Wow! This is an exceptional book! I was hooked from the very beginning! The author's use of imagery placed me in the quaint town of Charity Hills, Oregon. A place I'd love to visit!

The characters are wonderful! I honestly like them all! They each touched my heart in different ways. As Daisy, Audrey, Cade, and Nash deal with loss and grief, they also keep their hearts tender to others in need.

Several difficult issues are brought up in the book. There's Alzheimer's, deaths of family members, children whose father is in prison. There's also hope, fond memories, new relationships, and new beginnings! The ending was the icing on the cake!

I was provided a complimentary copy of the book from Revell via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a new author to me and I loved how I could feel all the emotions with this book. At times laughing, other times crying and always feeling deeply for the emotional rollercoaster the characters were going through. I would definitely read more from this author and am grateful to have been given the opportunity to read The Color of Home.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and did not have to write a review. All opinions are solely mine.

Audrey Needham, a leading designer in the Bay Area, finds her boss challenging to work for. She decides to take a two-week vacation to assist her Great Aunt Daisy, and this decision marks a turning point in her life. Daisy, who raised Audrey's father, lives in Oregon. Now, Daisy wants to sell the house to move into a retirement home and asks Audrey for help. During her time away, Audrey's design firm unexpectedly closes, leaving her jobless. However, she begins to fall in love with Charity Falls, Oregon. Meanwhile, Cade Carter, a newcomer to the town, has been assisting Daisy for the past few years.

I so loved this book!! I finished it in less than 24 hours. I was totally drawn in by the vivid use of colors within the story. I loved how the present intertwined with the past. This book captured the struggle that alot of people feel between the urge to further their career and working hard to leave behind the trauma of the past with balancing the family that loves you. I immediately wen to Amazon and followed this author! I can hardly wait until the next book! Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

This was a DNF for me. The switching between 1st person perspectives is a bookish pet peeve of mine. I also felt there was a lot of telling vs. showing when it came to character and plot development. 25% of the way through and I couldn’t see where we were going and I honestly didn’t care to. Some phrases used made me visibly cringe-like an 80 year old woman referring to her “giggle box.” Ew. The cover is gorgeous though!

One of my favorite things about being an ARC reader is to be one of the first to read debut novels for authors! I took a chance requesting "The Color of Home" by Kit Tosello and am so glad that I did. I hope you take a chance on this author as well because this book is faith-filled, encouraging and tackles some really tough topics in a beautiful way.

Audrey Needham lost her father suddenly when she was a teenager. After that loss, she stayed away from her great aunt and uncle's home in Oregon, only coming back later in life when her uncle is diagnosed with Alzheimer's and her aunt needs help. Audrey has a stressful job as an interior designer in California. While she's there she gets involved with the community in a meaningful way, with her return the the bay area always in her rear view mirror. She also takes many missteps similar to ones the rest of us make in our own lives. She is also an artist and starts to rediscover the artist within herself as she re-examines her life and purpose.

This book is filled with wonderful passages and I found myself pondering the authors words while reading. This is a book to savor and think about. It is a Christian book from a Christian publisher and I'm really happy to see one so filled with nuggets of faith. I hope to see more from this author that are just as faith filled as this one was.

Thank you to Revell Publishing and Netgalley for an opportunity to read an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

Daisy has asked her great niece Audrey to come and help her move into an assisted living home because her husband has early Alzheimer's.
A story about coming to terms with our past and bravely facing the future and its challenges.
Thank you to NetGalley and Revell for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

From Amazon's synopsis: Audrey Needham, Bay Area interior designer to the rich and pretentious, is down to her last nerve. Her boss is impossible to please, her future is in jeopardy, and her great-aunt Daisy needs support as her husband descends into Alzheimer's.
When Daisy enlists Audrey's help preparing for a move to assisted living, Audrey risks her career to return to the idyllic small town of Charity Falls, Oregon, the summer stomping grounds of her childhood. But Charity Falls was also the place that broke her heart when her father was killed in a tragic fire at the Sugar Pine Inn thirteen years ago.

Despite Audrey's intent to avoid emotional entanglement, the pull of home is hard to resist. Something should be done about the deteriorating inn. A local girl with an incarcerated father needs a friend. And handsome local do-gooder Cade Carter is coloring Audrey all shades of uncertain.

For the most part, this book was enjoyable and brought out some of it was quite necessary for the times we live in. Caring for our aging relatives made it feel quite rewarding, especially for someone who has cared for an ailing relative. The primary characters were not the ones I loved most, but some of the secondary characters made the book what it is. The only thing I have against the book is that the ending was totally unsatisfying. It seemed to be wrapped up and tied with a knot in just a short, few paragraphs. Kit Tosello has written a fairly good book that will keep the reader engaged. Four Stars

Revell Publishing provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.

The Color of Home is a well written book. It was hard to believe that it is a debut book. I throughly enjoyed the plot and the character dynamics. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

The Color of Home create a stir in my heart especially the character of Audrey who must face difficult situations in her life and handle family with dementia which is pretty hard to tackle. Thank you, Kit Tosello.

What a beautiful debut this was! As the story begins, we meet Aubrey- a Bay Area interior designer- as she makes the decision to return to the small town of Charity Falls, Oregon to help her aunt and uncle to get their home ready to sale as they prepare to move to an assisted living facility due to his dementia. This story drew me into this small town right away with its wonderful cast of characters. While there were many introduced and that took me a bit to sort out initially, I found that each of these characters was very well written and added so much to the story. While there was a romance thread that I absolutely adored, I definitely felt like it took more of a backseat to the stories of family, community and healing that were the true heart of the story. With a beautiful debut like this, I very much look forward to reading more from Kit Tosella in the future.

** I received a complimentary copy via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.

Loved following Audrey through some difficult moments and decisions and also seeing what Daisy was experiencing with Dean. Dementia is definitely a hard disease for families to deal with.

Paige was super high on my favorite character list as well and the scene with the horse was absolutely beautiful. Her goodbye to Audrey was heartbreaking.

Overall I enjoyed the book but wish the romance would have started a little sooner and developed more throughout the book.

3.5 stars

Audrey's life seems to be pulling her into many different directions, and she seems lost. She makes a decision to go and help her Aunt and Uncle in Charity Falls, Oregon, get ready to move into assisted living. Once there, things begin to seem different to her. She is surprised at the life she has there, She does things that make her happy, As she continues on the journey she is on now, there is things she has to face, lessons that need to be learned, and decisions that need to be made.
Charity Falls holds memories for her, and it is where her Dad died. She begins to feel a connection, and each day moves her along on the journey she is on now. As the time approaches, that she is supposed to go back, she finds herself at a crossroad. This is a beautifully written story, that relaxed me, made me think about my life, and learned a few lessons along the way too. I hope you decide to read this book.
I received an ARC from Revell through NetGalley.

This was a wonderful story that spoke to my heart in a meaningful way. As I face my husband's illness it was encouraging to read about Daisy and how she learnt to be quiet God and face each day with Him.

Congratulations to debut author Kit Tosello for her charming and creative Christian Women’s Fiction, “The Color of Home” (great title!) Love and Hope are the dominant themes of this book..

This story is presented in the first person by the two main characters, Audrey, a young woman and her Aunt Daisy. Audrey has achieved some success as an interior designer, but is unsettled because of past events in her life. Aunt Daisy has had a lovely life, but she is now in her 70’s and her husband has dementia. When Audrey leaves San Francisco to help her Aunt who lives in a small town in the high desert of Oregon, both their lives will change.

I enjoyed getting to know Audrey and Aunt Daisy and the other characters, especially Cade, a possible love interest. The highlights of the book for me, were learning about interior design and getting a real feel for the little town in Oregon. I especially liked how Audrey knew all the Pantone Colors and that she had a good heart.The Christian faith was mentioned, but with little depth.

Thanks to Revell And NetGalley for an advance review copy. This is my honest review.

“The unexpected life is our actual life.”

Allow debut author Kit Tosello to whisk you away to fictional Charity Falls, a small town in the PNW, where her characters discover what it means to live the good life.

I loved Tosello’s examination of reawakening and reconnection. Interior designer Audrey Needham discovers that when she invests her time and energy into the activities of daily living (helping her great aunt and uncle transition), despite it not being the best timing for her, she develops the virtues required to live the good life. It was inspiring to see Audrey’s mindset determining the direction of her feet and her destination.

I also appreciated Tosello highlighting trust (in ourselves, in God and in others), belonging, heritage, and finding/working towards our ‘dream’. We all have challenges, timing is never perfect for any of us when we’re called to help, we all experience the ‘unexpected’, and we all struggle to find our dream at times - this is what makes Tosello’s story so relatable. The faith thread woven throughout tugged at my heartstrings, kept me invested in the story and inspired me in my own journey.

Don’t pass by the author’s inspiration for the story or Myrtle Rose’s 5 Rules for Life!

Tosello excels at developing a sense of place and creating journeys for her characters that bring out their best. I now have this author on my radar!

I was gifted his copy by Revell and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

In the Bay area, Audrey is a talented interior designer, and although her job seems at risk, she makes the decision to take two weeks off to help her Aunt Daisy prepare to move into an assisted living facility. Her husband’s diagnosis of Alzheimer’s has progressed, and Daisy knows the day is coming she won’t be able to care for him herself.
Upon Audrey’s arrival in the small Oregon town of Charity Falls, Audrey dives right in helping Daisy sort through years of accumulated belongings, getting rid of most of it. She updates the house with new paint inside and out, cleaning up the neglected yard and planting new flowers. Together Audrey and Daisy work hard and give the place a whole new, bright look, ready to offer it for sale.
Concerned about her meager bank account, Audrey takes a job at the local hardware store, and agrees to give them two months. Back in the Bay area, her former employer has closed up shop and moved on. Audrey notices 8-year-old girls who comes in the store everyday alone, gets a gum ball, and leaves. The child intrigues Audrey who befriends her, learning she lives only with her mother, who works long hours, and an older brother. Audrey’s life exemplifies her belief in “doing the next right thing.”
This beautifully written, heartwarming story has a cast of loveable, unforgettable characters, including a movie star, a potential love interest for Audrey, a delightful child, along with a number of twists and turns, surprises, and a story that has inspired me to “do the next right thing.”
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All comments and opinions are my own.,

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. This was a thought provoking, inspirational, enjoyable contemporary romance story. The story centers on a young woman, Audrey who returns to Oregon to help her Aunt Daisy and Uncle Dean work through some difficult circumstances. Audrey is also having personal difficulties, having just lost her job and ending her relationship with her boyfriend. Audrey works through her own problems and discovers her own spiritual reawakening, this is a heartwarming simple but yet complex story focusing on love of family, love of nature, love of one’s own roots, and learning to trust and help others.

Aubrey finds herself trying to navigate thru helping her aunt and uncle with his dementia and putting him in a home as well as trying to navigate through her own issues with being back to a town where tragedy struck. A good romance. But honestly it wasn’t really my type of book. I found it very slow. But I’m sure others would enjoy it.

I needed an energizing read with ups and downs and this was it. The rich language made me feel as though I was right there in the small town. The relationships, young and old, are nicely woven and make for a great book. I’m glad I read it.