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Woods in Mourning
AT NINETEEN YEARS OLD I lost the only person who meant the world to me, and now I’m left picking up all of the pieces he left behind. A chance encounter with a Bluff’s Bereavement Camp pamphlet has led me to a new destination, and I am anything but prepared for the aftermath of meeting the camp’s CEO, Eli Johnson.
He’s the grumpiest man I’ve ever met, but what else would you expect from a man who makes money off of someone else’s grief? When he begrudgingly invited me to stay the summer in his private cabin, he had no idea who I was or where I came from. I was supposed to keep my head down and keep quiet, but instead, I found myself telling a little white lie. One that would soon change the trajectory of both of our lives.
He’s the grumpiest man I’ve ever met, but what else would you expect from a man who makes money off of someone else’s grief? When he begrudgingly invited me to stay the summer in his private cabin, he had no idea who I was or where I came from. I was supposed to keep my head down and keep quiet, but instead, I found myself telling a little white lie. One that would soon change the trajectory of both of our lives.
- GenresRomance
456 pages, Paperback
Published February 29, 2024
About the author
Angel J. Stahl
3 books3 followersAngel J. Stahl writes Christian romance for readers who want messy characters, meaningful faith, and a love worth waiting for.
Her stories center on redemption, second chances, found family, and imperfect people learning that grace can meet them in the middle of real life. She believes romance can be emotional, honest, and swoony without sacrificing clean storytelling.
When she isn’t writing, Angel is a military wife, girl mom, book lover, and hockey fan. She lives in Southern California with her family and is usually dreaming up her next happily-ever-after.
Her debut clean romance novel, Pinwheels & Promises, is a heartfelt Christian romance about healing, hope, and finding love when life does not go according to plan.
Her stories center on redemption, second chances, found family, and imperfect people learning that grace can meet them in the middle of real life. She believes romance can be emotional, honest, and swoony without sacrificing clean storytelling.
When she isn’t writing, Angel is a military wife, girl mom, book lover, and hockey fan. She lives in Southern California with her family and is usually dreaming up her next happily-ever-after.
Her debut clean romance novel, Pinwheels & Promises, is a heartfelt Christian romance about healing, hope, and finding love when life does not go according to plan.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
June 3, 2024
It’s like the woods were in mourning before you arrived and changed everything.
I think these two main characters are good together, but I don’t believe they need to be in a relationship right now. She needs to become more emotionally mature and he needs to let go of his insecurity in regards to relationships. They both need to heal. But I did enjoy this. New author to me and I’m not disappointed.
I think these two main characters are good together, but I don’t believe they need to be in a relationship right now. She needs to become more emotionally mature and he needs to let go of his insecurity in regards to relationships. They both need to heal. But I did enjoy this. New author to me and I’m not disappointed.
June 13, 2024
One of my favorite books I’ve red so far ❤️
June 8, 2024
I don't remember how I came upon this one, but I'm so glad that I did. It was exactly what I was in the mood to read and it was so good! Charleigh had suffered a huge loss in her life when she met Eli at the bereavement camp. He may not have known her story, but he was definitely drawn to her when he heard there were no more cabins available and offered to let her stay at his place. I love forced proximity! Charleigh was young and Eli was a grump with past relationship baggage, so they had some hurdles to overcome, but I loved their journey. Great read!
March 13, 2024
Good book
September 4, 2024
3.5⭐️ // This is a hard one to review.
Plot moods: emotional funny hopeful sad tense
Plot Pace: fast
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
From an enjoyability standpoint, I absolutely loved it. It captured my heart and I couldn’t put it down.
But I can’t deny I willingly suspended a lot of disbelief to the point of overlooking some glaringly obvious problems. The main ones being:
Our MMC’s backstory isn’t very clear. We know what drives his insecurities but we don’t know what makes him the overly protective type with a grumpy attitude so bad he had a reputation for being a boss that doesn’t show grace to his employees (and also, we’re told that’s his reputation but he doesn’t really live up to it. There’s a mean girl employed by his camp that bullies our FMC and although he only witnesses one altercation between them, he doesn’t really do anything about it other than comfort our FMC.) The source of his wealth also isn’t clear. We know he and his brother inherited the camp and that the camp is so successful they’re looking at starting another one in a different state, but they must be charging a fortune for people to attend. Which also doesn’t make a lot of sense because our FMC is supposed to be poor, so how can she afford to be there?
Also, even though it was out of the goodness of his heart (and his attraction for her), offering to let a female employee live in your house is really blurring the lines and opening himself up to a lawsuit. Did his HR manager have no cares?
That brings us to our main ethical problem with the story (which isn’t that big of a deal, but still): even though our FMC and MMC are both consenting adults, there’s still a power imbalance in their relationship because he’s her boss.
As much as I loved the FMC, it felt like, in the beginning, the author wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted the FMC’s main flaws or the reasons behind them to be. On the one hand, a lot of her flaws were connected to her grief, which made sense. But the whole pretending to be someone she’s not because she cared how others viewed her wasn’t as believable. Now, somewhere in the mix the author decides to subtly suggest our FMC was okay with lying about who she was because she wanted to avoid dealing with her grief, which IS believable, but this fact contradicts the original stated reason we’re given in the beginning of the story.
The resolution felt a little rushed. We probably deserved more explanation behind how the cops found out Joey murdered Aiden. There also should have been more to Eli’s groveling and Charlie’s forgiveness, although I did appreciate the added scene at Aunt Meg’s that helped show how they were both trying to work through their insecurities to be better for each other.
But I did really enjoy this. When our MMC isn’t letting his insecurities make his decisions, he loves HARD. The way he cares for our FMC is what every girl wants from her book boyfriend (and let’s be honest, it’s what we want from our real boyfriends too 😉). I was also pleasantly surprised and pleased with how this story handled spice. Normally romance novels struggle with too much unnecessary spice scenes that the plot suffers, or they don’t have any, which disappoints some readers. But this had what I felt was a good balance (only a couple of spice scenes but for readers who intentionally look for spice they will be more than satisfied).
I’m also a sucker for a trauma-healing, grief journey story and that’s what this was.
I would recommend this to romance lovers, especially those who appreciate a grumpy-sunshine and/or bossxemployee and/or healing from abuse tropes.
Plot moods: emotional funny hopeful sad tense
Plot Pace: fast
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
From an enjoyability standpoint, I absolutely loved it. It captured my heart and I couldn’t put it down.
But I can’t deny I willingly suspended a lot of disbelief to the point of overlooking some glaringly obvious problems. The main ones being:
Our MMC’s backstory isn’t very clear. We know what drives his insecurities but we don’t know what makes him the overly protective type with a grumpy attitude so bad he had a reputation for being a boss that doesn’t show grace to his employees (and also, we’re told that’s his reputation but he doesn’t really live up to it. There’s a mean girl employed by his camp that bullies our FMC and although he only witnesses one altercation between them, he doesn’t really do anything about it other than comfort our FMC.) The source of his wealth also isn’t clear. We know he and his brother inherited the camp and that the camp is so successful they’re looking at starting another one in a different state, but they must be charging a fortune for people to attend. Which also doesn’t make a lot of sense because our FMC is supposed to be poor, so how can she afford to be there?
Also, even though it was out of the goodness of his heart (and his attraction for her), offering to let a female employee live in your house is really blurring the lines and opening himself up to a lawsuit. Did his HR manager have no cares?
That brings us to our main ethical problem with the story (which isn’t that big of a deal, but still): even though our FMC and MMC are both consenting adults, there’s still a power imbalance in their relationship because he’s her boss.
As much as I loved the FMC, it felt like, in the beginning, the author wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted the FMC’s main flaws or the reasons behind them to be. On the one hand, a lot of her flaws were connected to her grief, which made sense. But the whole pretending to be someone she’s not because she cared how others viewed her wasn’t as believable. Now, somewhere in the mix the author decides to subtly suggest our FMC was okay with lying about who she was because she wanted to avoid dealing with her grief, which IS believable, but this fact contradicts the original stated reason we’re given in the beginning of the story.
The resolution felt a little rushed. We probably deserved more explanation behind how the cops found out Joey murdered Aiden. There also should have been more to Eli’s groveling and Charlie’s forgiveness, although I did appreciate the added scene at Aunt Meg’s that helped show how they were both trying to work through their insecurities to be better for each other.
But I did really enjoy this. When our MMC isn’t letting his insecurities make his decisions, he loves HARD. The way he cares for our FMC is what every girl wants from her book boyfriend (and let’s be honest, it’s what we want from our real boyfriends too 😉). I was also pleasantly surprised and pleased with how this story handled spice. Normally romance novels struggle with too much unnecessary spice scenes that the plot suffers, or they don’t have any, which disappoints some readers. But this had what I felt was a good balance (only a couple of spice scenes but for readers who intentionally look for spice they will be more than satisfied).
I’m also a sucker for a trauma-healing, grief journey story and that’s what this was.
I would recommend this to romance lovers, especially those who appreciate a grumpy-sunshine and/or bossxemployee and/or healing from abuse tropes.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Did Not Finish
March 2, 2026DNF for me. Don't waste your time unless you are into poor writing.
I read as far as half way through chapter 5, I should have stopped well before then.
My first clue of poor writing was when Eli and Charleigh meet in chapter 2.
Charleigh bumps into Eli in a convenience store, he grabs her arm and when he lets go she "feels a loss of warmth". What???? Then Eli "rips" into her for wearing a light sweater that isn't appropriate for the area's weather. It just seems a strange thing to say to a complete stranger.
Next weird exchange is Charleigh shoving a bag of peanuts into his chest and saying " here's some nuts for a nut". Eli responds to Charleigh choice of soda by saying "Soda? Really? What are you, five?"
Chapter 2 continues with an armed robber coming into the convenience store and subsequently being shot and killed by the store clerk. Traumatizing for the average person, wouldn't you say? Law enforcement shows up like immediately. Eli and Charleigh start talking about how old they are. She's 19 and he's 30. Eli goes to pay for the peanuts and Charleigh just a walks out with the soda. First of all, neither is questioned by law enforcement and who is manning the cash register? The store clerk has just shot and killed a robber, yet can still take the time to ring up a purchase. The writing is so bad.
This experience is supposed to be traumatic, but they walk away as if it is just another day. Chapter 3 has Eli and Charleigh meeting again and neither one seems traumatized at all.
Like I said, such poor writing.
I read as far as half way through chapter 5, I should have stopped well before then.
My first clue of poor writing was when Eli and Charleigh meet in chapter 2.
Charleigh bumps into Eli in a convenience store, he grabs her arm and when he lets go she "feels a loss of warmth". What???? Then Eli "rips" into her for wearing a light sweater that isn't appropriate for the area's weather. It just seems a strange thing to say to a complete stranger.
Next weird exchange is Charleigh shoving a bag of peanuts into his chest and saying " here's some nuts for a nut". Eli responds to Charleigh choice of soda by saying "Soda? Really? What are you, five?"
Chapter 2 continues with an armed robber coming into the convenience store and subsequently being shot and killed by the store clerk. Traumatizing for the average person, wouldn't you say? Law enforcement shows up like immediately. Eli and Charleigh start talking about how old they are. She's 19 and he's 30. Eli goes to pay for the peanuts and Charleigh just a walks out with the soda. First of all, neither is questioned by law enforcement and who is manning the cash register? The store clerk has just shot and killed a robber, yet can still take the time to ring up a purchase. The writing is so bad.
This experience is supposed to be traumatic, but they walk away as if it is just another day. Chapter 3 has Eli and Charleigh meeting again and neither one seems traumatized at all.
Like I said, such poor writing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 15, 2024
“It’s like the woods were in mourning before you arrived and changed everything.”⭐️♥️
Woods in Mourning is the sophomore novel from author Angelica Stahl—she shows not only her own growth as a writer but such growth and vulnerability in Charleigh’s story.
19 year old Charleigh Davis has taken hit after hit in her young life, landing her to attend Bluffs Bereavement Camp.
It’s there that she officially meets quiet but caring owner, the handsomely rugged, Eli Johnson.
Both Charleigh and Eli are fully formed realistic characters who inhabit a camp that feels so real you can imagine yourself along the rocky beach, the glorious tree covered woods and the cozy inviting cabin.
Woods in Mourning will take you on an emotional journey that will leave you wanting for more!
Don’t miss out on this author!
I promise you won’t be disappointed!!
Read if you enjoy:
•Cherry flavored anything
•’don’t touch her’ protective woodsy men
•Clever Banter
•sassy but soft MCs
•spice that will leave you needing a cold shower
•Louis Vuitton luggage
•Friday Night Pizza Nights
•Popcorn with M&Ms
•Diner Sundaes
•breakfast sandwiches while you sip your coffee on a deck with a gorgeous view
•Food, food, food !!!
🌲🍒🥰🚣🏻♀️🕯
Woods in Mourning is the sophomore novel from author Angelica Stahl—she shows not only her own growth as a writer but such growth and vulnerability in Charleigh’s story.
19 year old Charleigh Davis has taken hit after hit in her young life, landing her to attend Bluffs Bereavement Camp.
It’s there that she officially meets quiet but caring owner, the handsomely rugged, Eli Johnson.
Both Charleigh and Eli are fully formed realistic characters who inhabit a camp that feels so real you can imagine yourself along the rocky beach, the glorious tree covered woods and the cozy inviting cabin.
Woods in Mourning will take you on an emotional journey that will leave you wanting for more!
Don’t miss out on this author!
I promise you won’t be disappointed!!
Read if you enjoy:
•Cherry flavored anything
•’don’t touch her’ protective woodsy men
•Clever Banter
•sassy but soft MCs
•spice that will leave you needing a cold shower
•Louis Vuitton luggage
•Friday Night Pizza Nights
•Popcorn with M&Ms
•Diner Sundaes
•breakfast sandwiches while you sip your coffee on a deck with a gorgeous view
•Food, food, food !!!
🌲🍒🥰🚣🏻♀️🕯
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews