The Reluctant Christians

 

KRISTINE JOHNSON

Stats: Dorrance Publishing Co., 2023

How acquired: From the author via ReedsyDiscovery.

First line: The child waited, buried deep within the worn blankets of her small bed.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This was a much deeper read than I expected, almost dense, but not in a bad way. The writing felt a little awkward at first, with so many places that seemed to be missing a comma, and then other places that seemed to have extra commas just thrown in wherever. I thought the book needed some editing, but then I began to wonder if this was just the author’s writing style. And once I got used to it the narrative began to flow easier. I was never quite sure in what direction the story would go at any given time, and when I thought I did see the path I was often wrong.

I love a good character study, and the author definitely delivered on that score. I enjoyed watching Kate blossom from a shy quiet child, who hid in her closet at night when her mother had men over, to a confident young woman learning to navigate her way through life. But her mother’s growth and journey was even more satisfying. Nora started the book a very unlikable character, who seemed to be the villain. But thanks to the kindness, although belated, of her ex-husband’s parents, she began to find redemption and became a very sympathetic character.

A vivid and detailed accounting of two women rising above their misogynistic upbringing and finding their own strength and resilience.

*Received via ReedsyDiscovery and voluntarily reviewed*

Synopsis from Goodreads:

This compelling and exciting fictional story of the Reluctant Christians depicts the lifelong journey of a mother, Nora Young, and her daughter Kathryn (Kate) as they struggle to remove themselves from the restrictive tentacles of life in a small town dominated by a conservative, misogynistic religion. This is a love story that exposes abuse within religious organizations, but by no means is this story anti-religion. Rather, it is a story of self-reliance and resilience that explores the strength of the soul within. This is a love story that spans decades of pioneering a new path for a family in a new time for women who seek freedom, and break barriers of behavior dictation, despite the fear of repercussion. 

The characters find themselves united to bring comfort and forgiveness to their lives. The strength of their relationships challenges them to defy the unjust suffering and persecution of sister ancestors, one another, and all women who have encountered prejudice and abuse of power. Together they rise above with wisdom, compassion, lessons learned and groundbreaking leadership. Together they confront the past and carve the future. There are children to be cared for, loves to be discovered, death and grief to be endured, and life to be lived by the characters entwined in this dramatic love story.

Low Tide Bikini (Pleasure Island - Bikini Quartet, Book One

 

LYLA DUNE

Edition read: Kindle edition, Composesum Publishing, LLC, 2013.

How acquired: No idea.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: At work one day I took my break and then realized I’d left my book at home. So I grabbed my iPad and scrolled to the very bottom of the books in my Kindle app, and this was the book waiting there the longest.

Initially I was a little put off by the heroine, Sam, for a stupid reason I’ll admit. She meets Brock, who is English but has been living in Wales, and when he asks where the loo is she doesn’t know what he means. And I was thinking everyone knows what that means, right? And then there was this exchange:

“Who retires at thirty-eight?”

“Pro rugby players?”

“Rugby?” What the heck was rugby? If she’d never heard of it, it couldn’t be that darn popular. But then again, if it was some kind of sport, that’d explain why she wasn’t familiar with it.

Ok, maybe she’s not familiar with it, but she’s never even heard of it? But then I told myself that there might actually be Americans who don’t know what a loo is, or what rugby is, and who might not know what Brock means when he uses other English words and I needed to get over it. Fortunately that was a short-lived thread in the book and after that Sam didn’t seem to have any trouble understanding Brock.

And after that I got pretty caught up in the story and I really liked Sam and I really really liked Brock. They both have issues to overcome, though I felt Brock’s weren’t really addressed or discussed by the two of them as much as Sam’s were. She eventually opened up to Brock about hers, and in the end he went to great lengths to accommodate her issues, at the risk of losing her, but she never seemed to give any thought to his issues. And at one point his issues did nearly cause him to lose her, but he mentioned his issues and then they moved on without actually talking about why he acted the way he did.

Regardless, I was pretty invested in their romance, I laughed several times, and I might have even teared up when the wonderful resolution came. I definitely want to read the rest of the books in this series.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Brock Knight, a retired rugby player from Wales, moves into his new beach house in North Carolina before Samantha Carlisle has a chance to relocate. When he spots her shagging trophies, he's not sure he wants her to move out. After a devastating breakup, Sam has sworn off men. In an effort to keep her distance from her sexy new landlord, she pretends she prefers women. Will Brock convince her to stay, or will she convince him she's gay?

With an ostrich farm and a slew of naughty naked seniors, Pleasure Island is loads of fun. If you like romance with plenty of sizzle and giggle, this book is for you!

Five Fortunes

 

BARBARA VENKATARAMAN

Stats for my copy: Pdf, Next Chapter, 2023.

How acquired: Received from the author.

First line: “Don’t tell me you actually believe this stuff?” Megan said dismissively, tossing her long blonde ponytail over her shoulder in true drama queen fashion.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This was a quick and entertaining read. Five fourteen year old girls get their fortunes from a new arcade game at the mall. None of them are particularly impressed with their fortune, but from that moment on their friendships begin to erode after a series of misunderstandings between them. Which, as teenage girls are prone to, they each overreact to and read far too much into the actions, inactions, and believed slights of the others.

I don't read a lot of young adult fare, but I enjoyed the author's Jamie Quinn mystery series, so when she offered this to me I accepted. I found myself wishing my granddaughter was old enough to share this with to get the reaction of someone in the intended target's age, but at five, despite loving books, she's not quite ready for this story.

Oh, how I do not miss my own daughters being at the age of the girls in this book! Teen girls are just a bundle of emotions, and the author captured that perfectly in the five girls, as they moped and internalized and dealt with problems both real and perceived. And in the end everyone's story line wrapped up quite satisfyingly, with me even starting to tear up just bit as one mom rushed to her daughter's side after an allergic reaction.

I would say if there is a fourteen year old in your life, this would be a nice book to recommend to them, but I know from experience that girls of that age don't always take kindly to any kind of recommendation from an adult. Especially a parent.

*received from the author and voluntarily reviewed*

Goodreads Synopsis: When five fourteen-year-old girls get their fortunes from an arcade machine just for kicks, it turns their world upside-down and their close-knit group of friends starts to fall apart.

Misunderstandings abound as allegiances shift and outsiders start to come between them. The fortunes seem to be self-fulfilling prophecies - whether the girls believe in them or not.

Do our beliefs color our perception of the world? Do we ever see ourselves the way others see us, and why is change so hard?

Budding romance, angry bees, teenage fashion influencers, and parents who just don't get it make Barbara Venkataraman's 'Five Fortunes' a fun story you won't soon forget.

Trail of Longing (Hot on the Trail, Book 3)

 

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT SOME MAY CONSIDER SPOILERS.

MERRY FARMER

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Createspace Independent Publishing Platform, 1/11/15.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: Dr. Dean Meyers was the most beautiful thing Emma Sutton had ever seen.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I read the first two books in this series back in 2015, and very much enjoyed them, and in 2020 I came across the next two books while browsing in a bookstore and snatched them both up. And as often happens, when I have so many different book series in progress, they then sat on my shelves until now.

I’ll admit that it took me awhile to really warm up to Emma. When the story opens, she’s madly in love with Dean, even though she’s never spoken to him. And when she does finally speak to him, she’s so shy that she can barely stammer out full words, much less a complete sentence. She was sweet enough, but her mother was a piece of work, shamelessly contriving to push Emma and Dean together and telling Emma she needs to “trap” Dean because he’s such a good catch. Much to Emma’s dismay and embarrassment, but to Dean’s amusement. He’s interested, and is willing to let Emma’s mother play matchmaker. Actually, I guess my taking awhile to warm up to Emma isn’t quite true – I liked her just fine, until her mother decided another candidate would be better than Dean, and Emma would not stand up to her. Dean was frustrated, and I was right there with him, while Emma kept insisting that her mother had been through so much that she couldn’t go against her wishes.

I loved Dean. He’s a doctor, and his tending to the other travelers on the wagon train was sweet and compassionate. After a tornado ravages the travelers and Emma’s ankle is sprained and swollen and painful, she and her mother and Dean and dropped off at a way station so she can rest and stay off her feet while they wait for the next wagon train to come along. And that’s when the trouble started. They join the next train, where Emma becomes good friends with another girl, Katie, and where she meets Russ, who went to medical school with Dean, was a surgeon alongside Dean on the battlefields, and who tells everyone that Dean was a deserter, along with lots of other stories. The speed with which Emma’s mother suddenly throws her lot in with Russ and begins pushing Emma to him and away from Dean was astonishing, and I began to hate her mother. That was the point where I also got exasperated with Emma for not standing up to her.

Then Emma and Katie are kidnapped by a couple of Indians, and Dean and Aidan, who has been in love with Emma practically his whole life, take off after them, while Russ refuses to go along, claiming he needs to stay behind to help protect the other women.

Needless to say, Dean rescues Emma, they declare their love for each other (and spend a steamy night in a cave), and everything is right with the world after that. Except that the two had Indians split up and gone in different directions, and when the book ends we still don’t know the fate of Katie and Aidan. Thankfully, their story is the next book, TRAIL OF DREAMS, which I am now off to get started on.

Goodreads Synopsis: Emma Sutton fell in love with Dr. Dean Meyers on the very first day of their journey west on the Oregon Trail. Dean is handsome, caring, and noble. If only she could tell him! But between her crippling shyness and the marital machinations of her mother, she despairs of ever being able to say what’s in her heart. When a sudden injury puts her in Dean’s hands, literally and figuratively, she hopes she might just have a chance with him…until a ghost from Dean’s past comes between them.

Dean Meyers is determined to make the long journey west to start a new life and leave the horrors of the Civil War behind him. He is charmed by Emma and amused by her mother, and can finally see peace in his future. But when an old colleague shows up to turn his world upside down, it’s all Dean can do to keep love, hope, and Emma from slipping away. All seems lost until Emma finds herself in danger and Dean is given a chance to be a hero…if he can reach her in time.

Love will give her courage to find her voice and follow her heart…

A Father's Gift (San Antonio Series, Book Two)

 

PAULA PECKHAM

Stats for my copy: Pdf review copy, Elk Lake Publishing Inc., 2022.

How acquired: Cozy Mystery Review Crew.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This second book in the San Antonio series picks up some time after Manny and Abby marry and settle down in Manny’s house together. Abby is about seven months pregnant and they are eagerly anticipating becoming new parents but are both experiencing anguish and fear as well. Abby is constantly sick, long past the time when morning sickness should have passed, which keeps her worried as she tries to go about her usual chores. Manny is feverishly working long days, trying to get everything done around their home and farm prior to the baby’s birth. In the midst of his usual chores, he decides to add on a bathing room to their cabin, so Abby won’t have to go outside in the cold winter weather, and can have a tub.

While the story is both Abby’s and Manny’s, I felt it leaned more towards Manny. Abby’s fear of giving birth and her worry over her constant sickness are quite valid, but Manny’s story just tugged at my heart a little more I guess. He’s filled with self-doubt regarding his ability to be a good father, worried that he’ll be like his own father, who was shot to death over a gambling table when Manny was very young. He becomes more and more obsessed with learning the circumstances around his father’s death, where it happened, and where was his body buried? It’s a quest that exposes secrets and lies, and causes him to cross paths with a dangerous man.

Gabe is an older gentleman passing through town, who helps Manny one day when he’s trying to take home a load of firewood. The two hit it off, and not long after he offers Gabe room (well, barn) and board in exchange for Gabe’s help with building the new room. Gabe is a mystery. Abby isn’t pleased to have a stranger living on their farm, foisted on her with no warning, but a deep friendship soon develops. Still, she wants to know what Gabe is hiding, and the answer to that came as quite a surprise and not what I was expecting.

One of my favorites parts of the book is Manny trying to learn everything he can about babies, without asking Abby any questions, as he doesn’t want her to think he is incapable of being a good parent. When he inadvertently overhears a conversation between a couple of women, he is delighted to realize that women talk about pregnancy and babies and child birth a lot, and he begins skulking around, eavesdropping wherever he can. This led to a hilarious scene when he’s telling his best friend, Jonathan, about a conversation wherein “Martha told Juanita her daughter, Jessie, had her bloody show.” The two men are appalled and disgusted over the thought of having to see a bloody show, and as they speculated about what it entailed I was laughing out loud.

This shorter story is a nice follow up to PROTECTED, and while it wasn’t quite as enthralling as the first book, I did enjoy revisiting Abby and Manny starting out their married life. I’m very much looking forward to the third book, about Jonathan, who we got to know in the first book.

*received via Cozy Mystery Review Crew and voluntarily reviewed*

Goodreads Synopsis: Abby and Manny Blair anticipate the birth of their first child. Nausea plagues Abby every morning, and fears keep her awake at night. Orphaned at age eighteen, she prays daily for a safe delivery and a future with her child.

Manny yearns for guidance from his own father. Good news can't be shared with a man who'se been dead since Manny was only five years old. His grandmother, Yaideli, raised him, doing her best to stand in the gap. She taught him how to become an upstanding, caring man.

But the impending responsibility of fatherhood looms over Manny like a storm cloud. He fears he will fail his young family. The desire to know what happened, to understand why his father left him behind, overwhelms Manny. Christmas and the baby's birth draws near. He sets out on an adventure of discovery and finds something completely unexpected. Abby and Manny receive a precious gift--learning about the love and sacrifice only a father can give.

Night Work

 

STEVE HAMILTON

Stats for my copy: Hardcover, Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, 2007.

How acquired: Borrowed from library.

First line: I was scared to death that night.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: At the library browsing the shelves I picked this book out. My first time reading this author, so I didn't really know what to expect. I was sucked in pretty quickly. Joe is a juvenile probation officer, going on a date for the first time since his fiancé was murdered two years ago. Later, his date turns up dead. And then another woman he cross paths with dies. The only connection seems to be Joe.

Told in first person narration, I enjoyed being in Joe's head as he begins to realize he may become a suspect, and then sets out to figure out who the real killer is. I laughed when his best friend, a detective, told him don't say find the real killer, you sound like O.J.

I gotta tell you, I started to wonder if Joe could possibly be the killer, like maybe he was having blackouts and didn't realize it. And then the last part of the book I was on the edge of my seat and my eyes actually kept darting ahead because I couldn't read fast enough. Talk about twisty turny.

Looking through my TBR, I realized I have one of the author's books, but it's the sixth book in a series, and I can't read a series out of order. But I do want to read more from him.

Goodreads Synopsis: Joe Trumbull is not a man who scares easily. As a juvenile probation officer in Kingston, New York, he's half cop, half social worker to the most high-risk youth in the city. And when he's not pounding the streets, trying to keep his kids out of jail, he's pounding a heavy bag in the gym to stay in shape. But tonight Joe Trumbull is scared to death. It's been two years since his fiancée, Laurel, was brutally murdered. Two years of grief and loneliness. On this hot summer night, he's finally going out on a blind date, his first date since Laurel's death. He's not looking for love, just testing the waters to see if it's possible to live a normal life again. The thought of it is turning his knees to jelly.

Marlene Frost is a beautiful woman. She's warm and funny, with a smile to match. After the first awkward minutes, Joe finally starts to think this isn't such a bad idea after all. In fact, maybe this blind date will turn out to be one of the best things that ever happened to him.

He couldn't be more wrong. Because somehow, for reasons Joe can barely understand, this one evening will mark the beginning of a new nightmare. A nightmare that will lead him to the faceless man in the shadows, and to the most terrible realization of all.…

For Joe Trumbull, the past is never past. And the worst is yet to come.

SEAL's Christmas Daughter, by Katie Knight

 

KATIE KNIGHT

Stats for my copy: Kindle Edition, Relay Publishing Ltd, 2022.

How acquired: Hidden Gems ARC Program

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this quick romance with a bit of a suspense to it. Zach is a retired Navy SEAL, working an undercover job for a former teammate, providing protection for Lydia and her daughter Charlotte, though unbeknownst to them. Lydia took Charlotte and ran from her criminal thug husband, who is rumored to be in the area hunting them down. Marissa and her daughter Lacy live next door, and the two women and two girls are best friends.

Zach is very surprised to run into Marissa (literally!), and even more surprised to learn that her daughter is also his daughter, after they had a one night stand ten years ago.

Sometimes I don’t enjoy the “secret baby” trope, unless there was an actual compelling reason for the heroine to have not told the hero about the child they created together. In this case, Marissa did try to track Zach down, but he had been sent out of the country on an assignment the day after their one night together, and her message never reached him. Could she have tried to find him later? When Lacy was born? When she was 3, or 5, or 7? Yeah, I suppose so, but at that point I can more easily understand not doing so.

I loved how Zach, even though flummoxed by the news, was ready to step up and be a father. Even thought it wasn’t his fault that he wasn’t around for Lacy, he was filled with guilt and regret that he’d missed so much of Lacy’s life, and was determined not to miss any more. Lacy didn’t make it easy on him! She wanted nothing to do with him at first.

My only complaint about the story is when Lacy learned the news. Marissa told Zach she would introduce them and they could feel it out first, see how Lacy reacted to him. Then when she did bring Zach inside to meet Lacy, she immediately told Lacy this is Zach, he’s your father. It was just so abrupt, especially considering how she had told Zach she wanted to handle it.

Anyway, I loved Zach, and I loved Marissa, I loved watching them all get to know each other and beginning to form a family. There was a lot of internal angst, something I also love, with Marissa wondering how Zach felt, what would happen when his assignment was over, would he pick up and leave, and Zach wondering how she felt, and could he be a father and live a normal life with a family, and so on.

And then there was his assignment, which put Marissa and Lacy in danger also, though it created a good excuse for Zach to move into Marissa’s home, letting him spend time with Lacy and keep an eye on the house next door. As the danger seems to increase, with strange incidents happening, the suspense was ramped up, and the latter part of the book became tense and fast paced, until of course everything was resolved very satisfactorily in the end.

I hadn’t read this author before, but I will be looking for more by her.

*I received a free copy of this book via Hidden Gems ARC Program and have voluntarily reviewed it*

Goodreads Synopsis: A Navy SEAL makes for a sexy Christmas surprise…

Former Navy SEAL Zach Walker could never get Marissa off his mind. Of all the women in his life, she’s the one he just can’t forget—even though it’s been ten years since they spent an unforgettable night together.

So when he’s assigned to stake out a house in a quiet residential neighborhood, he’s shocked to discover Marissa living right next door. But he’s even more surprised when he learns that one magical night, all those years ago, left him a father…

Marissa gave up on Zach long ago, and now she’s not exactly thrilled to have him join her little family—even if it is Christmas. But his smoldering eyes and shy smile quickly melt her resolve. When Zach explains a murder suspect could show up next door, Marissa agrees to let him stay so he can help protect her family – and get to know his daughter.

But she’s determined to ignore their growing attraction. Ignore his ripped body, and those scorching kisses…

But can she ignore what’s in her heart?

The Baby's Christmas Blessing

 

MEGHANN WHISTLER

Stats for my copy: Kindle ARC, Love Inspired, 9/27/22.

How acquired: Hidden Gems ARC Program

First line: Chloe Richardson gazed down at the baby in her arms.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: This is my first time reading Ms. Whistler, and I enjoyed this sweet Love Inspired story. I’m a little partial to single fathers, and here we have Steve, who is actually a single uncle but that’s just as good. His sister died of a stroke while in labor, and Steve has custody of her baby. Chloe has recently broken up with a guy who was cheating on her, and after the Christmas holidays she will be moving to Boston where she’ll be starting a student teaching placement, the last step in finally getting her teaching degree.

But to back up a little, Steve and Chloe first met at a summer camp, when she was fifteen and he was seventeen. On the last night of camp, they shared an amazing kiss by a bonfire, and then Steve left, and Chloe never heard from him again. Now their paths have inadvertently crossed, as Steve needs a nanny for little Aiden, and Chloe applied for the job through his aunt Mabel, not knowing she’d actually be working for Steve.

Steve and Chloe are both great characters, each with their own particular baggage. Eventually Chloe learns why Steve dropped completely out of her life, and his backstory is just heartbreaking. He’s struggling financially between having just started a new business, then losing his sister, paying her funeral costs, and taking on Aiden. He’s determined to give his nephew the best life he can, and the childhood that his own father cheated him out of. I loved how earnest and sincere he was and how protective of Aiden, plus looking out for Mabel, who has debilitating arthritis.

The supporting characters are a bit eccentric, at least Mabel is, as well as Irene, another senior citizen who owns a candy shop and just happens to be Chloe’s roommate. Both of the elderly ladies were fun to read about. Chloe’s best friend has a daughter who is five, and she was cute, though her dialogue was a little tiresome as she talked like she was a bit younger, for instance: “We putted up our Chwistmas twee!”. I mean I guess some five-year-olds talk that way? My four-year-old granddaughter does not.

I read the entire book in two days, which I’m not able to do very often, but it was an easy and fun read, that also made me smile a few times. There is a theme of friendship running throughout, as Steve and Chloe begin to realize they want more than friendship, but are both afraid to be in a romantic relationship due to past issues. Watching them laugh and enjoy each other’s company, and then get scared and bicker, and then come back around to the easy friendship, was an enjoyable journey, and of course the resolution at then end was very satisfying.

*I received a free copy of this book from through the Hidden Gems ARC Program and have voluntarily reviewed it*

Goodreads Synopsis: A second chance at love... with a newborn as matchmaker!

Nothing will be merry about Steve Weston’s Christmas if he doesn’t find a nanny for his newborn nephew fast. But the best choice is Chloe Richardson, the woman he pushed away years ago. He has a second chance at making the season’s joy last for a lifetime—unless he allows old wounds to separate them once more…

A Quilt for Christmas

 

MELODY CARLSON

Stats for my copy: Hardback, Revell, 2022.

How acquired: Revell Reads Blogger Program.

First line: Vera Swanson used to love Christmas.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I always enjoy Melody Carlson’s Christmas novellas, and this one was no exception. Vera is a widow, who sold her house and downsized to move into a condo near her daughter and her family, and then her daughter’s family has to move out of state when her husband is transferred by his employer. Now Vera lives in this new town where she doesn’t know anyone and has not made any friends. Until she meets little Fiona from across the hall, and suddenly her life becomes very busy and full.

I loved the relationship that developed between Vera and Fiona, as well as Fiona’s brother and sister. It was never labeled as such, but in my eyes Vera became a surrogate grandmother to the kids. Children bring such purpose to your life, and thanks to Fiona, Vera got out of her condo and started meeting people and making friends, as they formed a thrown together quilting group to make a quilt for Fiona’s mother.

The members of the group are all as different from each other as night and day. None of them have experience quilting, so Vera is also cast in the role of teacher and leader. I’ve never sewn, beyond fixing a hem or sewing up a torn seam on a stuffed animal, but I’ve always thought if I did sew I would want to learn to quilt.

There is some friction in the group, as one of the members is haughty and disdainful. Vera worries at times that having Eleanor in the group will bring down morale and pull the group apart. But everyone has a story, and when she finally learns Eleanor’s, it’s heartbreaking. Eleanor’s turnaround was a bit hasty, and seemed to happen very quickly and out of the blue, but then again, it’s a novella, so there isn’t time to drag things out.

This is a fairly quick and easy read, full of Christmas spirit and friendship, plus a romance for one of the members. A great addition to Ms. Carlson’s annual holiday novellas.

*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher and have voluntarily reviewed it*

Goodreads Synopsis: Christmas should be celebrated with family. But for Vera Swanson, that's not an option this year. Widowed and recently relocated, she is lonely in her condo-for-one--until little Fiona Albright knocks on her door needing help. With her mother seriously ill and her father out of town, Fiona enlists Vera's help, and when she finds out her new neighbor is a quilter, she has a special request--a Christmas quilt for Mama.

Vera will have to get a ragtag group of women together in order to fulfill the request. Between free-spirited artist Tasha, chatty empty nester Beverly, retired therapist Eleanor, and herself, Vera has hopes that Christmas for the Albright family will be merry, after all--and she may find herself a new family of friends along the way.