Book Review - A Hope Fulfilled

There is a beautiful thing about biblical fiction: it always sends me digging into the Bible with fresh eyes in light of the context. A Hope Fulfilled is April W. Gardner’s contextual imagining of the book of Obadiah. The 21 verses of the minor prophet’s Old Testament prophecy are easy to skim over, but don’t be fooled by the book’s length. And don’t be fooled by the novella’s length, either. Gardner sets the stage with a Jewish servant in the household of an Edomite official who despises her the way Edom despises Judah and is more than happy to treat her poorly. With the Babylonian army at the gates, Tikvah must decide if she is willing to help one enemy with a task that ultimately fulfills part of Obadiah’s prophecy against another enemy. And because we all love the thread of hope of a happy future for the heroine, there is a surprise hiding within the Babylonian armor. As a novella, this story moves at what I call “novella’s pace.” It can feel rushed if you are settling in for a novel length exposition, but packs a lot of story in a few hours’ read. Kind of like the book of Obadiah, to which the author refers, so it seems fitting.

Not to be overlooked are Gardner’s companion books, which together with A Hope Fulfilled complete the A Fire and a Flame series. Knowing Obadiah is her commentary on the Old Testament book and But in Mount Zion is a Bible study of the book. It seems at first glance like the second shortest book of the Bible needs little explanation, but with context and study come understanding of the prophecy that calls down warning and judgement on a nation that has despised and abused the nation of Judah, while promising hope for God’s people.

A Hope Fulfilled, Knowing Obadiah, and But in Mount Zion by April W. Gardner are available online from Amazon. You can find more information on the A Fire and a Flame series on the author’s website.

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 - Trust The Stars

In her latest release, Trust The Stars, Tricia Goyer intertwines the stories of an Italian princess captured by the Nazis, an Allorian prince with heart, and broken American humanitarian with the unfailing love of the Father who never leaves any of them. Goyer takes us down a carefully crafted path to show how these seemingly unrelated individuals come together in a tapestry that could only be woven by a Maker with a beautiful plan to overcome their individual struggles and create something so much better for themselves and for the ones they love. The “average girl meets prince and doesn’t know he is royalty” trope is one that is old and golden; there is a reason it doesn’t go away and never should. But Goyer does it in a very special way in Trust The Stars. Don’t miss this one; it is delightful fiction with a gift for the reader in the lessons learned along the way.

Trust The Stars by Tricia Goyer is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Tricia Goyer’s Shop                    Barnes & Noble                        Amazon

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 - Letter from Belleau Wood

Letter from Belleau Wood is the seventh Covington Chronicles book by Mary Lou Cheatham. I read it as a standalone book and feel like Ms. Cheatham crafted her details carefully to fill in any blanks I might have missed by jumping straight into the end of the series. This story is told through the eyes of a young woman named Trudy who grew up loving the neighbor boy and he grew up loving her. The days of childhood with Trudy, her brother Will, and Jeremy together from sunup to sundown are a thing of the past as the three go separate ways for school. But if love was as easy as knowing, that distance would not have led Trudy and Jeremy apart. As they come of age on the cusp of the Great War, it is letters that hold them together with their loved ones. And it is one letter from Belleau Wood that changes everything. Cheatham explores these interactions as the youths grow through war and the Spanish flu pandemic to find who they are and who they are meant to be.

There is a certain level of comfort to the locations in Letter from Belleau Wood, sprinkled throughout the state of my childhood. Though things had changed by the time I attended camp at The W and 4-H events at A&M (now State) I felt a special bit of connection to those places. I couldn’t help wondering if Trudy and her roommates ever saw Mary, the Callaway ghost who kept my camp mates and me awake and always alert. Trudy’s stop at the country store with her papa reminded me of going with my daddy for Coke & peanuts and Moon Pies. Even those who don’t have a strong connection to Mississippi will feel swept into the setting.

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

Book Review - The Warsaw Sisters

It takes only a few chapters of Amanda Barratt’s latest release, The Warsaw Sisters, to see how last year’s release earned Christy Book of The Year. Barratt’s research is remarkable, her world building impeccable with the help of details one might never stop to consider otherwise. The Warsaw Sisters is a particularly visceral experience; you will feel the pull of the heart as Tata leaves his twin girls to go fight for Poland against the incoming Nazi invaders and break for the sisters as war tears them apart. Barratt writes a beautiful tribute to the determination of the citizens of Warsaw.

Spanning six years of Poland’s World War II fight and the return of Varsovians to their home, The Warsaw Sisters is the story of twins Antonina and Helena. Their mother sent their father off to war before the girls were born, but she is not here to see him off to fight the encroachment of the Nazis. Tosia and Hela continue to cling to each other among the chaos and toil for each day in their beloved city. As war ravages their home and tensions mount, the twins and their world are torn apart. Passions drive each sister to do what they must to survive this horror with honor intact.

The Warsaw Sisters by Amanda Barratt is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House        Christian Book     Walmart     Amazon

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 - Shadows at Dusk

The latest installment in Elizabeth Goddard’s Missing in Alaska series is a frantic flight to find a missing sister and stop a murderer before he kills Carrie James (again.) The bush pilot finds herself thrown into Detective Trevor West’s search for his missing sister, even though he is the last thing she needs. Island hopping in southeast Alaska involves spending too much time with this man who makes her feel things she refuses to ever feel again, and it is hard to avoid opening up to someone when you continually find yourself in vulnerable positions with them. Goddard keeps the reader hopping as well, following the whodunnit of multiple transgressions while dodging danger by the most narrow margins. Also appearing in this sequel are several of our friends from the first installment, Cold Light of Day, who help search for the truth amidst the information Carrie and Trevor give and other evidence that turns up. Shadows at Dusk is sure to keep you enthralled from dusk til dawn.

Shadows at Dusk, Missing in Alaska series book 2, by Elizabeth Goddard is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House            Christian Book                Walmart                Amazon

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 - Into The Fire

Irene Hannon’s latest release has all the good stuff of a well written romantic suspense novel. There’s the intelligent and determined arson investigator who is trying to solve a puzzle before anyone else dies while fighting her own demons from the past. And there is, of course, the sensitive but keen ATF Special Agent who is assigned to work with her and must then work out what to do with the feelings he develops for her. There are some wonderfully supportive family members and then there is the foe. The one who killed arson investigator Bri Tucker’s former colleague, leaving her to solve a puzzle she can’t even seem to decipher. And the one who is causing a series of really crummy events to keep Bri off balance when she needs to be able to focus. Of course, Special Agent Marc Davis is messing with her balance a bit in a different sort of way. If only they could wrap up their joint investigation so they can focus on the heat building between them. Hannon’s storyline lights up intrigue you will struggle to contain in Into the Fire.

Into the Fire, the first book in Irene Hannon’s Undaunted Courage series, is available now from you favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House            Christian Book            Walmart            Amazon

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 - Against The Wind

Amanda Cabot’s latest release is the second in her Secrets of Sweetwater Crossing series, Against The Wind, and she blows in small town intrigue like a dust storm. Louisa Vaughn has a heart for healing and wants to do that for the community where she grew up. However, in late 1800s Texas, a female doctor is a radical idea that gets people riled up. Sweetwater Crossing is no exception and the resistance varies from loud mumbling to gravely dangerous acts that put others in harm’s way to prove a point. But Louisa has the unwavering support of her sister and of her first solo patient, Josh Porter. Josh has problems of his own, though. Outsiders may be welcomed here, but certainly with a fair amount of caution. And the broken leg Louisa has set for him throws a kink in his plans to get home to New York in time to try to win control of the family legacy in the competition his grandfather set forth.

If you don’t already know Sweetwater Crossing like your own hometown from After The Shadows, the town and its residents will quickly become familiar, thanks to Cox’s careful addition of the locals and their various places. You are effortlessly transported to the lush Texas Hill Country, to a slower and more organic time and place, with the sun on your face and the wind in your hair. Against The Wind will easily pull you in and leave you longing for the next installment of the Secrets of Sweetwater Crossing.

After The Shadows, book two in the Secrets of Sweetwater Crossing series by Amanda Cabot is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House            Christian Book            Barnes & Noble            Amazon

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 Royal Christmas

There is a certain antihistamine brand that advertises with the song which proclaims it is the most wonderful time of the year. My husband can attest that this advertisement, regardless of my feelings about the product, chafes my soul like a swimsuit 2 sizes too small. They tease! I’m a fall fan through and through, but that phrase is reserved specifically for Christmas and to use it elsewhere is to deliver false hope. However, there is a silver tinsel light at the end of the tunnel, because fall means the release of the new Melody Carlson Christmas novella. It is the harbinger of Christmas carols to come, the first hopeful glimmer of the season in which I truly come alive! This year’s gift, A Royal Christmas, is a splendid addition to the Carlson Christmas chronicles I so crave. It is like jingling sleigh bells stop in front of my house on the sweltering fall day each year when my Carlson Christmas novella arrives. This one involves law student Adelaide Smith, still mourning the loss of her mother, and whose life is about to be shaken by the news that her father has found her by using a DNA match. And her father is the ailing king of a small Eastern European principality. And also, he hopes to stay alive long enough to meet the daughter he only recently learned he has, hopefully to find in her the heir to rule Montovia.

The relationships woven together through this story are intricate. It’s not your super cozy Christmas novella where someone misinterprets a hug between siblings as competition for romance. Adelaide quickly, but realistically, builds bonds with various members of the royal family and staff members. Some are worth keeping and others are a bit more in the spirit of Krampus than Father Christmas, when nefarious motives come into play. Carlson moves the book forward with a full novel’s character development and storyline in a novella length word count; a skill that left me feeling utterly satisfied and a wee bit bonded with certain characters. And if you know someone who delights in a Christmas novella, allow me to suggest this as a fantastic gift. I will surely reread A Royal Christmas at the height of my Thanksgiving through the new year Christmas novella marathon!

A Royal Christmas by Melody Carlson is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House        Christian Book            Barnes & Noble            Amazon

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 - He Should Have Told The Bees

Love and identity are timeless themes, expressed in every story in some way or another, it seems. Amanda Cox breaks these down in a tale of two women in He Should Have Told The Bees. Beckett Walsh’s father made a comfortable world for his beloved daughter on the farm they shared alone after her mother left them. She was his apprentice and was happy to carry on in his shadow until his death ripped away the security she relied on even more than she had known. Callie Peterson had no such stability in a world without a father and with a mother whose addictions stole any illusion of security. She should have been through living with the weight of her mother’s continued rejection and chaos, but the boundaries she so carefully constructed are torn down again by her mother’s pleas for help. There is no reason why Beckett or Callie should know about the other’s existence, until George Walsh’s trust divides his estate in half between them. Where each woman has struggled for a lifetime to understand who they are and why they weren’t enough for their parents to stay, this pivotal point begins a new search for understanding neither ever expected.

He Should Have Told The Bees is both heart wrenching and soul stirring, as Cox explores issues we all wrestle with, and does it in a manner that has the reader invested from the first appearance of a spunky alien waif in the Walsh Farms apiary. I have to confess that I was listening to an audiobook in which a spunky alien waif pops up in the path of an unsuspecting young woman, so I had to put He Should Have Told The Bees down for a time in order to keep the storylines from getting jumbled together. I was a bit trepidatious, then, when I resumed this book and hoped it wouldn’t be just another iteration of a storyline I had so recently explored. I worried this one might not hold its own against such a similar cast of characters. There was absolutely no cause for concern. He Should Have Told The Bees is its own story, with its own characters, and there is no confusing the two once those relationships between reader and subjects have been forged. And frankly, Katya Amadeus Cimmaron of the Vesper Galaxy is the kind of lovable, spunky alien waif you just want to scoop up and feed cupcakes. With galaxy frosting. And star sprinkles.

Without a doubt, Amanda Cox’s latest release, He Should Have Told The Bees, is a bit of a tear jerker, a bit of an emotional struggle, and a triumph.

He Should Have Told The Bees by Amanda Cox is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House            Christian Book            Barnes & Noble        Amazon

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 - Summer In The Spotlight

Levi Ross has decided to ignore the meteorologist who predicted a particularly early hurricane for Prince Edward Island and the consequences would be just what he deserved… if he deserved to be quietly tending the wounds of PEI’s only other resident stuck in the school when said hurricane dropped a tree through the roof of Kelsey Ahern’s classroom. But what he deserves has been a sticking point for Levi ever since his dad left the island and all his collateral damage without looking back. With Kelsey fired up about the future of the storm damaged Victoria Playhouse, and Levi fired up by Kelsey all over again, his past, present, and future are on a collision course. I can say from experience, Liz Johnson’s third installment of her Prince Edward Island Shores series apparently does not have to be read in order for the reader to get caught up in the storm that rages between the girl who grew up in the spotlight and the guy who will do anything to hide from it. The Ross family dynamics and their community of neighbors fuel this story all the way to a satisfying ending.

Summer In The Spotlight, Prince Edward Island Shores series book 3, by Liz Johnson is available September 1 from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House          Christian Book           Barnes & Noble            Amazon 

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 - Voice Of The Ancient

From the very beginning, with the four cousins hiding above and spying on the proceedings as the nation of Israel waits with bated breath for lots to be cast and a king to be called forth, Voice Of The Ancient moves furiously and eloquently through the bloody beginning of Saul’s reign. Zevi, Gavriel, Avidan, and Shalem are cousins on the cusp of manhood when the new king’s ragtag volunteer army is called up for battle and the pact of their blood brotherhood is put to the test. With two of them meant for the life of a soldier, the others must decide who they are and who they are meant to be in the eyes of the One Who Sees. And the One Who Sees has a plan beyond their rebellion. For Avi, that includes crossing paths with a young boy who is mistaken as his missing cousin and who is not actually a boy, but a woman in disguise for the sake of her treacherous journey to the safety of family she has never known. As Avidan and Keziah search for his missing cousin and her family, they learn together to listen to the Voice Of The Ancient for guidance.

Connilyn Cossette writes this coming of age story filled with turmoil and hope in a message about value and redemption from the One who gives both. I tried so hard to read it slowly and savor every detail, but was captivated from page one and finished it in a day. Connilyn has a great knack for truly immersing the reader in the lives of her characters. I am particularly fond of the longstanding relationships built throughout the course of her novels, which could be read enjoyably as standalone stories, but have a richness in the familiarity that has been developed through generations as I have read each of her novels.

Voice Of The Ancient, book 1 of The King’s Men series, by Connilyn Cossette is available now from you favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House        Christian Book            Barnes & Noble            Amazon

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 - An American Immigrant

Starting at surface level, Johanna Rojas Vann’s debut novel is a quick, easy, enjoyable read. Melanie Carvajal has always been too Colombian to be American and too American to be Colombian, spending her youth ashamed of all the things her family didn’t have and all the ways she was different from her peers. Never really thinking beyond herself and her goals, Melanie holds her mother at arm’s length and has no interest in visiting her Colombian family, until dire circumstances in the world she has created for herself force her to come face to face with everything she has worked so hard to keep separate from her life. What should have simply been the catalyst to save her career does just that in a way that has no regard for Melanie’s ten year plan. An American Immigrant has plenty to keep the reader turning pages.

Below surface level, though, is where the Rojas Vann truly shines. She writes with passion for the children of immigrant parents and for those parents who risk so much to come to America, knowing what they come to is going to be hard and coming here is going to be difficult, knowing they may be one of the many who don’t survive the journey, and knowing still that all of it means a chance at life they will never remotely achieve by staying home. She explores the ripple effects of one individual’s sacrifice on the generation to come, as well as all those left behind. And she explores the value of getting to know your family’s immigrant story. This novel is one part enjoyable novel, one part love letter to cultural identity, and one part homage to the value to getting to truly know your own immigrant story. I read every page and kept hoping for just one more bit, so I promptly preordered the audiobook and snagged the preorder goodies.

An American Immigrant by Johanna Rojas Vann is available tomorrow (8/15/23) from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Christian Book        Barnes & Noble        Amazon

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 Love Script

The Love Script is my first Toni Shiloh book. It definitely won’t be my last. The first in her Love in the Spotlight series, this one begins much stronger than the relationship manufactured to save face for Hollywood super star Lamont Booker and hair stylist Nevaeh Richards when the paparazzi catch the two in something that looks like, but isn’t, a romantic embrace. Trying to save face and maintain Lamont’s witness for God, they agree to begin dating, unprepared for the consequences. And the consequences mount rapidly, from paparazzi harassment beyond Nevaeh’s imagination to conviction that lying to save one’s witness does not glorify God. Naturally, there’s also the complication that comes from accidentally falling in love with someone who is pretending to be in love with you while you’re pretending to be in love with them. Shiloh writes characters who are easy to love with banter I could just eat up. The Love Script is packed with hard hitting biblical truth without sounding preachy, and it hit me in some places I needed to be convicted. I came for the sweet romance and stayed for the hearty truth.

The Love Script by Toni Shiloh is available now from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House            Christian Book            Barnes & Noble            Amazon

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 - Countdown

Lynette Eason drops the next installment of her Extreme Measures series on August 1 and the Countdown is on. If you read the first three books in the series, Raina Price has been a figure throughout as a fixture in the lives of Penny, Grace, and Juliana. Countdown gives us Raina’s backstory, as well as a pulse pounding race to protect one boy from the man who won’t let her go. Since being beaten and left for dead, keeping secrets and guarding her identity are survival requirements in her new life. But Vince Covelli’s patience and quiet persistence make Raina want to trust him. When she sees a familiar face on television, she knows she has to do whatever it takes, at whatever cost to herself, to protect the boy from a threat he doesn’t even know. Opening up to Vince and learning to trust him become necessary, but maybe that’s ok.

In Countdown, Eason delivers action and suspense at every turn. Intrigue is woven into romantic suspense to keep the story moving at an enjoyably fast pace. With characters written carefully to evoke love or hate in turn as appropriate, the multifaceted plot deals subversion on several levels to keep the reader guessing until the satisfying conclusion. If you’re looking for a book you can savor chapter by chapter or one you’ll devour in one sitting, Countdown has your number.

Countdown, book 4 of the Extreme Measures series from Lynette Eason, hits the scene August 1. You can preorder (Baker Book House tends to have great preorder rates) or pick it up then from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Book House        Christian Book        Barnes & Noble            Amazon

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.