Treasure Me by Christine Nolfi~

From Amazon... "Petty thief Birdie Kaminsky has arrived in Liberty, Ohio to steal a treasure hidden since the Civil War. She’s in possession of a charming clue passed down in her family for generations: Liberty safeguards the cherished heart.
The beautiful thief wants to go straight. She secretly admires the clue’s author, freedwoman Justice Postell, who rose above the horrors of slavery to build a new life in Ohio. According to family lore, Justice left South Carolina at the dawn of the Civil War. Heavy with child, she carried untold riches on her journey north. As Birdie searches for the treasure, she begins to believe a questionable part of the story: a tale of love between Justice and Lucas Postell, the French plantation owner who was Birdie’s ancestor.
If the stories are true, Justice bore a child with Lucas. Some of those black relatives might still live in town. Birdie can’t help but wonder if she’s found one—Liberty’s feisty matriarch, Theodora Hendricks, who packs a pistol and heartwarming stories about Justice. Birdie doesn’t know that an investigative reporter who has arrived in town will trip her up—as will her conscience when she begins to wonder if it’s possible to start a new life with stolen riches. Yet with each new clue she unearths, Birdie begins to discover a family history more precious than gems, a tradition of love richer than she could imagine."

I have posted before about how cool it is to have authors contact me. They want me to read their novel and review it here. I'm very choosy and turn down more than I accept. I love finding new authors this way. Christine Nolfi is a new-to-me author who I probably never would have discovered but am so happy that I did.

Treasure Me is the first in the Liberty series. That said... I can't wait to read the second... Second Chance Grill.

Ms. Nolfi intertwines Birdie's story with that of Justice. Her writing flows and doesn't rely on gimmickry or unbelievable plot devices to tell this interesting story that, at its heart, is a love story. She also writes secondary characters that flesh out the story and have me looking forward to the next book!

I liked Birdie's story but I loved Justice's! Her name struck me... how sad that a slave (even a former slave) carried a name whose ideal was denied to her. She rose to her name and became a character that I have thought of often.

~~Thanks again to Christine Nolfi for offering Treasure Me in exchange for this review.