Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Book Review: Love's Fortune by Laura Franz

Love's Fortune finds us following the third generation of the Ballentyne line. Rowena "Wren" Ballentyne grand daughter to the wealthy and extremely successful Silas Ballantyne has been sheltered away in the Kentucky hills since birth. She has lived a simple and peaceful life, only knowing her rich relatives by name. But her life is turned on end when her father is summoned back to his family.
Suddenly, simple "Wren" must become the lady Rowena and do it quickly. As Wren is ensconced with rules, and dresses and dances she feels she will never truly be at home in this place and with these people. Will she ever be able to find her place in this new world?

I thought this story was a lovely end to the Ballantyne Legacy. I would definitely recommend reading the first two books in the series though. It had been a while since I read the second one and I kind of wish I had gone back and re-read it before I started this one, because there is a lot of background history that helps to fill out the story. I have truly enjoyed following this family and I love that you get to see how everyone from past stories are doing. If you like historical fiction - this is a series for you!

Thank you to Revell Publishers for a free copy of this book to review.

Just for fun, instead of posting a picture of the cover like normal - I saw this on YouTube and thought it was so cool - how the cover art for the book was done :-)

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Book Review: With Every Breath by Elizabeth Camden

Trevor McDonough was the bane of Kate Livingston's childhood. A fierce competitor all through school, Trevor took the one thing that was most important to Kate.
Year's later, when Kate agrees to team up with Trevor in his work to find a cure for Tuberculosis, she discovers that there is so much more to him than then mean competitive boy she knew in school. Just as Kate is really finding herself devoted to the cause, a shadow from the past causes danger to everything she knows. Trevor and Kate must be willing to face insurmountable obstacles to rise above the danger and continue the work which could save so many!

I LOVED this book! Camden is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I love how much history is behind her stories. It really makes me so interested in the events of the past. I also love when love stories have more to them than boy meets girl, the fall in love and end up together. A good story has more depth than that and Camden does a great job delivering that depth! This is going on my keeper shelf for sure!

Thank you so much to Bethany House Publishers for a free copy of this book to review.

Book Review: Full Steam Ahead by Karen Witemeyer

Nicole's plan was simple. Put her dying Father's mind at ease by finding a man to marry who can take over his shipping business and at the same time, keeping her family's greatest treasure and her dowry safe. But her plan was not as simple as she thought. Followed by her family's enemies, she comes up with a hasty plan B.
Her hasty plan B includes finding any work she can while she saves up enough money to return home. This work comes by way of Darius Thorton who lives a strange life of isolation and obsession. Taking on a female secretary was certainly not his plan, but he soon sees Nicole as a great asset in his pursuit to make steamship boilers safe.
When a respect and friendship forms between the two, Nicole worries that she will not find a suitable heir for her father if she is falling in love with the man before her, and Darius worries that he will be too distracted from his vision if he is falling in love with Nicole.
Will the two be able to see past their own plans to trust God's plan for their lives?

I really enjoyed this story. I always like when there is an interesting insight into past history in the stories that I read and I really enjoyed learned more about travel during this period and the strides people were making to make that travel safer. I thought there were a few good surprises in the plot and a sweet love story. A great read!

Thank you so much to Bethany House Publishers for a free copy of this book to enjoy and review.

Book Review: Blind Trust by Sandra Orhchard

From the Back Cover:

Kate's not sure how deep this deception goes--but she'll do whatever it takes to find out.
Kate Adams had no idea she was carrying counterfeit money and can't believe that it came from her sweet elderly neighbor. Or that it has landed her in the middle of another of Detective Tom Parker's investigations. Determined to prove her neighbor's innocence, Kate stumbles into a pit of intrigue far deeper than a two-bit counterfeit operation--and one that strikes too close to home for comfort.

As family secrets come to light, her world--and her budding romance with Tom--begin to crumble. To Kate, it's clear that she won't be safe until she uncovers all of Port Aster's secrets. But then will it be too late for her and Tom?








This is the second book in the Port Astor secrets series and I had not read the first book before I started this one. I will say, there was so much background I felt I did not know, so the first thing I would recommend is that if you want to read this, go back and read the first in the series. Besides that, I thought the book was ok (probably due mostly to the fact I hadn't read the first one). It seems like Kate was almost involved in too many incidents to make it really believable. It took a while to get to the real plot, and what was really going on. I would probably read the third book just to see how everything ties together, but I probably won't put it on my "keeper" shelf.

Thank you to Revell Publishers for a free copy of this book to review.

Book Review: Nowhere to Turn by Lynette Eason

Danielle Harding has had enough of her abusive husband, and now that he is going out of town, she decided to use this opening to finally get away. As fate would have it, though, Kurt Harding dies on the same day she leaves.
Dani is so relieved that she and her son are finally safe from the threat of her husband, but she soon realizes that her husband left behind more trouble than when he was alive. Somebody wants something that her husband took and will stop at nothing to find it. The danger to her and her son has gotten so much worse.
At her wits end, Dani hires Operation Refuge to keep her safe, but even the team are finding it hard to find somewhere to hide.

Book 2 in the Hidden Identity series, Lynette Eason keeps the pages turning with another great thriller. It has plenty of good twists and turns in the plot. I like when I think I know what's going on and then am pleasantly surprised that I don't! There are characters from the first book in the series, but I think you could read this book alone and not feel like you were missing out on huge gaps in the story line. I would recommend it to mystery lovers and those who enjoy Eason's work.

Thank you to Revell Publishers for a free copy of this book to review.