In The Castle Library Series: Heartwarming Reads

 

Ann Swindell is a new-to-me author, and I may have been feeling a little Christmas in July when I listened to the audiobook versions of Christmas in the Castle Library and Love in the Castle Library.  I wanted to dive into these gorgeous covers before I even read the back.

The narrator does a fantastic job creating different inflections for characters making them distinguishable. 

If you love contemporary books that have mystery that delves into history, romance, and royalty this series is just the ticket. I liked how the author seamlessly wove characters in from the first book to the second giving the reader a more complete sense of the world she created.

Christmas in The Castle Library follows Grad student Ellie Sawyer who has been offered a three-week internship at the Castle Library in Lethersby (fictional European kingdom created by Ann Swindell) to study the disappearance of the country's beloved Queen Alma during WWI for her dissertation. 

In Love in the Castle Library, Castle Steward Delphine Duvant is sent to hire an English scholar from Oxford to further unravel the layers of mystery surrounding Queen Alma's vanishing.  

For me, I appreciated how realistic and relatable the strong spiritual threads were throughout both novels. It made me reflect on my own walk with the Lord and want to strive to draw closer. 

I'd rate Christmas in the Castle Library as 3.5 stars. My reason being at times heroine Ellie's pessimistic personality in the beginning drove me nuts. In the second, book, I liked Ellie's character more. I'd rate Love in the Castle Library as 4 stars. I enjoyed Delphine's character in the first book and was eager to read her story. 

I'm looking forward to reading book 3 (Secrets in the Castle Library) that releases on September 22nd.