“Smitten” by Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Denise Hunter, & Diann Hunt
Smitten, Vermont, is a logging town with a threatened future when four best friends come up with a solution to save the town: renovate and Smitten’s reputation into that of a honeymoon paradise. Not everyone is on board with this plan, however, and each woman faces conflicts of both the practical and romantic kind.
Written collectively by four veteran authors and best friends, this collection is fun and romantic. The book transitions smoothly from one story to the next, with each featuring a different main character in a different season. The quirks of the friends render them likeable and friendly, just like the girls next door. Together, they are generous and faithful, caring and creative.
My only problem with this book was with a subplot from the very first story. A resolution was never found for an issue that aroused my curiosity, and I would have loved to wrap up this loose end.
Smitten is a wonderful lighthearted read. I can’t wait for the sequel!
I received a free copy of Smitten from Thomas Nelson in exchange for an honest review.
“A Sky Without Stars” by Linda S. Clare
In 1951, Frankie Chasing Bear is a Lakota caught between cultures. She wants to raise her son Harold to revere his Lakota heritage, but she knows he will need to become as a white man to succeed. After his father’s killed in a barroom brawl, Harold and Frankie move to Arizona, where she begins a Lakota Star pattern quilt for Harold with tribal wisdom sung, sewn and prayed into it.
She distrusts Christians, as her own parents were forced to convert at an Indian School, until she meets BIA agent Nick Vandergriff, a half-Lakota who’s also caught between cultures. Nick must convince Frankie that white men and Christians aren’t all bad as he tries to win her heart in order to put the stars back into her sky.
Learn more about this book and the series at the Quilts of Love website or read other reviews in this bloggy hop now.
If you want to know about the difficulties that Native Americans experienced in recent times, this is definitely the book to read. I knew that life has not been easy for the natives of our land, but I didn’t realize that we have made it that hard that recently – but according to Clare, we have.
Clare is an excellent writer who uses the harsh situations that her characters face to spring to life the impossible choices faced by our Native people only 60 years ago. With authentic descriptions, smooth writing, and colorful, emotional portrayals of difficult situations, she has certainly won my attention to this issue.
The assimilation issue is the clearest issue in the story. It’s definitely a love story on several levels, just as it’s also a story of morality, honesty, and faith, but the inequality of the main characters due to race stands up and jumps out at the reader. The love story was sweet; the mystery, unknown, and as for faith, it grows gradually throughout the story. Those elements are all there and are an inherent part of each character – but this story would fall apart like Nick’s quilt without the racial tension.
A Sky Without Stars is a historical fiction novel with a twist rarely seen in stories today. It’s well worth the read.
Linda S. Clare is an award-winning coauthor of three books, including Lost Boys and the Moms Who Love Them (with Melody Carlson and Heather Kopp), Revealed: Spiritual Reality in a Makeover World, and Making Peace with a Dangerous God (with Kristen Johnson Ingram). She is also the author of The Fence My Father Built. She has taught college-level creative writing classes for seven years, and edits and mentors writers. She also is a frequent writing conference presenter and church retreat leader. She and her husband of thirty-one years have four grown children, including a set of twins. They live in Eugene, Oregon, with their five wayward cats: Oliver, Xena the Warrior Kitty, Paladine, Melchior, and Mamma Mia!
“Sixty Acres and a Bride” by Regina Jennings
If, of course, you’d rather just buy the book now, you can do that here.
Regina Jennings is a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University with a degree in English and a history minor. She has worked at The Mustang News and First Baptist Church of Mustang, along with time at the Oklahoma National Stockyards and various livestock shows. She now lives outside Oklahoma City with her husband and four children. Meet Regina here.
Celebrate with Regina by entering to win a Kindle Fire and coming to her Author Chat Party on 3/27!
One fortunate winner will receive:
- A Kindle Fire
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Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends 3/26/12. Winner will be announced at Regina’s Author Chat Facebook Party on 3/27. Regina will be hosting an evening of chat, fun trivia and more! She’ll also be giving away some GREAT prizes: gift certificates, books, and some beautiful silver jewerly! |
So grab your copy of Sixty Acres and a Bride and join Regina and friends on the evening of March 27th for an evening of fun.
Don’t miss a moment of the fun. RSVP TODAY and tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 27th!
“Short Straw Bride” by Karen Witemeyer
Meredith Hayes was rescued by Travis Archer as a young girl. As a woman, she continues to dream of her cowboy in shining armor – until she overhears that his enemies want to steal his land. Meredith can’t let down the man who helped her so many years before – but will the price be too high?
This is such a fun story! The layers in this book make it both suspenseful and a joy to read. On one hand, you’ve got a group of handsome farmers who haven’t been off their land in years – and a few spunky young women brave enough to venture inside their gated enclosure. On the other, there are ruffians determined to remove these rightful landowners by any means possible – and they’re willing to go to great lengths to achieve their goals. Shy preachers, mouth-watering cinnamon rolls, loyal horses, and danger all mix together to create an action-packed, yet romantic story of faith and trust.
I’ll definitely be seeking out more of Witemeyer’s work. I love how she discussed spiritual lessons that each character needed to learn and issues each had to work through without beating you over the head with it. Each spiritual truth is timeless and something that most of us work through at one time or another, and so the reader can really glean something from this more-than-fluff work, but she’ll have a great time doing so.
I received a free copy of Short Straw Bride from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review.
“The Sinner’s Garden” by William Sirls
In the small Lake Erie township of Benning, someone is at work cultivating a supernatural garden . . .
Andy Kemp’s young life has been as ravaged as his scarred face. Disfigured by an abusive father, the teenager hides behind his books and an impenetrable wall of cynicism and anger.
As Andy’s mother struggles to reconnect with him, his Uncle Rip returns transformed from a stint in prison and wants to be a mentor to the reclusive boy, doing everything he can to help end Andy’s pain. When Andy begins hearing strange music through his iPod and making near-prophetic announcements, Rip is convinced that what Andy is hearing is the voice of God.
Elsewhere, police officer Heather Gerisch responds to a late-night breaking and entering in one of the poorest homes in town. She soon realizes that the masked prowler has left thousands of dollars in gift cards from a local grocery store.
As the bizarre break-ins continue and Heather pursues the elusive “Summer Santa,” Andy and Rip discover an enormous and well-kept garden of wildflowers that seems to have grown overnight at an abandoned steel mill.
Soon, they realize who the gardener is, and a spree of miracles transfigures this small town from a place of hopelessness into a place of healing and beauty.
It isn’t every day that God speaks directly to us – or through a stressed teen’s broken iPod – but that’s the premise of Sirls’ latest offering. How would we react if we could hear God’s voice, not only as the still, small voice in our spirits, but as an audible, musical, voice that gave us simple directions? Sirls explores that idea in The Sinner’s Garden in a variety of ways – from that of the confused teen, reformed ex-con, battered and abandoned wife, and hurting cop, just to name a few.
Like in his debut novel, Sirls casts his nets wide and writes about a variety of characters who are connected in unusual ways and find God in miraculous circumstances. Because he writes about real humanity, some of these situations are not easy to read about – my own personal boundaries being pushed whenever a child is hurt – but those stretched boundaries also stretch your imagination and your thoughts of what is true.
The Sinner’s Garden is unpredictable, uncomfortable, and amazing. Every time I thought I knew who was up to what and what the next event would be, I was proven wrong – in a twist I never saw coming. Not only didn’t predict it, but would never have imagined it. Those twists didn’t always result in immediate comfort and happiness for my favorite characters, either – and I think that we readers usually prefer that. We want to see a happy ending, and we want the pain and crazy circumstances to end for those we’re rooting for. Sirls writes stories with real human characters in extraordinary and fantastic situations, however, and so like much of life, his characters face continuing waves of pain and heartbreak from which is born healing and joy.
The Sinner’s Garden opens in a big way in one of those not-so-happy situations, and so for a chapter or two turning pages was difficult as I dreaded what might be happening to the characters I was coming to know. As I turned the last page, however, I knew that I wouldn’t have wanted this story to end any other way – and I can’t wait for the next creative story from Sirls.
Click here to read other reviews on this bloggy hop or here to purchase your own copy now .
Learn more about William at: http://WilliamSirls.com
“Shattered” by Dani Pettrey
With All the Evidence Against Him, Only a Sister’s Trust Can Save Him Now
When her prodigal brother Reef’s return to Yancey, Alaska, is shattered by his arrest for murder, Piper McKenna is determined to protect him.
Deputy Landon Grainger loves the McKennas like family, but he’s also sworn to find the truth. And he knows those closest to you have the power to deceive you the most. With his sheriff pushing for a quick conviction, some unexpected leads complicate the investigation, and pursuing the truth puts Landon’s career in jeopardy.
When Piper launches her own investigation, Landon realizes he must protect her from herself-and whatever complications await as the two follow clues deep into Canada’s rugged backcountry. Not only does their long friendship seem to be turning into something more, but this dangerous case is becoming deadlier with each step.
Shattered will take you on an intense and suspenseful journey through the Alaskan wilderness in search of a masterful killer. I loved it! You can’t go wrong with the McKenna family, but the twists and turn that Pettrey wrote into this story will keep you on your toes. With most romantic mysteries, I have at least some clue as to whodunnit, but I was clueless with this one.
Better yet, when I finished I passed the book along to my husband. He didn’t speak for the next two days as he devoured the book – it’s that good – but he said the same: it’s not possible to guess the ending.
I love when a book keeps me hooked from the very first word until the last, but it’s even better when it’s so full of action and adventure that my husband wants to read it, too. Birds of a feather – read together. 🙂
Ready to be Shattered? You can buy the book and begin your journey here.
Dani Pettrey is a wife, homeschooling mom, and author. She feels blessed to write inspirational romantic suspense because it incorporates so many things she loves–the thrill of adventure, nail biting suspense, the deepening of her characters’ faith, and plenty of romance. She and her husband reside in Maryland with their two teenage daughters.
I received a free copy of Shattered from LitFuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.
‘Shadows on the Sand’ by Gayle Roper
Carrie Carter has finally come to terms with her life. Running away from an alcoholic mom and her abusive boyfriends as a teen, she took her young sister with her and made a home for them both. Now seventeen years later, she’s a business owner and ready to move on to the next phase of her life: love, hopefully involving her favorite customer, Greg Barnes. Greg begins to move out of a long period of personal trial when Carrie’s dishwasher is found murdered and her favorite waitress disappears. Can this former runaway and former cop work together to solve the mystery – and find their own personal happy ever after?
I love the subplots and current issues included in this book. While this book definitely falls into the ‘romance’ category, it does not read like your typical romantic novel; the plot is far deeper and more complex. Issues relevant to today’s society are woven seamlessly throughout the story, making the characters more believable and adding layers to the plot. Alcoholism, forgiveness, cults, grief, and teen runaways are all dealt with in a real and knowledgeable manner. It would be easy to make this another surface issue who-likes-whom story, but Roper goes deeper, and that alone makes this story stand out. The smooth flow and colorful word choice only makes it better.
I’ve read several of Roper’s novels, and this is by far my favorite. I will be seeking out the rest of the Seaside Series – soon!
If you’d like to read Chapter One of Shadows on the Sand for free, click here.
I received a free copy of this book from Waterbook Multnomah in exchange for an honest review.
The Dinah Harris Trilogy: “The Shadowed Mind” by Julie Cave
Having lost her career as an FBI agent but gained her sobriety, Dinah Harris is ready to begin her new career: as a private consultant. With the a shady senator keeping his eye on her while she tracks a serial killer, Dinah is challenged to stop the man killing society’s most undesirables – before his aim settles on her.
Peace does not yet reign supreme in Dinah’s mind. Although she desperately wants the new life she has found in Jesus, she isn’t sure yet how to make that happen. Staying sober continues to be a struggle even as she hates the part of her that craves alcohol, and thus makes her a target for the eugenics killer.
Eugenics, defined by www.dictionary.com as the practice of improving the human race by discouraging the reproduction of people with defects, is a main theme of this book. The history of eugenics in America – yes, America! – plays a large role in solving this case. Like in Deadly Disclosures, the information is passed to the reader from experts consulted throughout the investigation. Because the information trickled through the suspects as new evidence was revealed, it flowed naturally.
Dinah Harris is one of my new favorite characters. Her enthusiastic desire to create a new life for herself is inspiring, and she tackles each mystery with bulldog tenacity. If I needed her superior investigative skills, I’d want her on the case.
The Shadowed Mind is a realistic suspense with a clear view of how easily we humans can lose sight of kindness and good will when we take our minds off of the One who created them. A cut above your ordinary mystery, this book is not merely 200 pages of mysterious fluff but the well-crafted work of an educated, inspirational author.
I received a free copy of The Shadowed Mind from Julie Cave in exchange for an honest review. The opinions are my own.
“Shadowed by Grace” by Cara C. Putnam
She found peace in a time of war.
Desperate to save her dying mother, an American woman accepts her newspaper’s assignment to travel to Italy where she takes photographs dangerously close to the front lines during World War II. But Rachel’s real motive in this journey is to find the father she never knew, an artist she hopes can offer the comfort and support both she and her mother need to survive at such a desperate time.
In her quest, Rachel becomes involved with what will become the Monuments Men effort to save great monuments and works of art from the Third Reich. Soon enough she will find more than she ever imagined—in war, in love, and in God.
This is by far my favorite Cara C. Putnam book. It‘s completely fascinating. In all the years that I’ve been studying World War II, I’ve never heard of the Monuments Men – specific members of the Allied Forces tasked with preserving special art pieces throughout Europe – and I wish that I had. This is a topic that I definitely want to learn more about.
Though Putnam fills in lots of historical blanks with this book. She answers questions about who, how, and what sort of work these special men did, but she doesn’t stop there.
The Monuments Men are not the only unusual people on the front lines that she discusses in this story – the main character of this book is a female photographer who’s after telling the war’s story via pictures. Were there female photographers so close to the front lines? I don’t know, but with so many women serving in the war, it’s possible – and it’s an intriguing idea.
Rachel’s very quest – to find the father she never met and save her mother’s life – is a doozy. Tracking a man whose name she doesn’t know in the midst of war with only a sketchbook as a potential clue is next to impossible, but it makes for a spectacular story, especially when you throw in a Monument Man as a love interest.
Shadowed by Grace is the absolute best World War II story I’ve read in years. Don’t miss this one.
Click here to read other reviews on this bloggy hop or here to purchase your own copy now.
Learn more about Cara at:http://caraputman.com