Book Review - Don't Keep Silent

The McKade boys are in it again. This time, it's Liam, and he's still trying to figure out what he wants to be when he grows up. Sure, he has served in the Marines and in the DEA, but a blown cover and a bullet have him back at the Emerald M with his brothers while he figures out what God has planned for him next. He didn't dream it would be the woman who blew his cover. The woman he took that bullet to save. The woman he thought he loved, before he realized she had used him for her own purposes. The woman who now needs him to help her find her missing sister-in-law before time runs out.

Elizabeth Goddard's Don't Keep Silent is the third book in her Uncommon Justice series. If you don't know the McKade boys by now, it's high time to pick up the first book and read your way through the adventures kicked up by Austin, Heath, and now Liam. Goddard balances danger and romance intricately and pulls the reader into the lives of the Emerald M. Don't Keep Silent is another action packed page turner. Sure, you could read it as a stand-alone, but frankly, you wouldn't skip straight to the end of the book, so why miss out on the rest of the Uncommon Justice series.

Thank you to the author and to the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions in this review are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - These Nameless Things

My very first impression of Shawn Smucker's These Nameless Things was that the imagery crafted within is positively astounding. It was not at all difficult to become immersed in this carefully crafted world, so thorough were Smucker's descriptions. My second impression was that I did not enjoy this book, but I encourage you to roll with me as I explain a bit more. You see, These Nameless Things is not meant to be lightly read. It is utterly exhausting. Not because it is an untimely story or poorly written, but for the exact opposite reason. This book is an eloquent image of Dante's Inferno, a timely parallel and a wake-up call to the beauty of the human creature that is so thoughtfully made in the image of God. Exhausting in the sense that every nuance is critical to the understanding of the value of a person and overwhelming beauty of grace and forgiveness, These Nameless Things is worth every moment of toil alongside the characters in order to appreciate the complex themes.

I particularly love how the characters grapple with the issue of forgiveness and grace, both the giving and receiving of these precious gifts that have the power to restore humanity. Not only to restore the recipient, but also to heal the heart and soul of the giver. These elements do not come naturally or easily to the flawed creature of humanity, and the toil involved in their exploration helps to highlight how very precious they are. Yes, These Nameless Things is exhausting, but is well worth digesting every hard earned sentence.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions in this review are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - An Appalachian Summer

With An Appalachian Summer, Ann H. Gabhart gives readers a thoroughly enjoyable story wrapped in with a celebration of differences. It was easy to get pulled in from the very first introduction of Piper Danson, who wants nothing to do with a debutante season or finding a suitable match, much less doing so in the midst of the Great Depression. It is easy to relate to Piper's search for an opportunity to do something with real meaning, and to find out who she truly is before settling for a the match chosen by her father instead of marrying the man she has loved since childhood. And it is easy to see why Piper grows to feel the way she does about the Frontier Nursing Service and the people she meets during her time with them.

Piper is different from many of the people around her; her social status dictates that she should marry money, especially amidst the uncertainty of the Depression era, but the love of her heart has lost his family money and along with it, his social status. She does not care for the extravagance of lavish parties when so many others are suffering, and she searches for her own identity in a time when such is not considered necessary. Through the course of this one summer, Piper finds that she is not such a rare bird, nor is she unsupported by the women in her life. She finds beauty and strength in the works and ways of those she encounters during her Appalachian summer, which helps her discover the beauty and strength within herself to follow God's lead for her future.

Thank you to the author and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this book. All opinions in this review are my own and are completely genuine.