I'm Reviewing Grounded Hearts by Jeanne M Dickson at ICFW

Today I'm visiting International Christian Fiction Writers, to review Grounded Hearts by debut author Jeanne M Dickson. Click here to read my review.

You can find out more about Jeanne M Dickson at her website, and you can read the introduction to Grounded Hearts below:

Book Review: Sweetbriar Cottage by Denise Hunter

Discovering Unconditional Love

Noah Mitchell is less than impressed when he finds his ex-wife is actually still his wife—she forgot to file their divorce papers, so the divorce was never final. Now he has to get those papers filed to get the IRS off his back. But getting them filed means visiting Josephine Dupree Mitchell again—not something he’s looking forward to.

Josie knows how much Nate doesn’t want to spend time with her. And why would he, after what she did? So she decides to be helpful and save Nate a trip into town by driving out to his ranch to deliver the signed papers. She can get his signature, file the papers with the judge, and the divorce will be done. At last.

Only things never work out as planned, because a snowstorm hits as Josie arrives at the ranch, and she’s trapped there with Nate, the ex-husband she still has feelings for. Then things get worse …

Sweetbriar Cottage is a sweet (!) yet powerful exploration of the nature of unconditional love. It starts in the present, but has flashbacks to three and a half years ago, when Nate and Josie first met, and to Josie’s childhood—the childhood she never discussed with Nate. The flashbacks gradually reveal what she did—but they also show why she did it.

It was always obvious Nate was the one who had instigated the divorce, and this got me wondering why. How can you meet, marry, and divorce in just three years? (This seems unbelievably fast, partly because I live in New Zealand where it takes at least two years to get a divorce.) What had she done that he couldn’t forgive? And why did he marry a non-Christian in the first place?

It was also obvious that Josie was one emotionally messed up woman, and that whatever she’d done was the result of her messed up teenage years (triggers!) and her subsequent belief that there is no such thing as unconditional love. Spoiler: there is. But that’s something they both need to learn.

I’d been a little apprehensive about reading Sweetwater Cottage, but it captured me from the beginning and never let up. A great second chance romance with some deep Christian themes.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Denise Hunter at her website.

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!

Book Review: A Love So True by Melissa Jagears

A Historical Romance with an Edge

If David Kingsman had any chance of making his father proud, this next decision would be it.

David Kingsman is in Teaville, Kansas, to sell the A. K. Glass factory on behalf of his father. But he soon decides the business has more potential than his father realises, and that it would be better for them to build the business up before selling. Meeting Evelyn Wisely may or may not have anything to do with his desire to stay longer in Teaville …

Evelyn Wisely is not interested in men. Instead, she’s dedicated her life to working with her parents in the town orphanage, and to working with the children of the red light district. She’d like to reach out to their mothers as well, to give them a way to escape, but she can’t do that alone. She needs the help of local businessmen. Men like Mr Kingsman.

A Love So True is the third book in the Teaville Moral Society series, following Engaging the Competition (a novella, which I haven't read), and A Heart Most Certain (a novel, which I have read and reviewed). However, A Love So True can easily be read and enjoyed as a standalone novel. Even if you have read A Heart Most Certain, you’ll find a lot has changed in Teaville, as A Love So True is set three years later.

I thought A Heart Most Certain was excellent, and A Love So True is just as good. It’s historical romance, but historical romance with a difference. It’s not the rosy version of history painted by many Christian fiction authors. This version has all too many fallible characters, especially those stuck in the red light district. But it’s also an illustration of Christianity, of the need for Christians to shine God’s light into those dark places. As Evelyn comments, many people are only a couple of bad choices away from such a fate.

Recommended for those who like historical romance, and for those who like their fiction to have an edge of reality while still reflecting and reinforcing the Bible’s teaching.

Thanks to Bethany House Publishers and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Melissa Jagears at her website, and you can read the introduction to A Heart Most Certain below:

Review: Broken Like Glass by E J McKay

Outstanding from Beginning to End

There are not many novels that manage to grip me from the very first line, but this was one:

“Lillian. Lillian? Can you hear me, Lillian?” My therapist’s voice grates on my. I’d say like nails on a chalkboard, but that wouldn’t accurately describe just how much I hate her voice.

By the end of the first page, we know Lillian is in court-ordered therapy. By the end of the second page, we know why:

“Help me understand why you stabbed your dad with a knife in the middle of the grocery store, and then went home and smashed everything.”

“Some people deserve a little knifing every once in a while and his furniture was a hundred years past vintage. I’d say I did him a favor.”

So Lillian is stuck in her home town for six months until she can explain why … which isn’t so easy. As the novel progresses, we see more and more glimpses of Lillian’s broken past as she opens herself up to Uriah, her teenage crush, to her therapist, and to Jesus—who she refers to as Papa. The title implies we’re going to see a broken person, and we do, but we also strength and character.

Lillian is a strong main character, although some people won’t be able to related to the writing—first person present tense—but I thought it was the perfect choice. It gave us an insight into Lillian, and the present tense gave the story the necessary sense of immediacy.

Reading a first person story narrated by a character who has secrets and hides them from the reader can be frustrating. I always feel that if the character knows the truth about a matter, the reader should know that truth as well. And that’s why I think first person worked so well in Broken Like Glass, because Lillian didn’t know. Her secrets were so deep, she hid them from herself.


Broken Like Glass combined some of the freshest writing I’ve read in ages. The use of first person present tense was inspired. The plot was layered, complex, and never predictable (the couple of minor plot points I almost predicted were minor in comparison to the major twists I ever saw coming).

But the true triumph of Broken Like Glass is Lilly’s relationship with Papa, something her therapist, Chrissy, sees as Lilly's strength:

“But this relationship you have. It’s so … tangible. I want that.”
“Then have it.”
Chrissy looks at me funny. “But how? How did you do it?”
“I clung to the only thing I could. He’s all I had. He’s all I ever had … my only friend was Papa.”

Lilly is the perfect embodiment of the Christian faith as a relationship with Jesus. The scenes where Papa talks and Lilly listens remind me of God speaking in The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers. The themes and writing reminded me of Christa Allen and Varina Denman and Amy Matayo, and other newer writers in Christian fiction. But the most important thing is that Broken Like Glass makes me want to know Papa in the way Lilly does. And shouldn’t that be the aim of Christian fiction?

Recommended.

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

I'm Reviewing Pursued by Lisa Harris at Suspense Sisters Reviews!

Today I'm visiting Suspense Sisters Reviews, to review Pursued (The Nikki Boyd Files) by Lisa Harris. Click here to join me!

Cynthia Ruchti's 'A Fragile Hope' Giveaway and Review

When your life's work revolves around repairing other people's marriages, what happens when your own marriage begins to fall apart? Find out what happens to Josiah Chamberlain in Cynthia Ruchti's new book, A Fragile Hope.

Feeling betrayed, confused, and ill-equipped for a crisis this crippling, he reexamines everything he knows about the fragility of hope and the strength of his faith and love. Love seems to have failed him. Will what's left of his faith fail him, too? Or will it be the one thing that holds him together and sears through the impenetrable wall that separates them?

Celebrate the release of A Fragile Hope by entering to win Cynthia's Sign of Hope Giveaway!

One grand prize winner will receive:

• A copy of A Fragile Hope
• A metal wall scripture hanging

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on May 3. The winner will be announced May 4 on the Litfuse blog.

My Review

One of my ‘rules’ for reading and reviewing is that I have to like the main character—it’s hard to like a book (especially a romance) if you can’t stand the hero.

A Fragile Hope is the exception to that rule.

Josiah Chamberlain is one of the most self-absorbed men you could ever hope to meet. He’s a Christian relationship counsellor who has given up counselling in favour of writing best-selling self-help books while his wife dabbles in some little hobby ‘business’, selling home-made greeting cards. But he’s forced to re-evaluate his life when Karin is involved in a fatal car accident, and ends up in ICU, unconscious. And she’s apparently pregnant … after they’ve been told Josiah can’t have children. This is the slightly frustrating cause of the Big Misundertanding, something that could have been sorted out early in the novel. But Josiah is the man who always has the right answer so it never occurs to him that he hasn’t.

I didn’t like Josiah, but I kept reading out of some kind of macabre fascination. Would Mr Intelligent get a clue? And when?

The other reason I kept reading was because of the writing. There were so much great writing, so many great lines. I appreciated the way the Christian themes were woven in, strong but not overwhelming or out of place. Overall, recommended for the outstanding writing, thought-provoking Christian themes, and a great character-driven story. Thanks to Abingdon Press and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can read more about Cynthia Ruchti at her website. Cynthia Ruchti's 'A Fragile Hope' Giveaway

I'm Reviewing If I'm Found by Terri Blackstock at Suspense Sisters Reviews!

Today I'm visiting Suspense Sisters Reviews, to review If I'm Found by Terri Blackstock.

Click here to visit Suspense Sisters and read my review!

Click here to find out more about Terri Blackstock.

I'm Reviewing at Australasian Christian Writers

Today I'm reviewing Long Way Gone by Charles Martin at Australasian Christian Writers. It's an excellent novel, so click here to read my review. Or read the introduction below:

Review: Once Confronted by Lynne Stringer

Brisbane teen Madison Craig wanted to spend her gap year in Europe with her friends, but her parents were worried that was too dangerous. Instead, she’s living in Sydney with her hippy Aunt Myrtle, and working in a bookshop with the rather attractive Evan. It’s all a little boring … until Madison and Evan are robbed at gunpoint.

Madison returns to Brisbane afraid of almost everything, at the same time as trying to convince everyone around her that she’s okay. She enrols in a degree in social work, but worries that she’ll never get over her own problems enough to help other people. An older woman on her course suggests a way for Maddie to get past the attack, but she’s not convinced and Evan is dead against it.

Once Confronted is perhaps best described as a confronting read. It doesn’t gloss over the problems social workers face and provided me with a new insight into a hugely challenging job – not one I’d be good at, both because I don’t think I could handle hearing all the hard things, and because I’d want to tell the clients what to do.

(Apparently this is discouraged, as it’s replacing one form of control with another, and the clients need to be given the freedom to make decisions for themselves. Even bad decisions. While I can see the logic, I don’t think this is something I’d be good at!)

Anyway, Once Confronted was a challenging read, but also excellent. I felt it treated both the attack and Maddie’s resulting trauma and stress symptoms realistically, showing there are no quick or easy answers. It also illustrated that each person has different reactions … and that some are more positive and healing than others.

Once Confronted is written in first person point of view, all from Maddie’s viewpoint. I know some readers don’t like this viewpoint, but I felt it worked in this case as it made sure we really understood what was going on inside Maddie’s head. I think third person might have made Maddie seem too distant, which would have made her emotional journey less compelling.

I know this is a total cliché, but I’d really like a sequel!

Thanks to Rhiza Press and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Lynne Stringer at her website, and you can read the introduction to Once Confronted below:

Review: Made Well by Jenny Simmons

Jenny Simmons is apparently most famous as the lead singer in Christian contemporary music band Addison Road, and singer of the song Hope Now. At the risk of stereotyping myself, I’d never heard of the band or the song before I picked up this book.



Okay, I see the appeal.

But that’s not what Made Well is about. Made Well is challenging our views on healing, pointing out that healing is often a process rather than an act, and that it can come in many forms. It’s not one of those self-help books promising health or wealth or happiness if you follow the author’s formula. Rather, it’s an exploration of the healing journey. She quotes Becca Stevens as saying:

My healing journey has taken thousands of prayers, countless small bits of bread, and gallons of wine one sip at a time.

And Simmons says:

Some of the world’s greatest miracles happen because doctors and nurses show up and do their jobs well.

She doesn’t discount the possibility of instantaneous miraculous healing, although she says she hasn’t experienced it for herself. That may be true, but I’d say that she’s been used in the miraculous healing of others, and she’s learned many things about healing that those who are intent on seeking the instant will miss out on:

Perhaps in our zealous quests to live long and prosper, we have confused Jesus’ invitation to be made well with our own desire for fully cured bodies [and minds?], and in doing so, we have altogether missed a deeper knowing of what it means to be healed by the Savior.

It’s a valid point: Jesus said to seek him, to seek the Kingdom of God. Not to seek healing. Do we make healing into an idol?

Healing is a prolonged process, not an instant, magical fix. It’s a book with many chapters. The road towards wholeness is long and winding.

One review I read of Made Well recommended it to fans of Ann Voskamp. That may well fit, but I personally didn’t get in to Ann Voskamp’s style. But I still found Made Well to be well worth reading - thought provoking, and written from the heart. Recommended.

Thanks to Baker Books and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Review: Since You've Been Gone by Christa Allan

When I grow up, I want to write like Christa Allan.

Amazon Description

One moment, Olivia Kavanaugh is preparing to walk down the aisle and embrace her own happily ever after. The next, she learns that her fiancé, Wyatt Hammond, has been in a fatal car accident. Then comes a startling discovery: Wyatt’s car wasn’t heading toward the church. He was fifty miles away…with a baby gift in the backseat.

Her faith shaken, Olivia pores over the clues left behind, desperate to know where Wyatt was going that day and why. As she begins uncovering secrets, she also navigates a tense relationship with her judgmental mother and tries to ignore the attentions of a former boyfriend who’s moved back home. But when she starts receiving letters written by Wyatt before his death, she must confront a disturbing question: Can we ever know anyone fully, even someone we love?

When an unexpected path forward—though nothing like the life she once envisioned—offers the promise of a new beginning, will she be strong enough to let go of the past and move toward it?

My Review

It’s every bride’s worst nightmare: jilted at the altar. And then things get worse. No, Olivia wasn’t jilted—her husband-to-be died in a car accident just hours before the wedding. While driving away from the church. With a gift for a small boy in the car—except neither Olivia nor Wyatt know any small boys. And then Olivia finds out she’s pregnant. Which wouldn’t have mattered if she were married, but she’s not and now her mother is barely speaking to her because what will Scarlett’s church friends think when they find out?

This is Christian fiction, and is fascinating for the two views of Christianity it presents: faith vs works. Doing the right thing vs being seen to do the right thing. Displaying God’s love in action vs … not. Scarlett, Olivia's mother, is like too many people in church: not prepared to do what most people would think was right because of how it might reflect on her. Ruthie, Scarlett’s mother and Olivia’s grandmother, doesn’t care what people think.

Behind the awkward relationship between Olivia and her mother is the even more awkward situation regarding Wyatt … which her parents initially hid from her, a decision which provokes even more fractures in an already-fragile relationship. Why was he heading away from town? Where was he going? Who was the gift for? And does Olivia really want to know?

Okay, so the plot is obviously full of questions which hooked me immediately as a reader. The characters were fascinating, especially the contrast between Ruthie and Scarlett (and with Olivia’s poor father pulled between the twin loves of his wife and his daughter).

And the writing was outstanding. There were so many good lines, so many truths, Christian truths and life truths. Olivia has a lot to learn in both areas, and she does.

Yes, when I grow up, I want to write like Christa Allan.

Recommended.

Thanks to Waterfall Press and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

I'm reviewing The Thirteenth Chance at IolaGoulton.com!

The Thirteenth Chance by Amy Matayo

Review: Waves of Mercy by Lynn Austin

Dual Timeline, Dual Impact

It's been a while since I've read a novel by Lynn Austin, and I'm ashamed to admit I'd forgotten what an outstanding author she is. As you can probably guess, I thought Waves of Mercy was excellent.

It's a dual timeline story - I seem to have had a run of these lately, with The Wedding Shop by Rachel Hauck (excellent), A Tapestry of Secrets by Sarah Loudin Thomas (good), and now Waves of Mercy (outstanding).

The present (!) story is set in 1897 that of Miss Anna Nicholson, who is staying at the Hotel Ottawa on the shores of Lake Michigan to recover from her broken engagement and consider her future. William, her fiance, says he can't marry a religious fanatic like those who attend Mr Moody's church. Yet Anna finds comfort in the church, feels that the words touch and fill an empty part of her soul. She wants to know more about this God they preach about--a God she never hears about in her own upper-class church.

This is also the story of Geesje, one of the original immigrants to Holland, Michigan. She and her family left religious persecution in the Netherlands in the late 1840s to seek a new life in America, and that's the more historic part of the story--Geesje's memories of life in the Netherlands, the voyage to the New World, and establishing the settlement of Holland. But it's also her personal life story, and the story of her struggles with God, especially her relationship struggles.

What joins the two women is Derk, an employee at the Hotel Ottawa, and Geesje's next-door neighbour. He becomes Anna's confidant, and seeks counsel himself from Geesje, a woman full of godly wisdom:

Both stories are fascinating--Anna's, because the search for God is universal, and Geesje's because there is a lot to admire in the early settlers, and a lot we can learn from them. While there are touches of romance, this is more a love story, as both Anna and Geesje are God-seekers, admitedly from different perspectives and from different parts of their lives:

We think Christians should do more than just agree with what the Bible says. We should obey it and do things like loving our enemies.

Lynn Austin is from Michigan and attended Hope College in Holland, Michigan, and that knowledge of the setting and the people comes through in the writing. It's not obtrusive in any way, but reading the Author's Note at the end gave me the 'aha' moment that explained how she was able to make the setting come alive.

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

Review: A Lady Unrivaled by Roseanna M White

Outstanding Conclusion to Trilogy

Book Description

Lady Ella Myerston can always find a reason to smile--even if it's just in hope that tomorrow will be better than today. All her life everyone has tried to protect her from the realities of the world, but Ella knows very well the danger that has haunted her brother and their friend, and she won't wait for it to strike again. She intends to take action . . . and if that happens to involve an adventurous trip to the Cotswolds, then so much the better.

Lord Cayton has already broken two hearts, including that of his first wife, who died before he could convince himself to love her. Now he's determined to live a better life. But that proves complicated when old friends arrive on the scene and try to threaten him into a life of crime. He does his best to remove the intriguing Lady Ella from danger, but the stubborn girl won't budge. How else can he redeem himself, though, but by saving her--and his daughter--from those dangerous people who seem ready to destroy them all?

My Review

This is this third and final novel in the Ladies of the Manor series, and while I thought each of them was excellent, I thought this was definitely the best. There are several reasons for that view. First, this story was excellent. Ella and Cayton were both wonderful characters, determined not to do anything so foolish as to fall for each other, but both unable to stop themselves. Their joint scenes were they weren’t interested in each other (ha!) brought a smile to my face.

It was also good to revisit the main characters in the two previous books, Brook and Justin from The Lost Heiress, and Brice and Rowena from The Reluctant Duchess (it was less good to revisit some of the evildoers from previous books, but they were equally important as characters). But the main reason I enjoyed the Ladies of the Manor series was the way each novel was a standalone romance, but there was the mystery of the Fire Eyes underlying each of the three novels.

I’m also continually impressed by the way Roseanna White brings out truths about human nature and about God without ever descending into preachiness:

Ours is a God who delights in providing for His children, who charges us to be whole, complete, to find joy in all our circumstances through Him.

And:

It only takes a moment to marry someone, but an entire lifetime to have a marriage with them. Faith is like that. It takes one moment to confess it, and a lifetime to live it out.

And sometimes her writing is just plain funny:

It was terribly cliché to be attracted to a man just because he was a good father … and handsome … and clever … and charming. And Ella hated to be a cliché.

Roseanna White also demonstrates a solid understanding of human nature. Ella says:

Some women like the challenge of a man who needs saving. Others see the potential hiding under the layers of the world, and it is that they love.

Yes, too many women (and men, perhaps) fall for the person who needs saving, and find themselves in difficult or abusive relationships (naming no names, but too many popular novels perpetuate this lie). Ella goes on to clarify her own view, a lesson too many women still need to learn:

Fall for a man in need of saving and you will be sorely disappointed to find you are no savior. Fall for a man who is only potential, and you shall be constantly disappointed that he doesn’t live up to it. No, I prefer gentlemen who already know redemption and who have sloughed off the ways of the world.

All in all, A Lady Unrivaled is a novel unrivaled. I’m sorry to see the end of Ella and her friends and family.

Thanks to Baker Publishing and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Roseanna M White at her website.

Review: The Name I Call Myself by Beth Moran

I've just reviewed the brilliant The Name I Call myself on my author website.

Click here to read my review!

Author Interview: Nerys Leigh

Today I'd like to welcome Nerys Leigh to Iola's Christian Reads. I reviewed her Christian Western Romance novel yesterday (you can read the review here), and heartily recommend it. I'll be looking forward to future books in the series.

Welcome, Nerys! First, please you tell us a little about yourself. Where are you from?

I was born and grew up in the UK, in the county of Essex.

What was the last book you read? Would you recommend it? Why/why not?

I’m currently reading The Book of Things to Come by Aaron D. Gansky, a Christian YA fantasy. I don’t usually read YA, but I’m enjoying it. It’s about four teenagers who wake up as characters in a video game world that two of them created. I haven’t found out why yet! I would recommend it, especially to readers in that age group. It’s well written and clips along at a good pace with lots of action.

Tell us about your latest book. Who will enjoy it?

My latest book is No One’s Bride, a Christian historical mail order bride romance set in Northern California in 1870. It tells the story of Amy, who has no intention of even meeting the man who thinks she’s coming to marry him. But when her plans go awry and she stays to earn the money to pay Adam back her train fare, she begins to doubt her determination to start her new life elsewhere. It’s filled with lovable characters, humour, and even some excitement. And, of course, romance. Always romance! I think anyone who likes romance will enjoy it, although one reader who is more into science-fiction and zombies said she loved it, so maybe I should just say anyone could enjoy it!

Who is your favourite character in No One’s Bride and why? 

That’s like asking me to pick a favourite flavour of ice cream – practically impossible! I love Amy because she’s strong and determined to make a new life for herself, but not so inflexible that she’s not able to recognise when God is leading her in another direction.

I love Adam because he’s forgiving and kind and won’t let what others think prevent him from doing what he knows is right. I also love George, the ornery owner of the livery who reluctantly hires Amy to work for him. He was a lot of fun to write!

Do you have anything in common with him/her?

I think that for all authors some aspects of their personalities come through in their characters, without even thinking about it. It just happens! The way my characters speak, their moral compass, their relationship with God, I think those come from me. And probably their insecurities too!

What is the hardest part of getting a book written, edited and published?

To be honest, the writing, editing and publishing is the easy bit. It’s what comes after, bringing the book to the attention of the readers who will enjoy it, that’s much more difficult. I’m still working on perfecting that part!


Thanks for visiting, Nerys!  You can find out more about Nerys at her website (http://nerysleigh.com) or Facebook page, and you can buy her books at Amazon or other online retailer.

Review: The Long Journey to Jake Palmer by James L Rubart

Outstanding

Jake Palmer is a management trainer who makes a living encouraging others to read what’s on their label rather than believing lies about themselves. But following a horrific incident, he finds himself on a journey to read his own label—to believe the truth about himself instead of the lies he’s been fed by the people he loved most, to the point he’s forgotten who he was.

The Long Journey to Jake Palmer is excellent. Excellent writing, excellent characters, excellent plot, and an excellent message about learning and believing the truth about ourselves, not the lie. It’s a novel of spiritual and emotional healing, subtly making the excellent point that the physical healing so many people search for is secondary to spiritual healing.

The metaphor (and I truly can’t believe I’m writing that in a book review!) of forgetting who we are is apt: I read an article yesterday which said most five-year-olds have creativity at near-genius levels. But we lose that as we get older until we become merely average. It’s the same message as Rubart shares with Jake Palmer’s story: we forget who we are, and we need to rediscover ourselves.

This is easily one of the best books I’ve read this year. Recommended—although at over $10 for the ebook, you might want to treat yourself to the paperback.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about James L Rubart at his website, and you can read the introduction to The Long Journey to Jake Palmer below:

Review: A Heart Most Certain by Melissa Jagears

Everything about A Heart Most Certain impressed me

Amazon Description

A Fresh Voice in Historical Romance!

While Lydia King's reasons for joining the Teaville Moral Society might be suspect to some members, her heart is in the right place. Because of her father's debts and her mother's persistent illness, her best chance at a secure future and curing her mother is to impress the politician courting her. Her first task--to ask the town's wealthiest man to donate--seems simple enough . . . until he refuses.

Despite appearances, Nicholas Lowe wants to help others, but prefers to keep his charity private. When Lydia proves persistent, they agree to a bargain, but Nicholas still intends to do things his own way. Neither predicts what they'll learn about true charity or foresee the complications their actions will bring to the town, forcing Lydia to decide where her beliefs and heart truly align.

My Review

Yes, A Heart Most Certain shows Melissa Jagears to be a fresh voice in historical romance (even if the title does sound more Siri Mitchell). Everything about A Heart Most Certain impressed me.

The writing was excellent, there was a clear and challenging Christian message, the plot was solid with plenty of twists and turns, and just enough predictability (hey, this is romance! There are some aspects we want to be predictable). And both lead characters were excellent—an intelligent heroine who wasn’t afraid to ask hard questions, and a truly heroic hero (okay, he might have been a bit too perfect. But that’s the closest I can get to a criticism about A Heart Most Certain).

Lydia and Nicholas are both excellent characters—complete opposites, so of course we know they are both going to have to change their views. The setting was portrayed well, both in terms of time and place—and reinforced why I’m glad I live now, not then. It’s also an example of how historical fiction can shine a light into some of our more modern social problems. We can be thankful for the truth of Nicolas’s words:

One day society will not condemn a man or woman for a past choice 

and instead discern and judge the heart.

We might not treat “sinners” in the same judgemental way as Mrs Light’s Teaville Ladies Moral Society does, but we still have to guard against turning our faith into a religion of rules. Melissa Jagears is to be commended for not shying away from difficult subjects like prostitution, but showing a proper Christian response to the problem.

Recommended for fans of Francine Rivers, Karen Witemeyer and Dawn Crandall.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free book for review. You can find out more about Melissa Jagears at her website: http://melissajagears.com/

Review: Glasgow Grace by Marion Ueckermann

Enjoyable Scottish Romance

Amazon Description

Opera singer, Skye Hunter, returns to the land of her birth as leading lady in Phantom of the Opera. This is her first trip back to bonnie Scotland since her mother whisked her away to Australia after Skye’s father died sixteen years ago.When Skye decides to have dinner at McGuire’s, she’s not going there only for Mary McGuire’s shepherd’s pie. Her first and only love, Callum McGuire, still plays his guitar and sings at the family-owned tavern.

Callum has never stopped loving Skye. Desperate to know if she’s changed under her mother’s influence, he keeps his real profession hidden. Would she want him if he was still a singer in a pub? But when Skye’s worst nightmare comes true, Callum reveals his secret to save the woman he loves. Can Skye and Callum rekindle what they lost, or will her mother threaten their future together once again?

My Review

I’ve never quite understood the American fascination with Scotsmen, from Diana Gabaldon in the general market with Outlander (Crossstitch in the UK), Carla Laureano with Five Days in Skye in the Christian market, and Nick Hawkes with The Celtic Stone representing the Australian market. The Scotsmen I've met have all been very nice men, but nothing swoonworthy. Next you’re going to expect me to believe not all Navy SEALS are perfect Christian gentlemen, and not all cowboys are salt-of-the-earth types.

I also don't get how Callum and Skye two hadn’t reconnected online before now, if they really had that level of connection as teens. My teenage daughter Snapchats Every. Single. Day. with one of her friends from primary school in London, a boy she hasn’t seen for nine years. Yes, I get that Facebook and Snapchat didn’t exist sixteen years ago, but there was still email and internet chat rooms and FriendsReunited (mostly a UK site, but hey! this is set in Scotland which is still part of the UK. Although they might be rethinking that after Brexit). Robin Jones Gunn utilised internet chat rooms to in Echoes in 1995). Of course, it’s possible my teen isn’t normal …

So, leaving aside my lack of appreciation for the dark and cold northern land, and Skye and Callum’s lack of ability to utilise modern technology to stalk reconnect with old friends … Yes, this was a great romance novella.

I’m not always a fan of romance novellas where complete strangers meet and fall in love in a handful of pages. I prefer novellas like Glasgow Grace, where the characters have some kind of history to build on—it makes it seem more realistic to me. So I did enjoy that aspect of the story.

I also loved both Callum and Skye. Skye was perhaps a little naïve and innocent, but that’s not a bad thing. Callum was everything a hero should be—I might not see the fascination with Scotsmen, but I can certainly see the fascination with men who can sing. And play guitar. Especially at the same time. Swoon.

So the characters were great, the writing was good, and the plot was a perfect mix of predictable and unpredictable (hey, this is romance. There are certain things we expect as readers, and Glasgow Grace delivered with sleighbells. Okay, perhaps no sleighbells. But plenty of winter magic.)

Recommended for anyone who likes contemporary Christian romance in a non-US setting. Especially those who love Scotland and Scotsmen.

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

You can find out more about Marion Ueckermann at her website (http://www.marionueckermann.net/), and you can read the introduction to Glasgow Grace below: