Review: Secrets She Kept by Cathy Gohlke

Goosebump Good

I was a little apprehensive about reading Secrets She Kept, because I was one of the three judges who awarded Cathy Gohlke the 2015 Inspy Award for General Fiction, for her novel Saving Amelie. After reading a book as good as Saving Amelie, I’m always a little worried that the author’s next book won’t meet the high expectations set by the earlier title.

Well, Secrets She Kept blew Saving Amelie out of the water. Yes, it was that good. Goosebump good.

It’s a split timeline story—the modern story is set in 1972, where Hannah Sterling’s mother has just died, and Hannah finds her mother was never entirely honest with her. For starters, Lieselotte wasn’t Austrian . . . No. She was German, living in Germany during the rise of Hitler and during World War II. The past story is Lieselotte’s, during those life-changing war years. It’s not a happy story, but as we journey with both Hannah and Lieselotte, we discover what made Lieselotte the distant mother she was: the secrets she kept.

The writing, the research, the characters, the plot—all were outstanding, and it’s one of the few split timeline stories I’ve read where the past and the present stories were equally compelling. Recommended.

Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Review: The Narrow Gate by David Bergsland

I 'read' The Narrow Gate as an audiobook, so this is a two-in-one review of both the content and the presentation.

The content was excellent. The Narrow Gate is examing the trend for the Christian church to be inclusive, to welcome everyone, and pointing out that it takes more than tithing and church attendance to be a Christian. His points are well-thought out and logical, and backed up by relevant Bible quotations. I found myself agreeing with everything he said (but also being worried by some of the churches he's attended over the years).

The Narrow Gate is easy to understand yet thought-provoking, one of those books I'm sure I'll get even more from the second time around.

But no matter how good the content, an audiobook flies or fails based on the narrator. I've heard narrators take award-winning novels and turn them into something less engaging than Old Testament geneologies, usually though a combination of monotone delivery and insufficient attention to punctuation.

Fortunately, this was not a problem with The Narrow Gate. The narrator had a voice which was easy to listen to and persuasive, an important factor given the material. The only problem with the audiobook version is the inability to highlight significant passages. No matter. I can always buy the book.

Recommended.

Thanks to the author for providing a free Audible book for review.

Cover Reveal and Giveaway

I'm delighted to participate in the cover reveal for Dawn Crandall's new novel, the fourth in The Everstone Chronicles:

Ta-da!

I can't wait to read it! If you haven't read The Everstone Chronicles, here is your chance:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you'd like to find out more about Dawn, you can connect with her online:

www.dawncrandall.blogspot.com
www.apassionforpages.blogspot.com
Twitter (@dawnwritesfirst)

You can also read my reviews of the first three books in The Everstone Chronicles:
The Hesitant Heiress
The Bound Heart
The Captive Maiden

Review: Rescue Me by Lara van Hulzen

Solid End to Trilogy

Amazon Description

Keith is a soldier with a wounded heart.
Torie’s secrets haunt her.
Can they trust love enough to mend what’s broken?

Torie Walker is a police officer with a past she’d like to stay hidden from. Staying at her best friend’s cabin in the mountains over Christmas is just what she needs. However, when a handsome cowboy saunters into her life, she takes the risk and trusts him with her secrets.


Keith Scott is a United States Marine. Home for the holidays, he intends to spend a quiet Christmas with his family. What he doesn’t plan on is Torie Walker, a woman who mends his heart and makes him want to love again.

My Review

Torie and Keith are both damaged in their own ways, Torie through her difficult upbringing (understatement) and Keith through his overseas services with the Marines. Their respective pasts means they are both hesitant about entering into a romantic relationship, despite the sizzling chemistry between them. There is also the faith aspect: Keith believes in God, but Torie hasn’t got to that place yet despite attending church with a friend.

Rescue Me is Christian romance, but a little more edgy than some (and some readers might not like the fact that Torie’s journey to faith is implied rather than explicit—or the fact Keith becomes attached to her even without her being a believer). However, it’s definitely a clean read even as Keith and Torie explore their attraction and try and see whether they are ready to get over their respective pasts and make a relationship work.

While this was a perfectly good romance, I did miss the suspense present in the first two books in the series, Remember Me and Come to Me. In contrast, while Rescue Me promised a suspense subplot at the beginning with the mention of Torie’s father, it turned into more of an underutilised thread. However, Rescue Me can be read as a standalone novel, and anyone who hasn’t read the first books in the series isn’t going to be bothered.

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

Review: Redeeming Cade by Susan Crawford

Feel-good Romance with a Message of Redemption

Ex-con Cade McGuire is the new Assistant Director of the MidTown Rescue Mission in Oklahoma City, and he credits the mission with introducing him to God and turning his life around after his release from prison. All is going well until he meets aspiring politician Darby Phillips, whose plans for a new MidTown Entertainment District don’t include the mission.

I wasn’t convinced Redeeming Cade was the right title—most of the novel seemed to be about redeeming Darby. I’d like to have seen a little more of her spiritual regeneration, as it was never clear if she was anything more than a cultural Christian (as opposed to Cade, who was definitely saved). My only other complaint was that the ending felt too abrupt—the Kindle version finished at 81%, and we then got long samples from two other novels from the publisher (both excellent books, I might add).

Despite this, Redeeming Cade was an enjoyable feel-good contemporary Christian romance about the power of God to give us second (and third, and fourth . . . ) chances. The plot was solid, the characters were likeable and believable, and it was a well-written and entertaining read with some thought-provoking lines. Recommended.

Thanks to Redbud Press for providing a free ebook for review.