Fairest of Heart

Karen Witemeyer is one of my favorite historical authors.  She writes about an area of the country I am familiar with, but she writes about times that predate me by 50-100 years.  It's all good.  

Fairest of Heart was not what I expected, especially not from Karen.  I was rather disappointed in the way the  plot played out and I felt it was too predictable. Penelope and Titus as the main characters were a bit weak and the true stars of the show were the seven men living on Titus' grandfather's ranch.  In spite of my disappointment, I will still choose to read every offering by her.  

The villains in the book stand out because they are aptly named and characterized.  The heroes are a bit quieter in their demeanor throughout the book, but sometimes heroes are largely unsung. 

I will say there are plenty of laugh out loud parts in the plot, some very sweet parts, some particularly heinous parts, and the rest of it was rather ordinary parts. It is a good read, just not as good as her other books.  Three to four stars, but I'll round up to four. 

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

 

A Million Little Choices

From the very first page, this book drags the readers in, turns them inside out and upside down, and doesn't let go until the very last word of the book.  It is by far Tamera Alexander's best offering I've read, and I've read a lot of books by her.  

Every day everyone is faced with tiny choices that will eventually culminate into the bigger choices of life. Each choice made has its own consequences and brings the choice-maker to the next choice to be made, once again sending the chooser into the next choice.  

Claire Powell is an award winning interior decorator who has just been named partner in her firm in the Denver, Colorado, area.  Her husband, Stephen, has just been offered a partnership in a law office in Atlanta, Georgia, and decides to move Claire there.  While on a house-hunting trip, Claire finds out that Stephen has already bought a house, and there is really nothing she can do about it.  The house is huge and really doesn't fit the lifestyle she wants. But the more she investigates the house, the more she feels there is something to be done with it. 

There is an issue with the move in and of itself.  Stephen has been emotionally involved with a woman at the gym where he works out.  The move is supposed to be a way for him to get away from her before it explodes into a full blown affair.  She follows him to Atlanta and makes play after play for him, until each choice pushes him farther and farther into a situation he truly doesn't want.  

Once all of the truth is exposed, Claire goes on a rampage with a sledge hammer and finds a room in her house that no one knew was there.  In that room are two trunks, one with identical dresses of various sizes, and one with heirlooms and mementos along with a journal.  In reading the journal, Claire finds out  that the house was part of the Underground Railroad in the later years of the Civil War. While the journal is an integral part of the novel, the story revolves more around Claire and Stephen and the journal enriches the plot exponentially. 

There are so many layers to Claire's and Stephen's relationship that Tamera has had to peel away like the layers of an onion. This has been one of the most engrossing books I've read in a while.  It was hard to put down, easy to lose sleep over, and I never wanted to set it aside for the chores I needed to do.  It isn't highly entertaining as much as it is thought provoking. Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a ticket to ride on the Underground Railroad. 

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

 

Beneath a Peaceful Moon

The title of the book is what drew me in first, then to see that it is another installment of the Heroines of World War II series sealed the deal for me.  Barbour Books gleans from the best authors to bring these stand-alone novels together, each encompassing a part of life during World War II and how women also worked together with our military to bring the war to a close.  

Mary Wishram is a Yakama Indian stationed in San Diego working for the Navy Base there.  She has just gotten word that her only living relative has been captured by the Japanese and is being held in the Philippines.  Her commanding officer, Catherine, has a special job for her beyond just making deliveries around the base--one that will send her to the Philippines close to where her brother is being held.  Mary's role will be to listen to conversations around her and radio information to her superiors on the island.  Her cover will be as a nun working in a hospital.  

John Painted Horse is a Navajo who is being asked to be a Code Talker.  He and Mary met at a dinner given by his commanding officer, who was Mary's CO's husband. He is also being assigned to the Philippines where Mary will be.  Unbeknownst to either of them, they are both in the same vicinity and miss connecting with each other several times throughout the events of the book. 

Debby Lee has included all kinds of characters in this book: good guys and villains, and a few in between.  The strongest supporting characters give a good picture of true friendship in trying times. I love these books that expose details about World War II through the eyes of characters who may not have been real people, but are based in part on the actions of real people. Debby has done a fine job with that.  

This isn't an easy read for an afternoon's entertainment, but it is a good book to read for the intrinsic value it provides.  

Five Stars

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

 

In The Shelter of Hollythorne House

Charlotte Grey Pilot is widowed suddenly and is supremely relieved.  Her husband was abusive, controlling, and a few other not so nice words.  Her brother in law is equally controlling, especially where Charlotte's son is concerned because he is set to inherit the family business.  Her lawyer explains things to her, telling her that she is the guardian of the boy, but she would do better to go back to her ancestral family home instead of staying with the brother-in-law. 

Anthony Welbourne has loved Charlotte for as long as he can remember.  When he is called in to protect Charlotte and her baby to their ancestral home and while she is there, he can't believe it is his good fortune to be around her again.  Proximity is a delicious pain.  

Sarah E Ladd has written a book with all the parts of a romance novel formula.  Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl all within the first few pages of the book.  It takes most of the rest of the book for boy to get girl back.  The fact that circumstances of the times caused him to lose her in the first place is not uncommon.  because of the situation she had just come out of, getting her back took a lot of work on his part. 

The settings in the book were picturesque and intriguing.  The characters were all over the place, some one dimensional, others more fleshed out.  The plot was, to me, predictable and not all that surprising.  I wish it had been a bit more compelling.  Overall it wasn't bad, but it wasn't as good as I thought it could have been.  Three stars. 

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

 

Positively Laugh Out Loud!

 

Penelope's sister, Izzy, met her soul-mate in the island kingdom of Skymar.  Now Penelope is doing an internship there for her college degree.  She is working toward a career in theater production and this is the opportunity of a lifetime. Her introduction to the country of Skymar was less than stellar and her first impression  was a bit off-putting.  Never-the-less, the intrepid Penelope is not going to let those curmudgeonly vibes dampen her spirits nor her ideas for helping the theater she has been assigned to help.  Through her work, she helps Grandpa Gray find his feet again, she helps Matthias Gray overcome his deeply imbedded pain, and she brings the family's theater back to life, all while sprinkling her  brand of pixie dust over everything.  

Pepper Basham has written a very non-formulaic romance novel that is laugh-out-loud hilarious.  I would guess that 90% of the novel is epistolary through the media of text messages and emails. The reader has to get over halfway through before there is any real narration to the story.  She has included overt, dastardly villains; and some sneaky villains who are a bit more clandestine with their shenanigans. There are a couple of mystery characters that are hard to figure out but whose identities  are revealed later on in the book.  They all add to the warp and weft of the book to make a cohesive story come to life.  Penelope's "never say die" attitude is one of the most endearing aspects to the book and her work ethic in bringing the theater back to its former glory are something to behold.  The float in the parade was the cherry on top of the sundae that was Penelope's magic. 

This is a fun, five star book, with two thumbs up, and a parade float that will take you straight to Narnia. 

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

The Happy Life of Isadora Bentley

Isadora Bentley is a research assistant whose life has not followed her plan.  She thought she was in a great relationship with Alex, but he threw her under the bus after she had done massive research for his publication.  She is now looking down the barrel of her thirtieth birthday and decides to visit Aisle 8 (the candy/junk food aisle) for her celebratory snacks.  What she was truly planning to do was to eat herself into a sugar coma.  At the checkout, she sees one of the women's magazines with an article about 31 ways to find happiness.  Isadora cannot say she is happy by any stretch of the imagination.  She wants more of her life and finds this article offensive.  As a researcher, she knows the best ways to test hypotheses.  She decides to test this one out with the goal in mind to prove the author wrong.  Along the way, she makes some new friends, she climbs out of her little shell, and she rails at the injustices of her life.  

The society we live in today has created people who are so blind to their own faults but are so willing to pick at the faults of others without looking to see if they are even accurate.  These people tear others down in order to build themselves up, and, in the meantime, create chaos and havoc wherever they go.  There are a couple of characters like that in this book.  But every book needs its dastardly villain.  

Courtney Walsh has basically thrown herself into Isadora's character and made her so realistic and believable.  Some of the other characters were not as likable, some were endearing, some were clueless. One thing I absolutely loved was the David Attenborough narration of her life.  I have a friend who says that if someone were going to narrate her life, it would have to be Samuel L. Jackson, because she needs the swear words thrown in for good measure.  This was a great addition to the book.  There were some parts of the plot that moved slower than others, but overall, this was a great read.  Four Stars. 

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