I'm Reviewing Enemy Action by Mike Hollow at Suspense Sisters Reviews!

Today I'm visiting Suspense Sisters Reviews, to review Enemy Action by Mike Hollow. It's the third book in his Blitz Detective series, and now I want to read the first two. Click here to find out why!

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: A Flying Affair by Carla Stewart

Great concept but too many issues

Book Description

Ever since Mittie Humphreys agreed to join dashing barnstorming pilot Ames for a joyride in his airplane, her lifelong love of horses has been surpassed by one thing--a longing for the skies. It seems she's not the only one--with Charles Lindbergh making his victory tour in the Spirit of St. Louis, aviation fever is spreading across the country. Mittie knows flying is the perfect focus for the soaring ambition and taste for adventure within her, and whenever she can slip away from her duties on her family's prosperous Kentucky horse farm, she heads to the airfield.

Considering their shared passion, it's no surprise that Ames begins to vie for Mittie's time. But when handsome British aviator Bobby York offers her flying lessons, he is equally surprised-and beguiled-by Mittie's grit and talent. Driven to succeed, Mittie will do whatever it takes to compete in the Women's National Air Derby alongside Amelia Earhart. But when Calista "Peach" Gilson, a charming Southern belle, becomes her rival both professionally and in love, Mittie must learn how to navigate her heart's romantic longings as well as the skies.

My Review

I thought there were good and not-so-good things about A Flying Affair. The writing was polished, and it’s written entirely from MIttie’s viewpoint which keeps the focus firmly on her as the main character. I liked the way the plot provided insight into the motivations and achievements of early women aviators (aviatrixes?), of the way aviation caught the imagination of the common people. It’s something people are still fascinated by, judging by the number of people who attend air shows each year.

But there were issues than things to recommend. Yes, the writing was polished but there was far too much telling, including a couple of instances of telling the reader what’s going to happen next, which reminded me of a 1970’s TV presenter telling us to Tune in next week for the next exciting episode, where … happens. There were also too many instances of 1920’s slang, especially in the first part of the novel. I can see they were trying to establish setting but it felt as though they were only thrown in to tell us, “Hey! It’s the Roaring Twenties, and young people use slang!” It felt forced, and not natural to Mittie’s character.

There were too many named characters, especially in the beginning, which made it difficult to know who was who, and who was important to the story and why. There was too much plot: at times it felt like A Flying Affair couldn’t decide if it was a book about a female aviator or a woman running a horse farm. There were too many subplots. Mittie and Ames, Mittie and Bobby, Mittie and Calista, Mittie’s grief and guilt over causing accidents, MIttie and Iris, Iris and her husband. Again, decide what the story is about and write that story. There were enough plots and subplots in here for an entire series.

Finally, there was no Christian element. Sure, the characters say grace once or twice and I think I recall Mittie making a reference to the man upstairs, but I’d classify this as a clean read rather than Christian fiction. While this is potentially an important issue for those readers specifically looking for Christian fiction, I have to say this didn’t affect my enjoyment of the novel (or lack thereof).

Cathy Bryant recently published a blog post comparing clean reads and Christian fiction, which inspired a healthy discussion on a Facebook group I’m a member of. I do think there is a place for both, but I'd like it if Christian publishers would brand books better so readers know what to expect. Christian readers looking in the Christian fiction section are looking for some faith in their fiction.

But there is also a market for sex-free novels with no underlying religious theme, and a clever Christian publisher would do both, but market them as separate imprints. (In fairness, I often find FaithWords/Hachette books light on their faith content … which suggests ‘FaithWords’ isn’t entirely accurate).

It’s telling that the author thanks her agent for providing the inspiration for this story. That suggests to me this topic is something the agent thought she could sell, not a subject the author had a deep passion for. I think that’s come through in the writing. Stewart started off writing a book about horses but got sidetracked with the flying. It’s a perfectly good commercial book, but lacks that inspiration that would make it great. This isn’t the first time I’ve come across authors saying their agent gave them the idea, and the other book I can think of in this category was also lacklustre.

Authors, perhaps you need to focus less on following the market and more on following your God-given passions and inspiration.

Overall, A Flying Affair didn’t fly for me. Thanks to NetGalley and FaithWords for providing a free ebook for review.

I'm Reviewing at The Christian Manifesto!

I'm reviewing Beyond the Ashes by Karen Barnett over at The Christian Manifesto. Click here to pop over and say hello!

Amazon Book Description

Where better to rebuild and face one’s fears than in 1906 San Francisco, a city rising from the ashes? Ruby Marshall, a young widow, is certain she’ll discover new purpose assisting her brother Robert with his cancer research, but she doesn’t anticipate finding new love. Dr. Gerald Larkspur dreams of filling his empty home with family, but he’d always hoped it would be a wife and children. In the aftermath of the great earthquake, the rooms are overflowing with extended family and friends left homeless by the disaster. When Robert’s widowed sister arrives, the close quarters seem close indeed. Ruby and Gerald’s fledgling romance is put at risk when Gerald develops symptoms of the very disease they’re striving to cure. Together they must ask—is it worth a second chance at love when time might be short?

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. 

Review: A Sparrow in Terezin by Kristy Cambron

Puzzling

A Sparrow in Terezin is the sequel to The Butterfly and the Violin, and the two books do need to be read in order. Both books are written in two separate timelines, with the contemporary story in both books following the story of art gallery owner Sera James and business mogul William Hanover. As with the first book, the historical section of the novel followed the story of a woman in World War Two Europe, following her from Prague to London and back to Europe over the course of three years.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Butterfly and the Violin. Some readers didn’t like the way it skipped between two timelines or didn’t like the Sera/William subplot, but it was original and I thought it worked. I’d been looking forward to the sequel, so started reading it as soon as the review copy was available (it wasn’t like I had anything better to do on Christmas Eve when I was hosting the family for Christmas Day …. Yes, I'm aware that's five months ago. It just shows how keen I was to read this).

But while A Sparrow in Terezin is a good novel, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I expected, as I didn’t think the two timelines worked as well. I found the present-day timeline frustrating, as it didn’t seem to be moving the story forward and the link between present and past seemed contrived (I can only assume the minor character linking the stories will actually turn out to be a major character in a later book).

It didn’t help that the past plot took a long time to get to the point—it’s not until two-thirds of the way through the book that Kaja arrives in Terezin, by which time I’d been so involved in her London story that I’d forgotten the implications of the title. The sequence of events which lands her in Terezin, a ghetto/concentration camp, seems unlikely and her motivation for taking those steps is noble, I didn't think it fitted with her character as it had been shown.

The writing and research were excellent, although the Christian aspects were too oblique for my taste. I thoroughly enjoyed Kaja’s story for the first two-thirds of the book, but I found the last third seemed disconnected, and I didn’t get into Sera and William’s story at all. The result was a novel that didn’t meet my expectations, and left me feeling “meh” in the end.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Review: Where Trust Lies by Janette Oke

2015 Reading Challenge: A book I started but never finished

(Well, now I've finished it.)


I wanted to like Where Trust Lies, because it’s by Janette Oke. I think I’ve bought, read and reread all her books—she was one of the first Christian romance authors I ever read. But I was disappointed, even though I read and enjoyed the first in this Return to the Canadian West series, Where Courage Calls.

Why? Well, the first reason was obvious: this wasn’t set in the Canadian West. Beth Thatcher has returned to her family back East for the summer vacation, which meant this book didn’t have any of the interesting characters featured in Where Courage Calls (although there are a couple of crossover characters). I didn’t know when this was set: obviously it was immediately after Where Courage Calls and it was some time between the end of the Great War and the beginning of the Great Depression … but when?

Then, I’m sad to say, there was the writing. It was slow. So slow that I put it down for a couple of months. The first three-quarters is basically a travelogue of the ladies on a cruise, and is as interesting as the last time you listened to someone you barely knew go on about their long holiday. “And then we … and then we … and then we …,” with occasional family arguments to inject some semblance of conflict.

Sure, Beth met some people along the way, but there was nothing engaging about either the travelogue, or Beth’s inner journey (which seemed to be centred around the fact her mother doesn’t understand her). The plot really didn’t get going until the last quarter, when the pace picked up considerably with the addition of some real conflict and tension, but it was all wound up too quickly, and everyone learned a valuable moral lesson and lived happily ever after.

Added to the plot and character issues, the writing felt old-fashioned and awkward, with too many adverbs (“she finally said playfully to her mother”), redundancy (“Beth thought to herself”. Really? No one read her mind?), and the outlandish dialogue tags (“she enthused”, or “directed Mrs Montclair”).

Overall, Where Trust Lies was a miss, and I don’t know if I care enough about Beth to read the inevitable sequel. Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Review: The Reconciliation Trilogy by Doris Elaine Fell

2015 Reading Challenge: A trilogy

I've taken up a reading challenge for 2015, to give me more variety in what I read (which will mean not everything I review here will be Christian fiction this year!):

The aim is to read and review one title per week, but this first book counts for three weeks, because it's a trilogy. My self-imposed rules are:

- Only books I've read in 2015
- I have to finish the book
- Each book can only count towards one challenge

Some will be easy to find; others harder. I'm looking forward to it!

The Reconciliation Trilogy by Doris Elaine Fell

Despite the title, which promises three "contemporary" novels, the individual novels in this trilogy were originally published fifteen years ago. I would have found it extremely helpful if the date had been signalled at the beginning of each book, as it took me a good portion of the first book to work out that it wasn't set in the present day (2014-ish). The novels were actually set in the late 1990's--a fact I only worked out with a reference to the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales (which I know was August 1997, as I was living in London at the time).

I also found the writing style dated. There was a lot of telling, too many characters (and too few characters with any character), a lot of adverbs, awkward use of point of view (too much "she thought"), and too many italics (for an ereader--the italics might not be such an issue in a paper version). All three novels would have benefited from some serious trimming of excess verbiage, as this would have improved the pace. They would also have benefited by having fewer flashbacks, both flashbacks to previous generations and flashbacks to earlier points in the story.

Blue Mist on the Danube

Blue Mist on the Danube was nominated for a Christy award in 2000, and is easily the best novel of the three. However, it still suffered from too many characters, too many subplots, and too many flashbacks--which were especially confusing, as most of them didn't have dates either. There was also a subplot around art theft that fitted into the plot arc of the overall trilogy, but overloaded this plot to the point it distracted from the central themes of family relationships and forgiveness. Despite this, and the fact that it took far too long to get to the actual story, it was my favourite of the three books.

Willows on the Windrush

Willows on the Windrush had potential, but it took too long to show that it did, in fact, link back to the plot and characters in Blue Mist on the Danube (although there was the link in that the main character was adopted). Overall, it was best characterised as uninteresting. It would also have been better without the errors (e.g. riding stick, Cornwall forces--although there was later a correct reference to Cromwell--and "original" blueprints to a house that apparently predated blueprints by over 200 years).

It again had too many characters (one seemed to have two names, which didn't help), a plot that didn't ring true for me, and too little interaction between the hero and heroine to make the romance believable. It also didn't help that the big secret about Jonas's past was pretty obvious given I'd just finished Blue Mist on the Danube. I found myself skimming pages to get to something interesting. Skimming lots of pages. Despite this, the ending was still a predictable anticlimax.

Sunrise on Stradbury Square 

Sunrise on Stradbury Square was marginally more interesting, because it incorporated some minor characters from the previous two books, and reintroduced the art theft subplot. The main character, Rachel McCully, was suffering leukaemia, which should have engaged my attention and empathy. It didn't. I found myself struggling to read the book (rare for me), and I had little patience for the art thief: if he'd been a little less offensive, he could have had his heart's desire--and his marriage--simply by being polite to the in-laws.

Again, there were too many characters who diluted the plot, which seemed overly contrived in place (what doctor is going to recommend a seriously ill patient be driven five hours by car when she could be admitted to a local hospital and be transferred by ambulance if necessary?). It finished on a bad note with an unbelievable reveal of who was behind the art thefts.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. As you can tell, I wasn't required to write a positive review.

Review: Veiled at Midnight by Christine Lindsay

Exciting Historical Romance

Veiled at Midnight is set in the final days of British rule in India, a time of uncertainty as the country moved towards self-government after two hundred years. It was also a time of political unrest due to the spectre of Partition: the division of India into two countries based on religion. It’s a fascinating backdrop, and one that really adds to the plot.

Veiled at Midnight is the third book in Christine Lindsay’s Twilight of the British Raj series. It’s set a generation on from the first two books, so can easily be read as a standalone novel, as it focuses on brother and sister Cam and Miriam Fraser. Cam is an army officer who had a bad war and isn’t really coping with life until one day he sees Dassah, the Indian girl he and Miriam grew up with, the girl who suddenly disappeared after he kissed her. Circumstances bring them together again … but not for long.

Miriam is a confirmed spinster, devoting her life to her job as a teacher at a school for girls. She has her own romantic problems when she is pursued by a handsome army officer who threatens her understanding of herself and challenges her beliefs about her brother. It’s a complex and exciting plot with four strong lead characters--Cam, Dassah, Miriam and Jack—set against a fascinating historical backdrop, and a mix of the expected and the unexpected. Recommended.

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

Review: Promise to Cherish by Elizabeth Byler Younts

Compelling Historical Romance

I’m going to start by saying I’ve read quite a bit of Amish and Mennonite romance in the past, and haven’t enjoyed most of it. I find the heroines are generally immature, probably a result of young age and a lack of education. I find the books are often full of too-perfect characters living a romanticised a lifestyle that seems to value obedience to rules rather than salvation by grace. The fact the rules seem to differ between communities points to rules made by men rather than by God, and I’m sceptical any time a religion puts the rule of man above the Word of God. I’ve also been disappointed by the quality of writing in some of the books.

However, I get annoyed by readers and critics who write off an entire genre (e.g. Christian fiction) because of a few bad reads, so I do continue to read Amish fiction from time to time, although I tend to pick titles that look a little different than the standard romance—generally titles which include some non-Amish characters.

Promise to Cherish is one of these. It’s the second title in The Promise of Sunrise series (although it can easily be read as a standalone novel), and follows the stories of Christine Freeman, a nurse in a mental hospital in World War II America, and Eli Brenneman, a Conscientious Objector serving in the same hospital as part of the Civilian Public Service camp scheme.

The two meet and become friends, and when the war ends and Christine needs a place to live, Eli invites her back to Sunrise—which causes it’s own set of problems.

I liked the way that none of the characters were too-perfect caricatures, even the Amish. All the characters felt like real people facing difficult decisions that challenged their personal beliefs, and even though several of the characters had conflicting beliefs, both sides were examined respectfully.

I didn’t like the descriptions of the mental hospital, or the fact that not all the patients had psychiatric problems: one was a Down’s syndrome man, and another was a deaf-mute. Although unpleasant, the scenes were written sympathetically and I’m sure they were representative of conditions in a time where mental illness wasn’t so well understood by the medical profession or the general public, and where there simply wasn’t the manpower to give the people the care they deserved.

Overall, Promise to Cherish isn’t the standard wishy-washy Amish romance, but a novel raising some important issues, and one I certainly enjoyed reading.

One warning: don’t read the Amazon book description, or the book description on the author’s own website. Both give away significant plot details, one of which only happens at the climax of the novel. I think I wouldn’t have enjoyed this book nearly as much if I’d known what was coming.

Thanks to Howard Books and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Elizabeth Byler Younts at her website.

Review: Song of Springhill by Cheryl McKay

Kind-of True Story

It's 1956, and orphan Hannah Wright escapes from Toronto to Springhill, Nova Scotia, hoping her one living relative, an aunt, will take her in, at least temporarily. She finds the bustling Percy family are only too happy to have her stay, which leaves her with the challenge of finding a job. There isn't a lot of call for music teachers in the impoverished town where the main employer is the coal mine that killed her father the day she was born.

Although the characters in Song of Springhill are fictional, the plot is set against the backdrop of real historical events: the 1956 mine explosion, the 1957 Main Street fire, and the 1958 bump. I've read several novels over the last few months where the plot was based on real events, and they've all come up short for me. The plots have felt contrived and preachy, as though the characters only exist to follow the Real Story.

Song of Springhill is the exception. Cheryl McKay has taken what could have been a depressing and contrived plot and turned it into something special, and I think the difference is the characters. While Hannah, Abigail, Josh and Liesel aren't real people, they feel like real people, and surely that's the ultimate aim of good fiction. I cared for them. I wanted them to be happy. And I especially wanted Hannah to learn that God is good, even in the midst of her troubles.

"Had she spent too much of her live focusing on what God wasn't doing rather than what he was? Had she missed all of his little graces?"

In summary, I really enjoyed Song of Springhill. It was an original plot with fascinating characters, and backed up by solid writing. Recommended.

Thanks to Cheryl McKay for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Cheryl at her website.

Review: Buttermilk Sky by Jan Watson

Lovely Cover ...

I was attracted to Buttermilk Sky by the beautiful cover, and the interesting blurb:

Weary of the expectations imposed on her by her strict upbringing, eighteen-year-old Mazy Pelfrey prepares to leave her home in the Kentucky mountains for the genteel city of Lexington, where she’ll attend secretarial school. She knows her life is about to change—and only for the better. Everything will be blue skies from now on.

But business school is harder than she thought it would be and the big city not as friendly, until she meets a charming young man from a wealthy family, Loyal Chambers. When Loyal sets his sights on her, Mazy begins to see that everything she’d ever wished to have is right before her eyes. The only hindrance to her budding romance is a former beau, Chanis Clay, the young sheriff she thought she’d left firmly behind. 

Danger rumbles like thunder on a high mountain ridge when Mazy’s cosseted past collides with her clouded future and forces her to come to terms with what she really wants.

Unfortunately, this is one of those books where the person who wrote the blurb can’t have read the book. Mazy isn’t about to start secretarial college. She’s almost finished. Mazy is never in any danger. And she doesn’t even seem to be the main character: I first thought the novel was going to be about Cinnamon, who makes a living picking out rubbish at the dump. Then I thought it was Sheriff Chanis Clay, who was pining for a character who hadn’t yet been introduced, Mazy. Then the story introduced Mazy, and it became apparent she was the main character (which begs the question: why wasn’t she the first character we met?).

There were good things about the book. The writing was solid with flashes of brilliance (although there were also passages best described as pedestrian). The minor characters like Cinnamon, Clare and Eva, were interesting. And, as I’ve said, the cover is lovely, and it was obvious the author knew a lot about the time period she was writing in.

But that’s not enough to make up for the deficiencies. Mazy was an annoying character, in that I never understood why it was so important to her that she finish secretarial school, and she didn’t seem to have any plan for what she would do after. I also had no idea how old she was—while that was in the cover blurb, it wasn’t at all apparent from the text (her tender age may partially explain her lack of depth). Chanis was almost a comic figure, and it made for a confusing ‘romance’ when he didn’t have any day-to-day relationship with Mazy.

But the main problem for me was simply a lack of a coherent plot. There were plenty of things that happened, but there was no overall pattern, no story, to engage me. It read more like a series of scenes about some characters who may or may not be related. Perhaps the plot was supposed to be the love triangle between Mazy, Chanis and Loyal, but it was pretty obvious who she was going to choose (well, I thought so, after one of the pursuers showed himself to be charming yet ruthless). But all the interesting character change happened between the end of the final chapter and the epilogue. It felt like I'd read the entire book waiting for something to happen, then that bit got cut.

This is the first novel I’ve read by Jan Watson, and I suspect it will be the last. I think some of the characters (e.g. Mazy’s older sister) have featured in her previous novels, but I don’t think I would have enjoyed Buttermilk Sky even if I had read the earlier books.

Thanks to Tyndale House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Jan Watson at her website.

I'm reviewing Every Tear a Memory by Myra Johnson at ACW

Lovely Historical Romance

Every Tear a Memory is the third book in Myra Johnson’s Till We Meet Again series, and I hope it won’t be the last. It follows When the Clouds Roll By and Whisper Goodbye, and is also set in Hot Springs, Arkansas. We get the opportunity to catch up with the characters in the previous books, but Every Tear a Memory can easily be read as a standalone novel.

To read my full review, please visit Australasian Christian Writers.

You can find out more about Myra Johnson at her website, or visit Seekerville, where she is a contributing blogger.

Review: The Butterfly and the Violin by Kristy Cambron

Outstanding!

The Butterfly and the Violin takes place in two timelines: the present, in which Manhattan art gallery owner Sera James is searching for the original of an enigmatic painting she saw when she was just eight years old. Her search leads her to William Hanover, the almost–heir to a $100m estate, who has a copy of the painting and is also searching form the original. The past is the story of Adele Von Bron, the beautiful Aryan daughter of a high-ranking member of the Third Reich and solo violinist with the Vienna Philharmonic.

I’ve read novels with two timelines before, and there is often the temptation to skip one of the stories in favour of the stronger one. There was no such temptation with The Butterfly and the Violin, as both stories were equally compelling. It’s soon obvious that the painting is of Adele, and that the past story is going to solve the mystery of the present, and the present story is going to reveal the secrets of the past.

Adele’s story was made even more compelling by the fact that it didn’t move strictly forward in time. First we were in 1942, then 1939 … it jumped around (which did mean I had to pay close attention to the dates at the beginning of the Adele chapters). Hers was a story of love, sacrifice, and hardship almost beyond enduring. The present story of Sera and William might have seemed weak in comparison, except that it was so closely linked with the past story, and it worked.

There were a couple of writing glitches (although I was reading an advance ecopy, so these might not be in the final book), but it’s a testament to the strength of the characters and the dual plot that I barely noticed them. A huge amount of research has gone into writing The Butterfly and the Violin, and while the level of detail (often unpleasant) made this obvious, it was never overwhelming, it was always relevant, and nothing felt out of place (which I sometimes find in historical novels. Some authors try too hard to incorporate everything, to the detriment of the story).

Basically, I thought this was one of the best books I’ve read this year, and I’ll be on the lookout for more books by Kristy Cambron. Recommended, especially for those who enjoyed Saving Amiele by Cathy Gohlke or other good World War novels.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Review: Playing by Heart by Anne Mateer

Mathematics Meets Music

Miss Lula Bowman is the first female winner of the Donally Mathematics Award, which provides her with an income as a college lecturer, and the ability to further pursue her studies and become the first female PhD in the state. But her plans go awry when her brother-in-law dies, leaving her sister with four children and no way to support herself. Lulu is offered a job teaching high school music—which she can do—and coaching the girls’ basketball team—which she has no idea about.

Chet Vaughn is the school mathematics teacher, and coach of the boys basketball team. He has been hounded by previous husband-hunting music teachers, so is determined to keep this new female at arm’s length … until he meets Lula Bowman, who is determined to keep well away from him, and to leave town as soon as she can.

Playing by Heart was written in first person, with chapters alternating between Lulu and Chet’s points of view. This made it pretty obvious what the end result was going to be (a little surprise would have been nice), and I occasionally had to backtrack to remind myself who the viewpoint character was—it took a while before I was able to tell the difference. My other issue was that it took a while for me to tell when the story was set (World War One), which didn’t help my initial confusion.

However, once I worked out who and when, I found myself in the middle of an interesting story. I always admire intelligent characters, and Lulu was no exception, especially as the story progressed and we gradually found out more about her history and why she was so determined to escape her hometown and pursue her academic career.

I also found Playing by Heart had some interesting observations to make about parental expectation. Lula’s mother had encouraged her musical talent, while her father encouraged her ability to understand complex mathematical problems (I suspect these gifts are two sides of the same coin). It’s an important lesson we all have to learn, that we need to discover who we are in God, not simply to meet the expectations of those around us. A solid read, recommended for historical romance fans who like something a little different.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Anne Mateer at her website.

Review: Saving Amelie by Cathy Gohlke

Chilling

It’s September 1939, and Rachel Kramer has travelled with her father from her New York home to undergo her regular examination at the Institute, while her father attends an international conference on eugenics. She meets Jason Young at a ball while trying to escape from an overbearing suitor, and realises Young is the journalist who is trying to discredit her father’s research. However, an unusual request from a childhood friend leaves her with no one to rely on except the annoying journalist …

The start was a bit slow, as it was necessary to introduce several different characters, each a different thread to the story. This made the early chapters complex, but the pace improved quickly once all the essential elements of the story had been introduced—elements which were chilling, yet added a layer of realism to the plot.

Rachel was annoying with her naïve views, especially at first, but it was good to see her gradually change as she considered and rejected her long-held beliefs about her family and herself. The eugenics subplot was chilling, especially as I saw how Rachel had been raised to believe she was better than others—and it made me wonder how many people still believe this, and don’t recognise how the idea distorts biblical truth.

Jason was a strong hero, despite his inability to show the truth of the Nazi regime to those who needed to know in the US. It was good to see a man who wasn’t afraid to admit he needed to change, and to pursue truth despite the cost. The minor characters were also well-written, and fulfil a necessary part of this fast-paced historical thriller (with a touch of romance).

The thing I liked best about Saving Amelie was the depth of research that has gone into the writing, and the accuracy. I’ve read other books written by American authors and set in Germany during World War Two which downplay the Nazi oppression of the weak or those not deemed “Aryan” enough, and seem to look at Hitler’s Germany through rose-coloured glasses.

Saving Amelie is not like that. It shows the oppression in chilling detail, right from the early days of the war in September 1939. It shows the price paid by those who didn’t support the ideals of the Third Reich—a group which included many Christians. And it shows the activities of the German resistance, a needed reminder that not all Germans were complicit in the crimes committed by Hitler and his followers.

But, perhaps most importantly, Saving Amelie shows that there are still lessons to be learned from the rise of Adolf Hitler and World War Two. There is no “master race”. There is no such thing as “levels of evolution” within the human race—we are all equal in the sight of God. And ‘grace’ is isn’t the nice all-is-forgiven idea we’ve come to believe in the Western church. Grace is costly:

“We’ve come to practice cheap grace—grace that appears as a godly form but costs us nothing—and that is an abomination … it took the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, to achieve that grace. It requires just as much from each of us”.

Recommended.

Thanks to Tyndale and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Cathy Gohlke at her website.

Review: Murder at the Mikado by Julianna Deering

A Must for Mystery Fans

Drew Farthering and Madeline Parker are looking forward to their wedding when their plans are interrupted by a visit from an old flame of Drew’s, and (inevitably) a body. Drew and Nick are persuaded to investigate the murder of a local actor, which annoys Madeline, because it’s taking Drew away from the wedding plans—and back into the sphere of his previous life.

The mark of a good mystery (at least in my opinion) is that there is a murder early in the plot (and I hope that doesn’t sound too macabre), that there are lots of clues around who could be the murderer, and that when the actual culprit is revealed, it’s both someone I didn’t expect, yet painfully obvious. Another murder or two only adds to the story.

Murder at the Mikado scored on all my points. I’m enjoying watching the ongoing development of the three main characters, and I appreciate the opportunity to revist Winchester, my favourite English town, through the eyes of Drew, Madeline and Nick. I had an early idea who the culprit might be, but soon found out I was dead wrong.

Murder at the Mikado is the third book in Juliana Dearing’s Drew Furthering series, and it’s just as good as the others, Rules of Murder and Death by the Book. It works as a stand-alone story, but it's best to read them in order to best understand the wider character relationships (because there are a lot of recurring characters). Perfect for those who enjoy old-fashioned British murder mysteries by the likes of Agatha Christie and Georgette Heyer.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Julianna Deering at her website.

Review: Five Days in May by Ninie Hammon

Highly Recommended

Five Days in May starts with the end: the “Big Ugly”, a massive tornado that strikes the town of Graham, Oklahoma, in May 1963. It then goes back five days to show in detail the lives of the townspeople—and it’s typical of tornados that there is no warning. The reader knows what’s coming, but the characters are tied up in their everyday lives.

There are four main characters: Princess (Emily Prentice), who is due to be executed in five days for murdering her baby sister; Mac, the widowed preacher who’s lost his faith in God; Jonas, Mac’s father-in-law, who is caring for a wife with “old-timers” disease; and Joy, Mac’s teenage daughter, who has her own set of problems. There are also some fascinating yet disturbing minor characters, including Wanda and Jackson.

The characters are excellent, especially Princess, who has a distinct and engaging voice, and who “sees” things in a way that’s a cross between the movies Green Mile and Being John Malkovich. Joy is a typical teenager, so tied up in her own problems that she can’t see the wood for the trees. Mac is the typical father of a teenage daughter, in that he can’t relate to her and can barely hold a conversation with her (I could relate—Mac’s relationship with Joy had a lot of similarities to the relationship between my husband and my daughter).

The plot was complex, a tangled web of relationships. While I did guess one of the major plot points before it was revealed, that only added to the tension. Was I right? What would the characters think and say when they found out? I was right, but the reaction of one character in particular surprised me. Another behaved exactly true to character … but justice was served in the end, albeit not in the tidy way I perhaps expected.

There are ‘rules’ of writing which say authors should limit the number of viewpoint characters, and shouldn’t use omniscient point of view. Hammon ‘broke’ both rules in Five Days in May, yet in such a way that it didn’t detract from the story at all. Rather, it added considerably to the tension (especially given how unhinged some of these characters were …)

While Five Days in May isn’t specifically Christian fiction, there are strong Christian themes of love and sacrifice underpinning a story that is, quite simply, brilliant in both concept and execution. Recommended.

Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Ninie Hammon at her website, or check out our interview. And here's the book trailer:

Review: While Love Stirs by Lorna Seilstad

Solid Historical Christian Romance

This is the second Lorna Seilstad book I’ve read—the other was her début novel, Making Waves, and I wasn’t overly impressed by it. The writing wasn't bad, but I didn’t like the heroine at all, and I couldn’t stomach the thought of reading further books in the series if she was featured. However, While Love Stirs is part of a new series, so I hoped it would be better.

It was. While Love Stirs is the story of Charlotte Gregory, recent graduate of Fannie Farmer’s School of Cookery. She is seeking employment as a chef (chef = stirs, get it?), but none of the restaurants in St Paul’s are interested in hiring a woman chef. Charlotte is an intelligent if opinionated woman (which puts her streets ahead of the heroine of Making Waves), with feminist tendencies and she doesn’t want to be controlled by any man.

Joel Brooks is a doctor at the local hospital (this was a little confusing. At first he seemed to be on the maternity ward, then he was looking after a woman with suspected cancer, then a stroke patient). Anyway, he has a run-in with Charlotte about the appropriate diet for a new mother (Charlotte’s sister). I didn’t like Joel at first because of his pathological need to have complete control over his environment, and I didn’t see him getting past that (Freud would have a field day with Joel’s OCD). However, but he grew on me as he grew on Charlotte.

This is actually the second book in The Gregory Sisters series. The first was the story of Charlotte’s older sister, attorney Hannah, although you don’t need to read the first in order to understand or enjoy this (I hadn’t). The writing and research was well done (with a couple of unimportant glitches), and I was impressed by the medical knowledge.

The minor characters were well written, and while I found characters like Kathleen and Nurse Pierce rather annoying, that was the point. The one character I didn’t like was Tessa, Charlotte’s younger sister. Tessa was too flighty (partly because she was young, but I didn’t realise how young she was because I haven’t read the first book), and I found her immaturity irritating.

I enjoyed While Love Stirs, but it’s still not a book I’d bother to reread. I also thought the Christian aspects were too understated (perhaps a reaction to the reviews of Making Waves which suggested it was too preachy). All in all, it’s a solid historical Christian romance, but with nothing to make it stand out above all the others in the genre.

Thanks to Revell and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Lorna Seilstad at her website.

Review: After the Winter by Buffy Greentree

Lovely Twenties Romance

Lucinda Hargraves has recently lost her mother, and has travelled to Piediluco, Italy, to summer with Mrs Goodall, a family friend who believes she needs some relaxation after the strain of nursing her mother.

There is an eternal appeal to the story of the reformed rake, but After The Winter brings a unique Christian spin to the trope. Their initial meeting is unique, and causes Lucinda to take an instant dislike to Lord Everdale. He’s a flirt, and even if she wasn’t past the marrying age (at twenty-seven), she values herself too highly to fall for a man like that, a man with women hanging all over him. The American visiting Piediluco, John Huntingdon the Third, is a much more appropriate companion. After all, he thinks exactly as he ought (which sounds like something Lizzie Bennett would say, except it sounded a lot more admirable from Lizzie).

Lord George Everdale is an enigma. He is titled, polite (apart from his first introduction to Lucinda), wealthy (he owns a Bugatti, and I’m sure they were just as exclusive in the 1920’s as they are now), and he’s intelligent, as evidenced by his witty banter. We learn more about him as the story progresses, and gradually see his true character emerge, the one he keeps hidden behind the women and the wit.

Lucinda is equally interesting as a character. She knows there is no future for her and George, but can’t help liking him, even though she doesn’t believe most of what he says. But he’s an exceptional dancer, a pleasant companion, and she gradually uncovers the layers he has hidden. It’s not explicit, but Lucinda is a Christian (as opposed to merely being a churchgoer), and her underlying values guide her.

The first three-quarters of After The Winter are fully of gaity and witty banter, but it’s the last quarter where the writing goes from strength to strength. While the banter is still present, there is an underlying melancholy in many of the scenes as we find out more about the characters. It’s a romance, but I did start to wonder if Lucinda was going to get her happy-ever-after.

There were some editing glitches (typos and run-on sentences), but nothing that detracted from the story. Overall, a lovely story and I’ll look forward to reading more fiction from Buffy Greentree.

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