A Double Dose of Love

 

Even though Darla is the older twin, Amanda has been tasked with taking care of her and watching over her all of her life.  When Darla sees an ad for single women to move to Birch Creek, she decides that she needs the adventure and the possibility of being a mail-order bride. 

Meanwhile in Birch Creek, Zeb and Zeke are twin brothers trying to build up a horse farm, and Zeb is getting tired of Zeke skipping out whenever there is work to be done.  

Darla and Zeke seem to be cut from the same fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants cloth, and Amanda and Zeb seem to serious for their own good--both having been the responsible twin while they were growing up.  

I didn't enjoy this book by Kathleen Fuller as much as I have enjoyed her other offerings, but it could be that I am not in a mood right now to read Amish fiction.  Kathleen's writing is impeccable, it just wasn't the right read for me right now. Four Stars.

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

An Ivy Hill Christmas

 

I've read and enjoyed all of Julie Klassen's Ivy Hill series and this Christmas one is a great read.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a Printing Press. 

Julie has populated this book with a number of characters from the series, but they do not all play starring roles, and therefore, it is not difficult to keep track of the main players.  The stars are Richard Brockleman and Arianna Awdry, who have known each other for a while, but have little respect for the other at the outset of the book.  Richard is what seems to be a ne'er-do-well who is living in his family's London townhouse to stay away from Ivy Hill and the matchmaking schemes of his family.  BUT, his mother wants a full-family Christmas and wants Richard at home.  At the outset, Richard tries to alienate the single women at the family party so that he can live his life as a confirmed bachelor.  

There are hidden depths to the characters of the book that make this book such a worthwhile read.  There are clear spiritual implications  that bring the reader to empathetic understandings of the characters.  AND, Julie has done her research into the lives and times of the people in her book.  One of the most endearing characters is Jamie Fleming, an orphan who has been given an apprenticeship at a print shop near Richard's family home.  

It is easy to tell that Richard is a lot of bluster, putting up a curmudgeonly front to keep the rest of the family and guests at arm's length.  But it is also easy to tell that Richard is hiding from himself, and that is one of the hardest things to do.  

Julie has used gentle humor, a great deal of pathos, and an empathetic ear in putting this book down on paper.  I recommend it highly. 

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

The Coffee Corner

 

Bethany has a Coffee booth in the Amish Marketplace and specializes in flavored coffees and her own donuts.  Micah is one of her regular customers, coming in every Saturday with his Daadi to get a coffee and donut for each of them.  Bethany has a serious crush on Micah and wishes he'd notice her.  Micah works for his Daadi building Amish outdoor furniture and would like to branch out but his Daadi feels they have enough business.  Micah knows they could do better, but Daadi is hiding something from Micah. 

Amy Clipston has populated this book with a number of lively characters, but the sheer number of people made the book a bit hard for me to get into.  It was a tough read to get through without a program to keep the characters straight.  This wouldn't have been a problem if I had read the earlier books in this series closer to beginning this book.  In a lot of series, the individual books can stand alone and not give the reader too much trouble, but this one depends heavily on the previous books in the series.  The series is also similar to one written by Charlotte Hubbard, and since I've been reading both, I was easily confused. 

Amy did provide a compelling issue to overcome for Bethany and Micah to come together as a couple, she also offered characters who were flawed and who recognized their flaws to bring healing into their own lives. 

It's a four-star book that will entertain those who love Amish fiction.  Zondervan and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are my own. 

Things We Didn't Say

 

For Amy Lynn Green's first offering, this is not a bad debut.  

Johanna Bergland is a linguistics student at the University of Minnesota, who is also given the opportunity to be a translator/censor for the POW/labor camp that is being located in Ironside Lake, her hometown.  When she is reluctant to take the position, her funding is cut off giving her no choice but to take the job.  

The story is told through letters, newspaper articles, and government memos.  There are quite a few compelling characters, including Peter Ito--a linguistic specialist for the Army, teaching Japanese to the soldiers who are to be deployed to the Asian Theater of World War II.  

Her job entails translating and censoring letters from the POWs to their homes and the ones that come to the POWs.  Two of the POW officers begin to gain Johanna's trust, but when those  two POWs escape, the blame comes down on Johanna's head with charges of conspiracy and treason.  

 It's a story that reminds me of one of Aesop's fables: The Farmer and the Snake. 

A Farmer walked through his field one cold winter morning. On the ground lay a Snake, stiff and frozen with the cold. The Farmer knew how deadly the Snake could be, and yet he picked it up and put it in his bosom to warm it back to life.

The Snake soon revived, and when it had enough strength, bit the man who had been so kind to it. The bite was deadly and the Farmer felt that he must die. As he drew his last breath, he said to those standing around:

Learn from my fate not to take pity on a scoundrel.

For me the use of the letters to move the plot seemed to make it a bit slow, but the characters were in fact very real, and understandable.  Four Stars.

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

Bleeker Street

 Gabriella grew up on the streets, learning to be a pickpocket with a deft hand; that is, until she got caught and taken to an orphanage.  That was her saving grace.  She learned to read, write, and sew.  Now she lives in a boarding house, works for a dressmaker, and has left her street-wise life behind.  UNTIL, her friend is arrested for stealing the jewels of a Four Hundred family.  In an effort to get her friend out of jail, she crashes a masquerade ball and during a commotion, she breaks into the family safe to see if the jewels are there. While she is cracking the safe, her old partner, Nicholas breaks into the very room where she's cracking the safe with the same goal in mind--to find the jewels that had been stolen and get them returned to the owner while proving that Gabriella's friend didn't steal them. 

That particular mystery is solved fairly early in the book, but others come to take its place and all the girls at the Bleeker Street boarding house become "Agents of Inquiry," helping other women in town who have no other place to turn. 

Jen Turano is known for her wit and humor in her writing.  It takes some significant skill to write comedy without it becoming cartoonish.  Jen has walked on the edge of this line with this book.  Still, it is very enjoyable, because I could see myself in several of the characters within the book.  Several of the characters develop feelings for each other throughout the book while Gabriella's and Nicholas' story takes center stage.  I am hoping that Daphne's story will be the next book in this series.  She is the character who intrigued me the most. 

Four solid stars.

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

The Promised Land

 

When I saw this book in the list of possible books to read for review, I chose it simply because of the Camino involvement in the plot.  My husband was supposed to hike the Caminio de Santiago this year, because of COVID, Spain closed its borders to tourists.  

Abbie is a woman who has to be in control of all aspects of her life, her sons' lives, and her husband's life. When her older son decides to go to Europe for a "gap year" between high school and college, and her husband goes to Chicago for three months, and her younger son goes off to boarding school; Abbie sees her well-ordered life spiral out of control.  

At the suggestion of her mother, Abbie begins seeing a woman who is not a therapist, but considers herself a spiritual guide.  Abbie's son, Bobby, mentions that he's planning a trek on the Camino in France, and Abbie decides to go along--which defeats Bobby's purpose in taking the trip. However, it does work in his favor in the end.  

Abbie has to face some not very nice truths about herself and in the end return to who she really is.  

I've read several Elizabeth Musser books and I find her work to be compelling and intriguing, just as I found this one.  The one criticism I have is that the people populating the book are extreme in their characterizations.  While it is more rewarding to read books about flawed people (as we all are), it was not as satisfying to read a book about characters I wouldn't like in real life.  Still, the narrative moves at a good pace, and the settings are amazing.  I will still give this book four stars. 

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

First Light in Morning Star

 When a reader wants to take a break from some serious reading, this would be a perfect book to pick up.  Unfortunately for me, it was rather smarmy and overly sweet.  

Lydianne has a secret that brought her to Morning Star.  She has applied to be the teacher of the school in an effort to be close to a little girl that is one of the scholars.  She has decided that because of her secret that she will never marry.  BUT, there are two men who would love to marry her.  One is the bishop and the other is a widower with two young boys.   Her choice to never marry stands in the way, but when the secret is revealed, she has even more decisions to make besides marrying or not. 

Charlotte Hubbard usually writes good Amish Fiction, but this one misses the mark.  Three Stars.  

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

Under the Tulip Tree

 

There has never been a book that speaks to the healing that needs to come in this particular time of history as Under the Tulip Tree by Michelle Shocklee.   On Lorena Leland's sixteenth birthday, the world as she knew it came to an end with the stock market crash.  In the following years, Lorena worked at the newspaper until there just wasn't a place for her there anymore.  Her former editor showed her a letter stating that the Works Progress Administration (WPA) wanted writers for the Federal Writers Program (FWP) to interview former slaves and write down their stories.  

The first person on Lorena's list is Frankie Washington, a former slave who had reached the ripe old age of 101.  She remembers more about being a slave because that is how she grew up.  As Frankie tells her story, Lorena becomes emotionally bonded to Frankie, and outraged at the treatment the blacks (Negroes, as they were called then) received simply because of the color of their skin.  

I've never read a book by Michelle, but this one is a great introduction to her writing.  Her characters are entirely believable: some are likable, some are not, but the reader needs to feel the gamut of emotions toward the characters to get a full feeling for the book.  Her settings are spot on for the times and the places.  Her research is thorough and well-presented. According to her after-notes, there was a project to write down the slave stories and they are housed in the National Archives. 

It is a five star book with two thumbs up and a story written down to never be forgotten. 

Tyndale House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.