I want to apologize for the delay in publishing new reviews. The world went faster than I did. Hopefully, I'm back on the right track.
Also, I woud really appreciate any purchase you're willing to make on this web site. As you may have guessed, I'm still a bit new at this.
Thanks for your patience and patronage!
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Hometown Courtship
Diann Hunt’s Hometown Courtship is about two losers. Wait! Not that kind of loser. Who wants to read about losers? Her two main characters both have recently lost loves; and predictably, those losses have hardened their hearts for any future hopes.
And our story begins. . .
For the moment, let’s forget that at least one of the main characters in most romance novels has lost a previous love or may even boast an entire litany of lost loves. It is that loss (those losses) that makes the overcoming to come that much more satisfying. But despite relying on this lost-love cliché for both leading characters, Hunt’s Hometown Courtship deals us an engaging read.
Callie Easton, had committed a crime. She had not only not paid her tickets, but she had lost the unpaid tickets. Now she stood before Judge Sharp for sentencing. He sentenced her to community service. She was ordered to report to Brad Sharp at the Make A Home project. It appeared that Judge Sharp was attempting to find a wife for his younger brother, again. Brad was tired of brother, Ryan, finding him women. He’d had some bad experiences and trust wasn’t high on his list.
Brad loved the Make a Home project and worked hard. His desire was to go to foreign lands and be a missionary builder. He wanted to keep his life simple. Just he and his dog. Why wouldn’t people leave him alone?
What lies in wait for the cute cosmetologist who doesn’t trust men, and the builder who wants to be alone with his dog and work as a missionary in foreign lands, and doesn’t trust women? That’s what this story is about. All the characters are likeable and all the pets are lovable. What lies in wait for you is a lovely story. It was a real joy to read!
And our story begins. . .
For the moment, let’s forget that at least one of the main characters in most romance novels has lost a previous love or may even boast an entire litany of lost loves. It is that loss (those losses) that makes the overcoming to come that much more satisfying. But despite relying on this lost-love cliché for both leading characters, Hunt’s Hometown Courtship deals us an engaging read.
Callie Easton, had committed a crime. She had not only not paid her tickets, but she had lost the unpaid tickets. Now she stood before Judge Sharp for sentencing. He sentenced her to community service. She was ordered to report to Brad Sharp at the Make A Home project. It appeared that Judge Sharp was attempting to find a wife for his younger brother, again. Brad was tired of brother, Ryan, finding him women. He’d had some bad experiences and trust wasn’t high on his list.
Brad loved the Make a Home project and worked hard. His desire was to go to foreign lands and be a missionary builder. He wanted to keep his life simple. Just he and his dog. Why wouldn’t people leave him alone?
What lies in wait for the cute cosmetologist who doesn’t trust men, and the builder who wants to be alone with his dog and work as a missionary in foreign lands, and doesn’t trust women? That’s what this story is about. All the characters are likeable and all the pets are lovable. What lies in wait for you is a lovely story. It was a real joy to read!
Love Thine Enemy
Louise M. Gouge
Inspirational Historical Romance
Steeple Hill Books - July, 2009
Louise M. Gouge's "short biography" begins with the sentence, "When I was a girl, I had a plan." As a psychotherapist, I would term her girlhood plans "self-fulfilling prophecy." Except for a few unforseens, everything in Gouge's life turned out pretty much according to plan, except that her Love Thine Enemy is a fascinating departure from the traditioinal plan for historical romance settings. Yes, it’s historical; and yes, it sprouts a happy ending; but the setting, immediately before the American Revolution and in Florida, marks a fresh departure. The only other Florida setting related to the Revolution that I can recall was Mel Gibson’s movie “The Patriot.”
Rachael Folger and her father moved from Nantucket to St. Johns Settlement, East Florida Colony, in 1775. Those who settled the colony were loyal to the British crown. Those from the Boston area were patriots at least at heart if not for action. Rachael was definitely a patriot and tended to speak her mind. Her father worried that she would run off business. Mr. Folger had been a sea captain, but his health was failing and he could no longer take the hard work. His nephew now was captain of the ship making regular trips to England and back.
Frederick Moberly was loyal to the crown and was magistrate of the colony. He was also sweet on Rachael. Of course, Frederick operated at the pleasure of his father who owned the plantation that Frederick ran. He could see that Rachael was not apt to turn from her patriot ways. Would his father accept a patriot in his family? That was his dilemma.
A betrayal of Rachael’s trust drives a wedge between them. Frederick was left to scuffle with the meaning of faith in God and country. Rachael urged him to see life, liberty, and love through God’s eyes. He’s left to capture his faith and courage to keep his love and not let the war tear them apart.
This is a well done piece of early American history. The setting helps one feel the great distances in this new land. The characters show the difficulty of the time. It’s a wonder we turned out where we are today.
Inspirational Historical Romance
Steeple Hill Books - July, 2009
Louise M. Gouge's "short biography" begins with the sentence, "When I was a girl, I had a plan." As a psychotherapist, I would term her girlhood plans "self-fulfilling prophecy." Except for a few unforseens, everything in Gouge's life turned out pretty much according to plan, except that her Love Thine Enemy is a fascinating departure from the traditioinal plan for historical romance settings. Yes, it’s historical; and yes, it sprouts a happy ending; but the setting, immediately before the American Revolution and in Florida, marks a fresh departure. The only other Florida setting related to the Revolution that I can recall was Mel Gibson’s movie “The Patriot.”
Rachael Folger and her father moved from Nantucket to St. Johns Settlement, East Florida Colony, in 1775. Those who settled the colony were loyal to the British crown. Those from the Boston area were patriots at least at heart if not for action. Rachael was definitely a patriot and tended to speak her mind. Her father worried that she would run off business. Mr. Folger had been a sea captain, but his health was failing and he could no longer take the hard work. His nephew now was captain of the ship making regular trips to England and back.
Frederick Moberly was loyal to the crown and was magistrate of the colony. He was also sweet on Rachael. Of course, Frederick operated at the pleasure of his father who owned the plantation that Frederick ran. He could see that Rachael was not apt to turn from her patriot ways. Would his father accept a patriot in his family? That was his dilemma.
A betrayal of Rachael’s trust drives a wedge between them. Frederick was left to scuffle with the meaning of faith in God and country. Rachael urged him to see life, liberty, and love through God’s eyes. He’s left to capture his faith and courage to keep his love and not let the war tear them apart.
This is a well done piece of early American history. The setting helps one feel the great distances in this new land. The characters show the difficulty of the time. It’s a wonder we turned out where we are today.
Healing the Boss's Heart
Valerie Hansen
Contemporary Inspirational Romance
Steeple Hill Books
With Valerie Hansen’s Healing the Boss’s Heart, the folks at Steeple Hill have launched a unique miniseries of romance novels they have titled After the Storm (a Kansas community unites to rebuild). All six books deal with how the people in High Plains, Kansas cope with the aftermath of a killer tornado, the worst one since “the big one in 1860.”
Healing the Boss’s Heart begins with the tornado scene, unsuspecting lives lofted into nature’s take-no-prisoners maelstrom. Hansen introduces the main characters as the life-threatening events unfold with a fury. Greg Garrison, a wealthy businessman in town, was thought of as being rather stiff and unreachable. The tornado made a rapid change in him. He rescued an orphan boy and even spent quite a bit of time looking for his dog. He made resources available from his hardware store to help out the people and the church.
Maya Logan, Greg Garrison’s secretary, was not only in shock because of the tornado but also by the changes in formal, sober, Mr. Garrison. He helped her and her daughter get situated with an open heart and kindness, expecting nothing in return. Others noticed the difference in him, too. Especially those who knew his father who was generally quite unpleasant and looked down on others, including his own son.
While High Plains, Kansas, had many losses from the tornado, it also experienced gains in the closeness and helpfulness of the people. Some good seems to come from everything.
While this series is tied together by the worst tornado since the Civil War, just like the cover illustration of Healing the Boss’s Heart, none of the titles trade on the storm’s inherent drama. The final book, Kathryn Springer’s Jingle Bell Babies, wraps the series in December with the storm nowhere in evidence. Just like with most good series books, the story in each novel appears to be dramatically valid in its own right. That means you can join the series in progress, with any title at any time; but if the drama of the killer tornado stirs your heart (no pun intended) and you’re intrigued how such an event might stir the lives of the people living in High Plains, starting at the beginning is never a bad plan.
Contemporary Inspirational Romance
Steeple Hill Books
With Valerie Hansen’s Healing the Boss’s Heart, the folks at Steeple Hill have launched a unique miniseries of romance novels they have titled After the Storm (a Kansas community unites to rebuild). All six books deal with how the people in High Plains, Kansas cope with the aftermath of a killer tornado, the worst one since “the big one in 1860.”
Healing the Boss’s Heart begins with the tornado scene, unsuspecting lives lofted into nature’s take-no-prisoners maelstrom. Hansen introduces the main characters as the life-threatening events unfold with a fury. Greg Garrison, a wealthy businessman in town, was thought of as being rather stiff and unreachable. The tornado made a rapid change in him. He rescued an orphan boy and even spent quite a bit of time looking for his dog. He made resources available from his hardware store to help out the people and the church.
Maya Logan, Greg Garrison’s secretary, was not only in shock because of the tornado but also by the changes in formal, sober, Mr. Garrison. He helped her and her daughter get situated with an open heart and kindness, expecting nothing in return. Others noticed the difference in him, too. Especially those who knew his father who was generally quite unpleasant and looked down on others, including his own son.
While High Plains, Kansas, had many losses from the tornado, it also experienced gains in the closeness and helpfulness of the people. Some good seems to come from everything.
While this series is tied together by the worst tornado since the Civil War, just like the cover illustration of Healing the Boss’s Heart, none of the titles trade on the storm’s inherent drama. The final book, Kathryn Springer’s Jingle Bell Babies, wraps the series in December with the storm nowhere in evidence. Just like with most good series books, the story in each novel appears to be dramatically valid in its own right. That means you can join the series in progress, with any title at any time; but if the drama of the killer tornado stirs your heart (no pun intended) and you’re intrigued how such an event might stir the lives of the people living in High Plains, starting at the beginning is never a bad plan.
The Preacher's Wife
Cheryl St. John
Inspirational Historical Romance
Steeple Hill Books - June, 2009
While I must confess that I run across periodic factual mistakes and illogical moments in many romance novels, the level of the writing itself is predictably good. The writing in some is remarkable. That’s the case with Cheryl St. John’s The Preacher’s Wife. Maybe that’s why St. John is a national award winner in both the contemporary and historical genres. Her proliference may also be a contributor. To date she has penned some 20 novels, though The Preacher’s Wife is her first Love Inspired Historical.
Regarding the word “proliference,” if novelists dare to write entire novels jam packed with a maelstrom of words, reviewers ought to have earned the right to coin a single word or two. If, because of my extensive reading, I have earned the right to critique our authors’ handiwork, my occasional coinage certainly invites equal time. Turnabout is fair play. (Not my phrase.) Tit for tat. (Not my phrase either.)
Set in Durham, Nebraska (1869), The Preacher’s Wife is a satisfying story with characters you really care about (about which you care?); but even the remarkable St. John is unable to dodge the “widow/widower syndrome.” I can’t tell you how many romance novels show their main characters embarking on take-two lives—all for generally good reasons, mind you (often with disarmingly cute offspring as plot points)—but it’s like our authors see richer possibilities in second-chance stories. For the record, however, I must say I can’t think of any third-chance romance novels, and I’m rapidly approaching my third thousand reads.
Josie Randolph was a widow. She’d had a rather unpleasant marriage and had no children. Her mother-in-law blamed her for that. Josie thought of herself as a helping person. Not a beauty. She longed to have a family but thought that would be impossible. Therefore, she kept busy taking care of the local preacher who had fallen off the roof of the church and had several serious injuries. While that was somewhat monotonous, she was diligent in her serving.
Samuel Hart arrived on the scene. He was the preacher sent to help Rev. Martin through his convalescence after which he and his family would continue west to his new assignment. His wife had drowned while traveling west. He and his daughters were grieving and having a difficult time of it. Josie helped them however she could and however they would let her.
The story is warm, real, and painful. She and Samuel grew slowly closer. His oldest daughter was hesitant to allow Josie to get close to her. She felt she should be the new mother. Thru good times and bad they each grew in their own way. Problems were present thru to the end of the story. But, you’ll love the ending! Thanks, Cheryl St. John, for an excellent piece of writing!
Inspirational Historical Romance
Steeple Hill Books - June, 2009
While I must confess that I run across periodic factual mistakes and illogical moments in many romance novels, the level of the writing itself is predictably good. The writing in some is remarkable. That’s the case with Cheryl St. John’s The Preacher’s Wife. Maybe that’s why St. John is a national award winner in both the contemporary and historical genres. Her proliference may also be a contributor. To date she has penned some 20 novels, though The Preacher’s Wife is her first Love Inspired Historical.
Regarding the word “proliference,” if novelists dare to write entire novels jam packed with a maelstrom of words, reviewers ought to have earned the right to coin a single word or two. If, because of my extensive reading, I have earned the right to critique our authors’ handiwork, my occasional coinage certainly invites equal time. Turnabout is fair play. (Not my phrase.) Tit for tat. (Not my phrase either.)
Set in Durham, Nebraska (1869), The Preacher’s Wife is a satisfying story with characters you really care about (about which you care?); but even the remarkable St. John is unable to dodge the “widow/widower syndrome.” I can’t tell you how many romance novels show their main characters embarking on take-two lives—all for generally good reasons, mind you (often with disarmingly cute offspring as plot points)—but it’s like our authors see richer possibilities in second-chance stories. For the record, however, I must say I can’t think of any third-chance romance novels, and I’m rapidly approaching my third thousand reads.
Josie Randolph was a widow. She’d had a rather unpleasant marriage and had no children. Her mother-in-law blamed her for that. Josie thought of herself as a helping person. Not a beauty. She longed to have a family but thought that would be impossible. Therefore, she kept busy taking care of the local preacher who had fallen off the roof of the church and had several serious injuries. While that was somewhat monotonous, she was diligent in her serving.
Samuel Hart arrived on the scene. He was the preacher sent to help Rev. Martin through his convalescence after which he and his family would continue west to his new assignment. His wife had drowned while traveling west. He and his daughters were grieving and having a difficult time of it. Josie helped them however she could and however they would let her.
The story is warm, real, and painful. She and Samuel grew slowly closer. His oldest daughter was hesitant to allow Josie to get close to her. She felt she should be the new mother. Thru good times and bad they each grew in their own way. Problems were present thru to the end of the story. But, you’ll love the ending! Thanks, Cheryl St. John, for an excellent piece of writing!
Monday, June 15, 2009
A Soldier's Reunion
Cheryl Wyatt
Love Inspired Contemporary Romance
Steeple Hill Books - June, 2009
A Soldier’s Reunion is the fourth book in Cheryl Wyatt’s “Wings of Refuge” series. (Earlier I reviewed her Ready-Made Family, the third book in this series. I concluded her work was flawed but “worth watching.”)
Consistent with her series, Wyatt sets her story in a military environment. She remains fascinated with the soldiers of the skies, setting this story in the dashing world of pararescue. Wyatt adds a bitter sweet component with leading characters in this story who were first high school sweethearts.
This story begins with a large bridge that is compromised when hit by an airplane. The bridge is filled with cars and a school bus filled with children. Nolan Briggs is the pararescuer in charge of this rescue mission. He and his rescuers are on the job to save as many as possible. They discover that Reece, Amelia’s daughter from Ready-Made Family, is on the school bus.
While rescuing people from the bridge, Nolan Briggs runs into Mandy Manchester, his old girlfriend from high school. They haven’t seen each other for ten years since graduation. She looks as good to him as ever. He, on the other hand, is the guy who left without saying goodbye. She would be afraid to trust him.
The balance of the story has to do with how Mandy and Nolan work toward getting back together. I can’t fault this book by Cheryl Wyatt like I did the last one. This one tends to stay more with the important things and not include absolutely everything possible. This is a faster read filled with action and people and personalities and, of course, great lacks of communication. To Cheryl Wyatt – congratulations on a good, well paced book. Definitely worth the read!
Love Inspired Contemporary Romance
Steeple Hill Books - June, 2009
A Soldier’s Reunion is the fourth book in Cheryl Wyatt’s “Wings of Refuge” series. (Earlier I reviewed her Ready-Made Family, the third book in this series. I concluded her work was flawed but “worth watching.”)
Consistent with her series, Wyatt sets her story in a military environment. She remains fascinated with the soldiers of the skies, setting this story in the dashing world of pararescue. Wyatt adds a bitter sweet component with leading characters in this story who were first high school sweethearts.
This story begins with a large bridge that is compromised when hit by an airplane. The bridge is filled with cars and a school bus filled with children. Nolan Briggs is the pararescuer in charge of this rescue mission. He and his rescuers are on the job to save as many as possible. They discover that Reece, Amelia’s daughter from Ready-Made Family, is on the school bus.
While rescuing people from the bridge, Nolan Briggs runs into Mandy Manchester, his old girlfriend from high school. They haven’t seen each other for ten years since graduation. She looks as good to him as ever. He, on the other hand, is the guy who left without saying goodbye. She would be afraid to trust him.
The balance of the story has to do with how Mandy and Nolan work toward getting back together. I can’t fault this book by Cheryl Wyatt like I did the last one. This one tends to stay more with the important things and not include absolutely everything possible. This is a faster read filled with action and people and personalities and, of course, great lacks of communication. To Cheryl Wyatt – congratulations on a good, well paced book. Definitely worth the read!
Rewriting Monday
Jodi Thomas
Contemporary Romance
Berkley Books - April 2009
As you may have guessed, I love romance novels, especially the latest Steeple Hill books and the historicals. I enjoy the historical romance novels because the environments in which they are set are generally real and there tends to be less explicit sex, especially when compared to the contemporary stories. I enjoy the Steeple Hill books because they weave Christian issues into the stories and characters just like they are woven in real life. And, of course, they all have happy endings!
But reading Jodi Thomas (Berkley Books) is an exceptional pleasure for me. She’s gooood! I know I’m in good hands when she’s at the story’s helm. They are beautifully written. Her characters are real. She sticks to telling the story, always making it a lean, compelling read. Not only is Rewriting Monday an intriguing title for a romance novel, but its female lead, Pepper Malone, sports a character name straight out of the popular pulp panoply. Can you see it? The New Adventures of Pepper Malone, Pepper Malone Strikes Back, Pepper Malone Goes to Hollywood, Pepper Malone and the McTeague Murders, Pepper Malone Packs A Wallop! Books, movies, radio, TV—Pepper Malone lives! (And loves: Pepper Malone Dares to Love) And who can forget that ubiquitous line from Editor Perry, “Where’s that Pepper when we need her?”
Pepper Malone lost her job as a reporter for a major Chicago publisher when she reported information about a prominent Chicago family. The family claimed she received the information by unethical means. The family had more power than she had. That’s what caused her to flee Chicago to find a good place to hide. She found it in Bailee, Texas, a quiet little town where her old aunt lived. It was a place to hide and heal. Of course, she needed to make a living. She went to the Bailee Bugle and told editor, Mike McCullock, that the weekly paper needed her. From there we get adventure, intrigue, mysterious accidents, and lots of action. And, Mike McCullock gets hope, which is something he hasn’t felt for a long time.
Jodi Thomas never lets me down and she’s done it again. Don’t miss this well written fast moving book!
Contemporary Romance
Berkley Books - April 2009
As you may have guessed, I love romance novels, especially the latest Steeple Hill books and the historicals. I enjoy the historical romance novels because the environments in which they are set are generally real and there tends to be less explicit sex, especially when compared to the contemporary stories. I enjoy the Steeple Hill books because they weave Christian issues into the stories and characters just like they are woven in real life. And, of course, they all have happy endings!
But reading Jodi Thomas (Berkley Books) is an exceptional pleasure for me. She’s gooood! I know I’m in good hands when she’s at the story’s helm. They are beautifully written. Her characters are real. She sticks to telling the story, always making it a lean, compelling read. Not only is Rewriting Monday an intriguing title for a romance novel, but its female lead, Pepper Malone, sports a character name straight out of the popular pulp panoply. Can you see it? The New Adventures of Pepper Malone, Pepper Malone Strikes Back, Pepper Malone Goes to Hollywood, Pepper Malone and the McTeague Murders, Pepper Malone Packs A Wallop! Books, movies, radio, TV—Pepper Malone lives! (And loves: Pepper Malone Dares to Love) And who can forget that ubiquitous line from Editor Perry, “Where’s that Pepper when we need her?”
Pepper Malone lost her job as a reporter for a major Chicago publisher when she reported information about a prominent Chicago family. The family claimed she received the information by unethical means. The family had more power than she had. That’s what caused her to flee Chicago to find a good place to hide. She found it in Bailee, Texas, a quiet little town where her old aunt lived. It was a place to hide and heal. Of course, she needed to make a living. She went to the Bailee Bugle and told editor, Mike McCullock, that the weekly paper needed her. From there we get adventure, intrigue, mysterious accidents, and lots of action. And, Mike McCullock gets hope, which is something he hasn’t felt for a long time.
Jodi Thomas never lets me down and she’s done it again. Don’t miss this well written fast moving book!
Sunday, June 14, 2009
His Forever Love
Missy Tippens
Love Inspired Contemporary Romance
Steeple Hill Books - June, 2009
Missy Tippens’ His Forever Love introduces the “forever” tree, and who could resist such a deciduation? Her “forever” tree is the sacred stuff out of which the romance genre was birthed. (Where’s screen director Frank Capra [“It’s a Wonderful Life”] when you have such a great story for him?)
Legend has it that every couple who holds hands around the “forever” tree will experience an unending love for each other. Oh, please! I’m already in tears of joy because I can sense a wonderful ending around the final carefully-plotted turn. But our leading characters are only ten years old when they invoke the legend. Guess what? The two kids meet years later. Will the “forever” tree legend hold water?
Ooo, I can hardly wait.
But that’s only part of our story. Both Lindsey Jones and Bill Wellington have grown up as poster people for low self esteem, the sin de jour in this self-indulgent era. But, can you believe it? The “forever” tree wins out in the end, and Tippens’ story roars into an uplifting ending as the two characters come to discover, each through the eyes of the other, the great value each one has. Is that not the essence of our favorite genre?
Yes, boys and girls, His Forever Love is a lovely read.
After ten years of paying her writer dues, this is Missy’s second book for Steeple Hill. With any luck she and her pastor husband will continue holding hands around her “forever” computer, and that will inspire Missy to many more delightful journeys into the world of Steeple Hill romance.
Love Inspired Contemporary Romance
Steeple Hill Books - June, 2009
Missy Tippens’ His Forever Love introduces the “forever” tree, and who could resist such a deciduation? Her “forever” tree is the sacred stuff out of which the romance genre was birthed. (Where’s screen director Frank Capra [“It’s a Wonderful Life”] when you have such a great story for him?)
Legend has it that every couple who holds hands around the “forever” tree will experience an unending love for each other. Oh, please! I’m already in tears of joy because I can sense a wonderful ending around the final carefully-plotted turn. But our leading characters are only ten years old when they invoke the legend. Guess what? The two kids meet years later. Will the “forever” tree legend hold water?
Ooo, I can hardly wait.
But that’s only part of our story. Both Lindsey Jones and Bill Wellington have grown up as poster people for low self esteem, the sin de jour in this self-indulgent era. But, can you believe it? The “forever” tree wins out in the end, and Tippens’ story roars into an uplifting ending as the two characters come to discover, each through the eyes of the other, the great value each one has. Is that not the essence of our favorite genre?
Yes, boys and girls, His Forever Love is a lovely read.
After ten years of paying her writer dues, this is Missy’s second book for Steeple Hill. With any luck she and her pastor husband will continue holding hands around her “forever” computer, and that will inspire Missy to many more delightful journeys into the world of Steeple Hill romance.
The Accidental Lawman
Jill Marie Landis
Historical Romance
Steeple Hill Books - 2009
Jill Marie Landis is 20 novels deep into a career which includes titles that have earned their way into the New York Times and USA Today best seller lists. That suggests she’s a good writer. Her latest book, The Accidental Lawman, does the same. Interesting characters and a small town in which any sensible person would want to live grace this historical set in 1874.
Glory is a small town in Texas populated by good hearted, salt-of-the-earth folks for whom a penchant for gossip is essentially non existent. (The small town exception that proves the rule.) The towns folks genuinely enjoy and care for one another, so much so that the place has no sheriff and no jail. But the quiet, friendly town is suddenly shaken by the bank robbery that opens Landis’s story.
The robbery introduces us to the novel’s main characters, Hank Larson and Amelia Hawthorne. Hank is a widower recently arrived in town to open a newspaper (without a sheriff and a jail—and folks who love each other—what is he going to write about?). The beautiful Amelia, the daughter of the small town’s recently deceased doctor is, a healer.
Hank thwarts the robbery, but it turns out that one of the robbers is Amelia’s nineteen-year-old brother. Ahh, the plot thickens; and it thickens into a well-written, taut adventure romance.
Still grieving the loss of his wife and child, Hank Larson wanted nothing more than to start his newspaper and become part of this small town. He wasn’t ready for any serious involvement and yet the good folks of Glory, Texas, insisted that he become their sheriff, at least until another could be found.
Amelia Hawthorne had convinced herself that she was meant to be an old maid. She had raised her brother, Evan, since her mother died; and she was frustrated because at nineteen he no longer listened to her. She felt guilty for not being able to control Evan, but then no one else could either.
This is an adventurous story with many twists and turns. Tension builds to the very end. Enjoy this very satisfying book!
Historical Romance
Steeple Hill Books - 2009
Jill Marie Landis is 20 novels deep into a career which includes titles that have earned their way into the New York Times and USA Today best seller lists. That suggests she’s a good writer. Her latest book, The Accidental Lawman, does the same. Interesting characters and a small town in which any sensible person would want to live grace this historical set in 1874.
Glory is a small town in Texas populated by good hearted, salt-of-the-earth folks for whom a penchant for gossip is essentially non existent. (The small town exception that proves the rule.) The towns folks genuinely enjoy and care for one another, so much so that the place has no sheriff and no jail. But the quiet, friendly town is suddenly shaken by the bank robbery that opens Landis’s story.
The robbery introduces us to the novel’s main characters, Hank Larson and Amelia Hawthorne. Hank is a widower recently arrived in town to open a newspaper (without a sheriff and a jail—and folks who love each other—what is he going to write about?). The beautiful Amelia, the daughter of the small town’s recently deceased doctor is, a healer.
Hank thwarts the robbery, but it turns out that one of the robbers is Amelia’s nineteen-year-old brother. Ahh, the plot thickens; and it thickens into a well-written, taut adventure romance.
Still grieving the loss of his wife and child, Hank Larson wanted nothing more than to start his newspaper and become part of this small town. He wasn’t ready for any serious involvement and yet the good folks of Glory, Texas, insisted that he become their sheriff, at least until another could be found.
Amelia Hawthorne had convinced herself that she was meant to be an old maid. She had raised her brother, Evan, since her mother died; and she was frustrated because at nineteen he no longer listened to her. She felt guilty for not being able to control Evan, but then no one else could either.
This is an adventurous story with many twists and turns. Tension builds to the very end. Enjoy this very satisfying book!
A Ring and a Promise
Lois Richer
Love Inspired Contemporary Romance
Steeple Hill Books - June, 2009
A Ring and a Promise is another in Lois Richer’s Love Inspired “Weddings by Woodwards” series. Richer is a craftsman. The characters in A Ring and a Promise are real, but the events pressing in on them aren’t all that earth shaking. Nice little stories certainly have their place; but by the time I reached the last page, I felt that my investment in the read hadn’t yielded much.
The lead character in this outing is Abby Franklin who is a jewelry designer for Weddings by Woodward. It seems to me the company is too small to have a fulltime jewelry designer. (Or is it just me?) Too many romance novels ask their readers to indulge stretches in logic.
The male lead is Donovan Woodward, the man Abby planned to marry; but who, for no apparent reason, left her in the lurch five years before the story opens. Now he’s returned to the family business with a godchild in tow; and it is Abby’s growing feelings for this godchild that overcome her anger and disappointment over Donovan’s unexplained exit.
Where have I encountered this metric before?
Too many recent romance novels ask some unsuspecting kid to rekindle an earlier romance or spark a new one. By the same token, too many romance novels are populated by widows and widowers suffering from the flames and arrows of incomprehensible fate and failed relationships. Our romance novel landscape is overpopulated by “take-two” situations: “Maybe we’ll get it right this time.” I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that some author is now hard at work on a fifth-time-around romance between two octogenarians who have met in some picturesque seaside old folks home. “It’s never too late, baby. Pass the Levitra.”
In this second time around for me and Lois Richer, the Weddings by Woodwards premise for a series seems a bit wanting. However, with some 35 titles to her credit, Richer’s writing has clearly found an audience among Christian readers. With that kind of a track record, I obviously need to give the lady a take three or even a take four.
Love Inspired Contemporary Romance
Steeple Hill Books - June, 2009
A Ring and a Promise is another in Lois Richer’s Love Inspired “Weddings by Woodwards” series. Richer is a craftsman. The characters in A Ring and a Promise are real, but the events pressing in on them aren’t all that earth shaking. Nice little stories certainly have their place; but by the time I reached the last page, I felt that my investment in the read hadn’t yielded much.
The lead character in this outing is Abby Franklin who is a jewelry designer for Weddings by Woodward. It seems to me the company is too small to have a fulltime jewelry designer. (Or is it just me?) Too many romance novels ask their readers to indulge stretches in logic.
The male lead is Donovan Woodward, the man Abby planned to marry; but who, for no apparent reason, left her in the lurch five years before the story opens. Now he’s returned to the family business with a godchild in tow; and it is Abby’s growing feelings for this godchild that overcome her anger and disappointment over Donovan’s unexplained exit.
Where have I encountered this metric before?
Too many recent romance novels ask some unsuspecting kid to rekindle an earlier romance or spark a new one. By the same token, too many romance novels are populated by widows and widowers suffering from the flames and arrows of incomprehensible fate and failed relationships. Our romance novel landscape is overpopulated by “take-two” situations: “Maybe we’ll get it right this time.” I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that some author is now hard at work on a fifth-time-around romance between two octogenarians who have met in some picturesque seaside old folks home. “It’s never too late, baby. Pass the Levitra.”
In this second time around for me and Lois Richer, the Weddings by Woodwards premise for a series seems a bit wanting. However, with some 35 titles to her credit, Richer’s writing has clearly found an audience among Christian readers. With that kind of a track record, I obviously need to give the lady a take three or even a take four.
Small-Town Brides
Janet Tronstad and Debra Clopton
Love Inspired Contemporary Inspirational Romance
Steeple Hill Books – June, 2009
Small-Town Brides is a Steeple Hill coupling of two novellas, one by Janet Tronstad and the other by Debra Clopton. Both are fine writers and this coupling does nothing to harm either reputation.
Both stories begin in Mule Hollow; but the first story, Tronstad’s A Dry Creek Wedding, migrates to, you guessed it, Dry Creek, a small town in Montana. As the collection’s title suggests, both stories end in obligatory weddings and the ever-present happy ending; but the journeys for both pairs of characters offer good reads.
In the first story, Rene Mitchell, 32, is a waitress at the truck stop in Mule Hollow. She was a hopeless romantic. For her romance was everything; but her boyfriend, Trace, only offered a “practical” marriage. Romance, per se, was not on his plate. The marriage would be a practical one in which Rene’s primary responsibility would be to care for Trace’s young niece who had just arrived in town. Her parents had just died.
Rene went ballistic! In a fury, she shook Mule Hollow’s dust from her feet and packed her car for her aunt and uncle’s place in Dry Creek, Montana. She would have made it, too, except that the piece of junk broke down at the city limits. Enter Clay Preston, 41, and his trusty wrecker.
Clay liked to watch Rene when he ate at the local truck stop; but his foster home upbringing left him too shy for anything overt—until Rene’s sick vehicle offered him the hero’s mantel. Yes, he agreed to tow her all the way to Dry Creek. (A beautiful damsel in distress? Come on, gentlemen, what would you have done?) And what a tow it was, Rene dealing with her anger and disappointment and Clay dealing with his shyness. By the time the two made it to Dry Creek, Rene discovered the romance she craved and Clay set aside his shyness.
In the second story, A Mule Hollow Match by Debra Clopton, we meet Rene’s cousin, Paisley Norton. The two women had been close. When Rene left Trace and his offer in the dust, Trace tried it out on Paisley. She was angry at Trace because of how he treated Rene, but she did agree to care for the little girl, feeling that the child should not suffer because Trace was a jerk. Any relationship with Trace was out of the question, but Paisley’s care for the man’s niece brought her into Trace’s daily life much as the close quarters of the wrecker’s cab had brought Clay into Rene’s life.
Close quarters have a way of overcoming obstacles, especially in romance novels; and the more Paisley was around Trace, the more she liked him, especially the marvelous man she was now seeing through the eyes of his little niece.
Both novellas are fast reads by good writers. Their character’s problems are far from earth shaking, but they were important to the two sets of characters and they are true to life.
Love Inspired Contemporary Inspirational Romance
Steeple Hill Books – June, 2009
Small-Town Brides is a Steeple Hill coupling of two novellas, one by Janet Tronstad and the other by Debra Clopton. Both are fine writers and this coupling does nothing to harm either reputation.
Both stories begin in Mule Hollow; but the first story, Tronstad’s A Dry Creek Wedding, migrates to, you guessed it, Dry Creek, a small town in Montana. As the collection’s title suggests, both stories end in obligatory weddings and the ever-present happy ending; but the journeys for both pairs of characters offer good reads.
In the first story, Rene Mitchell, 32, is a waitress at the truck stop in Mule Hollow. She was a hopeless romantic. For her romance was everything; but her boyfriend, Trace, only offered a “practical” marriage. Romance, per se, was not on his plate. The marriage would be a practical one in which Rene’s primary responsibility would be to care for Trace’s young niece who had just arrived in town. Her parents had just died.
Rene went ballistic! In a fury, she shook Mule Hollow’s dust from her feet and packed her car for her aunt and uncle’s place in Dry Creek, Montana. She would have made it, too, except that the piece of junk broke down at the city limits. Enter Clay Preston, 41, and his trusty wrecker.
Clay liked to watch Rene when he ate at the local truck stop; but his foster home upbringing left him too shy for anything overt—until Rene’s sick vehicle offered him the hero’s mantel. Yes, he agreed to tow her all the way to Dry Creek. (A beautiful damsel in distress? Come on, gentlemen, what would you have done?) And what a tow it was, Rene dealing with her anger and disappointment and Clay dealing with his shyness. By the time the two made it to Dry Creek, Rene discovered the romance she craved and Clay set aside his shyness.
In the second story, A Mule Hollow Match by Debra Clopton, we meet Rene’s cousin, Paisley Norton. The two women had been close. When Rene left Trace and his offer in the dust, Trace tried it out on Paisley. She was angry at Trace because of how he treated Rene, but she did agree to care for the little girl, feeling that the child should not suffer because Trace was a jerk. Any relationship with Trace was out of the question, but Paisley’s care for the man’s niece brought her into Trace’s daily life much as the close quarters of the wrecker’s cab had brought Clay into Rene’s life.
Close quarters have a way of overcoming obstacles, especially in romance novels; and the more Paisley was around Trace, the more she liked him, especially the marvelous man she was now seeing through the eyes of his little niece.
Both novellas are fast reads by good writers. Their character’s problems are far from earth shaking, but they were important to the two sets of characters and they are true to life.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tides of Hope
Irene Hannon
Contemporary Inspirational Romance
Steeple Hill Books - May, 2009
Irene Hannon’s Tides of Hope is another recent Steeple Hill romance set on Nantucket Island, but this one is contemporary. Kate MacDonald is a widow who has taken over her husband’s charter boat business. While she’s a strong willed, no-nonsense woman successfully navigating a demanding business, she’s been unable to handle her husband’s death. He was too handsome, too wonderful, and too perfect. Kate is also having an increasingly difficult time with her four year-old daughter who wants a dad.
Craig Cole, the new commander at Nantucket’s Coast Guard station might, be a good candidate if he weren’t so picky. Kate understands that anyone earning their living from the sea has to honor the details. Not doing so can kill you, but this Craig Cole guy is ridiculous. Everyone else thinks Craig is a gorgeous hunk and much to be desired. Of course, Craig had his own problems. He was a widower with a four-year-old daughter. He, like Kate, was still grieving the death of his wife and son from an accident for which he felt some guilt. Therefore, he was racked with grief. His daughter was with him full-time now.
That was an adjustment since she had spent a lot of time with nannies and Craig’s relatives in their prior location.
Psychologically, both people are dealing with painful issues. After such losses, each of them feared having new relationships especially with the possibility of those ending unexpectedly, too. This book deals with tough stuff, but, we believe that love will win out in the end, which, since Tides of Hope is a romance novel, Guess what? Enjoy this page turner that Anna Schmidt has provided us.
Contemporary Inspirational Romance
Steeple Hill Books - May, 2009
Irene Hannon’s Tides of Hope is another recent Steeple Hill romance set on Nantucket Island, but this one is contemporary. Kate MacDonald is a widow who has taken over her husband’s charter boat business. While she’s a strong willed, no-nonsense woman successfully navigating a demanding business, she’s been unable to handle her husband’s death. He was too handsome, too wonderful, and too perfect. Kate is also having an increasingly difficult time with her four year-old daughter who wants a dad.
Craig Cole, the new commander at Nantucket’s Coast Guard station might, be a good candidate if he weren’t so picky. Kate understands that anyone earning their living from the sea has to honor the details. Not doing so can kill you, but this Craig Cole guy is ridiculous. Everyone else thinks Craig is a gorgeous hunk and much to be desired. Of course, Craig had his own problems. He was a widower with a four-year-old daughter. He, like Kate, was still grieving the death of his wife and son from an accident for which he felt some guilt. Therefore, he was racked with grief. His daughter was with him full-time now.
That was an adjustment since she had spent a lot of time with nannies and Craig’s relatives in their prior location.
Psychologically, both people are dealing with painful issues. After such losses, each of them feared having new relationships especially with the possibility of those ending unexpectedly, too. This book deals with tough stuff, but, we believe that love will win out in the end, which, since Tides of Hope is a romance novel, Guess what? Enjoy this page turner that Anna Schmidt has provided us.
Fearless
Diana Palmer
Romance - Contemporary
HQN Books - 2008
I get scared easily when I read or watch TV. My husband laughs at me, but he’s always within hailing distance (or by my side) when it’s suspense, adventure, or mystery. I know it’s all just fiction and I can close the book or turn off the TV anytime I want, but it really affects me. He loves that stuff. I don’t.
Diana Palmer’s Fearless is packed with adventure and suspense, but I liked it. Hmmm. At first I thought my reaction was strange, but then I realized my usual fears were being cradled in the arms of a first class writer. Suspense lurks around every corner in Fearless but I knew I was safe with Palmer. The psychotherapist in me is going to have to spend more time thinking about this. Maybe, I believed the title. Suppose?
Since 1979, Diana Palmer has written 100+ novels. That averages more than one every four months. That’s phenomenal enough but when you read her biography, she’s living at least two other busy lives. My guess is that she lives 36 hour days (eight per week). Her 100+ novels are just a sideline.
This story takes place in Jacobsville, Texas. This town has an unusual mix of lawmen. Their backgrounds are varied and dangerous. Glory Barnes is staying on a Jacobsville farm for her protection. She’s an assistant DA in San Antonio who needs protection until she testifies in a dangerous case. Cash Grier, the police chief, will try to keep her protected but with that particular mix of lawmen in residence it’s hard to know the good guys from the bad.
Any of Diana Palmer’s books that take place in this location are always full of adventure and surprises. Glory Barnes is attracted to Rodrigo Ramirez, the ranch foreman, who seems like a nice guy, but, how can she know for sure? We know that someone isn’t just right, but who? A bad guess could cost a life, hers. Any of these professionals are apt to trust no one. This is a page turner you’re sure to enjoy!
Romance - Contemporary
HQN Books - 2008
I get scared easily when I read or watch TV. My husband laughs at me, but he’s always within hailing distance (or by my side) when it’s suspense, adventure, or mystery. I know it’s all just fiction and I can close the book or turn off the TV anytime I want, but it really affects me. He loves that stuff. I don’t.
Diana Palmer’s Fearless is packed with adventure and suspense, but I liked it. Hmmm. At first I thought my reaction was strange, but then I realized my usual fears were being cradled in the arms of a first class writer. Suspense lurks around every corner in Fearless but I knew I was safe with Palmer. The psychotherapist in me is going to have to spend more time thinking about this. Maybe, I believed the title. Suppose?
Since 1979, Diana Palmer has written 100+ novels. That averages more than one every four months. That’s phenomenal enough but when you read her biography, she’s living at least two other busy lives. My guess is that she lives 36 hour days (eight per week). Her 100+ novels are just a sideline.
This story takes place in Jacobsville, Texas. This town has an unusual mix of lawmen. Their backgrounds are varied and dangerous. Glory Barnes is staying on a Jacobsville farm for her protection. She’s an assistant DA in San Antonio who needs protection until she testifies in a dangerous case. Cash Grier, the police chief, will try to keep her protected but with that particular mix of lawmen in residence it’s hard to know the good guys from the bad.
Any of Diana Palmer’s books that take place in this location are always full of adventure and surprises. Glory Barnes is attracted to Rodrigo Ramirez, the ranch foreman, who seems like a nice guy, but, how can she know for sure? We know that someone isn’t just right, but who? A bad guess could cost a life, hers. Any of these professionals are apt to trust no one. This is a page turner you’re sure to enjoy!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Gift from the Sea
Anna Schmidt
Inspirational Historic Romance
Steeple Hill Books - May, 2009
Gift from the Sea is the ninth of Anna Schmidt’s Steeple Hill books. It’s an historical romance, but Schmidt did not set it in an era typical of romance novels. Gift from the Sea is set in the midst of World War I, “the war to end all wars,” and the gift is odd, indeed. Its name is Stefan Witte. He is an injured German washed ashore at Nantucket Island off the Massachusetts coast. At the outset, Witte is no threat. Nurse Maggie Hunter found him dangerously close to death. But now that’s he’s getting better and more lucid. . .
Hanna Schmidt’s Gift from the Sea has a storyline that’s different for a typical romance novel. Stefan Witte, the injured German who washed ashore on Nantucket Island had lost his only family to the German’s. There was nothing left for him there. He claimed to be on a mission of peace, but no one was willing to believe him. Maggie Hunter, the nurse who cared for him didn’t trust him at all. He needed to deliver information to American authorities but had no way to make the contact without help from a go-between. And, no one would believe him so that contact could be made. Romance was nowhere in sight. Stefan was badly injured and unable to leave his sick room. Maggie was grieving over her intended who had been killed overseas. She was fine to blame that on Stefan too.
This is a romance, but, you will be surprised at how it comes about. This is a good and interesting historical. It takes a bit to get into it, but it’s worth the time – enjoy!
Inspirational Historic Romance
Steeple Hill Books - May, 2009
Gift from the Sea is the ninth of Anna Schmidt’s Steeple Hill books. It’s an historical romance, but Schmidt did not set it in an era typical of romance novels. Gift from the Sea is set in the midst of World War I, “the war to end all wars,” and the gift is odd, indeed. Its name is Stefan Witte. He is an injured German washed ashore at Nantucket Island off the Massachusetts coast. At the outset, Witte is no threat. Nurse Maggie Hunter found him dangerously close to death. But now that’s he’s getting better and more lucid. . .
Hanna Schmidt’s Gift from the Sea has a storyline that’s different for a typical romance novel. Stefan Witte, the injured German who washed ashore on Nantucket Island had lost his only family to the German’s. There was nothing left for him there. He claimed to be on a mission of peace, but no one was willing to believe him. Maggie Hunter, the nurse who cared for him didn’t trust him at all. He needed to deliver information to American authorities but had no way to make the contact without help from a go-between. And, no one would believe him so that contact could be made. Romance was nowhere in sight. Stefan was badly injured and unable to leave his sick room. Maggie was grieving over her intended who had been killed overseas. She was fine to blame that on Stefan too.
This is a romance, but, you will be surprised at how it comes about. This is a good and interesting historical. It takes a bit to get into it, but it’s worth the time – enjoy!
The Baby Bond
Linda Goodnight
Contemporary Inspirational Romance
Steeple Hill Books - May - 2009
The blurb in The Baby Bond indicates that Linda Goodnight has written 9 books for Steeple Hill. Three of these are a series, The Brothers’ Bond. She’s also published in Harlequin’s Silhouette series. According to her biography, she’s written some 19 books since 2000. That’s nearly 6 novels a year, an average of one every two plus months. Whew, but she’s not just an assembly line. In 2007 she won the RITA for the best inspirational novel. Quantity plus quality. It doesn’t get much better than that. She’s also a gut writer. Most of her characters arrive in her head complete with names. She tends not to know the ending of a book when she begins it. The characters know, and Linda trusts them.
The Baby Bond is a story with both tragedy and adventure. It also has love and lack of trust. Firefighter, Nic Carano, rescues baby Alex from a burning house. Baby Alex and Nic form an immediate bond. Alex’s parents were both lost in the fire.
Nic was thought of as a playboy who refused to grow up. He had that reputation when he and Cassidy Willis were in college together. Cassidy Willis is Alex’s aunt and becomes his guardian. Nic was attracted to Cassidy but she refused to get close to him. To her, every time Nic went to work he was in danger of dying in a fire. She wanted none of that! Cassidy’s parents died in a tornado in the Philippines where they were missionaries. She was trapped in a collapsing school building. She could smell smoke and feared being burned to death.
Psychologically, these are people with problems. Nic has done such a good job of looking like a playboy that no one has noticed that he is also a responsible person. True, he hasn’t wanted to get hooked by a woman and pressured into marriage. He put out love with the same skills he used putting out fires. He wasn’t anti-marriage just not ready yet. Cassidy had an irrational fear about fire. She was living a nightmare that had reached dysfunctional proportions. She spent her time being self protective. Actually, all this makes for a very good story.
Laugh, cry and enjoy this well-written story with a very satisfying ending.
Contemporary Inspirational Romance
Steeple Hill Books - May - 2009
The blurb in The Baby Bond indicates that Linda Goodnight has written 9 books for Steeple Hill. Three of these are a series, The Brothers’ Bond. She’s also published in Harlequin’s Silhouette series. According to her biography, she’s written some 19 books since 2000. That’s nearly 6 novels a year, an average of one every two plus months. Whew, but she’s not just an assembly line. In 2007 she won the RITA for the best inspirational novel. Quantity plus quality. It doesn’t get much better than that. She’s also a gut writer. Most of her characters arrive in her head complete with names. She tends not to know the ending of a book when she begins it. The characters know, and Linda trusts them.
The Baby Bond is a story with both tragedy and adventure. It also has love and lack of trust. Firefighter, Nic Carano, rescues baby Alex from a burning house. Baby Alex and Nic form an immediate bond. Alex’s parents were both lost in the fire.
Nic was thought of as a playboy who refused to grow up. He had that reputation when he and Cassidy Willis were in college together. Cassidy Willis is Alex’s aunt and becomes his guardian. Nic was attracted to Cassidy but she refused to get close to him. To her, every time Nic went to work he was in danger of dying in a fire. She wanted none of that! Cassidy’s parents died in a tornado in the Philippines where they were missionaries. She was trapped in a collapsing school building. She could smell smoke and feared being burned to death.
Psychologically, these are people with problems. Nic has done such a good job of looking like a playboy that no one has noticed that he is also a responsible person. True, he hasn’t wanted to get hooked by a woman and pressured into marriage. He put out love with the same skills he used putting out fires. He wasn’t anti-marriage just not ready yet. Cassidy had an irrational fear about fire. She was living a nightmare that had reached dysfunctional proportions. She spent her time being self protective. Actually, all this makes for a very good story.
Laugh, cry and enjoy this well-written story with a very satisfying ending.
Blind-Date Bride
Jillian Hart
Contemporary Inspirational Romance
Steeple Hill Books - May, 2009
Blind Date Bride is book number 18 in Jillian Hart’s McKaslin Clan series, so if you like this one, great reads lie ahead. The bottom line for me is that Blind Date Bride is a sweet little story, but the problems Brianna McKaslin (Brandilyn’s twin sister) and Max Decker face aren’t particularly significant. They are to them, make no mistake, but in the larger scheme of things, they’re more a footnote. Blind Date Bride is true to the romance formula. It’s an easy read. It moves well; and typical of most Steeple Hills, Hart skillfully blends in the Christian message. Both characters have problems that mediate against their chances at romance, but guess what? They’re all solved by page 267 and the words “The best was yet to come.”
Contemporary Inspirational Romance
Steeple Hill Books - May, 2009
Blind Date Bride is book number 18 in Jillian Hart’s McKaslin Clan series, so if you like this one, great reads lie ahead. The bottom line for me is that Blind Date Bride is a sweet little story, but the problems Brianna McKaslin (Brandilyn’s twin sister) and Max Decker face aren’t particularly significant. They are to them, make no mistake, but in the larger scheme of things, they’re more a footnote. Blind Date Bride is true to the romance formula. It’s an easy read. It moves well; and typical of most Steeple Hills, Hart skillfully blends in the Christian message. Both characters have problems that mediate against their chances at romance, but guess what? They’re all solved by page 267 and the words “The best was yet to come.”
The Secret
Beverly Lewis
Amish - Novel
Bethany House Publishers - 2009
In an earlier Grace Note I talked about Andrea Sachs’ Time Magazine’s article on the current Amish love stories, dubbed “bonnet books” by some. They’re not really romance novels in the traditional sense because they don’t follow the romance formula. Actually, I think they’re more “soap opera books” because their let’s-not-talk-about-it-now (ever) efforts at communication drive the plot. As a psychotherapist, I find the character’s dysfunctional lives very sad. Get on with it!” I scream. “Say what you mean!”
I know what the Bible says about life and the Amish interpretation, to me, isn’t it. (Unless you’re a man and would be king.) The popularity of these books escapes me. Reading this one is like four hours watching an ant farm. (Those ants really know how to live.) The bonnet books are supposed to be inspirational fiction. They only inspire me to throw up. Not the writing, the characters. How can professing Christians be so strict with behaviors that aren’t taught by Scripture to be bad. The characters don’t allow themselves to communicate. They are ineffective in every sense of the word. They run away from problems. They let their men get away with being world class snots. They have made turning the other cheek into an art form. They don’t show the God that I worship as a loving God who is always interested in our welfare
Beverly Lewis is a good writer. She spells well. Her coherent sentences advance even to her paragraphs. Page after page, she draws her characters with clean, crisp lines; but who could stand to live with them? Give me a nice axe murderer anytime, wait!, a handsome axe murderer with a darling suntanned face and a really deep voice. It’s not just no automobiles, no radios, no electricity, and their lackluster fashion sense. It’s just, well, no good sense at all. Life lived this way is ineffective and no darn fun! I don’t think that’s what God intended. It seems like a sure route to depression. It’s not OK to have a car or truck. But it is OK to pay someone who has one to transport them or their freight for a fee. Can anyone justify that for me? If so, please share. This book made me want to cry for those living in this lifestyle. Help me out here if I’m missing the point.
The genre boasts at least a dozen writers. No computers, no typewriters, no dictionaries. Yesterday I found a dozen quill pens in the attic. Now I’ve found a market for them.
Amish - Novel
Bethany House Publishers - 2009
In an earlier Grace Note I talked about Andrea Sachs’ Time Magazine’s article on the current Amish love stories, dubbed “bonnet books” by some. They’re not really romance novels in the traditional sense because they don’t follow the romance formula. Actually, I think they’re more “soap opera books” because their let’s-not-talk-about-it-now (ever) efforts at communication drive the plot. As a psychotherapist, I find the character’s dysfunctional lives very sad. Get on with it!” I scream. “Say what you mean!”
I know what the Bible says about life and the Amish interpretation, to me, isn’t it. (Unless you’re a man and would be king.) The popularity of these books escapes me. Reading this one is like four hours watching an ant farm. (Those ants really know how to live.) The bonnet books are supposed to be inspirational fiction. They only inspire me to throw up. Not the writing, the characters. How can professing Christians be so strict with behaviors that aren’t taught by Scripture to be bad. The characters don’t allow themselves to communicate. They are ineffective in every sense of the word. They run away from problems. They let their men get away with being world class snots. They have made turning the other cheek into an art form. They don’t show the God that I worship as a loving God who is always interested in our welfare
Beverly Lewis is a good writer. She spells well. Her coherent sentences advance even to her paragraphs. Page after page, she draws her characters with clean, crisp lines; but who could stand to live with them? Give me a nice axe murderer anytime, wait!, a handsome axe murderer with a darling suntanned face and a really deep voice. It’s not just no automobiles, no radios, no electricity, and their lackluster fashion sense. It’s just, well, no good sense at all. Life lived this way is ineffective and no darn fun! I don’t think that’s what God intended. It seems like a sure route to depression. It’s not OK to have a car or truck. But it is OK to pay someone who has one to transport them or their freight for a fee. Can anyone justify that for me? If so, please share. This book made me want to cry for those living in this lifestyle. Help me out here if I’m missing the point.
The genre boasts at least a dozen writers. No computers, no typewriters, no dictionaries. Yesterday I found a dozen quill pens in the attic. Now I’ve found a market for them.
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Wild One
Denise Eagan
Historical Romance
Zebra Books - 2009
The Wild One is Denise Eagan’s second book, her second book to be published. She began writing at fourteen. Typical of so many good novelists, she began young, worked hard, trained for a real job (accounting, she graduated from a college from which my husband holds a degree), gathered her obligatory trunk full of reassuring rejection, continued writing, joined Romance Writers of America, won a contest, and soldiered on to a two-book contract with Kensington (while being a mother, wife, and homemaker). I’m tired just thinking about it. The Wild One is the second of the two and a sequel to her first, Wicked Woman. Yes, hers is that old familiar story: Overnight sensation!
She mentions that The Wild One came to her in pieces, scene by scene, most often out of order. That is a sign she’s a gut writer, one who lives the story as she writes, letting the winds of inspiration drive her to unplanned destinations. The gut is the writer. The head is the editor. When the writer learns to let the first roam free and keep the second in check, the result is usually a deliciously surprising story. And that it is.
Jessica Sullivan was a beautiful, serious actress. She had no interest in men because her husband had abandoned her while she was in labor with their child. As if that weren’t enough, her child died when he was two days old. She continued living as a married woman because she couldn’t afford to divorce the man who abandoned her. But that was not the beginning of life’s destruction of her self worth.
Because she was serious about her craft, Jessica didn’t fit well with the other actors in the troupe who used the stage to advance their sex lives. She didn’t “play” with men because she thought that was morally inappropriate. But more importantly, her experience with men showed her they couldn’t be trusted. At a deeper level and in spite of her moral convictions, she felt that life was just passing her by.
Not only that, she had asked the director of the traveling players to set apart a portion of her weekly salary so that she could repay a debt to her brother, but he was a man, too, and true to her experience, he gambled away the money he was supposed to be saving for her. Her view of herself kept getting lower. She tried so hard and yet never succeeded. In addition to that, her family had disowned her. Her self-worth was hitting bottom.
Could the tall, dark, handsome, and rich Lee Montgomery keep it from hitting bottom. Since this is a romance novel, that’s reasonable to expect, but he had his problems, too. While he came from a wealthy Boston family, his success at gambling fed his desire to never settle down He didn’t want his family’s money if it also required him to be a proper Bostonian. Besides, there was this actress who had caught his eye. Her name was Jessica Sullivan.
Then she was wrongly accused of murder and was on the run. To top it all off, her estranged husband showed up and kidnapped her. She thought her life was over and the thought didn’t displease her. Would Lee Montgomery spring for the ransom? She figured not. Psychologically, she had hit bottom.
But, let’s not forget this is a romance novel. While it starts out more slowly than I like, Eagan crafts well drawn, engaging characters. Their depth made them fun to be with and drew me into the story. When the pace took off in the last third of the book, being intimate with the characters made the read more rewarding than most.
Historical Romance
Zebra Books - 2009
The Wild One is Denise Eagan’s second book, her second book to be published. She began writing at fourteen. Typical of so many good novelists, she began young, worked hard, trained for a real job (accounting, she graduated from a college from which my husband holds a degree), gathered her obligatory trunk full of reassuring rejection, continued writing, joined Romance Writers of America, won a contest, and soldiered on to a two-book contract with Kensington (while being a mother, wife, and homemaker). I’m tired just thinking about it. The Wild One is the second of the two and a sequel to her first, Wicked Woman. Yes, hers is that old familiar story: Overnight sensation!
She mentions that The Wild One came to her in pieces, scene by scene, most often out of order. That is a sign she’s a gut writer, one who lives the story as she writes, letting the winds of inspiration drive her to unplanned destinations. The gut is the writer. The head is the editor. When the writer learns to let the first roam free and keep the second in check, the result is usually a deliciously surprising story. And that it is.
Jessica Sullivan was a beautiful, serious actress. She had no interest in men because her husband had abandoned her while she was in labor with their child. As if that weren’t enough, her child died when he was two days old. She continued living as a married woman because she couldn’t afford to divorce the man who abandoned her. But that was not the beginning of life’s destruction of her self worth.
Because she was serious about her craft, Jessica didn’t fit well with the other actors in the troupe who used the stage to advance their sex lives. She didn’t “play” with men because she thought that was morally inappropriate. But more importantly, her experience with men showed her they couldn’t be trusted. At a deeper level and in spite of her moral convictions, she felt that life was just passing her by.
Not only that, she had asked the director of the traveling players to set apart a portion of her weekly salary so that she could repay a debt to her brother, but he was a man, too, and true to her experience, he gambled away the money he was supposed to be saving for her. Her view of herself kept getting lower. She tried so hard and yet never succeeded. In addition to that, her family had disowned her. Her self-worth was hitting bottom.
Could the tall, dark, handsome, and rich Lee Montgomery keep it from hitting bottom. Since this is a romance novel, that’s reasonable to expect, but he had his problems, too. While he came from a wealthy Boston family, his success at gambling fed his desire to never settle down He didn’t want his family’s money if it also required him to be a proper Bostonian. Besides, there was this actress who had caught his eye. Her name was Jessica Sullivan.
Then she was wrongly accused of murder and was on the run. To top it all off, her estranged husband showed up and kidnapped her. She thought her life was over and the thought didn’t displease her. Would Lee Montgomery spring for the ransom? She figured not. Psychologically, she had hit bottom.
But, let’s not forget this is a romance novel. While it starts out more slowly than I like, Eagan crafts well drawn, engaging characters. Their depth made them fun to be with and drew me into the story. When the pace took off in the last third of the book, being intimate with the characters made the read more rewarding than most.
Courting the Doctor's Daughter
Janet Dean
Inspirational Historical Romance
Steeple Hill Books - 2009
Who would have thought the handsome man hawking his herbal elixir from the seat of his wagon was a real medical doctor and heir to a vast Boston fortune? While physically engaging, he still looked the huckster to Mary Graves, and she knew that the magic in most such potions was alcohol, making it more dangerous than medicinal. Her dad was the town doctor. That gave Mary more than a passing knowledge of such frauds. Unwilling to let this man dupe her friends from the town, she challenged Luke Jacobs in front his gullible audience. That prickly encounter begins Janet Dean’s second novel, Courting the Doctor’s Daughter.
Mary Graves openly called Luke Jacobs a fraud. Of course, he hadn’t yet divulged that he was a medical doctor. He was, in fact, searching for his lost son. He had heard that his son was put on an orphanage train after his mother died. He was following the route the train had taken. He didn’t want it known that he was looking for his son. Since he had lost track of him, he wanted to find him and make sure he had a good home without disturbing him.
Luke had lost track of his son because he was so busy with his laboratory work. His mission was to find a cure for epilepsy. His brother had had epilepsy and died too young in an institution.
This is a book of losses. Luke had lost his brother and blamed his parents for his treatment. He thought an institution was the wrong place for an epileptic. He had separated from his parents over this issue. Mary Graves had been left on the doctor’s doorstep when she was a baby and had lost her mother. While the doctor and his wife loved her and treated her well, she still wondered why she wasn’t good enough for her mother to keep her. Psychologically, this kept her from feeling as good about herself as she might have. She had niggling doubts about herself. Because of that, she adopted a child off the orphanage train since she knew what a loss being an orphan had brought to her life. She already had two children from an unsatisfactory marriage. She had a very busy, work-filled life for a widow. Somehow she felt that’s all she deserved.
Courting the Doctor’s Daughter is the second book of a projected Steeple Hill series. The first was Courting Miss Adelaide. Janet Dean grew up in what she describes as a story telling family. Her folks and their folks loved the past and telling stories about it. Not surprisingly, Janet caught the bug and once she and her husband had raised their two girls, she devoted herself to writing stories that would honor God and take the reader on satisfying adventures.
Inspirational Historical Romance
Steeple Hill Books - 2009
Who would have thought the handsome man hawking his herbal elixir from the seat of his wagon was a real medical doctor and heir to a vast Boston fortune? While physically engaging, he still looked the huckster to Mary Graves, and she knew that the magic in most such potions was alcohol, making it more dangerous than medicinal. Her dad was the town doctor. That gave Mary more than a passing knowledge of such frauds. Unwilling to let this man dupe her friends from the town, she challenged Luke Jacobs in front his gullible audience. That prickly encounter begins Janet Dean’s second novel, Courting the Doctor’s Daughter.
Mary Graves openly called Luke Jacobs a fraud. Of course, he hadn’t yet divulged that he was a medical doctor. He was, in fact, searching for his lost son. He had heard that his son was put on an orphanage train after his mother died. He was following the route the train had taken. He didn’t want it known that he was looking for his son. Since he had lost track of him, he wanted to find him and make sure he had a good home without disturbing him.
Luke had lost track of his son because he was so busy with his laboratory work. His mission was to find a cure for epilepsy. His brother had had epilepsy and died too young in an institution.
This is a book of losses. Luke had lost his brother and blamed his parents for his treatment. He thought an institution was the wrong place for an epileptic. He had separated from his parents over this issue. Mary Graves had been left on the doctor’s doorstep when she was a baby and had lost her mother. While the doctor and his wife loved her and treated her well, she still wondered why she wasn’t good enough for her mother to keep her. Psychologically, this kept her from feeling as good about herself as she might have. She had niggling doubts about herself. Because of that, she adopted a child off the orphanage train since she knew what a loss being an orphan had brought to her life. She already had two children from an unsatisfactory marriage. She had a very busy, work-filled life for a widow. Somehow she felt that’s all she deserved.
Courting the Doctor’s Daughter is the second book of a projected Steeple Hill series. The first was Courting Miss Adelaide. Janet Dean grew up in what she describes as a story telling family. Her folks and their folks loved the past and telling stories about it. Not surprisingly, Janet caught the bug and once she and her husband had raised their two girls, she devoted herself to writing stories that would honor God and take the reader on satisfying adventures.
Grace Note - Amish Romance
In the April 27, 2009, issue of Time Magazine is an article by Andrea Sachs, titled “Love, Plain and Simple.” “This is about Amish love stories, or “bonnet books,” being the hot new trend in romance fiction.” According to Sachs, these books generate nearly $1.4 billion in sales each year.
You don’t have to worry about explicit sex in these books, there isn’t any. For many of us that’s a breath of fresh air, but does it go too far in the other direction? I’ll find out. The article talks about Beverly Lewis who has just published her novel “The Secret”. It came out at #10 on the paperback best seller list in the New York Times. In all, she has written 87 books. Sachs says that these books have an easy history lesson. Is that enough? The Pennsylvania Dutch have many rules to live by and have a strange way of changing them. To change a rule the leaders vote on the change. Consequently, probably no two groups have exactly the same rules. All of this gets to sounding a bit over-bearing. Or is that my independent self reacting?
What I’m going to do is read “The Secret” by Beverly Lewis. Then I’ll review it without holding back. I’ll meet you back here soon.
You don’t have to worry about explicit sex in these books, there isn’t any. For many of us that’s a breath of fresh air, but does it go too far in the other direction? I’ll find out. The article talks about Beverly Lewis who has just published her novel “The Secret”. It came out at #10 on the paperback best seller list in the New York Times. In all, she has written 87 books. Sachs says that these books have an easy history lesson. Is that enough? The Pennsylvania Dutch have many rules to live by and have a strange way of changing them. To change a rule the leaders vote on the change. Consequently, probably no two groups have exactly the same rules. All of this gets to sounding a bit over-bearing. Or is that my independent self reacting?
What I’m going to do is read “The Secret” by Beverly Lewis. Then I’ll review it without holding back. I’ll meet you back here soon.
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