Book Review - Into the Starlight

Return to Sweetwater Crossing with the final installment of the Secrets of Sweetwater Crossing series by Amanda Cabot to finally learn what happened to Clive Finley and what will become of Joanna Vaughn. When the middle sister returns home from Europe, it is not as the accomplished concert pianist she hoped to become or as the wife she was for a short time, but as a widow whose struggle with pneumonia has robbed her of the stamina to pursue her high energy dreams. Furthermore, her joyful homecoming has been upended by changes that have come to Finley house in her absence and those that arrive on her heels in the form of Clive Finley’s former fiancée and his nephew, Burke. Of course, Sweetwater Crossing holds secrets only a Vaughn sister can bring to light, and working with Burke to unearth them gives him and Joanna an opportunity to find their own paths forward from a point of despair to a joyful future. Cabot reunites us with the Texas Hill County town and its citizens we know so well and introduces us to some vibrant new ones, rich with relatable dilemmas and a hope for what is yet to come. Into the Starlight could feasibly be read as a standalone, but I recommend enjoying the series in its entirety.

Into the Starlight by Amanda Cabot 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 - The Lady with the Dark Hair

Art and family history come together in The Lady with the Dark Hair, an exploration of the her-story of said lady and its impact on a modern day art history major with a passion for a specific painter. Esther Markstrom is a descendant of Francisco Vella, curator of the museum which houses a collection of his paintings, and caretaker of her mentally ill mother. All of these components of her identity also carry the heavy burden of responsibility. The most prized Vella painting does not reside in the museum, however, but in her family home. Never seen by anyone other than Esther and her mother, never questioned beyond her mild curiosity about the identity of The Lady with the Dark Hair, never challenged. Then Esther invites her former professor to visit La Dama del Cabello Oscuro, kicking off a chain of events she could not have predicted for her mundane life. Events that not only shake up everything anyone knows about Francisco Vella, but also everything Esther has ever known about herself.

Told in dual time fashion, The Lady with the Dark Hair delivers the stories of Esther and La Dama. Their own relationships with Vella are brought to light, as history opens itself to explore the struggles and expectations of women in the late 19th century and its parallels with those Esther faces in her own experiences. Characters in both eras leap from the page as the author has painted her story so vividly that its pull is inescapable.

The Lady with the Dark Hair by Erin Bartels 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 - Where The Road Bends

After losing both her father and mother to illness, Norah King finds herself engaged to a man she hardly knows in order to save her family’s land. As her only option for her future, things are set quite clearly for Norah until she finds vultures circling a wounded creature on her land and discovers that the creature is, in fact, a severely wounded man. A rather large severely wounded man, penniless and lost, searching for direction toward a life he hopes will look very different from the one he had before he was beaten and left for dead. While tending to Quincy’s physical wounds, Norah finds that Quincy brings a comfort to her life even as she brings comfort to his. However, they both must move forward into whatever may come, and he is compelled to leave as soon as he has recovered enough to travel. Neither one aware of what has transpired in the other’s life, the two are brought together in desperation again years later. Will the bond they unintentionally shared before be strengthened by the events that took place in the interim? Or will their hardships and secrets be too much to overcome?

Rachel Fordham writes with great detail a compelling story of loss and of love in Where The Road Bends. Without a family, Norah’s great yearning is to grow one of her own. And yet, some wounds are hard to heal. By crafting a cast of cast-offs with great heart, Fordham explores themes of forgiveness, as well as redemption and hope. Where The Road Bends is romance and more as Quincy and Norah, Alice, Mrs. Dover, Nels, and others learn that who they were does not negate who they have become.

Where The Road Bends by Rachel Fordham 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 - The Catch

The wife of a high profile judge is dead at the hands of his mistress, and that is just the beginning. The baby born to his mistress and the baby’s sitter are missing. But it is the complication unearthed as a result of the Amber Alert that has Deputy US Marshals Madison James and Jonas Quinn racing to find them before they are lost to the men who are hunting the babysitter. If that was the only complication, it would be a hair raising, heart pumping, escapade. If that was the only complication, the person who murdered Madison’s husband and has been tormenting her would not be shooting at her. Again. If that was the only complication, Madison and Jonas would not be wrestling with the attraction that has been growing between them. Still. The original intrigue and its complications add up to a novel you will devour and will finish feeling well satisfied.

If you loved The Escape and The Chase, you are going to love The Catch! The third installment in the US Marshals Series by Lisa Harris is now available at 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 - Sea Glass Cottage

“As my abuela used to say when I was a boy in Mexico, coincidence is nothing more than a small miracle in which God chooses to remain anonymous.”

Charley, his tacos, and his timely wisdom are back in Irene Hannon’s eighth Hope Harbor novel, Sea Glass Cottage. It is no coincidence when Christi Reese arrives in Hope Harbor to find Jack Colby and ask him for a loan. The glitch? Jack hates Christi and she deserves it. She broke his heart and threw him under the bus long ago; never mind the heartbreak and shame that have shaped her into an altogether different person. All Jack knows is that Christi has invaded the sanctuary of his new life. Then again, the invasion of the girl who hurt him terribly so long ago pales in comparison to learning that one error in judgement ten years ago has come back to him in the form of a daughter who now desperately needs her father.

Charley’s insights are not reserved for Jack and Christi as they learn to heal beyond the hurt. He is full of sage advice and some overt nudges as Beth Adams begins to gingerly try on the idea of shedding her anger with her husband, Steve. Still reeling from their teen son’s sudden death, anger with Steve for failing to embrace their boy’s passion and for pushing him to be someone different has been the armor that kept Beth upright through her grief. Coincidence is the small miracle that brings a very special little boy into Steve’s life and opens the door to reconciliation with Beth. And frankly, if Noah doesn’t make you want to go hug every special kid in your life, you need to check your pulse.

Bringing back characters we’ve grown to know and love, as well as introducing us to some new ones, Irene Hannon brings home another great Hope Harbor novel. Check out Sea Glass Cottage to see how coincidences work to nudge our characters toward the miracles God has in store for them.

Sea Glass Cottage by Irene Hannon 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 - Spark of Love

Spark of Love is a return to Mesquite Springs that Amanda Cabot fans will thoroughly enjoy. Afraid for her safety, heiress Alexandra Tarkington finds herself fleeing the comforts of New York to find her father in Mesquite Springs, Texas. Running into Gabe Seymour is more than a coincidence, in spite of the way things appear to Alexandra. Unwanted courtships seem to be the least of her concerns when she finds herself in danger, but the biggest threats could be the reality of her father’s business schemes and the potential loss of the only suitor who actually holds her heart. This novel reads as a stand-alone, but reading the first two books in Cabot’s Mesquite Springs series is a delightful opportunity to get to know Alexandra’s new and dear friends, Evelyn and Dorothy. Stand-alone and series readers alike will appreciate the character development and unpredictable turns of events in Spark of Love.

Spark of Love by Amanda Cabot is the third book of her Mesquite Springs series and 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 - The Prince and the Prodigal

Jill Eileen Smith writes exquisite biblical fiction, and she has done it again with The Prince and the Prodigal. The Old Testament story of Jacob’s favored son, Joseph, comes to life with her words that help us view his experiences and those of prodigal Judah with fresh eyes to see and ears to hear that “… not only had God fulfilled his dreams, but He’d given him the greater blessing of reunion and reconciliation.”

In reading the account directly from the Bible, I know I was always quick to judge Joseph as the betrayed brother who is eventually redeemed and restored by God. It is easy to miss some very important aspects of the greater narrative. In dismissing the brothers as evil and driven by their hatred to commit sins tantamount to murder, it seems I’ve long overlooked the heart work God did in Judah’s life to bring him to the point of kneeling before the brother he so grievously wronged and begging mercy for youngest brother Benjamin, who was the only remaining son of Jacob’s beloved Rachel. There had to be some exceptional work in the hearts of all of the sons of Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah to lead them to the point where they would treat this remaining son of Rachel with care that spoke to Joseph’s heart and led to the kind of reconciliation that allowed Jacob to spend the remainder of his days in fellowship with all of his sons. Smith pens this book with great care to reflect the heart ache, the heart work, and the heart’s joy as God fulfilled His plan to love and care for His children.

The Prince and the Prodigal by Jill Eileen Smith 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 - Until Leaves Fall in Paris

To stand up for what you believe is a difficult thing. To do it while giving the appearance that you are living a life in direct opposition to your beliefs and shoulder the burden of judgement is exceptionally difficult. This is precisely what Paul Aubrey must do when he finds himself called upon to remain in Paris and collaborate with the Nazis for the sake of his own country. As an American living in France, a widower with a young and creative daughter, Paul walks that fine line for the greater good, always keeping a watchful eye for the moment when he must take sweet little Josephine to safety back in the States. It is no wee complication when he finds himself drawn to the beautiful and lively Lucie Girard, owner of Green Leaf Books, the American bookstore in Paris where Paul takes Josie to look at storybooks and encourage a creativity he doesn’t quite understand.

Though she was born in America and remains a citizen, Lucie has lived in France most of her life, dedicating herself to the ballet. As American Jews, her friends Hal and Erma must quickly escape Paris and leave behind their beloved bookshop, which stands to be a total loss until Lucie decides to quit the ballet and purchase Green Leaf Books from them. Though she knows nothing of owning a shop, she is determined to keep it open and safe until the Greenblatts are able to safely return and resume their business. The shop takes on a new vibrance the day Paul Aubrey and little Josie enter it, bringing the child’s vivid imagination and inspiration, but beneath the facade Lucie has fashioned flow the undercurrents of resistance. Though handsome and charming Mr. Aubrey provokes a favorable response in Lucie, she must distance herself from the collaborator and avoid risking the chance he might discover the secret she holds on the very shelves he peruses.

When their world comes crashing down, what will Paul and Lucie discover about themselves and each other?

Sarah Sundin is my hands-down go-to author for World War II era historical fiction. Her research is phenomenal and her dedication to bringing the Greatest Generation into our hands and hearts is admirable.  Her tales of grit, determination, and perseverance never cease to thrill me and Until Leaves Fall in Paris is no exception. I enjoyed the appearance of our friends Peter and Evelyn from When Twilight Breaks and look forward to meeting Baron Henrik Ahlenfeldt, friend of Peter and Paul, in Sundin’s upcoming release.

Until Leaves Fall in Paris 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 - 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 - 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.

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 - 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.