Jillian Hart "Montana Dreams"

Another love inspired 15th anniversary book, back to the McKaslin Clan

Montana Dreams by Jillian Hart


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is Love Inspired 15th anniversary issue-
Jillian Hart writes "Montana Dreams"

--more of the story of the McKaslin family, love this family.

Our story today is of Hunter McKaslin, a chance meeting in a grocery store of his ex-girlfriend and this young man is thrown for a loop. He remembers what Millie Wilson had meant to him even though he had told her they would never be more then friends. He didn't want to be a husband or father - a statement that left Millie devastated because she now knew she was going to have a little one -so she did the only thing she could and left without letting Hunter know.

Ten yrs have passed and she is back to help her Dad who has terminal cancer, he was a cantankerous man before and hasn't changed much except maybe to get worse now. Millie brings her son and stays with her Dad hoping no one will recognise how much he looks like Hunter and put the pieces together on whom is his father.
The McKaslin's are a big happy family and Millie soon finds herself right in the midst of them holding her breath that no one will learn her secret.
She and Hunter sort of dance around one another, not mentioning or wanting to bring back what was between them before.
I enjoyed watching these two and the emotions that curled around them whenever they were together, just like smoke swirling around and around.
Being the man that he was, Hunter helped when Millie needed help on the dairy farm that lost its workers because of money woes, he came to have feelings for Millie's son that he never glimpsed could be his.

Jillian writes wonderful stories of the McKaslin's and you wont want to miss this reunion of Hunter and Millie..




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Montana Skies Series by Penny Zeller book #3 "Hailee"

Hailee by Penny Zeller


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Montana Skies series by Penny Zeller book #3 "Hailee"

These books can be read alone or together, I always like to read the whole series but in this one I read books #1 & #3, each story has it own unique character with tidbits from story before...I enjoyed reading Hailee's story -thanks for adding this one to your series Penny.

Maxwell Nathaniel Adams Jr is the only son of a Boston couple but dreams of going to the rugged mountains of Montana, his dad wants him to follow in his steps and be a lawyer but his heart tells him he needs to follow Christ and wants to preach. His aunts live in Pine Haven Montana and when he hears of a pastor retiring and his chance to be their next pastor he goes to Montana.
Hailee grew up in the big city of Cincinnati, Ohio and when circumstances force she and her brothers on the streets-she resorts to begging and stealing so they have food to eat and even then they are cold and starving many times.
When Hailee becomes arrested and taken to "Sanctuary of Ptomise", to be rehabilitated, it is the worst and best for her though she didnt think so. She had not been able to take her brothers food and now they were gone and she was left searching for them, after she finished her time at the Sanctuary school. They were good to her there and she was taught to become a teacher. when she was offered a job teaching in faraway Montana she accepted and left notes all around Cincinnati for her brothers to find her, always hoping one day they would be reunited.
Montana was so different from Ohio and Hailee met many new folks and fell in love with the area.
From the beginning Nate met her at the station and became a friend showing her around the area and introducing her to everyone. They both felt "sparks" from the moment they met- could this street urchin turned teacher and a pastor find comon grounds to build a relationship on?
The community embraced Hailee and she was a good teacher for them.
I enjoyed reading this book and seeing how the brothers eventually did find their sister and Hailee thrived in her new home.
Second chances can abound when we least expect them-we must put our faith in the bigger picture and not limit what can be....




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Montana Skies series by Penny Zeller -book#1 "McKenzie"

McKenzie by Penny Zeller


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Penny Zeller writes Montana Skies series with book #1 "McKenzie"

"Desperate times call for Desperate measures"

thus, McKenzie chooses to become a mail-order bride and go from her big city Boston living to the wild west in search of her sister whom she feels is in danger. she feels desperate to find and bring her home again.

Desperate is the reasoning that prompts Zach Sawyer to let himself be talked into writing a letter for a wife..he needs someone to share his life with but more then that his adopted son Davy needs a mother.

McKenzie plans to only stay long enough to find her sister and be gone but does not plan on a little boys need for a mama that touches her heart so completely. the longer she is in Pine Haven Montana she feels more at ease and begins to like the folks in the community and Zach and his son davy become dearer.

Do you think you could leave a big city life and choose to go west to small town living? could you marry a man you didnt know?
I felt the love that McKenzie had for her sister and knew this story would be a good one to read from the beginning, I was not dissappointed. I look forward to reading the next books in the series




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"Faith of the Heart" written by Jewell Tweedt

small book with largness, you will want to give this author a read as she tells a wonderful story of yesteryear...



Faith of the Heart by Jewell Tweedt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jewell Tweedt is new author to me and writes a wonderful story in "Faith of the Heart"

This is the story of Claire who moves to Omaha after an aunt writes she needs her help..
Before that she had lived and worked as a nanny waiting for her fiance "Cal" to come home from the war, as we all know the war stretched into years back in those days and many men were killed and or missing and never heard from them again.  After four long years Claire thought this had to be the case with Cal, she knew he would never leave her on his own.  she fingered the 1/2 heart on a necklace she wore around her neck and thought..the other half is hanging on a chain around Cal's neck-they vowed never to remove them till they were together again or dead....

Claire felt she had to move on with her life after four years of waiting so headed to Omaha to make a fresh start.  Tom Maxwell, the sheriff, meets her at the station with the bad news that her aunt had been killed in an accident.  Claire was all alone but she had inherited the store that her aunt and uncle had run with living quarters upstairs..saddened but determined Claire knew she would try to live here.
She and Tom became friends as he showed her the town and introduced her to townfolks.  She is busy during the days with the store and so grateful that she has this in her life..

Just as she feels she and Tom might have a future together she is shocked to say the least when Cal shows up and wants he to still marry him.  Now Claire must decide will she honor that long-ago vow to Cal or go with this new feeling that she has for Tom.  She feels something is not quite right that Cal has shown up so long after war ending and with his name changed too..

I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to the next that will continue this story....


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The Harmony Series by Nancy Mehl book #2"Simple Deceit"

"A Mennonite Community's way of life is threatened by outsiders"

Simple Deceit by Nancy Mehl


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The Harmony Series by Nancy Mehl book #2 "Simple Deceit"

this continues the story of Gracie Temple and her move to Harmony, Kansas...

Grace lived in a big city and worked as graphic designer but when she went to Harmony after her uncle dies, she meets a different type of folks and falls in love with them and also Sam, a quite strong gentle man who is so kind and generous. She had forgot there were men like this and likes the feeling.

Grace moves back to Harmony and plans to work part-time with her work, she is assigned a new client who is a developer intent on building an upscale retirement community in Harmony, soon the Mennonite comunity begin to turn on each other and an annonymous note appears after Grace finds a baby that had been abandoned at the church the night she came back to Harmony. The note says Grace was the one that left it....
you will meet many of the community from the first book and a few new ones and watch as they struggle to keep their faith intact..
there is a winter storm that stops many in their tracks and slows down all in the community, tragedy when someone dies and another is lost in this bad storm...The blizzard forces Grace to make a choice that just might lead to the final straw between she and Sam.
this book is about Love-forgivness-mystery, I enjoyed reading




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The Harmony Series by Nancy Mehl "Simple Secrets" book #1

Simple Secrets by Nancy Mehl


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Harmony Series by Nancy Mehl #1book "Simple Secrets"

"Can Love Overcome Evil in the Mennonite town of Harmony, Kansas?"

Grace Temple never knew her Uncle Benjamin that lived in Harmony but now she finds he has left her his home and land there, Many years ago her father left the town and his brother behind when his relationship with a young woman was not looked favorably on..
Grace meets Sam soon after getting to the town and he offers friendship and to give her tour of the town.
Sam lives with his aunt and they have an orchard and huge home that Grace finds she would like to know more about.
As Grace meets all the townfolks she finds herself being pulled into their simple lifestyle though she has always thought herself a "city girl". She plans to settle the estate -sell and move back to the city but plans just dont always go the way we plan them...

Soon after arriving she finds a letter in her Uncle's Bible that tells of a death and burial and not in consecrated grounds, it explains why Benjamin lived so reclusive and would never leave his home...A Secret he wishes Grace to fix if she can...some secrets are not so simple as this one turns out to be.

I love a mystery and this book will have you wondering what is going to happen next and if Sam and Grace will have a relationship or not, many of the folks in town are suspicious of Grace and others love her and want her to stay in their midst....

You will enjoy reading as this story unfolds and we learn about the folks of Harmony -I was anxious to start book #2 and find out more about Grace and Sam and Harmony ....thanks for the mystery Nancy.




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"A Home in Drayton Valley" by Kim Vogel Sawyer

A Home in Drayton Valley by Kim Vogel Sawyer


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Novel written by Kim Vogel Sawyer "A Home in Drayton Valley"

Fed up with the poor quality of life in 1880 New York, Tarsie Raines encourages her friends Joss and Mary Brubacher to move with their two children to Drayton Valley, Kansas, a booming town hailed in the guidebook as the land of opportunity. She offers to help with expenses and to care for Mary and the children as they travel west by wagon train. But when tragedy strikes on the trip across the prairie, Tarsie is thrown into an arrangement with Joss that leaves both of them questioning God and their dreams for the future. As their funds dwindle and nothing goes as planned, will Tarsie and Joss give up and go their separate ways, or will God use their time in Drayton Valley to turn their hearts toward him?

I enjoyed reading this story of Tarsie, she was so tired of living in a crowded dirty city and yearned for wide open spaces knowing it would be a better life. Tarsie met Mary Brubacher and her little family and fell in love with all but the husband Joss who was a gambler-a drinker-a mean tempered man who did not have a belief in God and barely tolerated his family.
Mary had been so sick and Tarsie had helped as much as she could with her herbs but when she found a booklet in the streets telling of Kansas and the lands available there she knew that Mary could get better were she to live in a place like that, so she planted a seed in Mary's heart to go on a wagon train and find a better life.
Soon Mary had talked Joss into the trip and they headed west taking Tarsie along to help with the children.
Along the way Mary's health worsened and knowing she would not live much longer she talked to Tarsie and asked her to take care of her family after she was gone-ALL her family Joss too-she asked that Tarsie love and care for them - Tarsie promised because she loved Mary so much...
Tarsie loves the Lord and prays that God will help her to love this man and his children after Mary is gone. Mary lived long enough to see the Kansas land and then died.
Do you think you could have done as Tarsie did and ask Joss to marry you so you could raise Mary's children and hope in time you would learn to love this rough tough man...this is a wonderful story telling of how a life can change so drastically when God is in the center of it. It told of the colored folks living in a vinyard near town and how predudice between blacks&whites was prevelent at the era this story was written. Joss family hated blacks and now Joss was seeing firsthand how they were just regular folks like himself trying to make a living and loving the same Lord that all did.
Will an agreement between Joss and Tarsie hurt or help them as they become closer after time spent together. Read and enjoy how a family comes together from trajedy.

I was given this book by Bethany House Publishing for an honest review, thank you....




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Series by Beverly Lewis Home to Hickory Hollow "The Bridesmaid"

Come Home to Hickory Hollow, Pa and meet new characters-new stories and new romance, all the ties that bind and draw the amish people together...

The Bridesmaid by Beverly Lewis


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Series Home to Hickory Hollow by Beverly Lewis "The Bridemaid"

This book tells the story of Joanna -seems she is always a Bridesmaid and never "The Bride" , getting older and feeling she will soon be an old maid. this story starts out at Virginia beach where the family has gathered for a wedding and once again Joanna is a Bridemaid.
As she sits on the sand near the ocean feeling the winds blowing and watching the waves crashing to the shore she spies an amish young man walking along the shore, he soon notices her sitting and looking so lonely that he stops to talk awhile. Her first time to meet him and soon they seem like old friends.
Eben Troyer is from Shipshewana, Indiana and though they like one another it seems nothing can come from this friendship or can it?

Joanna has a sister Cora Jane and they had always been close but now another seems to take her place and the sisters drift apart making Cora Jane angry and hurt... I have grown up with 5 sisters myself and I can see where this would hurt their relationship.

When Eban returns home he asked to be able to write Joanna and possibly think of his moving to her area in Hickory Hollow when he is able to-you see his brother left their community and is living English now and Eban prays for his brothers return to help their aging parents so he can leave himself.

Do you think a relationship can flourish when two young people live in different states but feel so drawn to one another? I had doubts about this as I read the pages but did so want Joanna to have the ever lasting love of a good man. Eban Troyer was a good man and felt the need to help his parents though he yearned to pursue his relationship with Joanna.

The story tells of a great aunt who had same name as Joanna and you will find a healing for the family in finding an old wedding ring quilt that had been languishing in an attic forgotton for many years that now will bring a peace to her descendents.  Joanna is not like your typical young amish woman she is compelled to write stories but must keep it a secret because this is not something the amish allow.  til the secret is found out and two sisters wonder if their lives can ever be the same again. I enjoyed reading this part of the story and feel you will too.

I was given this book by Bethany House Publishing for an honest review, thank you for letting me read this story...




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Election day 2012 one day past....

So sad today when I checked to see how the voting went and the big news is
                   "He is re-elected" 
My eyes misted with tears to think how much evil is in our world that the American people cannot see how much this man has hurt our way of life.
I am afraid we are headed towards socialism and this will take America down a road that I am reluctant to go....
Our country is losing its Moral fiber and too many people just ignore what is happening,  I feel like the next four years will be more of the same and there will be No Hope.....No change for the better......and the Forward appears to be down a path of distruction.

                                               "GOD HELP THE USA"

series Seven Brides for Seven Bachelors writtien by Tricia Goyer book #1 "The Memory Jar"

The Memory Jar by Tricia Goyer





A Series named Seven Brides for Seven Bachelors this alone would make me pick up this book to read but it gets better, written by Tricia Goyer, a wonderful young woman who writes including God and life messages that encourage in her books. the title of this first book in the series is "A Memory Jar".

Sarah Shelter and her family moved from Kentucky to a little town in Montana, West Kootenai ten years ago and almost from the beginning she met an unusual girl near the edge of the woods who became a friend like no other. where you saw Sarah you would see Patty, they became so close that when Patty died in a boat accident it devastaed Sarah and she seemed to put her life on hold, not wanting to love so she would not lose again.
Every year a lot of young amish men come to the community to live for 6 months so they can become a resident and hunt the beautiful mountains, many a young girl has been swept off her feet by one and married before their time was up to go home again.
Sarah wants to marry and have a family but she is now 24 and well past the marring age. she has closed off her heart until she meets a young shy amish man from Ohio. He is the youngest in his family and has needed to get away from his large family that have planned his life out for him, he wants to dream his own dreams but lacks the courage to step out and just do it.
Sarah works in a resutrant-bakery and she loves to make cupcakes and many say they are the best you could ever sink your teeth into...she has a dream to have a bakery one day and to make "fancy cupcakes".
Jathan Schrock's Mem has a bakery in Ohio that she works with her sister but it is just a plain old fashioned type one-nothing fancy there. Jathan has a knack for cooking and baking and his dream is to one day change the bakery-redecorating and expanding and adding more variety to it, he likes what he sees when he meets Sarah but does not feel he is worthy to court her...
can these two find a life together, once they let down their gaurds and let Love find its way into their hearts.
Five years- Love with a young man has passed Sarah by because she has closed her heart-afraid to love and lose. I wanted Sarah to enjoy life more and to open her heart to the possibilities all around her.
I liked the way Tricia told the story of Patty and Sarah,s close friendship although she dies soon after the beginning of the book. we see her character grow from a young child to a young adult through memories of Sarah. The girls have a memory jar and they put small momentos in them so they can look at a pine cone-a feather-a small rock later and the memory of that time will close around them almost as if they were there once again ejoying that close friendship.
Several young people plan to climb one of the mountains together and it is on this trip that Jathan and Sarah finally begin to see they can learn to care for one another, I know you will enjoy reading this book as much as I did and to see love and trust being reestablished in the lives of these two. Many changes will happen just as it does for us in our lives when we accept God's gentle nudging and open our hearts to him.
I am ready for the next book in this series and the next bachelors story...thanks Tricia


Disclosure I received a free copy of this book from Zondervan/Litfuse Group for review. ”






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LIH by Anna Schmidt "A Convenient Wife"

A Convenient Wife by Anna Schmidt


My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Anna Schmidt "A Convenient Wife"

Widower Tyrone Justice is stunned when the Nantucket schoolmistress requests a wedding instead But really, what could be simpler than a marriage of convenience? Tyrone's children will have stability, Caroline will have security...and neither Tyrone nor Caroline will have to risk their hearts once more. Bruised by past loves and losses, neither is ready to take that chance again. Unless a potentially deadly disaster makes them see the truth. Happiness lies within reach--if they'll take a chance on the unplanned gift of love.

I enjoyed this story of a Convenient wife, Tyrone has lost so much and his heart is bruised when it comes to trust and feeling he might be someone that is lovable.
His children want to attend the school where Caroline Hudson has a few youngsters of the elite parents on the island, Tyrone lost his wife to a fire several years ago and has been having rough time raising his three children Jerome-Eliza and Hannah. Caroline has a tender heart and wants to help the children have a better life so she takes them on as students letting them do chores and their father has said he will help with repairs around the school. Before long though circumstances change and the little family is to be evicted from the small place they have lived in near the wharfs.
Tyrome and Caroline come to an agreement that she will watch after his children while he goes off to work on a ship, soon though more problems arise for this young man as the ship does not sail and his job is lost once again putting him homeless and jobless. He feels he has no choice but to work the docks doing any and everything to make monies to send back to Caroline and does not let her know right away that he did not sail.
There is much confusion when Caroline finds the father of children she is watching right on the docks close-by. can she trust this man after he has not kept her informed, can she continue to watch his children, even though they are becoming more important to her as each day goes by. You will want to read this wonderful story of a man with empty faith and a heart that needs mending after losing so much.
Caroline is a lonely woman living in a huge house that she has renovated into a school to be able to support herself after her husband leaves her and after some time she finds out he has died when they return his possessions to her. Can this woman and this man find a way to help one another, can they even find Love along the way? I enjoyed reading the story of this man and his children learn to accept help from Caroline and in the giving of help she too receives a reason to live each day more happily.




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