book review

Finally back in the Old Order Amish world she loves,
Will Ariana’s new perspectives draw her family closer together—
or completely rip them apart?

After months away in the Englisch world, Ariana Brenneman is overjoyed to be in the Old Order Amish home where she was raised. Yet her excitement is mixed with an unexpected apprehension as she reconciles all she’s learned from her biological parents with the uncompromising teachings of her Plain community. Although her childhood friend, ex-Amish Quill Schlabach, hopes to help her navigate her new role amongst her people, Ariana’s Daed doesn’t understand why his sweet daughter is suddenly questioning his authority. What will happen if she sows seeds of unrest and rebellion in the entire family? 
 
Meanwhile, Skylar Nash has finally found her place among the large Brenneman family, but Ariana’s arrival threatens to unravel Skylar’s new identity—and her sobriety. Both Ariana and Skylar must discover the true cords that bind a family and community together and grasp tight the One who holds their authentic identities close to His heart.

Cindy Woodsmall writes the most dramatic and hard-hitting Amish fiction ever, and Gathering the Threads is no different!  This conclusion to the Amish of Summer Grove series is a real page-turner.

I don’t know how Woodsmall thinks of the situations in which she puts her characters, but they are most unique.  She writes so realistically that you’ll examine the issues right along with Skylar and Ariana, and many of those same issues are just as relevant to the Englisch as they are to the Amish.

Some of those issues were particularly hard to read about.  For instance, while nobody’s perfect, it isn’t easy to read about some of the issues occurring in Ariana’s church; however, I did enjoy Woodsmall’s conclusion to those issues and the spiritual depth that she brought to the table in this storyline.

You’ll need it, because nothing about this book is light-hearted; there are weighty faith and relationship issues here, but it’s so realistically written that you’ll be completely caught up in it. 

If you like Amish fiction, don’t just buy this book, though; you’ll want to pick up all three, and start reading immediately.  They’re that good.

I received a free copy of this book.  All opinions are my own.

Rosemary Gresham has no family beyond the band of former urchins that helped her survive as a girl in the mean streets of London. Grown now, they concentrate on stealing high-value items and have learned how to blend into upper-class society. But when Rosemary must determine whether a certain wealthy gentleman is loyal to Britain or to Germany, she is in for the challenge of a lifetime. How does one steal a family’s history, their very name?

Peter Holstein, given his family’s German blood, writes his popular series of adventure novels under a pen name. With European politics boiling and his own neighbors suspicious of him, Peter debates whether it might be best to change his name for good. When Rosemary shows up at his door pretending to be a historian and offering to help him trace his family history, his question might be answered.

But as the two work together and Rosemary sees his gracious reaction to his neighbors’ scornful attacks, she wonders if her assignment is going down the wrong path. Is it too late to help him prove that he’s more than his name?

Wow!  Roseanna M. White’s newest book A Name Unknown is a book like no other.  I love historical fiction, and White has reached new heights of excitement and suspense in this story. It’s not just a story of love in the midst of war, although it is – but it’s about political loyalties, chosen professions, the role of faith in our lives, and how money affects our integrity and place in society.

I love those unique angles.  I’ve never before heard of internment camps for Germans living in England when World War I was declared, but that reality plays a large role in this story.  The fact that popular fiction writers were asked to put certain themes into their work during this time does, too – and who knew?

A Name Unknown contains deep theological themes, too.  White writes about redemption and forgiveness, but also about the importance of prayer and the way that we share our personal faith.  I enjoyed the way that she made Peter’s faith real and alive and natural so that just overflowed out of him onto everything around.  Isn’t that a great example of how we should internalize our faith, as well?

White has written a story that’s exciting and suspenseful – enough for me to speed through it in a single afternoon – but that’s clean enough to share with my tween daughter.  She’s going to love it, too – and I love that I can share it with her.

If you’re a fan of historical fiction at all, put A Name Unknown on your TBR list now.

Click here to read other reviews on this bloggy hop or here to purchase your own copy now.

   

Mark Fisher has returned home to Hart County, determined to put the past behind him. Two years ago, after being wrongly accused of assault, he left the Amish community, though never forgot his home. When the one person who had helped him through his rough times asks for help, Mark returns. But it is pretty Waneta Cain who makes him want to stay…

Just when Mark starts to believe a new life is possible, a close friend of Neeta’s is attacked. Once again, everyone in the community seems to believe he is guilty. But what hurts most is Neeta’s sudden wariness around him. When another woman is hurt, a woman who is close to both Neeta and himself, Mark fears he knows the real culprit. And time is running out. Will Mark be able to find him before Neeta becomes his next victim?

 

Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.

   

Tenley Roth’s first book was a runaway bestseller. Now that her second book is due, she’s locked in fear. Can she repeat her earlier success or is she a fraud who has run out of inspiration?

With pressure mounting from her publisher, Tenley is weighted with writer’s block. But when her estranged mother calls asking Tenley to help her through chemotherapy, she packs up for Florida where she meets handsome furniture designer Jonas Sullivan and discovers the story her heart’s been missing.

A century earlier, another woman wrote at the same desk with hopes and fears of her own. Born during the Gilded Age, Birdie Shehorn is the daughter of the old money Knickerbockers. Under the strict control of her mother, her every move is decided ahead of time, even whom she’ll marry. But Birdie has dreams she doesn’t know how to realize. She wants to tell stories, write novels, make an impact on the world. When she discovers her mother has taken extreme measures to manipulate her future, she must choose between submission and security or forging a brand new way all on her own.

Tenley and Birdie are from two very different worlds, but fate has bound them together in a way time cannot erase.

Rachel Hauck is the master of creative, historic romance, and she’s penned another bestseller:  The Writing Desk.  She artfully compares contemporary romance with the arranged marriages of the wealthy during the 1920s while painting elements of spiritual lessons in every scene.

I love the way that Hauck ties Birdie’s story with Tenley’s.  Hauck connects them in myriads of ways, some superficially, some with a much deeper meaning.  These connections usually relate to spiritual lessons happening within the pages from which the reader can grow, as well. 

In some of Hauck’s books, these lessons are super deep, ones that totally shook me as I was reading.  The lessons in The Writing Desk are a bit different; they’re simple, basic tenants of the Christian faith, but ones that many of us struggle with.  Long-time Christians may not find these lessons earth-shattering, but I think that this is the perfect sort of book to give a person new to faith, or to someone who isn’t yet a believer.  Tenley’s situation and confusion resonates, and Hauck shares answers to that confusion gently and creatively.

These faith lessons are not diluting the romance.  For someone who’s supposed to be writing such a story, Tenley is living a sizzling one of her own.  Hauck spares no sidelong glance or warm, fuzzy feeling when penning The Writing Desk, and with Birdie involved in her own romantic relationship, this book is oozing love.

The Writing Desk is another winner, and I hope Hauck continues to be as prolific as Birdie.

I received a free copy of this book from the author.  All opinions are my own.

When a series of circumstances beyond her control leave Rosalyn Bernay alone and penniless in London, she chances upon a job backstage at a theater that is presenting the most popular show in London. A talented musician and singer, she feels immediately at home and soon becomes enthralled with the idea of pursuing a career on the stage.

A hand injury during a skirmish in India has forced Nate Moran out of the army until he recovers. Filling his time at a stable of horses for hire in London, he has also spent the past two months working nights as a stagehand, filling in for his injured brother. Although he’s glad he can help his family through a tough time, he is counting the days until he can rejoin his regiment. London holds bitter memories for him that he is anxious to escape. But then he meets the beautiful woman who has found a new lease on life in the very place Nate can’t wait to leave behind.

The Captain’s Daughter is the perfect story for fans of mysteries and musicals!  With an unusual combination of Gilbert and Sullivan, London theater life, and villains on every corner, this story is unexpectedly fun.

Delamere weaves threads of mystery and history throughout the story.  There’s more to Rosalyn’s background than we know, and I have a feeling that there’s more to the story that will be revealed in later books.  I love the way that her past was affecting her present, and I’ll be anxious to see what it does to her future.

The theater plays an enormous role in this book – a much bigger one than I expected.  That’s not really my thing, but I enjoyed the way that Delamere used the interactions off stage to add spiritual depth and lessons to the story.

The Captain’s Daughter is a great summer read.  With loads of British history, scoundrels, and lessons to learn, you should add it to your reading list.

Click here to read other reviews in this bloggy hop or here to purchase your own copy now.

  

I received a free copy of this book from LitFuse Publicity.  All opinions are my own.