The Lyons Garden: Book One: Family Ties

by D.M. Foley

When Jessica Greenhall accepts the photography assignment on Gardiners Island, she doesn't realize her search for her biological family will ultimately take center stage. The hostility projected toward her by those living on the island leaves her wanting to finish her job and leave as quickly as possible.
The clues lead her to discover who she is, and the question arises, who wants her gone? Her only solace is her budding relationship with the writer assigned to the island with her, Timothy Sullivan.
Jessica wants to know the truth, however, the truth changes her life forever.

Genres: Mystery

271 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 11, 2021

Reviews

[Lisa McNeil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book one in DM Foley's series, Family Ties follows the story of Jessica, a young woman who was adopted at birth, and finding her family.
Filled with drama and danger, I found myself guessing along the way with what was going to happen, and being pleasantly surprised at the twists and turns along the way.
Written in a vast number of POV's, you get to experience what each character is going through. This can jump quickly from one to the other, but it does give you the opportunity for 'real time' understanding.
DM Foley has done a great job of creating an intriguing plot, bringing characters to life and leaving you wanting more. Keen to see what book 2 brings.

[Jessica Henggeler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book in a giveaway, which I’m so grateful for this opportunity! I’m one that hates giving my review of something that wasn’t a personal favorite, but I also want to give my honest thoughts for what I read/experienced. I really wanted to like this book. Personally this book just didn’t quite resonate with me as well as I’d hoped. The writing wasn’t bad, but I felt it was moreso streaming simple facts and was pretty straightforward. I didn’t notice grammatical errors. In this book, you have two time periods that it went back and forth on. I did struggle a little to follow because it seemed to jump between the times/characters within paragraph’s at a time, sometimes between 4 or 5 characters. I felt I wasn’t able to fully sit with one character before moving right to the next. I found that a lot of big situations that would normally have an excitement or thrill didn’t have the escalating factor, and the reveal of situation happened in one sentence and then that was it. ( I’m trying not to give away any spoilers so I can’t really give an example without spoiling). I also really struggled with a couple of the relationships and how they are described. A couple relationships were, in my mind, a little too far fetched and cheesy, including the length of the relationship and how it progressed so rapidly. It would have connected me a littler more if I had more personal and deep descriptions of the characters and their desires instead of mostly their actions throughout; I feel that could have helped me understand the relationships a little better. I didn’t have any moment that I felt suspense but again I think that adding a bit more detail into those situations to make the reader sit in those moments longer and connect more would help with that. It was pretty predictable for me. It’s called Family Ties so there are a lot of names tossed around within a family tree so it got a little confusing at the end, however, I am easily confused by that in real life so not docking on that. I feel like the story flowed a little better towards the last half of the book and somewhat gained my attention back. For being a first book in a series (which I didn’t know until I downloaded and started reading), it actually answered a lot before ending instead of leaving a lot of questions or mysteries unanswered. There was one mystery left to be uncovered for the second book. I personally didn’t click with this book enough to continue the series but I’m grateful to have the opportunity to have read it. I definitely am not creative or grammatically smart enough to write a book so I’m inspired by those that can and do!

I really liked the storyline, the setting and the movement of characters (like their careers and reason for being where they were). I enjoyed the multiple viewpoints and time period change and how they connected with each other. While this personally wasn’t a top pick for me, I still encourage others to give it a read. Everybody’s preferences are different and every book will always have someone that didn’t like it while also being an absolute favorite for someone else! Thank you for again for this opportunity!

[Behind The Bookshelf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jessica, a professional photographer, is assigned to Gardiners Island along with Timothy, a journalist writing an article for National Geographic. Their attraction to each other is instant. Both are also in the process of finding their biological parents.
When they arrive on the mysterious Gardiners Island unexplained events start to happen and a shocking truth begins to unravel.
Family Ties is a short one setting read.
A multi genre containing suspense, romance, mystery, and historical fiction.
Foleys skillful use of imagery is exemplary and adds so much to this books geographic location setting, the characters and the mystery that ties into the Island.
I couldn’t help but feel an Agatha Christie vibe the entire time I was reading this.
If you do some research on Gardiners Island, you’re
going to find this book and her writing outright fascinating.
Have the next book in this trilogy series “Erasing Secrets” ready as your going to want to continue where the cliffhanger left off.

[Liz Fully Booked · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Was it perfect? No. But what book is? I was in the middle of reading, and only a few hours before I had stated that there were some grammar and spelling errors, when the author posted that she was re-editing and had found the same errors. She had edited it originally while recovering from covid, so you have to give her a pass, I would say.

That said, this is a nice easy read with lots of plot twists. Just when you think you have it figured out, she reveals same plot twist and moves on to another. So you really don’t know what the ultimate plot twist is, and the book ends on a cliffhanger!

The only thing I found to be unrealistic was how quickly the characters fell in love with each other. Within hours. A little more build up would have been nice.

Otherwise, if you’re looking for a nice easy read that encompasses intrigue, romance and suspense, and that you won’t want to put down, this is the book for you. I’m looking forward to finishing the series and seeing how the story plays out!

[travel_thru_books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a remarkable story. Filled with mystery and romance, and plenty to keep you guessing! I really enjoyed the storyline and the surprise that shocked not only me but the characters towards the end of the story. Most of the characters were likeable and I was rooting for Jessica & Timothy! I enjoyed the different POVs of the characters. Some switch pretty quickly so make sure you're paying attention. There was a bit of a cliff hanger, but luckily for me the other 2 books are out. Can't wait to see what happens next. Make sure to grab a copy!

[Bonnie Stanford · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing! At this unpredictable time in the world the book was a great way to disconnect! The story has a lot of twist and turns that make it hard to put down. It mentions areas of my hometown which made me feel connected. I am a big supporter of reading new books from the up and coming authors. I am looking forward to reading more from D.M. Foley.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This author is local and I love recognizing all the places she mentioned in her book. That doesn't happen often!
The book itself is a light read. For me it was predictable and lacked some depth. That said, I couldn't write a book and I admire all who can and do.

[Tammy Camerino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finding family and uncovering secrets

This was a very easy read, very enjoyable. Just when you thought your family was off... A story full of twists and turns. Finding family and losing some just as quickly. Can't wait to read the 2nd book...

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read!

A really good story! Also an easy read so you can fit it into a busy schedule. I look forward to reading the sequel and finding out what happens next.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

One sitting!

I read this all in mostly one sitting. My dog was definitely irritated with me - it was that good! I am excited to see what D.M. Foley does next!

[Judith Rainbow · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only gave this 4 stars as the book finished on cliff hanger. Not realising there was a 2nd book in the series. I have started that one straight after once I found it. Watch this space,

[Lynn Fortier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! Plot twist was awesome 👌

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very intriguing story and well developed characters. Twists and turns along the way. Looking forward to reading the next one in the series.

[L's of Kauai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book about family secrets - not sure though I'll read the whole series

[Megan Shultz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a quick easy read that sucks you in fast. It jumps around a lot so you can follow all the characters and see the point of views from each angle. Looking forward to reading more!

[Kari Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story with some decent twists if you can keep up with all of the family relationships. Quick read. Ending definitely left me wanting to see what was in store in book 2.

[Sea Caummisar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know that there is a style of writing that ditches the quotation marks and italicizes dialogue. But this book used both, quotation marks and italicized words. My old school brain doesn't function that way. That's a me thing. The italicized dialogue with quotations irked me .
This story is written very straight forward. Like this this this happened. Not necessarily a bad thing. Some of my fave books are like that, but for some reason it didnt click with me on this one. The dialogue felt unnatural in my opinion. And let's get to the premise of the story. Pretty much a chic who was adopted has spent her life single because she feared dating a blood family member. Did she ever think of dating outside of her race? Outside of her own ethnicity? If I were adopted and feared sexing my blood brother, I could sex with someone from another country to ensure we weren't blood. But no. Not this character... That kinda bothered me. I'm not sure why. I'm sure others might enjoy this story. It's a bit more love story, ( a fast falling in love at that) to be my flavor.

[Jo-Di · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in 2 days! The author did a great job of using multiple POV. Usually I will get confused but this was easy to understand and extremely interesting! It left you with a cliffhanger so I was so glad I had bought the first 2 books of this trilogy. The only problem I had was I finished the second book just as fast and the third book wasn’t finished yet.

[Diane Henson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mystery and Romance

The first book in this series is an intriguing look into the life of Jessica Greenhall with a unique twist as it switches to the perspective of someone in the past. The two storylines progress until brought together to reveal the answers that Jessica has been looking for all her life. Definitely worth the read!

[Andi]

There are too many grammatical errors in this one.