"Symphony of Secrets" by Sharon Hinck

I was first introduced to Sharon Hinck as an author through her "Sword of Lyric" trilogy, which I thought was absolutely amazing. In "Symphony of Secrets" Hinck shows off her versatility as a writer, switching from fantasy to a modern day tale of a professional flutist looking to finally break into the Minneapolis Symphony.

Amy Johnson is a single mother and a bit of an amateur sleuth, both of which often put her in uncomfortable situations. She'd much rather lose herself in practicing her music. When the Symphony holds auditions for an opening at the second flute position, Amy hopes she can fulfill her dream and move past the 15-year stigma of needing to choose responsibility over dream.

But is her dream all that she has expected it would be? The first flutist is snotty, the conductor is new, the concertmaster is a flirt, and someone is out to sabotage many of the performances! Amy determines to get to the bottom of what is going on, and hopefully save both the Symphony from dissolving and her own trial contract with them.

Although I found Amy a character I could not relate to personally, I enjoyed this story very much. The villain is masked in such a way that you suspect many of the characters and can never be sure about any one of them. I also learned a lot of tips about orchestras and musicians which I've now found myself watching for in real life, such as if a pair of violinists are bowing in unison. Very interesting!

I'll continue watching for other Sharon Hinck titles to come my way in the future!

"When Sparrows Fall" by Meg Moseley

Meg Moseley's debut novel is a bold story. Miranda Hanford was a new Christian when she was married at age 19 to an older man with less-than-mainstream ideas about living a holy life. Now a young widow with six isolated, homeschooled children, Miranda is fighting for a way to leave her controlling and manipulative church.

To be honest, I wasn't sure about this book when I first heard about it. This whole subject is close to my heart, as I'm from a large, homeschooling, often less-than-mainstream family myself, and I can see both the benefits and grave dangers that come along with all that entails. I'm personally concerned about a number of issues addressed here in this novel.

The story opens as Miranda begins plotting her escape from her legalistic pastor. Before she can take more than elementary steps she has an accident which lands her in the hospital with serious injuries. Called in to take care of her children is her brother-in-law, Jack, who has not seen the family in 10 years and is shocked to find out Miranda's children are not allowed to have nicknames, have never eaten at McDonalds and do not know who Dr. Seuss is. This boggles his mind and is a challenge as he tries to balance the wishes of their mother against his own experience with youngsters.

The writing is rich, descriptive and gentle. I was pleasantly surprised at how the tension was handled; there is not as much fear and stress gendered over to the reader as I thought might be. Rather than being a confrontational novel, this reads more as a plea to carefully consider one's own choices and examine them under what is true and right and Biblical. I also thought homeschooling was held up in a positive light.

Will children come to any harm by not having nicknames or never eating at McDonalds? Of course not. Those experiences are not necessary to life and Moseley never claims they are. There's a case to be made that it wouldn't be harmful to let them have nicknames or eat at McDonalds, either! In fact, one of my favorite tidbits from the book is Jack's nickname for Miranda's middle boys. It really injects personality into the story.

I would like to give Meg Moseley a standing ovation for being brave enough to write this tale. You can read the first chapter of this book here.

Thank you to Waterbrook Multnomah, who provided me this book in exchange for my honest review.

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