Hickory Ridge Romance series by Dorothy Love book #1" Beyond All Measure"

Beyond All Measure by Dorothy Love
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My first time to read a book by Dorothy Love and I will read more, I am always happy to find a good Christian author and stories that feed my soul.
I esp liked the words by Carolina Sandell Berg "Day by Day"
He whose heart is kind beyond all measure
gives unto each day what he deams best--
Lovingly,its part of pain and pleasure,
mingling toil with peace and rest...

Hickory Ridge Romance series book #1 "Beyond All Measure" written by Dorothy Love.
I liked the beautiful cover and content did not disapoint me.
I hope you will take time to check this author and her work.

The story is of Ada a proper Bostonian who travels to Hickory Ridge Tennessee after her father and an aunt have died, she was devastated when a beau broke their engagement and left town suddenly which left her skittish as a colt about any other men in her life. Ada had been offered a job as a ladys companion, a job she felt she could do though she had few skills. She was an educated young woman and had traveled to Europe at one time.
She likes the pretty little southern town nestled into the foothills of the Great Smoky Mtns but she planned to stay only long enough to make monies for her dream of owning a millinery shop...

Wyatt Caldwell is the nephew of Lillian, a woman who speaks her mind but has a heart of gold, Lillian is not well and needs someone to help her with daily chores and also to be a companion.
Wyatt owns a lumber mill and has to be the most honest and kind young man around, he is a handsome young man that has been a great help to his aunt and remembers fondly his youth when this aunt had been a great help to him. He meets Ada at the station when she arrives and he likes the way she looks and acts almost immediately. after some time he is sure that God has brought Ada into his life and that she is to be part of his future...

Ada soon finds out her job entails lots more then just being a companion, she soon learns to like this fiesty little woman and doesnt mind the chores she must do to help out. Seeing Wyatt often doesnt hurt much either -although she is not looking for a man in her life.

As the South struggles to heal in the aftermath of the civil war, a woman must let go of her painful past that she might embrace God's plans for her future. Is there to be a future for Ada& Wyatt. Read and enjoy this wonderful story by Dorothy Love.


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Lassoed in Texas series by Mary Connealy book #2 "Calico Canyon"

Calico Canyon by Mary Connealy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book #2 Calico Canyon in Mary Connealy's series "Lassoed in Texas"

Mary sure has a way with words with these comical characters in her wooly west series. this one is the story of Grace the mild mannered school teacher who has ran away from a man that had adopted her then cruely misused her. Her life was no better then the ones left to roam the streets trying to exist from day to day on little...little food...little warmth in cold weather.
She did not fare much better in Mosqueros Texas, as a school teacher she lived above a diner in a very small room and when when she sent monies back to her sisters in need - this left little for her to live on.
Daniel Reeves has 5 sons(very rambunctious ones)who seldom keeps them in school because of their rowdyness. Grace and Daniel butt heads many times on rules and the boys picking on others.
One very cold day -- disaster strikes in the way of her "father" coming to town looking for her and she knows she will not let him mistreat her again so she dives through a window with only her flannel nightgown on...Daniel just happens to be driving past and she stows away in his wagon under a tarp without him knowing, so she can lose the man wanting to catch her.
Daniel and his boys live on a ranch called the 6R Ranch, very far from town in a canyon that will soon be snowed in for the winter.
When he arrives home and unloads is the first time he realizes she is there and half frozen to death in little clothing.
The town starts looking for her when they realize she is missing and you will not believe how she soon becomes Mrs Daniel Reeves when the pastor and his wife show up and find they have all been together through the night.
Read this wonderful story and see how Daniel who does not want a wife and Grace who thinks this whole family is a mess, come to understand one another better through the long cold winter.
Will this hapless pair find the courage to face life together in the isolated canyon? Will her father find her again? When Spring comes to this Texas town we will find the answers as the snow melts and the canyon is open again.

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Series The Kincaid Brides by Mary Connealy book #2 "In Too Deep"

In Too Deep by Mary Connealy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book #2 in The Kincaid Brides "In Too Deep" by Mary Connealy

Wonderful heartwarming story about brothers three and their escapades.
Sometimes witty-sometimes adventurous-sometimes deadly but then they also had hearts of gold just waiting to be refined by three young ladies. Book #1 was the story of Rafe and his Julia, this book tells the story of Ethan and Audra.
We found out in book #1 that the boys loved playing in a deep dark cavern and a terrible accident brought much havoc into their lives when Seth the youngest fell and was severely burned when Ethan dropped or threw his torch into the pit with Seth.
Rafe the oldest decides that Ethan needs a wife and that Audra with two young children needs a husband so they are pushed together and soon are husband and wife. Can this couple find Love as they live together and work on a daily basis??
Ethan has a load of guilt from his part in Seth's being burned and Seth has terrible nightmares from the fall in the cavern along with a stint in wartimes and the horrible things he lived through at that time.
Audra's first husband had been a worthless man that had stolen a fortune and hidden it, He died without telling where it was and now there was "bad guys" looking to recover the monies and life holds many misfortunes for the Kincaid's as the men try to find what he had stolen. The brothers along with Audra were stalked and shot at on more then one occasion.
I enjoyed watching the three boys as they helped one another and of the changes in the lives as they each married and wives entered the stories to help and also confuse at times.
Ethan had never planned to marry but he was getting used to the idea, when all was said and done and this being a papa to two little girls was shear heaven. He had not been reared properly by his parents and he intends to make sure he is there for his wife and daughters.
I think you will enjoy this story as much as I did.

I was given this book by Bethany House- a division of Baker Publishing and an honest review is what I give in return..thank you.


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"Fairer Than Morning" by Rosslyn Elliott

Fairer Than Morning by Rosslyn Elliott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Fairer Than Morning" is first in series The Saddler's Legacy by Rosslyn Elliott.

This series is a work of fiction inspired by the Hanby Family from Westerville, Oh.
In the 19th century Ohio Ann is a young woman, daughter of a saddler and sometime preacher. She lost her Mother at a young age and has been surrogate Mother to two small sisters. She takes her job seriously and as she becomes of a age to marry she is in quandry. Should she leave and start a life with Levi whom has been courting her or stay with her sisters that she loves so much. She cannot imagine being anywhere else.
She and Levi have much in common, He is a well to do young man and will make a wonderful husband and father for any children they should have. All of this before she meets Will Hamby....
Ann and her father take a trip to Pittsburgh where he is to work on a saddle. They come into contact with an apprentice saddler while there and realize that he is indentured slave.
Will came from a Quaker family and when they became ill they had he and his brother go be indentured slaves so they would be away from the illness and to have a life. There are good masters and then the others...as Will learned in life.
When his parents died and he knew not what his life would hold for him, he made the decision to let him self be indentured to Master Good who was a saddler so he could apprentice and learn a trade, 5 years of his life would be gone away but he would be able to make a living when it was over, little did he know that this was not best decison.
Master Good was a cruel man and he treated his apprentice badly over the next years. Will had to sleep in a barn and weather was extremly cold,he was fed a gruel that was only fit for swine. He was forced to do many things in the next years and became very thin...
Master Good wanted Will to work with Ann's father when he came and learn how his work was perfected, even to destroy the work in the end.
Will and Mr Miller became friends as he worked with him while he was there to work on the saddle, Miller soon knew Will's story and wanted to help him. Even Ann felt sadness for this young man and knew he needed to get away from this cruel master before the man killed him with the beatings that Will was given.
The last straw came when Will's master killed a neighbor's pig and blamed it on Will. There were court proceedings and Will was found guilty and given longer time for his indentured services to this master. After the worst beating he had ever endured and he became well again- he knew he must run away to save himself.
He traveled to the home of Mr Miller and became his apprentice while there, bounty hunters soon found his trail though and life was difficult to say the least.
Mr Miller had been helping a couple of black slaves whom had runaway also and he enlisted Will's help in getting them far away, this was a part of the underground railroad that helped many blacks escape cruel masters.
Will had an experience with God on this trip and finally found he could live his life with this one and true master guiding him, somehow things would get better. He knew in his heart that this was true.
After the black slaves were delivered far away he and Mr Miller had talked and they planned to go back to Master Good and buy Will from him with much monies, knowing that God would be with him....
You must read this wonderful story and learn what happens to Will Hanby and his master.
It was Fairer Than Morning when Will and Ann finally meet again...
can there be anything between an apprentice-former indentured slave and the daughter of a well to do Saddler and part-time preacher..
Read and enjoy Rosslyn Elliott's story.

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St Patrick's Day 2012

St. Patrick was born in 385 AD somewhere along the west coast of Britain, possibly in the Welsh town of Banwen. At age 16, he was captured and sold into slavery to a sheep farmer. He escaped when he was 22 and spent the next 12 years in a monastery. In his 30s he returned to Ireland as a Christian missionary. He died at Saul in 461 AD and is buried at Downpatrick. In Savannah Ga this holiday is done up with "gusto", the fountain in Forsyth park has flowing green waters,the Azalea bushes are blooming and it is a real pretty time to be in this area. There is an expected # of 1 million to be here reveling in the streets in downtown today. I am home in neighboring town, we went many years ago and since it has gotten so large now I stay clear of this area. It is a must if you are first time visitor to Savannah and something to talk about for years to come. Dont know if they do it every year but they have been know to make Savannah river that flows by River st green also. It is a day of fun & Frolic mostly for the young and maybe the "Young at heart too". Savannah is an older city made up of squares in downtown area and many older churches-homes and museums for folks to see. Victory dr used to be glorious drive with massive homes now has many business's and is the road to drive out to Tybee Island beach. Sand and beautiful waves from the ocean with the sounds of birds flying overhead, another nice place to visit for a day or a weekend.

I Was Tagged by Meagan S.

Monday, March 12, 2012I've Been Tagged! I’VE BEEN TAGGED!!! WHO’S NEXT???? I was tagged by Megan at faerytalesarereal.blogspot.com THANKS Megan --I think.... Here are the rules: Post 11 random things about yourself, answer the questions I ask you, then create 11 more questions for the people you tag and go to their blog and let them know they’ve been tagged. Now for the random part: 1. I was born in bluegrass country-Northern Ky 2. I have always wanted to travel and see the country but have not got very far. 3. I love to take walks and no matter where I moved to I always found a walking route.. 4. I like to write poems and short stories-just a hobby. 5. I Married a sailor while living in a port city-Galveston Tx 6. I came from a large family 3 brothers and 5 sisters. 7. I started working again when my sons were in school and retired in 90's, long after they had graduated. 8. I like to work outdoors -do not like housework 9. Our family seems to have a genetic disease of kidneys (alport syndrome) it is harder on males then females -I have a brother-nephew and great nephew who have had to have kidney transplants, we pray for donars... 10. I married and divorced my sailor man twice, we really tried to make it work but after 20 some odd years we split for good. became friends. Thanks so much Megan for tagging me. then Megan asked more questions: 1. Are you able to have background noise when you are reading? If so, what type of noise do you usually have on while you are reading? no noise I like quite when reading 2. Do you have any pet(s)? If so, details please : )We have a dog, Nikki is a Boston Terrier and loves attention... 3. Do you have any unfulfilled dreams? I would like to travel more. 4. What is one of your pet peeves? when folks walk in an exit or out entrance... 5. Why did you start a blog? I love to share my thoughts and started doing reviews of good books I wanted to share 6. What is your favorite season and why? I love the Spring when new life is everywhere, green grass-buds and blooms clean and neat... 7. What is your favorite book? I like to read Historical romance but read others too.. 8. What is your favorite hobby? Love to work outdoors in flower gardens 9. What time of day do you normally blog? dont have a set time, maybe if I get lot of followers I may do more... 10. Have you been to any foreign countries? No 11. What makes you laugh the hardest? When we visit my husbands neice's and the great neices are there with their babies, one born July 4th another August , boy-girl, so close in age they are great to watch as they play together. they will soon be 2 yrs old.

Where Lilacs Still Bloom by Jane Kirkpatrick

Where Lilacs Still Bloom: A Novel by Jane Kirkpatrick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jane Kirkpatrick has written "Where Lilacs Still Bloom".
Were I not a gardener by the time I finished this book I do believe that I would be.
A German woman with only little education had a burning desire in her for beauty and lilacs, she spent much of her life working to make them sturdier-prettier and More then they were. Her work with the lilacs began after she wanted to change the apple orchard so they would have larger more tasty apples, and grafted to make this happen.
She started with three plants to grow her lilac gardens into massive proportions. It took much patience-much work and many years to make it all happen.
There were many floods that threatened to remove her gardens from her Washington home and several family tragedys that shook her faith but she always rallied and with the support and help of her family she brought the garden to "Greatness"
Hulda Klaeger even surprised herself after working so hard over the years when she did get the color and multiple leaves she wanted.
I believe that because of her great love of the beauty of flowers and her diligence she had a long life, she outlived her husband, all her children and siblings. What a wonderful woman that lived and shared her life with so many through the gardens..
Today you can still see the gardens when "Lilac Days" have their events in Washington and you might even see some Klager Lilacs.

I was given this book by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Grp to read and review, thank you for allowing me to express my thoughts...

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Love Inspired by Janet Tronstad-"Lilac Wedding in Dry Creek"

Lilac Wedding for Dry Creek by Janet Tronstad
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Janet has done it again, Lilac Wedding in Dry Creek is one of those books you cannot put down and before you know it you have read the whole thing.
Jake Stone and Cat Barker met one another when they were living at the same home run by the state. They became close friends while there and when Cat was 18 even though Jake had wanted to marry her she ran away, thinking he did not truly love her and only wanted to make life better for her.
years later Jake and she meet again in Las Vegas and this time there is a little girl that calls her mama. Can they find their way back to the friendship they had or more?
unbeknownest to Jake Cat has health issues that she doesnt want to let him know about right away. He thinks she is tired from trip or maybe had some flu and lingering effects from that. His feelings explode within him of wanting to help this woman that had been such a good friend to him.
He invites her to go back to Dry Creek with him for his brothers wedding and they do indeed become closer.
Jake had an abusive father growing up and home to him was not a happy place that most would call home. His father was murdered and his mother went to prison for 10 yrs before it became known that she was not guilty. Jake had issues himself to put to rest..
Janet brings these two folks to a place where Happiness reigns, I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did....

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50 years ago today" March 7th ,1962-March 7th, 2012"

I was living in Texas in the early 60's and was a young girl fresh out of high school who had grown up in rural Ky. I had always been a shy girl and now I was trying to shed some of this and try new things. This was a time of new beginnings- doing things on my own and learning as I went. I found a friend -girlfriend and she and I went together to the dances held at legion hall in Galveston Tx. This was a city that had many ships come to port and sailors on shore leave who came to the dances. I met many young guys in their cute "uniforms"- who can resist such a sight, not me...I had never danced before, had never dated and now it felt like heaven to have the attention I was getting. I was anxious to find a young man - to marry- have children and get on with thing called life. In the 60's this was what was expected of young girls. I had no wish to higher learning (college) or a job that would have earned "the big bucks". I felt my life was to become a wife and mother and so there in Galveston Tx I was married to a young sailor in 1961. Within a few months I was with child and he was finished with his tour of service and we were headed to Ga (his hometown). Now I had not thought far enough ahead to the fact that we would leave Tx and my family there and I would go where I knew no one. I had not given myself time to even get to know this young man long before we were married and now I was in a strange land and I felt (lost) many times. I am the type of girl that when things change I try to change with them and to learn what is around me so I became friends with my new mother-in-law and she became like a 2nd mother to me. Within months I became a new mother myself...March 7, 1962...Joseph Mark was born. we chose the name Joseph for his father and Mark gave to him by his father saying -this was his mark on the world... Today on his birthday I am remembering his young life and how I became a little more mature as I did the "mommy things". Babies take a lot of work but they are so cute and the first few years they learn so much as we teach them. My little one did all the normal things. He went from baby foods to big boy foods, he became potty trained, he learned to walk and talk. I was a proud mom. As a senior citizen now and Mom to a son who is fifty today, I can hardly believe where all the years have gone. We want things to move along quickly when we are young and then as we get older we realize that they moved too fast. I think we must all regret some of our choices in life but I can only hope and pray that when he is my age he will look back with good memories as I do today.."Happy Birthday Joe" Love Mom

"The Scent of Cherry Blossoms" by Cindy Woodsmall

The Scent Of Cherry Blossoms: A Romance From The Heart Of Amish Country by Cindy Woodsmall
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Novella by Cindy Woodsmall "The Scent of Cherry Blossoms"

This story rocks the amish and mennonite communities.
Annie is old order amish and she has a grandfather that she visits as she is growing up and becomes friends with the memmonite there.
Her Grandfather has a Cherry orchard and she loves the tranquility of it. She also remembers he grandfather telling the story of how he courted her grandmother by giving a tree each year to her and then even after they married he continued planting a young tree each yr of their married life. They had a great enduring Love....
Annie becomes friends at a young age with Aden Zook and when tragedy falls into the Zook family she and her grandfather help at the diner that the Zook family own.
No-one sees that Annie & Aden are becoming to close for an old order Amish and an old order Mennonite. How can these two stop the closeness that comes each time they see one another?
Can Aden and Annie find a place for their love to blossom?
This small book brings conflicts-memories-forgiveness-Love & Hope.
Read and discover how Cindy brought this all together in the end.

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"Love to Water My Soul" by Jane Kirkpatrick

Love to Water My Soul by Jane Kirkpatrick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jane Kirkpatrick wrote "Love to Water My Soul"

It was hard to get into the beginning of this book but well worth it as you leafed through the pages telling the story of a little girl lost from a wagon train. She was found by the Paiute Indians, dirty crying and scared. They took her home with them and let her live there for many years. It was an extremely hard life and a lonely one, she was felt an outcast, she slept with dogs for warmth and they became close friends.
They gave her name of shell flower for indian name and she told them her name was AsIam. She had a vague memory of a father that was military coming home with phrases like "As you were" and she and her siblings would chant to themselves As I Am like a game. She had few memories of her family.
She tried to be obedient to the indian family she now had but still had a little stubborn streak that I think kept her going when times were tough. She tried to climb rough hilly area to be high and see more when she slipped and fell and had much pain from hurting her leg. One of the indians from the tribe found her and helped her back and then she had to live with someone and have help for sometime to get healed. This is when she found a friend that became most dear overtime. Shard his brother "Stink bug" and little sister Wrenn. Shard was the oldest and even as a child she watched his comings and goings and dreamed of being important to him.
Jane put lot of history about the indians and I learned from her research.
Many years later the Indians were hunting antelope and believed that Shell Flower was bad for them and would keep the spirits from helping so she was told to "go far- gather and stay longer each time" when she realized they meant to sacrifice her and burn with wood she was gathering she left the area and walked many days through woods til she was found by some white folks Peter Sherar and his wife , they ran an inn for travlers to have a place to stop - then move on after resting awhile. they named her Alice M and she lived with them for years learning the white ways again and healing inside and out.
It was here that she met an older man who come to care for her and they married, he was a dr of the mind and she learned from him too. Dr Thomas Crickett was a very patient man and they became very close before he died and she was left alone again. An Indian had been brought to his clinic that was very disturbed and Alice M felt she could help the old woman and sat with her many days to bring comfort and hope to open the mind again. The old woman brought comfort as she reminded her of the Indians she had learned to care for while living with them. In trying to find solutions to help this old woman she found that her friend Shard might still be alive and she went back to "The Inn and the Sherar's" to have a respite and look for answers.
This time Shard found her and she was reunited with his mother that had kept her, raising her as a daughter.
I was happy to see the two reunited and now living in a wood home they were happy to see Alice M-Asiam also and they sat and spoke of old times and what happened since she had departed. Many changes and yet they could still care for one another.
I had hoped to see the little girl would find her parents but that was not to be and who knows maybe a future book might continue her story.
If you like to read about history you will enjoy this story, the facts were from a tale from grandmother who told of little girl lost and living with Indians..Thanks Jane for weaving this wonderful story.

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