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:

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 - Malicious Intent

Lynn H. Blackburn delivers her sequel to Unknown Threat in true Defend & Protect Series style with Malicious Intent. U.S. Secret Service Agent Gil Dixon finds it hard to keep work at the forefront when his job takes him face to face with the childhood love he thought lost. Dr. Ivy Collins has endured a traumatic home invasion, but recognizes Gil when he shows up at her side. In the process of forging her life and pursuing her passion to develop cutting edge prosthetics, Ivy has found that personal relationships don’t seem to stand up to the demands of her drive. Now under personal and professional attack, she has to learn to depend on Gil and his team of friends and colleagues to keep her safe and unravel the mystery before consequences get out of hand. Old flames try to flare to life, but the slow burn builds momentum from page one to the very end.

Malicious Intent, Lynn H. Blackburn’s second Defend & Protect Series novel, 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 - Looking for Leroy

Spring is upon us and I don’t know about you, but I am already dreaming of lazy days at the campground. I’ve got campfires and hammock reading on the mind. Melody Carlson spoke right to me with her latest novel, Looking for Leroy, where elementary teacher Brynna Phillips finds herself on a camping road trip with the not so warm and cuddly vice principal Sergeant Bart. Add that to the list of things in Brynna’s life that did not go as planned, along with a jerk of an ex-husband and a condo that doesn’t allow much space for the garden of her dreams. She’s not quite sure why she agreed to this road trip or the stranger they seemed to have picked up, Motorcycle Mike, but as the motley crew makes their way into California memories begin to pick at the edges of Brynna’s mind. Pulling into a campground that had been converted from the summer camp Brynna attended in high school, she begins to wonder what ever happened to the boy with the camera who made her smile so brightly.

Sparks are flying all around the campfire, but an idea begins to burn when Jan Barton and Motorcycle Mike hear about the boy from Brynna’s past. Before she knows what is really happening, they have picked up the game of Looking for Leroy, with little information except that his family owned a vineyard in California. As their own flame begins to burn, they are inspired to help Brynna reconnect with the one who got away. Upon finding their mark, a series of mishaps and mistruths lead to misunderstandings that pave the way to restoration for both the damaged vineyard and the relationship that just needed to be pruned and cared for in order to bear beautiful fruit.

Looking for Leroy by Melody Carlson is currently available from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Bookhouse        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 Dance in Donegal

A Dance in Donegal caught my eye as soon as it was released and I knew I wanted to read it. Somehow, it hadn’t surfaced on my TBR until after I read Jennifer Deibel’s second release, The Lady of Galway Manor. All of a sudden, my TBR adjusted to bring A Dance in Donegal to the top!

Feeling lost after her mother’s death, Moira Doherty must decide if she will proceed with her plan to cross the ocean and become teacher for the schoolchildren of the Irish village her mother loved and left for America. When urgent dreams of her mother calling for help begin to plague her sleep, Moira finally decides she must take on this task that seems too big for her. With no knowledge of the Gaelic language predominant in Donegal or the way of life in Ballymann, she ventures forward to meet an interesting cast of characters who pull us into their lives and others determined to push her out of theirs. Deibel pens a novel of trials and triumphs that speaks to heart in A Dance in Donegal.

A Dance in Donegal by Jennifer Deibel is available from your favorite local bookseller or online:

Baker Bookhouse        Christian Book        Barnes & Noble        Amazon

Thank you to my husband, who doesn’t roll his eyes when I order yet another book or when book mail arrives and I squeal like a giddy schoolgirl! All opinions expressed here are my own (I’m full of them) and are completely genuine (because that’s how I roll.)

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:

Baker Bookhouse        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 - 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:

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 - The Lady of Galway Manor

“Hate is fueled by ignorance, son. The first step toward peace is the genuine desire to understand your so-called enemy.”

Seamus Jennings has lived long enough and endured enough to either harden his heart completely or teach him to see beneath the surface of things. Thankfully, he is the latter: an auld man with a keen eye for beauty, a mind that seeks truth beyond what is immediately noticeable, and a heart of gold even more pure than what he and his son use to craft the beloved Claddagh rings of their ancestors. It is Seamus who sees the wisdom of allowing the new landlord’s daughter to apprentice in the jewelry shop he shares with his son. It Seamus who sees that opening Annabeth’s eyes to the beauty beyond the poverty and hard edges of Galway’s residents will help her see their humanity, pride, and great worth. And dear Seamus also sees that Annabeth, though the very embodiment of their perceived enemy, has the opportunity to open and help heal his son Stephen’s wounded soul.

Stephen’s heart has endured more than enough sorrow to harden his heart toward the entire myth of love and the British people who represent the barrier to Ireland’s independence, as well as the murderers of his beloved brother. His pain has festered to bitterness with his situation in the family jewelry shop and the added fact that his father has allowed the British landlord’s daughter to apprentice with them. The face of all things wrong in his world, Lady Annabeth De Lacey is the cross he must bear in order to set things neatly for his intended path into a new future.

Anna does not mind her family’s relocation to Galway or the removal from court life that comes with it. Ireland is beautiful and the opportunity to find her creative expression in the Jennings family’s jewelry shop is a thrill she had not expected. And if she has to cast aside her heavy beaded dresses and intricate skirts in favor of pants for the sake of that art, then so be it. She has much to learn about the process of making the beautiful pieces that stock the shop, and more to learn about the people of Ireland, their culture, and their struggles. Seamus knows that Anna has an opportunity to bridge the gap between the two sides wrapped up in the bitterness of Ireland’s struggle to be free from Britain. It just may be that she also has an opportunity to chase away the fog of bitterness that has held Stephen for years.

Y’all, I cannot get enough of this book! I devoured the NetGalley and promptly threw down my money to purchase a physical copy. Jennifer Deibel has written an excellent story filled with culture and characters that got into my heart and quotes that made me stop frequently to ponder their weight. It would be easy to read The Lady of Galway Manor as a light read, but it would be a mistake to overlook the deeper beauty of this novel.

The Lady of Galway Manor by Jennifer Deibel 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.