Review: Once Upon a Lullaby Lane by K. York

Title: Once Upon a Lullaby Lane

Series: Once Upon a Holiday Story Collection (various authors)

Author: K. York

Length: 125 Pages

Category: Holiday Romance

Rating: 4 Stars

At a Glance: It’s the shocking truths and healing along the way that drive this story to its ultimate destination—the connection that builds between Colt Grieves and an unexpected stranger, Sera Howell.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: Growing up, Colt Grieves would’ve sooner died than let his friends step foot into his family’s home on Lullaby Lane. Everyone knew that his dad was a hoarder, but knowing it and seeing it are very different things. When he moves out on his own, Colt’s content to wedge distance between himself and the house—and his father. When he gets the call that his dad’s passed away, he feels like he shouldn’t be surprised, and yet the news hits him like a bag of bricks.

Colt arrives back home with a knot in his stomach and a sense of choking dread. He’s stunned to find another man living in a trailer on the property—someone who’s been helping Mr. Grieves out these last seven years. Sera Howell is tall and gorgeous and could charm a rabid badger, but Colt can’t help the gnawing insecurity and guilt that some stranger had more of a relationship with his old man than Colt ever did.

The house looks worse than ever, and Colt’s nerves are frayed from the moment he steps inside. There is no running anymore, though. Sera will be at his side whether he likes it or not—and he does start to like it—but Colt must dig up the ghosts of his family’s past to come to terms with it. Secrets won’t stay buried, not even under the weight of the house on Lullaby Lane.

Review: Kelley York has never written a book I didn’t deeply appreciate. It all began with the exquisite A Light Amongst Shadows (the start of a brilliant Gothic Horror/Paranormal series, if that’s your thing) and continues here, with her holiday offering Once Upon a Lullaby Lane. This short but emotionally effective story touches on the complex issue of hoarding and the trauma Colt Grieves still carries from his childhood due to his father’s mental illness.

As the length of the story suggests, it doesn’t set out to dig headlong into Glenn Grieves’ disorder. Glenn’s obsessive hoarding is a symptom of Colt’s grief as much as his estranged father’s death, but it’s the shocking truths and healing along the way that drive the story to its ultimate destination—the connection that builds between Colt and an unexpected stranger, Sera Howell, as they work to make some sense of the chaos and dispose of the detritus left behind in Colt’s childhood home.

Unintentional proximity, hurt/comfort, and mutual compassion shape the quick bond that forms between Colt and Sera. Once Upon a Lullaby Lane aims for the heart and hits its mark.