The Sound of Rain

Judd Markley's brother, Joe, died in a mine cave-in.  Judd vowed never to go back into a mine and so he headed south to Myrtle Beach.  He started working for a timber company that allowed him to use his gift for mechanics.

Larkin Heyward is the daughter of Judd's boss, but she wants to make her life count for more than just being a candy striper at the hospital.  She wants to go to the Appalachians and help those in need there.

Sarah Loudin Thomas writes of the Appalachians with a personal knowledge of the culture and the background of the peoples.  The Sound of Rain encompasses the history of post-war America along with the devestation of Hurricane Hazel on Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. She also takes on the interpersonal relationships within families and shows how they work or don't work--how dysfunction can turn around and become fully functional through conflict and its resolution.

Larkin's conflict is with her father because she wants to join her brother in Kentucky, but her father has disowned him and will disown her if she goes to him. 

Judd's conflict is with the mines, the dangers and the life on the edge of disaster, as well as the cave-in that took his brother's life. 

Sarah's writing is of such quality that it engages the reader from the very first page to the back flyleaf.  Her characters are realistic and quite likable--with a few exceptions.  Her settings are spot on for detail and involvement.  Her plot moves at a good pace--not at all frenetic.  This is a five star book with two thumbs up and no hurricanes to mess up your home.

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

A Courtship on Huckleberry Hill

Annie and Felty Helmuth are at it again.  Now their granddaughter, Elsie, is living with them and teaching at the Bonduel school.  They want her to meet Sam Sensenig because they know he's the man for her.  What they don't know is that Elsie and Sam have already met and it wasn't the kind of meeting that left lasting good impressions.

Jennifer Beckstrand writes such sassy Amish fiction, with not your normal Amish women, and not your normal Amish families.  Elsie is known for speaking her mind.  Sam is overprotective of his brother.  Annie and Felty are still their same old selves--Annie meddling and Felty sitting back and watching. 

A curve in the path to true love is Rose, who lives next door to Sam, and tries everything in her bag of tricks to get Elsie fired as the teacher so that Sam will pay attention to her, along with bringing some kind of treat nearly every night. 

I have always enjoyed reading Jennifer's books and this is no different.  Jennifer always writes five star books, with two thumbs up, and a homemade dinner.

My thanks to Penguin/Random House for allowing me to read this book.

Life in the Presence of God

Kenneth Boa takes the Christian life and boils it down to its practical practices.  Conformed to His Image defines for the Christian whose image we should conform to and how to do it.  He breaks it down into easy-to-understand instructions.  Now the follow-up book is Life in the Presence of God.  It focuses primarily on prayer--which is the foundation for our relationship with God.  Again, with easy-to-understand instructions and reasons for following them, Kenneth shows how every Christian can experience the presence of God in a continuous way. 

Ken's language is practical and down-to-earth.  His narrative is biblical in all ways and theologically sound.

Five Stars

My thanks goes to Intervarsity Press for allowing me to read and review this book.

Puzzle House

When you come to the Puzzle House, all that is required of you is to put together a jigsaw puzzle of your choice.  No one can help you except Rachel Summers, and while she helps she has a story to tell--not all at once, but over the week that you are in residence.  To be able to come to Puzzle House, you have to be outside of the doctors' abilities to aid in improving your health.  There is no cost for the week at the Puzzle House, donors take care of all costs.

Nia is the newest visitor to Puzzle House with stage 4 leukemia.  She is stubborn to the core, wanting most of all to be left in peace while she dies. 

Puzzle House is written from two perspectives--Rachel's and Nia's.  Rachel tells Nia how Jesus visited her and gave her a choice--to heal or to be healed. She chooses to heal before she finds out she has two tumors in her brain.  In telling Nia her story, Rachel breaks down the walls that Nia has built around herself. 

Lillian Duncan has written a book that is a quick read, but also one that will pull on the reader's heart strings.  It is a five star book with two thumbs up and a jigsaw puzzle to work while you are solving the puzzles of life.

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

Where O Where Are You Tonight?

Lady Jayne has disappeared and no one knows what has happened to her.  Was she murdered, did she emigrate to another country, was she kidnapped? Only Nathaniel Droll knows for sure because he is writing her story in serial format.  But, another question is who is Nathaniel Droll?

Lady Jayne Disappears is a book that kept me confused, but kept enough humor in the confusion to keep me reading.  Aurelie Harcourt's father died in Shepton Mallet, the local debtors prison.  Her only relative is her father's sister, Aurora, and she has a reputation for not being a welcoming soul.   Her father's niece and her family live with Aurora, and they create just enough chaos for Aurora.

Aurelie's father is using Nathaniel Droll as his nom de plume while he writes Lady Jayne's story.  After his death, Aurelie picks up the story and carries it on, adding to the mystery of who Nathaniel Droll really is. 

Joanna Davidson Politano has written a real "screen swiper" of a book with intriguing characters and interesting settings.  Imagining the places is not a difficult because of the fitting descriptions Joanna provides.  The action in the story moves fast enough to keep the reader interested all the way through. This is a five star book with two thumbs up and a new chapter to your favorite book.

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

Fire on the Track

Roseanne Montillo has written a book near and dear to my family's heart--women in athletics, specifically running.  Fire on the Track details the story of Betty Robinson breaking into the world of competitive running.  Betty's races were sprints and she happened to get a high school coach who knew how to bring the best out of her.  He looked for talent and then worked to bring the talent out to its best possible presentation.  Roseanne doesn't just talk about Betty, but also Babe Didrickson, Helen Filkey, and other early notable women. 

Roseanne's style is a cross between biography and novel--something like Irving Stone's writings without the fictionalization that Irving adds to his novels.  Roseanne captures the history and the conditions of the world at large as well the individual histories of the women themselves.  She also delves into the development of track shoes and the improvements they brought to the sport; as well as the science behind head winds, tail winds, and physiology of the human body. 

This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a new pair of track cleats.

The Engagement Plot

I was surprised when I got an email from the publisher saying they specifically wanted me to read and review this book.  When it came up in my TBR pile, I found that it was much more than I realized it to be.  Krista Phillips takes a poke at the "Bachelor/Bachelorette" shows on tv. 

Hanna Knight and William Preston met on the set of "The Price of Love," and Hanna lost her heart.  Hanna was a kindergarten teacher who made no secret of the fact that she was a Christian and thus garnering herself the nickname "Holy Hanna." William Preston was the CEO of a seemingly failing cosmetics company.  According to the contract of the show, after the finale was filmed, they were allowed no contact until it aired, except for one weekend.  After the show was broadcast, William was interviewed on his weekend with Hanna and made an insinuation that ruined her reputation. 

In this, Krista has set up the characters, the conflict, and the plans for the denouement.  Hanna lost her job because no one wanted someone like her teaching their kindergarteners, she started getting hate mail, and she was in no way ready to forgive Will.  Will comes to visit with a plot to help right the wrongs done in this almost melodramatic situation.  There are chuckles and laughs throughout the book. And that makes it a five star book with two thumbs up and a prize winning fish caught through the ice in one of Minnesota's many lakes.

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

Brides of Minnesota

Lena Nelson Dooley understands the immigration struggles of the Swedes and it makes it easier for her to write about the Swedes in Minnesota and their brides.   

Olina is supposed to marry Lars, but he fell in love with another woman and married her before Olina got to Minnesota.  She has to find a way to support herself.  With the help of Lars' sister, Gerda, she opens a dress shop.

August is in love with Anna and always has been, but she was his brother's "cast-off," and August didn't want the comparison between him and Gustaf.

Ollie and Lowell met a mysterious woman and fell in love with her.  The mysterious woman happened to be identical twins and Ollie and Lowell each fell in love with a specific twin. 

These are cute stories that while away an afternoon each.  Life in Minnesota is interesting and Lena gives a good picture of that life. 

The Brides of Minnesota collection is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a dress in the latest fashion. 

My thanks to Barbour Books for allowing me to read this book.

The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck

I've never read anything by Bethany Turner before, so I was not sure what to expect when I picked up this book.  I was surprised and delighted after I started reading about Sarah Hollenbeck.  Sarah wants a family, including children.  Her husband, Patrick, has one reason or another to put Sarah off.  When Sarah found Patrick with another woman, she kicks Patrick out of her life.  At loose ends, Sarah starts joining book clubs until she finds one that she can tolerate.  She also starts writing a book and one night at book club, the pages of her novel fall out of her bag.  The other women in her club read the pages and want more.  Thus starts Sarah's publishing career and her friendship with Piper.  One thing that Piper does for Sarah is to help her find the one thing that is missing from her life--Jesus Christ. 

The pace of this novel is almost frenetic.  It's like horses getting ready for a race and the gates open and the horses shoot out at a dead sprint.  Bethany has packed more action and interactions into this book than any I've ever read.  There are many funny lines that wake up the reader by their unexpectedness--when Sarah meets Ben for the first time (at church), she introduces herself and Ben repeats her name.  Sarah is confused enough to think he's telling her his name is Sarah.  He says something like, "that's my middle name--Benjamin Sarah.  My brothers are Jeremy Marie and Jacob Ann."   There are also some unexpected lines like where Ben and Sarah are talking about the families they want to have and Ben tells Sarah he wants to keep her knocked up as often as possible. I suppose I should say that Ben's being the pastor of the church where Sarah is going is what makes that line unexpected.

This is a five-star book with two thumbs up and a plot twist to keep you awake. I loved the book, had a really hard time putting it down and I was sad when it ended.

My thanks to Revell Publishing for allowing me to read and review this book.  It is well worth the time.

Experiments in Honesty

I have never heard of Steve Daugherty before, but after reading his book, Experiments in Honesty, I'm glad I've made his acquaintance through his writing.  So much of what he has to say in this book requires deep thinking and then instant application to life.  He is trying to change the mindset of people who think they know who God is without listening through His Word to what He's saying He is.  Steve peels back the layers of misconception to bring God to the people just as He is, nothing extra added.  

This book will cause me to think and to meditate on what I know of God to determine what's really true about God.  Thank you Steve Daugherty.  

Five Stars

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

A Bouquet of Brides

I like the olios of romantic stories to just while away an hour or two between jobs I need to do and this one is a complete bouquet of flowers.  Each heroine's name is also a flower name but sometimes the girl in question doesn't like her name or its implications.  The hero of the story has to convince the posey that she is not only likable, but her flower name has a broader, more impressive meaning than she believes. 

Barbour Books searches out the authors who do creditable jobs in putting together these short novels (which to my mind is a bit harder to do than writing a full-length novel.  I mean, you have to get the character development, setting, plot, plot twists, and denouement in fewer words and fewer pages than a full length novel.) and Barbour finds these incredible writers and draws the best out of them. 

This is a five-star collection, two thumbs up, and a bouquet for your wedding. 

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