A Hope Undaunted, Julie Lessman

 

Rating 4 out of 5 stars.

*Note* This is the first book of Julie Lessman's Winds of Change series.  However, it is a continuation of the Daughters of Boston series and those should be read first.  It will be really hard to follow and understand what's going on with all the side characters if you haven't.  These books are a family saga, so to speak, and so relying on having read the previous books is a must in my opinion.  

Set in 1929 Boston, things are changing in the world.  Katie O'Connor, the youngest in a large Irish Catholic family, wants out from under the thumb of a man.  She loves her father but doesn't want him or anyone else to tell her what to do.  She has Jack, her "perfect" boyfriend, under her thumb and plans to ride his coattails to the top.  Katie has big plans.  Law school, marriage to a connected man, and making big changes for women as a politician. However, this attitude makes her unlikely to stick to the rules at home and after a series of curfew breaking and generally bad behavior, Katie is grounded by her father, forced to stop seeing her boyfriend and required to volunteer for the entire summer at the Boston Children's Aide Society (BCAS).  Change is coming for Katie, but not the kind she had so carefully planned.  Her boss at BCAS is non other than Cluny McGee, now Luke,  the little runt who used to drive her crazy when she was 10.  But he's not little anymore, and he's different from the other boys in her life...he won't be wrapped around her little finger.  Throw in complicated situations from Luke's past, Katie's hardheaded determination to stick to her original goal, and some unexpected chemistry between Luke and Katie and you've got a great story!!

Review:

My first book of 2023! Wow.  This was a big one...500 pages!!  I thoroughly enjoyed the first 400 pages.  The story was so exciting and quick, the descriptions of 1920s Boston and the fashion of the day painted a great picture,  and watching Katie learn and grow had me glued to the pages. This book was a solid 5 stars for me until about the last 100 pages.  There were some twists and turns that I just really wasn't there for.  I was ready for the book to be wrapped up with a happy ending when some over the top things happened that I felt like were a little too much.  However, the writing is so good and the book itself so exciting, that I am still so glad I read it and am looking forward to the next book in the series!  

As I was reading through reviews on this one I kept coming across a couple of things.  One, that the characters were too hard to keep strait, two, that it was too "spicy" for Christian fiction and that Katie fell in and out of love too much.  The first I already addressed; make sure you read the Daughter's of Boston series first!  It is a huge treat to see where Faith, Charity and Lizzie are at with their families and to visit Marcey and Patrick in Southie at their home.  I loved "catching up" with them!  As for the spiciness.  Well, we've got 4 married and in love couples.  They're women and men and they think about and do things married people do!  I didn't find it inappropriate, but I've been a wife for 20 years.  I sometimes wonder if these comments are from 20-something, purity culture folks. Or maybe just from people that plain don't want that mentioned in their books.  That's fair, but Julie Lessman just isn't going to be your girl for your reading choices.  In all honestly, I think maybe her books are best for women who have been married a few years.  It's inspiring to read about couples who still love each other and find each other attractive.  

Katie did fall in and out of "love" a lot.  Or what she thought was love.  But honestly, most girls do!  They date, they fall hard, there's drama and heartbreak and then they learn to move on.  It's a part of many a girl's story and Katie was no different.  She was also learning who she was, coming to Christ and changing her priorities accordingly.  

One last thing...and it main contain spoilers a bit...but probably not...was the way the Collin/Evelyn situation was handled.  Collin (who used to be loose with the ladies) hires a girl he was involved with in the past and starts to spend evenings with her and her very sick son.  This happens so much so that Faith finally gets a call from a neighbor of Evelyn to make sure she knows that Collin is over there most nights.  She didn't.  You know why?  Because Collin wasn't telling her! He went against the advisement of Brady and lied to Faith through omission over and over again with this girl.  He never cheated, and he never even seems attracted to her, but he should have been honest with Faith.  Faith relied on her trust in her husband and her faith in God especially to get her through this uncertain time.  But the way Collin acted was never addressed!  He never apologized, he never admitted that allowing his wife to find out he was spending tons of time at another woman's home through a neighbor instead of himself (like he promised Brady he would) was not ok, and never acknowledges Faith for the gift of trust.  He should have, after that whole mess, promised to set better boundaries...if I were Faith, I'd have a lot of trouble trusting my husband in the future after how shady is was about that whole situation.  

I'm not sure where the author was going with this.  My thoughts were that maybe she was showing what a spouse could do in a situation like this.  Faith would have helped NOTHING by throwing a fit, being mad a Collin or insisting he fire her.  The other thought I had was that it showed Collin had changed.  He was trustworthy around another woman and had learned compassion and to be faithful.  However, he just came off as a liar and jerk to me.  But I'm speaking as a wife.  

Overall, great book, great series, great writing and time well spent in a book!

Happy New Year's Everyone!

Wreath of Snow, Liz Curtis Higgs

Rating 4 out of 5 stars

Meg's life has been be followed by a dark cloud of doom since her brother's accident many years ago.  A chance meeting with the (now grown) man who hurt her brother leads to a path of forgiveness for all. 

Review:
Well, Victorian Scotland.  Do I need to say anymore?  Snow, train stations and old stone churches set the scene for this touching Christmas novella.  I appreciated that even with its short length, the story and characters were well developed and Ms. Higgs managed to paint a beautiful picture of the town and setting.  This would be such a quick and cozy read for a snow day or winter afternoon. 

Love Finds You in Daisy, Oklahoma, Janice Hanna

Rating 4 out of 5 stars.

Rena is 38 and basically an old maid.  She's been living with her brother in Mississippi since her parents died in a house fire when she was 14.  While she loves them, the work she does knitting and sewing for charity just seems like such a small offering.  When Rena becomes aware of a need for a director at a children's home in Oklahoma, she is convinced it's what she's meant to do.  It's in a town called Daisy...and that's her favorite flower.  She quickly writes and accepts the position. 
However, the actual job of caring for 17 rambunctious children is more than she thought it would be.  Not to mention that half the town is convinced that the orphanage should be closed.  Thankfully, she has the support of the local sheriff, a widower who just happens to be kind and pretty good looking.  Can Rena win over these children and get a handle on this orphanage director thing?  And what does she do about the secret love letters showing up occasionally? 

This was a very sweet and fun read.  One unique part was that each chapter begins with "parenting tips" from one of the characters in the story which is something I have not seen before. 
The characters were likable and even the most grouchy softened over time.  I didn't give this five stars because the first 2/3s of the book was just OK.  Fun enough to read but not terribly exciting.  It really did pick up in the last 1/3, however.  I wouldn't read it a second time, but I'm glad to have found it for this once.  It would be a great summer or beach read! 

These Healing Hills, Ann H. Gabhart

Rating 4 out of 5 stars

It's the end of WWII and Francine thought that would mean marrying her high school sweetheart.  However, a letter breaking their engagement and a picture of a pretty English girl circling town puts an end to that plan.  Feeling that she needs a change, Francine signs up for the Frontier Nurse's Corps and heads to Appalachian Kentucky to be a nurse and learn midwifery. While there, she finds herself falling in love with the mountain, her work of "catching babies" and the people.  A good-looking, just returned, medic seems to be showing up in her path quite a lot, also...which is a very good thing considering her inclination to getting lost.
Are these hills Francine's future?  Can people from such different cultures meet in the middle?


Any book set in the Appalachian Mountains is a thrill for me...adding in midwifery (babies!!) and horses just added the icing to the cake. I found myself wishing to head back to eastern KY again this fall for vacation at least once a chapter.  I flew through the first 2/3s then I felt there was a little bit of a lag for a few chapters.  However, it wasn't hard to get back into and I really did enjoy the ending, although it felt just a tad rushed for some reason.  While I won't re-read it most likely, I did enjoy meeting these characters and traveling to the mountains for a bit.  I would read other books by this author, especially if they were in the same setting.  This was a solid read and great for fall!

Holding the Fort, Regina Jennings

Rating 5 out of 5 stars!!!!!

Summary:
Lola Bell, the saloon hall singer, is out of luck.  She's been kicked out of a job for a younger woman, has no parents to speak of and nowhere to go.  A better life sounds like a good idea, but how the heck is she going to find it?  Right before her job is lost, she hears that her brother, a cavalry soldier at Ft. Reno, is in trouble again.  Lola decides she'll go out there, straighten him out and get a job doing whatever they'll hire her to do...laundry, entertaining the troops...whatever.  On the way, she meets a governess on her way to teach the commander's children.  Unfortunately, the governess lady has allergies that are going to make her have to turn back.  Arriving at the fort armed with boxes for the girls, Lola is mistaken as the governess. It seems natural for her performing self to play the role in order to keep an eye on her brother and secure a job.  Will she be able to pull it off?  Will the consequences be terrible?  And what about her handsome employer?  What's she supposed to do with these feelings that seem to be forming within her deception?

Oh my!  I LOVED this book.  Throughout the entire book, I was laughing out loud.  The other soccer moms may have thought I'd lost my mind a little, but the comedy is so genius and would catch me off guard and I just had to laugh. 
If I had to say something I didn't like about this book it would be that the ending seemed a teeny bit unrealistic.  But hey!  We're talking historical romance people...it's not supposed to be exactly like real life.  Otherwise, I loved the comedy, the characters were quirky,, charming and just so loveable (I"m excited to see more of them in the next 2 books!), and the story kept moving forward and there was none of that "middle of the book lag" that I often run into while reading fiction. 

I'm going to go now and reserve the next book at the library...

Happy Reading!

Though Waters Roar, Lynn Austin

Rating 4.5 stars

This.book.was.beautiful.  I don't know how else to describe this winding story that spanned the lives of four strong women.  A great-grandma who fought slavery, a grandma who fought "demon rum", a mother who went from a high society frivolity to fighting for the vote, and the daughter who wanted to be like them all. 
Through this story we visit a farm, a high society house, the civil war and a devestating floor brought on by a dam bursting.  We see characters rise to the occasion and fail, parents disappointing children and come to an understanding of how point of view changes the way one sees another. 
This book was real.  No love story, happy ending, waltz away into flowers, but real life grit, disappointment and triumphs all mingled together. 
Even a "light, fun, happy ending" type reader found this one to be absolutely remarkable.  Thank you, Ms. Austin, for bringing us on such a beautiful journey through this book. 

Stuck Together, Mary Connealy

Rating 4.5 out of 5 stars

Luke hasn't ever had it easy.  From a overbearing, cruel father and addled mother to time in the infamous Andersonville prison during the civil war, he's learned to never let his guard down.  And he's determined not to marry and either turn into his father or pass on what seems to be heredity insanity to any children. 

Tina is pretty sure she's unlovable.  She was left with an aunt who was less than maternal who quickly kicked her out when she found a husband.  Tina went to Texas to live with a brother she hardly knew...and she's pretty sure he doesn't love her all that much either

I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this book!  In traditional Mary Connealy style, I found myself laughing at the hilarious thoughts of the characters and turning pages as fast as possible through old west gun fights and gun draws.  The characters were so endearing also.  Luke was a man who could handle gunfire and prison breaks but one pretty woman had him spinning.  Tina was somewhat ridiculous while trying to single handedly shut down the town saloon, but was one feisty and hardworking lady as this story went on.  I identified with them both thinking they weren't enough, weren't worth loving...who doesn't sometimes?  But they were and we all are, too! 
I struggled just a bit with keeping the characters strait as it had been awhile since I read book one, and even considered writing them down to refer to, but I'm not exactly known for my good memory so I'm sure it was just me!  That didn't take away anything from the book, however, and I read and enjoyed pretty much every page.  This book would be perfect for anyone who is looking for a light and fun read, who enjoys cowboys and clean, hilarious romance and wants to travel back to the old west for a bit!