Friday, May 20, 2016

Secret Sister: An Amish Christmas Tale by Sarah Price




BACK  OF  THE  BOOK  BLURB
(taken from Amazon.com)
After years of giving of herself to her family and community, Grace Beiler, an elderly Amish woman, is facing her first Christmas since losing her husband of fifty years to his battle with cancer. As she begins to reflect upon her own life, she wonders if she has properly fulfilled her promise to be a servant of God.

With Christmas drawing near, her depression becomes stronger until she starts receiving ittle gifts in the mail and left on her doorstep. She realizes that she has a "secret sister," but has no idea who it might be, for each gift seems to relate to different, important events in her life. Just when she thinks she might have figured out who the secret sister is, a new gift arrives with a different meaning.

Who is making this Christmas one Grace will never forget?


MY  REVIEW
I am going back and forth between three and four out of five stars for this book. For me the story was kind of slow but Sarah puts a lot of emotion in it. I understand the back and forth in time, I think it was needed for this story, but sometimes I get lost in that. I will say Sarah did a great job of writing and had a fantastic ending. I can recommend this as a good read and I have read, and will read more of, Sarah's books.

Saturday, May 14, 2016

Want Ad Wedding by Cheryl St. John - Review of the first book in the Cowboy Creek series




BACK  OF  THE  BOOK  BLURB
When Daniel Gardner convinced the residents of his Kansas boomtown to advertise for mail-order brides, he never expected the woman he once loved to respond. But Leah Swann steps off the bride train...pregnant and widowed and in need of a husband. Drawn to protect his fragile childhood friend, Daniel proposes a marriage of convenience.

Seeing her onetime best friend waiting to meet the bride train is a wonderful shock for Leah. After her first rocky marriage, a practical partnership with Daniel sounds perfect--as long as her heart doesn't get involved. But when she starts to fall for her husband, will her plans of a fresh start be ruined...or is a real marriage to Daniel exactly what she needs?


MY  REVIEW
Cheryl is just one of my favorite authors and she did not fail me with this book. I thoroughly enjoyed Leah's story and the way Cheryl tells it. I am really looking forward to the books to follow in this series both written by a couple of my favorite authors. The second is "Special Delivery Baby" by Sherri Shackelford (which I already have by the way) and "Bride by Arrangement" by Karen Kirst due out June 7, 2016. You can't lose my reading this book/series!

Monday, May 9, 2016

Montana Dawn by Caroline Fyffe - Review of the first book in the McCutcheon Family Series




BACK  OF  THE  BOOK  BLURB
(taken from Amazon.com)
McCutcheon Family series. In the tradition of the great western romance, Montana Dawn tells the story of a woman yearning for a place to belong and a cowboy with a heart as big as the Montana skies...

A woman on the run...
Running from an abusive past, widow Faith Brown finds herself in a rickety wagon, about to give birth. With no one but her young stepson to help, Faith is both grateful to--and wary of--the handsome cowboy who comes to her aid. Her first instinct is to run, but the coming child has left her no choice but to accept the help of the gentle stranger,
A man who stands alone...
Cowboy Luke McCutcheon may come from a wealthy ranching family, but as the offspring of a Cheyenne warrior he's always felt he had to prove his worthiness to the rest of the McCutcheon brothers. When he stumbles across a lone woman about to have a child, his first intinct is to ride for help. Unwilling to leave the pretty widow, her young son, and her newborn unprotected in the Montana wilderness, he offers to take them along on his family's cattle drive.
No refuge from the past...
Faith accepts Luke's offer of shelter, but fears revealing the truth about herself. She's being hunted by a ruthless man who will stop at nothing to possess her. Although she's coming to care deeply for Luke, she can't risk the consequences of him discovering the secret of her nightmarish past. In spite of the danger drawing ever closer, Faith still dreams of a loving family and a home to call her own, if only she and Luke can stay together long enough to find their beautiful and bright...Montana Dawn.


MY  REVIEW
Carolyn has written a story that takes off right from the beginning and keeps right on moving with events that make you want to read faster. I did enjoy this story and the strength Faith showed throughout as well as the extremes she would go to protect her children. I will be reading more books in this series and would recommend it as a good read.