The Way of Love

 

Back Cover

Newly arrived in Portland to finish her studies as a doctor at Willamette University's medical college, thirty-year-old Faith Kenner is glad to be near family again at her cousin Nancy's boardinghouse.  But the proximity is bittersweet, stirring up the desire for a family of her own - a longing that the secrets she harbors will never permit.

When she stumbles into handsome riverboat captain Andrew Gratton, who has been injured defending a Native working on his ship, she surprises him by expertly tending his wound and praising his conviction.  A fast friendship forms, but Faith is careful to quell her hopes for something more.

Instead, she joins her fellow students in putting together lectures to speak out against Oregon's racist laws and policies - actions that garner the dangerous attention of powerful men who have other plans for their state.  Soon Faith is caught in the middle of a plot to push the local Indian tribes to rebel, and her family is threatened.  Will the harm these men intend be her undoing or is it simply the mysterious path God has her on to bring the truth - and her heart's desires - to light?

Review

With over one hundred novels to her credit, Tracie Peterson has established herself as one of the leading Christian historical romance authors.  I have read and enjoyed many of her books over the years, and her new Willamette Brides series is no exception (see my review of the first novel, Secrets of My Heart).

Brimming with historical tidbits and events, such as the "Storm King", a Pacific Northwest storm of 1880, The Way of Love pulls the reader in, and I finished the book in no less than two days (a record for me with a busy work/life schedule!).  The plot is rather engaging with Faith's internal character conflict as she harbors tragic family secrets which have the potential to prevent her dream of becoming an accredited physician.  The Way of Love is also an eyeopener into some of the prejudices and terrible treatment the Native Americans and African-Americans suffered.  I had no idea that African-Americans were, at multiple time, excluded from living in the Oregon state, and further, were not allowed to vote until the mid-1900s. 

The world needs more Faith Kenners.  With her solid faith in God undergirding her, she is portrayed as a godly, self-assured, independent woman who speaks her mind and doesn't hesitate to stand up for her fellow man.  Faith doesn't step down from her passion for helping the Native Americans, even when it puts herself in dangerous situations and public ridicule.  Her convictions are inspiring, and may it spur many on to fight the numerous injustices in the world today.

There is a threading over of a storyline from Secrets of My Heart that is not fully resolved in The Way of Love, making me eager for the next novel in the series, Forever by Your Side.  Thank you, Tracie Peterson, for another well-written historical novel!

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

Set the Stars Alight

 

Back Cover

In an aged brick cottage in London, the magic of the past comes alive each night for the family of a humble watchmaker.  In her father's fireside stories, Lucy Claremount's fascination with the high seas begins, leading her to devote her life's work to discovering the whereabouts of a legendary lots ship.  But when tragedy strikes, it's childhood friend Dashel and his knowledge of the stars that may help her solve the puzzle.

Two hundred years earlier, three young lives are altered forever when a shepherd rescues the son of a powerful admiral.  As the children grow, war leads to unthinkable heartbreak, deep love, and a story of betrayal, sacrifice, and redemption that fades into obscurity as centuries pass.

As Lucy and Dash explore mysterious ruins on the East Sussex coast, their search leads them to a community of souls and a long-hidden tale that may hold the answers - and the healing - they so desperately seek.

Review 

The words written on the pages of Amanda Dykes' novel are, quite simply, beautiful poetry in story form.  Her choice of words and descriptors conjures images of Ms. Dykes sitting behind an old, wooden roll-top desk with a quill and ink pot in hand, her written lines likened to calligraphy as opposed to printed format.  Her words carry a reader to a magical place of true story-telling that teases all the senses for an awe-inducing experience.  I fell in love with Amanda Dyke's writing with her first book, Whose Waves These Are, and she has quickly cemented me as an avid follower of her works with her second novel, Set the Stars Alight.

The reader follows along Dash and Lucy as they traverse the skies and seas for clues to the final resting place of the HMS Jubilee. In a split time format, the reader also travels back to the time HMS Jubilee was in action, to learn firsthand the story behind the ship and those connected to it. I greatly enjoyed connecting the dots alongside Dash and Lucy as they unearth the grand mystery, spurred on by Lucy's father and his passion for story-telling.  

At the end of the book, Ms. Dykes writes in her notes to the reader how she has doubted whether her words, her stories make a difference.  She can certainly put those fears to rest.  Set the Stars Alight sets a reader's heart soaring with awe and wonder in a way that only a beautiful story can do.  Don't stop, Ms. Dykes.  The world needs you and your amazing stories.

Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus

About

Welcome to Bonaventure Circus,

where misfits go to hide.

In 1928, the Bonaventure Circus has become a refuge for many, but Pippa Ripley was rejected from its inner circle as a baby and is no longer content to leave the reason for that rejection unquestioned. When she receives mysterious messages from someone called the "Watchman," she is determined to find him and the connection to her birth. As Pippa's search leads her to a man seeking justice for his murdered sister and evidence that a serial killer has been haunting the circus train, she must decide if uncovering her roots is worth putting herself directly in the path of the killer.

Decades later, an old circus train depot's future hangs in the balance--it will either be torn down or preserved for historical importance, and its fate rests on Realtor Chandler Faulk's shoulders. As she dives deep into the depot's history, she's also balancing a newly diagnosed disease and the pressures of single motherhood. When she discovers clues to unsolved murders of the past, Chandler is pulled into a story far darker and more haunting than even an abandoned train depot could portend. 

Review

Jaime Jo Wright has done it again!  The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus is another creepy thrill ride certain to keep your eyes glued to the pages whilst huddled in a safe place in your home (preferably with an e-reader under the covers...).  With a clever plot straddling two timelines held together by in-depth characters, this is a story that will not soon be forgotten.  I greatly enjoyed Jaime Jo Wright's style of writing as she infused enough "teasers" and twists through the novel to keep you guessing until the very end.  And, at the end, when things are most climatic in both timelines, the point of view switches back and forth rapidly between timelines for back-to-back cliffhanger moments, rendering it near impossible to put the book down.  Jaime Jo Wright has quickly become one of my favourite authors, and I look forward to each new release with great expectations.  Suspense and mystery lovers will LOVE The Haunting at Bonaventure Circus for its keep-you-guessing plot and unique story-telling.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bethany House Publishers for a copy of this book to read and provide my true and honest opinion thereof.