What do you think?
For Garnet Grove
388 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 30, 2026
About the author
Nikki Theissen
2 books10 followersI believe in crafting beautiful and emotional stories with rich characters and just a touch of spice!
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 28, 2026
💯 A suspenseful romance set in a small town with the perfect amount mystery and spice
I loved the characters in this book. They’re so real and authentic, and it had a great “opposites attract” relationship between the characters. Abby and Noah complement each other so nicely. The plot was great with unexpected twists and the dual POV helped the author trickle information to the reader that the characters don’t necessarily know. And I loved the writing! Very descriptive and Nikki really can paint a scene.
Loved it! I could have read another hundred pages of Noah and Abby sleuthing!
I loved the characters in this book. They’re so real and authentic, and it had a great “opposites attract” relationship between the characters. Abby and Noah complement each other so nicely. The plot was great with unexpected twists and the dual POV helped the author trickle information to the reader that the characters don’t necessarily know. And I loved the writing! Very descriptive and Nikki really can paint a scene.
Loved it! I could have read another hundred pages of Noah and Abby sleuthing!
Review of advance copy received from Author
For Garnet Grove by Nikki Theissen was given to me as an arc.
Honestly, I teetered between three and 2.5 stars. Now don't get me wrong. I really liked this book and would recommend it to others. Nevertheless, I just have a few qualms.
The reason is that while I did enjoy the mystery and the investigation surrounding the story, the FL frustrated me quite a bit. And, I do believe that is a sign of how well written Abby is.
I loved Noah. He was an angel. What I loved the most about him was how he stood up for him and drew a line when he was feeling vulnerable and hurt. He could have just kneeled over and accepted/forgiven things easily, but he didn't, and that made me respect him so much.
However, there was some plot holes and issues I had with the story.
First of all, why were environmental things/problems in the town only starting to arise the moment Abby came into town? Granted, they were there and surrounding the characters; however, kids started getting sick in the town only after she came.
That to me didn't really feel very coincidental. Yet again, there were signs and it has been quite a bit of time, if you know what I mean, so it did make a bit of sense.
Another thing I wasn't a huge fan of was that Abby would kiss Noah whenever he helped her, even indirectly, or just steered her in the right direction. It always felt like she was kissing him out of gratitude and sometimes lust rather than anything else. She was basically using him throughout the majority of the story, and both he and she knew it. She acknowledged her guilt and shame in doing so, but still continued onwards.
And her motives to me were also quite frustrating. They were human, but they weren't right.
Honest, I felt like the thing that motivated Abby to investigate was her desire to assuage her guilt towards the incident with her sister rather than a true sense of justice towards humanity.
You could argue she was doing it so she could stop other companies from hurting more innocent people, which is definitely part of her reasons, but her main reason overall was to abate the pain and shame she contains.
One quote that really summarizes Abby's character in the beginning of the story is: "She’d come looking for evidence to support a belief she’d already convinced herself was true, not to investigate objectively."
Abby is willing to use people, and has, and hurt others in order to achieve her goals. She is the type of journalist or investigator you see in movies and real life that stalks characters or intrudes onto their lives.
I don’t really like how the fl makes it her life mission believing that she is saving the world from problems. Yeah, there definitely is a problem, but it doesn’t mean that she has to be the savior or the hero. If anything, she doesn’t really care about the people or what happens to them, but rather the truth and making sure it gets exposed.
In the beginning, she cared less about who gets hurt in the process and how, as long as her ambitions are seen through.
However, Abby grows as a character. She isn't perfect, and the book acknowledges that. She isn't exactly a good human being, but then again what do you consider a good or bad person? That is something that the author explores, and I really appreciated it.
Meeting Noah is what made Abby reflect upon her life and reconsider some of the choices she's made along the way.
This quote does a good job of explaining her thought process.
"How much of her confidence and certainty was rooted in not wanting to slow down and deal with complexity? Things couldn’t always be reduced to an easy dichotomy. Of course she’d always known that, but she was starting to see that perhaps she was too narrow-minded, too focused on the rigidity of good versus evil, of truth versus lie, to acknowledge it. To accept that there could be nuance. That reasons might be more than greed, and understanding them was not just a distraction."
She realizes that the world isn't limited to black and white. That there are many different shades and colors.
And that is why I really liked Noah's character. While he is painfully naive and oblivious in the beginning of the story, he also grows. He realizes that not everything should be taken at face value. That people can hide truths and pretend they are doing things for the wellbeing of others. And guess what? Some people are trying their best to do the right thing, but they mess it up. Or they do something they thought was right only to find out it was wrong. Hold on to this point because it has an appearance in the story.
"Is it ever that simple? Right or wrong? Good or bad?"
Noah always saw the good in others while Abby only saw the worst. Together, they expand each other's mindsets and open each other up to the possibility of more to life, relationships, and Garnet Grove.
By only seeing the best, Noah didn't really believe that people would lie and use the forefront of a good motive as something to hide their nefarious motives.
The book is about learning how to face lies, instead of just ignoring them which something people do. The author places a huge emphasis on lies, their impacts, and how people manipulate themselves into believing them.
"There’s a funny thing about lies, I’ve learned. You can always rationalize them. You tell yourself it’s a small thing, and maybe it does start that way. Or maybe it’s not even that. Maybe it’s just ignoring the voice inside you that’s telling you something’s wrong, that someone’s lying, just because you want so badly to believe."
Overall, the message of the story and the investigation were the two things that I loved the most about the story. The third is Noah because he is a guy who can actually stand up for himself. He shares quite a bit about his life while Abby shares almost nothing. It is a bit heartbreaking to read because you can see the care he holds for the FL while she tries to convince herself that she doesn't deserve it. That he won't care for her if he finds out the truth. About her past, her emotions, and the lies she's told so far.
Also, I didn't like how Abby expects him to answer her questions but not to ask her any. And when he does, she gets annoyed and doesn’t really answer him, just gives him half-baked answers. That was just a little maddening to read.
This quote kind of summarizes it up: "He wasn’t giving up. “Come on. You got your interview. You expect me to tell you all sorts of things about my sister and my mom and dad and Garnet Grove, and you can’t even tell me the tiniest bit about yourself? You mentioned a sister. Do you have any other siblings?"
Even Abby acknowledges how "their entire relationship was predicated on manipulation.”
What I liked, though, was how Noah didn't let it get to him. In fact, he stood up for himself and that makes him awesome.
Overall, I'm going to end this book with a quote that I thought really suited the book and its themes.
"Life was complicated. Answers were messy. People were good and bad and everything in between. Cynicism wasn’t the answer. And the truth wasn’t always meant to be a weapon."
Honestly, I teetered between three and 2.5 stars. Now don't get me wrong. I really liked this book and would recommend it to others. Nevertheless, I just have a few qualms.
The reason is that while I did enjoy the mystery and the investigation surrounding the story, the FL frustrated me quite a bit. And, I do believe that is a sign of how well written Abby is.
I loved Noah. He was an angel. What I loved the most about him was how he stood up for him and drew a line when he was feeling vulnerable and hurt. He could have just kneeled over and accepted/forgiven things easily, but he didn't, and that made me respect him so much.
However, there was some plot holes and issues I had with the story.
First of all, why were environmental things/problems in the town only starting to arise the moment Abby came into town? Granted, they were there and surrounding the characters; however, kids started getting sick in the town only after she came.
That to me didn't really feel very coincidental. Yet again, there were signs and it has been quite a bit of time, if you know what I mean, so it did make a bit of sense.
Another thing I wasn't a huge fan of was that Abby would kiss Noah whenever he helped her, even indirectly, or just steered her in the right direction. It always felt like she was kissing him out of gratitude and sometimes lust rather than anything else. She was basically using him throughout the majority of the story, and both he and she knew it. She acknowledged her guilt and shame in doing so, but still continued onwards.
And her motives to me were also quite frustrating. They were human, but they weren't right.
Honest, I felt like the thing that motivated Abby to investigate was her desire to assuage her guilt towards the incident with her sister rather than a true sense of justice towards humanity.
You could argue she was doing it so she could stop other companies from hurting more innocent people, which is definitely part of her reasons, but her main reason overall was to abate the pain and shame she contains.
One quote that really summarizes Abby's character in the beginning of the story is: "She’d come looking for evidence to support a belief she’d already convinced herself was true, not to investigate objectively."
Abby is willing to use people, and has, and hurt others in order to achieve her goals. She is the type of journalist or investigator you see in movies and real life that stalks characters or intrudes onto their lives.
I don’t really like how the fl makes it her life mission believing that she is saving the world from problems. Yeah, there definitely is a problem, but it doesn’t mean that she has to be the savior or the hero. If anything, she doesn’t really care about the people or what happens to them, but rather the truth and making sure it gets exposed.
In the beginning, she cared less about who gets hurt in the process and how, as long as her ambitions are seen through.
However, Abby grows as a character. She isn't perfect, and the book acknowledges that. She isn't exactly a good human being, but then again what do you consider a good or bad person? That is something that the author explores, and I really appreciated it.
Meeting Noah is what made Abby reflect upon her life and reconsider some of the choices she's made along the way.
This quote does a good job of explaining her thought process.
"How much of her confidence and certainty was rooted in not wanting to slow down and deal with complexity? Things couldn’t always be reduced to an easy dichotomy. Of course she’d always known that, but she was starting to see that perhaps she was too narrow-minded, too focused on the rigidity of good versus evil, of truth versus lie, to acknowledge it. To accept that there could be nuance. That reasons might be more than greed, and understanding them was not just a distraction."
She realizes that the world isn't limited to black and white. That there are many different shades and colors.
And that is why I really liked Noah's character. While he is painfully naive and oblivious in the beginning of the story, he also grows. He realizes that not everything should be taken at face value. That people can hide truths and pretend they are doing things for the wellbeing of others. And guess what? Some people are trying their best to do the right thing, but they mess it up. Or they do something they thought was right only to find out it was wrong. Hold on to this point because it has an appearance in the story.
"Is it ever that simple? Right or wrong? Good or bad?"
Noah always saw the good in others while Abby only saw the worst. Together, they expand each other's mindsets and open each other up to the possibility of more to life, relationships, and Garnet Grove.
By only seeing the best, Noah didn't really believe that people would lie and use the forefront of a good motive as something to hide their nefarious motives.
The book is about learning how to face lies, instead of just ignoring them which something people do. The author places a huge emphasis on lies, their impacts, and how people manipulate themselves into believing them.
"There’s a funny thing about lies, I’ve learned. You can always rationalize them. You tell yourself it’s a small thing, and maybe it does start that way. Or maybe it’s not even that. Maybe it’s just ignoring the voice inside you that’s telling you something’s wrong, that someone’s lying, just because you want so badly to believe."
Overall, the message of the story and the investigation were the two things that I loved the most about the story. The third is Noah because he is a guy who can actually stand up for himself. He shares quite a bit about his life while Abby shares almost nothing. It is a bit heartbreaking to read because you can see the care he holds for the FL while she tries to convince herself that she doesn't deserve it. That he won't care for her if he finds out the truth. About her past, her emotions, and the lies she's told so far.
Also, I didn't like how Abby expects him to answer her questions but not to ask her any. And when he does, she gets annoyed and doesn’t really answer him, just gives him half-baked answers. That was just a little maddening to read.
This quote kind of summarizes it up: "He wasn’t giving up. “Come on. You got your interview. You expect me to tell you all sorts of things about my sister and my mom and dad and Garnet Grove, and you can’t even tell me the tiniest bit about yourself? You mentioned a sister. Do you have any other siblings?"
Even Abby acknowledges how "their entire relationship was predicated on manipulation.”
What I liked, though, was how Noah didn't let it get to him. In fact, he stood up for himself and that makes him awesome.
Overall, I'm going to end this book with a quote that I thought really suited the book and its themes.
"Life was complicated. Answers were messy. People were good and bad and everything in between. Cynicism wasn’t the answer. And the truth wasn’t always meant to be a weapon."
September 29, 2026
Major Erin Brockovich vibes but with an investigative journalist instead of a paralegal. Abby is sharp, persistent, and stays with her case through the end. When Noah, a teacher at the local Garnet Grove elementary school, interrupts her plans for her story. Every twist and turn keeps you hooked and working to connect the dots to find out what Helios is doing to this seemingly sweet town. The connections are shocking and old secrets are discovered. Will Abby figure it out and write her expose or will she be another cautionary tale? You’ll have to read to find out!!
Review of advance copy
Nikki Theissen delivers a stellar addition to the genre with For Garnet Grove. The character development is exceptionally sharp, grounded in raw, authentic human emotion that makes every twist feel earned. Theissen’s writing is both elegant and propulsive, balancing tight pacing with gorgeous imagery. This is exactly the kind of book you dream of sharing a polished, evocative, and deeply satisfying journey. Highly recommended!
Review of advance copy
I was really rooting for Abby. I wanted her to find the truth, but YIKES! The truth is always there, but does she really want to know. I love her friendship/relationship with Noah. I like how their chemistry evolved and how they just worked so well together. This was a fun read. I wanted it to be longer.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews