Ridgetop. Mountain Women Series by Carol Ervin. BooksGoSocial, 2015.

At 29, Angela, a singer with a leading role in a touring musical, must have six months of complete voice rest. On her way to living quietly in a recently inherited West Virginia mountain cabin, she has a road accident. She is delivered instead to her beloved “Aunt Pete” in the home where she grew up, next door to her high school sweetheart. What happens next is complicated by a stranger, drifting through with a Ruger 22 after serving time. And by something else even worse going on in the woods.

Aside from the drifter, the characters in this book are beautifully developed and described, even the insufferable town clerk. The plot is wonderful, the pace fast, there’s a music festival in town, a great crisis involving a broken ankle during a mountain top chase on foot - I could not put it down – plus a satisfying ending.

I give it ***** (5 stars) for enjoyment but **** (4 stars) here for the brief (to me unnecessary, distracting) and murky business going on in the woods. I opted to ignore it rather than pick through or reread to make sense of it.
Disclosure: I received a review copy of Ridgetop for free via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. #Ridgetop #NetGalley.

"A Mountain Women Thriller

On the eve of a country music festival, three people meet in the West Virginia mountains: Angela, a singer with a wounded voice; B.L., a delusional ex-con on a dangerous quest to prove himself; and Rudy, who's chasing an old dream. If Angela sings—even speaks—she could ruin her voice for good, but she faces another threat: falling hard for Rudy, her first love, the man she abandoned to follow her career. Over the next few days the three will meet again in Winkler, the small town where the Ridgetop festival takes place.

All three will be forever changed. All three will run for their lives."

I absolutely love the Mountains and West Virginia, as I am from the Appalachian Mountains in Virginia. This is one of the biggest things that struck out to me when I first saw this book. I absolutely loved reading this book and it kept me wanting to keep turning the pages as fast as I could to see what happened next. I also love the small, mountain feeling that the Author describes in her words.
Thank you so much for the ARC!

Ridgetop by Carol Ervin.
Mountain Women Series
The last thing country singer Angela Henderson wants is to crawl back home to heal her wounded voice, but she believes it’s her best choice. She doesn’t figure on being stalked. She doesn’t know the rekindling of an old love will challenge her ambitions. And she has no idea that an accidental meeting on a deserted highway will end in a run for her life. Against the advice of her vocal coach, Angela took a summer gig with a musical theater company and sang roles that stressed her voice. Now she has vocal nodules and can’t work. To heal her voice she must be silent for six months. If she sings, even speaks, she risks losing her singing career. But her voice and future face other threats. Stuck in her small mountain town, she’s in danger of falling hard for Rudy, the man she abandoned to follow her career. Then there’s the delusional ex-con who’s on a dangerous quest to prove himself: is he an enemy or merely a fan?
Really enjoyable read. Great story and characters. 4*.