The Bitter End Birding Society by Amanda Cox - A Book Review

  

I greatly enjoyed the most recent, beautiful, and poignant story by Amanda Cox. As with her previous stories, The Bitter End Birding Society is filled with beautiful souls who are finding their way back from painful circumstances often not of their own making. It is truly an encouraging story of beauty from ashes, beauty once hidden by loss, despair, and self-reproach and rediscovered by being re-introduced to the Creator through His creation. Nature has a way of healing hurting hearts when one allows oneself to sense God's presence and to let down one's defenses.

This story is the type that makes me very stingy with five star reviews because I need something to separate the truly special stories, like this one, from those that are merely very good. I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of The Bitter End Birding Society from Revell via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own. 

Gelato at the Villa by Robin Jones Gunn - A Book Review

  

It is thrilling to be off on another travel adventure with two sweet friends courtesy of Robin Jones Gunn. There is always so much food, art, culture, and did I say food? And as always there are also important life lessons to be learned and shared. These lessons evolve over time as we travel to Venice, Florence,and San Mamete, meeting hosts who truly understand the meaning of hospitality and generously offer it to people along the way. We are blessed to see the impact that has on the lives of the recipients.

Robin Jones Gunn is a gifted writer, one who touches women's hearts in a special way. Her writing is tender as she ministers to readers who identify or empathize with the hurts experienced by her characters. I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of Gelato at the Villa from Revell without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own. 

 

The Union Quilters by Jennifer Chiaverini - A Brief Comment

  

I only recently discovered Chiaverini's Elm Creek Quilts series and have been reading the books out of order as they become available to me. This has not kept me from enjoying them immensely. The Union Quilters is a clean read that tackles many social themes of the Civil War era. It is well-written with memorable characters. I will continue to keep an eye out for books by this author in bookstores and on the Libby app.

Last Light Over Galveston by Jennifer L. Wright - A Book Review

  

Last Light Over Galveston is a very original historical fiction book. It is a dual timeline story with the same main character in each timeline. In March of 1900 Kathleen McDaniel was beyond excited to return home to her father after two years at a finishing school in Switzerland. By May, she was a lady on the run with no money and no one to lean or count on. Finding herself in Galveston, Texas, Kathleen throws herself on the mercy of the nuns at St. Mary's Orphan Asylum, where she is given temporary shelter. She avoids thoughts of Croton-on-Hudson, New York and the night she fled from her father and the only home she remembered.

Kathleen's circumstances and personality so differed between her life in Croton-on-Hudson and Galveston, where she used an alias. I frequently had to remind myself that it was the same character. While she and her father are fictional characters, on-line research confirmed that the labor disputes while building a dam in Croton-on-Hudson to provide water to New York City and the 1900 Galveston hurricane were both true events. I was very disappointed that the author had not provided an Author's Notes section informing readers of her research and the basic facts of these two events.

The theme concerning where and how individuals find their personal identity was well crafted as Kathleen struggled to meet the demands of society and her family while attempting to reconcile those values with her longing to do something worthwhile, something to help others, as well as to see the value in those she meets in something other than their financial net worth. I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of Last Light Over Galveston from Tyndale House Publishers via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own. 

EDIT - The author contacted me and let me know that unlike the ARC that I read, the final copy does have an Author's Note section with the information I was interested in. That is wonderful!

The French Kitchen by Kristy Cambron - A Book Review

  

This dual timeline story is set largely in France in the 1940s WWII era and the early 1950s, It focuses on Kathryn (Kat) Harris, AKA Cèléne, during the time she was working for the United States Office of Strategic Services. Kat and her brother remained close even after each chose a different parent to live with following their parents' divorce. Kat was much more suited to helping in her father's garage than attending her mother's society parties. Her proficiency with languages acquired at Wellesley College, the mechanical skills she had picked up at the garage, her innate talents, and her strong will made her a perfect candidate for the OSS. Unfortunately, one skill that she lacked that became crucial to the success of her mission was cooking, in particular cooking French Cuisine. On-the-job training had to suffice, and the skills she acquired remained useful to Kat after the war as she sought to locate her brother, or at least to learn what happened to him after she'd last seen him in France.

The French Kitchen is very well-written. Readers are transported in space and time. Their emotions become highly engaged, emotions of fear, longing for things to be different, courage, regret, and even of love and joy in the midst of chaos and pain. This is a gripping story that does not easily let go of a reader even as it draws to a close. I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy from Thomas Nelson via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own. 

Final Approach by Lynette Eason - A Book Review

  

While Final Approach is the fourth book in Lynette Eason's Lake City Heroes series, one can jump right into it without feeling that they've missed something. This story focuses on Air Marshal Kristine Duncan and FBI Special Agent Andrew Ross. Both bring emotional baggage along that makes them hesitant to enter into a relationship beyond friendship, but it may be the physical dangers they know about and the ones they are unaware of that have the greatest impact on their relationship. Hijackers, kidnappers, shooters, and more rev up the excitement and tension in this romantic suspense story written in Eason's highly engaging style. The theme of coping with difficult familial relationships is well integrated into the suspenseful plot, and shows empathy for those who struggle with these situations, and encouragement for those who seek to extend grace.

I highly recommend this book, series, and author. I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of Final Approach from Revell via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own. 

The Undercover Heiress of Brockton by Kelly J. Goshorn - A Book Review

  

The Undercover Heiress of Brockton begins as a lighthearted read, set in 1905 Brockton, Massachusetts, about twenty-five miles outside of Boston. Henrietta Maxwell is a young woman of society, masquerading as Henry Mason, one of the top reporters for the Brockton Enterprise, a condition of her employment since a female reporter would not be taken seriously. Her personality, persistence, and the situations in which she sometimes finds herself will endear her to fans of Jen Turano's books. In Chapter Five, things take a serious turn when, based on actual events, an explosion and subsequent fire occur at the Grover Shoe Factory. In her undercover persona, Etta, as she is known by family and friends, and fireman Les Eriksson join forces to solve not only the cause of this catastrophic event, but a string of arson related fires in the Campello district of Brockton. Mixed in with the seriousness of their investigation, Goshorn has written in a developing romance with misunderstandings and setbacks. Goshorn sensitively and respectfully includes the difficulties encountered by women of the time who strove to compete in what was the man's world of business and politics. Etta, like many women of the time, struggled with being all she felt led by God to be while also being accepted and loved for being all of who she was.

I recommend this well-written and well-researched book that so well balances levity and seriousness. I would enjoy meeting the main characters as well as some of the secondary characters again in future books. I am grateful to have received a complimentary copy of The Undercover Heiress of Brockton from Barbour Publishing via NetGalley without obligation. All opinions expressed here are my own.