Full of faith, love ,forgiveness and a little suspense. I wasn’t a fan of Carly always being the scapegoat and peacekeeper. I feel that Lucas really opened her eyes to value herself more and not cater to everyone’s whims the book was full of happy and suspenseful surprises. I felt that this book was narrated greatly. Thank you to NetGalley for this free advanced copy. I’m leaving this review voluntarily

I still have not found a book by this author that I have liked as much as the Rock Harbor series. This one began with great interest in the mystery as well as the various family relationships but the introduction of the reason for the murders felt quite unrealistic to the tone of the beginning and I just couldn't connect as much as I hoped. I appreciated the narrator's various voices but found the male voices a little less convincing and distinguishable.

I do appreciate Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the chance to read it in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This is Carly Tucker’s story. Her husband got killed while working as a police-officer. So it is up to her to bring up their infant son, Noah. When her grandmother suggests to turn her home into a bed-and-breakfast she jumps on board.
While doing the renovations she finds a precious Fabergé egg with lots of history and there is even a connection to her husband.
Without wanting to give to much away just be sure that you will learn a lot about art!
Karen Peakes does a great job narrating this multi-layered story!
Thank you #NetGalley #HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Thomas Nelson Fiction for this audioboo

This was a sweet book about uncovering family secrets. Laid out nicely with many sweet moments.
Since they are uncovering family secrets there’s also mystery, surprise and terror that they are all put through. I enjoyed the ending and hoped there’d be a second book.

i enjoyed this story so much. I will admit that I felt it had a slow start, but it just kept getting better and better with time. i would highly recommend this book to anyone. Great job

I had the opportunity to listen to an ARC of the audiobook! What a great story! I found myself sneaking to find time to listen a little longer just to find out what happens next. Suspense, lots of twists, and a little romance made for a great listen. Loved that the story centered around a little bit of history with the Faberge egg. Definitely would recommend. I’ve never read this author before and am excited to read more of her work. The narrator was great too.

I really couldn’t get into this book. I think I found the subject matter (a faberge egg) to be very uninteresting and the book as a whole was too far fetched.
The main character, who finds the egg in the house she inherited, just happens to be an expert in the topic of faberge eggs! What are the odds? The story goes downhill from there.

The narrator was fine enough. I think she could’ve held my engagement if I enjoyed the book more.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collin’s for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Title: Fragile Design
Author: Colleen Coble
Narrator: Karen Peakes
Publisher: Harper Collins Christian Publishing – Thomas Nelson Fiction
Genre: Mystery, a sweet Romance and also the added touch of Historical Fiction
Pub Date: January 2, 2023
My Rating: 4.5 rounded up!
Pages 352

Whenever I see a new book by Colleen Coble it automatically goes on my TBR list! This is # 21 for me!
I went into the story knowing nothing about it as I love this author.
However when Carly, a new mom and a struggling to make ends meet- antique dealer finds an egg painted with chipped red paint ~ I immediately asked out loud “A Fabergé egg???

Story had me!!!
The unexplained home invasion and murder of Carly’s husband Police Office Eric Harris
Carly takes their infant son Noah and moves in with her grandmother in the hopes of starting over. Her grandmother has been thinking about restoring the family’s waterfront Beaufort home into a bed-and-breakfast—and wants Carly to run it as gram knows she is not going to be able to provide for herself and child in her current job.
.
Carly starts cleaning out unused boxes and comes across some items in one of the old boxes and believes Eric may have known about the contents and it is what caused his death.
Hmmm

Homicide Detective Lucas Bennett lives next door and has never liked Carly since she broke his brother Ryan’s heart when she married Eric.
. However Lucas soon finds that Carly as well as baby Noah are special. When strange things are occurring around Carly, Lucas fears she is in danger and knows he has to look out for her.

The historical information regarding the Faberge egg was interesting as well as the mystery that goes back to the Russian mafia.

I read a lot of thrillers and know to suspect everyone so have to admit whodunit wasn’t a shock but I loved this story!

I love a good audiobook and even more when there is a great narrator.
Karen Peakes was fabulous! She performed ALL the characters so that they sounded like they were- young, old, male, female. She even did a Great Russian accent. Karen Peakes made this great story even more enjoyable

This audiobook included a note from Colleen Coble. (Audiobooks often don’t included this or the Acknowledgements’ .)
A Note from the Author’ Colleen Coble tells readers that she is thrilled that she finally wrote about her obsession with Fabergé eggs. She thought about it for twenty-five years and this story was a true labor of love.

Want to thank NetGalley and Harper Collins Christian Publishing - Thomas Nelson Fiction for granting me the great audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 2, 2024

Pub Day: January 2, 2024

A fantastically narrated story that has an intriguing premise of a great granddaughter finding a possible Faberge egg worth millions and it being a possible reason for the murder of her husband.

An excellent first chapter that had my attention and interest piqued and then the characters just kept growing on me. I can’t actually articulate just how much I loved this story. It a variety of themes including mystery, faith, familial love, and a little romance. It was so sweet and had me tearing up on multiple occasions but it also had very intense moments that had me on the edge of my seat.

This is my first book by Coble and it most definitely won’t be my last!

Thank you so much HarperCollins Christian Publishing for the alc via Netgalley in exchange for my honest feedback.

This was my first Colleen Coble book and it didn't disappoint! I listened to the audiobook and felt the narration complimented the story and characters well. Her voices for the characters fit how I imagined them to be.

This was the kind of book that kept your attention with the mystery, but also with interesting character development. I didn't know much about Faberge eggs, so I enjoyed learning more about their history and design. There were a lot of different characters involved in the plot but it all came together at the end and there was even a twist or two that I didn't see coming. Before reading, I was unsure if I would like the romance aspect, but I thought it was tastefully done. I definitely want to read more of Coble's books.

Thank you Harper Collins for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for an advanced copy of Fragile Designs. This book centers around a woman named Carly who finds herself pregnant with her first child, and a widow after her police officer husband has been killed in their home after a random break in. She struggles financially after his death since her only income was selling antiques at flea markets. As a struggling single mom, she decides to move in with her grandmother.

Her grandmother gifts her a chest of antiques and while she is going through them, she finds a note from her husband saying he discovered something interesting about her grandmother…she’s a twin! The chest of antiques has revealed secrets and treasures about her family that leads Carly down a dangerous path that involve Russians, imposters and hitmen. It is a wild ride!

**SPOILER**

I thoroughly enjoyed this read. It was a cozy mystery/thriller. Carly was a likable character to me. I thought she was a strong woman with a huge heart. She had sacrificed her past relationship to take care of her siblings, took in her husband’s love child, and endured emotional abuse from her mother in law. She was a character that was judged by people who didn’t know the real her.

The incorporation of a faberge egg into the storyline was refreshing. This was the first book I read that had a faberge egg in it. The last time I heard of faberge eggs was when I watched a bootleg Anastasia dvd as a kid which was two decades ago haha! I would definitely recommend this book to someone who wants a fast paced read.

If you are in the mood for a roller coaster of emotions in the best way possible, here is your ticket. I can’t complement this enough honestly. I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect out of it, but I was absolutely hooked from the beginning. I immediately fell in love with Carly’s character, and Lucas soon after. I found the story revolving around Carly and her family, and their found treasure, so well written and interesting, I couldn’t help but to finish this in one sitting. This was actually my first Colleen Coble novel, and I look forward to more. Fragile Designs is one of my favorite stories of the year, it was so creative! Thank you to Netgalley, Thomas Nelson Fiction, and the author for allowing me to read this!

With high expectations fueled by an intriguing start, I delved into this narrative, eager to unravel the mysteries that lay ahead. The initial third held a captivating allure, promising an engaging exploration of enigmatic plotlines. However, as the story unfolded, my anticipation turned into disappointment.

Unexpectedly, the plot took a divergent path, introducing seemingly implausible connections and a plethora of new characters. Unfortunately, this abundance didn't contribute to a richer narrative but instead left me grappling with a sense of overload. The belief that more elements would enhance the storytelling experience proved to be a misconception.

Despite the narrative struggles, the conclusion managed to salvage a somewhat happy ending. Commendations are due to the narrators for their skillful performance, which added a layer of enjoyment to the experience. However, their efforts couldn't entirely offset my mixed emotions about the convoluted plot, making the journey to resolution a challenging one

What would you do if you discovered a priceless item in your home? What if you aren’t the only one knows about it? What if someone is willing to kill to get it? What would you do to keep your family safe? What if a handsome and capable detective lives next door? You might be able to guess what happens, and you might be correct, but you also might be surprised...

Huge thank you to Thomas Nelson, Zondervan Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen and review this audiobook!

‘Fragile Designs’ is an interesting story held back from greatness by a one-dimensional protagonist who tries so hard for likability that she isn’t likable (or believable) at all.

Premise - Carly finds a Fabergé egg worth tens of millions in a trunk she inherits from her grandmother and then her good-for-nothing husband, Eric, is murdered mysteriously. She must now take care of her infant son and protect the egg, all while trying to crack the mystery of how it’s related to her husband’s murder.

The story is super interesting, especially with the inclusion of the Fabergé history and the Russian bad guys. This could have easily been a four star read… but Carly is an absolute Mary Sue and I find myself having to restrain my eyes from rolling every time she comes on page. That’s not great given that she’s the protagonist.

I’m not saying characters need to be morally gray - I love that she’s a good person! But she’s a caricature of a good person, an all-suffering perfect woman who ‘keeps sweet’ with nary a doubt or bad thought despite everyone in her life being mean to her, taking her for granted, and (in the case of all her historic romantic partners) cheating on her.

It reads as though the author is afraid readers won’t believe she’s good if she ever has a moment of being a real, complicated human. Lucas, on the other hand, is allowed to have doubts and yet we fully see that he’s a good man and we root for him to end up with Carly. Why does he get to be complex and she has to be inhumanly perfect?

“The admission of Ryan’s weakness made her like him more.” Carly thinks this is of her cheating ex-boyfriend, but it would be so true of her! The fact that Carly has no weaknesses, flaws, or snarky thoughts makes her unrelatable and unrealistic.

Example: <spoiler> she’s a financially-strapped single mother who’s more or less homeless, yet she doesn’t even have a second thought about asking to take on her dead husband’s secret baby (born six weeks before their child). Real mothers abort their own children every day because of insufficient support or financial resources and needing to concentrate the little they have on their existing children, but we’re supposed to believe Carly doesn’t even hesitate for a second about taking on the burden?

Lucas, the book’s real person, does hesitate - he thinks about the difficulty of raising two babies, as well as the emotional difficulty of them being another man’s children. He ultimately decides to do it, and his doubt makes his decision more meaningful, not less. Why isn’t Carly allowed the same humanity?

Thanks, NetGalley and Thomas Nelson, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.