Tidewater Inn by Colleen Coble

Tidewater Inn by Colleen Coble


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Libby comes to Hope island hoping to restore a once beautiful mansion and finds more then she plans on.....

A Hope Beach Novel by Colleen Coble "Tidewater Inn"

A gorgeous Federal-style Mansion built in the 1800's, Libby is in love, she cant wait to begin restoration on this old place. She and a friend have a business of restoration and this will really help their business. It is not long before she finds out that this belongs to her and she can do whatever she wants to do. Sell and make millions or keep and try to figure out how she can afford to do it. The biggest shock though is to learn the Dad that she thought had died when she was 5 lived here and left this mansion for her along with letters to read that her mother had returned not letting her see them.
Along the way Her partner becomes kidnapped and she finds out she has a half sister and brother.
This island has secrets and a mystery that you will enjoy reading and learning how Libby finds family she didnt know she had and connecting with them.
Of course there is a man in the picture - she meets Alec Bourne, Part-time fisherman-full-time captain in Coast Guard. He immediately offers his help and they become friends along the way. Can there be more then friendship, read along with me and solve the mystery on the island and meet some exciting characters.
Thanks for letting us see Tidewater Inn through your eyes Colleen...




View all my reviews

A Nantucket Love Story by Denise Hunter "The Convenient Groom"

The Convenient Groom by Denise Hunter


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A Nantucket Love Story by Denise Hunter "The Convenient Groom"

Five hours before her Nantucket beach wedding--and on the eve of her big book launch--celebrity marriage counselor Kate Lawrence has everything in place,almost. The Gazebo has not arrived and needs to have flowers twined in and around it so Kate rushes over to check on that with Lucas Wright the builder.
While there she receives the most devastating phone call a girl can get on her Wedding day. The Groom has a change in plans and will not be attending.
Kate thinks of her life spiraling out of control(she is a control freak) and feels so many emotions rolling through her body that she is not sure she will live. Her career will be ruined,how can a woman write a book about finding Mr Right and then lose him herself....
Lucas standing nearby sees the hurt and betrayal on Kate's face and wants to smooth the hurt away-he wants to help in the worst way so he makes an outlandish remark, "All you need is a groom-I could do that for you." He has secretly cared for Kate since she moved her offices in above his studio. Kate doesnt know this and cannot believe the words she is hearing. No we couldn't do that or could we?
With only 5 hrs before the wedding much had to be done to pull this off and if anyone could do it Kate could- so Yes after considering all the consequences she says "Yes", to Lucas and they put a time limit of 1 yr on the marriage of convenience that will look like the real thing to everyone else...
I smiled a lot, cried some and cheered this couple on as they moved through an elaborate Wedding service and then the honeymoon...
You wont want to miss reading this beautiful love story of a woman that thought she could control every aspect of her life right down to the mate of her choice. She wanted to find Mr Right and she became Mrs Lucas Wright....





View all my reviews

Road to Kingdom series book #1 "Inescapable" by Nancy Mehl

Nancy writes well of the Mennonite community and a young woman who feels she
must leave her roots and seek a life in another state after having baby out of wedlock.
This is Elizabeth's story.....

Inescapable by Nancy Mehl


My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Inescapable, book#1 by Nancy Mehl
series Road to Kingdom

Elizabeth lived in Kingdom Kansas in a mennonite community that is in very rural area that most folks dont even know exist.
This story holds many elements, romance-mystery-betrayal to name a few.
Elizabeth grew up in a household with a very strict father whom she never felt any love from.
She trusted the wrong boy thinking he loved her (craving love and attention) being a young girl. The boy and his family left Kingdom when she found out she was to have a baby leaving her to face the future all alone.
Can you imagine what she went through living in a Mennonite home and having baby out of wedlock? She sneaked away after the baby was born and left to live her life in another state. She finally had her life moving the way she wanted, a nice job - nice apt and friends when things begin to happen that made her life spiral out of control and she felt she had to leave. not knowing where to turn she did the only thing she felt was safe and returned to Kingdom Kansas and her Mennenite family.
You will enjoy reading this mystery and how things get solved with her life starting over in Kingdom with a daughter, Charity effectionately called "Cherry Bear", but no husband.
Many folks like Cora, Noah,her Mom will support her and reading you will see how she finds her faith again..knowing that when all around you may be falling apart there is only one love that is INESCAPABLE.
I look forward to reading more books in this series and learning the stories of Kingdom's people.




View all my reviews

Series The New Beginnings book #1 "Living in Harmony" by Mary Ellis

Living in Harmony by Mary Ellis


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Mary Ellis has another series"The New Beginning"
I read book #1 Living in Harmony

This is the story of two young girls who lost their parents in a terible fire and move from their Memmonite community to another state to start over.
Amy the eldest is bethrothed and would have been married soon. Her intended has a brother living in Maine where a small grp of Mennonites are starting a new way of life. He ask Amy to move with him there and then they will marry soon after and begin their lives.
Life is quite different in Maine both in climate and the rules of the group there. Amy and John are asked to wait awhile before they marry to adjust. This seems simple at first but then John is impatient and Amy finds out some things about her intended that she was not aware of.
Many living in one household takes a toll on the couples as they move in with brother Thomas and his wife Sally along with there two little ones. Amy's sister Nora is young and prone to migraine headaches and shirks many duties that she should be helping with causing for some dissension.
Thomas is a minister and Sally is shy and insecure in her position as a ministers wife, we will watch her grow in this story as she learns to do things differently. Having the two other women in her household can be a blessing at times and a curse at others.
Harmony, Maine is quite different from where they had lived before but Amy is determined to make a go of her life here. She has had Tragedy and soon learns of a shunning of an aunt when finding a quilt at nearby store that leads her to try and find this aunt even though John is not happy with her decision.
Can their love survive so many changes and the long wait put upon them-Thomas & Sally are happy to have the family there at first but can that many people live together without problems arising-another brother comes and goes from the home as he is neither a committed Mennonite or an englisher, Nora becomes interested in him as she sees his carefree attitude about things and this suits the way she thinks many times. I loved reading and seeing lives change and new beginnings take off with this family. I was happy to see a reunion between Amy,Nora and their Aunt and secrets opened up that cleared the air in this family....
I look forward to book #2 and the story of Nora as she leaves Maine once again hoping to find Love and happiness....




View all my reviews

Still Life in Shadows by Alice J Wisler

Still Life in Shadows by Alice J. Wisler


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


River North is new publisher to me and Alice J Wisler a new author but I decided to look into this book after seeing it had to do with a young man leaving his amish roots,
"Still Life in Shadows" by Alice J Wisler

Fifteen years ago Gideon Miller ran away from the amish life that seemed so perfect, but it held a childhood secret that he could not leave behind and it haunts him even today...
Gideon lives in Twin Branches, N.C. a small town with some folks with big hearts.. He helps when someone calls needing help to leave their amish community and has become known as "Getaway Savior" a title that he is not all that happy with but he does like helping a young boy find himself and grow in the "English world".
KIKI is an autistic teen who enters the shop where Gideon works as a mechanic -a fact that Gideon is not happy with to begin with. He will learn many things through the eyes of this young girl. Her sister Mari works at nearby Tea room where Gideon drinks Green tea often and has noticed Mari as a young woman he could have an interest in. He has been alone too long and is thinking he needs to move forward with his life.
You will like reading this story of a young man moving from amish roots to small town living and how he copes from day to day never forgetting to help others. He must find it in his heart to forgive and move forward. Can two sisters bring a ray of sunshine into this dingy automobile shop and the men that work there? Can Gideon ever go home again?
Thanks Alice for some great characters and a great story.




View all my reviews

Tricia Goyer new book soon to find its way into store near you

In The Memory Jar you'll visit a small Amish community in West Kootenai, Montana, where for the past ten years, Sarah Shelter has been passed over by the young Amish men that arrive there each year. A tragedy has closed her heart ... until she meets Jathan Schrock







Tricia is the author of 30 books and has published over 500 articles for national publications such as Focus on the Family, Today’s Christian Woman and HomeLife Magazine.



She won the Historical Novel of the Year award in both 2005 and 2006 from American Christian Fiction Writers, and was honored with the Writer of the Year award from Mt. Hermon Writer's Conference in 2003. Tricia's book Life Interrupted was a finalist for the Gold Medallion Book Award in 2005. Tricia's co-written novel, The Swiss Courier, was a nominee for the Christy Awards.



In her fiction novels, Tricia writes contemporary and historical stories that feature strong women overcoming great challenges. She recreates historic wartime eras with precise detail through perseverant and comprehensive research.









Blog tour for The Memory Jar is 10/09/12 - 11/01/12 with a Facebook party on 11/01!
circle this date on your calandar and dont miss this event...



http://www.amazon.com/Memory-Seven-Brides-Bachelors-ebook/dp/B007JJSIY0/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1347391208&sr=1-1&keywords=the+memory+jar

Ann Gabhart's novel "The Gifted"

The Gifted: A Novel by Ann H. Gabhart


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


"The Gifted" by Ann Gabhart

This is the last book of the Shakers, a group that chose to close the world out and live a celibate life- Hands to work and Hearts to God...

I loved the character Jessamine who always seem to be wanting to find out things and had not completly accepted the Shaker world. She had been brought to the community when just a young girl under 12 yrs of age. Granny had died and she had no family so a preacher man took her to the Shakers that lived nearby knowing she would have food and shelter and folks who would care about her...
The life of a Shaker was busyness from daybreak to nightfall. They had many duties and were expected to spend their day toiling. Silence at meals, silence as they walked from one duty to another -no frivolous chatting.
Jessamine and another young sister went berry picking far into the woods one day and heard a shot that began many days ahead that would be confusing to say the least. The sisters found a young man laying wounded on the ground and Jessamine felt the need to help although she knew her community would not like for these young girls to be in the company of a worldly man wounded or not. They took him back with them and the healer in their group worked to heal his wounds and he stayed with them some days because he did not know who he was "at first".
Jessamine was drawn to his difference and her thoughts strayed from her Shaker ways...
The Shakers had a letter that had been given to them not long after Jessamine had came to them but because she was so young they kept it many years -waiting till she was older-before it was opened and she was told that she had a worldly father who had loved her and wanted to share his life with her. Now she must make decisions...
Would she stay in her safe little world or open the door to another world by accepting this Father she had not known she had?
Reading the story of Jessamine -you will "feel" her thoughts tumbling one after another and the confusion she must pull into "order". I am thankful Ann Gabhart chose to tell us the story of "The Shakers" , you will learm much from reading this story.




View all my reviews

When Hope Blossoms by Kim Vogel Sawyer

When Hope Blossoms by Kim Vogel Sawyer


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


When Hope Blossoms by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Amy Knackstedt newly widowed is moving with her family to Kansas hoping a new start will help provide a better future for her three children. Arriving she meets her new neighbor who runs an apple orchard, Tim Roper.
Tim left his Mennonite faith many years ago never looking back and is not pleased that his new neighbors are a Mennonite family.
The children meet their new neigbor first and not under the best of circumstances....
Tim still remembers many of the things he learned in his Mennonite faith and realizes that a widow with small children living on a farm are going to need help and He will help even though he doesnt want to become involved.
Hope begins to Blossom right along with the buds on the apple trees as Tim and his new neighbors become friends...

Can they both see that there just might be more in their future then friendship, each shys away from this thought.

Thanks Kim for another wonderful amish story that shows us their faith working in everyday life.




View all my reviews

Stoney Ridge Seasons series-book#2 "The Haven" by Suzanne Woods Fisher

The Haven by Suzanne Woods Fisher


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


2nd book of Stoney Ridge Seasons "The Haven" by Suzanne Woods Fisher

I so enjoyed making contact again with the Lapp family in Stoney Ridge at the Windmill farm. This is the story of Sadie Lapp who has spent the winter in Ohio and is just now returning home without telling anyone-she carries a small basket which carries a surprize that will get her and her family into all kinds of trouble.
Gideon is the schoolteacher of the area now after his sister had accident and couldnt teach-He is sweet on Sadie but is so shy and tongue-tied when she is around it is hard to start his courting days with her...
Things are different now on Windmill farm as there are a pair of nesting falcons that has the whole community in an uproar as they stream to the home to see what all the fuss is about, Will has been sent to watch over the falcons and keep a journal of their becoming parents soon-he is to band them for future watching.
In book #1 "The Beekeeper" we saw Menlo a beloved son die and give his heart to his father who had an ailing one-we saw Julia and the beekeeper form a friendship that led to marriage and they left the farm and moved to Ohio..Stern Fern came to be a housekeeper then and now is a pretty good part of the family-Amos is beginning to know that he feels more for her then "Just a housekeeper".
Sadie will find many changes at home and she will cause some ruckus with her "surprize".
Come and read all about these wonderful characters that you will soon learn to love.
Will Gideon find some boldness? Can Will who comes for selfish reasons to the farm leave with his heart a little lighter? Truths and lies will unravel as we turn the pages of this story.




View all my reviews