Light Over London

When I saw that this was a time slip book about World War II, I decided I HAD to read it.  I was not disappointed.  It contains everything a good book should:  no formulas, but mysteries, humor, and just a bit of romance.  

Cara is helping her boss evaluate catalog the antiques in an estate for possible sale in his antique shop.  In going through the pieces of furniture, Cara finds a diary dating back to 1942.  It becomes an obsession for Cara to find the owner of the diary and find out the history and what happens after the diary ends.  

It takes a lot of research and digging to find out the facts behind the entries in the diary.  Cara finds help through her next door neighbor, Liam, and Liam finds friendship and more in Cara.  

Julia Kelly has written a top notch novel that kept me up way past my bedtime.  This is definitely a five star book, two thumbs, and a mysterious diary to stir up your imagination. 

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

Do You Dare?

The MISSadventure Brides Collection: 7 Daring Damsels Don’t Let the Norms of Their Eras Hold Them Back

Usually Barbour Publishing will gather the best of the best for their collections.  The time era begins in the 1800s and goes to the Great Depression.  Some of these novellas do not have the same quality of writing that the others do.  Overall, the average would be a four-star book. 

One of the "misses" goes fur trapping in light of her father's death.  Another raises llamas in spite of her father's objections, still another goes on a cross-country road trip after learning to take down and put a car back together again. Regardless of what society thinks is right, these seven girls find themselves embarked on adventures with pitfalls and pratfalls to entertain the most jaded reader.  

Readers will find romance, mystery, adventure, and lots of entertaining humor.  It's worth the time to read the ones you like, and cherry-pick through the rest of them. 

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

Love on a Limb

This is by far the saddest book I've read in a while.  There were few pages that did not have me in tears. I've not encountered Laurie Lewis' writings before and this one is not the kind of book to read on the first time with a new author.

Matt Grayken is being treated for leukemia and he wants to make plans for the end of his life.  This is his third round with the evil disease.

Mikaela Compton is an oncology nurse that Matthew asks to marry him.

Between the two of them, they write a contract for how things are going to go for the marriage. Neither of them planned on falling in love. 

Many times during the novel, the plight of Matt's disease brings the tears, and then some poignant moments bring tears, some angry moments bring tears. There are a few moments that bring smiles, but the emotions are real and that is a nod to the writer for the quality of her work.

This book is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a box of tissue to help you get through.

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

The Amish Sweet Shop

Kensington Publishing puts out a lot of high quality Amish fiction that other publishers don't.  And the stories are always fodder for a reader's sweet tooth.  This collection is no different.

In the first novella, the sweet shop's owner played matchmaker between her son and a hired girl.

In the second, Sadie feels that she's really too ugly to be courted because of burns from a barn fire.  While Valentine's Day is coming soon, little gifts start showing up on the back porch of the quilt shop where Sadie works.  Sadie believes her friend and boss is putting the gifts on the stoop, but actually it's Adam who works next door who wants Sadie to take a second look at herself.

In the last novella, Hannah loses her husband in a construction accident, she finds out she's pregnant, the owners of the hardware store where she works want to sell the store, a stranger comes in who wants to buy it; but neither Hannah or the stranger have the total down-payment the owners want.  The obstacle is the stranger is not Amish, but he was raised Amish and is now faced with the decision if he would actually take the kneeling vow and join the church.

This is a five star collection, two thumbs up, and a piece of melt in your mouth fudge.

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

The Runaway Brides Collection

Barbour Books always collects the best authors for their anthologies and The Runaway Brides is no different.

There are nine stories in this book and each of the stories include a bride being forced into an unwanted marriage by family members (most usually the fathers).  The grooms are either totally unknown to the bride or are in some way detestable to the brides. The circumstances are so bad that the brides take matters into their own hands and sneak away the best way they can, some as mail order brides, some as women looking for jobs, some as nannies and caretakers.  BUT while they are running away from someone, they are running to what they know will be a different life, they are just not sure how it will play out.

This is a five star book, two thumbs up, and the fastest train out of town.

My thanks to Barbour Books for allowing me to read this book.  Galley provided by NetGalley.com

The Light Before Day

Suzanne Woods Fisher writes incredible Amish Fiction and now she has branched out into writing about the beginnings of the Quaker faith, especially on Nantucket Island. She writes with a depth of understanding that is fun to read.

Mehitabel (or Hitty) and her twin brother Henry have inherited their grandmother's estate, not because of any closeness they had with their grandmother, but because the rest of the relatives ranked lower on her scale than Hitty and Henry.  The only thing is that she put some conditions on their inheritance. The money has to be used to better the island and not get into the hands of one specific relative. They also have to be married before she would have turned eighty and the spouses must have "the Look" of being related. 

The lawyer helping them with the estate is a bit shady, or maybe even a whole lot shady.

The Light Before Day is one of those books that hooks the readers and reels them in until the very last page, leaving them shaking their heads at the implications of all that's happened. Hitty and Henry are empathetic characters that will pull on the readers' heart strings.   Five Star Book, Two Thumbs Up, and a Cent School for preschoolers.

I want to thank Revell for allowing me to read and review this book, and NetGalley.com for providing the galley I read. 

Stitched with Love

Armed with an abundance of blue ribbon authors, Barbour Publishing put out a book that also coincides with my other major hobby--sewing.   All nine novellas have been previously published in smaller anthologies.  All nine novellas are just amazing.  Some weave quilting into the plot, and some weave clothing sewing, and both are interesting for me.

All of the stories take place in the 1800s except for one which is a post-WWII story.  All of these stories involve finding the true loves of the ladies' lives.

Like I said, all have been published before, and I have included the other titles they were published in.  All of them are worth Five Stars, which makes Stitched with Love a Five Star, two thumbs up, and a quilt made with wisdom and prayer.

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

Wunderland

I've not read any books by Jennifer Cody Epstein and for me, this was not a nice introduction to her works.  It was somewhat ignoble, at least for what I was looking for.  There were insights of wartime Germany, but the overall plot was dark and foreboding throughout the whole book. 

Ilse and Renate were friends and assumed they were of full German blood.  The real test comes when Renate finds that her father is Jewish and she finds she's half Jewish.  She does escape just before Ilse is forced to "rat her family out" to the Gestapo.  

There is no love lost between Renate and Ilse after this.  Ilse has a mindset that revolves around herself, and she can see no farther than the end of her nose.  

Renate's mindset is one of a victim who is always picked on and bullied. 

There is one more character who is left to sort out the mess that Isle left behind and basically figure out who she is.  

This book ranks three stars from me.  It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't wonderful either. 

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