This Is Where It Ends by Cindy K. Sproles - A Book Review

  

I selected this book by an author that was unknown to me because of its setting in the mountains of Kentucky in the early 1900s. I am glad I took the risk, and will be on the lookout for other books by Cindy K. Sproles. This Is Where It Ends is a multi-themed story which deals with the importance of considering well before making a promise, the importance of connecting with others in one's community, and the value of the elderly. These themes spring from a delightful story that is filled with both chuckles and tears. Sproles does a marvelous job with character development, truly capturing the mountain spirit in Minerva Jane Jenkins, and the gentle spirits of Delano Rankin. The story left me reminded of and marveling in God's perfect timing in our lives, even the times when it feels like just the opposite.

I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of This Is Where It Ends from Revell via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own. 

A Shadow in Moscow by Katherine Reay - A Book Review

  

I had not read many, if any, books set largely in the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Katherine Reay's A Shadow in Moscow is an enthralling tale of two female spies working within Moscow. Ingrid's story spans from 1944 into 1985, Anya's from 1980 into 1985 with a brief glimpse into her life in 2023 in the epilogue. Their exploits and sacrifices are amazing and echo those of real-life MI6 and CIA spies. As much as I learned about Soviet culture, I was also reminded of both positive and negative aspects of our American culture, aspects that may be masked at times by more current cultural issues. A Shadow in Moscow is not only a fascinating read, but is also quite thought-provoking. I give it five stars without hesitation.

I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy from Harper Muse via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Double Indemnity by Robert Whitlow - A Book Review

  

Reverend Connor Grantham, a scholarly pastor, serves a church in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in north Georgia. He loves the outdoor life the area has to offer. Unfortunately his life grows more and more complicated in relation to the complications growing in the lives of the couple he is counseling. The wife has a way of making her problems his problems. As she also does for her attorney, Liz Acosta.

At about twenty percent into Double Indemnity, I told my husband, also a Robert Whitlow fan, that this book just didn't feel like a Robert Whitlow novel. It just felt flat. Then around a third of the way in, there it was, Robert Whitlow's voice that I'd been missing. I am not really sure if it was because I finally became engaged with the story or because the author did. From that point on, the story was compelling, and well worth the time invested.

I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of Double Indemnity from Thomas Nelson via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own. 

The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel - A Book Review

  

Elise LeClair had no idea how different her life would be from the one she anticipated as she left New York to take up residence with her new husband in Paris. Juliette Foulon had no idea how entangled their lives would become when she came to Elise's aid as Elise experienced false labor in the park near Juliette's bookshop. Of course, war makes lives totally unpredictable. It also forces people to make impossible decisions that will forever change the course of their lives.

Kristin Harmel has once again blessed her readers with a work of great depth. While she explores the horrors of war, Harmel highlights the resilience of the human spirit, the ability to continue living one day at a time during the toughest of times, and the huge capacity people have to love and to forgive. She also recognizes brokenness resulting in the absence of any forward momentum. Readers explore these things right alongside her as they too become entangled in both Elise and Juliette's lives, extricating themselves only after the last page has been turned leaving them grateful for this latest offering from Kristin Harmel. I am also grateful to have received a complimentary copy of The Paris Daughter from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own.

Man of Shadow & Mist by Michelle Griep - A Book Review

  

Rosa Edwards is on a personal mission to stamp out superstition through books and education. Then a stranger arrives in her village on an ill wind. While he always seems to be on hand to rescue Rosa from calamity, the villagers only see a reclusive man from Transylvania who avoids sunlight and whose mother is rumored to be a vampire. Rosa has sworn off marriage, seeking to be an 1890s career woman. Now she is surprisingly drawn to Sir James Morgan. Will a friendship with him endanger her, those she loves, and possibly even her father's livelihood?

Michelle Griep has gifted her readers with an engrossing Gothic tale filled with darkness and light, despair and hope, revenge and forgiveness. Through it all Griep leads readers to see God's sovereignty and goodness even when times are at their worse.

I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of Man of Shadow and Mist from Barbour Publishing via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own.