Review and Giveaway: A Heart's Obsession by Colleen Coble

Can a woman held captive by her family make it back to the one man she knows she can trust? Find out in book two, A Heart's Obsession, of Colleen Coble's Journey of the Heart series. When Sarah Montgomery’s father succumbs to his long illness, Sarah is faced with a life-altering choice: submit to her brother’s will and marry the deceptive Ben Croftner . . . or escape through the dangerous American West to reclaim the heart of her beloved Rand Campbell at Fort Laramie, Wyoming.

Celebrate book two in Colleen's A Journey of the Heart series by entering to win a Kindle Fire and RSVPing to her May 5th author chat party!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A Kindle Fire
• A copy of A Heart's Disguise
• A copy of A Heart's Obsession
• A copy of The Inn at Ocean's Edge (blog tour coming in mid-April)

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on May 7th. Winner will be announced May 8th on Colleen's website. Plus be sure to clear your calendar on the evening of May 5th because Colleen is hosting an author chat party on Facebook to celebrate her A Journey of the Heart series and the release of The Inn at Ocean's Edge! RSVP here!

RSVP today and spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on May 5th!

My Review

Lieutenant Rand Campbell left his intended in Wabash, Indiana when he was posted to Fort Laramie, Wyoming, because she wouldn’t leave her family. The prospect of a forced marriage to liar Ben Croftner gives Sarah Montgomery the push she needs to leave her family and find Rand—and marry him. But when she arrives at Fort Laramie, she finds things aren’t as she expected …

I didn't enjoy the first novella in this collection because the publisher’s description gave away all the key plot points. They didn’t make quite the same mistake with this second book, but the description still covers the first two-thirds of the story (although this time I made sure I didn’t actually read the book description, just in case).

I’m still not sold on the series. Rand is almost the perfect man, except for one error of judgement about the true character of the pretty Miss Jessica DuBois. Sarah was too wishy-washy for my tastes in the first book (A Heart’s Disguise), but seems to have grown a spine on the trip to Wyoming. She also has a respect for the local Indian population that seems a little uncharacteristic for a sheltered woman of her time.

The minor characters were, if anything, worse. We didn’t get the opportunity to get to know either Ben Croftner or Jessica DuBois in any detail, which meant they came across as clichés. The plot moved along too quickly, in that the characters (Rand, in particular) had dramatic changes in their feelings without any logic or explanation. The other problem was the end: it was very abrupt, as though it was just cut off. Perhaps it was—after all, there are another four novellas in the series after this one.

Thanks to Litfuse Publicity and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

This book counts towards my 2015 Reading Challenge as a book with a love triangle.

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Review: Twisted Innocence by Terri Blackstock

Twisted Innocence is the final book in a trilogy, and the three books do need to be read in order, and (I believe) in quick succession, because Twisted Innocence builds on and concludes the overall series story arc. While I have read the previous two books, it was several months ago, and I had forgotten most of the details. As a result, I found the first quarter of Twisted Innocence slow, as though it was trying to tell new readers what had gone before without falling into an excess of backstory that those who did remember the earlier novels would find tedious and unnecessary.
 
Twisted Innocence focuses on Holly Cramer, the once-irresponsible younger sister of Cathy, Juliet and Jay. She’s now a more responsible woman: a single mother to five-week-old Lily who is working two jobs to try and earn enough money to cover her bills. She is mugged one night, and then finds out that one-night-stand Creed Kershaw knows he is Lily’s father, and is wanted in relation to a drug-related murder. And it seems Leonard Miller, the man who murdered Cathy’s fiance, is back in town …

There were good parts and bad parts to the story. The pace picked up once I got past the first quarter, which made it easier to read. The whole subplot about Michael in prison seemed unnecessary, as though he was only there so someone could observe one specific incident (the scenes where Cathy was petitioning to have Michael released were particularly tedious). However, there were flashes of brilliance:

“How come I didn’t get the decorating gene?”
“It’s not genetic. It’s Pinterest.”

Who can’t relate to that?

There were also reminders that despite the “global village”, some things are still country-specific:

“She scooped [baby] formula into the only clean bottle she had and mixed it with bottled water.”

When I had my babies, while living in London, it was impressed upon us that we were always to fill the bottle, then add the formula powder (so we knew exactly how much water we had, to ensure we added the correct number of scoops) and never to use bottled water. Any midwives care to comment on this?



Overall, while Twisted Innocence was a good finish to the series, it would be better if I’d read all three books in quick succession, as it didn’t work well as a standalone thriller. Thankfully, now you can, and for the same price as buying one of the books: Zondervan has released a three-in-one volume.

Thanks to Zonvervan and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Terri Blackstock at her website. 

Review: Soaring Through Stars by Rajdeep Paulus

Wow. Just Wow. 

Soaring Through Stars is the final book in a trilogy, following Swimming Through Clouds and Seeing Through Stones, and you really do need to read all three books in order. In fact, even giving an accurate book description will effectively give a spoiler for the first two books … but I’ll try.

The trilogy is the story of Talia and Jesse Vanderbilt, daughter and son of famous Chicago lawyer Gerard Vanderbilt … the man who killed their mother through control, abuse and neglect, and now controls his children through fear and pain. But Talia has a secret—Lagan, a boy at school who has befriended her. Her first friend. That’s the first book.

Even from the first book I could see there was a sinister side to Gerard, and while there are further hints in Swimming Through Clouds, it is here that we finally find out more about Gerard and what a piece of work he really is. But the really scary thing is how the years of abuse affect his children—it’s like they’ve been programmed, and they have to fight to break free of that programming and pursue what they believe in. This control illustrates why so many abused women don’t or won’t leave their partners, and that is frightening. It’s especially frightening to think that some women escape but are sent back to their abusers by well-meaning but deceived officials.

This isn’t a fun book, a light romance to download for your summer holiday (if that’s what you’re after, try Beth Vogt, Denise Hunter or Becky Wade). Rajdeep Paulus is more like Ginny Yttrup or Nancy Rue and Rebecca St James, in that she’s not shying away from the difficult topics, yet without being explicit or gratuitous. It’s well-written, sobering, and with subtle Christian undertones. Excellent.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.

Review: The Art of Falling by Julie Jarnagin

2015 Reading Challenge: Book Set Somewhere I'd Like to Visit (Texas)

Wyatt Lawrence rides bulls for a living and doesn’t understand girly stuff like art; Heather Tornsten is works for an art museum and needs a celebrity to emcee their upcoming fundraising dinner … the two are thrown together by his matchmaking mother, who is sure Wyatt will make a great emcee. Wyatt isn’t so sure, given his feelings about art in general, but his growing feelings for Heather might just persuade him …

Yes, I know this was a novella, but it seemed short—too short for the amount of plot. I’d have liked to have seen a little more getting-to-know-you before the proclamations of endless love. Yes, I know it’s a romance and has to have a happy-ever-after, and yes, I know it’s fiction, but it shouldn’t stretch logic, and this almost did. Almost. But the ending made up for it.

My other grouch is purely from the point of view of this as a 2015 Reading Challenge book: I chose it as a book set somewhere I’d like to visit, Texas. But it could have been set anywhere (well, anywhere big enough to have an art museum and enough people rich enough to pay a small fortune to attend a fundraiser). I never really got the feeling this was Texas, which means it could have done with more setting (although it’s possible this too was a casualty of the short word count of a novell).

Overall, I enjoyed The Art of Falling. The title is an excellent play on words, the character were original and interesting, and the writing was good with flashes of brilliance (personally, that’s what I want in a book. I want to be engaged in the story, not be thinking about how good the writing is or isn’t. If I’m thinking about the writing, it means I haven’t been pullled into the story, and that’s never a good thing). Recommended for those looking for a feel-good romance novella.

Thanks to Redbud Press for providing a free ebook for review.