There’s a Wedding in Shady Gully

Novelist Hallie Lee Invites Fans to Return to Small Town Louisiana for a Wedding in Shades of Violet, the Highly Anticipated Third Volume of her Amazon.com Bestselling Shady Gully Series

Amazon.com bestselling author Hallie Lee is celebrating the unveiling of her latest novel, Shades of Violet, which released to retail Wednesday, January 11, 2023, in hardback, trade paperback, and all major ebook formats from WordCrafts Press. The highly anticipated third volume in The Shady Gully Series follows in the footsteps of Lee’s Number 1 Amazon.com bestselling debut novel, Paint Me Fearless, and its sequel, Wolfheart, which climbed to the Number 2 spot on Amazon.com’s Hot New Releases chart in the Contemporary Christian Fiction category.

As Petey and Violet return to Shady Gully for the Big Event, they bring a myriad of secrets. Violet, a prodigy destined for medical accolades, prepares to shock her family with her game-changing plans, while Petey drags into town bruised and humiliated after a humbling event makes him question his future dreams.

While Shady Gully has prospered under Mayor Luke, Petey’s older brother, the town continues to quarrel over the churches destroyed by the fires. Sadly, the ceaseless debate leaves Shady Gully’s fabled four-way-stop vacant, allowing an opening as a long-haired oddball armed with a ragtag set of grills shows up and sets up camp.

Despite the dispute, Desi and Robin power through the wedding planning, while Meadow, the mother of the bride, struggles with resentment as the festivities dredge up her own painful history. To complicate matters, a suspicious character from Shady Gully’s past turns up, rousing bad memories and adding to the fracas.

Shady Gully needs a miracle to restore decorum and heal old wounds.

Perhaps one will come in the form of Timothy, the beloved pastor introduced in Paint Me Fearless, as his arrival triggers a staggering truth and serves up a colorful palette of justice.

An unraveling, a crackpot with a spatula, a long-awaited reckoning—and romance—erupt at Shady Gully’s grandest event yet!

“Who doesn’t love a wedding?” author Hallie Lee says. “And after exploring the heavier themes of abuse, betrayal, and grief in Wolfheart, I wanted to bring a little joy to the embattled folks of small-town Louisiana. But make no mistake,” she adds, “it’s not all shrimp and crawfish pies and sweet-smelling bouquets, especially when a few menacing characters from Shady Gully’s past show up and put the nuptials at risk.”

Lee says that while some new ornery southerners are introduced, fan favorites like Fireman will be back to tug on your heart strings and ole curmudgeons like Charlie Wayne will still be serving up drama at the Cozy Corner. Naturally Wolfheart, Desi and Lenny, and Robin and Sheriff Rick are all knee deep in the hullabaloo, and in a few cases, eager to settle old scores.

“Despite the conflict,” Hallie explains, “joy and happiness are prevalent throughout this novel. However, once all the reckoning is done, Shady Gullians recognize a profound distinction between the two.”

When asked what’s on the menu for Shady Gully’s biggest wedding yet, Lee answers, “A surprise guest. A suspicious guest. An unraveling, and a confession.” She adds, “Oh, and the shrimp and crawfish pies, of course.”

“There is something compelling about the dynamics of family and friendships when they are put under enormous pressure,” muses WordCrafts Press publisher, Mike Parker. “Like minerals, they either fragment into silt and shifting sand, or they metamorph into something rare and beautiful like a diamond or sapphire. Hallie Lee has the remarkable ability to turn up the heat on her characters, and as in nature, whatever is hidden inside is eventually revealed. And that makes for compelling storytelling.”