Heart Chimes

Marla is an ER doctor whose husband has betrayed her and dumped her after only four years of marriage.  He will stop at nothing to be able to hurt her, even selling her heirloom grandfather clock.

Micah is an ER nurse and firefighter who is also widowed.  He is also her grandmother's tenant at her lake cabin.

A month ago, Marla's grandmother passed away and left her cabin to Marla.  When Marla's husband tells her he wants her out of their home by the end of the week, she loads up her jeep and drives straight to the cabin, waking Micah up in the middle of the night.

Micah and Marla hit it off quite well.  Both of their hearts need to heal and they find something toward that healing in each other.

Denise Janette Bruneau has written a sweet book that is a bit formulaic*, but still a good read. Four Stars.

Zimbell House Publishing and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  The opinions expressed here are my own.

*The Romance Formula is discussed in this review.

Jeb's Wife--An Amish Beauty and the Beast

Leah is thirty years old and single, having been dumped by her fiance because she can't bear children.  Leah has raised her brother, Simon, since her parents died in an accident.  Jeb is Leah's and Simon's landlord and next-door neighbor.  He is a widower who was badly burned in the fire that killed his wife.

Simon owes money for gambling debts and Leah cannot come up with that amount of money.  The solution that presents itself is to marry Jeb, who needs a wife to keep his farm.

Patricia Johns has take the unfortunate circumstances of her characters' lives and created a "Beauty and the Beast" tale set in the Amish community of Abundance.  Her characters are believable and the settings are quaint, adding only to the quality of the book.  In writing this book, she has shown that no group of people is without struggles and trials.  She has also shown the devastation gossip can bring, as well as how hard the fight is to overcome the gossip. 

This is a five-star book, with two thumbs up, and a woman's touch in a bachelor's home.

Kensington/Zebra Publications and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.

The Trustworthy One

I have enjoyed every book I've read by Shelley Shepard Gray.  She writes great Amish fiction. In The Trustworty One, Shelley has tackled some of the most heart-rending societal woes known to our world today.

Kendra is the victim of unspeakable abuse by her father, and utter neglect by her mother.  She left Walnut Creek as soon as she could make sure her siblings were going to be all right.  She often would go without food to make sure they had something to eat. 

After seven years she moved back to Walnut Creek to open a store.  Just two doors down from her store was the hardware store run by Nate Miller.  In the midst of all her hurt, he'd thrown a verbal dart that pierced her soul, but now he sees something entirely different in Kendra. 

There was a group called The Eight, who were almost a clique of friends in the New Order Amish Church that Kendra wished she could belong to.  There were friends among The Eight who would reach out to Kendra from time to time, but until she moved back to Walnut Creek, they had never really embraced her into their group. 

Soon after moving back, her brothers and her mother come to visit her to tell her that her father is terminally ill and that she should go see him in the hospital.  The reader will understand her visceral response to the request. Shelley has described through Kendra's words the abuse that Kendra suffered at the hands of her father, and it is unthinkable that someone would treat another human in such a degrading and harmful way. 

After her father dies, The Eight come to stand up with Kendra and enfold her while she processed the information. 

This is a heart-rending book that will touch every reader.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a group of friends who will stand beside you in your dark days.

Gallery Books and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Colors of Truth

Before the Secret Service began protecting the President of the US, they were involved in other aspects of law enforcement--particularly counterfeiting currency and other federal crimes.

Catriona O'Toole is a recent immigrant from Ireland, coming to America using money her brother sent for her family to make the crossing across the Atlantic.  The only members of her family left were her sister, Nora, and herself.

Wade Cunningham is a secret service agent charged with finding the group of counterfeiters in and around Franklin, Tennessee. 

Wade's and Catriona's paths cross at the Carnton Mansion and continue to cross as Catriona works to find her brother, Ryan, and as Wade investigates the counterfeiting ring.  Wade's good fortune allowed him to become the overseer of the plantation for Col. McGavock, the current owner. 

Tamera Alexander is one of the highest caliber writers of historical fiction.  At first, I wanted to skip to the end and be done with the book, but instead, I got drawn in and finished the book in whole. This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and no wooden nickels.

Thomas Nelson and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are mine alone.

The Soldier's Lady

Barbour Publishing always brings high quality authors together to write their anthologies, and The Soldier's Lady is no exception to this practice. 

All four of the novellas take place during the mid-1800s at a frontier fort where concerns revolve around the Indian wars as well as the War Between the States. The characters are all well-fitted to their surroundings and to their circumstances.  These are delightful stories that are sure to entertain the readers. 

Each of the authors has produced a cohesive story that puts the girls into the protection of an officer stationed at the fort.  The proximity of the girls to their protectors puts them in a place where falling in love with one another seems only natural. These girls are somewhat modern in that they didn't want pity, they wanted to stand on their own two feet, and they knew what they wanted in a marriage and a spouse. 

This is a five star collection, two thumbs up, and a soldier to protect you.

Barbour Publishing and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  The opinions expressed here are my own. 

Morning Star

Five friends are visiting and walking around town on a visiting Sunday in the town of Morning Star.  All five are young Maidels who are old enough to be married, but aren't.  As they are walking, they see a For Sale sign on a barn, and Jo, one of the maidels, begins a brain storm, thinking that the church could buy the barn and land use it make money for building the new school they need.  She envisions a marketplace type building where the Amish in the community can sell their wares.  Jo goes to the bishop, Jeremiah, and explains her vision for the barn.  This prompts a members meeting to see if there was support for buying the barn and using it as proposed. 

From the beginning, the reader could assume that Jo is going to be the main character of the story, but the reader assumes wrongly in this case.  The primary characters in this story are Regina and Gabe.  Jo is the catalyst that makes the story come together into a cohesive whole. 

Regina and Gabe both hold secrets that, in a way, stand as an obstacle between them.  They work out the obstacles and create others along the way.  It's a bit formulaic in that it follows the formula for romance novels:  Boy meets girl, Boy gets girl, Boy loses girl, Boy gets girl back, Boy and girl marry.   There are a few characters in this book that are quite unlikable, but they also make the plot work. 

I've enjoyed every Amish Fiction book I've read by Charlotte Hubbard and this one is no different.  I stayed up way too late to finish reading this book.  It's that whole "one more chapter" thing.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a secret revealed that will no longer have a hold.

Kensington Books and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read.  All opinions expressed are my own.

When I Meet You

I am an amateur genealogist and I enjoy finding the stray relatives that I didn't know were related to me.  So, it's been fun for me to read Olivia Newport's series on family trees.  I do have to say that my father always said you should never try to climb the family tree because you don't know what kind of nuts you will shake out.  We knew some of the nuts in our tree, but there are still more to find.

Jillian is a genealogist who makes her living helping insurance companies find heirs, matching lost belongings to the right people, or just researching family trees for people.  When her father hijacks her from her work to take her to Denver to see a trunk, she becomes intrigued in digging up the whole story.  In the research, she finds something she wasn't expecting, a new man-friend.

There are so many layers to this book that make it so great to read--Jillian and her father's relationship, the history behind the trunk, the people who are descendants of the original trunk owners, and ultimately how all these things twine together to make a cohesive narrative.  This is a five-star book with two thumbs up and a completed family tree to hang on your wall.

Shiloh Run Press and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review and all opinions expressed are my own. 

A Gilded Lady

I love Elizabeth Camden's historical fiction, and her new book is no exception.  She presents historical figures with all their faults and foibles, as well as their perfections and predilections.   Her newest book is in the second in the Hope and Glory series. I think one more book will come out of the series. 

A Gilded Lady presents characters who are as close to American Royalty as any could be.  Caroline Delacroix works as the secretary of First Lady Ida McKinley, who is known for her irascible behavior, poor health, and her unfiltered mouth.  Caroline often has to run interference for Mrs. McKinley to keep what she says from being offensive.

During this time in history, a group of men have decided that the President needed a security detail, and Nathaniel Trask is given the task to set up the Secret Service, and put the protective detail in place.  He is also trying to get a counterfeit group

Nathaniel and Caroline butt heads frequently.  Nathaniel is a rule follower, down to the letter, and Caroline is such a rule breaker that Nathaniel feels compelled to keep a close eye on Caroline.  But that close eye required a high price in the cost of their hearts. 

Caroline has a secret that could cost her everything she holds dear.  Her brother is in a Cuban prison accused of treason against the United States.  Caroline even goes to the President to get him pardoned and released.  He refused to do so because of the political cost it could accrue. 

Elizabeth Camden does her research and writes her characters well.  Her settings and plot movements are spot on, and her history is accurate and only adds to the charm of her writing.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a filter for a first lady's mouth.

Bethany House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.

Daughter of Cana

Moods are tricky things and mine can be trickier than most.  For some books, I just have to be in the right mood to read them.  This wasn't the case for this book, but I will review what I do know.

  Angela Hunt writes high quality fiction and she researches her topics, settings, and characters to make a cohesive story that is not only believable, but also enjoyable.  Her readers love her books, and she writes to please her readers.

Daughter of Cana is the first in the Jerusalem Road series and takes place at the wedding feast in Cana where water becomes wine.  Tasmin and her twin brother, Thomas, are what's today known as caterers and had hired to provide the food and drinks for this wedding.  Mary, the mother of Jesus, was invited to the wedding, and brought to the wedding her children and the entourage following Jesus.  They were a rough looking bunch of characters and were looked down on by most of the guests, but Thomas listens to Jesus and decides to follow him because of the radical ideas he put forth.  Tasmin teams up with Jesus' brother, Jude, to try to bring her brother back.

This book has the promise of being a five star book, but moods being what they are, I didn't read it all the way through.  I will give it  five stars, two thumbs up, and a glass of the best wine you've ever had. 

Bethany House and NetGalley.com provided the copy for me to read for this review.  All opinions expressed are my own.

Courting Calamity

When I read the title of this book I assumed it was going to have heroines who would be flibberty-gibbets.  Instead, I read a collection of novellas that had natural disasters, or war, or other causes that were out of the control of the characters.  Each of the stories engaged me from the very beginning until I finished the whole collection.  😉

This collection is one of the better ones that Barbour Publishing has put out in a while, and I enjoy all of the ones I read from them.  Not all of the stories have the ladies marrying to stations above them, not all of them had totally happy endings, not all of them were sweetly tied up in little pink bows, but many of the characters suffer hardships and come out on top with God at their sides. 

This is a great collection to read during this time of self-isolating, especially because of the self-isolating.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a sweet read for those lonely afternoons.

Barbour Publishing and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  The opinions expressed are my own. 

On a Coastal Breeze

Suzanne Woods Fisher has taken a leave from writing Amish fiction to write a series of contemporary romances, and On a Coastal Breeze is the second one of the series.  Each of the books focuses on one of Paul Grayson's daughters, but the family life is chronicled in each of the books.   The first one, On a Summer Tide, is reviewed here. 

On a Coastal Breeze is Maddie's story and her reintroduction to Rick O'Shea, but still includes Cam and Seth's continuing story, and also plants seeds for Blaine's story. 

Suzanne has always written with well-thought out plots, engaging characters, and intriguing settings.  This book is no different.  This book takes place on an island off the coast of Maine.  Maddie has opened her psychology clinic and is working to gain reputation, clients, and to solidify her standing in the community.  The most important clients she has are ones who don't pay her--her sisters.  One sister keeps putting off getting married until she can figure out a way to bring reliable electricity to the island, and the other sister is trying to "find herself" in the culinary world after a bad experience in school. 

This was one hard book to put down.  I read until way late last night and finished it off this morning.  It was fantastic.  Five stars, two thumbs up, and a get-away at the island camp. 

Revell Publishing and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  The opinions expressed are my own.