Sunday, July 28, 2013

A Bride for All Seasons by Various Authors

I've read books by all four of these authors and really enjoyed them.  Debra Clopton was the author I was the least familiar with.  However, since reading this book I've read a couple of her books from the Mule Hollow series and really enjoyed them.

And Then Came Spring by Margaret Brownley

Mary-Jo travels to meet her future husband.  However, she arrives just in time for his funeral.  She believes that she is unlucky.  She is constantly relying on luck instead of on God.  She encounters her dead fiance's brother, Tom and son, Eddie.  She instantly bounds with Eddie.  Things with Tom are a little different.  I enjoyed this story.  It was an easy read and about trusting God instead of luck.

An Ever After Summer by Debra Clopton

Ellie answers a mail order bride advertisement.  She arrives and meets Matthew who tells her she isn't what he asked for in his advertisement since she is a "bible-thumper".  Matthew is angry about God letting his wife, Beth, die.  He and Ellie agree to marriage but he wants it to be in name only so that his daughter, Sophie, will have a mother.  This story was fun to read and I enjoyed seeing how the characters changed to be who God made them to be.

Autumn's Angel by Robin Lee Hatcher

Luvena travels with her nieces and nephew to marry Clay.  However, when she arrives, Clay was not expecting the children to be there.  Someone had changed their letters to leave out some important details.  Clay refuses to marry Luvena because of the children.  This story is about letting God have control of your life and trusting him.  It was a quick and fun read.

Winter Wedding Bells by Mary Connealy

Megan agrees to marry David and to care for his two sons.  David is looking for a mother for his sons and someone to run his ranch after he dies.  Megan refuses to believe that David is going to die and is determined to help him get well.  Megan loves David unconditionally and refuses to give up on him even when he has given up on himself.

I enjoyed all four of these stories.  It was interesting to see how Melvin Hitchcock would edit the letters so that some of the things the men or women thought they were looking for were left out.  Eventually, they realize that what they thought they wanted may not be what they needed all along.

Margaret Brownley's Site
Debra Clopton's Site
Robin Lee Hatcher's Site
Mary Connealy's Site

Friday, July 26, 2013

Stranded by Dani Pettrey

This book centers on Darcy who was introduced to us in the second book, Shattered.  She goes undercover as an adventure journalist on a cruise ship to help her friend, Abby.  Before she can talk to Abby, Abby disappears.  Then she ends up seeing Gage McKenna.  He is leading the excursion groups for the cruise ship.  Abby ends up having to go on the excursions with him and they end up having to work together to solve Abby's disappearance.  Like Shattered, I didn't see the twist being what it was.  I definitely enjoyed it.  The author wove the characters relationships with God into the story and you could see how they cared about the unsaved characters souls.

This book will be released on September 1, 2013.

I received this book for free from NetGalley.  I was not required to write a positive review for receiving this book.

Thursday, July 25, 2013

A Quote I Like

"Work is an act of worship. When people seek to fulfill their callings by glorifying God in their work, praising Him for their gifts and abilities, and seeing both their efforts and its products as an offering to Him, then work is an act of worship to God. On the other hand, when work is done to glorify oneself or merely to achieve more wealth, it becomes worship of false gods. How we work and for whom we work really matters." -When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert

I love this! It's definitely changed my perspective on work.

The Miner's Lady by Tracie Peterson

This story is about the Panetta's and Calarco's.  Their families have been feuding for generations.  Isabella Panetta is in love with Orlando Calarco.  At first their families try to talk them out of it.  Then the Panetta's accept it.  Dante Calarco insists his brother give up this foolish idea.  Chantel Panetta at first tries to discourage her from pursuing this but ends up supporting her.  She goes head to head with Dante several times about this.  There is an underlying attraction between both of them that they try to resist.

When I first started reading this, I couldn't figure out who the story was really about.  A few pages in, I realized that the main character's were Chantel and Dante.  The story had a Romeo and Juliet feel to it.  Thankfully, it doesn't have quite a tragic ending.

This book will be released on September 1, 2013.

I received this book for free from NetGalley.  I was not required to write a positive review for receiving this book.

Fired Up by Mary Connealy

This is the second book in her Trouble in Texas series.  This book focuses on Glynna Greer from Swept Away.  Glynna and her children move into town to start a diner.  The only problem with this is Glynna does not know how to cook.  Before they can even get to town, an avalanche occurs injuring Dare.  Glynna ends up sewing up his wound so they can transport him back to town.  Events keep happening that throw Dare and Glynna together.  Paul, Glynna's son, wants Dare to stay away from his mother.  Then events start happening to Dare making Dare's friends, Vince, Luke and Jonas wonder who is the source of the problems.

Most of the characters in this book were introduced to us in Swept Away.  A few people return to town, the Fosters, Luke's childhood friend and also his other friend, Red Wolf.  Jonas's sister also shows up.  I have a feeling that the next book in the series may focus on her.  Mary Connealy's books are always fun and easy for me to read.  I like the fact that even though these books are part of a series, they can still be read seperately without feeling like you have missed much.  The central characters in the books are different, which I enjoy.  I don't like having to wait to see what happens in a story.  I like for the conflict to be resolved by the end.

This book will be released on September 15, 2013.

I received this book for free from NetGalley.  I was not required to write a positive review for receiving this book.

Farmers Bride Collection by Various Authors

This book contains lots of different stories about women who end up being brides to farmers (hence the title, Farmers Bride Collection).  I enjoyed reading the stories.  They weren't extremely long so I could finish a story and not feel rushed.  Depending on the story, I could read one in thirty minutes to an hour so I could wrap up the story in a short amount of time in case I needed to do something else.  If your looking for something to read that won't take a lot of time, I would recommend this book.  It has lots of shorter stories that you don't have to read all at once.

I received this book for free from NetGalley.  I was not required to write a positive review for receiving this book.

Rosemary Cottage by Colleen Coble

This is the second book in Colleen Coble's Hope Beach series.  Some of the characters from the first book are in this one as well as some new characters as well.  The story centers around Amy Lange and Curtis Ireland.  They both lost siblings recently.  Amy is determined that her brother's death was no accident and wants to find out what happened.  She ends up getting Curtis to help her.  They find out that things are not always as they appear.  I really enjoyed this story.  It definitely centers on forgiveness.  I say this a lot about I normally can figure out what's going to happen, but the ending of this book definitely through me for a look.  Stop reading here and don't read anymore since I might spoil the book for you.

I knew Heather, the girl Amy took in, was up to something.  I never expected her to kidnap Raine.  I was thinking that she wanted to look for Curtis's sister, Gina's laptop.  I had a feeling that Amy's brother, Ben, was still alive.  I thought that maybe he went into hiding since Gina's death.  Early on I felt like maybe Raine wasn't really Ben's daughter but someone else's and that he was just trying to protect Gina.  I did not see the senator's wife being involved in this at all.

Sunday, July 14, 2013

North Star Brides by Erica Vetsch

This book is a three stories in one book.  The first story is entitles The Bartered Bride.  The story is about Jonathan Kennebrae and Melissa Brooke.  Their families have arranged their marriage as a business opportunity.  Melissa and Jonathan want no part of this.  However, Jonathan has to go forward with this or he will lose the shipping business that he has worked so hard to keep going for his grandfather.  This story has some misunderstandings between the characters but they are resolved pretty quickly.  Towards the end, I was wondering if the story would end the way I wanted it to and it did.  I enjoyed this story and am looking forward to reading about what happens with Jonathan's brother, Noah, in the second story, The Marriage Masquerade.

In The Marriage Masquerade, Noah Kennebrae is looking to escape Duluth and the bad memories from the night he wrecked his ship.  He also doesn't want to marry the girl his grandfather has picked out for him.  He decides to change his name and take a job as a lightkeeper's assistant.  Anastasia Michaels is shocked when she finds out her father is arranging a marriage for her.  She doesn't want to be in an loveless marriage so she comes up with a plan to run away.  She ends up taking a job as the housekeeper for the lighthouse keeper and his wife.  The story is about how these two deal with memories from their past as well as fight their growing attraction to each other when they both have secrets to hide.  The story ends with the introduction of the last Kennebrae sibling, Eli.

The Engineered Engagement

All Eli Kennebrae wants to do is design ships.  However, his grandfather has other plans for him as well.  He wants him to marry one of the Zahn girls.  Josie Zahn has been in love with Eli for over four years since she met him at the Shipbuilder's ball where he danced with her sister Clarice.  An announcement is made after Noah and Annie's wedding on the engagement of Eli and Clarice.  All kinds of secrets are kept.  Clarice loves another.  Josie masquerades as a math professor.  Eli just wants to build his ship.  All these secrets eventually come out.  I definitely enjoyed all three stories in this book.  I would definitely read them again and was glad that I got to see how each brother in the family ended up.

I received this book for free from NetGalley.  I was not required to write a positive review for receiving this book.

Remember Me When by Ginny Aiken

This book is the second in Ginny Aiken's Women of Hope Series.  The story follows Faith Nolan who is accused of murdering her husband, Roger.  Nathan Bartlett (he was briefly mentioned in For Such A Time As This) is the logging camp owner near where Faith and her husband lived.  He, his workers and Faith's brother-in-law, Theo, are the ones who find what Roger dead.  Theo accuses Faith of killing his brother and is insistent that she hangs for his death.  Faith maintains she is innocent.

Faith has hope in God that he will protect her throughout the book.  The people around her have let her down, but she holds onto her faith despite her circumstances.  I didn't really see the resolution turning out the way it did.  I definitely was leaning towards a different direction.  I feel like a few minor things were not resolved with incidents that happend with Faith in town.  I may have missed them though.  Otherwise, I enjoyed reading this book and am looking forward to when the next in the series is released next year.


Friday, July 12, 2013

Swept Away by Mary Connealy

This is the first book in her Trouble in Texas series.  If you've read any of her other books, you would know that most of the series are connected.  This series is connected to The Kincaide Brides Series.  The character Luke Stone in this book is the brother of Cassie in the last book, Over the Edge.  The nice thing is you can read this series with out having to read the other series first.  The only connection is that they are siblings.  None of the characters in this book are in Over the Edge.

This story follows Luke who is on his way to take back his family ranch from a man named Greer.  He believes that Greer murdered his father and has proof that the man does not own the ranch.  Now he wants revenge and his ranch.  He stumbles over Ruthy MacNeil who was crossing the river with her wagon train when the water's rose and she was taken away by the current.  He ends up having to bring her with him since she does not have anywhere else to go.

I found the story easy to read.  I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to reading the second book, Fired Up.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

When Love Blooms by Robin Lee Hatcher

I have been doing tons of reading but not a lot of blogging.  Some books I'm waiting to post on closer to the release date.  Here is an older book that I read recently.

The glimpse of the story on the back of the book doesn't really give you any idea of what the story is about.  In fact, it confused me a little even after reading the book.  I enjoyed the story.  The main character, Emily, did what I expected her to most of the time.  There were a couple of things I had trouble figuring out in the beginning but as I read I figured them out.  I can't expect everything to be explained to me in the beginning.

This story is about Emily Harris who leaves Washington DC and heads back to Idaho to help her sister's family on their ranch.  While there, she realizes that she wants to do something else.  She runs across an ad for a governess and goes and interviews with Mrs. Blake.  Mrs. Blake is ill and wants someone to teach her daughters for a year even after she dies.  She wants them to have a woman's influence and also to be able to keep up with their schooling.  Mr. Blake is against this but goes along with it for his wife.  That's basically the beginning.  I won't reveal anymore but there are definitely other characters and twists involved.  Nothing surprising but I enjoy reading a book that ends the way I would like it to.

Robin Lee Hatcher's Site