Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Set in Stone by Kimberley Woodhouse Review
Saturday, March 16, 2024
The Mapmaker's Secret by Jennifer Mistmorgan Review
Wow, The Mapmaker’s Secret by Jennifer Mistmorgan is a wonderful WWII historical romance novel. I was pulled right into this story about Grace and Jack that takes place in England during the last couple of years of WWII.
Lieutenant Jack Marsden is actually an American who is being sent in to spy on WAAF Corporal Grace Deroy because there is the belief that she has been leaking secrets to the Nazis. The military has taken over her family’s estate, as they did with multiple homes during the war, and they are suspicious as to why she would insist on being stationed there.
So, Jack’s job is to get close to Grace to ferret out the truth of the situation.
We see both Grace and Jack’s point of view, so we know she is hiding something, but it’s almost clear from the beginning that she is not the one guilty of leaking the secrets.
Jack himself doesn’t feel like she’s the traitor, but is he thinking clearly, seeing as he has become infatuated with her?
Jack’s superiors are adamant that Jack get to the bottom of what’s going on. They insist he needs to get closer to her, no matter how he feels.
What exactly is the secret (or secrets) that Grace is keeping hidden? Are her secrets in any way connected to the leak?
She really doesn’t want something to come out, yet there is someone who is going to great lengths to make sure her secret is brought to light, but why?
I loved all the intrigue and the mystery, the inclusion of faith with forgiveness and redemption through Christ, and the love story that was brewing. But will the love be able to survive the fact that Jack and Grace’s relationship began with a huge deception?
I also loved learning more details about things that went on behind the scenes during WWII, with the mapmaking to help with the accuracy of the Allies’ bombing.
This was my first book by this author and I loved it. I do wish I had had a chance to read Heart in the Clouds first. Though The Mapmaker’s Secret can work as a stand alone story, it is obvious from reading it that there are a bunch of characters that are first introduced in Heart in the Clouds. I know some people don’t mind reading series out of order, but if there is anything that is going to be spoilerish when it comes to how relationships turn out or such, I would much prefer to read in order. That said, I have every intention of reading book one as soon as possible. I am sure it will be as good as this second book, which is a book I highly recommend, especially for fans of WWII romances. The author brought these characters to life and I sort of pictured what was going on in their lives in relation to other books I have read, wishing they could all meet up, even though the stories are written by different authors.
I received an ARC of this book as a member of the launch team and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts.
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Friday Fun - March 15, 2024
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.
Never Fall Again by Lynn H. Blackburn Review
Landry has been tucked away at The Haven, trying to keep a low profile while creating pottery and teaching classes, keeping her daughter and herself safe. However, the story begins with her deciding it was time to get her own place, and thus she meets Cal when she goes to the construction business that her friend Bronwyn recommends. Soon after however, there is a suspicious fire at her pottery shop at The Haven. There are a couple of questions. Who was the target, The Haven resort or Landry herself? And who would have anything against either The Haven resort or Landry?
Later on in the story it becomes obvious who the true target is when there is another attack, which ratches up the suspense a bit. Prior to that the relationship part of the story takes a more central spot of the story. The relationship between Landry and Cal, which they are determined to keep at the friendship level because of their backgrounds. This relationship extends to his family, full of southern hospitality, and the friendship that Landry's daughter makes with a member of Cal's family.
Though a bunch of time seems to go by with a minimal amount of suspense, the suspense really takes off toward the end of the book with a sinister twist. And once you realize who the antagonist is and what the person is after, it explains why there was quite a bit of time between the attacks.
I really enjoyed the story, though I did wonder where all the suspense was in this suspense book. So, that is why I decided to mention that in my review.
I enjoyed getting to know Cal and his family and friends. And I loved that Landry and Eliza were treated as family. There was the mystery of not knowing who the bad guy was, and not knowing what direction the evil and danger was coming from. Faith was part of the story as the family was Christian, though we see those who are struggling with situations.
I can't wait to continue this series.
I received an e-copy of this book through NetGalley and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts.
Sunday, March 10, 2024
The Ark and the Dove by Jill Eileen Smith Review
The Ark and the Dove by Jill Eileen Smith is the second book I have read by this author. I did sort of have a bit of trouble getting into the book at the beginning, but I did enjoy this story of the time of the flood of Noah's day from the Bible. I admit that one of my problems was I ended up comparing it to two other books I read last year that are set during the time right before and during the flood. And I know that the details are all speculative in all of these stories, even though they are set during the true, biblical story from Genesis.
The story begins at the time of the marriage between Shem and his wife, who the author gave the name Sedeq. Japheth is already married to Adataneses. Both women's families begin to shun them as they are now in the family of the "crazy" man Noah who keeps preaching about the Creator and an upcoming judgement. Noah and Zara, his wife are desperate to find a wife for Ham, their third son, before they start actually building the ark, so they don't have to deal with even more rejection. After a wife is found the family spends their time preparing for the flood. I love that the author has Noah and his family wondering how everything will work out, working through the details, really showing how all this could have come together and the opposition they probably faced from the sinful, unbelieving people that lived near them.
Almost the entire first half of the book leads up to the start of the flood. About another quarter or so of the book is the time that they spend ON the ark. The author has done a great job showing what life may have been like for these eight humans who were tasked with taking care of the many many animals that were on the ark. She also delved into how their relationships could have been, the strain of being cooped up for over a year, the conflicts that may have arisen, and the fact that their was still sin following them into the ark and the post-flood world.
The remainder of the book reaches a few hundred years into their lives after leaving the ark, toward the end of Noah and Zara's lives. It was sort of shocking to realize all of the descendants they would have seen filling the earth. The author even mentions in her notes in the back of the book that Noah's son Shem would have lived to the time that Jacob and Esau were born. Personally, I had made a chart of the patriarchs' births and deaths through the time of the flood earlier this year. It really is eye opening to realize that the younger of these generations could have known Adam and Eve. To me, this brings the Bible into clearer reality. Just like bibilcal fiction, such as The Ark and the Dove does for me. Bringing this time period to life, even though obviously the author has to speculate and fictionalize details.
I found that Jill Eileen Smith's story was well reseached, even though I did question some of her timeline. I am not at all saying I am an expert. It really made me want to do some more digging myself.
One thing that surprised me was that the story is not told exclusively through Zara's viewpoint. We also see through Noah's eyes and the sons and daughters-in-law. Though Zara does narrate an introduction into each new section of the story. Those parts are in first person, while the rest of the book is written in third person.
It was a bit disconcerting for the story to suddenly switch from one point of view to another, plus at times it took a bit to realize some time had passed since the last paragraph. Usually when I read books where the viewpoint changes it is with the next chapter. There were sometimes multiple points of view in the same chapter.
And the other thing that bothered me a bit, was that I didn't really feel we got a sense of how evil the world really was. A world so evil it needed God to finally take action. The Nephilim are shown as being part of the evil, and there are these creatures called Watchers, who we discover are meant to be demons I guess. But these were mostly in the background and I didn't really get the sense of evil.
Despite these concerns, I really did enjoy this book, but it did lower my rating.
I received an e-copy of this book through NetGalley and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts.
Friday, March 8, 2024
Friday Fun - March 8, 2024
*Turn to page 56 or 56% in your eReader
(If you have to improvise, that's ok.)
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grab you.
*Post it.
*Add your (url) post below in Linky. Add the post url, not your blog url. It's that simple.
Fake Engagement at the Rusted K by Cali Black Review
Wow! The second book in Cali Black's The Fake Series was really intense. I admit, I wasn't sure if I was going to finish it once I started. I knew this series wasn't marketed as Christian as the other books I have read by her have been. I knew it was going to have sizzle, and I still agreed to read it. So, when things did get a bit more sizzly than I am used to, I almost set it aside. Almost. And I have to say, I am very glad I did not.
Yes, this book has things I am a bit uncomfortable reading. But yes, it is clean as in, you won't find swearing or detailed intimate encounters. She leaves the real gritty for behind closed doors, which I appreciated. Because otherwise, I would have set it aside. But woo, the sizzle is still there. There is talk of sex and points where the characters are staring at each other's bodies and talking about them, and there is a bunch of premarital sex in the past. So, is you want none of that in your books, you will probably want to avoid this story.
The story alternates viewpoints between Ren Connor, one of the sisters of Ridge from the first book in the series, Fake Relationship at the Triple Z, and Cash Warren, famous bad boy, country music star who Ren meets through Ridge. Ren is hired as Cash's nanny, to take care of his newborn son. We don't know where the mother is,which of course raises questions in and of itself. Ren herself is dealing with issues because of her ex, the father of her daughter Ellie.
Due to an unexpected turn of events, Ren and Cash are suddenly fake engaged and spending time in the spotlight trying to convince the world of their relationship. But they both have feelings for each other, but don't think the other has feelings for the other, at least feelings that will lead to a lasting relationship.
There are quite a few twists in this story, along with some danger and suspense. Plus dealing with some legal issues for more than one reason. All things that kept me swiping from page to page to see what would happen next and how everything would resolve.
And though this isn't labeled as a Christian book, the author has still found a way to bring faith into the story.
I received an ARC of this book as a member of the launch team and was not required to write a favorable review. These are my own honest thoughts.