The Spring in Trulee Holler by Jana Hutcheson

The Spring in Trulee Holler by Jana Hutcheson
Series: Standalone
Publisher: Koehler Books (April 21, 2026)

Review by Priscilla Bettis

I’m happy to present a debut novel by Alabama author Jana Hutcheson. The Spring in Trulee Holler is a small-town Southern romance with strong faith themes. I knew nothing else about the book before I read it. Do not, do NOT go read the book description on Amazon. The reading experience is going to be much better if you go in blind like I did, expecting a typical meet-cute or enemies-to-lovers romance. It’s so much more.

Jessica (Jess) is a college-age student who is not actually in college because she’s regaining her strength after a battle with cancer. She’ll go next year, if she can get past the constant fear of her cancer coming back, which is keeping her stuck in life.

Silas is a gentlemanly college student working on plant research. He aims to find a rare plant in the woods of Trulee Holler for his botany class.

At first, I thought Jess was immature and impulsive as in this passage when she kisses a handsome man she met about 30 seconds ago (no exaggeration, she had just met him!):

I lunged forward.
It was a desperate kiss. Skin on skin. I let my lips linger, enjoying the sensation of his mouth against mine. His lips were soft and tasted faintly of spearmint. I breathed him in, intoxicated by his nearness.

Jana Hutcheson, The Spring in Trulee Holler

After a while, though, Jess started to grow on me as I learned her background and how she’s struggling to get unstuck in life. Her sense of humor is what finally won me over.

As for Silas, he’s a mystery. Why do people in this small town think he looks familiar? Why does he evade questions and sometimes outright lie? What is that tick-tick-ticking noise around him? Can readers trust him? Maybe he’s a spy, or maybe he’s hiding from the law or something. So mysterious.

And then (oh, this is good!), the book takes on a speculative bent. Yes, this is a Christian romcom speculative novel with mystery. The book description gives away too much of the speculative part, so that’s why I think you shouldn’t read the description.

As for the faith element, readers see Jess mature in her belief, not that she muscles her way to greater trust in God, but that she actually matures in her faith. (It’s all tactfully written; neither Jess nor Hutcheson whacks readers over the head with religious dogma.)

I took off a fish for some repetitions that drew me out of the story (flecks of gold in his hazel eyes, smirks close together) and tiny errors (a black widow’s hourglass is actually on its underside). But an author’s first novel isn’t going to be absolutely perfect, so I still highly recommend the book, especially if you like romcoms!

I purchased the Kindle version of The Spring in Trulee Holler.