by Crystal Caudill | Jun 7, 2016 | Book Reviews
Mail Order Surprise by Lucy Thompson
Mail order bride stories have seemed to become a trend in recent Christian Fiction stories. Each has their own special twist, and Mail Order Surprise follows that trend.
Neither character has a flawless past nor are they prepared for the trouble that seems to follow the duo wherever they go. Barriers create a love that is slow growing and hesitant, especially on Lydia’s part.
Lucy does an excellent job of showing the emotional reactions of an abused woman entering into a new marriage to escape her past and protect her children. Her hesitancy toward love is understandable and realistic.
Beau is a gentleman trying to do his best with what he has been given. He doesn’t always make the right choices, but he is a good and admirable man.
Both Lydia and Beau start off their marriage withholding important information from each other – she has two children and he has a household full of relatives living with him. The intermingling of the two families is entertaining.
The plot moved along nicely and had a few surprises and unexpected twists. While there were some weaknesses to the story, they were easily moved past and the story remained enjoyable.
I would not call it the best story I have ever read, but I certainly enjoyed Lucy’s own take on mail order brides. If you are looking for a twist on the traditional story line, this needs to be put on your TBR pile. (To Be Read, if you didn’t know.)
*I received a free e-copy in exchange for my honest opinion, which you have read above.*
To purchase your own copy, visit:
Amazon.com
Visit the author at https://lucythompsonauthor.com/tag/mail-order-surprise/
BEAU HARDING just wants to keep his family together. Leaning on his own strength, he’s tried to do his best by his siblings and he needs a little help. Okay, more than a little help. Only one thing to do—send for a mail order bride. Widow, LYDIA WALSH, must trust God’s promise to protect her future, despite his silence. With her former abusive mother-in-law, MRS. WALSH, after her children, Lydia puts her hope in what she can see: a fresh start as a mail order bride in the mountain town of Halls Pass.
Can these two survive the wild west to find God’s will for their lives and healing for their hearts?
– Blurb from Goodreads.com
by Crystal Caudill | May 31, 2016 | Book Reviews
This is another delightful, light-hearted romance with all the struggle for love you hope to find in a romance, and for my very busy pre-summer schedule, it was the perfect length! I was able to read this in a couple hours on a day I was playing chauffeur for my family.
Daniel is a former bounty hunter become legend. He despises the dime novels that exaggerate and glorify his former life as Dead-Eye Dan and has led a quiet life for the last five years at a Jonah Hawkins’ ranch. Bound by an oath, Daniel has done everything he can to suppress his feelings for the ranchman’s daughter.
Marietta is in love with Dead-Eye Dan, but not the legend, the real man. When she finds out he is leaving, she is determined to not let him leave without first convincing him to marry her. With Daniel staying behind during the cattle drive to prepare his new mule ranch, Marietta devises a plan that can’t fail.
The struggle between admitting love and being bound by an oath is masterfully and humorously done. The passion is swoon worthy and Daniel’s loyalty to his oath is so admirable. I absolutely love the characters and how they interact together.
This is definitely a book to be read!
You can read this novella on its own at:
Amazon Barnes and Noble
Or you can get the four novella set of proposals gone wrong – With this Ring? at:
With This Ring? Amazon With this Ring? Barnes and Noble
Visit the Author at http://www.karenwitemeyer.com/
Marietta Hawkins has been in love with ranch foreman Daniel Barrett since she came home from school three years ago. Unfortunately, her father’s rule about hands not fraternizing with his daughter has kept him out of reach. She believed patience would prove a virtue in winning him over–until now. He is leaving. Starting up his own spread. To have any hope of maneuvering him into a proposal, she has to act fast or lose him forever. Fans of A Worthy Pursuit will enjoy seeing these characters again!
– Blurb from Amazon.com
by Crystal Caudill | May 24, 2016 | Book Reviews
The Seafaring Women of the Vera B. – Book 1 in the Hearts of Oak Series
Susan Davis and her son, James Davis, work together to bring a story unlike any I have read before. The Seafaring Women of the Vera B is truly a unique piece of work which carries you off to sea. The amount of research that must have been conducted to create this novel is astounding and fascinating, and the plot is intriguing and believable.
This book is not your typical romance from Susan Davis. While there is a possible hint at future love interests, the focus falls solidly in the adventure category. In some sense, it reminds me of the classic adventure stories from my youth like Treasure Island, The Three Musketeers, and Swiss Family Robison. I am just not sure there are any contemporary books I can compare it to. The richness of detail, the characters, and adventure, they all work together to create a magnificent story that reflects back to an era of storytelling which is severely lacking in today’s world of novels.
The first ten chapters really lay the groundwork for the story. It is a little slower paced than many books in the beginning, but it is out of necessity. The number of characters introduced and the necessary foundation of ship terminology would be too overwhelming otherwise. I encourage you to push through even if that is not your cup of tea. It is well worth it.
I struggle with books that follow the viewpoint of more than two characters, but while this story followed the viewpoints of a handful of characters, it is done naturally and not so abruptly as to make you toss aside the book. Believe me when I say I am exceptionally picky about this. I was very impressed with the authors’ mastery of that particular skill for this novel.
Once past the first ten chapters the pace of the story picks up and continues to grow in intensity and speed. How can it not with a mischievous little boy, a stow-away man on a ship full of women, pirates, and all the true struggles that come from that many women together learning to do a dangerous and difficult job? There is fighting and there is death, but the details of it are not gruesome, unrealistic, or overwhelming.
Seafaring Women of the Vera B is a swashbuckling adventure I would highly recommend to men and women alike who love adventure and attention to detail. It is truly a rare breed of book, especially in Christian fiction.
*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion, which you have read above.*
With the ship’s captain dead in Melbourne, Australia, Alice Packard thinks the worst has happened, until she learns the crew has deserted her husband’s ship in favor of the goldfields. Only one old man, Gypsy Deak, sticks by her, but Gypsy alone can’t raise a crew from the depleted population. In desperation, Alice turns to the only source of plentiful workers: the women of Melbourne. In a bold move, she and Gypsy empty a brothel, promising the escaped women a new life. Her all-woman (save one) crew put their backs and hearts into the voyage, but Alice finds training her sailors much harder than she expected. Her faith is tested to the limit. With a cargo to sell, angry bordello and tavern owners in pursuit, pirates to evade, and a mysterious stowaway, the seafaring women of the Vera B. find their escape in question.
– Blurb from Amazon.com
by Crystal Caudill | May 10, 2016 | Book Reviews
The Liberator Series Book One
This book is a must read for those who love historical fiction set in the Civil War Era. Mrs. McGee does a marvelous job of interweaving the historical facts of the John Wilkes Booth’s conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln and “what if.”
If you struggle with Civil War novels not having a fair view of Southerners or sometimes Northerners, this novel does a fantastic job of balancing both. There is no strictly good guy or back guy when it comes to Confederates and Yankees, although this book is distinctly written from the Southern perspective. Both sides have very realistic evil qualities and very real honorable qualities.
Annabelle is a strong female character with very human faults who manages to get herself entangled in a scheme of national proportion as she tries to save her plantation from the greedy fingers of a step-grandfather. As a reader, you love her spunk and level-headedness. The woman is a survivor and has the spunk to endure the realities of a devastated South.
Captain Matthew Daniels is a man whose loyalty and honor are admirable but also lead him into his own entanglement with those of less than honorable intentions. He is a hero a head above the rest (and if you read the book, you will get my little pun). His fierce loyalty to his brother and his determination to rescue the older brother whom he looks up to are qualities which will make you admire him.
This first book of the series is mainly focused on the entanglement of both the hero and heroine into Booth’s conspiracy and the unfolding of the first attempt on Lincoln’s life. The story is action packed, moves a good clip, and is completely satisfying in the adventure aspect. The budding romance between Annabelle and Matthew is slow and acts more as a subplot to the action around it. It is believable and something the reader looks forward to in the next book of the series.
If you are into history and a realistic Southern view of the Civil War this is a great series to pick up. It has a mixture of everything desired in a novel. I, for one, loved the detail and the Southern view realistically applied. I highly recommend you purchase this book.
*I was given a free copy of this e-book in exchange for my honest opinion, which you have read above.*
To purchase your own copy, visit:
Amazon Barnes and Noble
Visit the author at: http://www.stepheniamcgee.com/
“All we have to do is kidnap their President….”
Four years of war have reduced the South to near annihilation. Homes lay smoldering and men become desperate. Amid the shadows of fear, a clandestine group waits for an opportunity to change the course of history.
Harlot, liar, spy…
On the threshold of losing her plantation, Annabelle Ross finds a cryptic letter on a dying soldier and seizes the opportunity to get out a message of her own. She never dreamed her plan would brand her a suspected spy… or worse, an unwilling conspirator.
Deserter, traitor, accomplice…
When Matthew Daniels’s brother is taken captive, he finds himself caught up in a plot to gain leverage on the Union. The lines are drawn in blood, and the risk is there for the taking. But will his reckless gamble cost him the woman he had determined not to love?
She wants to save her home. He wants to save his brother. Together, they may just save a nation.
Part one of three in The Liberator Series, a trilogy of full length novels following the adventures and romance of Annabelle Ross and Matthew Daniels as they play a part in the dramatic conclusion of Abraham Lincoln’s life.
– Blurb from Amazon
by Crystal Caudill | May 3, 2016 | Book Reviews
Book three in the Undercover Ladies Series
Margaret Brownley has done it again! I can always count on her to provide a completely satisfying romance blended with mystery, crime, and adventure. This final installment of the Undercover Ladies series is definitely my favorite from her so far.
Katie is a wonderful Pinkerton operative, different from any of the other “Pink” women in her series. Her own set of observation skills paired with the handsome sheriff, and reluctant love interest, is perfect for the hunt of the Harvey Girl Killer. While her observation skills were envious, they were human.
As a woman, she has a strong personality, but with the vulnerable undertone we all try to hide. She is a character who draws you in and molds you into her. Her emotions, thought patterns, and uncertainties are complex and real. She is my absolute favorite character developed by Margaret Brownley thus far.
Sheriff Branch Whitman is his own strong character with a past that emotionally attaches you to him. His is the tall, strong hero who is not really intimidated by an equally strong-minded woman. He is wounded, yet gentle. He is intelligent, but a complete buffoon at times. I love him to no end as a character.
There is a restrained passion that emerges and evolves naturally as the story progresses. Honestly, it made me want to curl up in my husband’s arms and feel that strong connection Katie and Branch have but fear to acknowledge. It is a love that feels real and not just the pat on the back, superficially love found in a lot of romance novels.
The plot is fantastic with several twists, turns, and added layers which hold your attention from beginning to end. While the murder does seem to drag on, it was a realistic drawing out of how murders are not solved in an hour. I don’t wish to give anything away, but let me assure you every layer is addressed satisfactorily, and all loose ends are tied up.
I highly recommend picking up Calico Spy if you like historical crime solving mixed with romance. Margaret Brownley is a master.
If you would like to order your own copy visit:
Amazon Barnes and Noble
If you would like to learn more about Margaret Brownley visit:
http://margaret-brownley.com/
Pinkerton operative Katie Madison’s newest case takes her to Calico, Kansas, where two Harvey House restaurant waitresses were murdered in mysterious circumstances. Calico s sheriff, Branch Whitman, has never met a Pink he liked and is stunned to learn the pretty redhead s true identity as she works undercover as a Harvey girl. A tornado hits town, and a past deception puts Branch s eight-year-old-son in danger. Now the Sheriff has no choice but to work with Katie or chance losing everything he holds dear.
– Blurb from Amazon.com
