Love at Pebble Creek

Every so often, I need an Amish fiction story to lighten my reading mood.  They are light, sweet, uplifting, and generally easy to read. Lisa Jones Baker has written another of the Hope Chest series with characters facing difficult decisions, but who listen to God's whisperings to finally decide for their own best.

Anna King has a secret talent that the Amish really frown upon.  She's an artist and wants to go to art school and get a degree to be able teach art to others.

Her friend, Jesse Beiler, is the only one who knows her secret.  He's been her friend since they were in school together, and nothing would please him more than being her friend forever.  And he would like nothing better than to buy some land and farm it. 

Love at Pebble Creek is the kind of book that will keep the reader up late simply because it can't easily be put down.  The descriptions are exceptionally vivid and imaginative.  I love the description of Pebble Creek, and can imagine myself relaxing there frequently. 

This is  a five-star book, with two thumbs up, and a portrait-style  sketch of yourself.

My thanks goes to Zebra Books and NetGalley.com for providing the galley I read for this review.

Lessons on Love

I absolutely love reading these authors, and especially when they are grouped together to bring readers a group of novellas that teach various people about love.  Beginning in an era when teachers were not allowed to be married, each story becomes more modern until the early 1900s. 

One of the teachers had her job taken from her by nepotism on the school board, but she found a way to continue teaching--by teaching the Norwegian children to read, write, and speak English. 

One of the teachers loses her job when the school closes down.  She was a music teacher and she was supporting her mother and her sister with her salary.  A man she met at the closing of the school sets her up to play a piano concert and many parents attending ask her to teach their children privately.

These are just two of the four high quality novellas contained in this anthology.  Barbour always puts out a quality product and this certainly fits that bill.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and teacher to fill in your blanks.

My thanks go to Barbour Publishing and NetGalley.com for providing this galley for me to read and review.

The Dating Charade

Melissa Ferguson is a new author to me, and I found her book to be well-written, humorous, and intriguing. 

Cassie Everson works at a youth center that specifically helps teen girls from dysfunctional families.  She notices when the girls come into the center after school and worries when any of the girls don't show up.  Cassie is also single and has been on the dating merry-go-round so long that she's about to decide to stay single.  Then she sees a firefighter outside her office window while she's talking to her friend, Bree.  She points to him and tells Bree that HE is the man she needs.

The firefighter happened to be Jett, a man who went to school with Cassie, just a couple of years behind her.  He remembered her controlling the floor as a basketball player and her moves still fascinate him. 

In Cassie's dating profile, she says that she doesn't want children--not because she truly doesn't want them, but because she's unable to have them.  Jett reads that and feels that he met his soul-mate.  When he shows up for their first date, Cassie leaves him standing by the front door of the center. Not to be dissuaded from seeing Cassie, Jett sets up another date at a basketball court.  Unfortunately, Cassie gets a phone call that requires her to leave in the middle of the game they were playing.  One of her girls needed help and right now. 

Melissa has written a book with a fast-paced plot, an intrigue that keeps the reader involved, and sweet surprises all the way through.  Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a Brady Bunch wedding at a drive-through wedding chapel.

My thanks to Thomas Nelson Publishing and NetGalley.com for providing the galley I read for this review.

Until the Mountains Fall

Connilyn Cossette writes Biblical fiction that is fascinating to read.  In Until the Mountains Fall, she takes the culture of the post Egypt Israel and weaves into it the parable of the prodigal son. 

Rivkah has been sold into a levirate marriage to her late husband's younger brother.  She can only remember the times he was a pest while she was hanging out with his older brother.  Her father is the head priest of their city of refuge, but Rivkah rebels as hard as she can, up to running away. 

For five years, her father and her husband's brother, Malakhi, wait for her to come home.  When some priests from another city are bringing a woman convicted of killing her baby, one of the priests hands Rivkah's father a note that was passed to him by a Jewess enslaved to a trader.  She takes care of his market booth. The note is the first clue her father and Malakhi have had in five years.

The prodigal part is played out to the very letter of the story Jesus told.  When Rivkah returns, her sister Lailah resents her and the attention she is getting. 

I love the interweaving of the Old Testament and New Testament to make this story spark.  This is a five star book, with two thumbs up, and a rescue from slavery. 

I want to thank Bethany House and NetGalley.com for providing the galley I read for this review.

The Reluctant Brides Collection

Barbour Books has a reputation for producing anthologies that are always entertaining and great reading for an afternoon of leisure.  The Reluctant Brides Collection has a novella by one of my favorite authors, which is why I chose to read it.  As I read through the book, these stories seemed awfully familiar.  I felt like I'd read them before.  It's possible I have, but they are still entertaining for a lazy afternoon with a glass of iced tea.

These stories are all about women who want to be independent, who don't want to get married, but somehow get bitten by the love bug.  They are also about men who truly understand the women they love and strive to help them achieve their dreams, regardless of the obstacles in front of them. 

It's a solid four star olio that is great for rainy afternoon reading.

I thank Barbour Books and NetGalley.com for providing the galley for me to read and review.

Yours Truly,

While I was growing up, my father worked for the post office and once I asked him what happened to letters that couldn't be delivered.  He told me about the dead letter office, where undeliverable mail goes to die.  When I saw that this book was available, I knew I wanted to read it. 

Penny Ercanbeck has been working in the dead letter office for three years.  She has had some letters cross her desk all from the same man, and all signed, "Yours Truly, Thomas." There is something plaintive in the letters to a Clara who lives in Alexandria, VA, that Penny decides to do something about it.

First she has to figure out who Clara is, and when she does, she goes to find Clara, only to find that she is dead.  Second, she has to figure out where Thomas is writing from. Once she finds that, she decides to go to find Thomas and find out his story. 

Rachel Fordham has written a great romance about two people who need some healing from things in their lives, and then they have to fight outer demons as well.  Her writing style is extremely readable and her plot pacing is on point.  Her characters are well-rounded and fully engaged in their roles within the book.  These are all signs of great writing. 

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a romantic letter from your one true love.

I want to thank Revell Publishing and NetGalley.com for providing the galley I read for this review.

The Homestead Brides Collection

In the last post, I said that Bethany House knows how to gather great authors for their novella collections.  I also say that Barbour Publishing knows this as well.  The Homestead Brides is no exception.

The Homestead Act of 1862 was put into play to encourage western expansion and settlements.  The homesteaders were given 160 acres to prove up and live on for five years for a nominal fee.  This was one-quarter of a section of land. 

Some of these brides were homesteaders after their husbands or fathers passed away trying to prove up the land. Some of the brides were marrying men to help them prove up their land. Some of the brides married the men whose homesteads abutted their own.  Some brides also take in children who are not their own, or blend the groom's children with her own. 

These books that Barbour puts out are worth reading on an afternoon where you just don't feel like doing anything else. Grab the book, a light blanket, and your drink of choice--coffee, tea, water, and sit down to read awhile.

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and 160 acres of proved up land.

My thanks to NetGalley.com and Barbour Books for allowing me to read and review this book.