The Lost History Of Lavender Lockbourne by Shira J. Rodriguez a Short Story Review

 The Lost History Of Lavender Lockbourne

Short Story Review 

Hi friends! 

Today I am so excited to be reviewing a truly incredible short story written by none other than the lovely Shira J. Rodriguez (my bestie)! Her writing is SO beautiful and I cannot wait for you all to read her story! 

Connect with her here: https://bio.site/shirajrodriguez 

This delightful story comes out November 19th as a part of the Novelists In November anthology! There is still time to preorder and get some incredible goodies! 

What is The Lost History Of Lavender Lockbourne about? 

It’s November 20, 1984, and Lavender Leoni’s time is running out.

A bestselling romance author struggling with social anxiety, she’s been diagnosed with terminal leukemia just  two weeks shy of her twenty-sixth birthday. Or what she assumes to be her birthday. Her only hope of ever tracing her lost family hinges on a single locket left in the box where her adopted parents found her while on a trip to Yorkshire, England. As her fate ticks down, she sets out on a journey back to her birthplace to unearth her lost history, where the answers – or the lack of them – may haunt her for the rest of her life.

This story is at once humorous and poignant, told from Lavender’s piquant and observant perspective as she wrestles with her own anxieties and fears, as well as the decades-old secrets that lie far in her unknown past. It deals with grief, love, friendship, and anxiety and begs the question every broken family asks: whether loving someone is ever not worth the effort?

Told in the tradition of Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, The Secret Garden, and All Creatures Great and Small, this story will be welcomed with open arms by all old-soul book girls who love stories of hope, healing, and the pursuit of happiness.

The Review

“I was a turtle person. The person who always scuttled home to her little shell as soon as possible. It was the highlight of my day, actually.” 

“Have you ever gone to the beach? Well, imagine that the waves are bigger and made of ebbs and flows of grass instead of water, and that is the closest thing to describing the hills and dales on the English countryside. Even the smell of  the air there  was  wonderful. I think I felt alive for the first  time. Happy. The  sort  of  happiness  that  your  lungs  can  touch and  swell  with and  the  scent  of  wildflowers  and  earth and rain and cloud permeating everything like  a  holy incense.”

—Shira J. Rodriguez  

Rating: ★★★★★

Cleanness: ★★★★★

This story!!! *cries* 

I have absolutely fallen in love with this story! The characters are incredible! The setting is beautiful and mysterious! With author Lavender and her golden retriever (think fun, loyal, ready for adventure) cousin Rita you travel from New York in the 1980s to the moors of Yorkshire England in pursuit of the mystery of where Lavender came from. 

I love that this book has mystery, adoption (you know a book is going to be my favorite when there is adoption), travel, England, yummy food, an old manor house and the best relationships! 

Lavender and Rita’s relationship is so sweet! I love how they are basically sisters and how they will really do anything for each other (even traveling across the globe to uncover a mystery). There were moments with the two of them that I just started crying from how real and sweet their relationship is! 

Ralph and Helen!!! *cries* They are my FAVORITE ever! This couple! They have my heart! I would totally just read a whole book from their perspective because I just love them so much! 

——We interrupt this review for a brief announcement: 

While there is still time you MUST preorder this book! If you preorder you get a bonus story from none other than Helen’s perspective! You guys! It is SO GOOD! The insight in this story as well as the beautiful lines and descriptions are so amazing! Not to men you get to see more from one of my favorite couples ever! You can preorder and get these goodies until release day (the 19th). Don’t walk, run! Get this amazing book and short story! Also, just to clarify, I’m not an affiliate, I'm just a fangirl! Now back to the review! 

——End announcement 

Shira’s writing is so beautiful. Her descriptions are so rich and vivid. You feel like you are there with the characters, seeing, feeling, smelling and experiencing everything they are. Her writing reminds me of the great classics. A writer born for a time gone past. You feel like you are stepping back in time (for this story back into the 1980s). I love it when writers can write about historic times without it sounding modern or like they are from today writing about the past. It feels like they are from that time, or rather they are the character living there in the story. 

The ending!!! It was like the best plot twist (don’t worry it wasn’t a crazy cliffhanger, really it wasn’t a plot twist, but I still gasped)! 

I highly recommend reading! If you love incredible family bonds, swoon worthy romance that is completely clean and wholesome, England, Wuthering Heights, scones *wink*, exploring old British homes, mysteries, adoption, and letters, then you will LOVE this book! 

Blog Tour Information: 

Buy the book: https://wildbluewonderpress.com/novelists-in-november/ 

Follow our host: https://kellynrothauthor.com/blog/ 

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, Nov. 11th

Intro Post by Kell @ Lilacs & Reveries

“Write Into Fall Tag” by Andrea @ Andrea Renee Cox & screenwriter87 (Twitter/X)

Anthology Spotlight + Interview with Andrea Renee Cox  by Sara G. Miller @ Baking Up Stories 

Interview with Heather Flynn by DevotedToHope @ Devoted To Hope

Interview with Shira J. Rodriguez by Moriyah Cordova @ Fable Rose

Tuesday, Nov. 12th

Anthology Spotlight by M.C. Kennedy @ Graceful Reflections & Instagram

Anthology Spotlight by Faith Gilliosa @ Faith on the Farm

Interview with Andrea Renee Cox by DevotedToHope @ Devoted To Hope

Wednesday, Nov. 13th

Anthology Spotlight by Faith @ FaithDCox.com/blog & FaithDCox (X/Twitter)

Anthology Spotlight & Interview with Faith D. Cox by DevotedToHope @ Devoted To Hope

Interview with Bethany Willcock by DevotedToHope @ Devoted To Hope

Thursday, Nov. 14th

Interview with Andrea Renee Cox by Alena @ Alena Mentink 

Anthology Spotlight by Lorelei Angelino on Facebook

Interview with Katja H. Labonté by DevotedToHope @ Devoted To Hope

Friday, Nov. 15th

Resharing of “Write Into Fall Tag” by Andrea Renee Cox @ screenwriter87 (Twitter/X)

Anthology Spotlight by Riley G. @ Nerd of the Arts

Guest Post from Kellyn Roth by Rachel Leitch @  ProseWorthy   

Anthology/Story Review by Moriyah Cordova @ Fable Rose 

Monday, Nov. 18th

Interview with Kelsey Bryant by Faith Blum @ faithblumauthor (Instagram) 

“Release Day Tomorrow” by Andrea Renee Cox @ Andrea Renee Cox & screenwriter87 (Twitter/X)

Tuesday, Nov. 19th (LAUNCH DAY)

“Introducing . . . Novelists in November” by Kell @ Lilacs & Reveries

Anthology/Story Review by M.C. Kennedy @ Graceful Reflections & mckennedy.author (Instagram)

Interview with Bethany Willcock by Faith Gilliosa @ Faith on the Farm

Anthology Spotlight by Moriyah Cordova @ Fable Rose 

Anthology/Story Review by DevotedToHope @ Devoted To Hope 

Wednesday, Nov. 20th

Guest Post & Giveaway by Faith D. Cox @ Deena Adams’s blog

Anthology/Story Review  by Emma @ Emma Crooks + newsletter & Anthology Spotlight on emma.crooks.books (Instagram) 

Thursday, Nov. 21st

Guest Post from Kellyn Roth by Cate VanNostrand @ Southern Story Scribbler 

Anthology Spotlight by Naomi Sowell @ naomisowellwrites (Instagram)  

Friday, Nov. 22nd

Wrapup Post by Kell @ Lilacs & Reveries

Resharing of “Release Day Tomorrow” by Andrea Renee Cox @ screenwriter87 (Twitter/X)
Interview with Katja H. Labonté by Riley G. @ Nerd of the Arts 

Guest Post from Kellyn Roth by Moriyah Cordova @ Fable Rose

Thank you all for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day! I’ll see you soon! 

Love,

Moriyah