The Secret Society of Salzburg

Renee Ryan has taken some very trying circumstances and put them into an incredible narrative to draw her readers in from the very first page and doesn't let go until the epilogue.  She based the story on real people and real events.  

 Hattie Featherstone meets Elsa Mayer-Braun's aunt when she visits the place where Hattie works.  It is through Elsa's aunt that Hattie is introduced to opera and to Elsa's incredible voice. Hearing Elsa sing inspires Hattie's artwork to a level Hattie had never achieved before.  Through Elsa's aunt, Hattie and Elsa met and became friends and more than friends, they became partners in helping Jews escape the reach of the Nazi regime.  

Hattie and her sister travel to Salzburg to hear Elsa sing and meet up with Elsa while they are staying there.  Elsa connects them to people who need to leave the continent and go to a friendlier country until the hostilities are over. Once war breaks out, Hattie and Elsa have to meet up in Stockholm, Sweden, but between Elsa's music and Hattie's art, they both have legitimate covers for their activities.  

Oliver Roundel is an art dealer who sees a sketch Hattie did of Elsa and sees beyond the surface of the sketch to the real art that lies beneath.  He is the one who sets up her art shows and aids in the rescue mission of the Jews. 

This novel is one of the most gripping novels I've read about World War II and the political climate in Europe.  The characters are entirely believable and the settings are explained with great detail without distracting from the plot.  The villainous characters live up to their evil natures and the good guys ride their "white horses" quite well.  This is a five star book with two thumbs up and artwork that matches the beautiful voices of the opera. 

Harlequin Publishing (Love Inspired line) provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own. 

Escape from Amsterdam

Barbour Books is publishing a series called Heroines of World War II, and each book stands alone in its story, there is no overlap with characters or plot lines.  I have read all but one of the Heroines series and I have loved every single one of them.  I liked this offering by Lauralee Bliss, but I didn't love it as much as the others.  It is a worthwhile read and very enjoyable, but I didn't find the tension I was expecting from the book.  Is that something wrong with the book? Not necessarily.  It just didn't quite meet my expectations.  

Helen lives in Noord Amsterdam but has been given the opportunity to go to college in central Amsterdam.  She is wanting to become a teacher. While running errands for her mother, she meets Erik and his little brother, Hans, on their way to a boat race with other children.  Erik is drawn to Helen's kind and gentle spirit and seeks out opportunities to see her.  

After Helen finishes her schooling, she gets a job at the creche next door to the college.  When the Germans begin their racial cleansing in the Netherlands, Helen and Erik take three of the children and goes north to a dairy farm where they take refuge.  Erik hires on as a laborer on the farm, learning to make cheese and milk cows.  When a German soldier takes interest in Helen, Erik and Helen have to move quickly to protect the children.  The night they are to leave, they marry and then flee toward Belgium.  Once in Belgium, Erik takes on the same role as farm laborer.  

This is a sweet story that does explain some historical events and historical figures are included in the plot lines in the book to flesh out the story.  It is an easy read and entertaining, so four stars.  It's worth the time and still gives a broad picture of what World War II was about. 

Barbour Publishing provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own. 

 

A Five and Dime Christmas

There was never a Woolworth's Five and Dime in my hometown, but we did have a Sterling's and Kress's Five and Dime and those stores have some pleasant memories for me.  While I wasn't born in the 1880s when these stories took place, there are still aspects of the stories that bring fond memories. 

These are four novellas that overlap in time and sequence, yet each story holds its own charm and allure. Hattie, Essie, Lizzie, and Maggie all work in different departments of the Woolworth's in Scranton, Pennsylvania.  

Hattie is working to bring in extra money for her family after her father dies and her mother becomes ill.  She takes on an extra secretarial job to help ease the finances for Christmas.  It turns out her boss is also a customer that she sees frequently in her section of the store.  

Essie likes the challenge of the work she is doing and when she meets a pastor who is fostering six young boys to keep them off the streets, she decides to do what she can to help out the boys.  

Lizzie has lost her whole family and is working to hold onto her house.  Her department is adjacent to the tools and hardware section of the store where Henry works.  Henry wants to prove himself instead of just being handed a position in his father's company.  

Maggie was left at the altar on her wedding day and she's lost her faith in God.  Daniel is a widower with a young daughter and a dairy farm.  Every Friday he comes to the lunch counter where Maggie works and has lunch with his daughter who has taken a shine to Maggie.  

Some events of these stories are simultaneous and seem to work really well together in spite of being written by four different authors.  The styles and plot developments are seamlessly woven together to make an entertaining read for a couple of afternoons to get you into the mood for Christmas.  Four Strong Stars.

Barbour Books supplied the copy I read for this review.  These are solely my own opinions. 

 

When Stone Wings Fly

I love it when a novel grabs my attention from the very first sentence.  Karen Barnett takes a peek into the lives of the people who populated the Smoky Mountains during the 1930s.  The story revolves around Rosie, Lorna, and their lives in the mountains.  But that's not all of the story--a parallel story involves Kieran and and her grandmother, Macauley, and a stone bird that had been carved by Kieran's great-great grandmother.  

Kieran grew up in the foster care system and found her grandmother later in her life, after her grandmother had entered into the throes of dementia.  The one thing that Granny Mac wants Kieran to find the stone bird that had been buried with her mother, because Kieran needs the connection to her family and her ancestry. 

In writing this novel Karen tackles some hard issues.  One of the characters, Lorna, is developmentally delayed, possibly starved of oxygen at birth.  Rosie buried three babies, and from Karen's descriptions, the babies possibly died of Rh factor incompatibility.  These are my speculations because medical science hadn't advanced to that point yet. 

The culture of the mountain people adds to the richness of the plot Karen has woven.  Secrets are unburied with the finding of more history of Granny Mac's family and only add to the poignancy of the story.  

This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a carved stone bird family heirloom. 

Kregel Publishing supplied the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own. 

 

Midnight's Budding Morrow

 

This is one of the best Regency romances I've ever read.  Carolyn Miller has done a skillful job at putting together this story.  Her research into the times and mores is spot on and weaves a story of compelling interest for her readers.  She has woven the faith of the characters organically into the plot and brings the readers along as the characters grow and change.  

Sarah is an orphaned lady living with her aunt and uncle as housekeeper for their home.  She has learned the ins and outs of keeping house and keeping books.  She knows her place in society and doesn't really mind it.  When her friend, Beatrice, invites her to come for a visit to the Langley estate, she takes Bea up on the invitation.  Beatrice's brother, James, is a rake of the highest order--spending his time gambling, drinking, and carousing.  Before he goes off to war to avoid his responsibilities, his father forces him to marry Sarah.  In the time he is gone, Sarah adopts an illegitimate child and gains the ire of the society and of the household staff at the Langley estate.  She endures disdain, heartache, and a degree of isolation with all the emotions involved. 

In some respects this novel reminds me of Lori Wick's Who Brings Forth the Wind.  The household staff's treatment of the heroines is very similar and the husbands' treatment is no better, at first.  The main difference is when both of the husbands came to salvation and when the husbands worked to restore their relationships. 

This is a most rewarding read because of the way the author dealt with real issues in an historical setting.  She used the most modern practices of the times, especially where medicine was involved. I hope I will get the opportunity to read other books by Carolyn Miller, she's that talented. 

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a pink rose from your true love. 

Kregel Publishing provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.  

A Gem of Truth

 

Julia has a reputation for weaving tall tales and as a Harvey Girl, that kind of behavior is not allowed.  When she is given the opportunity to transfer to a different Harvey House, she takes advantage of the new place to reinvent herself.  She makes a pact with her supervisor to tell the truth, and only the truth. 

In working at El Tovar near the Grand Canyon, she hears of a the legend of the treasure of Cibola.  On her days off, she goes exploring and finds a cave with a Spanish helmet with a scroll and a few pouches of gems inside.  Julia realizes that the legend was real. Once she finds out that she can keep the gems she found, she enters into a partnership with a jeweler who was contracted to provide jewelry to the resort and instruction to some of the Hopi who wish to know how to make the jewelry. 

As luck would have it, Julia's past catches up with her in the form of a waitress from her former Harvey House posting.  Florence, the waitress, makes life difficult for Julia.  When Florence takes her vicious pleasures too far, she ends up getting fired.  

The story is not complete without a couple of bad guys to round out the plot. Kimberley Woodhouse has created a slow-moving but entertaining novel that is great for reading during short snippets of time.  She does a great job at delineating how Julia overcame many difficult roadblocks in her life.  Four Stars. 

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

The Getaway

This book captivated me from the very beginning.  The characters were so relatable and real.  Emily March has done a masterful job of fleshing out her characters to make the plot sing.  When a reader gets ahold of a book like this one, it's hard to put it down to do things like cook, eat, clean house, etc. 

Genevieve is tired of her children's shenanigans, but she doesn't quite know what to do about bringing them together as a family.  Family "politics" is always a morass to work around, and her four children make it all the more chaotic.  When none of them show up for her Thanksgiving feast, she makes a unilateral decision, sells her house, and moves in with her sister in Colorado.  She finds her place to regroup and recalibrate her life so that it does not revolve around her kids.  Eventually all the children come around and reunite in a way that really touches Genevieve's heart.  

There were only a couple of situations that didn't really appeal to me in the book, but overall, it was well worth the read. Four Stars.

Forever (Grand Central) Publishing provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.