Friday Fun - March 7, 2025

Welcome to my Friday Fun post. This is where I share with three different book parties that post on Fridays: Book Beginnings on Fridays, the Friday 56, and First Line Friday.

This week I have two books to share with you.

I'm starting Heart of Courage by Penny Zeller which releases next week..

I've also started The Scarlet Ribbon by Naomi Stephens which released last month.

        Book Beginnings on Friday     

(Please join Gilion Dumas for Book Beginnings every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author's name.)

and

First Line Friday

(Please join Carrie for First Line Friday.)

Here are my Book Beginnings/First Line Friday selections:

  Heart of Courage by Penny Zeller:

"HOPES AND DREAMS. . . GONE IN an instant."

I wondered what happened. Sounds a bit depressing.

The Scarlet Ribbon by Naomi Stephens:

"The sign balanced between Rebekah's dry, cracked fingers had been inscribed with a single word-Harlot."

Why was she balancing a sign that said "harlot." And why were her fingers dried and cracked. What was happening to her?

Now for:

The Friday 56

The Friday 56 is normally hosted over at Freda's Voice. But Anne from My Head is Full of Books is taking over for a while. 

Rules:

*Grab a book, any book.
*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.

Here are my Friday 56 selections:

Heart of Courage by Penny Zeller:

 

"She pointed a quivering finger at the item she'd paid dearly for. But she'd gladly surrender it if it meant they would leave her and Cyril alone."

The Scarlet Ribbon by Naomi Stephens:

"Ben glowered. He recognized the familiar fury hidden within Jotham's insipid expression, and, after their close scrape in the woods, had no doubt his sour friend had dumped all the sherry in the Hudson just to get back at him. But even if Jotham wanted out of the game, Ben couldn't let him go-not until he warned him that their note had fallen into Rebehah's hands."

Reviews:

Two weeks ago I shared one book in my Friday Fun post. Here's my review:

Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer 

I also finally got my review written for The Sweet Life by Suzanne Woods Fisher

Dawn of Grace by Jill Eileen Smith Review

 

When I discovered that Jill Eileen Smith had a book releasing that focused on Mary Magdelene I was quite intrigued. I've read a couple of her other books and have really enjoyed how she brought biblical times and characters to life. With Dawn of Grace she did it again. Only this time, the story was from the New Testament. 

We get to see Mary Magdelene as a child and then a young adult before she joins Jesus' followers. I felt the author did a great job showing how Mary may have become possessed by seven demons, what her life could have been like while possessed, and how she felt when Jesus freed her. The reader journeys along with her as she travels with Jesus and his disciples and all the other people who follow him seeking healing and other miracles. 

I like the way the author showed how Mary and the other women could have been helping financially and what it may have looked like to follow Him from town to town, listening to His teaching and experience His miracles. In addition to the words Jesus speaks in the Bible, the author has also included conversations He may have had with his followers. At one point I think this would have bothered me as it isn't exactly from the Bible. However, I don't feel what was added contradicts anything that Jesus is recorded as saying. I like thinking of how He might have interacted with His followers aside from what we read in Scripture. 

Dawn of Grace is a wonderful book and one I highly recommend. I think it would be a great read leading up to Resurrection Sunday. 

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.

Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer Review

 

I've been wanting to read Short-Straw Bride for a while, but when I had it out from the library in the past, I just didn't have time to read it. Then when I was searching for a book to meet one of my reading challenges, this was one of the books suggested. I'm so glad I finally got to read it. What a wonderful marriage of convenience story. Quite unique actually, seeing as the bride, Meredith, has actually been infatuated by the groom, Travis, since he rescued her when she was a girl. However, neither of them were prepared for the neccessity of a marriage after Meredith again trespassed on Archer land to warn them of danger to their ranch. 

I loved the relationship that developed between Meredith and Travis, even though they each didn't realize how the other truly felt, or how they themselves felt about their spouse. I also loved getting to know each of Travis's brothers and see their interactions with each other. There were some other wonderful side characters that I grew to love, and some horrid characters that I couldn't stand. All of these characters together made for a wonderful story.

There was suspense in not knowing when or where danger might come from next. The author added some great twists. And faith played an important part in this story. The importance of trusting in God and turning to Him was found throughout the story. 

A wonderful story and one I highly recommend.