ReviewsByErin

I heard that this book was about high school basketball coaches in 1917 and was immediately intrigued. I've never read a work of fiction that discussed basketball in any historical era, much less all the way back to World War I! As a fan of both basketball and history, I knew this was one I had to read.

Miss Lula Bowman is happily pursuing her postgraduate studies in mathematics, and well on her way to fulfilling the dream of being the first female in the state of Oklahoma to receive her PhD, when she is forced to put those plans on hold in order to help her family. Her sister Jewel's husband passed away unexpectedly, leaving Jewel with four young children and another on the way. Knowing it's the right thing to do, Lula leaves school to move in with Jewel, and is able to find a job teaching music at the local high school. The job comes with a strict code of conduct, such as not being allowed to have gentlemen suitors during the school year. That won't be a problem because Lula is focused on helping her sister and then getting back to her own goals. But there's another catch in her contract: she must coach the girls' basketball team. That seems a little more daunting, since she's never even seen a game played.

Boys' basketball coach Chet Vaughn has become quite adept at refuting the attention that single ladies are prone to give him. He's one of the few eligible men not in uniform, and the only reason he hasn't enlisted is because he must care for his emotionally fragile mother. He also finds great purpose in helping his students, especially those with hard family situations, be able to stick with their education and receive their high school diploma. One thing Chet never expected was to develop feelings for the lovely but stubborn Lula Bowman, the one woman in town who isn't chasing after him, and who is reluctantly forced to ask him for guidance in learning the game of basketball.

Although Lula also feels attracted to Chet, she has too much on the line to encourage much of a friendship between them. Not only is her sister relying on Lula's teaching income to support her family, Lula also fully intends to resume her own studies as soon as she is able. If she is to leave unentangled romantically, both from Jewel's matchmaking attempts and from the gregarious Coach Vaughn, she knows it will take a lot of determination. First she must see her way through the basketball season and the rest of the school year.

There were many things I really liked about this book. I liked that it was set in the state of Oklahoma, where I grew up, and I was familiar with the names of towns and their geographic locations. As a teacher myself, I enjoyed the relationships that Lula and Chet had with their students. I found both main characters to be quite relatable in the sacrifices they were making for their respective families, even in the fact that not everyone approved of those choices. The basketball side of the story was very well done, and I enjoyed seeing the sport's terminology work its way into the narrative, such as this excerpt from page 30: "The words I prayed slammed into my chest like a basketball I hadn't seen coming." It was also fun to see WWI phrases, songs, and facts scattered throughout.

Overall, the book was satisfying on many levels and it thoroughly exceeded my expectations. I'll be looking into other releases from this author!

I received my copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for this honest review. All opinions are my own.

Gifted horticulturist Rhoda is on the verge of setting off to the new Amish settlement in Maine when Samuel King's well-meaning efforts put the whole move in jeopardy. Her church leaders have never felt comfortable with Rhoda's keen intuition, and decide at the eleventh hour to hold an open meeting in an attempt to discredit and shame her. Stalwart Rhoda has faith that things will work out the way they are supposed to, but she is sad her new friends the Kings will finally see the way her community has treated her ever since she was young.

Samuel only desired to help Rhoda in getting the church leaders involved, but now feels terrible that he unintentionally put his friend and business partner in hot water. He has staked everything on starting the new colony in Maine and restoring the apple orchard there.

Meanwhile, Samuel's brother Jacob, who is courting Rhoda, finds he cannot be there to support her in her hour of need because the secrets of his past are calling him away. Why did they have to come up now, when he was beginning to believe he could have a fresh start with Rhoda? Will he ever be free of his sins? His absenses begin to stretch into weeks and months, and Rhoda's penchant for finding herself in trouble have her needing a friend more than ever. As they fight to weather their respective storms, their relationship may not be strong enough to survive.

This second book of the "Amish Vines and Orchards" series focuses on faithfulness through trials. Rhoda, Jacob, and Samuel all desire to do the right thing and for their struggles to be tools which draw them closer to God. I'm really not sure where the final two books will take our characters! It will be a while before I'm able to read them, but I look forward to seeing their stories through to conclusion in good time.

The exciting Anomaly trilogy comes to its conclusion with "Revolutionary." If you need a refresher on what has happened earlier in the series, check out my reviews of Book 1 and Book 2.

Finding herself forced back to the underground State, Thalli faces her greatest challenge yet. The evil Dr. Loudin, who is responsible for the nuclear war that wiped out most of Earth's population, wants to study Thalli and the friends she has made above ground, as well as use them as leverage against each other to ensure full cooperation for his plans.

Although Thalli and the others scheme of ways to overthrow Dr. Loudin, she battles a fair amount of despair because he always seems one step ahead of them. She feels distant from the Designer and wonders why He is allowing this wickedness to continue. A surprising ally is found in Dr. Turner, John's son who has worked with Dr. Loudin for years. He sees now the depths to which Loudin has sunk, and he desires to do what he can to stand up to the corruption around him.

The struggle going on around Thalli only magnifies her inner turmoil. Although she was genetically engineered as an embryo, she discovers she has a biological father, mother, and siblings, all of whom are still alive. She's never known family, and she cherishes the hope of getting away from the State and having a future with them. She is also torn between two young men who love her: Berk, her childhood friend, and Alex, whom she met in Book 2, who grew up above ground as a prince among his people.

There are some really gut-wrenching things that happen in this book, and the not all of the characters we love will make it to the end. Even though the Designer does not seem close, they must keep faith that He has a plan which will overcome evil in the end. No situation is hopeless when we know God is in control.

I received my copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for this honest review. All opinions are my own.

Jody Hedlund's latest release is set in a fascinating time and location. Taking place on Mackinac Island in 1814 (then called Michilimackinac Island), it prominently features the hardships that those in northern Michigan faced at the tail end of the War of 1812. The British held control of the island fort and there were many shortages of supplies because of various American blockades. I found the historical aspect of this novel to be one of its strongest points, as it's unique to anything I've read before.

Our main character is Angelique, who loves Michilimackinac Island and never wants to leave. Her fiance refused to sign an oath of alliance to the British so he and other loyal Americans had been forced to evacuate the island two years prior. Angelique spends as much time as she can helping her fiance's blind mother, but her own tyrannical stepfather is highly disapproving and often punishes her with isolation and hunger.

The highlight of every year is springtime, when the voyageurs, or fur trappers, return from their winter travels with a large bounty. This spring brings back Pierre, the brother of Angelique's fiance, who had left many years earlier after a falling out with his family. Pierre has now become a double agent spy and must keep his true American loyalties disguised even as he is given special treatment by the British on the island. Angelique loved Pierre before he went away, and his return has clouded her heart with confusion. Pierre viewed her as a little sister, but the blossoming woman before him forces him to acknowledge that he may be drawn to her in more than a brotherly way.

Angelique wants to honor her commitment to her fiance, and knows there is no security in a future with Pierre, as his heart as a voyageur belongs to the wilderness. Pierre struggles with wanting to do the right thing in all areas, including his spy alliances. When his brother comes home and battles erupt between the armies fighting for control of the army, all must decide their course of action and face the consequences which may befall them.

The characters and their storylines did not particularly draw me in this time. I just did not connect with them, and felt there was a high level of predictability. Due to some content, I wouldn't recommend this book for younger readers or those for whom abusive situations are triggering. The history lover in me found that facet the most engaging, and left me doing research on my own to learn more, which is always the mark of an excellent writer. Jody Hedlund is a delight for all those who enjoy historical romance!

My copy of the book was provided by the publisher in exchange for this honest review. All opinions are my own.

I had heard so many great things about Dani Pettrey's writing that I couldn't wait to start this book when it fell into my hands. I don't read a lot of action or suspense books in general, but I enjoyed this one a lot and hope I get to read the follow-up books in her Alaskan Courage series, each of which focuses on a different sibling in the fictional McKenna family.

Starring in this book is Cole McKenna, a professional deep sea diver. Our story opens when a small plane crashes in the frigid waters outside his hometown of Yancey, AK, and Cole is sent in to search for survivors and recover what he can from the wreck. It becomes clear that something sinister has come to their small town when the plane is found to have been sabotaged, and visitors are turning up dead all over the peninsula.

Bailey Craig thought she'd never go back to Yancey, the site of the worst mistakes of her life. But her aunt's death in the plane crash brings her back home, and she must stay long enough to put her aunt's affairs in order, which is no small task given the murder investigations going on. Bailey's background in Russian-Alaskan history becomes useful when it's discovered that the murderers are tracking down specific artifacts, and Bailey and Cole are thrown into each other's company in the course of the investigation.

Having already had his heart broken by Bailey back in high school, Cole is glad to see his friend again but very cautious towards anything more than friendship. Bailey can't believe Cole and his family are so welcoming and genuine towards her after the way she treated Cole all those years ago. It's clear that they have forgiven her. Is it possible that she could forgive herself?

Soon the action heats up as Bailey and Cole track the killers, who are also tracking them. Who will find the artifacts first, and how many lives will be lost before the killers can be stopped?

There was much that I liked about this book, including the closeness of the McKenna family, and their relationships with each other as well as the community. The romance was developed in a very real but reserved fashion, which I especially appreciated as a naturally reserved person myself. I am looking forward to reading more about this family in the future!

Meg Moseley's third novel tells the story of Laura, Sean, and Cassie, who promised at age 12 to always be there for each other. Now 18 years later, they all find themselves back their small Georgia hometown. Laura is there to bury her mother, Sean never left, and Cassie is back to help evaluate her own mother's lapsing memory.

As Laura begins trying to go through her mother's things and settle her affairs, she is shocked to hear the rumors that are circulating around town. Her father, long thought drowned after never returning from a fishing trip, has been seen in the woods. Is it really him? If it is, why did he abandon Laura and her mother? It's a lot of emotions to work through at one time.

Sean has loved Laura for as long as he can remember, but his eagerness to love and protect her after her father's supposed drowning made Laura skittish. Having looked up to Elliott Gantt as a father figure himself and now following him in the luthier profession, Sean doesn't want to believe that the man who was his hero would have done such a horrible thing as walk away from his family and let them think he was dead.

While trying to help her parents, Cassie is also coming to realize how far down on her priority list her marriage has fallen. They have been chasing the American dream in California, but maybe it's time to chase their relationship back to where it needs to be.

This book was mostly conversations and introspections, with not a lot of action. I had a very hard time picturing the characters in any other setting besides the ones the author put them in; they were not three-dimensional or dynamic. I enjoyed this story, but the style kept it easy to read while not being that engaging. There was nothing to make me care about the outcome. Moseley is a talented author whose future releases I will still watch for, but I'll recommend her first two before this one.

I received my copy from BloggingForBooks in exchange for this honest review. All opinions are my own.

Historical fiction is always a draw for me. This story is set during the late 1700's on the Kentucky frontier. Morrow Little's life was changed at age six, when Indians killed her mother and sister and kidnapped her brother. Now eighteen, Morrow is returning to the wilderness after spending a few years with an aunt in Philadelphia. As glad as she is to see her father again, Morrow is a little unprepared for life away from her aunt's dress shop.

Morrow's father is a preacher and they often travel to a nearby fort for Sunday services, where Morrow is an attraction for many men. As a man of peace, Mr. Little also has ties to several Indians who wander nearby woods, which sets Morrow on edge because of the violence in their past. Mr. Little is sick with consumption, and worries about what will happen to Morrow if she is still unmarried when he passes away.

Not all the men who are interested in Morrow are honorable, and she may be forced to choose someone other than the man she loves in order to ease her father's mind as he grows weaker and weaker. I thought the title was a bit of a misnomer, as Morrow is married about halfway through this book and we follow her journey as a wife and mother in the rest of the pages.

Over the years, both before and after her marriage, Morrow is faced with the threat of being kidnapped by both Indians and white settlers. She deals with various life-threatening physical situations and the internal challenges of trying to forgive the Indians who murdered her family. There was not a lot of personal connection with the main character, because the author doesn't relay Morrow's personal feelings very well. It was almost like "Jane Eyre" in this sense, and this sense only. One of the few things we know about Morrow is that she cries all the time. I'm not saying that life wasn't hard and she did not endure tragedies, and in some ways it seemed more realistic that the author didn't try to pretend Morrow was a super strong woman, but I would have preferred a few less tears.

On the whole, I didn't think this was a very deep story. I read it on vacation, and otherwise I'm not sure I would have finished it. I tend to like historical fiction that teaches me about real historical events, or else is emotionally gripping and relays something about human character. This was pretty fluffy on those counts, although as far as the story goes, it was unpredictable and had interesting secondary characters. Just not my cup of tea overall.

The life of Martha Washington makes for fascinating reading. It is clear that George Washington was a man for his time, whose humility and dedication to God led to great things, and partnering with George with his beloved Martha. I learned many things about her in this novel, and would recommend this book to all history lovers.

The story starts just after Martha Custis loses her first husband, leaving her a young widow with two small children. Martha was the wealthiest widow in Virginia at the time and was sought by several suitors, but it was the quiet and dignified colonel George Washington who won her hand. Together they raised Martha's two children and worked to expand Washington's Mount Vernon estate for several years while George served in the Virginia House of Burgesses.

We get to follow along with the major events that led up to the Revolutionary War, and watch with Martha as George is named Commander in Chief of the entire Continental Army. Throughout the long years of the war, Martha spent many winters camped with George and the Army, which is something I hadn't realized before. The war basically came to a halt each winter, making it relatively safe for Martha to travel and stay with her husband during those cold months. Her presence appears to have been a great morale boost not just to George but to the whole Army, who looked forward to her visits and the aid that she brought.

It was interesting to me to get a closer, personalized view of George and Martha both, because George had the same Myers-Briggs personality type as I do, and you can read about how his ISTJ personality came into play at this link. Martha, of course, had a different view of life because she had a different personality that balanced out the more stoic parts of George's character. In some ways I had a harder time connecting with Martha in the novel because the way she made decisions was so different than my own approach. I could see that some of the choices she made in grief would come back to be regrets later, and indeed they did. But overall Martha was a capable, gracious, and friendly woman who was able to work through great personal difficulties to support her husband through the birth of a nation, and to become a widely known and respected figure in her own right as she played her part in history.

I enjoyed brushing up on my eighteenth century history and this look at America's first president and his lady. This is the second Nancy Moser novel I have read, and I believe she does an excellent job bringing historical figures to life. I look forward to reading more of her works in the future.

I knew from the first moment I read the description of this book that Elizabeth Barrett Browning and I probably had more in common than I realized. We're both the firstborn in large families (10 or more children), unmarried into our 30's (or beyond), and have at least one oppressive parent. Even so, I wasn't prepared to open this book and find so much of my own journey within the pages. Elizabeth's battles held a striking familiarity with those I have faced in my own life.

Elizabeth Barrett's father was a horrible man. While his family was expanding he raised them in isolation, and then after the death of his wife kept all of his children beaten down with emotional abuse in the form of absurd demands. One of his edicts was that none of his children would ever marry. As a teenager Elizabeth fell into ill health, which was never diagnosed as a particular disease but from which she suffered to various degrees for the rest of her life. It was easy for her to stay bedridden, or at the very least housebound, and follow along with the life conditions prescribed by her father. At the beginning of the book Elizabeth is a rather selfish creature, as she has been living for several years by the sea and has had nothing to do but think about herself and her ill health. When her closest sibling dies in a sailing accident, Elizabeth returns to the family home in London, much grieved and feeling like the death was somehow her fault.

Throughout the years many people corresponded with Elizabeth, including her publishers, acquaintances, and friends, but few were allowed to visit her at home, and she never went out. When Elizabeth's younger sister wishes to marry, her father violently rebukes the notion and continues his iron-fisted rule. While Elizabeth sees some faults with her father's method of parenting, she truly believes it is his form of love and doesn't see what is all that terrible about it.

Until Robert Browning enters the scene. Robert, impetuous and full of life, has been captivated by Elizabeth's poetry, and he overcomes the barriers which have kept everyone out of her heart and home. While forced to keep his visits secret from her family, Elizabeth begins to recognize what real, true love is. Love is respect. Love is compassion. Love is wanting the best for another, wanting to see that person grow to be all that God intended them to be. Love gives unreservedly. Love is not the hard, stone-faced thing her father has given her, nor does love come with conditions. Yet that is the only kind Elizabeth has previously known. When Robert gives Elizabeth the real thing, the whole world opens up anew to her. Even if Robert's love for Elizabeth had not been romantic, it still would have been life-changing for her.

How do I know? Because my own life has been changed by true love of the non-romantic persuasion. I, too, was raised in relative isolation with imposed limits which I did not realize were anything less than normal at the time. There is a terribly poignant scene in the book where Elizabeth struggles between two choices: the one she feels would be best for her health, and the one her father approves of. When Elizabeth chooses to follow her father's wishes, I knew what was coming and my heart broke for her and for myself. Her father punished her emotionally even though she acquiesced to his ridiculous demands. He brutally turned against her solely because she dared to have a different opinion than his in the first place. It didn't matter what she chose. There was no winning choice for her in this equation. That, my readers, has been an experience often seen in my own life. I did not know any better than Elizabeth what accepting, healthy love and relationships looked like until those offering such love stepped onto the scene. Is it terrible that such love was not found in my home? Yes. But the good news for myself and Elizabeth is that God did not let us live all our lives in this way. He brought people to us whose perspective and care was a healing balm. He brought people to us who showed us Himself in action.

To watch Elizabeth learn to trust in love and learn to make decisions for herself was like looking in a mirror. This was my story, too. Only in the love and security of community have I been able to fully be who God wants me to be. It was only in Robert's love that Elizabeth grew as an individual and spread her wings towards recovering mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health.

Stories like this are ones that I would recommend to all who have suffered under an emotionally and spiritually abusive parent. Such suffering does not have to be the end of your story, and while it will be part of your life forever, it does not determine who you are. The past may have been damaging, but the future is full of hope. Seek that hope, seek God's love, and seek healing. It is out there.