Beverly Lewis' latest

I have almost sworn off any more Amish stories but who can refuse Beverly Lewis? I have been reading her works for close to twenty years so won't stop now and she never disappoints even with a topic that is currently way overwritten. Oddly enough, the same day my review copy came in the mail, my mother was meeting her in a bookstore to purchase the same book.

Since age eleven, Jennifer Burns has been enamored with the Amish people She has subscribed to their newspaper, exchanged letters with an Amish girl she befriended, visited Lancaster County Pennsylvania each summer, and read everything she could find about their ways. Jennifer even felt she had been born in the wrong era and that she never quite fit in with her siblings and parent's way of life. When Jennifer sells everything she owns in order to move to Lancaster and become Amish, all are shocked but Rebbecca and Samuel Lapp provide a place for her to stay even though it isn't customary to do so. What she didn't do before leaving her old life was tell her family what her plans were.

When Jennifer arrives in Hickory Hollow, Rebecca is immediately taken with her. However, others in the Amish community aren't so quick to win over and trust an Englischer. Jennifer isn't discouraged though and is determined to be part of the faith. Her journey takes her in directions she didn't quite expect.

Even though written as part of a series, this book easily stands alone and Ms. Lewis fills the reader in on events that happend in previous installments. Even though another Amish fiction, the slant that Ms. Lewis takes on a person being raised in the Englisch world wanting to become Amish is enjoyable. To be honest, I've never read anything by Beverly Lewis that I didn't thoroughly enjoy and "The Secret Keeper" is no exception. Thank you for another enjoyable read, Ms. Lewis!

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way obligated to leave a positive review. 

Historical Fiction At Its Best

Susanna Smith has always known she would marry up.  She really had no choice.  She wants to help the less fortunate and that is the means to do so.  But she cringes at being a part of what attracts a prestigious husband.  "If only she could flirt as effortlessly" as her beautiful sister Mary.

Benjamin Ross came from a farming family and is a rising country lawyer who wants to change his world.  Even though the colonies are still under British rule, he dreams of life without the king's tyranny. He and Susanna had played together as children but does he remember her and her vain words?  The two are drawn together as adults but Benjamin knows he is not what Susanna is expected to marry.  Throughout the story, both must struggle with what they feel is ethical vs. what is lawful.

I love Ms. Hedlund's attention to historical detail and her work is well researched.  This is my favorite time period in American history, on the eve of the American Revolution, set in Massachusetts where much of the unrest and uncertainty to the colonies' future was most vividly felt.  Ms. Hedlund has created two characters full of passion for what they believe in and struggling to fulfill the roles expected of the in a story filled with romance, mystery and drama.  If you love historical fiction, this is one you won't want to put down.  Available in bookstores this week.

I did receive this book free from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review and am in no way obligated to leave a positive review.

The Governess of Highland Hall

Julia Foster has spent the past twelve years working with her parents for the London Missionary Society in a home for girls and running a medical clinic. Her father's recent health crisis forced them to return to England, hoping rest and good medical care will mend his body.  Since her father is bound to his bed most days, it falls on Julia's shoulders to look after and financially care for her family. Her experiences in London will serve her well as a governess and she find just such a position at Highland Hall caring for a widow's two small children and his teen cousins whose father has recently passed away.  Julia is outspoken and a strong influence in the household she serves.  As she comes to love those in her charge, she is also feeling the call to return to India. 

Sir William, the children's father, has just inherited Highland Hall and had no idea of the financial state of affairs.  He has only four months to find the money to pay the taxes.  He has too many people depending on him to let anything happen to their home but where will he come up with the money he needs.  His late wife doesn't make him desiring to marry again anytime soon but is that the answer to his financial problems?

Some may compare this book to a Christian version of everyone's current favorite PBS series, Downtown Abbey.  I would say that is the exact image I had in my mind when reading this.  I enjoyed each of the characters, the storyline, and the way the author gradually changed the characters, particularly Sir William, into a man of strong faith, ready to move beyond his past.  If you enjoy a sweet romance, The Governess of Highland Hall is a good read.  This was my first by Carrie Turansky but I hope not my last.  On sale 10/15/2013 but available for pre-order.

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  I was in no way obligated to leave a positive review.

Harriet Beamer Stikes Gold

Harriet Beamer has moved from Pennsylvania to California to move in with her son and daughter-in-law at their request but it just doesn't feel like home. Her attitude changes a bit when her best friend plans a visit, her daughter-in-law announces she is pregnant, and a new "Grammy" suite is planned. She even begins to make a local friend and finds a gold mine to invest in.

The positives first: I liked the fact that 72 year old Harriet is the main character and that she has more spunk than most women half her age. I also liked the fact that a son and daughter-in-law were willing to take in Harriet even though their house was small and they knew that her adjustments would be big, leaving behind everything familiar in PA. However, that is where my positives end. I felt like the conversation was trivial and trite, the language simple to a fault, the characters not very well created, and was almost offended that Harriet could meet a 17 year old girl and her father and the same day hand over a huge amount of money to them. Is anyone really that gullible? I really didn't even want to finish the book and probably won't read any more Harriet Beamer books. I think I'm pretty diversified in my reading taste and fairly easy to please but this one just didn't impress. Sorry, Ms. Magnin.

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Into the Whirlwind

Selling the 57th Illinois Watch Company (so named from her father's Civil War unit) has never crossed Mollie Knox's mind until the lawyer from one of the largest Chicago department stores makes her an offer that will be difficult to refuse.  But her first concern is for her employees, men who served in the War with her father and would find it difficult to find other employment because of the disabilities they inherited from the War.  When Mollie is at the point of having to make her choice, she begins to go through some of the boxes left by her father when he died several years ago and finds a piece of paper that sheds a whole new light on lawyer Zack Kazmarek's offer. 

That very night, the Great Chicago fire destroys much of Chicago forcing many from their homes and businesses.  Ironically, it is Zack who saves Mollie from the all consuming fire and together they are  faced with having to rebuild their beloved city and their livelihood.  Zack, a very powerful and influential man in the city, is accustomed to getting what he wants and Mollie and her company are what he has chosen to pursue.  However, Mollie isn't quite so convinced she can trust this man.

I loved Into the Whirlwind.  In a time where  women were not commonly such strong characters as well as owners of such businesses, Elizabeth Camden did an excellent job of creating just such a woman.  She also wove the perfect amount of history about the Great Fire into the story, taking the reader right into the streets of Chicago.  For historical fiction readers, pick up your copy today at your local bookstore or library--an excellent read drawing the reader in from the beginning. 

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way obligated to leave a positive review.

Prairie Song

Anna Goben has so much resting on her 18 year old shoulders! Since her brother died a year and a half ago, she has been supporting her family and comes so close to marrying for the wrong reasons. There is a wagon train going west and headed out from St. Charles, MO in a week and she must make certain she and her remaining family are on it. Otherwise, they may never have the fresh start they need to overcome the grief of her brother's death. The young man and friend she leaves standing at the alter is one of the trail hands leading that wagon train so the next five months could be a bit uncomfortable. However, Anna and her family are not the only ones on the journey hiding from their past.

Likewise, Caroline Milburn's life changed with the Civil War when her husband didn't come home. Escaping her most unpleasant brother-in-law and hoping for a life of her own leads her to pack what she has remaining and serve as a nanny along the way. Her hopes and dreams died with her husband but is it possible that she find joy again?

Prairie Song is the first in the Hearts Seeking Home series and Mona Hodgson has done an exceptional job depicting the time period and characters. You will love Anna as well as her friends traveling with her and find encouragement in how God works in their lives during the journey to California. Many trials and adventures enter into the story just like anyone who traveled across the country in the mid 18th century.

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  I was in no way obligated to leave a positive review.

The Wishing Tree

Nothing seems to be going well in Ivy Marshall's world, in fact things seem to be totally out of her control.  Her father has just announced that her branch of the family business is closing.  Her sister has been proposed to on national television and appears to have everything Ivy didn't have.  And to top it off, the relationship with her husband is going downhill at a spiraling rate.  Putting aside her life, or perhaps to escape it, Ivy returns to the family's beach home to help plan her sister's wedding and perhaps rekindle an old relationship.  Is Ivy ready to throw away her past or is it possible for her to forgive her husband and renew the love they once had?

This the the second book I have read by Marybeth Whalen, the first being The Guest Book.  A beach escape is just what the doctor ordered for summer so, since I can't make the trip, Marybeth has taken me there through her writings about a beach area very similar to the one I went to growing up.  The Wishing Tree is a sweet story of forgiveness,  mending relationships and loving others in spite of past hurts and failures.  Put this one on your list of summer reads!

I did receive this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.  I was in no way obligated to leave a positive review.