Judah's Wife

When Angela Hunt sits down to write a book, she has all of her ducks in a row.  Her research is done, her characters are developed, and the culture is fixed in her mind.

Judah's Wife takes place during the years of "silence" between the testaments in the Bible.  Leah is the daughter of the cheese-maker, but it is not a happy existence.  Her father is abusive toward her mother,  and her mother won't stand up for herself .  When Judah Maccabeus sees her in the marketplace, he is interested, but when his father says to choose a wife, his mind can only think of Leah.  Leah's father will offer his daughter for marriage, but only after he makes the absolute best deal he can make for himself. 

The political structure of the time was antagonistic toward the Jews, and Angela makes sure to work in that part of history into her novel.  At the same time, she gives her characters personality and depth. 

This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and some goat cheese for your dinner.

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

A Mother's Love

Charlotte Hubbard writes compelling Amish Fiction that grab the reader and doesn't let go until the very last page.  A Mother's Love is just such a novel.  Rose and Gracie live with Rose's mother, Lydia, who is dying of cancer.  As Lydia grows closer to death, she tells Rose about a box of letters and tells Rose not to do anything about the letters once she reads them.  When Rose does get to read them, she finds out that she's adopted and it tilts her world sideways in the midst of her grief.  Just three years earlier she lost her husband and her father in an accident at the sawmill.

Rose can't get past the fact that she needs to find a job to support herself and her daughter, Gracie.  Her bishop advises her to let the community support her for a while. Her independence won't allow her to sit idle. She posts notices and gets a phone call the same day for an interview.  She gets the job cooking for a Senior Center that puts her right in the path of meeting her birth mother. 

The drama of meeting her mother is one of the biggest ties that hold this book together.  In the midst of this situation, she meets Matthias Wagler, who stands beside her to wade through this conundrum. 

The book not only entertains, it also teaches grace, humility, and forgiveness. 

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a homecooked meal.

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

Hurricane Season

Once in a while I will cherry-pick through my list to find the book that's "just right" for my mood.  Hurricane Season was THE book that happened to fit that bill perfectly.  It's actually two books melded into one.  Betsy and Jenna lead very different lives, even though they are sisters. Betsy is married to Ty and works at helping him on the dairy farm.  Jenna is not married, but she has two lovely daughters and works at a coffee shop.  When opportunity knocks on Jenna's door to go to an artist's retreat, she dumps her daughters off on her childless sister for eight weeks.

There is no "romance" in this book, per se, but there is the discovery of love between sisters, between Betsy and Jenna's children, between Ty and Jenna's children, and the renewal of love between Ty and Betsy.  The interactions of the characters make the book.  Lauren K Denton knows how to bring the characters to life and make the book believable. I love the way she develops her plots and weaves them together. This is a five star book, two thumbs up, and a safe place to be during a hurricane. 

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

Phoebe's Light

Suzanne Woods Fisher generally writes Amish Fiction and her Amish stories are hard to put down.  Her newest book is about the history of the Quakers and centers on Phoebe Starbuck and Matthew Macy.  Phoebe is in good standing with her meeting, but Matthew is not.  Matthew has loved Phoebe for a long time, but she's in love with Phineas Foulger, a whale boat captain.

While most of Suzanne's writing is impeccable, this book did not draw me in as much as her others do.  I was disappointed in the lack of interest the book brought out.  It seemed to me to be dry.  Three Stars.  As a disclaimer, my opinions are my own. 

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

The Simple Soul of Susan

The only words I can say for Noel Branham's book is that I am feeling all the feels.  This book will take you to some pretty sad places in life.  Susan is the "outcast" in her class at high school. Her parents have abandoned her in one way or another and she is being raised by her uncle--a man disabled by a very serious accident. At this point of her high school career, instead of her uncle taking care of her, she's taking care of him. She often gets left out of events among her peers, but when she is included she becomes the brunt of their jokes.

Living next door is Calder Hurtz, a boy Susan has had affection for since she met him in third grade.  He is the hottest thing on two feet at school and every girl wants to be HIS girl.  The girls in the class only get close to Susan to get the goods on Calder. 

Susan and Calder have kind of an odd friendship--they love each other, but neither will tell the other one. They have an openness that allows them to speak what's on their minds without regard to the other's feelings, but neither will speak of their mutual love. 

Noel has a way with her writing that draws out a full gamut of emotions in the reader. A bit of irony is the well-known Pecan Festival in the town of Walnut Springs.  It is the kind of thing in this book that tickles my funny bone.   I really appreciate Noel for allowing me to read and review her book.  I give it five stars, two thumbs up, and a pecan pie for the festival.

The Innkeeper's Daughter

Johanna and her mother are Innkeepers in Dover, England, during the Napoleonic Era.  The two of them are fighting tooth and nail to keep their inn and keep it open.  It is the source of their living.

Alex Moore is dispatched to Dover, to Johanna's Inn, specifically, to root out a traitor to the King. Because Alex has a history in Dover, though he hasn't been there in several years, he is using a different identity than that of his own. 

Michelle Griep has an interesting cast of characters populating her book.  Alex and Johanna are pretty interesting in their own right, one cannot overlook Mr Nutbrown--who only speaks through puppets, Mr Spurge--who owns the inn Johanna runs and is threatening to throw her into debtors prison, and one cannot forget Johanna's younger brother, Thomas who is by turn creating havoc or drumming up business for the inn. 

The following opinions are fully the opinions of the owner of this blog and have not been influenced in any way by anyone else. 

I got to a point where I lost interest in the story and I jumped ahead to the end of the book to see how all the loose ends get tied up.  Michelle has done a great job in bringing the story together, but it just wasn't the kind of story I could get lost in.  I give it three stars.

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

The Heart Between Us

I've not read any of Lindsay Harrel's book until now, and I'm sorry I haven't. This could have been such a sappy book, but it wasn't.  The premise is that Megan and Crystal are twins, but Megan has had a heart condition for most of her life.  Megan got a very needed heart transplant and then she was given a gift that unwrapped itself in most unexpected ways. 

The most expected element in the book is the "helicopter mom." But she plays such a small role, she doesn't detract from the story line at all. 

The most surprising element is that the parents of Megan's donor want to meet her, and in meeting her, they give her one of their daughter's last journals.  In that journal is a bucket list of things she wanted to do.  Megan takes that list and does something so very heartwarming and giving, it gives the book its oomph.  She decides to take a couple of months off work and do the bucket list.  At their mother's behest, Crystal goes along with Megan to be sure she stays well.

Crystal is an architect and is climbing the corporate ladder to a senior associate in her firm, but that in and of itself is causing problems in her marriage. This trip is a chance to find what's been missing in Crystal's life. 

There is a third character that can't be left out of this review--Caleb.  He is also a heart recipient and knows Megan from hospital days.  They stood by each other through thick and thin, in and out of the hospital, and now Caleb is Megan's biggest cheerleader. The Heart Between Us  has a double meaning:  the heart-healing between Megan and Crystal and the heart-connection between Megan and Caleb. 

Sometimes I will skip ahead to read the end of a book and then read it all the way through to see if my imagination can come to the same conclusions as the author's.  This book is so compelling, I wanted to watch it unfold and let the characters live out their lives without my own "helicopter" ways.  This is a five star book (thought I'd give it ten if I could), two thumbs up, and a kiss in the rain. 

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