Review: Beneath the Heavens by Lindsey Barlow

More Weak Points than Strong Points

Beneath the Heavens starts well, introducing readers to midwife Esther Callen and her son Michael, then flighty teacher Abigail Silver. It’s soon apparent that both women are going to find love during the course of the novel.

This leads to one of the problems with the novel: shallow characters, because it meant there wasn’t enough time to focus on them all. Will’s characterisation was shallow at best, and I never felt any emotion from him. Abigail came across as an inconsistent mix of flighty and intelligent—I would have liked more consistency in the beginning, and more character growth throughout the novel.

Joseph was assertive to the point of controlling, and I wasn’t convinced that was healthy. Overall, Esther was the best character, in that she was the one with the most consistent story and the most believable change.

The plot was typical of a Christian historical romance novels set in the American West in the late 1900’s, although it did try and cram too many romance tropes into a single book. The writing started well, with lines like:

Her father had told her that religion was delusion, but to her, it was conclusion. The answer to all her problems, until it wasn’t.

Unfortunately, the novel as a whole didn’t live up to this early promise, with multiple writing and editing issues such as not using contractions (which made a lot of the dialogue feel unnatural and wooden), confusing point of view changes, punctuation errors, anachronisms (words that are too modern for the 1896 time setting) and some questionable vocabulary (mild swearing and misused words).

Overall, not a novel I recommend.

Thanks to Light Messages Publishing for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Lindsey Barlow at her website, and read the introduction to Beneath the Heavens below:

Review: Finding Margo by Jen Turano

Shows Promise but Needs Polishing.

I’m a big fan of Jen Turano’s Christian historical romance novels published by Bethany House Publishers. I’m also a huge fan of contemporary Christian romance. So when I saw Jen Turano had published a contemporary Christian romance novel, I was keen to read it, and thrilled when Gilead Publishing offered me the chance of a free copy to review.

I was soon to be disappointed.

On the writing side, while Finding Margo has a solid plot, it doesn’t have enough romance to make it a great romance, and it doesn’t have enough suspense to make it a great romantic suspense (I’m not even sure if it was trying for suspense—if it was, the first paragraph killed what suspense there might have been). Finding Margo lacked the wit I’ve enjoyed in so many of Jen Turano’s other novels.

But it wasn’t just the lack of wit which disappointed me. It was the overall lack of polish in the writing—which I now suspect had a lot to do with the skill of Turano’s previous editors. It was also the mistakes, like calling one character the patriarch of his family twice in three pages (as though I’d forgotten), or implying there are 356 days in the year. Sure, that one is an obvious typo, but it’s the kind of typo I expect to see in books from some vanity press notorious for their lack of editing, or the first book from some small press with no background in fiction. It's also a typo based on something which it appears isn't true: the number of times the phrase 'fear not' (or similar) appears in the Bible.

And there were other writing issues I won’t bore you with. Suffice to say I checked Amazon’s Look Inside, and I’m afraid the underpolished version I read appears to be the final published version. This isn’t always the case with NetGalley books, although most publishers take pains to point out it’s the unproofed version and may still contain mistakes—although few do. Once I realised the writing/editing wasn't up to par, I decided I should ignore the obvious issues and focus on the characters and the story.

First, Margo. 

I didn’t like her at first, because she seemed as shallow as her pop star life. I warmed to her more and more in Ohio, especially once she ended up in hospital and I could contrast her with her overbearing mother. Caroline is, to put it politely, a piece of work who brings new meaning to the term ‘shallow’. Margo said she was a Christian although she hinted at having fallen away … something which was never properly explored.

Brock was a strong hero, although perhaps a little too good to be true. But I didn’t feel I got to know him, or where he stood on faith, and I did feel his character could have been developed beyond being the too-perfect foil for Margo. Nor did I ever really feel his attraction for Margo … or any second-guessing of that attraction (which would have seemed natural, given their different backgrounds).

And that leads me to the suspense plot, because this is apparently a suspense novel (at least, according to the Amazon categories).

Well, there was no suspense.

Except, perhaps, who was after Margo and why (and I don’t even know if I’m convinced by that, because it seemed a little chicken-and-egg).

The first paragraph made it pretty obvious who Margo “really” was, and the lines in the novel that hinted at the suspense would have been more powerful and suspenseful if I hadn’t already been handed the big secret. The big reveal of the evildoer was underwhelming—I thought it could have been revealed and written a lot more powerfully. Or perhaps I’d reached the point where I wasn’t paying enough attention.

Overall, Finding Margo is a story which shows promise but needs polishing.



Thanks to Gilead Publishing and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Jen Turano at her website, and read the introduction to Finding Margo below:

Review: Pursuing Gold by Cynthia L Simmons

Publisher Fail

Yes, it’s that week where I bury my reviews of the books I didn’t like in the hope you’re all having an enjoyable Christmas break and ignoring all the blogs (I’ll be back to my regular schedule on 3 January).

Amazon Description

With his father dead and his business partner incapacitated, Peter Chandler inherits the leadership of a bank in economic crisis. With only a newly-minted college degree and little experience, Peter joins his partner’s daughter, Mary Beth Roper, in a struggle to keep C&R Bank afloat while the Civil War rages around Chattanooga. Political pressure for unsecured loans of gold to the government stirs up trouble as tempers and prices rise. Their problems multiply when Mary Beth discovers counterfeit money with Peter’s forged signature. Can they find the forger before the bank fails? The two friends must pursue gold on behalf of their business, as they learn to pursue their heavenly Father to find hope and peace.

My Review

Sounds good enough. So what was my problem? There were many.

First we have Perfect Peter. The guy has no faults … and while most romance readers want to (figuratively) fall in love with the hero, he has to be human. And humans have faults.

Then we have Mary Beth. Her problem is similar—it’s not that she’s perfect, and more that she wants what she can’t have. In her case, she wants her (dying) father to live. Okay, I can understand that from a human perspective. Her mother is dead, and she doesn’t want to lose her one remaining parent.

But that’s not enough of a motivation for a novel. The result is a passive character who goes through the story waiting for the thing she’s dreading to happen and not doing much. And that’s not an interesting read.

This is supposed to be a romance, but I never got the feeling Mary Anne had any feelings for Peter beyond friendship. And I wasn’t convinced Peter loved her as a wife. Their relationship seemed more like friends or siblings than potential lovers, and that’s a eww factor for me.

And then there was the editing (hint: books are edited. Financial accounts are AUDITED). This was the first book I’ve read from the new Elk Lake Publishing, and I wasn’t impressed. There were anachronisms, typos, redundancy, and punctuation errors. The writing was slow paced, the dialogue stilted, the scene transitions were clunky, and some of the action reminded me of Batman (the camp 1960’s TV show version, not the movies). I think they’ve done the author a disservice by publishing her book before it’s ready.

Sure, the subplot around the counterfeit money was interesting. But even that lacked suspense, and wasn’t enough to compensate for the other problems. Overall, this was a slow read, something I wouldn’t have finished if I was reading it for pleasure.

Thanks to Elk Lake Publishing and Litfuse Publicity for providing a free ebook for review.

Review: The Room with the Second-Best View by Virginia Smith

Third Time Lucky

This wasn’t t easiest book to get in to – it took me three tries to get past the first few chapters. I suspect part of that is that it’s the final book in a series, and I haven’t read any of the earlier books (I didn’t actually realise it was part of a series when I requested it for review). This made my first two attempts more difficult that they would have been if I’d read the earlier books in the series.

No, it’s not a fast-paced thriller. It’s not a romance (although it’s certainly a story of love and marriage, with Al and Millie providing some important lessons on how to make a marriage last). But it is a well-written character-based novel with a group of interesting characters and a pile of low-key interpersonal conflict provided by Lulu the annoying neighbour (who has odd recipe ideas--recipes included), and Miss Hinkle, the opinionated unexpected guest (opinionated and manipulative).

The overall tone was light drama—once I got into the story, it had a little of the feel of The Most Exotic Marigold Hotel, only set in small-town America (something which is as foreign to me as the Indian location of the Marigold Hotel). Oh, but Al and Millie’s B&B is a lot classier than the Marigold Hotel. Especially once Miss Hinkle has visited.

If you’ve read the earlier books in the series, you’ll enjoy this. If not, you might want to read the earlier books first. And if you have read the earlier books (or this one) ... you won't want to miss A Goose Creek Christmas, the new Christmas novella, available as a free Amazon download (and probably from other retailers as well).

Thanks to Harvest House Publishers and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about more about Virginia Smith at her website, and you can read the introduction to The Room with the Second Best View below:

Review: O Little Town of Bethany by Rene Gutteridge and Cheryl McKay

Call Me Contrary …

Bethany is a small tourist town in Georgia presided over by Miss Bethany (yes, named for the town), who could give Margaret Thatcher lessons in dealing with the little people. She handpicks each of the tenants for the main street shops, and her latest pick is Holly Truesdale.

Holly is escaping from the city, from parents who argue all the time and an almost-fiance who can’t even be bothered to ask the question. She goes to Bethany, the town she visited with her parents for the best Christmas of her young life, and rediscovers a town where everyone helps

Yes, this is pure escapist fantasy. No one lives like this—well, no one I know. The men are all gentlemen (well, except for Holly’s father and almost-fiance), the women are all ladies who rule with humour and grace, and the town really is a character all of its own.

The romance was sweet, sure (and a little fast for my taste). But I’m a little contrary. For me, the romance was secondary behind Miss Bethany’s story, which brought a tear to my eye. But I’m not going to spoil it for you.

Recommended for those looking for a Christmas story that’s sweet without being sappy.

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