Reviewed by Ruffina Oserio for Readers' Favorite

Kindred Journeys by Marjorie Tapley-Olson is a rare kind of fiction with a narrative voice that will stay in the reader’s head for long, a story that combines family, love, and adventure to take readers on a very memorable ride. Martha is pregnant, and she is expecting just one baby. But she learns she has twins: ‘“A boy,” Martha sighed. “Thought I heard you say that too. Doc told me I might have twins. They all right? All the parts is there and everything?”' And that makes things even more complicated with Farley who won’t be ready for twins.

And this is how she finds herself on a very dangerous ride home, with the help of kind strangers. She will face the anger of her father for the mess she’s in, get assaulted by an innocent-looking man pretending to offer her help, and be separated from her kids. But then later, the children - Andy, a police detective, and Francesca, a nurse - meet in unusual circumstances. Curious and suspicious that they could be related, they set out on an investigation to find out about a mother they never knew. Can three letters and a scrap of paper lead them to the truth?

Marjorie Tapley-Olson is a writer with a rare gift for narrative. Her prose is excellent and it combines humor with crisp and vivid descriptions to create the best entertainment for readers. She has a particularly unique signature for dialogue. It is amazing to read how the dialogues perfectly reflect the background of her characters. Kindred Journeys is the kind of book you don’t stop once you start reading. The language is seductive, kind of sticky, like something you can’t part with. The characters will cling to you and compel you to follow them wherever they go. Then there is the humor, biting — and I mean it in the best sense of the word — and a plot you’ll hardly imagine where it’ll take you. This story is a joy to read. You will laugh and cry at the same time. If you want to give someone the gift of laughter, give them a copy of this book.