What I Would Tell You

I haven't read a book by Liz Tolsma that hasn't affected me greatly.  She reaches down into the souls of her readers through her characters who are very real and very relatable. These characters aren't the fluffy kind of people who sail through life without a care in the world.  These characters struggle with big, important, real-world problems and do so with a call to right the injustices of the world.  Thus is the story of Mathilda and Asher Nissim--Sephardic Jews who live in Greece after the Sephardic Jews had been expelled from Spain.  

In a parallel story, Tessa Payton has taken a DNA test and found out that she and her cousin, Riley, are not blood related at all.  She goes home for the summer with a desire to know the ancestors who carried her DNA.  Because Tessa's internship for the summer is a remote assignment, she decides to go to Greece and find out "who she is" in this world.  

While doing some research in a museum, Tessa meets Giannis who takes on her research  because of his own interest in the era.  Tessa knows her mother knows more than she is telling but can't get around the barriers she has put  up.  Giannis has found Mathilda's diary and copies it for Tessa to read.  In learning about Mathilda's life, Tessa learns more of who she is.  She learns the strength that has run through her family for many years. When she finally gets her mother to tell her about her family history, she gains a richer understanding of who she is.  

As the narrative goes back and forth between Mathilda's and Tessa's lives, one thing comes across in such a clear way it is hard to ignore:  it doesn't matter what era of time, those who follow God will be opposed by the world.   

What I Would Tell You is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and an ancestral diary to give you a perspective into your own history.  

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

On My Honor

When I was young and going through elementary school, I wanted to be in the Girl Scouts.  Unfortunately, my mom was teaching in a district 20 miles from where I lived, and my dad worked a semi-swing shift.  I would have no ride home. I also wanted piano lessons, but we didn't have a piano, but that's another story for another time.  😆

"On My Honor" is part of the Girl Scout Pledge that is recited at every meeting and sets the stage for the premise of this Heroines of WWII series.  Ginny has come home right before her last semester of nursing school to help take care of her mother and younger sister. In taking on her younger sister's Girl Scout troop, she begins teaching them the skills they need to be of service during the war, even though they are too young to actively serve in any of the auxiliaries to the military.  

After an oil tanker is torpedoed by a German U-Boat, the girls find a man washed up on the beach from the tanker explosion and take him to the cottage by the lighthouse to treat his wounds and give him a warm place to stay.  Ginny's sister, Belle, ends up stitching a wound in his side, while Clementine, another troop member resets his dislocated shoulder. 

The man, Tim Elliott, had been guarding a German soldier and was taking him to New York because he had vital information about German U-Boat movements.  Tim lost the soldier in the explosion and eventually enlisted the help of Ginny to find the soldier.  With the help of the Girl Scouts under her charge.  

Barbour Books has partnered with quite a few authors to write this series of ordinary women aiding in the homefront during World War II.  These books are always interesting with great plots and relatable characters.  Patty Smith Hall has done a wonderful job in detailing this plot and making it move at a readable pace.  

This is a five star book, two thumbs up, and a crab bake on the beach. 

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

 

The Sisters of Sea View

 

The first book I read by Julie Klassen was The Lady of Milkweed Manor and I've been hooked on her writings ever since. The Sisters of Sea View is one of the sweetest books that Julie has written and I LOVED it.  

The four Summers sisters are thrust into hard times following the death of their father, and they have to find a way to hold onto their house or sell it and buy something much smaller. As the oldest sister in the household, Sarah takes it upon herself to see that the family is not forced out into the street with the suggestion to turn the house into guest lodging.  They are on the seacoast and have a lovely home that many guests would enjoy.  Viola doesn't want to help with any household chores, but finds her way to help the family coffers by reading to invalids who need the companionship.  She even finds herself volunteering to read to a lady at the poorhouse. Emily does a lot of writing for the advertisements for the home.  Georgianna is too young to do much more than changing the sheets on the beds.  Sarah takes on the lion's share of the work by learning to bake, taking care of the menus, and overseeing the running of the guest house.  The girls' mother is too weak to be of much service at all. 

There are a plethora of guests who show up to enjoy the hospitality of the girls and each has their own agenda.  

• Mr Henshall, along with his step-daughter, Effie, was looking for some gems his wife had stashed in the house a few summers ago.  He wanted the jewelry pieces for Effie to have something of her mother's. 
• Mr and Mrs Elton--there's a lot to say about this couple. He is there to just enjoy himself, while she is the epitome of a social-climbing entitled woman (commonly known as a "Karen" in internet parlance). I guess those kinds of people existed even in the early 1800s. 
• Mr Stanley
• Mr Gwint and his stuffed parrot, Parry
• and a couple of other men whose presence made the book even richer. 

Viola hides away much of the time because she was born with a cleft lip and she felt the scar was unsightly.  She is engaged to read to a man who lives next door who was wounded in service to his country and bears scars of his own.  They find a common ground and a common love for each other that is often found in Julie's books.  This is a common theme with the way Julie writes--whether her characters have visible or hidden scars, they have to overcome some hardship to find who they really are and to find their own soul-mates. 

This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a trip to the seashore.  

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

Anything But Plain

I enjoy reading Suzanne Woods Fisher's books.  Her Amish fiction is well-researched and light-hearted.  Her contemporary fiction is truly compelling.  Suzanne often takes on real world problems and then provides real world solutions to the problem while wrapping it in engaging fiction.  

In this novel, the situation is undiagnosed ADHD and the overbearing grandmother who wants to "fix" the issue.  Lydie has never held down a job, often getting fired the same day she gets hired.  Her father's sister, the local doctor, needs a fill-in receptionist.  Lydie wants to leave the Amish because she just doesn't fit in.  Nathan loves Lydie and can't understand why she wants to jump the fence. 

Lydie's aunt gets an inkling of what's going through her mind and how it works, because she suffered the same thing and understands why Lydie is so flighty.  She goes to Lydie's dad, who is also the bishop of the community, and explains what Lydie is feeling and how she can use some techniques to overcome her lack of  focus.  

In a parallel story to the main plot, Nathan's father pits him against his brother, Mick, to see who will "win" the farm.  Nathan wants to get back to organic farming instead of using chemicals all the time.  He feels that the chemicals are leaching the soils of nutrients and causing some health problems.  It's not until his mother is hospitalized with a severe asthma attack that his father concedes that the chemicals MIGHT have something to do with her issues. 

When all the pieces are wrapped up and put together into a cohesive whole, the reader is loving Lydie for who she is and the reader is left satisfied with how things turned out also .  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a tidy desk with a full planner.  

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

Something Old Something New

 I know Amy Clipston best by her Amish Fiction that she writes with great mastery.  This is not Amish Fiction, This is a contemporary romance novel that is clean, sweet, and in parts, fun to read. The characters have some depth to them that make them relatable. 

Christine Sawyer runs an antique mall that is about to be swallowed up by rent increases on her building.  She is making ends meet at the moment, but she won't be able to afford the rent increase without help.  

Brent Nicholson is helping his aunt Midge get her house ready to sell and finds a lot of treasures that Christine can use in her store.  This helps Christine some and she appreciates it.  The more the two of them spend time together, the closer they become.  

The fly in the Brent/Christine ointment is Christine's twin sister, Britney, who dated Brent in high school.  Britney claims that Brent cheated on her but never got his side of the story.  

Brent and Christine have some issues to overcome with feelings of inadequacy stemming from real and perceived slights from their own families. 

I truly enjoyed this book, but I missed one thing that Amy usually includes in her books, and that is the faith of the characters.  There is no mention of faith in the book at all.  When Amy writes her Amish fiction, she weaves the faith of the characters into the warp and weft of the book seamlessly.  

Overall, a four-star read.  

Thomas Nelson FICTION provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.  

Cicada Season

I quit reading Amish Fiction for a while because a lot of what I was reading was so syrupy sweet, but this book isn't that way at all.  I have never encountered a protagonist I liked less, but Hannah's chip on her shoulder was hard to overcome.  

Hannah and her family are struggling to keep their farm going since her father died in a tragic accident. Leon Milford has been hired by Hannah's mother to help out around the farm, especially with the apple harvest.  Hannah hates Leon--as much as an Amish person hates.  Her tongue is sharp and she doesn't allow Leon to see a tender side, but for some reason, Leon begins to care for Hannah.  

Leon has his own problems--he has a reputation as a prankster to overcome and Hannah refuses to see that he's grown up.  

This book was hard to read; Mindy Steele has not given her protagonists likable personalities.  Secondary characters are more likable but are underhanded in their actions.  The whole book left me feeling "meh." Two stars. 

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