ARCBA Review: Imogen's Chance by Paula Vince

5th - 9th  May 2014

Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance

is introducing

Imogen’s Chance

(Even Before Publishing April 2014)

By 

Paula Vince 

About the Book

She has given herself a chance to fix her personal history. But will old mistakes bring up new emotions?

Imogen Browne longs to make up for past mistakes before she can move on. She quietly resolves to help the Dorazio family, whose lives she accidentally upset. Her biggest challenge is Asher, the one person who may never forgive her. And he is facing a crisis of his own. Imogen must tread very carefully, as trying to fix things may well make them shatter.

A sensitive story about misplaced loyalty, celebrating life and falling in love. Can family secrets concealed with the best intentions bear the light of day?



About the Author

Paula Vince's youth was brightened by great fiction and she's on a mission to pay it forward. A wife and homeschooling mother, she loves to highlight the beauty of her own country in her stories. Most of them are set in the lovely Adelaide Hills, where she lives. Paula's books are a skillful blend of drama and romance. Together with elements of mystery and suspense, you will keep turning pages.

Guest Review by Catherine Hudson

When the unexpected happens, it can define or derail. Paula Vince’s Imogen's ChanceImogen's Chance is a deep-thinking book, and the reader will not come away without impact. Rather than being negative it is hopeful, and at times, humorous. The romantic sub-plot between Imogen and Asher makes this read all the sweeter, gently developing in a believable manner and timing.

Cancer is one of the biggest challenges of our time and one requiring taste, tact and understanding, even when explored in a fictional setting. Paula Vince has achieved this and when I received news of a friend’s diagnosis of an aggressive form cancer the day after finishing Imogen's Chance, I felt the message of hope whispering in my heart.

The characters were colourful and individual which was most pure and entertaining, when displayed through Asher and his thankfulness notes and Imogen’s shy quirks. The progression of their Christian journey was appropriate to the subject matter and the more biblical aspect written in a manner that held me, without leaving me feeling that I was hearing a sermon. Life was at the centre of this book and that kept me turning the pages.

The big reveal moment tied up the reasons for Imogen’s decision to travel to Australia and was executed through a narrative approach rather than dialogue. Although I wanted to hear the main characters interaction, the conclusion to Imogen's Chance was a satisfying end to an epic journey for two very likeable characters.

Another thought-provoking read from Paula Vince that still offers entertainment despite the real and raw subject matter. Thank you, Paula, for the review copy. I know many lives will be touched by this book. Recommended.

Catherine Hudson writes Historical and Contemporary romance for the CBA market. She was a finalist in the 2013 MARA Fiction from the Heartland contest.

Review: Undetected by Dee Henderson

Classic Dee Henderson

Gina Gray is a certified genius. She entered college at fourteen, has multiple advanced degrees, and has just broken up with her boyfriend. She is twenty-nine and wants to be married, so heads to Bangor submarine base, where her older brother is based, in the hope he can introduce her to a good man. In the meantime, she’s got an idea about a new way for submarines to use sonar …

Forty-year-old widower Mark Bishop is the captain of a submarine, one of a small number of men responsible for the deployment of the US fleet of nuclear submarines. He’s friends with Jeff Gray, another sub captain, but isn’t interested in Gina. She’s too young for him, but she’s brilliant, and needs a friend on base as she works on her revolutionary idea.

I very much enjoyed Undetected. It had a strong Christian thread, good characters (the only faults with Gina and Mark is they are possibly too perfect), a solid romance, and a thought-provoking suspense plot as Gina works to improve the safety of US submarines (this was timely, as I was reading it during the search for the missing Malaysian Airlines plane. I thought if only this were true, the technology could be used to locate the plane far more quickly).

Initially, I was worried about the age difference between Gina and Mark, but I think it works in the end. There was another subplot (which isn’t mentioned in the blurb, so I won’t spoil it), but would say I didn’t think it added to the plot, as there was never any doubt how the subplot would play out in the end.

I wondered after Full Disclosure and still wasn’t entirely convinced after Unspoken, but I think Undetectedis almost back to the classic O'Malley and Uncommon Heroes style Dee Henderson’s fans know and love. I still think it’s books are over-long, has too much technical information, and there are a couple of glitches in the writing (she mentioned quietly), but those are my only real problems. The suspense is gripping, and the romance builds nicely, to the point where I really believed it. Excellent romantic suspense.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free book for review. You can find out more about Dee Henderson at her website (which has to be one of the most boring author websites I’ve ever seen. I guess it shows that good books sell books, not fancy social media.).

May 2014 New Releases and Giveaway

The wonderful Ellie Whyte at Soul Inspirationz has posted her monthly new releases and giveaway post:

There are some excellent new releases this month. I'll be reviewing:

• Meant to be Mine by Becky Wade
• Here to Stay by Melissa Tagg
• Silenced by Dani Pettrey
• Gathering Shadows by Nancy Mehl
• Until I Found You by Victoria Bylin
• Dasies are Forever by Liz Tolsma
• One Perfect Spring by Irene Hannon
• Out of the Ruins by Karen Barnett
• Fair Play by Deeanne Gist
• Somebody Like you by Beth K Vogt

All those, and there are still three or four more I'd like to read! Find the giveaway at the Soul Inspirationz website.

Review: Out of the Ruins by Karen Barnett

Warning: Minor Spoilers Ahead

It is 1905 San Jose, California, and Abigail Fischer's sister, Cecelia, is dying of leukaemia when their doctor cousin offers the opportunity to try an experimental treatment—X-rays. The family moves to San Francisco to support Cecelia during her treatment, which cousin Gerard leaves largely to his partner, Dr Robert King. Robert is attracted to Abigail, but faces the ethical issue of dating the relative of a patient, a patient who is also the beloved relation of his friend and partner.

I very much enjoyed Karen Barnett's debut novel, Mistaken, and the first portion of Out of the Ruins is as good, if not better. It has the same excellent attention to historical detail, robust plot, authentic characters and addresses one of the core 'problems' of the Christian faith: why does God allow His people to suffer? This is Abby’s central conflict:

“If You take her away, I’ll never speak to You again.”

The historical context, such as the doctors testing the X-rays on themselves, was fascinating—particularly given what we now know about the dangers of excessive doses of radiation. The research around the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was also excellent, as were the descriptions of the efforts to contain the resulting fires.

However, I thought Out of the Ruins wasn’t as good as Mistaken, because the story is less cohesive. At first, it's the story of Cecelia's illness and treatment, then it turns into a story of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Both stories have merit, but they don't necessarily hold together properly, partly because there is a gap of several months between the two sections.

It felt as though a lot of the action around the earthquake was simply to display the situation, as there was little character development from Abigail during this section, and even less from Robert. I think Into the Whirlwind (Elizabeth Camden's story set amidst the 1871 Chicago fire) did a much better job of integrating the character development into the disaster plot.

The story takes another segue in the aftermath of the earthquake, when Abby is given the diary of a great aunt and begins to read it. Abby and Mae share some similar experiences, and it's obvious the diary is going to be instrumental in bringing Abby back to God after her earlier declaration that she's never going to talk to Him again. It's a little convenient, bordering on contrived. We believe God heals, yet also have to acknowledge that not everyone who prays for healing experiences release from their symptoms. Why not? It's a hard question, one that Out of the Ruins skirts around but, in my view, fails to adequately address.

This is the first of a new series, The Golden Gate Chronicles. Will I read the next book? Yes, because I can see the original plot and solid writing that made Mistaken such an outstanding debut. And the earthquake has happened now, so hopefully future books in the series will focus on building strong characters in the unpredictable aftermath of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.

The writing was excellent, the characters showed potential and the plot had the potential to be fascinating, but overall, Out of the Ruins just didn’t deliver for me.

Thanks to Abingdon Press and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Karen Barnett at her website.

Review: A May Bride by Meg Moseley

Happy Ever After ... or Happy For Now?

Ellie Martin meets handsome Gray Whitby in a church garden, where he’s attending a guerrilla wedding and she’s hiding in the bushes. They immediately hit it off, but the relationship hits some bumps when it’s time to meet Ellie’s family: her mother hasn’t trusted men since her city-boy husband left her with two small girls to raise alone.

While A May Bride was well-written, I didn’t enjoy it as much as I’ve enjoyed some of the other novellas in the A Year of Weddings series. Although Ellie’s mother was over-the-top  in her irrational dislike of city boys, I think she had a valid point in worrying about Ellie getting involved with a man she’d only just met.

And at the risk of adding a spoiler, there were a couple of things that I’m not convinced about regarding the relationship. (Let’s be realistic, I’m not exactly adding a spoiler. The title of the novella is A May Bride. The clue is in the title).

Ellie makes several decisions that affect both of them without asking Gray first—that’s not a recipe for good communication in marriage. Mom’s bad behaviour drives Ellie to do exactly the thing Mom’s advising against, which I think shows a lack of judgement on Ellie’s part. And Ellie and Gray attend different churches because neither feels comfortable with the church the other attends, which doesn’t seem to be a strong foundation for a Christian marriage.

Overall, I think A May Bride might be a Happy For Now story, not a Happy Ever After. And that’s not the message I want to see in a Christian romance novel.

Thanks to Zondervan and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Meg Moseley at her website.