Blog Tour: In a Quiet Town by Amber Garza

*Thank you to HTP Books for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. They also provided all info and graphics.

In a Quiet Town : A Novel 

Amber Garza

On Sale Date: August 8, 2023

9780778334255

Trade Paperback

$18.99 USD

336 pages

ABOUT THE BOOK:

In this chilling new novel, a pastor’s wife discovers that her estranged daughter is missing, but no one will believe her, until she meets a man claiming to be her daughter’s fiancé.

The book is about Tatum, a woman who secretly reconnects with her estranged adult daughter—secretly because Adrienne’s been all but disowned by Tatum’s husband, a pastor at the church in their small California town, where every move is watched and reported by his congregation. When Adrienne doesn’t show up for her shift at the bar where Tatum’s been visiting her, she knows something is wrong. Adrienne may have been a bit of wild child, but she hasn’t missed a day of work without calling in for years.

Tatum tries desperately to get the police or her husband to take her daughter’s disappearance seriously, until a mysterious man shows up claiming to be Adrienne’s fiancé. It’s a relief to finally have someone who believes her and is trying as hard as she is to find out where Adrienne is. But can she trust that this stranger is really who he says he is? And can she find her daughter before it’s too late?

Review

This book started off so strong and I was instantly gripped by the mystery but unfortunately by the end the whole story fell apart for me. This book is told from three perspectives in a non linear format which was an interesting way to tell the story. Especially since one of the perspectives is Adrienne’s (the missing daughter) and most of her story is centered in the past and gives a greater insight into her family life. Garza tells a very compelling story about growing up the daughter of a pastor in a strict conservative Christian church and how stifling it was. Tatum, Adrienne’s mom, is another perspective we get and she also details how constricting their faith is and how it impacts her currently and in the past. But like with Tatum’s health issues and her new friendship with a woman outside the church it ultimately leads to nothing. I can see how it served Garza to have a splintered family but so much time and emphasis was placed on the Christianity angle that I thought the story would involve the Pastor or his church and it doesn’t. The third perspective was from the fiancé and while it was the most compelling of the three for me it also fell apart at the end. The ending of this book was so rushed and it had the potential to be so much more suspenseful. I gobbled this book up in two sittings which is probably why I felt so let down by the last third of this book. It had the potential to be so much more and I wanted it to deliver.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Amber Garza has had a passion for the written word since she was a child making books out of notebook paper and staples. Her hobbies include reading and singing. Coffee and wine are her drinks of choice (not necessarily in that order). She writes while blaring music, and talks about her characters like they’re real people. She lives with her husband and two kids in Folsom, California.

SOCIAL LINKS:

Author website: https://ambergarza.com/ 

IG: https://www.instagram.com/ambergarzaauthor/?hl=en 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ambermg1?lang=en

FB: https://www.facebook.com/ambergarzaauthor/ 

Excerpt

PROLOGUE

His hands were in her hair, fingers threaded through the silky strands. I knew what it felt like. My fingers had been buried in her hair many times, including last night. When their lips met I sat up straighter, leaning forward. It didn’t feel real. I worked my jaw. It popped and clicked. My own mouth buzzed with the memory of how her lips felt on mine.

The kiss was long. Too long.

She liked it.

My shoulder muscles pulled tight, a rubber band being stretched beyond its limits. I thought they might snap.

The two of them drew back. She smiled. Smiled with the same lips that had smiled at me. Kissed me. Told me they loved me. Clearly, a lie.

She brushed back her hair, and the diamond on her finger sparkled.

Her ring. The one I’d given her. She was wearing it.

It felt like a punch to the gut. Like a big “fuck you” to me.

It wasn’t like she knew I’d followed her. But still… Shouldn’t she take her engagement ring off before she hooked up with another dude?

Throwing her head back, her neck exposed, she giggled.

Imagining my hands wrapping around that tender flesh, I squeezed the steering wheel. It gave under the pressure, and I squeezed harder. It felt good. Therapeutic. I pictured her terrified. Pleading. Mouth tight, eyes bulging. I squeezed and squeezed, my teeth grinding, the vein in my forehead throbbing. My muscles ached by the time I released my grip.

Their hands clasped. My breathing was labored as I watched them walk off together, around the side of the building, out of sight.

I’d loved her. Given her so much.

How dare she?

No one made a fool out of me.

She wouldn’t get away with this. Not by a long shot.

Excerpted from In A Quiet Town by Amber Garza, Copyright © 2023 by Amber Garza. Published by MIRA Books.  

BUY LINKS:

Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/then-she-disappeared-amber-garza/18816653?ean=9780778334255 

B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in-a-quiet-town-amber-garza/1142722524?ean=9780778334255 

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Town-Novel-Amber-Garza/dp/0778334252