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Where the Grass Grows Blue
2023 Speak Up Talk Radio Firebird Book Award Winner: Summer Beach Read, Romance, and New Fiction
Penny Crenshaw’s divorce and her husband’s swift remarriage to a much younger woman have been hot topics around Atlanta’s social circles. After a year of enduring the cruel gossip, Penny leaps from the frying pan into the fire by heading back to Kentucky to settle her grandmother’s estate.
Reluctantly, Penny travels to her hometown of Camden, knowing she will be stirring up all the ghosts from her turbulent childhood. But not all her problems stem from a dysfunctional family. One of Penny’s greatest sources of pain lives just down the street: Bradley Hitchens, her childhood best friend, the keeper of her darkest secrets, and the boy who shattered her heart.
As Penny struggles with sorting through her grandmother’s house and her own memories, a colorful group of friends drifts back into her life, reminding her of the unique warmth, fellowship, and romance that only the Bluegrass state can provide. Now that fate has forced Penny back, she must either let go of the scars of her past or risk losing a second chance at love. Can she learn to live an unbridled life?
Penny Crenshaw’s divorce and her husband’s swift remarriage to a much younger woman have been hot topics around Atlanta’s social circles. After a year of enduring the cruel gossip, Penny leaps from the frying pan into the fire by heading back to Kentucky to settle her grandmother’s estate.
Reluctantly, Penny travels to her hometown of Camden, knowing she will be stirring up all the ghosts from her turbulent childhood. But not all her problems stem from a dysfunctional family. One of Penny’s greatest sources of pain lives just down the street: Bradley Hitchens, her childhood best friend, the keeper of her darkest secrets, and the boy who shattered her heart.
As Penny struggles with sorting through her grandmother’s house and her own memories, a colorful group of friends drifts back into her life, reminding her of the unique warmth, fellowship, and romance that only the Bluegrass state can provide. Now that fate has forced Penny back, she must either let go of the scars of her past or risk losing a second chance at love. Can she learn to live an unbridled life?
344 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 16, 2023
1204 people are currently reading
10585 people want to read
About the author
Hope Gibbs
2 books111 followersHope Gibbs grew up in rural Scottsville, Kentucky. As the daughter of an English teacher, she was raised to value the importance of good storytelling from an early age. Today, she’s an avid reader of women’s fiction. Drawn to multi-generational family sagas, relationship issues, and the complexities of being a woman, she translates those themes into her own writing.
Hope lives in Tennessee with her husband and her persnickety Shih Tzu, Harley. She is also the mother of five. In her downtime, she loves playing tennis, poring over old church cookbooks, singing karaoke, curling up on her favorite chair with a book, and playing board games.
Hope has a B.A. from Western Kentucky University. She is a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association and the Women's National Book Association.
Hope lives in Tennessee with her husband and her persnickety Shih Tzu, Harley. She is also the mother of five. In her downtime, she loves playing tennis, poring over old church cookbooks, singing karaoke, curling up on her favorite chair with a book, and playing board games.
Hope has a B.A. from Western Kentucky University. She is a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association and the Women's National Book Association.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 176 reviews
June 12, 2023
Check out all my reviews at: https://www.avonnalovesgenres.com
WHERE THE GRASS GROWS BLUE by Hope Gibbs is a heartfelt, enchanting, and beautiful Southern women’s fiction/romance story that I found impossible to put down. This is one woman’s journey that will resonate in part or in total with so many real-life women’s stories.
Penny Crenshaw is far from her poor and emotionally fraught upbringing in Kentucky and is a happy housewife and mother in affluent Atlanta until she discovers not only is her husband having an affair, but he is divorcing her for a much younger woman. Even with their divorce, her husband still controls Penny’s life.
When he takes their three boys on an extended African vacation with his new wife, Penny returns to her small hometown of Camden, Kentucky to get the house her grandmother left her ready for sale. Penny knows the memories will be difficult, but she still has relatives and friends to help. The one person she is determined to avoid is Dr. Bradley Hitchens. He was her best friend, keeper of her most emotionally shattering secret, and the one who shattered her heart.
With Southern comfort and grace, Penny will struggle with her past, find comfort in old friends and relations, and learn to live without fear for a second chance at a soul deep love.
This is an emotional roller-coaster of women’s fiction/romance with exceptionally crafted characters. I love Penny and Bradley’s second chance romance. Penny is discovering sometimes you just cannot outrun your past; you must return and face it head on to move forward. Penny’s journey is written intertwined with exquisitely descriptive small town Southern cuisine, gardening, church, supportive relatives and friends to interfering gossiping busybodies. This is a story and characters that I will be thinking about for quite some time.
I highly recommend this wonderful story!
WHERE THE GRASS GROWS BLUE by Hope Gibbs is a heartfelt, enchanting, and beautiful Southern women’s fiction/romance story that I found impossible to put down. This is one woman’s journey that will resonate in part or in total with so many real-life women’s stories.
Penny Crenshaw is far from her poor and emotionally fraught upbringing in Kentucky and is a happy housewife and mother in affluent Atlanta until she discovers not only is her husband having an affair, but he is divorcing her for a much younger woman. Even with their divorce, her husband still controls Penny’s life.
When he takes their three boys on an extended African vacation with his new wife, Penny returns to her small hometown of Camden, Kentucky to get the house her grandmother left her ready for sale. Penny knows the memories will be difficult, but she still has relatives and friends to help. The one person she is determined to avoid is Dr. Bradley Hitchens. He was her best friend, keeper of her most emotionally shattering secret, and the one who shattered her heart.
With Southern comfort and grace, Penny will struggle with her past, find comfort in old friends and relations, and learn to live without fear for a second chance at a soul deep love.
This is an emotional roller-coaster of women’s fiction/romance with exceptionally crafted characters. I love Penny and Bradley’s second chance romance. Penny is discovering sometimes you just cannot outrun your past; you must return and face it head on to move forward. Penny’s journey is written intertwined with exquisitely descriptive small town Southern cuisine, gardening, church, supportive relatives and friends to interfering gossiping busybodies. This is a story and characters that I will be thinking about for quite some time.
I highly recommend this wonderful story!
March 24, 2023
After a childhood fraught with difficulty, pain and heartache, Penny Crenshaw appears to be living the life anyone would die for with her husband and two sons in an affluent Georgia community. BUT, then, she learns of her husband’s infidelity, the catalyst that sends her back home to Kentucky which forces Penny to face her demons. She returns to the blue grass state reluctantly until she comes to realize she’s been given a second chance to understand and make peace with the past and an opportunity to rewrite history.
While Penny and her first love, Bradley Hitchens, shine as the main characters, who I rooted for from the beginning, the supporting characters--the sassy & painfully honest best friend, dysfunctional family members and a quirky hometown community-- add a bit of color commentary to the novel’s grit and wit.
I fell in love with Penny and Bradley’s unpredictable story. Evocative from the onset, Penny’s journey provides for a readers’ experience full of so many emotions in addition an immersion into sweet southern comfort, vivid with descriptions of food, flowers and religion.
Where the Grass Grows Blue is a beautifully rich story that gripped me and didn’t let go. I was sad for it to end. While this may be Hope Gibbs’ debut, one thing is for sure, I’ll be looking forward to her next novel.
While Penny and her first love, Bradley Hitchens, shine as the main characters, who I rooted for from the beginning, the supporting characters--the sassy & painfully honest best friend, dysfunctional family members and a quirky hometown community-- add a bit of color commentary to the novel’s grit and wit.
I fell in love with Penny and Bradley’s unpredictable story. Evocative from the onset, Penny’s journey provides for a readers’ experience full of so many emotions in addition an immersion into sweet southern comfort, vivid with descriptions of food, flowers and religion.
Where the Grass Grows Blue is a beautifully rich story that gripped me and didn’t let go. I was sad for it to end. While this may be Hope Gibbs’ debut, one thing is for sure, I’ll be looking forward to her next novel.
April 21, 2023
Mother of three, Penny Crenshaw, has been through the wringer this year. It started with discovering her husband’s affair with a much-younger woman, leading to an inevitable divorce. Then she was forced to endure the ruthless gossip from Atlanta’s elite. Finally, and probably the most agonizing of all, the sudden death of her beloved grandmother, Ruby Ray.
Penny begrudgingly agrees when Teddy demands extra time to take the kids on a trip to Africa. It will give her time to head to Kentucky to deal with her late grandmother’s estate. But returning to her childhood home does not fill her with warm nostalgia—quite the opposite. It forces her to face her dysfunctional past; abuse, tragedy, and relentless bullying. Penny plans to get in and get out of Camden quickly, but an unexpected run-in with Bradley Hitchens, her teenage love, stops her in her tracks.
“Where the Grass Grows Blue” by Hope Gibbs is a charming story about heartbreak and resilience with a bit of romance sprinkled in. Penny Crenshaw has been thrust into this new life as a divorced mother of three, and her strength is being tested on every level. The story’s landscape changes between Atlanta (her current home) and Kentucky, where she endured a complicated childhood. Readers are quickly brought up to speed with her past through cleverly woven flashbacks.
One of my favorite things about the book was the author’s ability to make me feel as if I was wrapped in the warm embrace of a small country town. As soon as Penny arrived back in Kentucky, the tranquility was palpable. Between the sprawling farmland, the delectable cuisine, and the kindness of town folk, I can see how country living is so desirable. As Penny traveled the roads of Camden, I felt I was along for the ride, relishing the sweet smells of her childhood—leather and bourbon, while being endlessly entertained by acquaintances and important characters of her past.
Applying the familiar theme of unrequited love to the storyline was masterfully executed here. I was intrigued by Penny and Bradley’s surprise encounter and discovering how their teenage relationship evolved through the flashbacks. Despite their undeniable chemistry, Penny’s hesitancy to trust Bradley deftly illustrates the plight of conflicting feelings when dealing with matters of the heart. While there were plenty of swoon-worthy love scenes, the evolving relationship addressed relatable challenges, like children, divorce, and geography, giving it a realistic feel while preserving the contemporary romance vibe.
“Where the Grass Grows Blue” was a page-turner from the beginning. The author’s writing was like paint on a canvas, creating a vibrant picture of life in Kentucky, so much so that I was easily transported there. Moreover, through flashbacks and introspection, Penny’s character development was flawless, and I was invested in all her relationships. If you’re craving an immersive storyline, this book provides the perfect escape!
Penny begrudgingly agrees when Teddy demands extra time to take the kids on a trip to Africa. It will give her time to head to Kentucky to deal with her late grandmother’s estate. But returning to her childhood home does not fill her with warm nostalgia—quite the opposite. It forces her to face her dysfunctional past; abuse, tragedy, and relentless bullying. Penny plans to get in and get out of Camden quickly, but an unexpected run-in with Bradley Hitchens, her teenage love, stops her in her tracks.
“Where the Grass Grows Blue” by Hope Gibbs is a charming story about heartbreak and resilience with a bit of romance sprinkled in. Penny Crenshaw has been thrust into this new life as a divorced mother of three, and her strength is being tested on every level. The story’s landscape changes between Atlanta (her current home) and Kentucky, where she endured a complicated childhood. Readers are quickly brought up to speed with her past through cleverly woven flashbacks.
One of my favorite things about the book was the author’s ability to make me feel as if I was wrapped in the warm embrace of a small country town. As soon as Penny arrived back in Kentucky, the tranquility was palpable. Between the sprawling farmland, the delectable cuisine, and the kindness of town folk, I can see how country living is so desirable. As Penny traveled the roads of Camden, I felt I was along for the ride, relishing the sweet smells of her childhood—leather and bourbon, while being endlessly entertained by acquaintances and important characters of her past.
Applying the familiar theme of unrequited love to the storyline was masterfully executed here. I was intrigued by Penny and Bradley’s surprise encounter and discovering how their teenage relationship evolved through the flashbacks. Despite their undeniable chemistry, Penny’s hesitancy to trust Bradley deftly illustrates the plight of conflicting feelings when dealing with matters of the heart. While there were plenty of swoon-worthy love scenes, the evolving relationship addressed relatable challenges, like children, divorce, and geography, giving it a realistic feel while preserving the contemporary romance vibe.
“Where the Grass Grows Blue” was a page-turner from the beginning. The author’s writing was like paint on a canvas, creating a vibrant picture of life in Kentucky, so much so that I was easily transported there. Moreover, through flashbacks and introspection, Penny’s character development was flawless, and I was invested in all her relationships. If you’re craving an immersive storyline, this book provides the perfect escape!
May 10, 2023
If, like me, Sweet Home Alabama is your comfort movie, you will LOVE this book. It is a second chance romance filled with southern charm, family drama, and the nostalgia of going back to visit your hometown. After Penny Crenshaw is blindsided by her husband having an affair and then leaving her for a younger woman, she makes her way back to her hometown in Kentucky to sell her late grandmother’s home. While she’s in her hometown, she’s left to face parts of her childhood she hasn’t faced in years, and she bumps into some characters from her past, including her first love Bradley Hitchins.
As a southern girl, there were so many parts of this book that felt like home. I absolutely loved it and you will too!!
As a southern girl, there were so many parts of this book that felt like home. I absolutely loved it and you will too!!
October 12, 2023
The first half of the story was okay. I had to skim from 65% on. Just wasn’t a story I hoped it would be.
June 14, 2023
4.5 Stars: Where the Grass Grows Blue is Hope Gibbs debut novel and it was a good one. I will definitely be watching for what she reads next. Penny Crenshaw’s trying to rebuild her life after a swift divorce and her husband’s new marriage to a much younger woman. On the same day she gets her divorce settlement, she finds out her grandmother, her last immediate family member has died. She has lived happily enough for the last year raising her three sons and being the topic of gossip in her Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta Georgia. When her ex-husband tells her he wants to take the boys for a month long trip to Africa, she balks, but eventually agrees, and heads home to Camden, Kentucky to finally settle her grandmother's estate. As Penny cleans and sorts, we learn about her past and why she fled the small town and she learns how these events have effected her life. Can she find the forgiveness she needs to move forward and think about herself for a change. With the help of friends, relatives (she seems to be related to half the town) and Dr. Bradley Hitchens, her high school crush, BFF and the keeper of her secrets, Penny begins her journey to be the best Penny she can be for herself.
I really enjoyed this book. It had my emotions all over at the beginning. When it started with Penny finding out her husband cheated on her and wanted a divorce, I thought this would be another going home, second chance romance like so many others I enjoy, light and sweet, but this story was so much more. Penny is a great character. She is wounded from all that has happened in her life, but is a great mother and friend, and would do whatever she had to do for her boys. The townspeople in Camden were a hoot. There were definitely some stereotypical characters but I loved getting to know them with all their quirks. Some were not so nice, like Penny's aunts, but they added to the story and helped me get to know Penny even more. Bradley was swoon-worthy. He was Penny's high school love. He betrayed her, marrying her arch nemesis, but their meeting after twenty-two years was priceless. He is now a widower, and the love they had for one another has been simmering under the surface for years, comes back to life. How will this play out with Penny living so far away? Will this just be a summer fling? Where the Grass Grows Blue is a story of forgiveness (self and others), self-reflection, friendship, family, and personal growth. Other topics include bullying, jealousy, physical abuse, alcoholism, infidelity and unconditional love. I really enjoyed this story and loved how it all ended. I recommend this one and am really looking forward to seeing what Hope Gibbs comes up with next.
I really enjoyed this book. It had my emotions all over at the beginning. When it started with Penny finding out her husband cheated on her and wanted a divorce, I thought this would be another going home, second chance romance like so many others I enjoy, light and sweet, but this story was so much more. Penny is a great character. She is wounded from all that has happened in her life, but is a great mother and friend, and would do whatever she had to do for her boys. The townspeople in Camden were a hoot. There were definitely some stereotypical characters but I loved getting to know them with all their quirks. Some were not so nice, like Penny's aunts, but they added to the story and helped me get to know Penny even more. Bradley was swoon-worthy. He was Penny's high school love. He betrayed her, marrying her arch nemesis, but their meeting after twenty-two years was priceless. He is now a widower, and the love they had for one another has been simmering under the surface for years, comes back to life. How will this play out with Penny living so far away? Will this just be a summer fling? Where the Grass Grows Blue is a story of forgiveness (self and others), self-reflection, friendship, family, and personal growth. Other topics include bullying, jealousy, physical abuse, alcoholism, infidelity and unconditional love. I really enjoyed this story and loved how it all ended. I recommend this one and am really looking forward to seeing what Hope Gibbs comes up with next.
June 4, 2023
This was a breezy southern chick lit read! I really enjoyed the story of Penny, finding herself. After her husband leaves her for a younger woman and then takes the boys on this exorbitant vacation, she has time to get through her grandmother's estate as well as find herself and what she really wants again. I really enjoyed the storyline of Penny and Bradley, as well as the past timeline to give to insight into the past and how things got to where they are standing today. This was a heartfelt read about finding oneself again, and sometimes going home is what it takes. I really enjoyed the other characters that were written in this novel as well as the family drama of grandmothers estate. This is a good summer read if you are looking for something light, entertaining and heartfelt. Thank you to Author Marketing Experts for the invite and to the author for the free novel. I look forward to more southern fiction from her. This review is of my own opinion and accord.
January 8, 2025
I stumbled upon this book and I am so glad I did! I live in Kentucky and the sense of place feels so true to me. Penny is a true heroine!!
May 22, 2023
Where the Grass Grows Blue is a heartfelt story about one woman’s journey to heal and grow from both mental and physical pain. Penny is a very relatable character; a woman who carries painful memories from her past, as well as heartache and struggles in the present. Although a lot of Penny’s story is very hurtful and sad to read, being along with her as she learns to forgive, to move on, and to fight back is something wonderful to behold! I also loved the feisty, minor characters in this novel who bring humor and warmth to Penny’s story. Congratulations to the author on a fantastic debut novel!
July 8, 2023
Hope Gibbs, the Author of “Where the Grass Grows Blue,” has written a captivating and heartfelt novel. The genres for this novel are Women’s Fiction, Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Family Drama, and Romance. The themes in this beautiful novel are forgiveness, second chances, the importance of family and friends, love, and hope. The author vividly describes the small town in Kentucky, the scenery, and her colorful characters.
The characters can be described as complex and complicated. I kept cheering on Penny Crenshaw, the protagonist, that had a difficult life. Penny does have some wonderful friends for a support system. Penny is a mother to 3 young boys and is betrayed by her wealthy husband, and gets divorced. Her ex-husband marries a much younger woman and is controlling and manipulative towards Penny. During this difficult time, Penny’s grandmother passes away, and she has to go to Kentucky to settle the estate.
Penny dreads going to Kentucky because of the past. She had a dysfunctional family and still has a broken heart from her boyfriend in Kentucky. She knows she must make peace with the past to move on.
I appreciate the author discussing physical and emotional abuse and the importance of supportive friends and family. I highly recommend this emotional novel to others.
The characters can be described as complex and complicated. I kept cheering on Penny Crenshaw, the protagonist, that had a difficult life. Penny does have some wonderful friends for a support system. Penny is a mother to 3 young boys and is betrayed by her wealthy husband, and gets divorced. Her ex-husband marries a much younger woman and is controlling and manipulative towards Penny. During this difficult time, Penny’s grandmother passes away, and she has to go to Kentucky to settle the estate.
Penny dreads going to Kentucky because of the past. She had a dysfunctional family and still has a broken heart from her boyfriend in Kentucky. She knows she must make peace with the past to move on.
I appreciate the author discussing physical and emotional abuse and the importance of supportive friends and family. I highly recommend this emotional novel to others.
June 18, 2023
This is a great debut book by Hope Gibbs, one that will leave you thinking about life choices and second chances.
After a really hard childhood and upbringing in rural Kentucky, Peggy marries a very wealthy young man from Atlanta, what she thought was a good marriage turns into a nightmare when she finds out that her husband has cheated on her and decides to abandons her and their three children for this very young woman, and on top of this Peggy’s be,Obed grandmother, the one that was always there for her during her whole life dies and leaves Peggy her house in Kentucky.
When Peggy goes to clean out the house and sell it she runs into the only person she doesn’t want to see in Camden Kentucky, her one true and only love, her high school love Garrett, whom she hasn’t seen in twenty years after he broke her heart.
Has life has given her a second chance in love?
This is a book you don’t want to put down, with heartbreaking scenes, but also loving one, this is a book about second chances in life and in love, about learning to love yourself and be better, to learn to be a survivor of abuse, pain and heartbreak and rise victorious.
After a really hard childhood and upbringing in rural Kentucky, Peggy marries a very wealthy young man from Atlanta, what she thought was a good marriage turns into a nightmare when she finds out that her husband has cheated on her and decides to abandons her and their three children for this very young woman, and on top of this Peggy’s be,Obed grandmother, the one that was always there for her during her whole life dies and leaves Peggy her house in Kentucky.
When Peggy goes to clean out the house and sell it she runs into the only person she doesn’t want to see in Camden Kentucky, her one true and only love, her high school love Garrett, whom she hasn’t seen in twenty years after he broke her heart.
Has life has given her a second chance in love?
This is a book you don’t want to put down, with heartbreaking scenes, but also loving one, this is a book about second chances in life and in love, about learning to love yourself and be better, to learn to be a survivor of abuse, pain and heartbreak and rise victorious.
May 31, 2023
Hope Gibbs - what a great read! This is the story of a woman named Penny who has taken crap all her life just - go along to get along - so to speak. Brutal drunk for a father and a very promiscuous mother living in a small town where half the people are related to you and do they ever like to spread gossip! I could relate to living in a small town and what goes with that! There are good things about a small town but when people in town constantly talk and point fingers - well it gets hard for a pre-teen and the teen years - pretty much hell on earth. No matter you have the best Grandparents - sometimes it is just not enough! Running became Penny’s escape in more ways than one. Plus the popular girl at school and her minions are bullies! But along comes a nice (truly to the core nice). Just when Penny get two steps ahead her Dad pulls something else and she ends up 2 steps back!
Fast forward 20 years and Penny has to go back and Clean out her grandmother’s home and sell it - enter the boy who broke her heart all those years ago and this mix makes for a lot of lessons to be learned - number one - forgiveness is empowering - mainly for the person holding in the hurt! Many good lessons to be learned when some people turn out to be more than you expect!
I think you will enjoy this book!
Fast forward 20 years and Penny has to go back and Clean out her grandmother’s home and sell it - enter the boy who broke her heart all those years ago and this mix makes for a lot of lessons to be learned - number one - forgiveness is empowering - mainly for the person holding in the hurt! Many good lessons to be learned when some people turn out to be more than you expect!
I think you will enjoy this book!
November 5, 2023
Hope Gibbs’s debut novel Where The Grass Grows Blue has enough Kentucky charm to make me see my old home in a brighter light. The second chance romance explores forgiveness as the main character Penny returns home for the first time in twenty years to prepare her recently deceased grandmother’s home for sale. Once there, she finds not much in the small town has changed since she left for college.
Penny’s reunion with her high school sweetheart Bradley enchants from their (re)meet cute. The small town southern quirks bring the setting to life, making it feel familiar to this (for now) Kentuckian. Drama and romance balance well for an immersive and hopeful read. It feels like if only I changed churches I might find and befriend Penny. I’ll settle for forgiveness and a chance at love instead.
Penny’s reunion with her high school sweetheart Bradley enchants from their (re)meet cute. The small town southern quirks bring the setting to life, making it feel familiar to this (for now) Kentuckian. Drama and romance balance well for an immersive and hopeful read. It feels like if only I changed churches I might find and befriend Penny. I’ll settle for forgiveness and a chance at love instead.
November 1, 2023
Romance isn’t my usual genre, but I recently met the author and I do love the title and the cover! I also love Southern women’s fiction so I had to read this book. I’m glad I did. I could identify with the main character (her divorce) and I didn’t feel the reunion with her first love was too contrived. It was well written for a first novel, and I look forward to reading more by this author.
July 1, 2024
Really enjoyed this book reading it a 4.5
July 15, 2024
Wonderful story
Loved the characters. Great story line. Unable to put down. Looking forward to more books by Hope Gibbs. Highly recommend.
Loved the characters. Great story line. Unable to put down. Looking forward to more books by Hope Gibbs. Highly recommend.
February 19, 2025
Read for book club 📖
It was okay. It wasn’t bad, just not enough depth for me. It’s an easy read with not a lot of intensity. A very simple, country girl goes city girl goes back to the country girl romance.
It was okay. It wasn’t bad, just not enough depth for me. It’s an easy read with not a lot of intensity. A very simple, country girl goes city girl goes back to the country girl romance.
May 10, 2024
Great read! Trigger alert: a father beats his daughter
December 26, 2024
This was way better then. I was expecting... Good second chance romance. Very cute.
September 18, 2024
This was an enjoyable read with the theme of romance and bouncing back from hard life. The book is set in rural KY And the author really put great details into the dialect and details of a small town in rural Kentucky.
November 12, 2023
What a great book. It is a wonderful story of of circumstances not being your destiny. I really enjoyed meeting the author and this is definitely a story worth the read! Nicely done!
May 8, 2024
I loved this Book. I read three or four books every week and I must say this is the best book I’ve read in a long time. I highly recommend it.
November 3, 2024
Fantastic book. I am a Kentucky girl, and you can just tell the author is from Kentucky! I very much enjoyed it.
June 2, 2024
I loved this book. The author grew up in a town near me. A very special family…
May 15, 2023
For the past month or so, I have been in a reading rut. That was until I started reading Where the Grass Grows Blue by Hope Gibbs. I was fortunate enough to receive an advanced copy, and I’m so glad I did!
From the outside looking in, it seems like Penny Crenshaw has it all. A beautiful house, three children, and a wealthy husband. All of this seems to disappear when Penny finds out that her husband is having an affair, and is in love with another woman.
Penny has to figure out what her new life looks like without her husband. While she’s going through her divorce, she finds out that her beloved grandmother in Kentucky has passed away. This causes her to go to Kentucky to settle her grandmother’s estate. While Penny is there, she has to face her past and some of the people from it.
Where the Grass Grows Blue tells the story of resilience as well as the need to face, or come to terms with, our past. It’s hard to believe that this is Hope’s debut novel. I can’t wait to see what else she has in store for her readers!
From the outside looking in, it seems like Penny Crenshaw has it all. A beautiful house, three children, and a wealthy husband. All of this seems to disappear when Penny finds out that her husband is having an affair, and is in love with another woman.
Penny has to figure out what her new life looks like without her husband. While she’s going through her divorce, she finds out that her beloved grandmother in Kentucky has passed away. This causes her to go to Kentucky to settle her grandmother’s estate. While Penny is there, she has to face her past and some of the people from it.
Where the Grass Grows Blue tells the story of resilience as well as the need to face, or come to terms with, our past. It’s hard to believe that this is Hope’s debut novel. I can’t wait to see what else she has in store for her readers!
October 6, 2023
I really enjoyed this book and the setting in Kentucky. By the end of the book, you will have experienced Penny’s emotions of lost love, strong friendships and the comfort of coming “home”. I highly recommend the audible version.
October 27, 2024
Fantastic book!
I love the way the book draws you in to Penny's perfect life, just to see it shattered. A must read for anyone.
I love the way the book draws you in to Penny's perfect life, just to see it shattered. A must read for anyone.
May 16, 2023
I rarely give a book a 5-star rating but this one earned it. It had me hooked by page 2 and I couldn’t put it down. Hope Gibbs is an amazing author. The story flowed so easily with the wit and personality she gave Penny. I also really enjoyed how much she understood Atlanta and Kentucky. There was never a reference I didn’t understand (speaking as someone from Atlanta). If I could give this book 6-stars I would!
February 12, 2025
Loved the story and that part of it took place in Ky 😊
March 31, 2023
Penny Crenshaw seemed to be living her “perfect” life in Atlanta with her husband and boys, until her world fell apart. Surprised with her husband’s infidelity and the highs and lows that come with a divorce, Penny went back home to her small southern bluegrass hometown where she found herself and re found Bradley, her first love. She had to face her past and in turn found herself again.
WHERE THE GRASS GROWS BLUE by Hope Gibbs brought me right back to memories of my small southern hometown. It makes you miss the days of church potlucks, small town gossip and the smell of the honeysuckle growing on the side of the barn. It filled me with nostalgia of growing up in a place like Camden, with people like Penny and Bradley.
I didn’t want to put WHERE THE GRASS GROWS BLUE down, but I also didn’t want it to end. It made you root for Penny and Bradley, laugh at the supporting characters and get mad at some of her family and her ex husband. It also made me call my grandmother, who I knew was out in her yard with her flowers, her girls.
WHERE THE GRASS GROWS BLUE by Hope Gibbs brought me right back to memories of my small southern hometown. It makes you miss the days of church potlucks, small town gossip and the smell of the honeysuckle growing on the side of the barn. It filled me with nostalgia of growing up in a place like Camden, with people like Penny and Bradley.
I didn’t want to put WHERE THE GRASS GROWS BLUE down, but I also didn’t want it to end. It made you root for Penny and Bradley, laugh at the supporting characters and get mad at some of her family and her ex husband. It also made me call my grandmother, who I knew was out in her yard with her flowers, her girls.
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