Charity's Cross, MaryLu Tyndall

Rating 5 out of 5
Charity is involved in an accident that kills her husband and she runs in fear. She has spent their marriage enduring horrid abuse and is relieved to be free of him. However, his brother is determined to find her and make her pay for the death of his brother. Charity escapes on a ship and after docking in port realizes her brother in law is after her. She jumps over the side and treated to an unwanted rescued by the handsome, reformed pirate Elias Dutton. He immediately feels responsible for her safety and they set out on an adventure where he must rescue her more than once. Feelings develop along the way, but will the skeletons in Charity's closet keep them from each other?

So once upon a time I read a MaryLu book that I didn't like. It was LONG and I felt like I was constantly waiting for something exciting to happen. Ok, well there was a lot of fighting between ships and things, but basically nothing between the hero and heroine. By the end I was so frustrated I almost didn't read her books anymore. However, I found one on sale and liked it. Then I found another and really liked it. This one was even better, and it is the first five star book I've read in a long time. This book was so much fun to read. I'm kind of a sucker for a damsel and distress and a strong hero with a jaded past. While Charity was in big trouble and needed almost constant rescuing, I did not find her character to be weak or faint. Elias was a little bit bigger than life, but I'm not reading fiction for real life that's for sure! While I have never had too much of an interest in pirates, this whole series (The Charles Towne Belles) is definitely making me see the romanticism of the Caribbean's blue waters, handsome pirates with cutlasses and an exciting life at sea.

A Thousand Shall Fall, Andrea Boeshaar

 
 Rating 4.5 out of 5 Stars

 Carrie Ann is a small but sassy Virginian caught in a tough spot during the civil war.  Her father has gone off to be a journalist for the war, her mother is touched in the head and her sisters are not behaving like ladies.  Not to mention she is living in horrid conditions in an Inn while working there to pay for room and board since their house burned down.  After her little sister runs off with a no account peddler, Carrie Ann dresses up as a Union Solider to go and find her.
She had not gotten far when she finds herself caught up in a tree and meets the dashing Colonel Peyton Collier.  She travels with his company a bit and helps with the wounded until she is placed at the Colonel's home with his spinster Aunt.  A slip of the tongue and Carrie finds herself in a hilarious yet precarious predicament...and falling in love.

This book was an absolute delight to read.  It was funny, fast paced and had a touch of romance, too.  I don't even know how I ended up buying this one.  I think maybe a book reviewer posted that it was free for a short time?  Must have been because now it is 10 dollars on Kindle and I almost never spend that kind of money on a book.  However it happened, I am sure glad I came across this one.  After a string of mediocre books that were hard to even get through, I had begun to lose hope in Christian fiction.  A Thousand Shall Fall has restored my hope!  While I have a list of "to-reads" I hope to read more from this author in the future! 

A Bride for Keeps, Melissa Jaeger

 Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars

 How well could a marriage between a girl hurt by men and a man that has been jilted 3 times really go?  Talk about some HUGE trust issues and defensive walls.  I won't give away too much but let's say it led to a happy ending with excitement, tears and character development along the way.  Lately I had almost given up on Christian Romance, but this book I really enjoyed.  I hope to read some more like this!  The characters, setting (Kansas!!) and plot really hooked me. 

A Place in His Heart, Rebecca Dimarino

 














Rating 2.5 out of 5 Stars
 Rating 2.5 out of 5 stars
Mary and Barnabas marry for convenience after the death of Barnabas's beloved first wife, Ann.  While Mary loves him, Barnabe refuses to let himself love her and instead holds onto his late wife's memory with all his power.  Will he ever learn to love her? 

I really did not enjoy this book very much.  The characters were hard for me to get my head around and understand.  The dialogue was almost painful for me to read, but I am giving it the chance that it was just true to the time period.  A lot of the hints about the main character led me to almost believe he was unfaithful, but that wasn't the truth at all...maybe this was just to help me understand how not attentive he was to her feelings?   I really wanted to see what happened in the ending, but was disappointed there, too. 

To Win Her Heart, Karen Witemeyer

 
Rating 3 out of 5 stars

Summary:
Eden is a wealthy and beautiful woman living in Texas.  After being hurt badly in the past by a lying suitor who was only after her inheritance, she decides that the spinster life is for her.  She pours her time into the lending library she has started in her home with her own personal book collection.
Levi is fresh out of jail.  In his past he was a rebellious youth with a taste for fighting.  During one match an opponent was killed and Levi went to jail.  While this would normally be horrible, it led to Levi's salvation and a promise never to fight again.  Now he's in a new town with a fresh start.  But will his past stay...in the past? 
Here comes handsome, strong Levi to town and Miss Eden seems to be rethinking her "no man" decision.  Will Levi pursue her?  What about the nasty town sheriff?  He's interested in Eden and intent on shedding light on Levi's past.  Will the town turn on Levi?  Will Eden be able to trust him?

Review:
I had a hard time getting into this book.  In fact, I almost stopped reading it, but really did want to know what happened.  However, around 75% the story really picked up and I thoroughly enjoyed the last 25%.  This seems to be a theme of mine with Ms. Witemeyer's books.  They just seem too long to me for some reason?  It was a fun, easy read though and I love a happy ending. 

My Life as an Amish Wife, Lena Yoder

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

This is not a book I ever would have thought to read.  It's not historical and it's not even fiction!  However, a friend of mine raved about it and I thought I'd get a sample on my kindle to try.  Later I realized that I had accidentally bought it and decided I must be meant to read it.  I am very thankful I did. 

My Life as an Amish Wife is almost like reading the day to day diary or journal of an Amish farmer's wife.  She writes about her work, children and friends and the events of their life over seven years.  It's marvelous and inspiring.  Reading about her waking up at 4 and the list of things she would do each day really encouraged me to work harder and be more domestic in general.  Never did I feel at all like she was bragging about her life or what she accomplished day to day.  She was always very humble and also honest about her struggles.   I have to admit I was a little jealous of the sense of community she shared with her church neighbors.  What a blessing. 

Adoring Addie By, Leslie Gould (The Courtshio of Lancaster County 2)

 

Rating 2.5 out of 5 Stars

After reading Courting Kate, I had wanted to buy Adoring Addie right away.  However, the reviews on Amazon were less than stellar, and while I don't live and die by others' reviews, I still held off.  I found Adoring Addie on the shelf at our base library and was excited to give it a try for free. 

Summary:
Addie lives in an oppressive Amish household.  She is the only girl of several siblings and pretty much runs the house without help.  When she falls in love at first sight with Jonathan, she finally feels some hope.  However, there is a long term feud between the two families and many people and circumstances that are determined to keep them apart. 

Review:
I found myself enjoying this book at first, but it quickly became quite unrealistic to me.  Love at first sight may actually happen, but it was not believable to me in this book.  Also, Addie's personality was confusing to me.  She constantly would proclaim to have "never" disobeyed or gone against her parents, but all of her internal thoughts screamed "rebellion" and almost hatred of her parents.  I don't really blame her, but it seemed to be a contradiction.
I also felt the ending was too quick.  There were so many things going against them and in one chapter they seemed to fix everything.  Again, just pretty unrealistic. 
Because I enjoyed Courting Kate so much I would definitely try the next book in this series if one were to come out, but this was just not my favorite.