Review: God's Daughter by Heather Day Gilbert

4.5 Stars for a Unique Historical Novel

It is 1000 AD, and Gudrid is one of the few women on a Viking expedition to upper North America, to rediscover Vineland and bring great wealth back to Leif Eiriksson, their chieftain. She is the wife of Thorfinn Karlsefni, the expedition leader, mother to Snorri, the unofficial leader of the small band of women on the expedition—and the unwilling object of the affections of several of the men. Gudrid stopped worshipping Thor when she was a child and the capricious god demanded her mother as a sacrifice to guarantee a good harvest. As an adult in Iceland, she learned of the one true God from the monks, and she now follows Him.

God's Daughter is a character-driven family saga, told entirely in first person from Gudrid’s point of view, and in the present tense—an interesting choice for a story set 1,000 years in the past, but one that’s strangely effective. Her voice is understated, deliberately downplaying the everyday struggles for survival in Viking society, a culture that still worships Thor and where life includes many pagan rituals.

It is obvious that a huge amount of research has gone into God's Daughter, and while that research comes out in the depth of the narrative around the people, culture and lifestyle, it’s never overbearing and it never gets in the way of the story (although the names were a little difficult at times, because they were so unfamiliar).

The distance of time makes it impossible for us to really know what life was like in the Viking camp of Straumsfjord or the village of Brattahlid in Greenland, but the majesty and the savagery both come alive in the excellent writing. I came away feeling I had a real understanding of Viking life (certainly more than enough to be thankful I live now!).

God's Daughter is recommended for readers who enjoy well-researched historical fiction set in less well-known times and places, from author such as Iris Anthony (aka Siri Mitchell) or Sharon Penman.

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

About Heather Day Gilbert

Heather Day Gilbert enjoys writing stories about authentic, believable marriages. Sixteen years of marriage to her sweet Yankee husband have given her some perspective, as well as ten years spent homeschooling. Heather is a monthly contributor to Novel Rocket, a site dedicated to bringing helpful information to authors.

You can find Heather at her website, Heather Day Gilbert–Author, and at herFacebook Author Page, as well as Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube. Her first novel, God’s Daughter, is available on Amazon.

Review: Gathering Shadows by Nancy Mehl

Mystery in a Mennonite Town

Wynter Evans is an aspiring journalist with a Missouri TV network, on assignment in the tiny Mennonite town of Sanctuary with her colleague, photographer Zac Weikal. But she’s got another motive: she’s searching for her brother, Ryan, who was kidnapped several years earlier. Reuben King is the young and handsome mayor of Sanctuary, who agrees to work with Wynter despite opposition from some of the townspeople.

Gathering Shadows starts off as a predictable romance in an Amish/Mennonite setting, but soon turns into something more. It’s written entirely from Wynter’s point of view. As we get to know her better, her past begins to collide with the present and we start to realise there is more of a mystery than whether the mystery Mennonite boy is Wynter’s long-lost brother. Why don’t the townspeople want her in Sanctuary? And who is leaving her mysterious notes?

It’s a plot that grabbed and kept my attention, both in the mystery and the strong characters. The Christian elements were solid but not preachy. I especially liked this quote:

“Believing someone’s words, whether it’s a person in our lives or God himself, only comes second to knowing their heart. If you understand someone’s heart, you can believe what they say.”

I liked this because it reminded me of the Bible study I’m doing this year, based on Woman's Guide to Reading the Bible in a Year by Diane Stortz. Each week, Stortz asks, ”How did you experience God’s heart in this week’s reading?” Gathering Shadows illustrates the importance of that question. It’s not just about knowing God intellectually. It’s about knowing Him personally. Anyway, back to the book review …

The one weakness of Gathering Shadows was the romance. It took a long time to get started, and I wasn’t convinced they spent sufficient time together to form a lasting relationship—or that there was any chemistry, and it might have been better with no romantic subplot at all. However, the mystery-thriller aspect of the plot was excellent, and I’d certainly read more books by Nancy Mehl.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free book for review. You can find out more about Nancy Mehl at her website.

Review: Meant to be Mine by Becky Wade

An Interesting Premise

When Celia meets her high school crush, Ty Porter, during a weekend in Las Vegas, she never dreams it will turn into a romance—or a marriage. Her dreams come crashing down when Ty reveals he has a girlfriend, and Celia vows she’ll hate him forever.

Five years later, Celia has put aside her dreams of owning a pastry shop and café in favour of the need to earn a steady wage and provide for her daughter. She’s never told Ty about Addie, and she has no intention of doing so. But that’s difficult when he shows up out of the blue in her Oregon home town.

Meant to Be Mine was a well-written story with an interesting plot and a solid faith thread, but it was let down by the main characters. I was never fully convinced by the romance. To put it bluntly, the relationship between Ty and Celia seemed to be based on mutual lust rather than mutual faith or mutual friendship (although I did enjoy their verbal sparring).

Celia spends most of the novel hating Ty—or pretending she does—while Ty is pining for the woman who dumped him after that Vegas weekend. They had too many reasons not to be together for my taste, and that’s difficult to get past in a romance novel. I see them being happy for now, but I'm not convinced it's happy ever after. The Other Woman trope didn’t help. I know some people loathe the Secret Baby plot, but that's not my problem. I don’t like the Other Woman plot.

Meant to Be Mine is a sequel to Undeniably Yours (in that Ty is the brother of Bo Porter, hero in the first novel), but works well as a standalone story. There was more of a faith element in Meant to Be Mine than in Undeniably Yours, but I enjoyed Bo and Meg’s story more. I’ll probably want to read the next in the series, because that’s probably going to be about Jake, who strikes me as a character worth knowing more about …

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free book for review. You can find out more about Becky Wade at her website.

Review and Giveaway: The Nurse's Perfect Match by Narelle Atkins

Sweet story of second love

Wilkins is a twenty-seven year old nurse working for Dr Luke Morton, and a widow. She's returning home from a date gone wrong when Ben Morton, Luke’s older brother, a widower with two children—two children who seem to think it’s time they got a new mother.

Ben’s wife died three years ago, and he hasn’t had time to even think about dating since. But Amy catches his eye. And he still hasn’t come to terms with how a loving God could take his wife. Amy lost her husband eighteen months ago, and blames herself. She’s attracted to Ben, but believes she doesn’t deserve a second chance at love.

Amy and Ben are both likeable characters, each hiding some private pain that stands in the way of their happiness. I also liked the minor characters, particularly Luke and Rachel, Ben’s younger brother and sister. They were a combination of supportive and interfering, in the way that only siblings can be.  The plot asks the age-old question of why do bad things happen to God’s children, and I think it was well answered without being a cliché.

I enjoyed The Nurse's Perfect Match (although I will admit to enjoying Falling for the Farmer, the first book in this series, more). It's a perfect example of a Heartsong Presents novel: short, with likeable characters and a strong Christian element. The Nurse's Perfect Match starts a couple of years after the end of Falling for the Farmer, and is set in the same small community, Snowgum Creek. While the two books have some characters in common, The Nurse's Perfect Match is a standalone story.

Overall, this is an enjoyable light read, and I’ll be looking forward to reading the final book in the series, The Doctor’s Return (Luke's story).

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

If you'd like to win a copy of The Nurse's Perfect Match, leave a comment below and tell us what you like most about novels set in Australia. Come back next Friday (16 May), when we'll announce the winner.

Review: A Lady's Honor by Laurie Alice Eakes

Solid but not Spectacular

Elizabeth Trelawney has fled to her family home in Cornwall to escape an engagement she doesn’t want to a man as old as her grandfather. She is kidnapped by one Rowan Curnow, who is pretending to be a friend of her brothers. Can she trust him? Does she have a choice?


When Elizabeth eventually arrives, she finds her childhood friend is dead, her smuggler brother has run away to hide from the excise men, her cousin has been banished for getting herself into a ‘delicate situation’, and the best friend she hasn’t seen for ten years is homeless after the American heir to the estate just happens to be visiting. And it seems danger still lurks …

It’s a fast-paced story of mystery and intrigue as Elizabeth is challenged by her grandparents to find the family treasure. A Lady's Honor is the first novel in the new Cliffs of Cornwall series, and it’s unusual in that it doesn’t have the usual portrayal of smugglers as jolly good fellows who wouldn’t harm anyone, popular in gothic romances in years gone by. Eakes’s portrayal was uncomfortable in that regard, even if it is more accurate.

I did get hung up on a few glitches, including misquoting Shakespeare, misused words, inaccurate coinage, and the imaginary location of Bastion Point – there really is a Bastion Point in Auckland, New Zealand, and it’s famous for Maori land protests. Incidentally, while the book blurb calls it “Bastian Point”, it’s “Bastion Point” inside. Oops.

I’m also not convinced by the references to Conan Lord Penvenen (which made me think of Conan the Barbarian. Sorry). Shouldn’t that be Conan, Lord Penvenen? Or simply Conan, as they are talking about a close family friend?

My other issue was with the character of Rowan. We find out more about him as the story progresses, with some major revelations towards the end. While these did explain some of the questions I’d had about Rowan’s character, they also left me feeling as if I’d been deceived. Rowan was a viewpoint character, and while he was romantic and reliable as the hero, he was an unreliable narrator, and I felt as if all the conflict around his background was manufactured for the sake of introducing conflict, rather than being an intrinsic part of the story.

Despite these faults I did enjoy A Lady's Honor. It was a good combination of suspense, mystery and romance with a strong underlying Christian message about treasure and unconditional love. However, I didn’t enjoy it enough to read it again, and I’m not convinced I enjoyed it enough to bother reading the sequel when it comes out.

Thanks to BookLookBloggers for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Laurie Alice Eakes at her website.