Hearts of Briarwall

 Picture it, England, 1906, and the automobile is just becoming more of a thing for many people.  Lydia Wooding is fascinated with the machines and would love nothing more than to learn to drive one. Lydia's brother, Andrew, has a blind spot where autos are concerned because their parents died needlessly in an auto accident.  He just doesn't feel they are safe enough. Enter Spencer Hayes, a classmate of Andrew's and the son of a man who died because of his get rich quick schemes, and he wants to standardize getting auto parts for repairs. There is a bit of a draw between Lydia and Spencer from the very beginning, partially because she wants to invest in his idea.  The fly in the ointment is her brother's objections to the idea and to Spencer, himself. 

This is my first book to read by Krista Jensen and I must say it was a pleasant surprise. At first I thought it was going to be a vapidly funny book, but the more I got into it, the more substance I found.  There is a bit of romance formula to the book, but it is not overwhelming and seems natural in the context of the plot.  There are quite a few supporting characters in the book, but they are fleshed out and add to the story line to make it a more cohesive whole.  

Four Stars

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

What Matters Most

The driving force in this novel is the secrets held by Emma and Jamie, which could be deal-breakers for either of them.  The weight of the secrets that hold Emma and Jamie back pervades the whole story and keeps a dark atmosphere over the whole thing and makes it hard to read and stay engaged in the story.  For me, I wanted to just say, "Get on with it!"  

Emma has a cottage on Nantucket Island that has been in her late husband's family for many years. Over the garage of the cottage is an apartment that she hopes to clean up and get ready for renters to supplement her income.  She has newly acquired a job as the assistant to the owner of an art gallery on the island. 

Jamie has come to Nantucket to see Emma, mostly to apologize for his role in the death of her husband.  Guilt has weighed on him ever since the incident and he's trying to do whatever he can to assuage his feelings. In light of that, he chooses to help Emma refurbish the apartment and does some minor remodeling. 

There are a few redeeming parts to this novel--first is that Emma reawakens the artistic photographer in Jamie,  and by the same token, Jamie reawakens the water-color artist in Emma.  Also there is the love that Jamie develops for Emma's son, CJ. 

I have read other books by Courtney Walsh and did not get the overwhelming feeling of darkness in her other books. This one is just a bit off for me.  Three Stars.

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

 

The Spark of Love

Recently a question was posted in a Facebook Group that I absolutely had to answer.  The question was how many Christian fiction authors have you read more than three of their books.  My answer was that the list was too long to mention them all.  There are some authors I've read everything they've written, others I've read all of a specific genre they've written, and others I've been a bit more picky about reading their offerings. Amanda Cabot would definitely fit in the category of authors I've read more than three of her books. 

The Spark of Love is the final book in the Mesquite Springs series and can be read as a stand-alone, but it does help to read the others first.  In this book, the reader almost needs a playlist to keep up with all the villains who populate the plot, and it's hard to figure out who some of the good guys are. 

One of the most entertaining scenes is close to the beginning of the book when Alexandra is about to board a stagecoach.  She attracts the unwanted attentions of two rough and rowdy cowboys and her rescue comes in the guise of Gabe Seymour, a private investigator who is looking for her father. 

Alexandra is an heiress whose money is tied up in a trust that can only , but all her suitors know about her is that she has money.  Franklin wants her money to settle his debts and will go to any length to get it.  Because of his threats, Alexandra feels the need to flee New York.  So she goes to Mesquite Springs, Texas, where her father is supposed to be building a hotel.

Gabe is looking for Alexandra's father because he was a con man who bilked people out of their money.  He was not the only one looking for Alexandra's father, and between those looking for her father and those looking for her, both of them had their work cut out for them. 

Alexandra's father is less than thrilled to see her and convinces Gabe to keep her away from the hotel he's building.  At the same time Gabe feels the need to protect Alexandra. 

This book is a bit predictable with the development of the plot, with the love story between Alexandra and Gabe, with the with the actions of the villains of the story, but the sheer number of bad guys is a bit daunting.  The setting is a fictional town in Texas that fits with a number of places I know in Texas, so it is very believable. While this is not my favorite of Amanda Cabot's books, it is a worthwhile read. 

Four Stars

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

 

Look Fast!

 When I have to mull over what I want to say in a review, it's because I am having a hard time finding the right words to express my opinions. I've been stewing over this one for three days, and I'm still having a hard time with it.  

Amy Clipston is best known for her Amish fiction, which she writes quite well.  This is not Amish fiction and the story itself is not really in Amy's wheelhouse.  

Maya has inherited a toy shop from her Aunt CeCe in Coral Cove, North Carolina.  She is moving on the heels of a bad break-up with her fiance, Kyle. Among the first people she meets in Coral Cove are Brody and his rather precocious daughter, Ashlyn.  An instant rapport with Ashlyn captures Maya, and to a degree, initiates a friendship with Brody.  

What I wish had happened in this book:

    Maya created a princess room for tea parties for little girls' birthdays. What about the boys in Coral Cove?  Could she not have also made a room for boys' parties? She was needing to create more income for the store and she missed half of the children who would have helped her with her income woes. 

    Maya's and Brody's relationship seemed to grow organically except that Maya still seemed stuck on Kyle.  Brody seems to be a rebound relationship and when Kyle shows up, Maya's feelings flip flop so much as to give the reader whiplash trying to keep up.  I wish Maya's feelings for Kyle had been fully resolved.  

    The story is a typical formulaic romance, with fun parts to keep the reader engaged.  The sad thing is that this is not Amy's best offering.  Three stars. 

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

A Rose for the Resistance

 

A Rose for the Resistance is the fifth book in the Heroines of WWII series published by Barbour Books. It is a compelling and engaging read that delves into the lives of those living in occupied France throughout the war.  Angela K Couch has done a masterful job in writing a book that captures the reader from the beginning to the end.  I have only one criticism for the book, even though it is a minor thing, it bothers me.  One of the characters is named Franz Kafka, a name that is familiar in philosophical circles.  The real Franz Kafka was a Jewish man who died rather young at the age of almost 41 in 1924.  His writings are still considered classics today.  My criticism in using this name is that Kafka is a Jewish name and a man with that name would not have been allowed to serve in the German military during the second World War. There are so many other German names that could have been used for this character--I have a plethora of them in my family tree!  

Rosalie is a quiet woman who spends her time cultivating and growing plants for villagers around her to buy for their own gardens.  Her father is in a German POW camp and she wants to keep his legacy alive for when he comes back.  She is also taking care of her mother and her younger brother, Marcel, who wishes to join the resistance.  Her first encounter with Franz is after curfew on a night when her brother was involved in some resistance activities and gets shot.  When Franz finds them together, there is a Bible beside her on the ground and he lets them go.  

Franz is disenchanted with the German regime and ideology, and while fulfilling his duties, finds ways to circumvent the powers in control.  When he finds a British pilot in a crashed air plane, he takes the pilot to Rosalie so that she can hide him and take care of his wounds.  He even helps Rosalie get the pilot back to England. While Franz cannot overtly participate in the resistance, he turns a blind eye to whatever Rosalie and her brother do to aid in the cause, and even runs interference for Rosalie with some of the check-point guards.

I truly enjoyed this book to the point that I lost sleep over it, it has all the feels--anger, grief, love--and it has intrigue, double-crossing, and a bit of sweetness.  My only complaint is Franz's name.  Four Strong Stars. 

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

Until Leaves Fall in Paris

When I see Sarah Sundin's name on a book in NetGalley.com, I am instantly requesting to read it.  She writes historical fiction that is near and dear to my heart--the World War II era.  The generation that lived through that horrific time is quickly dying out and her writings keep that part of history alive for me.  My parents lived in that time and my dad served.  

Until Leaves Fall in Paris takes place a year or two before the United States entered the war and at a time when Americans living abroad are leaving Europe to go back to the US at least for the duration of the war.  This is where the story picks up.  Lucie has been with the Paris Opera Ballet for a number of years, but she's just not advancing.  Her friends, the Greenblatts, own a bookstore that they must leave because the handwriting is on the wall for the Jews in Europe. Lucie offers to buy the store and eventually it becomes a letter box for the resistance to pass messages. 

Paul is a widower with a small daughter who also owns an automobile manufacturing plant. It gets taken over by the Germans to produce trucks.  On the surface, Paul seemed to be collaborating with the Germans, but, in fact, he's participating in quiet resistance by work slow downs, sabotage in the assembly line, and whatever else he can do without arousing suspicion. Because he is on "friendly" terms with the officer assigned to his plant, he is required to go to parties and evenings out with German officials.  He had another reason for going to the soirees--to gather information to pass on to the American consulate. Even though the United States was not involved in the war, the government wanted to keep tabs on what the Germans were doing.  

Paul and Lucie meet when Paul brings his four-year-old daughter, Josie, to Lucie's book shop to find some new books. Josie is a precocious child who draws stories about a mythical creature, Feenee, who fights against the Rock Monsters. There were quite a few ups and downs in their relationship, such as it was in the beginning, but Paul did help Lucie with some business matters to help her stay in business and build up her bookstore.  

At first, Lucie doesn't want anything to do with Paul because she thinks he is a collaborator, but her attraction to him grows as she observes how he treats his daughter.  The romance in this book is understated and not over the top, which I appreciated because it does not detract from the seriousness of the subject matter in the book.  The trials that Paul and Lucie face were realistic and at times heartbreaking.  The history is accurate and while it is not a military story per se, as most of Sarah's other books have been, it is a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people trying to live their lives out as best they can under trying circumstances.  The lines of demarcation between whom to trust or not are clear in this book.  The only criticism I have for this book is that both Paul and Lucie have to escape from German soldiers forcibly holding them.  Their escapes seem a bit super-human, but I'm not sure how I would have done it better.  Toward the end of the book, the plot takes on a genuine sweetness that will gratify the readers of Sarah's books. 

Five Stars, Two Thumbs Up, and a beautiful little girl to tell you stories. 

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

 

Too Much Going On

This is the first book I've read by Christina Suzann Nelson, and I'm not too sure what to think about it.  I've been mulling it over for a couple of days since I finished it and I truly haven't come to any solid conclusion.  

The main character is Cassie George, the niece of Shasta.  Cassie is working on her doctorate in marine ornithology when she gets the call that tells her Shasta has had a stroke and has Parkinson's disease.  She travels from San Diego to Gull's Bay, Oregon, to take care of Shasta and when she arrives she finds that the situation is much worse than she originally thought. 

Gull's Bay is a small community where everyone knows everyone else and their business. One of the first people Cassie meets upon arrival in town is her old high school nemesis, Nora,  who has a sub-plot of her own.  

There are plots, sub-plots, mysteries, heartaches, and just a bit of romance all included in this book.  Because there is so much going on, it is a hard book to put down, but it is also a hard book to read and keep up with.  It doesn't have a cohesive feel to it and is somewhat hard to follow.  It is enjoyable once you get into it, but I think it could have been better.  The setting was perfect, the characters were not as fleshed out as they could have been because of the level of activity in the book, and because there are so many characters who populate the book. Still 3.5 stars, rounded up to four. 

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