Review: The Daughter of Highland Hall by Carrie Turansky

Christian Fiction that's Actually Christian

Miss Katherine Ramsey is in London for her first Season, and her aunt and sponsor has high hopes that she’ll make a brilliant marriage. But the longer Kate spends moving in the ‘right’ circles, the more she questions the way things are done—particularly the emphasis on marrying for position rather than affection, let alone marrying for love.

I didn’t like Katherine at first—she seemed stupid and immature, but I suspect that was exactly the point. She was young, and she had led a sheltered life, and she had never had cause to question the standards she’d been raised with. And while we can laugh at the shallowness of society in Edwardian London, we only have to watch a few minutes of ‘reality’ television to see those same standards are alive and well in modern America and other countries.

Jonathan Foster is training to be a doctor so he can return to India, where he was raised as the child of missionaries. But his calling doesn’t seem as clear any more—London is also teeming with sick people too poor to afford a doctor. And London has the beautiful Miss Ramsey, who Jon is attracted to despite her lack of faith.

This highlights one of the things I liked best about The Daughter of Highland Hall: the genuine faith of the Foster family and William Ramsey (Kate’s guardian). You’d think Christian fiction would be full of characters (Christian or not) wrestling with aspects of their faith, but that is rarely the case. The Daughter of Highland Hall is a welcome exception, and while the first half of the story was somewhat slow, the second half more than made up for it, as we watched characters grow in their faith and share it with others. I especially liked this speech from Lydia, Kate’s lady’s maid:
“He knows what happened, and it breaks His heart. But all you need to do is confess it to Him and ask forgiveness. That wipes the slate clean.”

She goes on to talk about how our circumstances don’t necessarily change when we become Christians—we still have the same baggage as before, the same results of our sin—but Jesus will carry that for us. It’s a welcome message of redemption and grace, and while I don’t want to go back to a time when every Christian novel had a preachy come-to-Jesus moment, it’s good to see novels where such scenes flow naturally out of the story.

The Daughter of Highland Hall is the sequel to The Governess of Highland Hall, but can easily be read as a standalone novel (it’s so long since I read the first that I can’t remember any of the details). But there were similarities in both stories: both had a bit of an Upstairs Downstairs or Downton Abbey feel, in that while the main plot was about the gentry, several significant characters were middle or working class.

I enjoyed The Governess of Highland Hall, and I had been apprehensive about reading The Daughter of Highland Hall (which is why it’s taken me so long!). But I was pleased to find this was as good as the first in the series. Now to find the third . . .

Thanks to WaterBrook Multnomah for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Carrie Turansky at her website, and you can read the beginning of The Daughter of Highland Hall below:

Review: Making Marion by Beth Moran

Outstanding Debut

Book Description 

(from the back cover, as there doesn’t seem to be a description on Amazon)

Where’s Robin Hood when you need him?

Marion Miller comes to Sherwood Forest to uncover her father’s mysterious past. She is looking for somewhere to stay, but instead finds herself on the wrong side of the reception desk at the Peace and Pigs campsite. Despite her horrible shyness, she promptly lands herself a job working for the big-hearted and irrepressible Scarlett.

It takes all of Marion’s determination to come out of her shell and get to grips with life on a busy campsite, where even the chickens seem determined to thwart her. Then an unfortunate incident with a runaway bike throws her into the arms of the beautiful, but deeply unimpressed, Reuben.

Can Marion discover her father’s secret? And will she find peace, and perhaps even love, among the pigs?

My Review

Making Marion isn’t a novel for the ultra-conservative Christian reader. It has a distinctly British flavour in terms of language, content, and plot. Marion has a lot of issues in her past, and these are addressed through humour (like Bridget Jones) rather than angst (as used by, say, Karen Kingsbury). I found the sometimes irreverent humour made the hard parts easier to read, but some readers might find that same humour to be disrespectful or offensive.

The plot was good, and the characters, especially Marion and Scarlett were excellent, and the writing was probably the best I’ve come across from a British author, with a subtle theme of love and forgiveness. The present story was regularly interspersed with flashbacks to Marion’s past, which showed us something of the events which had shaped her, and how much she had to forgive.

Recommended for those looking for the depth of Sally Bradley and Varina Denman with the humour of Bridget Jones.

Review: Leopard's Heart by Kimberly A Rogers

Book Description:

An assassination attempt on the American president threatens to ex
pose the existence of Therians to the Human world. Baran knows that the Fringe have become bold. In a race to find the next assassin before he strikes, Raina and Baran must travel from Washington D.C. to the Elven capital hidden in the Smokey Mountains. Rising tensions between Therians who respect the centuries-old alliance with the Elves and Fringe sympathizers who clamor to sever all ties between the two peoples make the case and Baran's relationship with Raina even more difficult to navigate. Circumstances have forced them together, but is it only duty that drives his actions? Does Raina's heart belong to her old childhood sweetheart or is the Leopard's heart still to be won?

My Review

Leopard’s Heart is Book One in The Therian Way series, but there is a novella prequel (Tiger’s Paw), and I would recommend people read that first. I didn’t, and found the first half of Leopard’s Heart a real struggle to read. While there was a lot of back story in the first half, I found it confusing as I didn’t see how it related to the central assassination plot, and it slowed the story down. A lot. The first half could have benefited from some cutting, to bring the plot to the forefront, rather than allowing the central plot to be hidden behind the endless interior monologue and world building.

My confusion over the plot wasn’t helped by the writing. The novel is written in first person from the point of view of several characters. Most chapters were from the viewpoint of either Raina (the part-Elf leopard heroine) or Baran (the pureblood Therian tiger hero), but some chapters were from the viewpoint of minor characters. My problem with this was there were several chapters where I didn’t immediately know who the viewpoint character was, if it was Raina or Baran or someone else. I don't like having to flick back to the start of a chapter to work out whose story I'm reading. It should be obvious.

I also thought there was too many characters (mostly related to the problem of toomuch back story), to the point where it distracted from the central plot and the character development. Also, some of the writing seemed to have errors, in that I couldn’t immediately discern what it was trying to say. For example, this sentence appears to either have some extra words, or some missing words:

“I’m the only one in the neighbourhood who has a threatened last week for peace marriage.”

Was that meant to have been “who has been threatened”? Or something else?

I persevered despite my frustration, and the second half of the novel was much better than the first: fewer characters, more focus on plot, faster pace, more enjoyable, and an emotionally satisfying ending. But I don’t think the ending was satisfying enough or the characters interesting enough to motivate me to read further novels in the series.

Thanks to Jansina at Rivershore Books for providing a free ebook for review.

Author Bio:

Kimberly A. Rogers writes in-depth reviews of Christian and secular fantasy as well as articles for Christian fantasy writers at her blog So You Want to Write Christian Fantasy? Of course, only when not in the midst of writing papers and taking exams in the pursuit of her Masters in Religious Education. Kimberly lives in Virginia where the Blue Ridge Mountains add inspiration to an over-active imagination originally fueled by fantasy classics such as the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.

Twitter Page:
https://twitter.com/KARogersAuthor

Author Website: https://kimberlyrogerscfwriter.wordpress.com/

Friday Fifteen and Giveaway: Katherine Blessan

Today I'd like to welcome Katherine Blessan to Iola's Christian Reads, to share the fifteen authors who have most influenced her life and writing.

Katherine has recently released her first novel, Lydia's Song:

Lydia's quiet expat life in Cambodia is dramatically turned upside down by the sudden arrival of Song, a young & vulnerable Vietnamese girl, and the flattering romantic attentions of a handsome, dashing local man. Just as she settles into this new-found happiness, everything is shattered as Song is kidnapped and sold into the child sex trade. 

Broken, Lydia returns to the UK, confirmed in her doubts about 'God', only to find the most unexpected guest on her doorstep one night many years later with the most incredible story to tell of hope lost and innocence restored.

Welcome, Katherine!

I began this list, I realised that there are so many more authors that have influenced my life, my thought, my imagination and my writing than I had thought. When people ask, “who are your favourite authors?” I usually narrow the list down to three or four from the list, but that is reductive as there are actually hundreds! They haven’t all influenced me in the same way, however, and these fifteen are a list of some of the writers who have stirred me the most. I hope you enjoy my eclectic list. The order is loosely chronological according to the age at which each was first read.

1. C. S. Lewis

Like many, the Narnia Chronicles stirred within me a beating heart for stories and an awakening to the joy and adventure of a life of faith. I re-read them many times as a child and wrote about them for an MA dissertation as well as directing a dramatization of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader with a group of students I taught in Cambodia.

2. Laura Ingalls Wilder

Wilder’s memoirs of her life lived as a pioneer in the American West captivated me as a child and were part of my inspiration to study American Studies as a Bachelor degree.

3. J. R. R. Tolkien

What an incredible wealth of imagination and thought went into the writing of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. A whole world and history is created in such a way that we care deeply about Bilbo and Frodo and Aragorn and the rest and our hearts beat in fear against the orcs and Saruman. The fact that it is the little humble folk who are central to the war against evil is a beautiful mirror of the way in which God uses the humble.

4. Charlotte Bronte

Jane Eyre stirred in me a depth of understanding into the human heart, all wrapped up in an engaging story of courage, love and strength. No-one can forget the scenes in this story of poor Jane at Lowood, of Jane’s heart-breaking flee from her beloved Mr Rochester and her return to him when he is scarred and blinded.

5. T. S. Eliot

Eliot was one of the few poets that I studied for A-level English Literature whose writing I fell in love with. Sharp, insightful and casting both a humorous and dark light on the foibles of human ways, his journey into the Christian faith is fascinating.

6. Jane Austen

Jane Austen’s wit and poignant attention to matters of the human heart has in my opinion never been beaten by Pride and Prejudice, in which Elizabeth Bennett’s liveliness of spirit and honesty pitted against the enigmatic Mr Darcy brings a delight and depth to the novel, and we can laugh and sigh at the foolishness of characters such as Lydia and Mr Collins.

7. Sebastian Faulks

Birdsong is one of the most captivating and elegaic books about the First World War ever published.

8. Arthur Golden

Memoirs of a Geisha is a compelling, lyrical tale that gave me a fascination with the Far East and drew me into the heart of the story. One of the characters in Golden’s novel inspired me in the writing of one of my own minor characters in Lydia’s Song. See if you can identify who the two characters are!

9. Anne Bronte

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is one of the best, most raw and compassionate Bronte stories, and a compelling insight into how easy it is to deceive oneself about someone’s character when judgement is driven by emotion. I recently wrote a short story inspired by the character of Arthur Markham.

10. Jung Chang

Wild Swans is an incredible tour de force that sweeps its way through three generations of women oppressed by Chinese traditions and politics. This is history at its best told as ‘her-story’. I couldn’t put it down.

11. Phillip Yancey

What’s so Amazing About Grace stayed with me for many years. I was stirred by Yancey’s stories of grace at work through the everyday and of the opposing curse of legalism.

12. Victor Hugo

I only ever read an abridged version of Hugo’s epic novel Les Miserables, but its story and characters gripped me and are a concrete example of the way in which God’s grace works in the lives of sinners.

13. Khaled Hosseini

A Thousand Splendid Suns is a beautifully written and painful story of the lives of oppressed women in Afghanistan and their journey to freedom.

14. Nabeel Qureshi

Qureshi’s book Seeking Allah Finding Christ is a forthright biography of his search for God. He uncovered truth layer by layer, but as it meant so much to him to hold onto what he had always believed his journey was a long, drawn out one. I wept when I reached the end!

15. Gary Haughen

Gary Haughen's inspiring, compassionate and gripping book Terrify No More about young girls being rescued from a brothel in a village near Phnom Penh, Cambodia, provided much of the impetus and background for my own novel.

About Katherine

Katherine Blessan is the debut novelist of Lydia’s Song, a story that explores the horrors of child-sex trafficking through duel narrators. A proportion of all her royalties is helping anti-trafficking organization Hope for Justice.

Katherine lives in Sheffield, UK with her Indian husband and two young children and is currently working as an English tutor as well as concentrating more on writing than she’s ever done before. Katherine has always loved stories and writing but has only recently developed the skills to really be a writer.

You can connect with Katherine online at:
https://www.facebook.com/katherine.blessan
http://katherineblessan.bigcartel.com/
https://twitter.com/kathblessan
https://www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-blessan-5aa632b2

Giveaway

Katherine has offered one ebook copy of Lydia's Song as a giveaway. Leave a comment and tell us which is your favourite author off Katherine's list to be in with a chance to win.

Review: Kellen’s Hope by Danie Marie

Slow start, but excellent finish

Kellen Carmichael finds she’s pregnant to her ex-boyfriend, the guy she broke up with over his insistence on drinking and partying. He does the honourable Christian thing and marries her, but dies shortly after the wedding leaving Kellen alone, and estranged from both her family and her new in-laws.

While I was intrigued enough by the premise to agree to review Kellen’s Hope, once I began reading I felt it took a while to get going. However, the plot really picks up pace after Danny dies, as Kellen makes the unpleasant discovery that she has a stalker. It’s just anonymous telephone calls at first, but things soon start to escalate, with incidents at home and at her workplace, the local hospital. She’s also being pursued by one of Danny’s friends: while at first she appreciates the fact someone is watching out for her, she’s not ready for another relationship. Not even with the handsome doctor her friends at work try and set her up with …

The writing was solid but not spectacular. There were some editing and proofreading issues (one line looked as though random words had been inserted in, as it made no sense at all), and I didn’t think medical professionals still used the term “manic depression” any more. However, these were minor glitches which didn’t affect my overall enjoyment of the story.

Once I got into Kellen’s Hope it was hard to put down, with an excellent mixture of external suspense with the stalker, and internal tension as Kellen has to consider her future as a solo parent. The supporting characters were excellent (well, Dr Dreamy might have been a little too perfect …) and I totally want to know Kellen’s secret baked yam recipe. A good solid romantic suspense read.

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

Review: Dreaming on Daisies by Miralee Ferrell

Secrets, Lies and Deception

Amazon Description

When her father's debts, brought on by heavy drinking, threaten Leah Carlson's family ranch, she fights to save it. When handsome banker Steven Harding must decline her loan request, he determines to do what he can to help. Just as he arrives to serve as a much-needed ranch hand, Leah's family secrets—and the pain of her past—come to a head. They could destroy everything she's fought for. And they could keep her from ever opening her heart again.

This is western historical romance that offers hope and healing to the deepest wounds in a woman's past.

My Review

Based on the beginning, I thought Dreaming on Daisies was going to be a standard historical romance. While the first half of the novel certainly focused on the attraction and developing relationship between rancher’s daughter Leah Carlson and banker Steven Harding, the second half almost ignored that relationship and instead focused on Leah’s relationship with her drunken stepfather, dead mother and wayward brother.

The Carlson/Pape family had a lot of issues, which had left Leah feeling as though everyone she ever loved abandoned her—and that if she fell for Steven, he’d abandon her as well. There were some strong Christian themes of the dangers of pride and the need to offer forgiveness. These were addressed well, but I couldn’t help feeling the plot was being driven by the need to demonstrate these themes. This was particularly the case with the character of Charlie Pape, whose personal journey detracted from what the romance plot.


I also didn’t like the fact that so much of the plot was centred around secrets, lies and deception. Leah was the victim in most of these secrets and lies, and it seemed her personal journey to deal with the lies she’d been told was the most important factor in the plot. I’m not saying it shouldn’t have been important, but not at the expense of the romantic relationship. This resurfaced out of nowhere towards the end and seemed a little too convenient, because it hadn’t been threaded throughout.

Having said all that, Dreaming on Daisies was a solid read. I’d probably get more out of it if I read it a second time, but it didn’t interest me enough (and there are dozens of books on my to-read list which interest me more!)

Thanks to David C Cook and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Reading Challenge: This Quiet Sky by Joanne Bischof

Reading Challenge: Book That Made Me Cry

I actually “read” the Audible audiobook, narrated by Gail Shalan. She had a beautiful voice with a youthful, breathy tone, which made it easy to believe she was a teenager from Rocky Knob, Virginia, in the mid-1880’s, especially as the book is written in first person present tense, and entirely from Sarah’s point of view.

There were a couple of words I didn’t understand because of her accent—I worked out pecan, but others remained a mystery (in case you were wondering, in New Zealand we put the emphasis on the first syllable, so it’s pea-kin, whereas she pronounced it pi-can with a very short p). However, the voice and accent were authentic and well-portrayed, and not understanding the odd word didn’t affect my enjoyment of the story at all.

This Quiet Sky is the story of Sarah Miller and Tucker O’Shea, the oldest students at the one-room school in Rocky Knob. Sarah is new in school and behind in algebra; Tucker is a math whiz who is asked to tutor her. A hesitant friendship develops, hesitant mostly on Sarah’s side because of the rumour that Tucker is dying from some unknown cause. Those who have read Bischof’s earlier Cadence of Grace series will recall Sarah Miller is Lonnie’s aunt.

That was my first surprise, and it wasn’t entirely welcome. I only read the first book in the Cadence of Grace trilogy, because I didn’t enjoy the characters or the plot (the setting and the writing were excellent, but that’s not enough to make me read a novel!). Also, first person present tense suggests contemporary Young Adult fiction to me, and the cover also made me think this was a contemporary novella. So the time setting was another surprise.

No matter. I found I liked Sarah a lot more than Lonnie, and Tucker reminded me of Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars. Actually, there were a lot of similarities between This Quiet Sky and The Fault in Our Stars (thankfully, not the awful support group), but certainly in the theme and tone. Of course, This Quiet Sky is Christian fiction set in the 1800’s, which means Sarah and Tucker have a whole different set of challenges, but they also have the one thing Hazel and Gus didn’t have: faith.

And this faith aspect gives the novella a depth The Fault in Our Stars lacks, even in the much-shorter length. Recommended … but not if you’re in the mood for a light-hearted and relaxing read.

This story counts towards my 2015 Reading Challenge as a book which made me cry.

Review: The Advocate by Randy Singer

A book at the bottom of my to-read list

The Advocate is the imagined memoir of Theophilus, the man for whom the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts was written. It begins with a memorable opening line:

“I was fourteen years old when I learned what it meant to be crucified.”

The narrator is Theophilus, who is training to be an advocate, a lawyer, a profession which brings him into contact with many of the famous figures from early Christian history. The author truly brings the time and place alive (perhaps too alive at times). Historical characters include Pontius Pilate, Caligula, and Nero, as well as Jesus and Paul.

The first half of the novel was written entirely from the viewpoint of Theophilus, and is excellent. He’s an intelligent man with an engaging voice. He is well able to analyse and interpret the historic events he finds himself part of, especially as he is writing across a passage of many years. I found this brought the days of the early New Testament to life, and provided an insight into the culture and politics of the times.

The story then moves into a combination of first person and third person, and I didn’t find that worked so well. The writing was still good, but I found the movements between Theophilus and the other viewpoint characters weren’t as smooth as I would have liked. But it then switched again, and the final portion of the book was a powerful and challenging read. Recommended.

This book counts towards my 2015 Reading Challenge as a book from the bottom of my to-read list … because it was a paperback, and it was literally at the bottom of my pile because it was slightly bigger than most paperbacks.

Review: Emails from Heaven by Sam Neumann

David Grasso has gotten an email from no one. He knows this is impossible, but with a blank “sender” field and no other identifying marks, he’s left incapable of tracing the source. The email claims to be from his brother, but David knows it can’t be, because his brother is dead.

Upon reading the body text he becomes furious, not at the obvious attempt at deceit, but at what the email says. Furious someone would use his brother’s name to perpetuate a lie. Furious the lie existed at all.

EMAILS FROM HEAVEN is a novel following David Grasso’s struggle to make sense of the email and those that followed. As a graphic designer at a high-powered ad firm in downtown Chicago, David spends most of his waking hours at the office. He’s unmarried, has few friends, and his coworkers bore him. His life is a monotonous running clock. But when the email arrives, his world is turned on end, and he will go to any length to reveal the source and explain the seemingly inconceivable circumstances that led to it showing up in his inbox.

This is the story of one man’s struggle with mystery, death, and the idea of faith. When logic is suspended, all that remains is one timeless question:

What if?

Not What I Was Expecting

Most of Emails from Heaven is told from the point of view of David Grasso, a graphic designer at the JF&A Integrated Advertising Agency. He’s relatively happy with his work at the beginning of the novel, but gradually becomes more and more disaffected with office life and the petty social hierarchies within.

The initial premise was intriguing: a man receiving emails from his dead brother. The style of the writing was also intriguing, a mix of third person and omniscient which shouldn’t have worked, but somehow fit with the unusual plot. It has to be said the editing was choppy, especially around point of view, and—frankly—plot. It started off as a mystery with a supernatural touch, as David puzzles about the origin of the strange emails and reflects on his relationship with his dead brother.

But it gradually morphed into something different, more like a commentary on modern office life, a cross between The Office and Dilbert. We see David in the office environment, gradually losing interest as he begins to see through the office politics and befriend the office loser.

It’s not to say the story wasn’t good—it was—but it wasn’t the story we’d been promised. The other way it wasn’t as promised was that I thought it was a Christian novel (my blog is Iola’s Christian Reads: I pretty much expect that’s the kind of novel I’m going to be offered to review). But Emails from Heaven wasn’t “Christian” in that it didn’t meet the usual specifications people have for Christian fiction, particularly around the use of swearing, smoking and drinking. There was no sex, but that was more a function of plot and character: David and especially Martin were too reclusive to have lady friends.

But this plot segue means I didn’t think the essential question in the story was answered, and maybe this is my problem, but I like there to be answers. Both parts of the book—the emails from heaven and the struggle against office politics—were good, but they didn’t hang together well enough.

As an aside, the author advertises himself as a New York Times Bestselling Author. I'd never heard of him so I checked: one of his previous books made #23 on the Non-Fiction ebook list for one week, which makes it sound like the kind of boast David Grasso's bombastic manager would make.

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

Review: Kept by Sally Bradley

A book a friend recommended

I first saw Kept reviewed by Rel Mollet of Relz Reviews. Like me, Rel is tired of reading Christian novels which have the same feel as every other Christian novel. We’re looking for something real, something different, but something which still affirms our Christian faith. Rel raved about Kept, and while I bought it immediately, it’s taken me a while to get around to reading it. I kept (ha ha) hearing good things about it from people whose opinions I respected, and I started to wonder … could it really be that good? Or was I setting myself up for disappointment?

Well, it really is that good.

Kept isn’t perfect. There was one amusing typo (a segue is a change of topic in conversation; the two-wheeled ride-on has the same pronunciation, but it’s a Segway. Silly name, if you ask me). There was one scene from the point of view of a minor character that didn’t seem to add anything to the plot (and in hindsight, could have been eliminated), and there were a couple of minor plot points that didn’t make sense (maybe they’ll make more sense on the re-read). And there were times when I would have liked to better understand what was going on inside Dillan’s head. He plain didn’t make sense at times. Of course, he’s a man, so that could explain things.

Those details aside, Kept clocks up a number of achievements that rate highly with me. She’s managed something completely original—a story about a kept woman, a euphemism for a high-class prostitute—yet it’s unashamedly a Christian novel, a story of forgiveness and redemption that reminded me of Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. The writing is excellent, and manages to cover some gritty ground without ever spelling out the ugly details.

Sally Bradley has created a cast of likeable characters who feel true to live, even in their failings. Dillan, at “six foot thirteen”, is a complete klutz, which perhaps forces him to cultivate a friendship with Miska even when he’d rather avoid her. His brother, Garrett, is a loveable lawyer with a past he’s still trying to get over.

Miska is complex. At first she comes across as the sweet girl-next-door—until we begin to get to know a bit more about her, and realise she’s caught up in the oldest profession, and telling herself the biggest lie: that he’ll leave his wife for her. One day. It’s never exactly explained how she became a kept woman, but we see enough of her background to realise it’s a logical progression, and that she feels no qualms for taking the men in her life for everything she can get. After all, that’s all men have ever done to her.

Miska’s scenes showed how good the writing was, because I was completely engaged in her character. She’s an intelligent woman who does dumb, DUMB, things when it comes to me, and there were times I wanted to give her a good shake. Dillan and Garrett were similar, and even at the end I was thinking that Dillan needs to get over himself, while Garrett just needs to get his head examined. They were frustrating, but in a good way—like a teenage daughter. Their actions might be annoying, but you love them anyway.

Yes, that pretty much sums up Kept. Recommended for those who want something real in their Christian fiction.

You can find out more about Sally Bradley at her website.

This book counts towards my 2015 Reading Challenge as a book a friend recommended (thanks, Rel). 

I'm Reviewing at Australasian Christian Writers!

Today I'm over at Australasian Christian Writers, reviewing Feast for Thieves, the debut novel from bestselling non-fiction author Marcus Brotherton.

Click here to read my review.

Or just click here to buy the book. It's that good. 

Blog Tour: Walking a Haunted Sandbar by Rorry Nighttrain East

Book Description

A lyrical yarn about an overly-curious newspaper man transplanted from England to the eastern coast of the USA, who stumbles onto the fact that a one-hundred-year-old cult of drowned sailors has complete control of his quaint, seaside town. A legend about a hand-held golden mirror (with a portable vortex inside its case); as it is randomly passed between owners in separate vignettes to change their lives beyond human comprehension. The ennui and general apathy of living in a sleepless big city that doesn’t seem to care—as expressed in skeleton symbols. A humble man with great calculating abilities uses his natural mind to auto-suggest (the future of law and order) hundreds of years from now.

Click here to find Walking by a Haunted Sandbar at Amazon.

About the Author

Rorry Nighttrain East (a.k.a., R.L. Farr) is truly a literary anomaly. At least, he’s really not some kind of author to typecast, nor even place into any single mode or genre. For he seems to run all gamuts of poetry & prose, humor, short stories, screenplays, teleplays, and even novels. What’s next from this versatile new talent? He says he writes because he’s handicapped; and we believe him: Laugh, cry . . . and then wipe the tears away. You’ve found yourself the pen pal of a lifetime. (With two artificial legs thrown in, to boot.)

A repentant, imperfect Christian still under construction. Born on July 18, 1952 in Fresno, California, he is an alumnus of De Anza College Cupertino, California and was formerly a journeyman automobile mechanic for a Lincoln Mercury dealership in San Jose, California. He has since moved from the “Golden State” and now lives upon a sprawling ranch where he writes just outside the beautiful, mile-high mountains of Silver City, New Mexico.

You can found out more about Rorry at his website: http://rorrynighttraineast.com/Home.html

Award Time!

Last week I introduced the finalists for the RITA and Christy Awards. This week I'm back with the finalists in the INSPYs.

The INSPY Awards are the newer kids on the awards block, and are organised by bloggers, not publishers or writers. I'm a judge for the General Fiction category this year - a new challenge I'm looking forward to! The finalists are:

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE/ROMANTIC SUSPENSE

Beowolf: Explosives Detection Dog by Ronie Kendig
Somebody Like You by Beth K. Vogt
A Table by the Window by Hillary Manton Lodge
Meant to Be Mine by Becky Wade
A Broken Kind of Beautiful by Katie Ganshert

DEBUT FICTION

The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron
Miracle in a Dry Season by Sarah Loudin Thomas
How Sweet the Sound by Amy K. Sorrells
Healer of Carthage by Lynne Gentry
For Such a Time by Kate Breslin

GENERAL FICTION

Thief of Glory by Sigmund Brouwer
All Right Here by Carre Armstrong Gardner
Saving Amelie by Cathy Gohlke
Lizzy & Jane by Katherine Reay
Keepers of the Covenant by Lynn Austin

HISTORICAL

A Beauty So Rare by Tamera Alexander
The Thief by Stephanie Landsem
Mark of Distinction by Jessica Dotta
Captured by Love by Jody Hedlund
With Every Breath by Elizabeth Camden

MYSTERY AND THRILLER

A.D. 30 by Ted Dekker
Checkmate by Steven James
Murder at the Mikado by Julianna Deering
Raptor 6 by Ronie Kendig
Playing Saint by Zachary Bartels

LITERATURE FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Remnants: Season of Wonder by Lisa T. Bergren
Storm Siren by Mary Weber
Blur by Steven James
Destined for Doon by Carey Corp & Lorie Langdon
Jupiter Winds by C.J. Darlington

SPECULATIVE FICTION

Spirit Bridge by James L. Rubart
Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
Seek and Hide by Amanda G. Stevens
Healer of Carthage by Lynne Gentry
A Draw of Kings by Patrick W. Carr

As a judge, I can't say any more except that it's a great crop of books to read, and I'll be looking forward to sharing my findings and reviews with you after the winners are announced at the end of June.

Award Time!

It's coming up to award time, and several organisations have announced their lists of finalists over the last few weeks. Today I'm introducing the finalists for the 2015 RITA (Inspirational Fiction) and Christy Awards.

Romance Writers of America

RWA have five finalists in their Inspirational Romance Category:

Deceived by Irene Hannon (read and reviewed)
For Such a Time by Kate Breslin
Hope at Dawn by Stacy Henrie
Huckleberry Summer by Jennifer Beckstrand
The Widow's Suitor by Rose Ross Zediker

For Such a Time is also a finalist for First Novel - well done, Kate Breslin!

Christy Awards

The long-established Christy Awards are the premier awards in Christian fiction, and showcase novels in a variety of categories:

CONTEMPORARY

Farewell, Four Waters by Kate McCord
Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good by Jan Karon
The Story Keeper by Lisa Wingate

CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE

A Broken Kind of Beautiful by Katie Ganshert
Firewall by DiAnn Mills (read and reviewed)
Undetected by Dee Henderson (read and reviewed)

It's curious that Firewall and Undetected are in the Contemporary Romance category, as both are part of a series. 

CONTEMPORARY SERIES

The Amish Blacksmith by Mindy Starns Clark and Susan Meissner
Home to Chicory Lane by Deborah Raney (read and reviewed)
When I Fall in Love by Susan May Warren (read and reviewed - always a favourite author)

FIRST NOVEL

Feast for Thieves by Marcus Brotherton (this one's on my to-read list)
For Such a Time by Kate Breslin
House of Living Stones by Kate Schuermann

HISTORICAL

The Advocate by Randy Singer (another on my to-read list)
The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (interesting choice, as not known as a CBA author)
The Sentinels of Andersonville by Tracy Groot (I've heard good things about this, but haven't read it)

HISTORICAL ROMANCE

A Beauty So Rare by Tamera Alexander
Thief of Glory by Sigmund Brouwer (and another on my to-read list!)
With Every Breath by Elizabeth Camden (read and reviewed)

SUSPENSE

The Color of Justice by Ace Collins
A Cry from the Dust by Carrie Stuart Parks (read and reviewed)
Sky Zone by Creston Mapes

VISIONARY

Once Beyond a Time by Ann Tatlock
Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
A Time to Die by Nadine Brandes

YOUNG ADULT

Failstate: Nemesis by John W. Otte
This Quiet Sky by Joanne Bischof
Storm Siren by Mary Weber

I've read and reviewed a lot of books over the last year, and I'm surprised to see I've read so few of these. What have you read?

ARCBA Tour: Too Pretty by Andrea Grigg

4 - 8 May 2015

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing

Too Pretty

((Rhiza Press), August 2014)

By

Andrea Grigg

About the Book:

Being beautiful isn’t easy – just ask Ellie Paxton.Frustrated by a long string of empty relationships, Ellie makes a promise to God not to date for six months, a promise she’s determined to keep.

Tired of being continually misjudged because of her looks Ellie moves to Sydney for a fresh start. But when her path keeps crossing with the darkly handsome Nathaniel, that promise becomes much harder to fulfil.

As they battle with their attraction for each other, Ellie is not the only one to discover it takes more than simply looking in a mirror to find out who you truly are …

Could it be that God has a bigger plan? Could this really be one of those matches made in heaven …?

About the Author

Andrea Grigg grew up in Auckland, New Zealand, but has lived more than half her life in Australia.

Andrea lives with her husband on Queensland’s Gold Coast, where they have raised their three adult children – two daughters and a son. Recently retired from teaching ten-year-olds, if she isn’t being a domestic executive or socialising, Andrea can be found in her cave, writing stories.



I reviewed Too Pretty last year: click here to read my review.

I also interviewed Andrea about Too Pretty: click here to read our interview. 

Review: Remember Me by Lara Van Hulzen

Unexpected Twist

It’s been a long shift in ER for Tess Jansenn. It gets longer when her last patient is her ex-fiance, the man who left her a week before their wedding, leaving only a note to explain his reasons. Now he’s back, but he’s got amnesia and can’t remember anything, not even his own name. Ben is frustrated that he can’t remember anything, but is attracted to the tiny nurse, and overcome with the desire to protect her after an accident—or was it?

There were plenty of secrets, which always make for a good plot. Tess is obviously keeping one huge secret from Ben: that she knows who he is. Amnesiac Ben obviously isn’t keeping any secrets, because he has no memories, but hidden behind the amnesia is the real Ben, who does have secrets … like why he left Tess, and why he now seems to have a different name. One thing neither of them can hide is their chemistry, but that’s not enough to base a relationship on, especially when Tess knows she’s hiding Ben’s past from him.

I started Remember Me thinking it was going to be a straightforward romance, but was pleased to find it turn into more of a romantic suspense plot as we learn why Ben abandoned Tess (after all, I’m a romantic suspense fan). The plot was well-constructed with good pacing with several excellent plot twists, and the writing was very good—more than good enough to keep me engaged throughout.

I liked all the characters including the minor characters of Aimee (Tess’s sister) and Dane (Ben’s best friend), who were nicely set up to be the lead couple in Get To Me, the second book in the Men of Honor series, published on 14 April. It looks just as good!

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

Review: The Wedding List

2015 Reading Challenge – A book set in your hometown

You are no doubt thinking that I live in New Zealand, so why am I reading a novella set in London as “a book set in my hometown”. There are two reasons. First, I don’t really have a hometown in the way Americans refer to one, but I lived in London for longer than I have lived anywhere else, so I think it counts. Second, there simply aren’t a lot of books set in my part of the world. I can count on one hand the number of Christian novels I’ve come across set in New Zealand or by Christian authors (something Kiwi author Kara Isaac discussed in a recent blog post).

Anyway, on to my review. Beth Forrest works in the wedding department of staid London department store Pettett and Mayfield’s, where she spends her days serving posh clients and struggling to overcome her working-class background, something which has given her a serious inferiority complex. Beth is about to close up one day work ay when a piece of her past walks in: James Wetherton-Hart, the posh boy she once loved—until his mother found out James was seeing a servant, and had Beth sent packing from the estate.

The Wedding List was an enjoyable short novel that was a pleasant walk down memory lane of winter in London, particularly when it came to some of the locations, like Tower Bridge. It was also an enjoyable romance, even if I wasn’t entirely convinced by the emphasis on class distinctions, or the fact she was ashamed of her working-class heritage (I always saw the real-life English working class, as generally proud of their heritage. It's the middle class who seek upward mobility). I also would have liked to have seen more character development, particularly with James.

Overall, I liked the novel, but probably not enough to read more in the series.

Review: Nowhere to Turn by Lynette Eason

She thought her days of hiding were over . . . but the danger has just begun.

The day Danielle Harding takes her eleven-year-old son and flees from her abusive husband is the same day Kurt Harding dies. A relieved Dani believes she and her son are finally safe--but in reality, things are just heating up. When Kurt was alive, he took something important from a mysterious individual--who wants the item back and believes Dani now has it. As she and her son run for their lives, they have nowhere to turn, until she hires Adam Buchanan of Operation Refuge and goes into hiding. Unfortunately, she won't be able to hide for long . . .

From the first breathless scene, this tension-laced story will hold you in its iron grip as bestselling author Lynette Eason propels you along in a race to discover the truth.

Well, no. I yawned through the first quarter of Nowhere to Turn, then put it aside for a couple of months before forcing myself to finish it. Romantic suspense is my favourite genre, so I should have enjoyed this, but I didn’t. I didn’t relate at all to Dani, and I didn’t understand why it took her twelve years to leave Kurt. Yes, I know her husband threatened to murder her son in front of her if she ever left, but there are ways to hide from the authorities. Criminals do it all the time, and women’s refuges exist to help (we know there was a refuge—her neighbour gave her the details).

And I know this is fiction, but I found Operation Refuge too unbelievable, with their seemingly never-ending resources and hot line to the state governor (because, you know, the governor has nothing better to do than wait for telephone calls from ex-US Marshals who need a favour). It was Hawaii Five-O without the sunshine and scenery.

However, I do have sympathy for Dani and other women in her situation. Around a third of the way through the book, Dani thinks:

Was she really that needy? Was she so brainwashed that she was actually afraid to be on her own?

I think the answer is “yes”, and that’s why she couldn’t leave. But as a reader, I needed to understand this from the beginning. It was at this point where I (finally) felt able to engage with Dani.

But this wasn’t enough to rescue the novel for me. There were parts of the plot which were excellent, like the twist at the end about who was behind everything. Then there were parts which just seemed contrived, like the other plot twist at the end. And there were a couple of other plot devices which were simply too obvious. Overall, not a book I enjoyed.

Thanks to Revell and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Review: Heartsong by Nicola Furlong

Meh

Some families have hope. Others have faith. The Shepherds of rural Oregon have Faith, Hope and Charly, three quirky sisters whose lives change forever when they reluctantly answer a personal calling to help other make amends.

Thirty-something single parent Charly Shepherd is satisfied with her life raising two children and thousands of plants in her family owned Sweet Shepherd Nursery. Then tragedy strikes. As she and her siblings struggle to keep the nursery going, Charly begins to believe her family’s destiny is greater than raising flowers. When the three sisters reluctantly delve into family secrets to help their ailing father fulfill a promise, their lives change forever as they pursue a new inspirational path of discovery, heartache, humor and redemption.

Heartsong is the first novel in the proposed Sisterhood of Shepherds series. The characters are interesting and the writing is solid, but I found the story didn’t really deliver on the promise. It seemed to take a long time to get into the story, to the point where the plot wasn’t actually clear. It wasn’t about the Shepherd family recovering from the hailstorm after their insurance cover accidentally lapsed. It wasn’t about the mysterious vandalism occurring around the Sweet Shepherd Nursery.

It eventually got around to the idea that the Shepherd girls had some kind of spiritual destiny to help others, but this seemed like a minor subplot rather than the whole point. Their first “project” was to help their father make right a wrong committed many years ago. However, even this was underwhelming, as the leadup to the big reveal made it sound as though Barry had done something awful (had an affair and a child out of wedlock at the very least), but the actual secret was something much more low-key, and I felt his level of guilt was misplaced.

I did like the relevant quotes at the beginning of each chapter, especially this one from Cicero:

If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.

Overall, Heartsong was a nice story, but it wasn’t a compelling plot, had a weak ending (which hinged on one coincidences too many—really, how many widowed-and-remarried retirees still send Valentine’s cards to the guy they didn’t marry over forty years ago?), and it didn’t deliver on what was promised in the blurb.

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

ARCBA Blog Tour: Swallow Me Now! by Melissa Gijsbers

2 - 6 March 2015

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing


Swallow Me, Now!
(Lilly Pilly Press, October 2014)

By

Melissa Gijsbers

 

About the Book

All Sam wants to do is to fit in at her new school. Feeling alone, and desperately trying to find her place in the world, she concocts an AMAZING story - BUT it backfires on her, and she becomes known as the 'Evil Genius's Daughter!' Can her life get any worse?

About the Author

Melissa Gijsbers started writing when she was in High School during the 1990s, even winning some awards for a short story and a script. For many years, life got in the way of creative writing, however she did start blogging around 2006.

She currently lives in Melbourne, Australia with her two sons and a pet blue tongue lizard.

My Review

I think Sam is a character most children can relate to—starting a new school (or job) can be a scary experience. Sam has grown up in a missionary family, so isn't prepared for some of the behaviour of the children in her class, which leads to her making some bad decisions ... like not telling her parents when she has a problem, and lying to the other children in an attempt to fit in. 

I found myself getting frustrated with Sam at times, and had to remind myself she is only ten (or thereabouts—although we were told what grade she was in, I don't know exactly what age that is in Australia). 

Swallow Me Now! makes interesting points about school bullying—I think what impacted me the most was the different types of bullying, and how Sam didn't see the way the other girls were treating her was actually bullying. She put up with it for a long time before saying anything, which I guess is because she didn't know. But I knew, and I was getting cross with her, wishing she'd make better choices!

This would be a good story to share with primary-aged children, to help them understand what bullying is so they can tell a grown-up if it happens to them or to a friend, and hopefully show them that sometimes not doing something (like making friends with the new kid in class) can be just as bad as being mean. 

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