Where Do We Belong?

Picture it:  1890 in the Sahara Desert looking for a monastery that is supposed to have ancient documents and codices that will prove the verity of the Bible. Two sisters, two of their servants, and several Bedouin guides as well as a sheik are riding camels across the desert toward the monastery.  Each of the sisters and both of the servants get a voice in telling the story of this book.

Lynn Austin has woven together a cohesive narrative from four viewpoints that entertains her readers as well as challenges them.  I love it when a book I read for enjoyment has nuggets of truth that will push me to see what there is beyond my own little world. 

Rebecca and Flora are sisters who live for adventure.  At the young ages of 14 and 12 respectively, they begin their first adventure by skipping school and planning a trip to Europe.  They want all the information in hand to present to their father before asking for the trip.  Rebecca is thoroughly engulfed in finding what her purpose is in God's Kingdom, she wants to know where she belongs.  She is fearless in seeking her place and in her adventures because only God knows the end of her days. 

Flora finds her purpose rather early on--to reach the children who have no one to speak for them or to protect them.  She goes along with Rebecca's adventures because she doesn't want Rebecca to be alone.  A "Good Samaritan" situation allows Flora to find the love of her life who will stand beside her and help her with her purpose--funding and founding an orphanage that will provide a place for children who have lost their parents, or been abandoned by them, or for whatever reason are living on the streets.

The two servants along on the last adventure are street children that Rebecca and Flora have taken in to show them what love is all about.  Soren and Kate are incredulous that there are people in their small  worlds who will put themselves out for them. 

All of these characters are finding "Where We Belong" throughout the book.  Sometimes the hunt for place is longer and more involved than at other times, but the getting there is entertaining and intriguing.  I've read many of Lynn Austin's books and she NEVER disappoints.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a camel ride across the desert.

My thanks to Bethany House for allowing me to read and review this book.

Bygone Christmas Brides

So, Christmas is just around the corner and you are single and need escorts to all the balls and parties.  What can you do?  Well, these stories are just the thing to give you some inspiration.  Maybe your father meddles in your life.  Maybe you just meet by accident.  It doesn't matter, it's Christmas magic.
That's what you'll get when you read Bygone Christmas Brides put out by Barbour Publishing.  Six stories by six great authors who know how to put together a great story for an afternoon's reading.  Each story goes great with your favorite hot drink as you sit beside your Christmas tree.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a cup of wassail.

My thanks to Barbour Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book.

Bringing Maggie Home

I've enjoyed reading many of Kim Vogel Sawyer's books and I have found this newest one to be as engaging as her other books.

Hazel Mae is asked by her mother to take her little sister, Maggie,  with her to the blackberry woods and pick blackberries for a cobbler for their father. While Hazel is trying to scare a snake away from a bunny's nest, Maggie went missing.  The whole community searched for days to try to find Maggie to no avail.

Speed ahead seventy years.  Hazel overreacted to the disappearance of her sister by being overprotecting her daughter. Her daughter, Dianne, reacted to the overprotection by keeping a hands off policy with her own daughter, Meghan.

Meghan, in her working life is a cold-case detective, but she's off work due to being in a three-car pile up and breaking her foot.  Since she has to be off for six weeks, she goes to her grandmother's house for a visit.  As soon as she gets there she finds her mother there as well.

First thing, Kim has taken the situations of a family dynamic on the verge of eruption, and made it the core of her plot.  Hazel hasn't forgiven herself for Maggie's disappearance.  Dianne has built up a resentment of Hazel and Meghan, because of Hazel's overprotectiveness, and because Hazel has given Meghan the love she wants.

These three women all need something and Kim has brought about the filling of that need by bringing them all to the place where they have to reach to God because there is nowhere else to reach. She has shown that God is the only answer to the questions that haunt our lives.

I read this book much more slowly than normal because it needs to be pondered, perused, and puzzled over. This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a family reunion that brings healing with it.

My thanks to Waterbrook/Multnomah for allowing me to read and review this book.

The Crooked Path

In my last review of a book by Irma Joubert, I said that I'd read several of her books.  I guess now that I have read three of her books, I can claim that. There are some remarks I made that I will stand by for a long time.

 I find each one to be exquisite in plot, character, and depth. Her writing ability is unsurpassed and she is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. She's not afraid to tackle hard subjects in her writing and her research bears out in all the historical details she includes in her novels. 

This book, The Crooked Path is a sequel to Child of the River, and many of the same characters show up in the book, along with a whole company of new ones.  Lettie is the daughter of the village doctor in South Africa, and desires to be a doctor in her own right.  Her marks in school and in university are the envy of those who don't work as hard.

Marco is in love with a Jewess but in Italy as well as the rest of Europe, the Jews are in danger.  After hiding her family in a cave for three years, they are all found and relocated to a concentration camp.  When the war ends, Marco finds that his love is dead along with the rest of her family, and Marco is very sick.  His brother Lorenzo comes to take him home from the hospital so his mother can nurse him.  His brother Antonio was a prisoner of war, taken to South Africa to work on a farm where he fell in love with the daughter of the farmer.  When he goes back to South Africa, he convinces Marco to come along--the dry climate is going to be better for his health.

While the book starts during World War II, it ends with the advent of the polio vaccine.  Marco and Lettie's love story is a happy/sad one all at the same time.  Because Marco is so fragile, he doesn't want Lettie to get pregnant, but he finally gives in and they have two beautiful daughters.

Irma has woven the stories of a number of characters into one cohesive novel that engages the reader from the very beginning, and doesn't let go until after the last page has been read.  This is one of the best books I've read in a while, and I appreciate Irma's talent in writing the story.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and an Opera at La Scala!

My thanks to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to read and review this book.

Home All Along

I can't believe I forgot to write a review for a book I read, but I guess it happens.

Beth Wiseman writes incredible Amish Fiction and Home All Along is no less compelling than her other books.  

Charlotte has come to live in the house her brother left her in the midst of an Amish community.  She is "almost Amish" in the way she lives--her house has no electricity, she has no electronics, she attends the worship services of the church in the district, but she still drives her truck and that separates her from being Amish. 

Daniel is Charlotte's boyfriend and is just waiting for Charlotte to join the church so they can be married, but there are obstacles.....

Charlotte's mother has died from a drug overdose, Daniel's mom is pregnant, Charlotte's sister shows up to manipulate and use her, and Charlotte feels her life spiraling out of control. 

Beth's characters are believable, likable, and real.  Her settings are realistic and imaginative.  Her plot moves with compelling pace to keep the reader intrigued and involved in the story.  This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and some fine Amish Cooking.

My Thanks to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to read and review this book. 

Amish Cooking Class--The Blessing

Heidi and Lyle opened their home to a troubled teenager who was expecting a baby after she agreed to let them adopt the babe.  But coming toward the end of the pregnancy, her parents asked her to come back home and offered to help rear the baby too. Heidi was heartbroken, and so was Lyle, but he saw a way out of the grief and that was to get Heidi to give another one of her cooking classes.  There are six characters who show up to learn what Heidi has to teach.

Todd is a food critic with no time for God
Lisa is a caterer wanting to expand her repertoire
Bill wants to impress his hunting buddies
Nicole is the teen daughter of a single father who expects her to cook for him and her siblings
Allie was given the class as a gift from her husband
Lance just wants to learn what Heidi teaches because he smells her cooking every day when he delivers her mail.

Each character in the book gets to tell the story from their own point of view, which makes the book so much more interesting.  The other character is Kendra, the pregnant teen who sees something in Heidi and Lyle that she wants in her own life.

Wanda Brunstetter includes the recipes at the end of the book that Heidi teaches her class.  I have a couple of them I want to try for myself in the coming week.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a piece of apple cornbread for a snack.

My thanks to Shiloh Run Press for allowing me to read and review this book.

Colors of Christmas

When I saw that Olivia Newport had written this book, at first I assumed it was Amish fiction, but I was surprised that it wasn't.  There are two novellas in this book and they are delightful stories.

Christmas in Gold describes Astrid's life under the Nazi regime.  She's telling her story to a young woman who is just at the edge of despair.  By revealing all the secrets, she's giving hope to the young woman.

Christmas in Blue details Angela's life after she's been given the responsibility for arranging the Christmas festival for her town.  Angela really resents being handed this responsibility because it belonged to her best friend who passed away in the spring.  A stranger shows up in town that no one seems to know, but he's got the ideas for the festival and helps Angela make it work with the scant supplies she has.

Both of these narratives encompass every aspect of hope that the Christmas season brings.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and Golden ornaments with Blue lights.

My thanks to Shiloh Run Press for allowing me to read and review this book.

The Captive Brides Romance Collection

Usually I like reading the anthologies Barbour Publishing puts out.  However I was not held captive by the Captive Brides Collection.  The stories just weren't up my alley.  It could be mood or reading taste, but I couldn't find myself reading these stories about women who had been enslaved or indentured and then finding love.  There is nothing wrong with the writing or anything else about the book.  It was that I couldn't relate to the subject.  I'll give this three stars.

My thanks to Barbour Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book.

To Wager Her Heart

There are a few authors whose books I will read without reading the blurbs because I know that the writing will be excellent and the plot will be intriguing.  Tamera Alexander is one such author, and her newest novel is no exception.  To Wager Her Heart follows Belle Meade Mansion and the history of the railroad through Tennessee.  Tamera has woven historical fact in with the elements of her novel.

Alexandra Jamison wants nothing more than to teach, especially the freed slaves in the post war South. She applies to teach at the Fisk University and even without a teaching credential, she is hired to teach the beginning classes.

Sylas Rutledge is trying to clear his father's name in the train crash on Dutchman's Curve a year earlier.  It wasn't enough that his father died, but he had to be charged with causing the crash.

These two have to fight prejudices of friends and family to accomplish what they set out to do.  I must say that I did not anticipate the ending of this book (and no, I didn't cheat and read the ending first), but it was thoroughly satisfying.

I give this Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and some stock in a railroad.

My thanks to Zondervan for allowing me to read and review this book.

My Daughter's Legacy

Previously I reviewed book #2 in this series here and I made some statements that showed I didn't know what I was talking about:

 One thing I would change in this book is to leave out the murder of the man in the cabin. While it allowed a few extra characters and a bit of cloak and dagger action, it really didn't add to the plot lines except as a distraction. I feel the book would have been a whole story without that particular device.   

In book #3, My Daughter's Legacy, the murder is explained along with a few other mysteries within the two stories.  In keeping with my format in the last review, I'm going to go with my favorites in this story.

Modern Day Character:  Nicole has overcome some pretty extreme things in her life just to get to where she is, recovering from drug addiction, running from the demons that plague her thoughts and dreams, and holding onto her grandfather's secret for many years--a secret she should have never been asked to hold.

Historical Character: Michael Talbot has come home from France after most of the Civil War has been fought.  He is reviled by his neighbors for being to cowardly to fight. He joins up anyway as a medic for the local battalion.  Using his position as a cover, he spies for the Union army instead of the Confederates in Tennessee.  While he was in France he happened upon an illustrated manuscript belonging to a family he knew back in America. He bought the manuscript and brought it home.

The whole of the novel revolves around finding this manuscript and returning it to its rightful owner.  The manuscript is stolen a couple of times throughout the book, but is finally found and one more attempt to steal it is committed.

Leslie Gould and Mindy Starns Clark are both excellent writers in their own right, but together, they are an unbeatable team.  I can't wait to see what more comes out of their collaborative pens.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and an original illustrated manuscript to protect.

My thanks goes to Harvest House Publishers for allowing me to read and review this book.

A Letter from Lancaster County

Kate Lloyd writes impeccably.  Her characters are always fully developed and fit into the scenes where they are placed.  Saying this, I could not get myself interested in her book, A Letter from Lancaster County.  I have read other of her books and enjoyed them all, but even with a well-liked author, the random book will come along that just doesn't fit my taste.  This is no criticism on Kate or on her book.  It's a matter of personal taste.

Angela and Rose have received a letter from their Aunt Silvia in Lancaster County asking them to come for a visit.  Each chapter is devoted to Angela or Rose in alternating fashion, giving their viewpoints on the things that are happening.

I just wish I could have lost myself in the book like I do with so many of the books I read, but this one eluded me.  Three stars--just because I didn't like it doesn't mean you won't.

My thanks to Harvest House Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book.

Gathering the Threads

Cindy Woodsmall's series The Amish of Summer Grove comes to completion with Gathering the Threads. Ariana and Skylar both have been through a lot due to an error made by a midwife when they were born.  They are both in situations that cause them to reconsider and reevaluate their lives in light of what they've learned.  For Ariana, she's had to learn to question what men tell her and to find the source of the information before making an opinion.  This new learning doesn't always set well with her family.  Skylar is not thrilled that Ariana is back and wants what Ariana has.  She wants a family that loves her and doesn't realize that she already has that love.

There are so many threads of life that come together in a way that makes a tapestry and we may not see what the final design is because we are looking at it from the wrong side.

Skylar and Ariana are working on completing the tapestry of their lives and they are seeing the messy yarn ends.

It has been Cindy's task to draw these threads into coherent stitches and her engaging style of writing makes the denouement of this story extremely satisfying.  Cindy certainly ranks at the top of my list of favorite Amish Authors.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and the most beautiful tapestry you've ever seen.

My thanks to Waterbrook/Multnomah for allowing me to read and review this book as part of the Cindy Woodsmall Launch Team