Iola's Christian Reads

30 June 2016

Review: The Butterfly Bride by Lacy Williams

A Lovely Romance Novella

A Butterfly Bride is the third and final book in the Lone Star Brides trilogy from Serenade Books. Each novella is a standalone story from a different author: The Bluebonnet Bride by Pamela Tracy, The Bull Rider’s Bride by Vickie McDonough, then The Butterfly Bride from Lacy Williams.

Yes, The Butterfly Bride is a novella, so it’s a short read—great for those who want a sweet romance they can read in an evening and finish with an ahhh feeling.

Luke Starr is horsesitting the family ranch while his twin brothers are on their respective honeymoons. He’s counting the days until he can leave again . . . until he meets special education teacher Jessica Sadler, one of the teachers supervising a school visit to the ranch that Gramma forgot to tell him about. He’s worried children could get hurt on a working ranch; she can’t see how tagging butterflies could be dangerous.

Anyway, this is a romance novella, so one thing leads to another until they admit their mutual attraction and get over themselves long enough to do something about it. We all know what the end game is going to be, and we all know the fun is in the journey as two characters have to deal with their mutual issues. And the journey is a lot of fun.

Recommended for romance fans.

Thanks to Seranade Books for providing a free ebook for review.

28 June 2016

Review: An Elegant Facade by Kristi Ann Hunter

A Recommended Romance Read

I read Krisit Ann Hunter’s debut novel, A Noble Masquerade, last year, and it was one of the best debuts I’ve read in a long time. Hunter writes Christian Regency romance, and it’s excellent (well, apart from a couple of minor language issues that American authors always slip up on when writing English characters).

Her characters are intelligent and witty and charming and engaging, her heroes are also intelligent and more than sufficiently swoon-worthy (a word you can really only use in relation to historical romance set in England), her settings are excellent, her writing outstanding, and her Christian themes strong without being overbearing. In other words, close to perfect.

An Elegant Façade is an interesting sequel, in that it starts part-way through A Noble Masquerade rather than after the conclusion. It’s focusing on two different characters, so we get to see some of the same events through different eyes. I’m not altogether convinced this is a good idea, but Hunter pulled it off well.

Lady Georgina Hawthorne has a secret (a good start. All good characters have a secret). It’s not explicitly stated what her secret is, so I’ll leave you to work it out yourself rather than tell you and possibly spoil the story. Lady Georgina is about to launch in to her first London Season, and is determined to be an Incomparable and to make an outstanding match, to ensure her secret never catches up with her.

She sets her sights on the Duke of Marshington, who has recently returned to Town. What she doesn’t realise is that her sister, Lady Miranda, is in love with the Duke, and he with her (and if you’ve read A Noble Masquerade, you’ll know this.) This misunderstanding is the source of a lot of humour and talking at cross-purposes in the first part of the book—it’s amusing to read conversations knowing the subtext, and realizing Lady Georgina doesn’t. It’s excellent writing.

The person Lady Georgina is least interested in is Mr Colin McCrae, a nobody who seems to have many influential friends including the Duke of Marshington and her own brothers. Yet he finds himself intrigued by the lady in white, both annoyed by her obvious intention to snare the Season’s most eligible bachelor, and captivated by the person he finds behind the elegant façade. Again, it’s excellent writing.

A Noble Masquerade was excellent, and now I’ve read An Elegant Façade I want to read both books again, back to back, to catch all the minor plot points I no doubt missed because there were so many levels to the writing. Recommended for all lovers of Christian Regency romance.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about author Kristi Ann Hunter at her website.

27 June 2016

Clash of the Titles: Vote for your favourite read!

Welcome to summer! (or winter, for those of us Down Under)

Scroll through these FIVE new reads and vote below

for which you'd pick up first to take to the poolside.

It'll be a tough choice! But somebody's gotta do it. May as well be you!

Finders Keepers by Sarah Monzon

Summer Arnet will go anywhere to capture the perfect shot that will get her marine photography noticed by the prestigious nature magazine, Our World—even diving in waters haunted by great white sharks. When a treasure hunter with a ladies’-man reputation approaches her about a sunken ship at one of her dive locations, it may be the chance she’s been looking for to launch her career…if his charming smile doesn’t derail her first.

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Resilience by L.R. Burkard

In this spell-binding sequel to the post-apocalyptic thriller PULSE, L.R.Burkard takes readers into a landscape where teens shoulder rifles instead of school books, and where survival might mean becoming your own worst enemy.

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A Matter of Courage by Wendy Holley

Abused by her famous husband, Irene Brennan is forced to flee to a small town in Montana, leaving everything behind. Trent is used to protecting wild animals from careless hunters, but can he protect Irene from her crazy husband?

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Astray (Ariboslia Book 1) by J. F. Rogers

Troubled-teen, Fallon finds hope and family through an unwanted prophecy. In her travels, she learns about the One True God and how desperately she needs Him. Perhaps, with His help, she’ll find the way to fulfill her destiny.

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Her One and Only by Becky Wade

When NFL super star Gray Fowler is threatened by a stalker, his team hires a professional bodyguard to ensure his safety. But when Gray's "protection" turns out to be a woman half his size, he's indignant. Will Dru Porter--a former Marine and expert markswoman--prove herself worthy of the job? And meanwhile, who's going to guard Gray's heart?

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VOTE HERE!

If you have trouble viewing the entire survey, click here to load a dedicated page to the survey.

23 June 2016

Review: A Haven on Orchard Lane by Lawana Blackwell

Definitely Lives Up To Expectations

Amazon Description

Much-Loved Lawana Blackwell Delivers Another Charming Victorian-Era Tale

In difficult circumstances, Charlotte Ward, once a famed stage actress, tries to restart her career--only to experience disaster. Against her better judgment, her estranged daughter, Rosalind, comes to her mother's rescue and moves her to a quiet English coastal village.

Charlotte is grateful to get to know Rosalind after years apart. As one who has regrets about her own romantic past, it's a joy for Charlotte to see love blossom for her daughter. For Rosalind, however, it's time away from teaching--and now she must care for the mother who wasn't there for her. And what could be more complicated than romance?

Together, mother and daughter discover that healing is best accomplished when they focus less on themselves and more on the needs of others.

My Review

It’s been years since I read a Lawana Blackwell novel, but I loved her Gresham Chronicles and am thrilled to report that Orchard Lane in Stilwell, Devon, has all the charm of Gresham, and the characters are just as engaging.

Charlotte has been successful professionally, but has not made good choices in terms of relationships. Despite these hardships, she has retained her Christian faith and the desire to reunite with her one child, daughter Rosalind.

Rosalind had a difficult upbringing but has finally found her place as a teacher in a famed school for girls, and doesn’t care for this forced reunion with her estranged mother. But both women come to appreciate the attributes of the other, and to reach out to those around them.

Lawana Blackwell has never written “typical” romances. She always has a combination of older and younger characters (although, as one character takes great pleasure in pointing out, even twenty-seven-year-old daughter Rosalind is rather too old to attract male attention. Blackwell also shows characters who prefer to live out their Christian faith rather than merely talking about it. Her heroines show grace and kindness despite the hardships they’ve overcome, and it’s great to read.

If there is an overall theme to A Haven on Orchard Lane, it’s marry in haste, repent at leisure, as so many of the marriage relationships are sour and controlling, a result of marrying for the wrong reasons. Or perhaps the theme is marry for character and love, not money and title—as seems to be the common factor in the sour relationships.

I hope this is the beginning of a new series—I'd like to read more about the inhabitants of Stilwell. Recommended for historical romance fans.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing an ebook for review.

21 June 2016

Author Interview: Angela Breidenbach

A beautifully spun story about the power of second chances. ~ Amazon Reviewer

I loved The Bitterroot Bride! The part where she compares church

to riding a trot made me laugh out loud. ~A. Chatman

About the book:

No one knows the real Emmalee Warren, just what they want from the infamous prostitute. Men are coming out of the woodwork to stake a claim on the miner's widow. They wanted her body before. Now they want her money. Hiring a lawyer, Richard Lewis, to save her from financial ruin might let her start over where no one knows Miss Ellie. Becoming an unknown is the only way to freedom…or is it? Can she leave her past and build a new future?

Purchase

Amazon

Chat with Angela:

Ques: We heard there was something special that happened to you while writing your fourth book in the historical romance series, Montana Beginnings. What was special about the Bitterroot Bride heroine for you?

Angela: Writing Miss Emmie learning to read became an amazing experience. Though I’d learned to read at four, I didn’t understand how to connect and read people until well into my adulthood. So while Miss Emmie became proficient in reading, I became proficient in relationships. She’d eat up every book she could get her hands on and studied with intensity. I did the same thing, but about relational topics.

Ques: When did you realize the parallel character arc had so much in common with your real life?

Angela: About halfway through the first draft an epiphany happened. I stopped, took a day or so to really think about my personal experience, then began an intentional focus on writing the emotional parallel.

Ques: What do you hope Bitterroot Bride does for readers?

Angela: I hope this story is both entertaining and encouraging. I’d like readers to absorb the idea that like Miss Emmie and me, if you have the desire to learn something then you can. Age doesn’t matter.

Ques: Can you tell us the titles and a little about the Montana Beginnings series?

Angela: All four titles are set in Helena, MT from 1889 – 1895. It’s right when we became a state, but mining couldn’t support us forever. The Debutante Queen introduces us to Calista who steals an orphan off the street to protect her from a cruel master. Eleven Pipers Piping brings forward the newsies, newspaper boys and orphan train leftovers, into Mirielle’s classroom. Then in Taking the Plunge, Delphina takes us back to the iconic Broadwater Natatorium as a swim instructress. Then Emmalee enters the scene as we find out how Montana chose her state flower. Each of these lovely Victorian ladies finds her true love while carving out a meaningful life in Montana’s frontier.

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About Angela:

Angela Breidenbach is a bestselling author and host of Grace Under Pressure Radio on iTunes. Angela is the Christian Author Network's president. And yes, she's half of the comedy duo, Muse and Writer, on social media.