Book Review: Covered in Coal by Silla Webb

Title: Covered in Coal

Series: Buried Secrets #1

Author: Silla Webb

Format: eBook (Provided in exchange by the author for an honest review.)

Pages: 283

Links: Goodreads  | Amazon  | Barnes & Noble

Carly Jo Simon believed that Colton Weston was her future, but he shattered her heart into tiny pieces. Just like any little girl would, she assumed her daddy would always be by her side. Unbelievably, he turned his back on her when she needed him most, leaving her with no one in her life to turn to for support. 

Without options, Carly runs away from the only home she's ever known, leaving behind her heartache and the betrayal of the two men she loved most.

Seven years later, Carly reluctantly returns to Kentucky. Her daddy is dying of cancer and Colton is nothing like the boy she once loved and left. After her daddy passes, Carly must uproot her life in South Carolina and take control of Simon Coal Company, where she has no choice but face the pain of her past.

Can Carly keep her secrets buried deep beneath the black Kentucky coal and her heart safe from the fiery Colton Weston?

MY REVIEW

UTTERLY SPEECHLESS. This is what Covered in Coals left me. It is not often that I am left speechless after reading a book

. Usually I rave about it or rant about it and get right to typing up a review. Covered in Coals just left me in a trance and gave me such a book hangover. 

Covered in Coal is the story of Carly Jo Simon and Colton Weston. A couple in their teens, Carly Jo leaves after their break-up never to return until seven years later. 

Carly Jo begins to make amends with her family and find her way again in Kentucky as she becomes CEO of her late father's coal mining business. Keeping her secrets, Carly is determined to keep her heart caged from Colton.

Colton Weston knows he made one of the biggest mistakes of his life the day he walked out on Carly Jo. Now a single father to his daughter, Heidi Jo, Colton spends his days as a supervisor  at the mines. When Carly Jo reappears seven years after she left, Colton is determined to make her his again. Now he just needs to tell her the truth about why he ended things and hope that she can forgive him.

Covered in Coal is full of angst, suspense, and heartache but also has readers with hope of forgiveness. Silla Webb's talent is unmistakeable in this book as she writes characters you both love and want to strangle at the same time. More importantly though, you can feel the pain, the angst, the heartbreak and every other emotion that is brought up in this book as if it's your own. 

I fell in love with both Colton and Carly Jo but there were moments I wanted to strangle each one of them. Especially Carly Jo towards the end of the book. Luke never really piqued my interest. He was more of a nuisance to me than anything, but maybe he will redeem himself to me in the next two books.

I really, genuinely loved everything about this book (sans the strangling moments). The plot is angst filled and suspenseful. You truly never know what will happen next or see it coming. The characters are so well written, you feel as if you know them personally. I also really liked the setting of the Kentucky coal mines. This is the first book I read that had anything like that in it and I really enjoyed a different setting and thought it suited the book so well. 

As I said before the ending left me utterly speechless and with this burning in the pit of my stomach. It's called need. I need to know what will happen next. There are so many unanswered questions and unresolved issues but all of that leaves readers hanging on and moving right on in to the next book. 

Silla Webb is an incredibly talented author and it shows within her writing. Covered in Coals is one of the best books I have read his year and I look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series. 

Covered in Coal is FIVE stunning stars.