Book Review - Lights Out

From the very first tease, I knew I wanted to try the first installation of the new SNAP Agency series by Natalie Walters. How can you go wrong when an author with a reputation for solid storylines and well written fiction takes up a plot involving the CIA, the privately owned Strategic Neutralization and Protection Agency, and a missing Egyptian spy? The answer: You can’t go wrong with Lights Out.

Brynn Taylor and Jack Hudson have a history neither wants to repeat or even address. They are able to keep it where it belongs (in the past) until the day Egyptian spy Remon Riad goes missing from an experimental international anti-terrorism program developed by Brynn and implemented by the CIA. Riad’s disappearance happens just days before the American and Egyptian presidents are scheduled to celebrate the opening of a new American military base in Egypt. Brynn and Jack are thrust together amidst the chaos of the chase, regardless of their personal history. American and international interests are at stake. Adding to the intrigue are thousands of pounds of fertilizer shipped to “nobody” in Guam, cyberattacks on a global scale, and human trafficking. Natalie Walters takes these elements and delivers an explosive novel that will leave you saying, “Oh SNAP!”

Lights Out, the first book in the SNAP Agency series by Natalie Walters, is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Deadly Target

Oh, what a tangled web we weave in the name of protecting our loved ones. At least, the characters in Deadly Target by Elizabeth Goddard find themselves in quite the web of intrigue for this second book of her Rocky Mountain Courage series. With a flash and a crash, we are introduced to Dr. Erin Larson. A criminal psychologist with an anonymous true crime cold case podcast, Erin is far enough removed from her subjects that she can’t imagine why anyone would target her, so the attack must have targeted her friend. But when the body count starts rising and Erin is repeatedly involved, things start to become increasingly clear that she is a common denominator. With former flame, Nathan Campbell, thrust into the fray alongside her, Erin finds that her life isn’t the only thing at stake. Staying alive long enough to identify her attacker and find a way forward with Nathan keep Erin and the plot of Deadly Target in motion until the very last thread is untangled.

Deadly Target by Elizabeth Goddard is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Crosshairs

Patricia Bradley’s Natchez Trace Park Rangers series gets a high octane installment with Crosshairs. 

When a girl is found dead at a park along the Trace, Investigative Services Branch ranger Ainsley Beaumont is called back home to Natchez. It is good to be home with her grandmother and great-aunt Cora, but things get personal when Aunt Cora is injured and Ainsley finds herself in the crosshairs of someone bent on hiding the truth. Finding the culprit involves unraveling the motive, a task made both easier and more difficult by the presence of Ainsley’s first love.

After leaving the FBI and becoming an interpretive ranger, Lincoln Steele is enjoying his less stressful life working at Melrose Estate. A life that no longer requires carrying a gun or the chance that his actions hold another person’s life in the balance. When Ainsley returns to Natchez, the two are thrust into partnership at work and in their personal lives. Linc never stopped loving Ainsley, but his greatest anxiety also makes him unworthy to ask for a second chance. The only way to be worthy of her is to conquer it and he can’t do that alone.

In the third installment of her Natchez Trace Park Rangers series, Patricia Bradley delivers a web of intrigue as thick as the Spanish moss in the trees of her historical setting. The constant action and mystery will hook you, while the message of restoration and redemption fulfills the plots we have come to love from this amazing author. Read Crosshairs as a standalone if you want, but I highly recommend starting at the beginning and working your way through Standoff and Obsession first.

Crosshairs by Patricia Bradley is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - A View Most Glorious

Coraline Baxter does not want to fit in with proper society. Her mind is too keen and her interests too broad to play the simpering socialite, doomed to a life of comfort without fulfillment. She is one of few women who have attended college and gone on to get a job outside the home, ambitions that seem frivolous at best for a woman of her social standing in the late 1800’s. With these accomplishments in hand, Cora has been nominated by her friends to climb Mt. Ranier in the name of suffrage; if a woman can summit the grand lady, then a woman surely is capable of the vote. More than advancement of the suffragist movement is at stake, though. If Cora does not succeed, she must marry the man her mother has chosen for her; one whose appearances are greatly deceptive of his character.

To summit Ranier, Cora and her stepfather have enlisted the services of Nathan Hardee. A former fellow Tacoma socialite, family scandal prompted Nathan to eschew the trappings of the proper society which shunned him at a time when his family needed support. Determined to never be like those people again, Nathan has embraced the mountain man lifestyle, caring for neighbors and guiding those who wish to summit the mountain. The last thing he needs is to be responsible for guiding a delicate flower with a weak constitution and her privileged stepfather, but Coraline Baxter is determined to prove she’s no shy violet. Matching his strength with her determination could prove that they are stronger together. And that looking at others with compassion and understanding just might lead to a fulfillment like no other.

Regina Scott forges through several difficult social subjects with grace and passion in A View Most Glorious, the third of her American Wonders Collection series. Her writing is powerful; descriptions that make the reader feel as though they are indeed journeying alongside Cora and Nathan, as well as social statements with purpose and grace. With great attention to detail and historical accuracy, Scott brings us with her to illuminate, educate, and entertain.

A View Most Glorious is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Labyrinth of Lies

Cate Reilly is relieved to be done with undercover work. However, she is the only county detective who can pass as a seventeen year old student at a prestigious St. Louis girls’ boarding school to investigate the disappearance of a prominent businessman’s daughter. Cate can handle one last undercover assignment, befriending her new roommate to find answers about the missing girl, and she can handle the cold walks through the woods in search of evidence of foul play, but she has to work hard to handle the fact that the man who broke her heart is teaching her Spanish class.

Zeke Sloan has seen and survived it all during his time undercover with the Mexican drug cartel. He should be more safe on assignment as a Spanish teacher at Ivy Hill Academy, investigating a drug trafficking ring that is using the school for clandestine operations. Zeke never thought the biggest danger on this assignment would be to his heart, until Cate walks into his Spanish class and back into his life. As they work together to determine how their investigations may be linked, they also find themselves working together to figure out what went wrong in their relationship and if they can restore trust and repair wounds they thought would never heal.

The Triple Threat series from Irene Hannon gets an intense second installment with Labyrinth of Lies. She grabbed my attention with book one, Point of Danger, when Hannon introduced us to a family of sisters who feel like our own. Following the Reilly sisters, Triple Threat delivers intense action and swoon-worthy romance.

Labyrinth of Lies is available from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Tacos for Two

ColorMeTurqoise and StrongerMan99 have a good thing going in their dating app DM world. A mutual affinity for You’ve Got Mail spurs soul searching conversations about balancing responsibility to family with pursuing your dreams. Both are encouraged by the encouragement and support found in each other through their online relationship. If only real life was as free and easy, Rory Perez wouldn’t be struggling to save her beloved aunt’s food truck in spite of the fact she can’t even cook. And Jude Worthington wouldn’t be trying so hard to stay one step ahead of his father’s antics after declaring that he wants to leave the family law firm and open a food truck. If only Jude’s dream taco truck wasn’t a direct competitor to Rory’s Salsa Street truck, especially when everything for both trucks is riding on victory in their town’s annual food truck competition.

Betsy St. Amant serves up Tacos for Two with plenty of spice, turning up the heat on the food truck competitors’ feud and igniting both pork loins and romance in turn. While Rory and Jude both want to find their own identity, they also struggle to reconcile the online connection with the face-to-face disconnect. How can they succeed in romance when they are also working so hard to reconcile individual and family obligations, and while learning difficult truths about forgiveness.

Tacos for Two by Betsy St. Amant is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Wolf Soldier

With the Lightraider Order scattered and the people of the Dragon Lands under oppressive rule, it is up to one shepherd boy and his four compatriots to fulfill the mission of the Rescuer and vanquish the wyrm before it gains full control of their world. Connor Enarian and four other new Lightraider initiates must train quickly and learn to rely more fully than ever on their Rescuer in order to find a Lightraider spy presumed dead and his talking wolf companion. Facing off against trolls, orcs, and fantastical beasts that bewilder and terrify is only one aspect of a mission that seems doomed in the hands of the untried cadets.

James R. Hannibal brings the Lightraider world to larger-than-life reality for readers in his new release, Wolf Soldier. This allegorical fantasy is loaded with references to the Rescuer that will seem very familiar to anyone who has spent time in the New Testament, but don’t be confused by the similarities. Wolf Soldier is an epic adventure based on the DragonRaid game created by Dick Wulf. The storyline is well constructed, skillfully honed, and superbly executed to draw in the reader and bring us along on the adventure of a lifetime. I spent hours thinking this would make a stunning movie, only to realize I’ve seen it in my mind as I read descriptions so crisp and clear I felt completely immersed into battle alongside the Lightraider cadets. 

Wolf Soldier by James R. Hannibal is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy of theirs book to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - The Healing of Natalie Curtis

Natalie Curtis was preparing for her debut with the New York Philharmonic, a classically trained musician with exceptional talent, when a breakdown derailed her present and her future. Lost in her identity and her feeble with poor health, Natalie is struggling to find her way forward. Her brother George’s urging to travel to his beloved western frontier spurs Natalie to explore new places, people, passions that give Natalie purpose. She discovers the beauty of the indigenous people of the west and their music. She also discovers the trials they face and the injustice of the system that seeks to assimilate them into the white man’s culture and eradicate the traditions that shape their identity. Natalie’s work to preserve their culture becomes her purpose and her passion.

Jane Kirkpatrick preserves the story of Natalie Curtis and therefore the work done to save Native American music and other cultural traditions in The Healing of Natalie Curtis. She reminds us of the treasure that is a person’s cultural identity and to embrace the beauty found in one another.

The Healing of Natalie Curtis is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online.

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - A Christmas in the Alps

Christmas novella lovers, rejoice! Melody Carlson, queen of the Christmas novella, has gifted us this year’s edition and it solidifies her status as literary royalty. Pack your bags and log in to your translation app, because she is sweeping us off to find family, friendship, and hidden treasure in the snowy French Alpine village of Avre.

At a time in her life when Simone Sophia Winthrop has lost her last known living relative and her circle of friends is nearly as small as her dating prospects, she finds an unopened letter from her great-grandmama that shakes things up in her already-shaken comfort zone. With more than a little prompting from her best friend, Simone finds herself struggling to conquer her fear of flying to find the treasure her recently departed great-grandmamma left behind in her haste to leave war-torn France. Is it love or is she caught up in the romance of France at Christmas when she starts to have zingy feelings about her airplane seat mate? Is the exceptionally friendly hotelier flirting or just French? And why is she so warmly accepted by some of her newly found family members, but so icily received by her great-grandmamma’s own sister?

Set up your tea tray and snuggle into your favorite blanket to enjoy this season’s treasure from Melody Carlson.

A Christmas in the Alps is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Freedom’s Song

Kim Vogel Sawyer delivers sweet romance with just the right amount of tension in her upcoming release, Freedom’s Song. Years of indentured servitude as the Darling of the River Peacock have dimmed Fanche Beck’s hope for her family’s new life in America, until she is knocked overboard amid the chaos of a terrible storm and fire aboard the entertainment steamboat and into the mighty Mississippi River. Presumed dead, Fanny seizes the opportunity to try to reach her family in New York. A runaway slave family and a broken-hearted widower with a darling little girl challenge Fanny to follow God’s guidance despite the fact that they slow her journey to her family. It is these challenges that teach Fanny how to find out who she is when she is freed from her gilded cage and has the chance to choose her way forward. What happens when her former employer discovers she survived the near-drowning and the decisions that must be made when a new bride is found for the widower who has hired her are enough to keep the pages turning until the satisfying end.

Freedom’s Song by Kim Vogel Sawyer releases on October 19 and is currently available for preorder from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - A Midnight Dance

I had not read Joanna Davidson Politano prior to her new release, A Midnight Dance. I have, however, seen her books among so many I have enjoyed and was looking forward to trying a new-to-me author. I will now be sure to read all the others, as this one has swept me onto my toes and launched me flying in a most glorious and intriguing way.

Ella Blythe had ballet in her soul long before she was even born, but her dreams of the stage were as untouchable as the famous Ghost of Craven Street Theatre. One brief encounter with a handsome dancer ignites in her a fire that sweeps through her and demands to be fed; even though Ella knows the truth that whatever grueling punishment her body must take in the process will pale in comparison to what will happen to her heart if she allows the romance of the theatre to overtake her. In spite of her efforts to keep such tragedy from her life, Ella finds herself mirroring the story of the ghost. Only she can decide if she will be consumed by flames or dance above them.

In A Midnight Dance, Politano composes a story that sweeps the reader into the intrigue of the theater with an all consuming plot sure to thrill. Characters leap from the pages to be loved or despised, flaws held close but laid bare before us. The mystery, the passion, the desire to be known and loved at the soul-deep level keep pages flying in pursuit of the final act of this compelling performance.

A Midnight Dance by Joanna Davidson Politano is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my opinions and are completely genuine.

Book Review - The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery

Amanda Cox brings three generations of one family together to examine the secrets we keep and the cost of those secrets in The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery. Glory Ann, the matriarch who is struggling to keep her husband’s legacy alive and provide security for her children and grandchildren through the grocery store her Clarence used to care for his family and his community. Rosemary, who holds on to store out of duty, but also the jealousy and guilt that rob her of joy. And Sarah, the woman whose childhood dreams of carrying on the family legacy were crushed by her mother’s prodding to go farther and do more than their small town could offer. Sarah’s return to her childhood home fervor to save Old Depot Grocery is the catalyst that drags those secrets into the light, slowly but doggedly, and prods all the women of Old Depot to reveal secrets that have the power to undo them or to strengthen them as they determine their own ways of dealing with the things left in the dark for way too long.

It doesn’t take long for the reader to become completely enmeshed in the lives of these women. Cox creates a family into which one is easily and thoroughly inserted, so that their stories are our stories and their life lessons are ours as well.

The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery by Amanda Cox is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Beyond the Tides

Meg Whitaker’s plans for her life went sideways ten years ago, when Oliver Ross destroyed her science fair project in a moment of impulse. She held a grudge all those years, through college and even after coming home to help her father care for her mother when a mysterious degenerative disease made it no longer feasible for Meg to pursue her education further. Back in their cozy fishing village on Prince Edward Island, Meg teaches at the local school, helps her dad with her mom, and does everything in her power to avoid Oliver. There is just one glitch in that plan: Meg’s father has chosen to sell his lobster business and license to her nemesis. Meg can not allow Oliver to win this. She declares her interest. She quits her job. She takes on the responsibility of working the lobster season alongside Oliver.

Working side by side with Oliver for the duration of the lobster season is absolute torture for Meg, but it is made worse by the way her eye keeps wandering to notice his fine features. The way he cares about her parents doesn’t help. Neither does the way he keeps saying and doing things that make Meg wonder if he is still the same old Oliver Ross. Adding to the challenge is the series of small but frustrating acts of sabotage that keep happening and the long nights of watching over the boat together. Still yet, her mother’s condition continues to baffle the doctors. Despite the long held grudge, Meg and Oliver have to work together and do what is best for her parents.

Liz Johnson delivers a story filled with heart to pull the reader into life in the tiny PEI fishing village. Anger, confusion and frustration pave the way for hope, love, and intentionally trying to make happy moments together. Beyond the Tides is the first book in Johnson’s Prince Edward Island Shores series; I look forward to reading the others as they release.

Beyond the Tides by Liz Johnson is currently available from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Under the Magnolias

 Sometimes I read books that I don’t review. I love writing reviews to share amazing books with y’all and I love supporting some truly exciting authors. But every now and then it is nice to simply read a book without thinking about just the right quote, just the right image background, or sitting down to write the review while the story is fresh in my mind. That’s exactly what I had planned for Under the Magnolias by T. I. Lowe and our scheduled beach trip: toes in the sand, book in my hand.

There’s just one problem with that plan. I can’t let this book just pass as a beach read. T. I. Lowe did something I don’t remember ever seeing in a storyline about mental health. All too often, the storyline focuses on a family sucked into the vortex of a parent’s mental health issues and struggles that end only when the children run away or grow up and escape the madness. And all too often in life, this is reality; I am in no way dismissing the painful reality of families battling mental illness. But who is fighting for these families?

Austin Foster’s pa has been prone to seasons of darkness for as long as she can remember, but her mama always did what needed to be done to shelter the children from the worst of his lows. When Mama passes away while giving birth to twins, the weight of her family’s world falls squarely on her shoulders, and that includes protecting her younger siblings while weathering Pa’s highs and lows. Austin doesn’t have time for silly teenage activities or romances, and she certainly can’t take the chance that someone in town might find out what demons they are hiding under the magnolias out at Nolia Farms.

The thing about Dave Foster is that he loves fiercely. He takes the call to be the hands and feet of Jesus very seriously, so it is no surprise that the congregation meeting in the little white chapel at Nolia Farms includes a ragtag band of the town’s riffraff outcasts. But these are the people God uses to be his hands and feet when the secrets Austin has tried to keep buried claw their way into the light. They are the ones who support the Foster family through the struggles of finding help for Dave, and who encourage Austin and her siblings to begin to dream of a life beyond the swirling vortex of his instability. Lowe does not sugarcoat the struggles, and I really appreciate the way she highlights the value of a fierce support system in the family’s healing process. 

Under the Magnolias by T. I. Lowe is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Book Review - Under The Bayou Moon

With just a few sentences, Valerie Fraser Luesse swept me into the sultry and utterly captivating of life of the bayou. I could feel the gentle forward motion of the pirogue as Raphe navigated into the secluded microcosm of the glorious white alligator, hear the night music of the croaking bullfrog, the gentle splash of turtles launching themselves from their log perches into the still water. I could feel the humidity settle on my skin, and I was taken to a place which stirs the spirit to stop and bide a while.

Luesse does not so much tell as story as she welcomes us into the lives of these individuals and their community. It does not take long to feel like family to Ellie, Remy, Raphe, and Heywood, or to the colorful and beautiful characters that surround them in Bernadette, Louisiana. We cheer for their victories and mourn with them in their losses. The plot centers around Ellie’s arrival in Bernadette, seeking to find herself and her future, as well as the small town’s struggles against a dirty politician. It is about community and family, friendships that last a lifetime, and romance that inspires the heart to sing. It is about fighting fiercely to protect the things that matter most and learning to let go when the time is right.

Under the Bayou Moon by Valerie Fraser Luesse is available August 20 and may be preordered now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Hostile Intent

Y’all know I love a good opening line, and Lynette Eason is a master at setting the hook firmly and early. “Today, the watching ended and the killing started.” How in the world was I supposed to put down Hostile Intent after reading that? There was only one answer: finish it.

The fourth book in Lynette Eason’s Danger Never Sleeps series focuses on Ava Jackson and Caden Denning, who we already know from their roles in the first three books. Since Ava’s dad passed away 8 months ago, she has been faithfully attending to her mother, who is near the end of her life. Ava has just been discharged from the Navy and is still trying to figure out what she wants to do with her life, but she knows that she will continue to say no every time her dad’s friend John tries to recruit her into the CIA. She’s tired of the lies her dad had to tell to protect his family and determined not to spend the rest of her days lying to the people she loves in order to protect them. When Caden, FBI Special Agent and Ava’s childhood friend, finds a photo of Ava and her dad at a murder scene, he knows she is somehow connected to the victims and may be a target. He finds himself working with her to unravel the details of the string of murders while trying to keep her safe… and trying to convince her to fall in love with him in spite of her trust issues. Eason packs punches, chases and a room designed for torture into this breakneck paced storyline that will keep you turning pages until the very end.

Danger Never Sleeps book 4, Hostile Intent, by Lynette Eason is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

GIVEAWAY!

Shawn Smucker’s latest release, The Weight of Memory, is at once both haunting and beautiful. You can find my review of it here. I have a copy of this amazing book just waiting for one of my dear readers! So here’s the deal: check out the graphic below and then comment on this post to tell me someone who has taught you much simply by your observation of them. On August 18, I will randomly select one reader’s comment as our giveaway winner!

I’ll go first: In the spirit of Paul’s granddaughter, Pearl, I must say I have learned much simply by observing our principessa. I thought I had a good idea of who she is and what she likes, but in the process of watching her grow and find her own identity, I have learned that she is very much her own complex and amazing individual. She has taught me to let go of my own preconceived notions and try to really see others for who they are, not who I expect them to be. 

I look forward to reading your comments and am super psyched to share this wonderful book with y’all!

Book Review - The Nature of Small Birds

The synopsis for The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner caught my attention and I knew right away that I had to read it. Operation Babylift was a humanitarian effort at the end of the Vietnam War to evacuate thousands of children from South Vietnam and led to their adoption by families around the world. Mindy is one of those children, blessed to grow up with a loving and supportive adoptive family, and searching for the sense of identity that comes with learning about her birth family. I snatched up this book and settled in to read all about the complexities of Mindy’s growth, to feel that love and longing and the satisfaction of finally meeting her birth mother, of her return to the country of her birth.

The Nature of Small Birds is not at all what I had preconceived. Instead of the expected viewpoint, Finkbeiner chose to tell a different kind of story through the eyes of Mindy’s father, mother, and older sister. For a few minutes, I was genuinely disappointed, but Finkbeiner did a beautiful thing with the method she chose. Little Minh would not have been able to convey her parents’ conflicted feelings about choosing to say yes to this little wonder who desperately needed to be nurtured, while recognizing that their siblings had very different experiences in Vietnam. Little Minh would not have been able to express the simple thrill of having a grandparent recognize that their sweet girl might appreciate a baby doll with dark hair and eyes, when the only ones to be found are blond with blue eyes. And sweet little Minh could not have known all the ways she changed her big sister’s life. It would be interesting to see Mindy’s point of view, but Finkbeiner delivered an unexpected kind of turmoil, grace, and beauty in the method she chose. She also accomplished the task of sending her reader to learn more about Operation Babylift and efforts to care for the children of war-torn South Vietnam in the mid-70’s. I highly recommend a good cup of tea and The Nature of Small Birds.

The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner comes out August 20 and is available for pre-order now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - The Chase

Lisa Harris thrilled us with US Marshals Series book one, The Escape. The Chase, her upcoming sequel, is a fast paced manhunt for four bank robbers who have added murder to their string of crimes. With US Marshals Madison James and Jonas Quinn on their tails, these thrill seeking criminals are on the verge of losing their game, and that makes them scared, scattered, and even more dangerous. But this particular chase can’t be business as usual when it is Madison’s first after 3 months of recovery from being shot in a dramatic encounter with her husband’s murderer. It’s personal for Jonas, too, when the bank robbers take out someone very close to him.

Entwined with the details of this chase are Madison’s years-long pursuit for the truth about her husband’s murder and the tricky business of these more-than-partners feelings that tumble just out of reach for both Madison and Jonas. Harris writes these elements, as well as the heartfelt and heartbreaking details of Madison’s family, with delicate intensity. They are very real and very pertinent elements that drive excellent character development and set the reader up for the next installment of the series, which I certainly can’t wait to read.

The Chase, book 2 of the US Marshals Series by Lisa Harris, releases August 20 and is available for pre-order now from your favorite bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Between the Wild Branches

Connilyn Cossette has earned her place on my list of most inspired authors by proving book after book that her historical fiction gives context and helps the reader understand truths from our biblical history. That means my expectations were high for her latest release, Between the Wild Branches, book 2 of The Covenant House series. If you have not yet read my review of To Dwell Among Cedars, book 1 of The Covenant House, you can find it here. Then, sit back and let me tell you why you need to get your sweet mitts on this book right away.

Lukio was just a young boy when the Ark of the Covenant was returned to the Hebrews by the kings of Philistia, but he noticed that the young king of Ashdod stood alone in his desire to destroy the cursed box instead of giving it back to their enemies. Now he is the champion of Ashdod, Demon Eyes, invincible and betrothed to the king’s favored daughter, but holding on to his childhood love for the woman who is now the slave of his future wife. When Lukio learns what has happened to Shoshana in the decade since he left her, he knows he must use his position and resources to secret her from the palace and return her to safety in Kiryat-Yearim. Little does he know that her rescue and his decision to give his life for hers will expose the vanity of the life he has carefully crafted and the reality that he can truly find his place grafted among the family who never quit praying that Yahweh would protect their Natan and return him to them.

Cossette’s illustration of grafting us into the family of the One True God is tended as well as the gardens Lukio’s sister nurtures in To Dwell Among Cedars and is an exquisite example of the way we can be transformed from our sin sick Philistine selves into Yahweh’s beloved children. We are treasured and longed for by Him the way Elazar and Yoela do Lukio, even when we are foolish and don’t recognize that His grace and mercy are freely extended to us. With the character of Lukio, Cossette held a mirror before me and revealed that God sees me as a beloved branch, fit for nurturing, pruning, and developing desirable fruit.

Between the Wild Branches, book 2 of The Covenant House series, is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and the publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - The Weight of Memory

Nobody writes speculative fiction like Shawn Smucker, and his new release, The Weight of Memory is positive proof that he’s at the top of his game. In his golden years, Paul finds himself as the sole caregiver for his granddaughter, Pearl. After a terminal diagnosis, Paul must find his way home to provide for Pearl beyond his days on earth. But Nysa isn’t the same place Paul remembers, and the murmurs he hears sound suspiciously like the stories Pearl tells of the silver-haired woman only she can see. It seems that Nysa is the only way forward, but getting there is going to take several steps back.

Returning to the lake where his wife drowned within days of their son’s birth, Paul must also face his old friend Tom, who struggles under the burdens of his own memories of their youthful days. Paul doesn’t know how to tell his friend about the diagnosis or about Pearl’s fanciful tales of the silver-haired woman. But Pearl’s exuberance begins to pull Tom from the depths of his own struggles. Together, Paul and Tom try to unravel the mystery of this woman before it is too late and Pearl is lost to them the way they’ve already lost their loved ones. In their grief, they find a path toward life.

The Weight of Memory by Shawn Smucker is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online.

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - On The Cliffs of Foxglove Manor

Adria Banished to Foxglove Manor with the charge to find what had been stolen from her pirate father, Adria arrives to find Foxglove Manor as tempestuous as Lake Superior, which it overlooks. Nobody wants to talk about the man who is not in the turret; nobody wants to talk about the little girl who died, but sometimes shows herself. Nobody is going to give Adria any hints about where to find the treasure she must return to her father so that he will do her the great favor of disowning her.

Kailey Twenty years ago, Kailey's family vacationed at Foxglove Manor. Twenty years ago, Kailey was kidnapped, questioned, and returned home the very same afternoon. Twenty years ago, Kailey's parents died. Now Kailey and her brother, Jude, return to Foxglove Manor. On the surface, it is an ideal situation where she can be caretaker in a small retirement home that will also accommodate her autistic brother. However, Kailey is also seeking understanding and closure for what happened when she was five years old.

"He had ruined death for her, and the hope of it." Sadness settled in my bones from the opening line and stayed there for the duration of this gothic tale, buoyed only periodically by Axel's determination to keep Kailey's heart and head sighted on the One who is greater than our fears and our disappointments. A delicate balance between the gloom and the Light is accurately reflected as the characters wrestle in earnest with abandonment, disappointment, fear, and hopelessness to find hope, "By God's grace."

On The Cliffs of Foxglove Manor by Jaime Jo Wright is currently available from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to my husband, who encourages me to "buy the book" when I don't have a review copy. All opinions stated here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - A Lady in Attendance

Rachel Fordham's latest release, A Lady in Attendance, follows main character Hazel through her time in a reformatory as a willful, but wrongly accused, young woman and also through her struggle to clear her name and be restored to her family. There is no small amount of personal growth involved in this process, which we walk through with Hazel, her dear friends, and the family who felt it necessary to distance themselves from her scandal.

Fordham writes with conviction on the topics of shame, justice, and restoration to give A Lady in Attendance value beyond the beginnings of a romance between Hazel and Gilbert, the dentist who has hired her as his attending lady. Gilbert and Hazel's friend Ina are able to encourage away her determination to wear her shame as a protective cloak and give one more effort to clear her name so she can reunite with her family. I appreciate the way Fordham balanced Hazel's personal growth with that of those who surround her.

A Lady in Attendance is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online.

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine. 

Book Review - No Journey Too Far

How far would you go to find the ones you love? In No Ocean Too Wide, Carrie Turansky gave us the story of a family torn apart by the child welfare system and spread across the ocean. The younger McAlister children were taken into care as their mother fought for her life in a London hospital, but instead of being restored to their family when she recovered, Garth, Katie and Grace were sent to Canada as orphans. In No Journey Too Far, Turansky tells us just how far the McAlister family will go to restore their loved ones to the family.

Garth has fulfilled the terms of his indenture and been discharged from his military service at the end of the Great War. Now it is time to return to Canada, claim Emma as his bride, and find little sister Grace. But life has been exceedingly difficult for Emma in Garth's absence, and she's beginning to wonder if he will indeed return for her. Since he hasn't replied to her letters in months, she isn't even sure if he will be able to find her, and a murder charge is just one more roadblock to happiness for this orphan. Grace, on the other hand, remembers that she has a loving family out there somewhere. She also knows that her adoptive parents have always tried to conceal the fact that was not born to them. On the cusp of adulthood and her entry into the marriage market, Grace's greatest challenge is understanding her identity. For all they have endured, there are still more hurdles to clear before they can see the Lord's plan for their lives.

With the McAlister Family series, Carrie Turansky has shown us just some of the benefits and great costs of the British child emigration system. She has created a family for whom we can cry in the pits of their despair and rejoice in their triumphs. There is certainly no journey too far for this family, and through them we can see there is no journey too far for our loving Father to restore His loved ones to His family.

No Journey Too Far by Carrie Turansky is currently available from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Along a Storied Trail

In the mountains of Kentucky, families work together to make sure there's food on the table. Especially during the Great Depression. For Tansy Calhoun it means taking a job she loves as a packhorse librarian, but it also means her daddy has left home to try to find work. For neighbor Caleb Barton it means working for the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee for a spell. For dapper New York writer Damien Felding it means highlighting places like Booneville, Kentucky, for the Federal Writers' Project. What nobody is looking for is a love triangle around Tansy, who doesn't have time or need for a man until Damien breezes into town with an air of adventure swirling around him and Caleb returns home to find the girl he always loved never did marry up and move away.

In Along a Storied Trail, Ann H. Gabhart brings us into the lives of these hardworking mountain families who teach us what family really means. Tansy's family relies on her income and waits with hope, and no small amount of trepidation, for word of her daddy's welfare. Caleb's family is reeling from the accidental death of his brother and looking to Caleb for solutions he can't provide while he tries his best to care for his kin. Aunt Perdie doesn't need anybody and is resolved to sit in her cold cabin and drift away to glory when her last few potatoes have been eaten. And Coralee, with a babe on the way, has had to seek refuge with Aunt Perdie. With these complex and lovable characters, Gabhart eloquently shows us that sometimes family is born to you and sometimes family is born of need.

Along a Storied Trail by Ann H. Gabhart is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Come Back to Me

"Come back to me, Marian. Come back." I had no idea when I picked up Jody Hedlund's first Waters of Time book, Come Back to Me, that the title would stir me the way it does since I read those words within the text. Even after finishing the book, they squeeze my heart with the sheer desperation penned into them by an author so very skilled at both storytelling and creating characters who get into the reader's heart and stay long after the story is told.

Marian Creighton humored her father’s research into healing waters influenced by the seeds from the biblical Tree of Life, even as he focused on it more than his relationships with his daughters. After all, he was utterly devastated by his wife’s death from the disease than now ravages the body of Marian’s sister, Ellen. Marian would give anything to heal her sister, even if it means following clues her father has left behind to lead Marian to holy water with supposed healing properties. There are just a few complications involved: someone is after her to get their hands on his research, there are still so many unknowns, and time travel. When Marian finds herself in the year 1381, with no other option but to participate in a marriage of convenience in order to stay alive long enough to locate the healing waters, she doesn't realize how it will change her life in both timelines.

With Come Back to Me, Jody Hedlund opens the Waters of Time with a tome filled with a love to last two lifetimes. The modern intrigue may hook the reader, but what comes to pass between Marian and Will is an achingly beautiful portrait of determination, affection, and undying devotion that spans centuries.

Come Back to Me by Jody Hedlund is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.

Book Review - Jewel of the Nile

There are books that are read and shelved. You read them and move on, having enjoyed the foray into the lives of the characters and soon to forget them as new characters in a new novel move to the forefront. Other books are enjoyable fiction that get into your soul in a very non-fiction way. The characters and their events are fiction, but the truths are fact and prompt the reader to delve more deeply into that truth and what it means personally. Jewel of the Nile by Tessa Afshar is an excellent example of this.

Chariline has grown up an orphan in the care of her emotionally distant aunt and barely tolerated by her grandparents. When whispers reveal that her father may actually be alive, Chariline feels compelled to search to the ends of the earth to find him. In the search for her father, she must excise the scars of her heart and lay them before the One who will never abandon her. However, Chariline is not alone in feeling guilty, unworthy, unlovable, and confused about reconciling those old hurts with the Lord's truth.

In Jewel of the Nile, we are treated to the continued storyline of dear Theo, who I have loved since his appearance in Thief of Corinth and Daughter of Rome. Theo has much to teach Chariline and much to learn from her, as well. I love the way Afshar weaves their stories around beloved New Testament characters and historical figures, using rich historical detail to immerse the reader in the setting. Jewel of the Nile is a treasure among tomes, and should be savored for its rich delights.

Jewel of the Nile is available June 1 from your favorite local bookseller or online.

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Thank you to the author and publisher for allowing me a copy to read and review. All opinions expressed here are my own and are completely genuine.