to understand their pain, their happiness and sadness..I would gladly read more from this author.

This could have been a very charming book but there are so many characters I need a chart to keep them all straight -- and the family tree at the beginning of the book does nothing when reading on a Kindle. I hate flipping back and forth, zooming in, etc. If you want me to keep all of the characters straight, either pare down on the number of them or write more memorable characters.

There were several rushed plot points and some that I felt were just left hanging. Overall a disappointing and frustrating read.

I loved reading this story. This is perfect for fans of historical fiction and multiple timelines; both are things that I enjoy! I’m looking forward to more from this author.

Such a beautifully written story, one part told in the past, one part in the present. I was not aware that Mary Ellen Taylor had written Winter House prior to this. Winter house was referenced a lot, but I don't feel like I missed out on anything too significant by not reading it first. I could not put this book down once I started reading.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

Spring House by Mary Ellen Taylor
Source: NetGalley and Montlake Romance
Rating: 5/5 stars

**MINI-REVIEW**

The Bottom Line: Though it isn’t listed as the second book in a series, Spring House is very much a continuation of the story begun in Winter Cottage. Megan Buchanan has been contracted to fully and completely restore not only Winter Cottage but the surrounding sites as well; as a historian and an individual with deep family roots in the area, Megan is excited about the project and eager to restore every site to its former glory. As a means of somewhat avoiding her own very personal and painful issues, Megan throws herself into the Spring House project; in addition to the physical restoration of the site, Megan also digs into the history of the place and people. As Megan digs into the past, the book alternates between the past and the present and does so in a wonderfully seamless way. As Megan discovers, the past absolutely informs the present and with every bit of information she uncovers, the more connected she feels to her past, present, future, and the place.

Though you can absolutely read Spring House as a standalone, I would highly recommend reading it only after completing Winter Cottage. The history of the families and area are vast, complicated, and shrouded in mystery. The blending of past and present is excellent, the characters in both eras are compelling, and the plot is wonderfully heartfelt and engaging. At the root of this book is a sense of family, of belonging, and finding one’s place in the world. Though I want Megan to be successful in her work, I sure hope it takes her a very long time to complete the project as I would gladly welcome more books in this series.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity t read this book in return for a review based upon my honest opinion.

What a pleasure to read this book. I had read The Winter Cottage and really enjoyed it, so it was with great excitement that I received this book. I loved that while we had a new story to read and a new main character to fall in love with, we also got to enjoy the characters from the last book, Lucy, Natasha and Hank and see how their story continued. This book is easily a stand-alone book though and reading of the first book is not necessary to enjoy it, although, I think that anyone reading this book would quite quickly be adding The Winter Cottage to their TBR pile.

This story is told in dual story-lines; the present is about Meg, who is pregnant with her first child, Scott, the father of whom had recently died, was, for reasons we find out during the book, also her ex fiance. Meg is trying to run her catering business behind the scenes while taking on the task of renovating Spring House, owned by Lucy. Helen, Scott's overbearing mother, tries to help out but at times is overwhelming. Rick, Scott's best fiend is also now living in the area and making a living for himself in the small town of Cape Hudson, helps out whenever he can and Meg finds herself more and more drawn to him The past story is about Diane, a sister of Claire from The Winter Cottage. Diane's story is told through letters found while restoring the Spring House. I found both stories very enjoyable and hope that there are more books with the other siblings of Claire and Diane. This was a lovely story, the characters were heartfelt and the surroundings beautiful.

I. loved this book the history and now they intertwined perfectly. I also love how the now characters worked together to belong the the house back to it's glory. Meghan really had her hands full with this house and her pregnancy. She really had no room for error in her personal or business life, however when she reads the diary she found and she opens her heart up she finds the life is more than what you make of it.


I really enjoyed this book especially the history.


** I received a copy of this book in exchange for a honest review**

Lovely feel good read. It was well written and flowed well. I enjoyed it very much. The plot was good and interesting. Hard to put down

SPRING HOUSE is a wonderful continuation of WINTER COTTAGE but nowhere could I find that they are part of a series or even a connected story. Lucy and Megan are the main characters, but there are many supporting characters who play important roles. This is a tale of family and friends as well as the family history behind the homes.

The prologue is set in the present day and introduces us to the drama to come. Adele, at almost one-hundred-years old, plays a very important role in the story, and we just get a glimpse of it here. Megan, who is pregnant but a single-mom-to-be for a multitude of reasons, begins the tale. She is a historian and will be overseeing the renovations of Spring House and Winter Cottage for the new owner, Lucy, who we’ve met previously in WINTER COTTAGE. I loved all the historical details given during the telling of the story.

The story flows back and forth between the present day and the early 1900’s and Megan and Lucy are trying to find out what happened to Diane Hedrick, one of the Hedrick sisters of whom not much is known. She was given to a rich family to raise once her mother died, as were her other sisters, but more is known about the other sisters and their brothers who were kept together by a local family. This is important as Megan in the present tries to piece together the history of the families as well as the importance of some of the treasures they uncover.

There are many threads to the story, and they come together nicely. The story takes place in Virginia, Baltimore, and France. There are mysteries to be solved, history to uncover, some sinister dealings, and romantic interests. Rick, Megan’s ex’s best friend, is always there for her, but as a friend or something more?

The story ended abruptly, but there was a potential happily ever after. It definitely didn’t go far enough for me, and an epilogue would have given me the type of closure I look for. I would love to visit Cape Hudson, Virginia again since since there seems to be more story to tell.

I’ve read WINTER COTTAGE by Ms. Taylor, and I look forward to reading more of her books but hope for better closure. She’s also written suspense novels under the name of Mary Burton. I may give some of those books a try as well.