Why We Fought by Jerry Borrowman

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This is a really great WWII resource. I enjoyed every chapter, because they taught me things I didn’t already know in a way that was easy to absorb the information. The author voice was great and easy to understand. Overall, this book was fascinating and absorbing.

Here are my personal summaries of each chapter’s heroes:

Virginia Hall, amputee spy who defied the odds as well as the Nazis.

William Sebold, a double-agent who took down several German spy rings.

Marlene Dietrich, an actress with a knack for boosting morale.

Juan Pujol, a writer and his make-believe spy ring fooled high-ranked Nazis.

Carl Lutz, risked his life to save 72,000 Jews.

The Ghost Army, diversion tactics made a huge difference.

The Battle for Castle Itter, WWI veterans hold the fort.

Read more on my new website.

The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery by Amanda Cox

The atmosphere was superb in this one. That was the most mesmerizing thing for me while I was reading this book. I also thought the author nailed the dialect of small-town Southern United States. The way these characters spoke and thought made them come alive for me.

The cover was amazing… until I realized there were only two letters mentioned in the story instead of the hefty stack shown on the lower portion of the cover. Now that car… I’ll take one of those, please! So gorgeous, those curves. And I still love the tone that’s set by the cover. That was totally spot-on.

Clarence was a completely compassionate gentleman. I couldn’t get enough of this guy and his love for “his girls” (his wife and daughters). His protective spirit and encouraging nature were amazing, and I wish he could have been in several more scenes.

Read more at my new website.

Hostile Intent by Lynette Eason {review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This book started off with the potential to become my new favorite Eason book. The action was fast-paced and came often, which made for a great suspense formula. The characters were intriguing, which added richness to the story being told. The settings were very well used, which increased the depth of the tale. Overall, this was a fantastic series finale, capping off one of the best series Mrs. Eason has produced to date.

Read more on my new website.

The Nature of Small Birds + Other News

The Nature of Small Birds by Susie Finkbeiner

I’ve been looking forward to this book since I first saw the cover and glimpsed the blurb. Listen, I think the Vietnam War is under-represented in Christian fiction. The thing is, this book isn’t about the Vietnam War exactly… it’s more of an adoption story, about a little girl that escaped the war. While it isn’t exactly what I was expecting, it’s turning into quite the wonderful story. It’s heartfelt and emotional, for sure, and you know those are a couple of my happy places. I’m about halfway through the book already, and I’m loving it so far. The characters are amazing, the plot wonderful, and the split time aspect is done pretty well. It took me a few chapters to really settle in and feel grounded in each of the three threads, but I’ve found my rhythm with it and expect to finish it in time to bring you my full review next week, if all goes well. This is my first book by Susie Finkbeiner, but if it holds out to finish as well as it’s begun, it likely won’t be the last.

Other News

For a while now, I’ve wanted to have a dot-com website. When Blogger decided to discontinue the follow-by-e-mail feature, I knew it was the right time to make the big switch. So my breaking news is this:

Bridge of Gold by Kimberley Woodhouse {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This book was pretty wonderful. There were buckets of things to adore about it and only a couple of reasons why I docked a single star.

Mrs. Woodhouse has improved so much in her writing. I’m growing fonder and fonder of her stories as time goes on, and this book is a prime example of why. It’s a time-slip story that features a murder mystery that revolved around the discovery of a ship buried beneath the streets of San Francisco, California. While it might not all be factual (I hope the murders didn’t actually happen!), I was intrigued to learn that there really were ships that were sunk and used as landfill to expand the growing city of San Francisco during and directly after that California Gold Rush. So neat! It was great to see Mrs. Woodhouse expanding her abilities by dipping into the time-slip genre. She’s long been growing as a historical author, but now she’s added the dual-timeline style to her repertoire.

Get Outside {book review}

I have not yet used this journal, but I've read all the extras and have thumbed through it several times, pausing to read this prompt and that one. Here's my review.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This is a cute journal. I adored the texture of the cover and the metallic accents on the cover. The lined pages were great, and the prompts were interesting. The little extras that help the journaler to recognize animal tracks, weather patterns, and tree types were helpful and unique additions to a journal.

One negative: A couple of the "myths" at the back were incorrectly "busted." There have been lots of times that these two particular things have saved lives, so, to me, they are proven facts rather than busted myths.

This book makes a great gift.

Blackberry Beach by Irene Hannon {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

If you’re in the mood for a fluffy beach read, this book is a great fit. I usually like more depth to the books I read, but every now and then, a beachy read is exactly what I’m in the mood for. That was the case when I picked up Blackberry Beach by Irene Hannon.

One of the best lines (to me) was this gem: “Life shouldn’t be all about accruing money.” It was great to see characters making choices NOT based on money but rather on God’s direction for their lives. This was so refreshing!

The beach scenes were some of my favorites in this story. The view was declared to be amazing, but I wish it would have been described a little more so it could have come alive in my mind. The discussions on the beach and the romantic bits that took place there were heartfelt and entertaining.

The cover was completely gorgeous.  The purple hues were beautiful and complementary, and I loved that Katherine’s sunglasses were highlighted! They played a big role in the story, so it was fun to see they made it to the cover as well. It was fun also to have the pair of seagulls flying in the background of the cover, considering they play such significant roles throughout the entire series. The only alteration I would make is to highlight the blackberries a bit more. They’re hard to see in the bushes at the bottom of the cover. But overall, this was a breezy, fun cover that piqued my interest.

The Indebted Earl by Erica Vetsch {book review}

Today's article is a bit lengthy. Hang in there with me, folks. There's loads of good stuff heading your way... starting now!

Recently, I had the great privilege of reading The Indebted Earl by Erica Vetsch. Just as I suspected, it helped me crack right through that silly reading slump I stumbled into a couple of weeks ago. Here are my thoughts on this pearl of a book.

{Book Review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

What a fantastic finale! I adored this entire series, and each book was better than the previous one. The series built beautifully and felt very connected, which I completely love about series books.

The plethora of naval, water, and sailing analogies helped me feel immersed in Captain Charles Wyvern’s world. They added richness and depth to the atmosphere. I liked that the story began in Portugal. That’s a country I don’t see featured much in Christian fiction, so it was a delight to spend a chapter or so there. The other setting of England really popped to life through the description throughout the book.

From beginning to end, this story was complex. It was twisty with loads of surprises along the way. I especially enjoyed the children’s personalities. They bumped against each other as they were all so different, yet there was a clear thread of love keeping them tethered to one another despite what their words declared at times. This little makeshift family was charming, and I was beyond happy to spend plenty of hours alongside them.

Happy sigh, y’all. This book was spectacular. It was a superb finale. I can hardly wait to see which series will be next up for Mrs. Erica Vetsch. I adore her writing and highly recommend it.

Facing the Dawn by Cynthia Ruchti {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This book was good, perhaps great, but it wasn’t a good fit for me.

The first half was so stuffed with sarcasm that I really struggled to feel connected with it at all. I had difficulty feeling bad for Mara when things went completely sideways on her, simply because she wasn’t a very likable or relatable character to me through the entire first half. (I did learn to like her better as things progressed into the second half, thankfully.)

Then, here trots the second half, and I’m completely blown away.

That’s what I expect from a Ruchti novel: to be emotionally moved and completely blown away. She succeeded once again, in the second half of the story.

Ashlee and Sol were amazing from beginning to end, and they were the ones who kept me interested when the Jacobs family didn’t. I did like the growth each of the Jacobses showed in the second half of the story. That was really well done and gave me great hope for their next chapter after the finale of this particular glimpse into their lives.

When Twilight Breaks by Sarah Sundin {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

This book would have been guzzled in a scant number of days if I hadn’t had broken water pipes to deal with in my house.

What a zinger! I adored this story overall. Once again, Mrs. Sarah Sundin melded history with fiction in a seamless way that brought the past to life for me. Her treatment of a female reporter when men ruled the newspaper business was superb. It touched on women’s rights issues yet respected the men in the book at the same time. That’s a delicate touch on a tough subject, if you ask me.

Evelyn Brand was a heroine I could root for. She was spunky and brave, but she had flaws and fears that sometimes got in her way. As a reporter, she knew her stuff and dared to be different. She was courage on display.

From Sky to Sky by Amanda G. Stevens {book review}

I've read a ton of books lately (nothing unusual there, hehe), and I thought I'd share some of my favorites over the coming months. There won't be a book review every week, of course, but they are pretty easy posts to do when life is otherwise busy. Right now I have an editing job I'm focusing on, so easy is muchly needed at the moment.

So, let's kick off the reviews of 2021 reads with a book that quite surprised me.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book. These are my honest thoughts.

From Sky to Sky by Amanda G. Stevens

This book blew me away and soared far and above how much I enjoyed the previous book in this series. The cover is gorgeous, and the story was too.

The Plans We Made by Kathryn Cushman and Lauren Beccue {book review + giveaway}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from I Read with Audra. These are my honest thoughts.

This book was amazing. I loved the characters, the journey, the plot, the twists, the problems, and the resolution. Caroline’s adventure in Rhode Island was fun, and I enjoyed the banter between Chris and her as they were working rivals. Linda’s journey of regret and hope made me cry and wish for a good outcome even when it was tough to see through the hard moments. The reconstruction and preservation of a beautiful building was a wonderful backdrop for the drama of this enjoyable story.

The imagery was especially beautiful, as evidenced by this line: “She sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her fractured hope.” There were many exquisite lines like this one that took my breath away.

It was very refreshing to see an engaged couple NOT living together prior to marriage, particularly in a world that appears to adore compromised morals. I want more stories like this one that holds tight to strong, biblical morals and presents a great example to its readers.

The themes in this book were great. I liked the fear of bad impressions, because that’s something very relatable. Regrets and consequences are tough to live with, and this story showed that well and also highlighted how they may be overcome. There were relationship issues, and it was nice to see they were worked out with dialogue and humble attitudes and true remorse. Honesty, faith, and courage seemed to work together well to create a rich atmosphere for the heartbreaking story within.

Emotion and tension were high throughout for me. I laughed and cried, and there were several scenes that had me holding my breath and flipping pages fast to find out what would happen next.

The Edge of Belonging by Amanda Cox {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary electronic copy of this book from Revell Reads. These are my honest thoughts.

Despite a single expletive, this book has soared onto my favorites list this year. This debut was fresh and different and deep. When I first saw the cover, I was blown away, but I wasn’t certain what to expect beneath it. Let me tell you, it wasn’t anything like I would have guessed.

The story began with a homeless man, and this was something I had never seen done before. This approach tugged my heart in right away. This was a time-split novel, and sometimes the new scenes took me away from what I wanted to keep reading about, but overall, this was very well done (even in those tense moments).

The theme of seeing the unseen people in our lives (those society deems less than worthy of our attention) was superbly on display. This is one reason this book is now a favorite. It takes the “look after orphans and widows” (James 1:27) and “will assemble the outcasts” (Isaiah 11:12) themes and creates a haven for those who are looked down upon by the vast majority of society.

This story is powerful and needed today. I think it’s a must-read for anyone who wants to grow in compassion and who wants to know how to see with new eyes what you’ve missed so many times before.

The Librarian of Boone's Hollow by Kim Vogel Sawyer {book review}

Here's the book review I promised last week.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary electronic copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah and NetGalley. These are my honest thoughts.

"These feuds an' fear gotta end."

That line resonated so loudly as I was reading this timely book.

This beautiful story touched my heart on multiple levels. Its exquisite depth and rich atmosphere immersed me into the quaint mountain town of Boone's Hollow, where I met a quirky cast of amazing characters that each wriggled their way into my heart.

Mrs. Sawyer once again created characters worth caring about. The depth to which she develops her cast is something to not only admire but also to study, if you're a writer like me. The way she captures a local way of speaking amazes me every time, and this talent of hers is one of the many reasons why her characters pop off the pages.

The glimpse at coal mining reminded me of Homer Hickam's true-life story in the movie October Sky. Another similarity between that film and this book was the difficult and sometimes heartrending father-son relationship.

What really made this book stand out among the 150+ books I've read this year is how a library was used to bring hope to families struggling through the Great Depression years. I had never before heard of packhorse librarians, but this story made me want to learn more. The way this novel was written -- filled with hope, love, and lots of grace -- kept me intrigued throughout, and I can hardly wait to read it again. It has moved itself into a tie with My Heart Remembers for my favorite KVS book -- and I wasn't sure that would happen after years and years of MHR reigning alone in that spot.

"What I want is for you to fully use the abilities God has given you."

The above quote really spoke truth into my soul. I'm not fully sure in how many ways God wants to fulfill this in my life, but I am eager to find out.

The Black Midnight by Kathleen Y'Barbo {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review. These are my honest thoughts.

 

Jack the Ripper has fascinated and baffled people for nearly a hundred fifty years. It’s no surprise that this serial killer was featured in a book in the True Colors series about true crime stories.

This was a pretty good story and kept me intrigued most of the time. The reason I lowered my rating from four stars to three was that history was altered simply for the sake of creating a “better” or “more picturesque” setting. The snowy, slushy scenes that created such beautiful atmosphere during which two of the murders took place? Yeah, that snow happened the year before the murders in real life, which was freely admitted in the author’s note at the end of the book. This is a huge pet peeve for me. If the details were researchable, why alter them? Having lived in Texas my whole life, I’m very familiar with how rare snow is in this state. Since it’s so rare, when we get a good snowfall, it’s memorable to the point of remembering which year it was or how old we were when we got it. It’s disappointing to me that this was disregarded for the sake of a story.

The speculation about who might or might not have been Jack the Ripper or the Midnight Assassin did not bother me. These crimes have been long speculated (for nearly a century and a half), so it makes sense that any author writing about the crimes, whether fiction or non, would have to speculate at least a bit, along with doing a ton of research, to make the finale of an unsolved crime believable, even if it ends on an unfinished note (due to the crimes’ having never been solved in real life). This speculation was handled really well and in a realistic way.

I liked that the leading lady was a royal working undercover. Y’all, I don’t think I’ve ever seen that done in a book before! Maybe there are others out there, and I would be interested in hearing your recommendations, because I found this incredibly fun and highly entertaining.

The Lost Lieutenant by Erica Vetsch {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and JustRead Tours. These are my honest thoughts.

How do I even begin?

I was a little nervous going in to this one. See, I’d only read a couple of westerns by Mrs. Vetsch. Sometimes the quality of books, the attention to detail, lags a bit in the first book exploring a new genre for an author. Rest assured, my friends, that was not at all the case with this author. This Regency era novel perfectly captured the time period, including the settings, costumes, and the hierarchy of the British nobility.

The people populating this fictional world Mrs. Vetsch created were fantastic, even those I found rightfully abhorrent. From the leads (Diana and Evan) to the supporting characters (Louisa, Shand, Marcus, Cian, and Beth) to the antagonists (who I’ll keep secret for you to discover for yourself), they each brought something important and unique to the story. Because their personalities popped off the page so well, I was completely engrossed in their journeys, good and bad and every twist and turn in between. Of course, the hope for certain somebodies to find their fictional comeuppance kept me flipping those virtual pages quickly. But it was the hope strung throughout that kept my heart so intimately connected to the journey of the leads to the very end.

Never Say Goodbye by Sarah Grace Grzy {book review + giveaway}

Graphic Credit: Victoria Lynn Designs

Y’all, let me catch my breath!

Sniffle, sniffle, dry my eyes.

All right.

Ahem. This review may be a hot mess. Why? you wonder. I’ll tell you.

This book wrecked me.

Oh, it’s in a great way, believe me, but I’m still wrecked! You see, this book sort of sneaked up on me. It was gallivanting along in a lighthearted, contemporary romance kind of way… and then BOOM! All these emotional things started happening, and they all made sense in the plot and everything, but they blindsided me. Completely blindsided me.

They shouldn’t have. I should have seen them coming. I’m a writer too, for goodness’ sake! But I did not see a certain couple of plot twists coming at all, and they waylaid me. Hard!

Even as it was happening and tears were gushing out of my eyeballs, I was happy about it. Truly, I was. Even as I was fretting for the beloved characters who’d crept into my heart when I wasn’t looking, I was grateful that a talented author had dug in deep and delivered the tough but very good stuff.

On a Coastal Breeze by Suzanne Woods Fisher {book review}

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Revell Reads. These are my honest thoughts.

This was one of my most-anticipated books of 2020, and most of the story was really good.

It was fun to revisit Cam’s and Seth’s romance. I like that their story wasn’t an automatic happily-ever-after but was more realistic in that they were still figuring out their issues and learning to communicate well even after they became engaged in the previous book.

The family dynamics were wonderfully complex again in this book. That was something I really enjoyed about book one in the Three Sisters Island series, and I was glad to see it return in book two. At the halfway point, I was really looking forward to book three, which would appear to feature my favorite of the sisters, Blaine. I wanted so much to see her find her own happy ending.

Silent Shadows by Natalie Walters {book review}

The third and final book in the Harbored Secrets trilogy was a pretty good suspense story. The first half seemed much more like a medical romance, as there was a lot less bad-guy movement than usual for the suspense genre, but the dates were fun and surprising, and Maceo was pretty adorable. I really enjoyed Colton’s battle with a movement disorder I was unfamiliar with. I felt I was taught a lot about it within the context of the story in a way that did not feel like being preached at over the topic.

There was some confusion about Pecca’s profession. She was declared to be a nurse, yet she seemed much more like a physical therapist. The only identifier ever given was “nurse.” A friend pointed out that there is such a thing as a “nurse psychotherapist,” whose job description lines up pretty well with Pecca’s behavior with her patients. I wish this job title would have been given from chapter one (or at all), as it’s interesting, different, and something I would enjoy reading about. Since all I was given was “nurse,” it felt like she (or at least her job or title) was misrepresented.

Oh, my heart loved the sports angle. During the COVID-19 illness the world is facing right now (in spring 2020), sports are absent from my life, which is abnormal to be sure. So reading about a child with only one leg being encouraged to play a sport was just what this sports fan needed during the last couple of weeks. Maybe there won’t be any NBA or NHL finals this season, but at least the little Warriors were there to be cheered for!

The Sea Before Us by Sarah Sundin {book review}

Last week, I finished reading Sarah Sundin's The Sea Before Us, which leapfrogged In Perfect Time as my favorite Sundin book. Here's my review, as posted on Goodreads.

Wow…

Just… wow.

The whole story was brilliant. From a love triangle done right to deep faith journeys to familial estrangements and deaths to the fight for healing and reunion… all in the package of a WWII-era story... This novel really had it all.

And that finale! Goodness, I could gush… if I were willing to spoil the story.

But I’m not.

Just trust me: You will not regret reading this book when you experience the final few chapters, and particularly the final few paragraphs.

*happy sigh*