Category: ARC

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A Year of Flowers by Suzanne Woods Fisher Review and Giveaway

Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Book: A Year of Flowers

Author: Suzanne Woods Fisher

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release date: November 18, 2024

In this collection of four heartfelt novellas, three former friends have found success in the floral industry, but happiness–and love–remain elusive.

In An Apology in Bloom, wedding florist Jaime Harper is on a meteoric rise, working for an event company led by a successful and way-too-handsome boss. When a letter arrives from her past mentor with an offer too good to pass up, will she stay or head back to her hometown?

In A Bouquet of Dreams, Claire Murphy has always dreamed of owning a flower shop, and when her employers hint at retirement, she believes her moment has arrived. But first she must confront her past–and the man who caused her to flee her hometown years ago.

In A Field of Beauty, Tessa Anderson has found an acre of farmland to start her flower farm and forget the past. She’s grateful for the help of two men–her boyfriend, Tyler, and a quiet soil specialist named Dawson. But as the farm finally starts to bloom, Tessa will discover something that challenges everything she’s built.

In A Future in Blossom, Jaime, Claire, and Tessa return to their hometown, finally ready to face each other and their beloved mentor, flower shop owner Rose Reid. As they unite to pull off an extraordinary wedding, amid the flurry of preparations they just may find their way to forgiveness.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Suzanne Woods Fisher is a Christy finalist, a Carol and Selah winner, a two-time ECPA Book of the Year finalist, and the Publishers Weekly and ECPA bestselling author of more than forty books. Her genres include contemporary and historical romances, Amish romance, and women’s fiction. She and her husband live in a small town in California, where everyone knows everyone else, knows what they are doing and why. Most friends act a little nervous around Suzanne because they usually wind up in one of her novels. She has four grown children and enough grandchildren to keep her young.

More from Suzanne

A Year of Flowers: Friendships in Full Bloom

If you’ve ever tended to a garden, you know that flowers and friendships have a lot in common—they both need a bit of love, attention, and sometimes, a good pruning. That’s the heart of my novella collection called A Year of Flowers, stories of three teenage girls who bonded over bouquets and blossomed into best friends under the guidance of Rose, the wise and wonderful flower shop owner.

But life, much like a garden, doesn’t always go according to plan. On one sweltering August day, something dreadful happens in the flower shop, and the girls, who once shared everything, suddenly vanish from each other’s lives.

Seven years later, we find out where each girl, now a young woman, has gone. Their love for flowers is still in full bloom. Jaime’s taken her talent to the big city, working as a floral artist for a high-end event agency in NYC. She’s turning heads with her extravagant designs, but something’s missing—maybe it’s the simple joy she once found in that small-town flower shop.

Claire has run off to Savannah, Georgia, where she’s knee-deep in blooms, working in a flower shop with dreams of running the place one day. She’s got her eye on the prize, but she’s also discovering that you can’t outrun the past, no matter how far you go.

Then there’s Tessa, who’s found solace in the soil of Asheville, NC, where she’s started a flower farm. It’s a peaceful life, but even in the quiet of the mountains, memories of that summer day haunt her like the mist that rolls over the hills.

As each story unfolds, we see that, like flowers, friendships need TLC. They can wilt easily without care and attention. And sometimes, a good pruning is necessary, to help it grow stronger.

In the final novella, the three young women are drawn back to where it all began—the flower shop, and to Rose. It’s time to dig up the past, clear out the weeds, and see if their friendship can bloom again. After all, just because a garden has been neglected doesn’t mean it can’t be revived with a little care and attention.

So, if you’re a fan of flowers, friendships, or happy endings, get a copy of A Year of Flowers. It’s a reminder that with the right care, both flowers and friendships can flourish, no matter how long they’ve been left untended.

My Impressions

“Soil is never beyond repair. That’s the great mystery of it. Nature is constantly at work to heal the mess humans make of this earth.”

I always want to cheer when a new Suzanne Woods Fisher novel comes out. 

A Year of Flowers by Fisher is a veritable visual treat of the imagination. With the many varieties of flowers mentioned, the detail given to arrangement description, and the flower knowledge shared, it was clear that Fisher did her homework well. I could easily see the gorgeous bouquets, watch the flower groupings take form, and see the small town vs big city settings. And the characters quickly won me over. Plus, the I appreciated the cast of characters list as well as glossary at the front of each book. 

Three girls, Jaime, Claire, and Tessa, had once been best friends in high school. All worked for Rose in a small flower shop in Sunrise, North Carolina. Learning different aspects of the flower business from Rose, the girls think life will go on like this forever, until one night changes everything. 

We meet Jaime in the first novella, An Apology in Bloom. Jaime left that awful night and followed her dreams to New York, where her skill and a favor for a neighbor landed her the job of her dreams. Unfortunately, like many people, Jaime has great insecurities and maybe even some imposter syndrome going on. These tendencies often will implode on themselves, and they certainly do in Jaime’s case. But then she receives a letter from Rose, offering forgiveness, a return, and a chance to run the flower shop. Will she face a difficult present or an even more difficult past? What will happen of her fledgling relationship with her uber-successful boss?

Claire makes me laugh with her need to belong, her slightly arrogant opinion of herself, and her inability to see her own faults. She was hard for me to like for quite a while. But the customers at the Savannah flower shop where she now works also find her hard  to deal with,  and she gets sent to customer service rehab! This scene is a hoot, even as I cringed reading about Claire’s insensitivity to others and the situation. I wanted to say, “Bless your heart,” as used as “Southern code for many things: You poor thing. You’re an idiot. Or What on God’s green earth made you think that was a good idea?” Will Claire survive this last attempt to salvage her present job, or will she consider returning to the past upon receipt of Rose’s forgiveness letter? She would have to face the man she left behind. 

Tessa. Sigh. The girl every other girl loves to hate. Partly responsible for the breakup of the friendship of the three girls, now on her own, but still finding herself rescued by men. The one man who doesn’t notice her is the one she needs, Dawson, her previous sustainability prof. Somehow, she convinces him to be her farm manager for the little flower farm she wants to start outside of Asheville. Always the flower who attracts too many bees, Tessa’s beauty doesn’t always work in her favor. Then she gets the third identical letter from Rose…

The last novella, A Future in Blossom, ties all the stories together and brings answers to the many questions the girls’ lives have created. Like the first, there is a good twist in this novella. I really enjoyed this whole compilation. I encourage anyone who has lived through junior high school and bad teenage moments to read this!

I received a copy of the book from Celebrate Lit via NetGalley. I also bought a copy of the book. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.

Notable Quotables:

“when you can’t talk about something, it doesn’t go away. It just gets stuffed down.”

“He had reminded her that believing in God was one thing. Trusting in him was where all the good stuff came in. That was where the peace lay.”

“Shame craved secrecy.”

“Feeling beautiful was better than looking beautiful.”

“Flowers had the ability to soften the hardest of hearts.”

“Surely you must have done something you regretted.” That silenced her. “Well, what matters is you clean things up. Right?”

“Unlike people, flowers did not disappoint.”

“Flowers were the business of happiness”-Rose Reid

My Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Magnificent! Flowers Speak!

Blog Stops

Vicky Sluiter, January 11

lakesidelivingsite, January 11

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, January 12

Book Looks by Lisa, January 12

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, January 13

Simple Harvest Reads, January 13 (Guest Review from Marilyn)

She Lives to Read, January 14

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, January 14

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 15

For Him and My Family, January 15

Locks, Hooks and Books, January 16

By the Book, January 17

Wishful Endings, January 17

Texas Book-aholic, January 18

Pause for Tales, January 18

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 19

Cover Lover Book Review, January 20

Lighthouse Academy, January 20

The Avid Reader, January 21

Stories By Gina, January 22 (Author Interview)

Jeanette’s Thoughts , January 23

Blossoms and Blessings, January 23

Batya’s Bits, January 24

Holly’s Book Corner, January 24

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Suzanne is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54129

ARC, Barbour, BLOG, Celebrate Lit Tour, Favorite, Kindle, Launch Team, NetGalley, Purchase

What I Left for You by Liz Tolsma Review and Giveaway

Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Book: What I Left for You (Echoes of the Past Book Three)

Author: Liz Tolsma

Genre: Christian Fiction / Romance / Historical Fiction

Release date: December 1, 2024

A Family’s Ties Were Broken in Poland of 1939

1939
Helena Kostyszak is an oddity—an educated female ethnic minority lecturing at a university in Krakow at the outbreak of WWII. When the Germans close the university and force Jews into the ghetto, she spirits out a friend’s infant daughter and flees to her small village in the southern hills. Helena does everything in her power to protect her family, but it may not be enough. It will take all of her strength and God’s intervention for both of them to survive the war and the ethnic cleansing to come.

2023
Recently unengaged social worker McKenna Muir is dealt an awful blow when a two-year-old she’s been working with is murdered. It’s all too much to take, so her friend suggests she dive into her family’s past like she’s always wanted. Putting distance between herself and her problems might help her heal, so she and her friend head on Sabbatical to Poland. But what McKenna discovers about her family shocks everyone, including one long-lost family member.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Liz Tolsma is the author of several WWII novels, romantic suspense novels, prairie romance novellas, and an Amish romance. She is a popular speaker and an editor and resides next to a Wisconsin farm field with her husband and their youngest daughter. Her son is a US Marine, and her oldest daughter is a college student. Liz enjoys reading, walking, working in her large perennial garden, kayaking, and camping.

More from Liz

I stared at my computer screen in front of me. For years, I had been searching for my great-grandmother, Anna. I got no good information. Census records in the US weren’t helpful. Some listed her birthplace as Czechoslovakia, while others had it as Austria. I had heard before that she might have been born in Czechoslovakia before, but never Austria. There were no records that I had come across that listed the city or town where she was born.

Until that one day. While searching for my great-grandmother, I ran across a passport application recorded in Warsaw, Poland, for an Anna with the same last name, though spelled differently. Her birthday was listed as 1903, which matched the birth year I knew for my great-grandmother’s niece. As I read through the application, my heart was pounding. This Anna was born in the United States but went to Dubne, Poland, with her family in 1906. It was now 1923, and she wanted to return to the US, and she would be living with…

I started to cry when I saw who her sponsor was. My great-grandfather. The name and address were correct. There could be no doubt about it. It had taken me years, but I finally made the jump to Europe and discovered that my great-grandmother was not born in Czechoslovakia but in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire and is now Poland.

Of course, good little researcher that I am, I had to find out all I could about Dubne, the town they were from. That’s when I first came across the term Lemko. What on earth was that?

Lemkos are a Slavic people that settled in the Carpathian Mountains of Southern Poland, Northern Slovakia, and Western Ukraine. They are also known as Lemko Rusyns, Rusyns (especially those born in Slovakia, like my great-grandfather), and Carptho-Rusyns. The mountains kept the world at bay, and they developed their own language, customs, and form of Christianity. For the most part, they were very poor, many of them eking out a living from the rocky ground.

They lived in “black houses,” called that because the poorest people couldn’t afford to have a chimney built. The smoke from the cooking and heating fires stayed inside the house and covered the walls with black tar. If you look at the cemetery records from Dubne, you would be old if you lived into your fifties. Conditions were brutal.

The most the average Lemko could afford was one sheep or one pig. Since this was their most prized possession, they couldn’t take the chance of a wild animal or a neighbor taking it away, so it lived in the house with them.

With all of them. Up to eleven people would live in a two-room house. When I mentioned that in What I Left for You, my editor questioned if I had made a mistake. No, I didn’t. I have no idea how they fit all those people in there, but they did. As I was tracking one branch of our family tree, I kept coming up with people living in house 43. Over and over and over. They stuffed that house full. Grandparents, parents, and children all lived together. They may not have had much, but that forged the Lemkos into strong and resilient people.

I’m proud to be Lemko-Rusyn, and I’m thrilled to share this story with you. I infused Helena, the historical heroine, with as much of the Lemko spunk and spirit as I could. Last October, my daughter and I had the privilege to travel to Poland and Slovakia and see the Lemko homeland for ourselves. It helped me to write a better, richer story because I now understand where they came from and who they were. Enjoy Helena’s story and her journey during WWII and beyond. I hope you come to understand and appreciate the Lemko people as much as I have.

My Impressions

“No matter what, God.”

If you have read other reviews of What I Left for You by Liz Tolsma, you probably have already seen this quote, most likely headlining the review. I wanted to pick another quote, and there are several that I will mention later, but in order to face the darkness that is presented in this book, you need hope to hang on to. The darkness isn’t graphic, but we are dealing with persecuted Jews and other unwanted minorities, work camps, and unspeakable evil that we can only pray to learn from to avoid a repeat. 

Tolsma starts her puzzle (for indeed, that is what a dual timeline is) with a young Polish Lemko woman, Helena, who is a guardian of a small child in Nazi-occupied Poland. The other woman is a recently unattached, present-day social worker, McKenna. A Pennsylvania native, McKenna has also been responsible for a young child’s safety. 

I love how an author (Tolsma is so good at this) starts at the end of a combined story, but takes us back to the beginning of each separate thread and very slowly weaves the strands together. Each chapter starts with a line from the tragic “Song of Lemkoveyna.”

A glossary, pronunciation guide, and explanation of who the Lemkos are, is in the front of the book and most helpful. I still wished for a map, due to my own unfamiliarity with Eastern Europe. 

Tolsma draws the reader into her novel with her first ominous paragraph, expertly setting the tone of dark expectation and dread. Indeed, as we read, and even the characters question God’s presence, slowly, the seeds of faith are being tended in hearts. Slowly, some look upwards in this harrowing tale, realizing that ultimately, “evil will never win. God’s good always triumphs.” 

Also, a word of advice given is “ Remember the good.” That is exactly what first Jerzy, then later Helena do in order to survive the deplorable conditions they find themselves in. Even 

McKenna, as she searches her ancestral homeland for clues to a long-lost relative, begins to view her difficult life differently. We can’t change what happens, but we can certainly change our perception of those events. 

This is such a compelling book! You won’t be able to put it down. Grab some tissues, your fave comfort animal and drink, and settle in to learn about a minority persecuted in WWII that you probably had never heard of before. Discover the strength of the mother-child bond, and the immense love for one’s homeland. As we consider the lengths that Jerzy, Helena, and others go for love, ask yourself, how far would I go for another? Would I try to make it on my own power, or would I needs look upwards?

I received a copy of the book from the author and publisher via NetGalley. I also bought my own copy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own. 

Notable Quotables:

“Happiness flies away on butterfly wings. Contentment is enduring. Lasting.”

“Everything about me was icy. My fingers. My cheeks. My toes. My heart. My soul.”-  Helena

“You don’t have a crystal ball or a direct line to God.” “Ah.” Taylor sat back, broke the chocolate bar in half, and took a bite. “That’s where you’re wrong. I do have a direct line to God. It’s called prayer.” “But you can’t see into the future.” “I do know who controls what’s going to happen.”

 “Every life is precious, created by God for a special purpose, so we aren’t going to leave you.”

“O tonight, and only for tonight, I would trust the Lord to watch over us. Tomorrow I would have to make the choice whether or not to put my faith in Him once again.”- Helena

“In times of war, we put our own needs aside and give our best to the greatest good.”

“From here the Lord will lead us in the way we should go. If we can’t trust Him, there is no one to trust.”– Jerzy

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Magnificent!! The darkness of WWII Poland is permeated by the Light of Hope. Liz Tolsma does WWII Inspirational fiction so well!

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, January 7

lakesidelivingsite, January 7

Lots of Helpers, January 8

Pens Pages & Pulses, January 8

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, January 9

Life on Chickadee Lane, January 9

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, January 10

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, January 10

Texas Book-aholic, January 11

Connie’s History Classroom , January 11

Locks, Hooks and Books, January 12

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, January 13

For Him and My Family, January 13

Stories By Gina, January 14 (Author Interview)

Mary Hake, January 14

Holly’s Book Corner, January 15

Betti Mace, January 16

Jeanette’s Thoughts, January 16

Bigreadersite, January 17

Blossoms and Blessings, January 17

Pause for Tales, January 18

Becca Hope: Book Obsessed, January 18

A Good Book and Cup of Tea, January 19

Lights in a Dark World, January 19

Cover Lover Book Review, January 20

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Liz is giving away the grand prize of a $25 Amazon e-Gift card and a print copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54125

ARC, Bethany House, BLOG, Favorite, Kindle, NetGalley, PB, Purchase

Of Gold and Shadows by Michelle Griep Review

Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Title: Of Gold and Shadows

Series: The Lost Treasures, Bk 1

Author: Michelle Griep

Publisher: Bethany House

Released: September 2024

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction (Victorian Gothic Romance)

The shadows hold secrets darker than they ever imagined. . . .

In 1888 Victorian England, Ami Dalton navigates a clandestine dual life. By day, she strives to establish herself as a respected Egyptologist, overcoming the gender biases that permeate academia. But with a heart for saving black-market artifacts from falling into the wrong hands, she is most often disguised as her alter ego, the Shadow Broker.

After eight years in India, Oxford’s most eligible bachelor, Edmund Price, has come out of the shadows to run for Parliament and is in search of an Egyptologist to value a newly acquired collection. Expecting a renowned Oxford professor, Edmund instead finds himself entangled with Ami, the professor’s determined daughter. As they delve into the treasures, their connection deepens, but trouble emerges when a golden griffin–rumored to bear the curse of Amentuk–surfaces, and they’re left to wonder if the curse really is at play, or if something more nefarious is hiding among the shadows. . . .

“Don’t miss all the romance, adventure, and danger in [this] new page-turner.”–JULIE KLASSEN, bestselling author of Shadows of Swanford Abbey

About the Author

I hear voices. Loud. Incessant. And very real. Which basically gives me two options: choke back massive amounts of Prozac or write fiction. I’ve been writing since I discovered blank wall space and Crayolas. I seek to glorify God in all that I write–except for that graffiti phase I went through as teenager.

My Impressions

 “Perhaps-just maybe- all her striving to prove her intelligence and credibility didn’t matter a whit to God…perhaps her worth was in who she was, who God made her to be, instead of being measured by what she achieved. Dare she believe that?”

The name Michelle Griep is synonymous in my book with “must buy.” Her latest, Of Gold and Shadows, is a great representation of her finest work. Griep combines a female Egyptologist who wants for recognition in the field, a rich young man with a strong moral compass but a misguided way of helping the needy, and treasures, one cursed, that literally seem up for grabs. 

Ami Dalton is the young Egyptologist who has two goals: gain recognition in her field and make her archaeologist father proud of her. Cataloguing and valuing handsome, young Edmund Price’s Egyptian relics is a great job that should lead her a step closer to her goals.

Edmund has recently returned from India and has a heart for the people there, wishing to help them by acquiring a Parliament seat so he can be influential in laws governing taxes on India. We quickly get the idea that Edmund is a fish swimming upstream, as we see others of influence in England only wanting to benefit from India and its people. But, as noble and faith-based as his caring ideas are, will the ends justify the means? 

I loved the twist revealed at the end! I could not figure out why a certain character behaved as he did! I also loved how Edmund and Ami took turns building each other up, using their faith. But will they allow God to ultimately guide their future, or will they each continue down their pre-determined paths?

Michelle Griep always delivers a compelling story, a swoony romance, and truth nuggets carefully placed for maximum effect. Her ability to create the atmosphere by use of language ( expressions like “bosh,” “ codswallop,”and “stars and lightning”) and lyrical prose is so expressive. Sometimes I would have to stop reading, reread a sentence, and just savor the beauty of it!

I highly recommend this book for any historical romance fans! 

I received a copy of the book from the author and publisher through NetGalley, but I also purchased my own copy for the keeper shelf. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own.

Notable Quotables:

“God’s will shall not be thwarted. He always makes as way.” 

“Bottling up bad memories is a recipe for broken glass.”

“…his vulnerabilities were not s sign of weakness but were in fact opportunities for God’s love to be made perfect.”

“A good journalist could make a pile of manure into a bag of diamonds. A bad one, turn a saint into a sinner.”

“That’s the thing about fathers. They tend to have a way to make us feel like needy, negligible, little children-save for our Heavenly Father, that is…We are never insignificant in His eyes.”– Ami 

ARC, BLOG, Celebrate Lit Tour, Favorite, Kindle, PB, Purchase

Mabel and the Unholy Night by Susan Kimmel Wright

Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Book: Mabel and the Unholy Night (Mysteries of Medicine Spring Book Four)

Author: Susan Kimmel Wright

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Release date: November 5, 2024

Faithful dog Barnacle has run off into a snowstorm, disrupting Mabel’s fun outing at the Christmas tree farm. Things don’t improve much when he reappears…with a human skull.

Since Mabel moved into her late grandma’s house, the sleepy village of Medicine Spring has provided clean air, a close-knit community, and charming small-town shops. To her surprise, it’s also offered up several murders—and romance with a handsome private investigator. Now, Barnacle’s discovery plunges Mabel into the mystery surrounding a decades-old unsolved murder and the disappearance of her friend Nita’s great uncle.

Before Mabel, boyfriend John, and her friends can find answers and bring justice for Nita and her family, more complications develop. Incredibly, a sixty-year-old Christmas card arrives, bearing Mabel’s name and address and containing a plea for help. Are the mysteries related?

While Mabel tries to get to the bottom of these strange events, a second suspicious death casts suspicion on Nita. Can Mabel find the real killer in time? Or will her Christmas season end on an unholy night?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Susan Kimmel Wright began her life of mystery in childhood, with reading. That led to writing kids’ mysteries and eventually to Medicine Spring with Mabel. A longtime member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime, Susan’s also a prolific writer of personal experience stories, many for Chicken Soup for the Soul. She shares an 1875 farmhouse in southwestern PA with her husband, several dogs and cats, and an allegedly excessive stockpile of coffee and tea mugs.

More from Susan

Does Christmas make you nostalgic? In Mabel & the Unholy Night, fifty-year-old Mabel is observing her first Christmas in her late grandma’s house. As she sets out each fragile, vintage ornament, she feels that same familiar lump in her throat.

What we treasure may have to do with when we grew up. I love mid-century glass tree ornaments from Woolworth’s, ceramic elves stamped “Made in Japan,” and Gurley candles shaped like carolers, some still bearing 29¢ stickers on the base.

Ever since childhood, I’ve loved the tiny cardboard village under our tree. Houses and churches sparkled with glitter in their landscape of cotton-batting snow and bushes of dried moss. A sheet of glass atop light-blue construction paper made a perfect pond for tiny skaters. As someone once pointed out, accuracy of scale is of no concern in the cardboard village. Reindeer may loom over the houses like the mutant product of scientific experimentation gone wrong in a “B” horror movie.

Cardboard villages, properly called “putz houses,” originated with Moravian immigrants. Once handmade, houses were later imported from Germany and Japan. While nowadays we’re more likely to buy a ceramic village we can light up, I’ll take the primitive charm of a putz village any day.

Maybe best of all, we can build our own putz villages to suit ourselves. A new tradition for child and parent or grandparent might be building a new house each year, to add to the tiny community. While kits are available, you can also find plans online, such as this free resource: https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/make-traditional-glitter-houses-2365171

Perhaps our yearning for the things of the past is rooted in a longing for a more carefree time, when beloved faces, now gone, were still around us as we enjoyed the season together. When our slower-paced celebration centered on Christ’s birth, and family closeness. Building a putz house or church with loved ones might let us recapture just a bit of that old-fashioned Christmas spirit.

My Impressions

“You think it’s a coincidence this mail turns up right now and so do these bones?” -Nita

I love Mabel! Susan Kimmel Wright manages to make me break out in raucous laughter, ponder the inequities of life, and try to piece together a jigsaw that doesn’t want to be solved, all at the same time. Mabel and the Unholy Night is book four in the Medicine Spring series. It is quite helpful, but not entirely necessary, to have the background of the other books in your memory. A decades-old Christmas card reopens an old wound, plus old unsolved murder mysteries in the quiet town, and throws Mabel and her cronies and a few other folks into high confusion. 

I really tried to talk to Mabel this time! Mainly, it sounded like, “Just say, no!” No!to the request to be in the choir! No! to the request to become embroiled in the case of Nita’s great uncle Lester who disappeared on his paper route one day 60 years ago. And * definitely * no!!! to your friends’ ideas and schemes!!

 My head was spinning with the amount of possible suspects. I realized I was no longer reading to investigate, but I was being carried along by the flow of the story’s uncertain current, being driven hither and yon by new evidence. 

In the midst of all this uncertainty is the sure thing that is a part of any Medicine Spring book: coffee-snorting, spouse-waking, eruptive laughter. That is Mabel in a nutshell. Yet Kimmel-Wright also uses the Unholy Night to remind us how lopsided our country was in its treatment of people based upon their race sixty years ago. What better way to make a memorable point than with the emotions of humor and fear? 

Mabel is actually progressing very slowly, but, still, progressing, in her positive growth forward as we move through these books. Maybe that’s part of the appeal of these books. A cozy character who is at once flawed, loveable,and dynamic.

I received a copy of the book from the author and Celebrate Lit. I also bought my own copy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own. 

Notable Quotables:

“Are you always this calm?”…“No…I’m a work in progress, but I’d rather be progressing than a perpetual basket case, wouldn’t you?”

“Sometimes it’s hard to feel the way we think we should. Feelings don’t always behave.”

“You’re the only thing stopping you.”-Grandma

“They can catch you, but they can’t eat you.”-Grandma

My Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I find Mabel impossible to resist and always feel better after reading one of her adventures!

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, December 20

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, December 21

A Reader’s Brain, December 22 (Author Interview)

Holly’s Book Corner, December 22

Locks, Hooks and Books, December 23

Fiction Book Lover, December 24 (Author Interview)

Guild Master, December 25 (Author Interview)

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 26

Texas Book-aholic, December 27

Back Porch Reads, December 28 (Author Interview)

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, December 28

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 29

A Modern Day Fairy Tale, December 30 (Author Interview)

Blogging With Carol, December 31

Lily’s Corner, January 1

Vicky Sluiter, January 2 (Author Interview)

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Susan is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54124

ARC, BLOG, Celebrate Lit Tour, Favorite, Kindle, Launch Team, Purchase

Beyond the Horizon by Penny Zeller Review and Giveaway

Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Book: Beyond the Horizon

Author: Penny Zeller

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: November 5, 2024

She’s desperate to keep her job.
He’s desperate for solitude.
What is God’s plan in this complicated situation?

Ruby Shepherdson has worked hard to secure her job as a reporter for The Horizon Herald. After a costly mistake, Ruby’s unforgiving boss gives her an ultimatum to either interview the handsome and reclusive Jake Lynton—or lose her job. But each time Ruby has attempted to obtain an interview, Mr. Lynton has refused. Why would anyone who has saved the lives of four people deny recognition? And why does she find herself drawn to the man?

Jake Lynton just wants to be left alone. Haunted by the past, he runs from both guilt and God by leaving home and somehow finding himself in Horizon, Idaho. His hopes of living as a recluse are foiled when a pesky, but beautiful reporter insists he allow her to interview him about a good deed gone awry. Despite Jake’s efforts, Ruby Shepherdson persists, soon endearing herself to him while somehow remaining endlessly annoying.

Jake’s story isn’t the only one Ruby seeks to publish. When rumors of ill dealings come to her attention, she sets forth to uncover the truth—truth someone does not want revealed. As danger emerges and an unanticipated enemy determines to keep Ruby silent, will Jake fit the pieces together in time to rescue her? Or will he lose the woman who has found a place in his heart?

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Penny Zeller is known for her heartfelt stories of faith-filled happily ever afters and her passion to impact lives for Christ through fiction. Her books feature tender romance, steady doses of humor, and memorable characters that stay with you long after the last page.

While she has had a love for writing since childhood, Penny began her adult writing career penning articles for national and regional publications on a wide variety of topics. Today Penny is a multi-published author of over two dozen books and is also a fitness instructor, loves the outdoors, and is a flower gardening addict. In her spare time, she enjoys camping, hiking, kayaking, biking, birdwatching, reading, running, and playing volleyball.

Penny resides with her husband and two daughters in small-town America and loves to connect with her readers.

More from Penny

Thank you so much for joining me for the Beyond the Horizon blog tour. I am super excited to share Ruby Shepherdson’s story with you and can’t wait for you to meet newcomer Jake Lynton. Below is an excerpt from the first chapter. Happy reading!

Horizon, Idaho, 1895

For a moment, she was the world-famous reporter, Ruby Shepherdson, author of the latest award-winning article.

Ruby closed her eyes and imagined seeing her name below the numerous articles and stories she submitted to Mr. O’Kane, the editor of The Horizon Herald. The editor from the prestigious Boise City Chronicle, who was just happening to visit his mother in Horizon, would peruse the pages of The Horizon Heraldand become engrossed in one of Ruby’s engaging articles. He would then invite her to submit a monthly story to his well-read publication.

But alas, such a fanciful dream would have to wait.

Ruby resumed scrubbing one of Papa’s shirts on the washboard. There was no fictional editor from The Boise City Chronicle visiting his mother in Horizon. And until Ruby’s shipment of her Smith Premier typewriter arrived from the R. Altman & Company in St. Louis, Missouri, she would continue to dip her pen in ink and handwrite each and every composition she submitted to the cantankerous man who’d become her boss just one year ago last week.

Not that she minded tending to everyday chores, including laundry on Mondays, for she didn’t. As a matter of fact, Ruby’s highest aspirations were to marry someday and be a wife and mother. But until the Lord saw fit to allow a suitable gent into her life, she would continue on the path of writing.

Ruby hung the shirt on the line and proceeded with washing the next item when she noticed a buggy rounding the curve to their farm. She stood tall and placed her hands on her lower back to stretch the tightness from hunching over the washboard. A closer perusal indicated Wilhelmina, one of Mama’s best friends, was paying them a visit.

Wilhelmina, a permanent smile on her round face, folded Ruby into a hug. “It’s so nice to see you. Your ma and I are planning some new recipe ideas, but first, I was asked to deliver a message.”

It didn’t surprise Ruby that Mama and Wilhelmina would be experimenting with recipes. After the Bible, Mama’s favorite book was Recipes from Augusta’s Kitchen, a book she’d purchased when she and Papa first married. “A message?”

“Yes. Tabitha said to tell you that your special purchase has arrived.”

The air caught in Ruby’s lungs. “My special purchase? It has arrived?”

“That’s what she said.”

Not caring how unladylike it might be, Ruby let out an enthusiastic squeal, threw up her hands in excitement, and danced a little jig.

“Might be that you are thrilled to hear this news,” teased Wilhelmina.

“Oh, yes. Not only thrilled but exhilarated. I’ve waited forever for this momentous occasion.”

My Impressions

“There’s nowhere better to be than resting in the Lord’s arms. Reckon that’s the safest place for us to be.” 

It’s time for another visit to Horizon, Idaho, circa 1895, guided by Penny Zeller’s historical prairie western voice. In bk 3,  Beyond the Horizon of the Horizon series, we meet a struggling female journalist and a curmudgeonly, isolationist farmer. 

Ruby Shepherdson is fighting hard to make a career for herself as a journalist, starting by working for the local paper, where her competition is the editor’s rich, spoiled niece. When a chance for the story of a lifetime comes, she begins badgering newcomer Jake Lynton to give her an interview. 

Jake is running from his past and God. He moved to Horizon for anonymity, and he has no desire to let a beautiful but pesky redhead bring his past where everyone can see and judge. 

I always enjoy Penny Zeller’s humorous, easy story-telling style. The family camaraderie and banter is fun to see. As expected by now, I found several truth nuggets. What surprised me was how much a few of them would suddenly apply to me as real life took a turn as I read the story. That’s when I know I have read a novel I love and want to share- when I find bits that strengthen me in my daily life, even as I’m entertained. Thank you, Ms. Zeller!

I received a copy of the book from the author and publisher through Celebrate Lit. I also bought my own copy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own. 

Notable Quotables:

“While perspectives have their place, truth is always the best option.”

“Because people were more important than articles. Even articles that ought to be written.”

“I realized that while I can blame God for what happened, I’ll never know the peace I could know while being distanced from Him.”

“…one day with the Lord is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. He does not see time as we do. We see the tintype version, but He sees an enormous painting.”

My Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Magnificent! Sweet romantic , humorous, story of Old West with Truth woven in still applies today!

Blog Stops

Madi’s Musings, December 10

lakesidelivingsite, December 10

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, December 11

Life on Chickadee Lane, December 11

Lighthouse Academy Blog, December 12 (Guest Review from Marilyn Ridgway)

Pens Pages & Pulses, December 13

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 14

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, December 15

Texas Book-aholic, December 16

Pause for Tales, December 16

Book Looks by Lisa, December 17

Cover Lover Book Review, December 18

She Lives To Read, December 19

Locks, Hooks and Books, December 20

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 21

Mary Hake, December 21

For Him and My Family, December 22

Holly’s Book Corner, December 23

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Penny is giving away the grand prize of a $25 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54115

ARC, BLOG, Celebrate Lit Tour, Favorite, Launch Team, Love Inspired Suspense, PB, Purchase

Hunted on the Trail by Dana Mentink Review and Giveaway

Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Book: Hunted on the Trail

Author: Dana Mentink

Genre: Suspense

Release date: December 24, 2024

A killer out for vengeance…

but this bloodhound has his scent.

Ambushed by sudden gunfire, former cop Stephanie Wolfe realizes the tracking competition she entered with her bloodhound is a setup. An escaped fugitive has lured her into the remote wilderness to exact his deadly revenge. And her ex-boyfriend, bounty hunter Vance Silverton, has fallen into the fatal trap, too. Now cut off from civilization with only minimal supplies and their two dogs, the pair must depend on each other to survive. But with a treacherous storm approaching, it’s not only a cold-blooded killer they’ll have to escape.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Dana Mentink is a USA TODAY and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author. She’s written more than forty mystery and suspense novels for Love Inspired Suspense, and Poisoned Pen Press. Her debut novel with Revell releases in the summer of 2025. She is honored to have received two ACFW Carol Awards, a Holt Medallion Award, and a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award.

More from Dana

My life has gone to the dogs! No joke! While readers enjoy the Wolfe family humans, I hear on the regular that their favorite characters are the bloodhounds. In book #1, Wally was just an irrepressible disaster, and he continues his naughty ways throughout the series. In book #2, we met Pinkerton who is a model canine, unless squirrels enter the picture. And now, you’ll get to know Chloe who is fabulous, but I will venture to say she is going to be outshined by her mutt companion Brutus (you’ll have to read the book to discover his real name and identity!) As this book launches, I’m deep into writing the last two and there are a couple more unpredictable hounds you have yet to meet. Such fun! Thanks for galloping along with me on this series!

My Impressions

“We’re partners again right now, like we were back on the force. Partners don’t abandon each other. Ever.”

Except, these two, Steph and Vance, are more like “cooperative enemies.” Dana Mentink begins her third book of Security Hound Investigations, Hunted on the Trail, with Stephanie Wolfe and her well-trained bloodhound joining a four day tracking and trailing competition in the Sierra Nevada range. Much to her dismay, Vance Silverton, her former boyfriend who stole the detective job from under her, comes to attempt to be her partner. Two strikes against him. The third is Brutus, his obese, uncontrollable dog, obviously not trained for such missions. ( Friends, we have our resident odd-ball “bloodhound” for the book!) Brutus is the source of much laughter, amazement, and not a little consternation! Shortly after starting the race, Steph’s assigned partner vanishes, and Steph and Vance discover they are both lured to this wilderness by a murderer from their past whose guilt they failed to prove while on the force. 

And so begins a very dangerous cat-and-mouse game in an unforgiving land where all the chips are stacked against Steph and Vance. Can they get past their painful history to work together to survive? 

The problem seems to be, both the people and the dogs are exact opposites. The dogs, bless their hearts, act like adults and get along fine. But can two such opposite people really mesh after the danger is over? It is possible, but they are going to both have some daily concessions to make. They will have to continue to consider other’s backgrounds and history with love and care as they respond. 

It is when Steph learns of Vance’s background that her attitude begins to change about Vance, while I began to flounder as a reader, hitting a personal trigger. However, Mentink had built up the suspense and the romantic tension so high, I had to keep reading, crying or not. What I discovered was that Steph responds with empathy to Vance’s situation, and the words she uses and affirmations she gives  him brought comfort to my own hurting soul. Wow!

I loved the plot twists and felt the whodunnit was played just right. So far, this is my fave book of the series probably for the twists and also for the dogs. I only wish I could maybe have been a tree with eyes to see the hilariousness that was Vance and his dog!

I received a copy of the book from the author and publisher and Celebrate Lit. I also bought my own copy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own. 

Notable Quotables:

“generic-tenderness-for-a-fellow-human”

“Would you want to date another version of yourself? Relationships are supposed to make the other person better.”

“She had grown up a believer, but she defaulted to herself she realized, not God.”

“That’s God’s kind of love…Honoring and respecting in spite of your feelings, not because of them.”

“They were outguessed, outgunned and running out of time.”

My Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Magnificent!! Hunted on the Trail is a romantic suspense book that hit my reading (and current emotional) sweet spot!! Best of Series so far!!

Blog Stops

Book Reviews From an Avid Reader, December 3

She Lives to Read, December 3

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, December 4

Wishful Endings, December 5

An Author’s Take, December 5

Betti Mace, December 6

Life on Chickadee Lane, December 6

Texas Book-aholic, December 7

Devoted To Hope, December 7

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 8

Stories By Gina, December 8

Locks, Hooks and Books, December 9

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, December 9

The Avid Reader, December 10

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 10

Blogging With Carol, December 11

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, December 11

Simple Harvest Reads, December 12 (Guest Review from Donna Cline)

Kyliegh Reads, December 12

For Him and My Family, December 13

Leslie’s Library Escape, December 13

Blossoms and Blessings, December 14

Labor Not in Vain, December 14

Holly’s Book Corner, December 15

Pause for Tales, December 15

A Good Book and Cup of Tea, December 16

Lights in a Dark World, December 16

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Dana is giving away the grand prize of a $75 Amazon gift card and a signed copy of the book!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54108

ARC, BLOG, Celebrate Lit Tour, Favorite, Kindle, Misty M Beller Books, Purchase

Pretending to be the Mountain Man’s Wife by Misty M. Beller Review and Giveaway

Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Book: Pretending to be the Mountain Man’s Wife (Brothers of Sapphire Ranch Book 6)

Author: Misty M. Beller

Genre:Christian Historical Romance

Release date: November 19, 2024

In the wild mountains of the Montana Territory, the Coulter ranch is a place of family, second chances…and a hidden fortune. 

Determined to find his missing brother and catch the elusive mastermind behind the theft of his family’s precious sapphires, Gil Coulter embarks on a solo mission to the remote town where the criminal is rumored to reside. As Gil scours the surrounding wilderness for the thief’s hidden lair, he crosses paths with a captivating young woman who harbors secrets of her own.

Jess McPharland has spent her life hidden in the mountains, doing her best to stay separate from her family’s business. Yet the secret she’s just discovered will change her life forever. She offers a silent prayer, pleading for a man to help her conceal the truth she’s only just discovered. As if in answer, Gil Coulter rides through the trees, seeking the very criminal Jess calls Father. Now she must find a way to ask this stranger for the ultimate favor—to pose as her husband and shield her from the consequences of a change she won’t be able to hide much longer.

As Gil and Jess navigate the treacherous landscape and the greater danger from her father and his cronies, they find themselves caught in a web of danger, deception, and unexpected attraction. With each passing moment, the stakes grow higher, and the line between pretense and truth blurs. Will the love growing between them be enough to protect Jess’s secret and lead them to the justice Gil seeks, or will the truth shatter everything they’ve risked their lives to build?

From a USA Today bestselling author comes a mountain saga filled with high-stakes adventure, a pretend marriage, a secret baby, and love that heals wounded hearts.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Misty M. Belleris a USA Today bestselling author with over 1 million books sold. She writes romantic mountain stories, set on the 1800s frontier and woven with the truth of God’s love.

Raised on a farm and surrounded by family, Misty developed her love for horses, history, and adventure. These days, her husband and children provide fresh adventure every day, keeping her both grounded and crazy.

Misty’s passion is to create inspiring Christian fiction infused with the grandeur of the mountains, writing historical romance that displays God’s abundant love through the twists and turns in the lives of her characters.

Sharing her stories with readers is a dream come true for Misty. She writes from her country home in South Carolina and escapes to the mountains any chance she gets.

More from Misty

In Pretending to be the Mountain Man’s Wife, the heroine and her father live in a cave which is part of an intricate catacomb hidden inside Montana mountain.

I LOVED researching cave systems, especially those in Montana, and I was amazed at how many extensive tunnels and caverns have been discovered!

One of the most well-known is Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park, located between Butte and Bozeman. This spectacular limestone cave system features a series of caverns adorned with incredible rock formations. These days, visitors can take guided tours to marvel at the intricate stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and helictites that have formed over thousands of years. The cave is also home to several species of bats.

Another notable cave system is the Bighorn Caverns, situated in the Pryor Mountains south of Billings. This complex network of caves extends for over 14 miles, making it one of the most significant cave systems in the state. Experienced cavers can explore winding passages, underground streams, and vast chambers with unique mineral formations.

The Bighorn Caverns are very similar to how I imagine the cave system was that Jess lived in. As amazing as the tunnels are to explore, I’m not sure I’d want to live in such darkness. What about you?

I pray you enjoy Gil and Jess’s story in Pretending to be the Mountain Man’s Wife! J

Blessings!

Misty

My Impressions

“She would always be Mick McPharland’s daughter, and he’d never let her escape his control.”

Misty M. Beller has done it again! She has developed another fresh but related Coulter brother story to add another facet to the diamond that is Brothers of Sapphire Ranch series. Pretending to be the Mountain Man’s Wife is #6 in this series, and it tells the narrative of Gil Coulter and Jess McFarland in 1870s Montana Territory. ( Do yourself a huge favor and read this series in order to avoid spoilers!)

Gil happens upon Jess on a mountainside, where she promises to help him find his missing brother, Sampson. Her price is that he help her escape her father’s control. To explain Coulter’s presence to her conniving, mean-spirited father and henchman, Gil and Jess pretend to be married.  As Jess focuses on escaping, Gil insists on exploring and searching for his brother, plus the Coulter family’s jewels that were stolen recently. 

This is a story about love and loyalty that give unselfishly and even when it hurts. It’s about a daughter who understands how wicked her father is, yet because of her need for security and affection, craves her father’s approval, knowing it will never come. Beller shows us how an earthly father without love for his child makes it difficult for that child to understand God as a good father. “It seemed impossible to think of Someone Who loved her, Who planned good things for her—hope and a future—and also think of Him as a Father.” She also shows God’s acceptance, forgiveness,  and love for people who turn from their wrong ways to follow Him. 

All these truths are wrapped up in a beautiful, romantic, and achingly sad story. There is plenty of action and suspense to keep the reader turning those pages to find out what happens next.  

I received a copy of the book from Celebrate Lit. I also bought my own copy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own. 

Notable Quotables:

“God forgave you the very first time you asked. He doesn’t hold your past against you.”

“God was with them. He would make a way, even when there seemed no options.”

“Father was as different from Gil as the darkness of the cave from noontime sunshine.”

“I was a possession to him, someone he could use for his advantage.”

My Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Magnificent! Another thrilling installment of the Coulter brothers’ stories, with the clear promise of more adventures to come!

Blog Stops

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, November 22

Melissa’s Bookshelf, November 22

Pause for Tales, November 23

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, November 23

Texas Book-aholic, November 24

Blossoms and Blessings, November 24

Lighthouse Academy Blog, November 25(Guest Review from Marilyn Ridgway)

lakesdielivingsite, November 26

Locks, Hooks and Books, November 27

For Him and My Family, November 27

Devoted To Hope, November 28

Happily Managing a Household of Boys, November 29

Jeanette’s Thoughts, November 29

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 30

Book Looks by Lisa, December 1

Holly’s Book Corner, December 1

Betti Mace, December 2

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, December 3

Cover Lover Book Review, December 3

Books You Can Feel Good About, December 4

Life on Chickadee Lane, December 5

Mary Hake, December 5

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Misty is giving away the grand prize of a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54105

ARC, BLOG, Celebrate Lit Tour, Favorite, Just Read Tours, Kindle, Launch Team, PB, Purchase

Investigation of a Journalist by Danielle Grandinetti Review and Giveaway

Babbling Becky L

Welcome to the Blog + Review Tour for Investigation of a Journalist by Danielle Grandinetti, hosted by JustRead Publicity Tours!

About the Book

Title: Investigation of a Journalist
Series: Harbored in Crow’s Nest #6
Author: Danielle Grandinetti
Publisher: Hearth Spot Press
Release Date: November 19, 2024
Genre: Christian Historical Romance/Suspense

A second chance to set the record straight, and rekindle a lost love.

Wisconsin, 1931—Buck Wilson refuses to accept failure as his reward for all he has sacrificed, but he’s kept secrets for too long to be believed. With his freedom on the line, there’s only one person he trusts to mine for the true story: the woman he left one month before their wedding.

All investigative journalist Caroline Wagoneer wants is to shine a light on the truth wherever darkness threatens to obscure it. Which is the only reason she agrees to help her ex-fiance when he begs for her to go undercover in Crow’s Nest. What she discovers paints Buck in a whole new light.

With lies and rumor hemming them in, Buck and Caroline realize their love may be doomed on the altar of altruism.

Unless love can truly conquer all.

Welcome to Crow’s Nest, where danger and romance meet at the water’s edge.

PURCHASE LINKS: Goodreads | Buy Directly From the Author | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | BookBub

Also Available

About the Author

Danielle Grandinetti

Danielle Grandinetti is an award-winning inspirational romance author fueled by tea and books. As a FHLCW Reader’s Choice and Selah Award Finalist, she mixes romance, suspense, and history to bring her stories to life. Originally from the Chicagoland area, she now lives along Lake Michigan’s Wisconsin shoreline with her husband and their two young sons.

Connect with Danielle at daniellegrandinetti.com to follow her on social media and sign up for email updates.

My Impressions

“The grotesque Halloween masks decorating the wall seemed to mock him. He’d been wearing a mask for so long, he didn’t know how to take it off.”

Finally! Buck and Caroline’s story is here in book 6 of Harbored in Crows Nest, Investigation of a Journalist. Ever since book one (so yes, it really helps to read these books in order ) Buck has been a stumbling block to the upright citizens of Crows Nest. David Martins, one of the first characters we learn to love, considers Buck a thorn in the flesh at best, an enemy of those who want to make an honest living. 

As we finally meet Caroline (Carrie), the Chicago journalist who Buck dropped like a hotcake a month before their wedding, some blanks in Buck’s past begin to be filled in. (There will be some blanks in your understanding, too, if you skip this prologue!) What happened to the wonderful man Carrie thought Buck was, before he broke their engagement and disappeared to Crows Nest?

On procuring info of a counterfeiting ring and being asked for help by Buck himself, Carrie goes undercover in Crows Nest. What she and Buck uncover will either incriminate Buck and send him to prison or prove him innocent and uninvolved with the irregularities occurring in the Conglomerate. 

This is a fast-paced, historical romantic suspense-mystery with faith nuggets and wisdom seamlessly woven in. There may be a few swoon-worthy moments as well. “You can count on me to fight for you. Forever.” [ Buck] *Le Sigh*

Will Carrie and Buck glean enough information to prove Buck innocent? Can they do so without sacrificing one or both of their lives? Get your copy of Investigation of a Journalist today!

I received a copy of the book from the author and publisher. I also bought both an ebook and a paperback for the keeper shelf. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own. 

Notable Quotables:

“…tonight she’d gain entrance into the world that had destroyed her marriage before it had the chance to begin.”

“Fighting for truth, for justice, for good to prevail always has a cost.” Her words were quiet. “How can we expect not to pay a price when we follow a God willing to send His Son to vanquish evil with His life?”

“You must trust me. You must trust that God will protect me. And if He does not, if I do not make it, then He will be there to catch you.”

“Hope was as fragile as a leaf. One day green and bright, the next it died, fell, and curled to a brittle paper to be crunched under a shoe.”

“Yeah, she had a heart condition, too. Broken, shattered, and still in love with the man who’d devastated it.”

My Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Magnificent! Grandinetti remains one of my fave historical romantic suspense authors! An auto-buy!

Tour Giveaway

(3) winners will each win a paperback copy of Confessions to a Stranger, a Crow’s Nest tote bag, and a Crow’s Nest Journal!

Full tour schedule linked below. The giveaway begins at midnight November 19, 2024 and will last through 11:59 PM EST on November 26, 2024. Winner will be notified within 2 weeks of close of the giveaway and given 48 hours to respond or risk forfeiture of prize. US only. Void where prohibited by law or logistics.

Giveaway is subject to JustRead Publicity Tours Giveaway Policies.

Enter Giveaway

Follow along at JustRead Tours for a full list of stops!

ARC, BLOG, Favorite, Kindle, NetGalley, PB, Purchase, Revell

A Healing Touch by Suzanne Woods Fisher Review

Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Title: A Healing Touch

Author: Suzanne Woods Fisher

Publisher: Revell

Released: October 1, 2024

Genre: Amish Romance

Ruth “Dok” Stoltzfus is the kind of doctor who still believes in house calls, addressing not just her patients’ physical needs but their emotional ones too. When newly widowed Bee faces a breast cancer diagnosis, Dok connects her with Fern Lapp for support. When her painfully shy assistant Annie finds herself drawn to a new calling, Dok goes to great lengths to help her achieve her dream. And when an abandoned newborn mysteriously appears at her office one frosty morning, Dok’s world takes an unexpected turn as ripples of change touch several lives.

A Healing Touch is a captivating tale of compassion, resilience, and the bonds that form in surprising places. Bestselling and award-winning author Suzanne Woods Fisher invites you into a new story that’s like medicine for the weary soul. Join Dok, Annie, and the tight-knit Stoney Ridge community as they navigate the twists of fate, discovering that sometimes the greatest healing comes from the heart.

About the Author

Suzanne Woods Fisher loves stories worth telling about people worth remembering. With over a million copies of her book sold worldwide, this bestselling, award-winning author of more than 30 books is always on the lookout for the unsung hero with an untold story.

Readers are invited to stop by Suzanne’s website at: http://www.suzannewoodsfisher.com

My Impressions

“a doctor can treat to the best of her ability, but only God can heal.”

If I hadn’t wanted to read this book before, the tongue-in-cheek descriptions of some of the characters in  the cast of characters (at the front of book) would have convinced me!

I couldn’t wait to return to Stoney Creek with Suzanne Woods Fisher for more of her wonderful Amish community there. However, A Healing Touch is as much about Englischers as it is the Amish. 

We get to see an intimate look at Dok Stoltzfus, the Bishop’s sister, who left the Amish ways behind. Dok obtained her MD, married an Englischer, but returned to practice among the People she left. Dok is much beloved and trusted in the community, but we begin to see her single-minded dedication to her patients is beginning to take a toll on her marriage. Will Dok find a reason to spend less time in the office and more at home? 

Another major character in the novel is Bee, who is a retired Olympic equestrian racer. Now widowed, she wallows in a haze of misery as life takes yet another unexpected turn. Will she allow a frenemy from the past to help with her beloved horses? What is the story between the two former acquaintances? You’ll love Fran, an Amish woman who comes alongside Bee (an Englischer) and teaches her valuable life lessons!

I especially loved seeing shy Annie, a young Amish girl, as she learns to overcome social anxiety. Dok has taken Annie as her secretary, hoping the position will nudge her out of her shyness. What nobody foresees is the interest that Annie develops. Can Annie trust God to work in her life and others’ to take her down the path He has for her?

I received a copy of the book from Revell via NetGalley. I also bought my own copy. No positive review was required, and all opinions are my own. 

Notable Quotables:

“Bad thoughts can be like weeds. Pull them out quickly before they take over. There’s no point in watering the weeds.”

“Faith infuses grief the way a tea bag steeps in hot water.”

“Extra kneading ends up with the best bread of all—light and airy and delicious. A little like life, I’ve always thought. Difficult times end up making us the best we can be.”

“…a person’s past wasn’t ​pertinent, only who they were now.”

“If you aren’t training…“you’re untraining.”

My Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Magnificent! Each Stoney Ridge story seems to be even better than the last! Do we really have to leave Stoney Ridge?!!

ARC, BLOG, Celebrate Lit Tour, Favorite, Kindle, Launch Team, Purchase, Wild Heart Books

A Christmas at Hotel del Coronado by Kathleen Denly Review and Giveaway

Babbling Becky L

About the Book

Book: A Christmas at Hotel del Coronado

Author: Kathleen Denly

Genre: Christian Historical Romance

Release date: October 8, 2024

When death visits Coronado, will secrets of the past keep them from uncovering the truth?

Her entire life, Eleanore Wainright has been molded to fit the ideal society wife in the glittering world of New York’s elite. Her father’s aspirations for her are clear: marry a man of wealth and status, and secure their family’s future. But when she arrives at the Hotel del Coronado with intentions to do just that, Eleanore’s carefully laid plans are thrown into disarray when she comes face to face with Thomas Harding, the man who shattered her heart and disappeared without a trace.

Working as a bellboy at California’s newest and most prestigious resort, Thomas never imagined crossing paths with Eleanore again, let alone amidst the backdrop of a suspicious death.

As the investigation continues and tensions rise, Eleanore and Thomas are forced to confront not only the ghosts of their past but also the secrets that threaten to destroy their future and the futures of those they hold dear. With the eyes of New York’s elite upon them, they must choose between the responsibilities they’re expected to fulfill and the love they’ve always yearned for, risking everything in the process.

Click here to get your copy!

About the Author

Kathleen Denlylives in sunny California with her loving husband, four young children, two dogs, and ten cats. As a member of the adoption and foster community, children in need are a cause dear to her heart and she finds they make frequent appearances in her stories. When she isn’t writing, researching, or caring for children, Kathleen spends her time reading, visiting historical sites, hiking, and crafting.

More from Kathleen

A Christmas at Hotel del Coronado was inspired first by the true events surrounding the tragic death of a mysterious woman that occurred at Coronado’s world famous hotel in November of 1892, and second by the fun antics of Miss Scarlet in the Masterpiece television show, Miss Scarlet and the Duke.

Although Miss Scarlet is a professional sleuth, I chose to make my heroine, Eleanore Wainright, an amateur sleuth who typically puts her keen observation skills to use when secretly writing her own mystery novels. That is, until an unexpected death compels her to use those skills to uncover the truth. Of course my hero, Thomas Harding, gets wrapped into helping her despite the tension of past heartbreak lying between them.

One of the most fun parts of writing this story was seeing Eleanore’s spunky Aunt Gladys support and encourage her niece. Aunt Gladys has an energy and sassiness that belies her years. And today, her curiosity has got the better of her. You see, Eleanore is being stubborn and won’t reveal the title of her current work in progress, so Aunt Glady is snooping through her niece’s room for clues.

To learn more about the true history behind this story, look for the author’s note at the back of the book!

My Impressions

“Secrets truly are the Achilles’ heel of powerful people.”

So many things drew me to this book, A Christmas at Hotel del Coronado. One is that the author is Kathleen Denly, and I always enjoy her historical romance writing! The second is that it is yet another, book eight, to be exact, of the Romance at the Gilded Age Resorts, each book by a different author and often featuring a famous hotel of the time that I don’t know much about. Thirdly, we have visited Coronado Island. The hotel there was much too fancy for our pocketbooks, and it is interesting to learn its background. I could only imagine how beautiful the hotel must have been, all decorated for the Christmas season. 

I enjoyed seeing the romance between well-to-do Eleanore and her social underling, Thomas. Would they find a way to figure out what divided them in the past, plus figure out a way forward to renew their shattered love?

I do believe that Eleanore’s aunt is my fave secondary character. She knows the hearts of those closest to her, but keeps confidences. She loves the flawed people around her, and isn’t afraid to encourage them without giving away other’s secrets.

Speaking of secrets, there are some good mystery threads going on in this novel. I really enjoyed the twists, and I think other readers of western historical fiction will, too. 

There are a few words of language in the book, but they are, in my opinion, totally appropriate. 

Reading the author’s notes is a must!! 

I received a copy of the book from the author and Celebrate Lit. I also bought my own copy. No positive opinion was required, and all opinions are my own. 

Notable Quotables:

“Novels are nothing more than a poor man’s excuse for not working and a dull-witted woman’s method of passing the time for want of anything worthwhile to do.”

“If God left it up to us to earn His love and forgiveness, we’d all be damned.”

“Precious little is more important than tradition.”

“Surely, God would want her to help, and that trumped any of society’s rules.”

My Rating

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So many things to like about this A Christmas at Hotel del Coronado!

Blog Stops

Holly’s Book Corner, October 29

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, October 29

Texas Book-aholic, October 30

Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, October 31

Locks, Hooks and Books, November 1

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, November 2

Devoted To Hope, November 3

Pause for Tales, November 3

Connie’s History Classroom, November 4

She Lives To Read, November 5

Simple Harvest Reads, November 6 (Guest Review from Donna)

Life on Chickadee Lane, November 7

Stories By Gina, November 8 (Author Interview)

For Him and My Family, November 8

Hannahbandanarama, November 9

Cover Lover Book Review, November 10

Blossoms and Blessings, November 11

Bizwings Book Blog, November 11

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Kathleen is giving away the grand prize of an enamel mug, scented candle, A6 journal notebook, ballpoint pen with black ink, and a $50 Amazon gift card!!

Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf5481