I AM SO HAPPY!

A SMILE IN A WHISPER received another stellar industry review, this time from Kirkus!

They said “Middleton shows a real knack for creating realistic and deeply developed characters” and they even loved my secondary characters – “Evie’s childhood friends Sunita Kumari and Fiona Groundwater, are vibrant, stable parts of her life, but are well developed in their own right” – and called my Orkney love story “an often charming tale of youth, forgiveness, and second chances.”

It’s always an anxious time when you’re waiting for the first reviews to flood in. Industry reviewers, reader reviews—I’m nervous about all of them! More than anything, I just want this story to be enjoyed, so when reviews like this one arrive, I feel extremely fortunate.

A SMILE IN A WHISPER has received an EDITOR’S PICK from Publishers Weekly Booklife, a STARRED REVIEW from BlueInk Review (a partner of the American Library Association’s Booklist), and now this sparkly, love-fest from Kirkus! I’m so grateful, and cannot wait for everyone to meet these two special people, Evie and Nick. Are you looking forward to spending this summer in Orkney?

(photo: On the left is the GORGEOUS teenage Evie and Nick illustration by Liz Parkes. Here Evie and Nick are enjoying the annual County Show in Kirkwall, Orkney’s agricultural fair held every August. On the right is a postcard featuring the beautiful cover with photography from Phil Chester and Kendra Towns).