On a Summer Tide

Usually when I pick up a book by Suzanne Woods Fisher, I expect an Amish tale.  However, she has departed from that genre to go into contemporary women's fiction with her newest book--On a Summer Tide.  Romance plays such a back-seat role in this book, I don't believes it fits within that genre. 

Three girls--sisters--are concerned about their father's health.  He has sold their childhood home and bought an island where the family used to vacation. When he tells his daughters what he has done, they descend on him in masse--Cam along with her adopted son, Cooper; Maddie; and Blaine.  Cooper has just been expelled from a very expensive, private school because he is a bit too high maintenance for the teacher.  Maddie has just finished her training as a counselor, but hasn't found a job yet, and Blaine has been asked to leave the junior college she has been attending for the last five years.

Of the three girls, Cam can see her father's dream best, and she can see what it will take to make it happen.  Maddie and Blaine can take Cam's plan and see it through.  Blaine has also found a passion for her life--baking at the Lunch Counter in town. She has loved baking since before her mother passed away. Since she has been baking for Peg, she is feeling like she's getting a bit of her mother back.

Suzanne has worked in a bit of a mystery on the island--there are no lobsters around the island and no one knows where they have gone. The mystery adds a bit of compelling interest to the book and keeps the reader involved in all parts of the island life.

This is a five-star book, with two thumbs up, an unconventional teacher, and a well-baked scone.

Revell and NetGalley.com provided the galley I was allowed to read for review.

Thimbles and Threads

Barbour Books has a glorious habit of gathering the best authors to write a short novel around a theme.  This anthology weaves sewing in one form or another into each of the novellas.

Tilly and Orion have a long history together, but Tilly just can't get over the fact that he ruined her favorite dress with ink.  Now they are grown up, and Orion has bought Tilly some of that same taffeta fabric, only to ruin the new one again with a spill.  Orion has a lot to overcome.

Alice owns a bridal shop and now has been asked to be a bridesmaid, a role she never wanted to fill.  Her father is in prison, and she'd just rather live without men in her life.

Sarah is a widow with two young sons and four brothers to help her see after them.  Her husband died in a mining accident and now his partner wants to pay her for her husband's portion of them but she wants no part of the mine that took her husband's life--not even the money from the mine.

Melissa has never really fit into her small town.  To keep busy, she makes rag dolls and sells them to toy stores.  She really wants to fit in with the girls her age, but they ridicule her and talk about her unmercifully.  When a man comes to town to thank her for the quilt that saved her life, her life gets even worse because of the other girls in town. 

All of these girls have challenges in front of them and it's fun to read how it all works out.

Barbour Books has a level of quality they uphold as steadfastly as possible.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a new dress made to fit.

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

A Daughter's Truth

Laura Bradford has written a book of Amish Fiction that had me gasping in shock at times, and crying in heartbreak at others. A Daughter's Truth brings the characters of Emma, Levi, Wayne and Rebeccah, and a few others together to tell Emma's tale.

Emma never looks forward to her birthday because her maam, Rebeccah, is always sad.  The sadness stems from the fact that Rebeccah's sister died the day Emma was born.  Rebeccah withheld the truth from Emma that her sister was really Emma's birth mother. 

The only thing Emma looks forward to are the little trinkets that are left on her mother's gravestone.  The last one was a locket with her mother's picture inside.  It was like looking at herself in the mirror, she resembled her mother that much.

Finding out who put the trinkets there became Emma's mission. Levi, who has loved Emma for forever, told her he saw a man in a truck leave the trinket. Levi helped Emma find the man and find out who he was to her.

Emma's actions set her family into an uproar, but it also gave Emma a chance to speak her mind about how she'd been treated all her life--as though she didn't quite belong.  So now her life stretches in front of her with her being more confused than ever before about who she is and where she belongs.

This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a life that is a puzzle.

My thanks to Kensington Books and NetGalley.com for allowing me to read and review this book.

More Than Words Can Say

There are a few authors whose books I will pick up every time I see them.  Karen Witemeyer is one of those authors.  Her newest novel came up on my TBR pile (there is a certain order I read books in, so it was Karen's turn).  Karen's characters are real, her settings are key to the plot, and her pacing is absolutely perfect.

Abigail's father has died and the city council has decreed that she sell her bakery, get a partner to put on the deed, or close down the bakery entirely.  She's been given a month to fulfill the terms set out before her.  She decides to ask a man to marry her in name only.  She has three men in mind, including a couple of milquetoasts and a lumber man.  Her sister thinks she should go after the lumber man because he's the scariest one of the men. 

Abigail has written out a contract detailing what will be the terms of the marriage.  Zach Harrison is the lumber man and he reads the terms and adds one of his own.  She must give him a goodnight kiss every night.

One of the things going on is a former friend of Abigail's is causing trouble and was trying to close her down.  Zach and Abigail make a great team in getting things done and getting the conundrum figured out. 

This is a five-star book, with two thumbs up, and a fresh baguette straight from the oven.

Bethany House and NetGalley.com provided the galley I got to read.  My thanks goes to them. 

Sweet on You

Becky Wade is wrapping up her series on the Bradford sisters with the story of Britt and her long-time friend Zander.  

Zander has been on a world tour when he gets called home due to his uncle's death.  There are questions surrounding Uncle Frank's death: cause of death, bullet wound, where he was headed when he died. At the same time there is an unsolved crime involving paintings stolen from the Pascal Museum in Seattle. Zander wants the questions answered and Britt wants to help. 

Britt is a chocolatier with a zest for life that Zander just loves.  He's the introvert to her extravert, the peace to her excitement, and the rescuer to her risks.  She just can't decide if she really loves Zander, but Zander knows his heart will never belong to anyone else.  He tries his best to rein her in while they are searching for clues, but can't quite pull her up. 

I have read and enjoyed all three of these Bradford Sisters books, and I must say that Becky Wade has not lost her touch in bringing romance, mystery, daring do, and all kinds of adventure into the lives of her characters. This is a five star screen swiper, with two thumbs up, and a delectable chocolate peppermint truffle seasoned with butterscotch and rum.

Bethany House provided the galley I read through NetGalley.com.  The opinions expressed in this blog are my own and no one else's

No Ocean Too Wide

Carrie Turansky is a prolific author of primarily historical fiction. With this book, she begins a new series detailing the lives of three children whose mother has been taken to the hospital and because of that, they ended up in an orphanage. 

The supervisors at the orphanage told the children their mother had died and gave them the opportunity to go to Canada to be adopted.  This turn of the century orphan immigration was largely operated illegally.  Parents were not given a chance to claim their children nor the chance to give their permission for the children to go.

Garth and Katie, the twins, and Grace, the youngest child, are set up in separate portions of the orphanage.  Katie and Garth are not supposed to communicate with each other, but they pass notes through the fence to keep up with each other.  That is how Katie finds out that Garth is on the next transport to Canada.  Katie talks to her matron about passage for her and Grace, not knowing that their oldest sister, Laura, is coming for them. 

Laura engages the aid of the lawyer, whose mother was her employer, to help her get her siblings back. 

This is definitely a great book to read, based on true events.  The orphan immigration was run mostly on bribes and other illegal activity.  Some of the children were abused by their adoptive parents, and it made a sad story in the history of England and Canada.  Four strong stars. 

My thanks to NetGalley.com and WaterBrook/Multnomah for providing the galley I read.

Hiding at Hidden Run

Jillian is a genealogist who does work for insurance companies and other entities to help find people for a number of reasons. Her father, Nolan, is an attorney who specializes in mediation.  Her friend Nia owns a bed and breakfast called Hidden Run and just lost her help and needs someone to help in the kitchen, cleaning rooms, and doing the laundry.  Meri is a girl (really a young woman) who has flunked out of her first semester of medical school and doesn't want to face her family.  She doesn't feel that being a doctor is her calling.  She comes to Canyon Mines, Colorado, the last place she remembers feeling happy, and ends up working for Nia. 

Nolan convinces Jillian to use her genealogy to help Meri find herself, and then to help her family when they arrive on the scene to create chaos. 

I chose to read this book because Olivia Newport wrote it.  Her name on the front cover is enough to get me to read it.  Her characters are "real" in a way that make them friends to the readers.  The settings are perfect for the plot set-up and gives the reader pictures to hold in their minds while imagining all the places and things the characters are going through.

This is a five star book with two thumbs up and a family tree that tells more than just the genealogy. 

I wish to thank Barbour Books and NetGalley.com for providing the galley I read for this review.

The Amish Cookie Club

A group of four Amish women get together every other Friday to make cookies for the children who come to church the following Sunday.  They discuss their children, their other projects, the fundraising fair for the Amish Aid, and anything else that happens to come to mind.  Edna has the best kitchen for cookie making, so the ladies meet at Edna's house.  The ladies resist calling their gathering The Amish Cookie Club, but they just can't escape the moniker.

Verna has a daughter Myrna who has been fired from every store in her community because of vocalized opinions. The girls are trying to figure out what to do about Myrna when one hears of a widower/farmer living nearby.  He has four children, one still an infant.  He needs someone to cook and clean for him as well as watch the children. Myrna takes the job and has the time of her life organizing things in his home, cleaning up what seems like months of dirt accumulation, making cookies with and playing with the children.  This is the job that settles Myrna down.

Instead of a story about one person or couple, Sarah Price made this a story about a community with the single person as an underlying story, but it adds to the richness of the narrative.  This is a five star book, two thumbs up, and a sugar cookie to eat while you read.

Zebra Publishing and NetGalley.com provided the galley I read.  This review is entirely my own thoughts and opinions.

Between Two Shores

This book by Jocelyn Green is reminiscent of books by Lori Benton.  The characters include Native American during Colonial Days of the United States and Canada, as well as the colonists. 

Catherine Duvall and her father run a trading post for the colonists and the Mohawks in the area.  They have two ransomed captives working an indenture for them.  Samuel has run off with only one year left on his indenture.  Thankful has worked out her indenture but because she was the only surviving member of her family after the Abenakis raided her village and killed her parents.

The book takes place during the French/Indian War and many of the settings and activities in the book are historical.  The trials of the Canadians and the Native tribes during this time meant hardships due to lack of food for just about everyone.

From the title, it would seem that the book takes place between France and the Colonies, but the two shores are the shores of a river.   While the book has some romantic leanings, it is not a romance novel with a happily ever after ending.  It does end well, but not in all the expected ways.  I think this is what makes the book a compelling read.  A Solid Four Stars.

My thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley.com for providing the galley I read for this review.

Jesus in Me

Years ago, I got to go to Anne Graham Lotz' "Just Give Me Jesus" presentation.  It was a "not to be missed" event with Fernando Ortega playing worship music, Jill Briscoe teaching on prayer, and Anne teaching Bible Study in addition to her messages during the event.  This came about after her book "Just Give Me Jesus" came out.  She's had several books come out since then.  Her newest offering is Jesus in Me, which could also be called The Holy Spirit for Dummies. 

She breaks down the Being of the Holy Spirit into the ways He lives within us and into Old Testament and New Testament ways He worked.  Taking all the names of the Holy Spirit, she describes just a few of the ways He works within us and through us.  In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit rested on people for a specific time or a specific job God wanted done.  In the New Testament, we have become the Holy Spirit's dwelling place and thereby have direct access to God. 

I remember a night that happened fifteen and a half years ago.  I had gone to the doctor for a "routine" visit.  "Any problems?"  "Just that I'm eating Tums like candy for the indigestion."  "Oh, you must have gall stones.  Let's set up an ultrasound to check that out."  That ultrasound didn't reveal gall stones, but many tumors in my liver, with a special name beyond just cancer.  Talk about an event that turns your world upside down, this was it.  One night in the week following the ultrasound, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep until I heard a whisper in my head, "I will keep you in perfect peace because your mind is steadfast on me" repeated over and over again until I fell asleep again.  I had experienced the Holy Spirit in a way I couldn't explain. 

Anne's writing style is friendly, making the reader feel like she is sitting down with Anne and having a cup of coffee. The information Anne relates is not a "shove it down your throat" type writer, but a friend wanting to share the greatest things in her life. 

Five Stars

My thanks to NetGalley.com and Multnomah for providing the galley I read.