The Lacemaker

I used to buy a lot of sewing collectibles on eBay and I have looked at the lacemaking bobbins and pillows thinking I would like to learn how to make lace.  Then I saw a video on making lace and I think I'll stick to crocheting lace and let the experts do that stuff.  But when I saw Laura Frantz's book, The Lacemaker, I knew I had to read it, without even knowing what it was about. 

The timing of the novel is on the cusp of the War of Independence, and Elisabeth is sitting on the fence as far as where her loyalties lie.  Her father is the lieutenant governor of the Virginia colony and demands that his family follows his tyrannical lead in supporting the crown.  When the governor's and lieutenant governor's mansions are invaded and sacked, Elisabeth's father runs for safety, leaving Elisabeth to manage on her own.  She searches all over town before finding a place to stay, sew, and make her lace, but it's in a "rebel" stronghold and not as safe as it would seem.  One of her customers was Noble Rynallt, who took more than a passing interest in Elisabeth, and wanted to protect her.

I love Laura's books for the most part.  I've read a few that haven't excited me as much as others have, but this one is so good that it is truly hard to put down. She has woven history and historical personalities into the plot so that not only was I entertained, but I was also educated.  Which liberators were hot-headed which ones were even tempered, which ones held honor as the highest trait a man can have, all of these have been included in the telling of this fascinating story.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a yard of handmade lace.

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

The Saturday Night Supper Club

Rachel is at the pinnacle of her career as the executive chef of a rather exclusive restaurant in Denver.  When a tabloid takes something that she said totally out of context and blasts it all over town, she loses what she's worked so hard for.  And now she is without a place to cook.  Alex Kanin is an essayist/author who publishes an article that goes viral and totally trashes Rachel's reputation.  Alex asks Rachel's friends, Ana and Melody, where he can meet up with her to apologize. They do tell him where they know she'll be on a certain night.  He shows up and tells her he'll do anything to make it right. Through a few conversations, Alex agrees to set up a few meetings with some of his friends who could be likely investors in a new restaurant.  And then the Saturday Night Supper Club begins.

I've read a couple of Carla Laureano books before and they are always excellent.  She weaves together a story that grips her readers from the first page to the last.  She has a deft hand a pen to create such engaging stories. The only criticism I really have for this book is that Carla didn't include recipes that Rachel cooked in the book. However given my cooking abilities, it's not that big of a loss. Maybe I just want a real Rachel to come and cook for me.  Right now I have soup on the stove that involved opening three cans and three packages. 

This is a five star, two thumbs up, and a dinner at the Saturday Night Supper Club!

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

A Daring Escape

Every time I see a World War II book in my list of possible reads, I have to get it if I can.  Then it resides in my TBR pile for a month or so until I can get to it.  That's just my life. But, I was thrilled when it became time to read A Daring Escape by Tricia Goyer.

Amity Mitchell is working in London as a tutor for a teen girl in the years preceding Germany taking over Europe. Her brother is working for Home Office and is in Czechoslovakia working with the refugees and getting the children out of the country. He writes Amity to come help him get the children ready for the kindertransport.

There are several overlapping stories, which delays the denouement for quite a while in the book.  There are quite a few characters in this book, but because they have their own stories, they make sense within the book.  I found that I couldn't wait to see how things turned out, so I jumped ahead to the end of the book.  Drama plays a big role in the movement within the book.  It's well researched, but I just didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed some of her other books.  It's a solid 4 stars. 

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

Liza's Second Chance

Liza Schrock is the widowed owner of the Charm Bakery and runs it with her sister-in-law, Esther, and niece, Hannah.  Esther is happily married and believe's Liza should try marriage again.  What Esther doesn't know is that Liza's late husband was a tyrant at home while putting forward a very compassionate face within the community. 

Jacob Graber has moved to Charm with his daughter, Ellie, following his wife's death.  He loves the community and after meeting Liza at the bakery, he's decided that Charm has more charms than he originally anticipated.  The fly in his ointment is that his daughter, Ellie, has been hard to reach through her tough exterior since her mother's passing.  She's run away from home once before and he really believes that she'll do it again.

When Mae Chupp comes to dinner at Esther's house with her son, Peter--a lively six year old boy, it seems the answer to Ellie's wandering is right in front of them.  Ellie accepts a job as Peter's nanny, but. . .

Liza's Second Chance is the first of Molly Jebber's books that I can remember reading, but it was worth my time and energy.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a molasses cookie. 

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

Seven Brides for Seven Texas Rangers

Barbour books has taken a bit of a turn with this particular novella collection.  All of the stories include the same characters, the same plot line, and the same villains.   Seven young Texas Rangers have been transferred to Hartville with the task of capturing the Cass Markham gang who have been terrorizing the area. 

The captain of the group is recently married and his wife is anxious that all of the rangers in his command also find the joys of marriage, and therefore makes it her mission to match them all up.  Each ranger finds himself in the company of  a woman who is his heart-match, and through the machinations of the Markham gang, finds the woman in trouble and it takes all of his best tricks to rescue her and capture the gang. 

As it works out, the gang is captured one by one as the rangers fall one by one to a woman's charms.  Because each novella ties into the previous one and into the story as a whole, it is really better than most collections like this.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a Texas Ranger to come to your rescue. 

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

Until We Find Home

Until I read this book, I had one favorite WWII era author, Sarah Sundin.  Now I have another one on equal footing with Sarah.  Her name is Cathy Gohlke and the book I just read is Until We Find Home.  Claire is an American in Paris, wanting to become a writer, until she is charged with helping five Jewish children to escape the coming Nazi invasion.  She is ferried with her children to England and then to the countryside where she has an aunt that she hopes will take in the children.

Her aunt will take in the children as long as Claire stays to take care of them, but Claire wants to get back to Paris as soon as possible to continue her writing.  Her aunt explains that her American heritage will not protect her in France.  Soon after Claire comes, another contingent of children are dropped on her aunt---these children are from Germany. 

David Campbell is another American working in England and has been billeted with Claire and her ersatz family.  She sometimes doesn't know how to take him and sometimes wants to throw a vase at his head, but as she comes to know him, she begins to love him. 

My favorite part of the book is the look into the cultural lives of the Jewish children.  The German children didn't get along with the French at first, and vice versa.  The only exceptions are two rapscallions named Gaston and Josef.  They created an alliance of mischief and chaos. But Josef becomes key in helping to re-capture an escaped German prisoner of war.

Cathy has done her research in preparing this manuscript and clearly described her characters, her settings, and the era she was writing about.  The characters are believable and real, the setting is easily imagined, and the era fascinates me because my father served in the Coast Guard during WWII.

This is a five star book, two thumbs up, and a secret garden for your creativity. 

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

Holding the Fort

I think there needs to be another category of Christian fiction--we have historical, contemporary, romance, mystery, sci fi, horror (spiritual warfare), but what we need is Western.  There are many writers who write romances in western settings.  These are often funny with typical western situations and characters.  That being said, Holding the Fort fits into this western category. 

Louisa is known as Lola Bell, the singer in a saloon.  When the owner of the saloon brings in someone new to sing in his saloon, Louisa saw the writing on the wall and knew she needed to find a new situation. 

On the way to see her brother at Fort Reno in the Indian Territories.  On her way she runs into a missionary who was heading to the fort to take on educating the Major's daughters. However, the missionary has taken ill and asks Louisa to carry the text books on to the fort. 

Regina Jennings writes her historical/western romances with a liberal dose of humor.  That's what I enjoy most about reading her books.  The only criticism I have for her book is that for the most part, it is predictable.  The major has two daughters: one compliant, one rather head-strong and resistant.  Louisa is charged with winning both girls over as well as educating them.   I've read this plot device several times.  The girls and their father all fall in love with Louisa. There is always something to overcome in these stories for the road to true love to smooth out.  In spite of this one point, this is an enjoyable read and great for whiling a couple of hours away.   Four strong stars.

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

Ivy Cottage in Ivy Hill

This is the second of the books in the Ivy Hill series by Julie Klassen. I vaccillated between liking and not liking the book.  There are so many characters that it's hard to keep the story straight and to figure out who the book was about.  First, there are several main characters in the book and the story switches back and forth between them at a hectic pace. The setting is still the same Ivy Hill Village, but there are new characters and a few new places, but the characters from Ivy Hill are settling into their lives.  Once the relationships among the women are figured out, the book is easier to read. 

For the most part, it's a good book, but there are several ends left untied, which leads the reader to believe there will be a third book in the series. But, the book wasn't exactly what I was expecting.  The sheer number of characters is daunting as well as keeping up with who is dating whom, although dating isn't what it was called during the Regency Era.  I give this book 3.5 stars, but I'll round it up to four. 

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

Words from the Heart

Ivy has been writing to John King, an Amish man she met in Michigan while she was helping her cousin the previous year.  BUT, John only wrote to Ivy once and never replied to any of her letters.  She finally comes to the conclusion that there is no reason to try to continue keeping in touch with him.

Cevilla Schlabach is an elderly neighbor to Ivy and her family and she engages Ivy to help her nephew, Noah, to clean out her attic.  There are boxes and boxes and boxes of goods from her stepmother's home. Many of the boxes contain crocheted doilies, lots and lots and lots of doilies.  But in a few of the boxes are a few treasures that Noah would like to investigate for his auction business. 

Cevilla wants to see Noah and Ivy get together and marry.  Ivy's mother would like to see Ivy and Noah get together, but Ivy convinces her mother to let her conduct her own life. 

Letters weave their way throughout this book.  Kathleen Fuller knows the Amish life and the Amish psyche and has brought it to life through her characters.  Cevilla is not known for holding her tongue, Ivy is known to be a strong woman in spite of her petite size, Noah is a sweet, unassuming man who loves his aunt.  In Words from the Heart, Kathleen has added a love story from the Korean War years and then ties all the letters together with a ribbon of a story that will keep the reader involved from page one all the way through.  This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a wooden chest to keep your letters in.

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

Out of the Ordinary

Jen Turano writes with wit, humor, and her characters live life at a frenetic pace.  I wonder where she gets the names for her characters:  Gertrude Cadwalader, Clementine Flowerdew, Permelia Griswold.  But, those names fit the personalities:  Gertrude is a companion for a society lady with a penchant for lifting baubles that are not hers.  It then becomes Gertrude's job to return the items to the proper owners.  Clementine is a young lady on the look out for a husband and she doesn't care who she runs over to get one.  Permelia dances with an exuberance that belies the fact that she can't dance.  At the party to celebrate her engagement to Asher Rutherford, she had the members of the orchestra running for their lives.  The title of this book, Out of the Ordinary, is apt for the contents.  There is nothing ordinary about this story. 

One thing I do like about the one main character I've not mentioned yet--Harrison Sinclair--is that he dresses with a flair that would make any onlooker reach for the nearest pair of sunglasses. What the reader is led to believe is that Harrison is color-blind.  He sees most nearly everything in shades of orange, but in reality, he might be wearing a lime green jacket with sky blue pants that have clovers all over them. 

The road to true love for Gertrude and Harrison is never smooth and easy.  His mother has Gertrude arrested.  He ruins the clothing they are wearing when he's trying to be gallant.  He nearly dislocates Gertrude's shoulder when he rides up on his horse and pulls her aboard the horse.  He doesn't realize that some of the little things he already does touches Gertrude's heart

This is a fun book to read, five stars, two thumbs up, and a garish outfit for the dance tonight.

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

The Mail Order Brides Collection

One of the things I especially like about these collections of romance stories is that the reader can pick and choose which order to read the novellas.  These were sweet narratives where women take a huge chance on a man she only knows by letters.  Both the ladies and the gents have dire needs for a match to take place.  

Barbour Books gathers the nine best authors to write the stories to fill their book and puts them in their best light.  I am glad I chose to read this collection.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs, and a letter in the mail. 

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