THE SEAMSTRESS OF ACADIE ~ a stellar story by Laura Frantz! 5-star review

Posted on February 1, 2024 by marykaymoody

THE SEAMSTRESS OF ACADIE is yet another of the stellar works by Laura Frantz.

As 1754 is drawing to a close, tensions between the French and the British on Canada’s Acadian shore are reaching a fever pitch. Seamstress Sylvie Galant and her family–French-speaking Acadians wishing to remain neutral–are caught in the middle, their land positioned between two forts flying rival flags. Amid preparations for the celebration of Noël, the talk is of unrest, coming war, and William Blackburn, the British Army Ranger raising havoc across North America’s borderlands.

As summer takes hold in 1755 and British ships appear on the horizon, Sylvie encounters Blackburn, who warns her of the coming invasion. Rather than participate in the forced removal of the Acadians from their land, he resigns his commission. But that cannot save Sylvie or her kin. Relocated on a ramshackle ship to Virginia, Sylvie struggles to pick up the pieces of her life. When her path crosses once more with William’s, they must work through the complex tangle of their shared, shattered past to navigate the present and forge an enduring future. [back cover copy]

The Acadian expulsion from Nova Scotia is an event that is seldom used as novel settings. It’s a sad chapter in history, and Frantz makes great use of every opportunity for drama in this engaging story. And while the true events are tragic, Frantz in her typical way creates a story worth reading and easy to stick with. (I have started some books that were so disturbing, I could not make myself finish them. This is not such a book.)

Frantz gives us characters we root for, who grow and change through their trials, and are so appealing and interesting we just have to keep reading.

The settings come alive such that you may shiver in the cold, slip your shoes off thinking they are sopping wet, mop the sweat from your brow, or startle at a creak thinking it is a twig snapping as someone creeps up on you. I admire how well Frantz depicts her settings. I am drawn in every time.

We meet the Acadian families in their natural setting and enjoy their lives and celebrations.

But as British ships amass in the bay, the people who, for over a century, have lived simply, worked the land, fished the waters, and found ways to live peaceably with their neighbors sense their way of life is being threatened. Deceit and treachery abound and we are shocked along with them when they are piled aboard dilapidated vessels, forced to leave almost everything behind, then find families are broken apart.

Hardships multiply—filth, disease, storms, Disaster strikes—even to sinking ships. And we hope that those who survive will find peace and wholeness in the new land.

But humanity is there and humanity brings its own kind of wickedness, and hanging on to integrity and hope can be a very long battle. Add the clash of cultures, few friends and new foes—discerning who is friend or foe becomes critically important.

After reading a Frantz tale, I often try to figure out what it is that makes her novels superior quality. She gives us intriguing plots with many surprises, characters who, though flawed, possess integrity, honor, and kindly ways; and settings that come alive. But something beyond that makes her stories ones where I pause and re-read a scene because it’s so compelling. She has a way of imbuing characters with significance—especially those from less valued echelons of society—children, minorities, the elderly.

Another admirable skill Frantz demonstrates is her ability to choose the perfect, tiny action to focus on to elicit powerful emotional responses from her characters and thus from readers. For example, how often have you been brought to tears watching someone wash a shirt? Or from noticing the wallpaper in a new room you enter? Tiny, almost inconsequential actions that have a profound impact in the story as she tells it.

I suspect there are many other skills Frantz employs that I have not yet identified. But identifying them is not necessary to enjoying this captivating story. And we can be assured that Laura Frantz will always end on a hope-filled note.

You can purchase THE SEAMSTRESS OF ACADIE anywhere books are sold. And meet Laura online at her website or from there on social media.

A NOVEL BUFFET — Welcome

Posted on November 7, 2023 by marykaymoody

I love books that stretch perspectives, give new insights…. Here are tidbits of some of the many books I’ve read that haven’t made it to reviews on my blog mainly because of time and health and family issues. Not because they didn’t deserve to be featured. I’m including some of my favorite covers because the art & beauty deserve a second glance too. Dive in. Hopefully you’ll discover some new reads that appeal to you.

I must begin with WORDS by Ginny Yttrup because it really captured me. So much about this novel is unusual and compelling and I just loved it. For one thing, I like a story that draws me completely into a new perspective of a character I like.

WORDS by Ginny Yttrup

WORDS is a unique and thoroughly engaging story.

Yttrup is superb at immersing us in a child’s perspective in this story that shows how perspective leads to persistent beliefs,

The back cover begins: “I collect words. I keep them in a box in my mind. There, he can’t take them.”

Definitely intriguing, isn’t it? Thus we meet 10 year-old Kaylee Wren who is surviving then escaping neglect and abuse.

Yttrup is masterful at showing us Kaylee’s painful world through the selective vision and magical thinking of a youngster. Kaylee engages not only the reader, but other adults in the story who scatter light and hope across the pages.

WORLD WAR II STORIES

WW II stories are numerous and I read a lot of them. Many are already reviewed on this blog, but I’m also including some which aren’t and highlighting some set in a wide variety of less-covered locations: Denmark, The Netherlands, Russia, England’s Lake District, Pyrenees & Spain, Germany, North Carolina’s Outer Banks, Russia.

I begin with one set in France, a fairly common WW II setting, because I loved Sarah Sundin’s UNTIL LEAVES FALL IN PARIS and can hardly believe I never posted a review of it!

When the Nazis march into Paris in 1940, American ballerina Lucie Girard must make the decision of her life ~ stay in France or leave? She stays and buys her favorite English-language bookstore, thus enabling the Jewish owners to escape. Challenges abound when she discovers the resistance uses the store to pass secret messages and Lucie must decide which customers she can befriend and which to be wary of. Surely the charming four-year-old daughter of one patron is safe to befriend. The dramatic story unfurls with unexpected twists, potential heartbreak, danger, and surprises galore. Who would imagine that lives might be impacted by an imaginary friend named Feenee?

THE SOUND OF LIGHT by Sarah Sundin

In April 1940, everyone in Denmark had a decision to make. Within 2 hours of the Germans marching in, they defeated Denmark. Henrik must disappear from Denmark, and Else stays to continue her research. Yet each faces challenges that spring ceaselessly from their work. As time passes, pressure increases and their undercover activities become more difficult to keep secret, and when a romance blossoms, the consequences of each decision multiplies. …continue reading review here

IN LOVE’S TIME by Kate Breslin

The title of IN LOVE’S TIME declares it’s a romance. What it doesn’t tell you is that it’s also packed with mystery, intrigue, heroes and villains. And like any good detective story, it’s loaded with surprises and twists throughout. (In fact, one of the biggest caught me totally off guard just pages from the end.) I thoroughly enjoyed searching for clues and guessing which were real and which were misdirection.

But let’s return to the beginning. The book opens amidst a dangerous search for not only the Russian tsarina and her son but also information about a plot to assassinate Lenin. The high stakes story is always engaging and keeps you turning pages. It’s well-balanced ~action never overpowers the romance, and the love story, filled with its own complications, never eclipses the war-time drama. (Continue review here)

UNTIL WE FIND HOME by Cathy Gohlke

“For American Claire Stewart joining the French Resistance sounded as romantic as the storylines she hopes will one day grace the novels she wants to write. But when she finds herself stranded on English shores, with five French Jewish children she smuggled across the channel before Nazis stormed Paris, reality feels more akin to fear.” Set in England’s Lake District in 1940, this is a compelling tale that explores how people respond when their values and expectations collide with evil and conditions they cannot accept—or easily change.

SECRETS SHE KEPT by Cathy Gohlke

“Secrets a mother could never share ~ consequences a daughter could not redeem.”

Hannah Sterling sets herself a task: to untangle the conundrum that was her mother. A woman who lived simply and was generous to a fault yet saved tin foil and rubber bands and never seemed happy. Following Lieselotte’s death, Hannah determines to unlock the secrets of her mother’s mysterious past and is shocked to discover a grandfather living in Germany. Thirty years earlier, Lieselotte’s father is quickly ascending the ranks of the Nazi party, and a proper marriage for his daughter could help advance his career.

Marvelous plot twists just continue to darken the shadows and confuse Hannah further.

CG makes the characters come alive and their feelings become ours. And she has a way of sprinkling her writing with gems that glisten, making every story a gift.

NIGHT BIRD CALLING by Cathy Gohlke

A rich and complex story that starts off with some hard good-byes, then hard decisions. As one character said: “Wishing comes easy. Change don’t.”

And so we join Lilliana Swope in a journey to healing, hope, and North Carolina. A journey filled with interesting folk who become friends. Or perhaps enemies?

CHASING SHADOWS by Lynn Austin

“A powerful novel from Lynn Austin about three women whose lives are instantly changed when the Nazis invade the neutral Netherlands, forcing each into a complicated dance of choice and consequence. The Nazi invasion propels these women onto paths that cross in unexpected, sometimes-heartbreaking ways. Yet the story that unfolds illuminates the surprising endurance of the human spirit and the power of faith and love to carry us through.” A captivating tale with Austin’s customary excellence.

THE WISH BOOK CHRISTMAS by Lynn Austin

Best friends Audrey Barrett and Eve Dawson are looking forward to celebrating Christmas in postwar America, thrilled at the prospect of starting new traditions with their five-year-old sons. But when the 1951 Sears Christmas Wish Book arrives and the boys start obsessing over every toy in it, Audrey and Eve realize they must first teach them the true significance of the holiday.

Searching for healing after tragedy, the story includes the joy, innocence, and exuberance of young children and a dog; the encouragement of a supportive community; and the possibility of new love relationships.

THE PARIS DRESSMAKER by Kristy Cambron

Based on true accounts of how Parisiennes resisted the Nazi occupation in World War II—from fashion houses to the city streets—comes a story of two courageous women who risked everything to fight an evil they could not abide.

Paris, 1939. Maison Chanel has closed, thrusting haute couture dressmaker Lila de Laurent out of the world of high fashion as Nazi soldiers invade the streets and the City of Light slips into darkness. Lila’s life is now a series of rations, brutal restrictions, and carefully controlled propaganda. Lila is drawn to La Resistance and is soon using her skills as a dressmaker to infiltrate the Nazi elite. She takes their measurements and designs masterpieces, all while collecting secrets in the glamorous Hotel Ritz.

Paris, 1943. Sandrine Paquet’s job is to catalog the priceless works of art bound for the Führer’s Berlin, masterpieces stolen from prominent Jewish families. But behind closed doors, she secretly forages for information from the underground resistance.

Told across the span of the Nazi occupation, The Paris Dressmaker highlights the brave women who used everything in their power to resist darkness and restore light to their world.

THE PAINTED CASTLE by Kristy Cambron

THE PAINTED CASTLE is a riveting braid of three stories from three centuries. Each captures the reader … and reveals the answer to a mystery or adds layers to the puzzle. Cambron masterfully entwines the tales, carrying the reader effortlessly along. Each story so engages that when a chapter ends and a new era begins the next, one experiences a brief moment of shock, as if rousing from a daydream. Then delight at returning to another circle of friends and the attendant mystery to be resolved.

THE PAINTED CASTLE is a tremendous read with engaging characters, intriguing multiple mysteries, and plenty of plot twists and romance. As usual, Cambron is masterful in creating a fascinating story that is a joy to read.

THE WINTER ROSE by Melanie Dobson Grace Tonquin is an American Quaker who works tirelessly in Vichy France to rescue Jewish children from the Nazis. After crossing the treacherous Pyrénées, Grace returns home to Oregon with a brother and sister whose parents were lost during the war. Though Grace and her husband love Élias and Marguerite as their own, echoes of Grace’s past and trauma from the Holocaust tear the Tonquin family apart. More than fifty years after they disappear, Addie Hoult arrives at Tonquin Lake, hoping to find the Tonquin family. For Addie, the mystery is a matter of life and death.

Dobson’s skill is on full display in this dual-time tale that ranges from France to Spain to the U.S Pacific Northwest.

CHATEAU OF SECRETS by Melanie Dobson

A rich, intriguing book that draws the reader into this astonishing place, exploring a labyrinth of emotions. Dobson weaves present and WWII stories into an intricate, well-balanced tapestry.

I often find split-time novels slightly disappointing when the story or people of one era are not as interesting as the other, or following storylines is confusing. Chateau never falls into those but is always clear, crisp, and compelling.

I’m drawn to stories set during the 1940’s, have read many, and seen movies of even more. Yet Chateau introduced me to startling and new things I’d never learned about WWII. In telling this story, the “Sophie’s Choice” type decisions people faced are so real, I ached for them. (Continue reading review …)

YESTERDAY’S TIDES by Roseanna White

YESTERDAY’S TIDES is a gripping tale of fierce love, loyalty, and sacrifice that spans two world wars and half the globe.

Set largely on Ocracoke Island of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, it reveals some fascinating and new (new to me—but perhaps not to North Carolinians) historical episodes. And while the history is intriguing, the story and characters Roseanna weaves are even more so.

YESTERDAY’S TIDES is a dual-time novel and one of the best technically that I’ve read. The story is chock full of interconnections, immersing the reader in both stories such that each new detail reverberates in both eras. One tip I’ll give readers: tolerate the ambiguity. Even embrace it. Any “holes” you notice aren’t holes but really partial revelations with more to come.

Roseanna writes great stories with well-developed, memorable characters and twisty, involved plots in a wide variety of settings. They always surprise and delight me. (Read more of this review here.)

THE MEMORY HOUSE by Rachel Hauck

The inspirational story of two women whose lives have been destroyed by disaster but find healing in a special house.

When Beck Holiday lost her father in the North Tower on 9/11, she also lost her memories of him. Eighteen years later, she’s a tough New York City cop burdened with a damaging secret, suspended for misconduct, and struggling to get her life in order. When a mysterious letter arrives informing Beck that she’s inherited a house along Florida’s northern coast, she discovers something there that will change her life forever.

THE CHRISTMAS HUMMINGBIRD by Davis Bunn

Bunn draws clear and complex characters who exhibit courage and spunk in the face of opposition, life-altering opposition, with their freedom and lives on the line. And he displays a tenderness that respects his characters, making it easy for readers to have compassion toward them even when they make choices we’d prefer they don’t. … His stories are captivating and rich in detail while flowing right along, never lagging or lacking. Miramar Bay and The Hummingbird Christmas are more in a long line of successes and I highly recommend them both.

THE MEANS THAT MAKE US STRANGERS by Christine Kindberg

Home is where your people are. But who are your people?

A fascinating coming-of-age tale of a white girl, Adelaide, whose family lives in Ethiopia. She’s lived there her entire life and they are the only white people she knows. When in 1964 her father must return to the U.S., Adelaide goes through culture shock and doesn’t have any idea where to sit at lunch! As she forges a life and friendships, she will need to decide where she belongs when she graduates high school ~ the village where she promised to return or the U.S. where she’s begun to carve out a place for herself.

Labeled a YA tale, the story indeed focuses on a teen-agers, but the themes of identity, family, belonging, and race relations in a changing society are compelling and possibly perspective-shifting and will engage many readers of all ages.

A LONG TIME COMIN’ by Robin W. Pearson

“Granny B had had it hard, and there was no way her granddaughter could ever separate her from an ounce of her pain and suffering, not that anyone could. Evelyn believed that every morning, before Granny B got dressed, she put on this suit of armor—not her full armor of God because that never came off. Her past. And she buttoned it up tight. It protected her from all kinds of nasty things. Robin is a mighty wordsmith and captures the essence of her characters and their challenges in a compelling way.

FORGIVING PARIS by Karen Kingsbury

Ashley Baxter Blake is having her first professional art showing in Paris, a city filled with tormenting memories of foolishness and bad decisions she made when she was an intern there twenty years earlier. But revisiting remembered sites and encountering old acquaintances changes Ashley’s perspective radically and starts her on a journey of healing that where she learns some positive influences she had on others and how much God loves and protects her.

TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY by Karen Kingsbury

Karen Kingsbury’s well-drawn characters take the reader on an emotional roller-coaster.

While Tommy and Annalee navigate their first—and planned forever—love, difficulties roll at them like a bowling ball to pins. Annalee faces a huge health challenge,[??] and Tommy supports her in every way he can also confronts opposition to his chosen career path upon graduation.

In the mix of romance and family drama, we see love and faith defined and refined.

WHERE THE FIRE FALLS by Karen Barnett

Stunning Yosemite National Park sets the stage for this late 1920s historical romance with mystery, adventure, heart, and a sense of the place John Muir described as “pervaded with divine light.”

This is a engaging hike with photographer and guide through the singular place of Yosemite National Park. I have loved traveling there many times, and enjoyed seeing it through new eyes and learning more of its history.

SHADOWS OF THE WHITE CITY by Jocelyn Green

Set in Chicago’s World’s Fair, this is a tightly woven tale that explores holding on or letting go ~ and discerning which to choose when you hit a turning point. Green draws realistic characters, well-nuanced and layered. We care about them. The reader walks with them until there is no turning back. The journey may begin as a stroll, but soon we’re swept up in the mysteries replete with surprises until the satisfying let-out-your-breath finish.

The settings came alive. Clearly Green has done her research. She handles the ethnic variations in character and various neighborhoods well.

THE BEST IS YET TO COME by Debbie Macomber

Hope Goodwin wants a new beginning in a coastal village in Washington state to recover from grief after the death of her twin brother. Immersing herself in her teaching job is a start but not enough. Volunteering at an animal shelter introduces her to Shadow, a dog believed to be beyond rescue and destined to be put down. Hope invests time and energy into the dog, and as he begins to trust humans again, so does she—which draws the attention of another wounded person, ex-marine, Cade Lincoln, with whom a romantic relationship gradually grows. A story of wounded people learning to grieve yet trust and hope again.

A DANCE IN DONEGAL by Jennifer Deibel

“All of her life, Irish-American Moira Doherty has relished her mother’s descriptions of Ireland. When her mother dies unexpectedly in the summer of 1920, Moira decides to fulfill her mother’s wish that she become the teacher in Ballymann, her home village in Donegal, Ireland.

After an arduous voyage, Moira arrives to a new home and a new job in an ancient country. Though a few locals offer a warm welcome, others are distanced by superstition and suspicion. Rumors about Moira’s mother are unspoken in her presence but threaten to derail everything she’s journeyed to Ballymann to do. …”

Saturated with Irish atmosphere. You’ll feel as if you spent a few days on the Emerald Isle!

Reviews for books by LAURA FRANTZ, KATE BRESLIN, AMANDA DYKES, SARAH SUNDIN, ROSEANNA WHITE are numerous on my blog. Simply enter your favorite author’s name in the search bar in the upper right corner of my page and reviews for that writer will appear.

THE ROSE AND THE THISTLE by Laura Frantz ~ Captivating! 5 Star Review

Posted on February 2, 2023 by marykaymoody

In 1715, Lady Blythe Hedley’s father is declared an enemy of the British crown because of his Jacobite sympathies, forcing her to flee her home in northern England. Secreted to the tower of Wedderburn Castle in Scotland, Blythe quietly awaits the crowning of a new king. But in a house with seven sons and numerous servants, her presence soon becomes known.

No sooner has Everard Hume lost his father, Lord Wedderburn, than Lady Hedley arrives with her maid in tow. He has his own problems–a volatile brother with dangerous political leanings, an estate to manage, and a very young brother in need of comfort and direction. It would be best for everyone if he could send this misfit heiress on her way as soon as possible.

In this whirlwind of intrigue, ambitions, and shifting alliances, Blythe yearns for someone she can trust. But the same forces that draw her and Everard together also threaten to tear them apart. [back cover copy]

THE ROSE AND THE THISTLE captured me from the first.

Lady Blythe is instantly appealing because she has character, values, and spunk which shine against the plight that engulfs her from her father’s political choices. When she returns to England, she faces losing everything and is sent packing to old family friends in the Scottish Borders. And who wouldn’t instantly care about the braw Scotsman preparing to carry the weight of his large family and the laird’s tenants while grieving his father. This new laird, who learns that for some experiences there’s just no schooling or training that prepares you.

All the characters are strong, compelling, yet flawed and completely realistic. In the scene below, only hours after his father’s death and fewer since he went to bed, Everard is awakened from a deep sleep to news of unexpected visitors.

Below, half a dozen people stood near the castle entrance, all looking up at him … Plus a pair of bedraggled women. … He faced the woman he guessed to be the duke’s daughter. She was dressed, or barely. A flattened gown without hoops, hair in a frayed braid, her face ashen. She appeared to wear no stockings, just slippers….Her eyes were wild. Weary.
‘Who are you and why are ye here,’ he asked …
‘I am Lady Blythe Hedley, the Duke of Northumbria’s daughter. And this is my lady’s companion.” She straightened as if gathering her misplaced dignity, the lift of her chin a rebuke to his bluntness. “And you, sir?”

Hardly the chivalrous behavior one expects from nobility, but understandable considering his circumstances.

Frantz is skilled, at portraying people, places, personalities, landscapes, conveying a person’s viewpoint, thoughts, feelings, assumptions, and struggles with only a few well-chosen details. And she is masterful at weaving into the story tiny threads that hint at a possible romance.

The chancy times mean the characters face plenty of dilemmas with pressure to make alliances—but wrong choices could cost them everything: money, friends, title, lands, even their lives. And Frantz is exceedingly clever at tossing in varied personal challenges as she paints the broad strokes of this troubled history with the fine detail of individual dramas.

All these heavy issues could make for a very dark story. But Frantz sets the story in landscapes come alive and laces it with humor, loveliness, sacrifice, and dashes of pure delight.Some favorite methods she uses are below. (And please feel free to mention your favorites in the comments. I’d love to hear them.)

Sparkling epigraphs

Silence, maiden, thy tongue outruns they discretion. [p 102]

Glass, china, and reputation are easily cracked and never well mended. [169]

The path to heaven passes through a teapot. [p 221]

What worries you, masters you. [p 227]

Names:

Mrs. Candlish, the housekeeper, (perhaps I should write it Candle-ish) because she spreads light wherever she goes.

And pets Wallace, the puppy, and Pepys, the sparrow who sings treasonous tunes.

Endearing Characters/Nobleness of Spirit:

A loyal servant referring to a snobbish woman: “Her Royal Loftiness doesna have much to do with it.”

Pure Beauty:

Like tangled gold, [her hair] fell free in all its glory.

Tender Moments:

Frantz gives us plenty of these, though I think the one on page 127 as she closes the funeral chapter may be the best… But it would be unfair of me to tell you about it rather than let you discover it for yourself.

I appreciate how Frantz imbues the humblest of things and people of lowest status with great importance.

An example is Lady Blythe intruding belowstairs to check on Mrs. Candlish’s well-being because the housekeeper has appeared harried and tired. Lady Blythe brings a gift—a simple bowl of fresh blackberries, a humble token of appreciation and honor from a Lady to a servant, but a grateful guest to another woman.

All of these skills and plenty of others are on display throughout THE ROSE AND THE THISTLE. I find it impossible to say that one element is most important, but the rich story that results from her weaving them all is a joy to read. In reviews, we are encouraged to say what we liked and what we didn’t. I can’t determine anything in this story I did not like. (I mean—a couple characters were scoundrels but a good story must have conflict.) The only thing I could suggest is to make the epigraphs in a larger or easier-to-read font. I give it 5 stars and plan to read it again!

Laura Frantz is a Christy Award winner and the ECPA bestselling author of numerous historical novels. You can connect with her on her website and Facebook. She is active on Instagram ~ and right now is participating in a big book giveaway.

A HEART ADRIFT by Laura Frantz ~ Rich & Powerful! 5-star review

Posted on January 4, 2022 by marykaymoody

It is 1755, and the threat of war with France looms over colonial York, Virginia. Chocolatier Esmée Shaw is fighting her own battle of the heart. Having reached her twenty-eighth birthday, she is reconciled to life alone after a decade-old failed love affair from which she’s never quite recovered. But she longs to find something worthwhile to do with her life.

Captain Henri Lennox has returned to port after a lengthy absence, intent on completing the lighthouse in the dangerous Chesapeake Bay, a dream he once shared with Esmée. But when the colonial government asks him to lead a secret naval expedition against the French, his future is plunged into uncertainty.

Can Esmee and Henri’s shared vision and dedication to the colonial cause heal the wounds of the past and reunite them?

Laura Frantz’s A HEART ADRIFT just released in the midst of winter storms. Though the winds shook our windows and rain battered our roof, I spent the day relaxing into a warm Virginia breeze and Esmée Shaw’s life in colonial, coastal Virginia. And like the kite in the opening scene, I was tugged constantly onward from the first page.

As a single woman in colonial Virginia, Esmée Shaw’s options are limited, and even ten years after her love left her behind for the sea, her heart hasn’t healed; and she wants to do something meaningful with her life. Until she figures that out, she takes comfort burying herself in the work of Shaw’s Chocolate shop. But when she hears talk of Captain Henri Lennox’s possible return after years at sea, her heart, mind, and spirit are aflutter.

Frantz’s characters are as clear and real as my next-door neighbors. She gives succinct yet strong hints of their desires, values, etc, such as when Esmée’s father observes, “You were in love once.” Frantz reveals how this seemingly mild observation impacts Esmée: “His low words rolled across the empty shop like a rogue wave, swamping and nearly upending her.”

Molinillo – to whisk chocolate drinks.

Frantz creates varied and interesting situations for her characters to display their struggles, feelings, secrets … And while colonial era standards limit choices for women, a rich interior life that Frantz shares with readers provides a wide landscape to learn about them. An example is when a customer specifically asks for Esmée to wait on her rather than “the help.”

“The widow was fond of reminding Esmée she was not among York’s founding families but an outsider, an easterner. Still Esmée tried to be cordial.”

Another example when Esmée and her father discuss the possible war and secret meetings he has with the governor. Esmée questions and probes but cannot find out how Capt. Lennox is involved. “The coach lurched to a stop…. Feeling like a kettle left too long at the fire, Esmée gathered her hat and gloves….Would she ever have answers?”

Esmée Shaw is a noble character with nary a bad word to say about anyone as she straddles the classes in colonial Virginia, This highlights another of Frantz’s skills. I appreciate how she imbues characters from all classes, politics, races with dignity. ‘Tis a rare skill that accurately shows how some characters are looked down upon and treated meanly in a particular era, yet infuses them with the dignity and value they have in God’s eyes. Frantz always accomplishes this subtly, such that it doesn’t even register. It slips between the lines of text like a gentle wave rolling over the sand, barely visible until I stop, look back, and analyze. When you read this story, observe the behavior of girls from the almshouse, a rejected suitor, a “black jack,” and of course those Esmée loves.

Readers can rely on Frantz to create an historic story world that is so accurate and vivid in detail that it comes alive. One thing I especially admire: Frantz excels at creating a plot anchored in the colonial setting that reveals exactly how precarious life in that era was. Readers could easily view dangers through a 21st century veil of risk mitigated by a governmental or cultural safety net, through expectations we have in a constitutional democracy. But life in Colonial times had no such reliable buffers. Frantz displays great skill in showing that her characters live on a razor’s edge.

Alliance
by Pamela Patrick White

“Just shy of his sixteenth birthday, he’d been working late in his father’s dockyard when a press-gang overtook him, the certificate of exemption he carried in his pocket of no consequence … the gang pummeled him ,,, tore up his paper, then took him aboard the HMS Victory. Fueled by fury as well as ambition, he’d worked his way up from cabin boy to midshipman to officer till he’d used the Royal Navy to gain his own vessel and his own captaincy.”

Everything about this tale of love lost, love gained, self-sacrifice, faith, and heroism fits together like an intricate jig-saw puzzle. It flows rich and lustrous like the smooth, aromatic chocolate Esmée works on her marble chocolate stone. I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy historical and inspirational romantic fiction.

(Thank you to Baker Publishing Group for a copy of the book. I was not required to write a positive review in return.)

Great Point Light on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts

If Laura Frantz is a new author to you, you can learn more on her website or visiting on Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook.

A GEM of a Story ~ AN UNCOMMON WOMAN by Laura Frantz, 5-star review

Posted on January 16, 2020 by marykaymoody

AN UNCOMMON WOMAN by Laura Frantz is a treasure of a story. It has everything ~ engaging storyline, plot twists aplenty, characters that move into your home! All this presented in Frantz’s lovely prose with the sensitivity and insight into people and cultures that is rare and a pleasure to read.

Unflinching and plainspoken, Tessa Swan is not your typical 18th-century woman. Born and bred on the western Virginia frontier along with her five brothers, she is a force to be reckoned with.

Quiet and courageous, Clay Tygart is not your typical 18th-century man. Raised by Lenape Indians, he returns a hero from the French and Indian War to the fort that bears his name, bringing with him Tessa’s long-lost friend, Keturah, a redeemed Indian captive like himself.

Determined to avoid any romantic entanglements as fort commander, Clay remains aloof whenever he encounters the lovely Tessa. But when she is taken captive by the tribe Clay left, his hand–and heart–are forced, leading to one very private and one very public reckoning. [back cover]

Once again Frantz has captured the tenor of the setting, and so skillfully planted her characters in that setting that it’s impossible to imagine them hailing from elsewhere.

Tessa Swan, born and bred on the western Virginia frontier with five brothers is tough and resilient as a willow branch, competent and caring, and weary of having to live always looking over her shoulder and yearning for a pretty petticoat.

Keenly aware of possible consequences meted out by the clash of cultures of settlers and Indians, she just sets to work daily whether on their farm or at the family’s ferry across the Buckhannon River. She doesn’t waste time dwelling on possibilities or losses, but uses wisdom gained through experience to make cautious choices.

Frantz draws Tessa ~ and indeed, all characters in this story ~ so intimately connected to their land and experiences, we feel we’re peering into the viewer of a time machine to meet these frontier folk and watch living history. The cast of characters is realistic and flawed, and so deftly drawn that even five brothers have clear, distinct personalities. For example, “Ross always dwelt on the light side,” while “Jasper was all pounds, and pence and position.”

When Colonel Tygart from the nearby fort meets the Swan family, we watch as interest and attraction spark and grow between him and Tessa. Readers will enjoy walking with them as the tension grows and we wonder ~ Will these two souls, fractured by loss, be able to see each other as anything other than a threat? Will their environment and culture give them opportunity to develop any sort of relationship? Life is hard out there. Crops, animals, gardens, friendships, dreams—so many things die early on the frontier.

Frantz builds her story world so well that readers feel the tentativeness of life on the edge of the wilderness. Everything but God must be held loosely. And when we hear a snap, we spin around to see who’s creeping up on us…though it be just a bit of wood in our own fireplace.

And Frantz’s delightful way with words gives everything in this story a fresh and new view—setting, people, dilemmas, decisions. I collected quite a list of favorites to send her. I’d like to share them with you, but that would rob you of the joy of seeing them light up the page as you read. Frantz has again given us a book that rings with truth, delights the sense, surprises with plot twists, and takes the reader on a journey that just might make you stay up reading later than you intended. Enjoy the journey.

Meet Laura on her website, chat with her on Facebook, or share on her Pinterest or Instagram pages. Or leave a comment. She usually answers them!

BOOKS THAT TAKE YOU PLACES

Posted on April 2, 2019 by marykaymoody

ED n Karl w giant redwood copy

A heather-scented wind, salty-sea air, the ding-ding of cable cars, the hushed morning atop a mountain with snow unsullied by footprints, the sighing of wind through the redwood trees, the odd slant of the sun.

These are a few deeply etched memories of good times spent traveling. Many places still remain on my wish list. But I must say, I thoroughly enjoy armchair travel too. When an author crafts a setting that comes alive, that book skyrockets in my estimation. BOOKS that take us away Pictured are a few that come alive in locations beyond the standard foreign fare of England or Paris.

I’ve visited a slice of Scotland. But Liz Curtis Higgs, in her masterpiece of Scotland-love, My Heart’s in the Lowlands, takes us on a detailed tour along roads bordered by dry-stone dykes or hedgerows. We stop at her favorite inns and tearooms, moss-covered castle and abbey ruins, shops, and, of course, bookstores. It’s an insider’s tour of delights gathered over years of research visits to the Scottish Lowlands.

Laura Frantz continues the Scotland-love, introducing us to a rugged Scottish island in the fabulous A Bound Heart. I still want to visit those islands, but at least I’ve had a wee visit to one wild spot.

Tracy Higley’s Petra: City in Stone took me to an arid location I’d likely not choose and had assumed would be boringly repetitious. But she brought it alive. She and Nancy Rue in Healing Sands [not pictured] made the sandy/rocky setting anything but monotonous, and made me rethink my belief that deserts were boring. Michelle Ule joins them for making WW I Egypt come alive in A Poppy in Remembrance.

As I mentioned in my review of Kate Breslin’s Far Side of the Sea, many stories are set during the World Wars in the customary settings of England, France, Germany and such. But Breslin brings us to colorful, bustling war-time Barcelona. Davis Bunn in Florian’s Gate immerses us not only in post-war London, but poverty-stricken Poland with miles of decaying, gray farmhouses smothered with colorful flowers. His is a gripping mystery and romance in a come-to-life setting—well worth reading along with the others in The Priceless Collection set. Kristy Cambron in The Lost Castle spins a WW II tale of mystery and romance set in The Loire Valley of France. Perhaps this isn’t as unusual a location as the others I’ve included here, but it is outside the usual Paris-London-German-Italy quartet. Cambron brings her setting alive, and I’m eager to read her latest, Castle on the Rise, which is set in Ireland.

How alive some settings become surprised me. As I read one of Liz Curtis Higgs Scottish historicals, I could feel the different sensations on my tongue of the wooden spoons the poor used versus the silver utensils of the well-off, and it astonished me. If I cannot journey to a location, I look forward to traveling there via an excellent writer’s story.

So, as my friend Wendy Macdonald says, “I’m nosy to know:” What about you?

What places call to you?

Are you interested in locations outside the foreign settings that usually appear in U.S. published books? Perhaps Iceland? Albania? The Philippines? South Africa?

Raw, Elegant, and Wonderful ~ A BOUND HEART by Laura Frantz, 5-star BOOK REVIEW

Posted on December 31, 2018 by marykaymoody

Laura Frantz’s A BOUND HEART is a raw and elegant tale set on a wonderfully wild and moody Scottish isle.

The back cover bids us enter ~ Though Magnus MacLeish and Lark MacDougall grew up on the same castle grounds, Magnus is now laird of the great house and the Isle of Kerrera. Lark is but the keeper of his bees and the woman he is hoping will provide a tincture that might help his ailing wife conceive and bear him an heir. But when his wife dies suddenly, Magnus and Lark find themselves caught up in a whirlwind of accusations, expelled from their beloved island, and sold as indentured servants across the Atlantic. Can they make a new beginning in this New World? Or will their hopes be dashed against the rocky coastline of the Virginia colony?

Frantz quickly draws us into the world and life of Lark and Magnus. Rife with clashes of cultures, values, and loyalties, this setting is as turbulent as a stormy sea against Kerrera’s rocky coast. In such an uncertain time, can anyone find sure footing?

The teaser on the back cover reveals some plot turns and challenges Lark and Magnus face, but in truth it barely hints at the perils the two endure. Or the stunning grace offered. As these two straddle competing wants, responsibilities, and expectations of others, their integrity and faithfulness is tested.

The characters are well-drawn, layered, and compelling. We don’t so much read about them as walk with them—elbow to elbow. We see and feel the moods of the sea, the heavy consequences of ignoring the law, the complete end of self-reliance with only God’s guidance and grace to rescue us. We ache at the consequences of some choices. And along with Lark we catch our breath and pull our shoulders in as we navigate the narrow spaces allowed us. Narrow spaces such as:

~ the precarious cliffside trail between croft and castle

~ between propriety and expressing longing

~ between love for the laird and Lark’s duty of service

~ between freedom and imprisonment

~ between ship and dropping into the sea

~ between safety and death as people go about their duties

~ between hardship and comfort (Bought at what price?)

When all appears lost and the parted sweethearts seem drained of energy and options, I felt keen sadness and some anxiety about the next steps Lark and Magnus might take. Confidence in Frantz’s skill and remembering her commitment to providing a HEA* urged me to ignore the clock and keep reading!

Frantz’s skill continues to impress me. Settings that come alive, plot twists that ambush a reader, a worthy hero and heroine ~ she has it all. And more ~ the ability to portray characters with flaws as well as strengths, and always with respect. You’ll not find stock characters or stereotypical minorities in her stories. And she has an uncanny ability to convey a universal truth while giving us a peek into the private recesses of a heart, as when Lark thinks Oh, what a joy it was to be wanted. Chosen. [page 55]

And all is marinated in rich (Dare I say new and fascinating?) historical detail such that one particular strand of historical truth cannot be pulled out of the story’s fabric without leaving a hole.

A BOUND HEART ~ an intriguing title. BOUND. An interesting word. It can mean held against one’s will. Enslaved. It can also mean by one’s will one chooses to fasten, attach, tether oneself to something. Or someone.

A BOUND HEART is a perfect title because in this story both definitions are true. Body and actions are NOT free for Lark and Magnus because they are bound first to demands of their stations in life and later the master who holds their indentures.

But, their hearts and spirits ARE free, and they choose to tether themselves to God and each other. [As I write, Alfie Boe singing “Come What May” is curling through my mind. An apt background you can listen to here:

Alfie Boe by Linda W

Once again Laura Frantz brought her story alive in my living room ~ more as if I watched a fabulous film than read a book. With economy of words, she spins the story, displaying the impact of an experience and the depth of a character’s feeling.

This is a raw and elegant story that calls forth our better angels. A triumph for Frantz; a gift to her readers.

To meet Laura in cyberspace, visit her website www.laurafrantz.net. A BOUND HEART is available at bookstores and on-line.

*happily ever after

[Photo credits: Mary Kay Moody, Lenora Genovese, Tom Donald,William Jackson, Gilt Edged, Linda W.]

Book Review: THE LACEMAKER by Laura Frantz ~ a story painted with words

Posted on February 28, 2018 by marykaymoody

Laura Frantz’s THE LACEMAKER is set in 1775, pot-boiling days leading up to The Revolutionary War, when allegiances were strained and loyalties shifting. And Williamsburg, Virginia seems at the center of it all.

Into this turmoil Frantz drops Lady Elisabeth Lawson, dutiful daughter of the British lieutenant governor of the Virginia Colony. At her father’s arranging, Elisabeth is betrothed to a man of low morals and even lower integrity—a total rake.

As the story opens, Elisabeth is at the mercy of the decisions made by the men in her life, and I wanted her to stand up to them. When very soon, most of them prove their utter selfishness by abandoning her, she does set out to determine her own course, relying on naught but her own resources. But in this time of great uncertainty, she has no guarantee of success.

Frantz skillfully weaves history and story to bring this time alive for us. We have likely never lived in a time and place where one’s every move and word is watched, evaluated, and judged with life or death being the consequence. But just such immense stakes are the hinge of this story, so well told that we ache under the weight of each decision.

This is one of Frantz’s most overt romances and it works very well. The object of Elisabeth’s affections, the master of Ty Mawr estate and Independence Man Noble Rynallt, is a hero beyond expectation! The barriers to any relationship for these two are huge. When they seem insurmountable, I expected to leave the story with only bittersweet memories and the echo of Anwylyd. But noble sacrifices, exactly what one expects from a larger-than-life hero, emerge out of nowhere and bring sighs and hope and, as Frantz always promises ~ hints of HEA (happily-ever-after).

I will happily read this marvelous story repeatedly. Frantz’s ability to paint with words introduces us to characters as if in person, presents scenes we can experience with all our senses, and plaits a story that wends its way into our hearts. I usually include snippets and gems to entice a review reader to become a book reader ~ but have heard that practice sometimes robs a reader from discovering jewels of her own. So I will limit myself to this one when Elisabeth is woken from a fretful sleep by a drunken, rowdy crowd. As the mob pillages her home, she learns she’s alone save two servants.

She sensed danger. For the first time in her sheltered, cosseted life, she felt it hovering like a dark presence … Papers lay like leaf litter … Moonlight spilled through shards of broken window glass … Elisabeth stood looking at her harp, the only thing in the music room that seemed to have withstood the night’s onslaught … carpet bore tar and feather boot marks. Both windows overlooking the garden were shattered … She kept her eyes on her instrument, lovingly counting the strings like a mother counted the fingers and toes of her newborn …The doorway darkened … Noble Rynallt’s searching stare seemed to strip away her forced composure … She felt as exposed as if she was in her underpinnings. Her humiliation was complete … There was a sympathetic light in his face … that drew her dangerously near the edge of her emotions. “This isn’t about you, you know,” he said quietly. “I know.” “I’m not the first to come.” … He was proceeding carefully. Did he sense she was as fragile as the broken glass all around them? … “No one offered you safe harbor?” “Nay.”

Oh, Elisabeth, I want to hug you and walk you to a place of respite. Dear reader, don’t you?

Good stories are those where the characters capture us and compel us to join them on their journey. Frantz’s cast does that flawlessly. We have characters aplenty to root for, and many a scoundrel to cheer when calamity befalls them. For good or ill, we care what happens to these characters. I use flags to make finding favorite passages easy. My “visual review” to the right shows I heartily recommend THE LACEMAKER!

Novel Buffet

Posted on January 14, 2018 by marykaymoody

Am I sharing recipes for weird, unusual foods? No, preparing a buffet of appetizers from novelists who write marvelous stories. As you peruse the buffet, I hope you discover intriguing new stories and authors. It’s a joy to share a taste of them with you. [Many of these have appeared on my blog in years past. You will find a link (colored words near end of each book blurb) to the longer review if you want more than a taste. Bon appétit.]

Books are like a magic carpet ~ transporting us to realms far from our everyday. Distant countries. Distant eras. Journeys of heroism, beauty, joy, love. Such a rich gift for pennies. I love a tale that sweeps me away, dives deep, broadens my perspective, delights my artist heart. Here are some of the best.

KRISTY CAMBRON

Hope & Beauty ~ THE BUTTERFLY AND THE VIOLIN

A powerful story, well told … beautifully told. ‘Tis a gifted writer who can not only open a window for a reader to peer into a different world, but transport the reader there. Kristy Cambron transported me to another world ~ and I don’t feel as if I’ve quite returned yet.

On finishing the story, I closed the cover and felt strangely untethered from my hot summer home. Also bereft at leaving behind this place Cambron had so thoroughly delivered me to. Haven’t analyzed the why; not certain I want to. But I do know this tale displays our urge to create beauty, and the power of beauty to infuse hope. That message resonated with me. I suspect it will with you.

Fear. Faith. Family. A SPARROW IN TEREZIN

For some people hundreds of things spark hope and joy. But for Europeans living during the 1940s, choices, safety, and reasons for optimism were shrinking.

In A Sparrow in Terezin Kristy Cambron works her alchemy of words and brings her story world to life in my living room—even more so in my mind and heart. …

Closing the cover of a Cambron book is never a complete pleasure because many months will pass before another of her tales is available.

Stunning ~ THE RINGMASTER’S WIFE

With a thorough grasp of historical research (like another favorite author, Laura Frantz), Cambron’s stories ~ the fictional saga of Colin and Rosamund and the historical lives of John and Mable Ringling ~ are perfectly interlaced. The novel is such a seamless blend, it’s impossible to dissect the two threads while reading. So superbly woven that if Cambron didn’t tell me, I’d never suspect half the novel is not based on actual people.

Reading The Ringmaster’s Wife with Cambron’s signature powerful story, lively settings, fascinating characters, and her lovely way with words is like savoring fine chocolate.

LAURA FRANTZ

A Journey through A MOONBOW NIGHT

As a reader I love a good story. One that invites turning pages quickly, chasing plot turns with characters that have captured my interest. I want to be so immersed in a book that closing the cover and returning to my time and place is a shock. Laura Frantz writes stories that come alive. A venture she succeeds in every time. For a reader, that is enough to know opening A Moonbow Night will bring satisfaction.

moonbow night cover Frantz captures the unsettledness and danger of 1777, a year of much violence and bloodshed in Kentucky known as “the bloody sevens.” Indian attacks grew more common. Constant vigilance and heightened senses were required. The story shows the toll vigilance takes, and the price of being careless. And though the story is set in a turbulent era and covers many raw days, do not fear it’s a dark and overwhelming story. That all is relieved when Frantz peppers the story with beautiful observations, joyous experiences, noble deeds, glimmers of hope, as well as snatches of humor.

Frantz creates living, breathing characters. Though this is her fourth novel set in l770-1790 Kentucky, her characters are always fresh, distinct, and seem to emerge perfectly from the era. Not a retread among them.

… I think the magic of Frantz’s writing (which in my experience is shared by only a few) is that her stories are not so much read as lived.

There can be only one ~ THE MISTRESS OF TALL ACRE

Who do you trust when the whole world has turned upside down? When you live in a new country with new loyalties, expectations, resources? When family and friends are all dead or gone? When one wrong word or glance can jeopardize your fragile hold on life?

Whether you’re a twenty-something spinster or a five-year-old motherless child ~ that world is a frightening and dangerous place. It is into just such a post-Revolutionary War period that Laura Frantz drops us.

May I introduce: General Seamus Ogilvy ~ whose “battlefield manners often follow him into the parlor.”

THE BALLANTYNE LEGACY series

Secrets, lies, and mistrust create a dark backdrop against which Frantz’s characters shimmer. And as if a good story well-told wasn’t enough, Frantz drops gem-like epigrams throughout which intrigue you or tickle your funny bone.

Breath-taking ~ LOVE’S RECKONING

Very possibly my favorite hero! (At least 1 of top 2.) Astonishing how real this story became to me.

Sensory Jewel ~ LOVE’S AWAKENING (book 2)

Clash of the titans aptly describes the atmosphere as you open Love’s Awakening. Oh, love is in the title and in the novel ~~ but the story is much more than a love story. It’s drama, adventure, intrigue, mystery, and history-come-alive when Ellie of the powerful, wealthy, and abolition-leaning Ballantyne clan encounters children of the slave-holding, whiskey magnate, Henry Turlock.

More than the sum of well-done craft elements, this is a book I thoroughly enjoyed escaping into. I’d love to see it made into a movie.

Adventure Calls ~ LOVE’S FORTUNE (book 3)

“For the rest of his life James Sackett would remember this moment.”

What about this moment is special? And who could resist turning the page after reading such a line?

Whatever makes a good novel for you ~ high-stakes action, compelling characters, a setting that takes you someplace new ~ you’ll find it between the covers of Love’s Fortune. Frantz is skilled at the elements of writing good fiction—vivid characters, rich setting, taut plot lines. And also using the subtlety, red herrings, and misdirection of engrossing mysteries.

But there is more, much more. Some authors (and Frantz is one) have a way of weaving simple words, sentences, and paragraphs into a glittering jewel that is more than the sum of its parts. She transforms these elements into a tale that Narnia-like captures and carries us to a satisfying journey. Love’s Fortune is a tale that unfurls at times with the grit and scrape of a coil of hemp rope, at others with the caress and shimmery mystery of a spool of moiré ribbon. A tale that kept me reading until the dawn broke.

[Note: having read all but one of Laura Frantz’s novels (most more than once), I recommend them without hesitation.]

DAVIS BUNN

THE TURNING ~ Bunn presents a story which is paradoxically as familiar as age-old fairy tales yet as astonishing as tomorrow’s news.

The power of one person ~ UNLIMITED

Illustrating a person’s unlimited potential when relying on a limitless God demands hopeless circumstances. And Bunn delivers. The setting—a dusty, Mexican border town—is so clear that reading the book during a heat wave was sometimes uncomfortably real. The characters are also realistic. Currently breathing in my home, they’ve been invited to stay.

Though I don’t typically enjoy desert settings, this novel grabbed me and carried me along. Unlimited is another in a long line of Bunn’s satisfying reads and I highly recommend it.

MARC ROYCE series

Tested loyalty, courage, and faith, a five-star series ~ LION OF BABYLON (book 1), RARE EARTH (book 2), STRAIT OF HORMUZ (book 3)

With an economy of words and profusion of images, Strait of Hormuz is a story seemingly ripped from today’s news. American Marc Royce has been sent on a clandestine intelligence operation that takes him to Switzerland, then across Europe into the Middle East, without backup. Or even a gun.

Might just give you chills on a hot summer day ~ BOOK OF DREAMS & HIDDEN IN DREAMS

This 2-book series of Bunn’s is an intriguing tale that seems simultaneously drawn from today’s newspaper headlines and Old Testament prophecy. You’ll follow plot twists, but still won’t see the ending coming.

C. J. MILBRANDT

Meadowsweet In the vein of Chronicles of Narnia ~ GALLERIES OF STONE series

Statues on the legendary Moonlit Mountain have a life of their own.

MEADOWSWEET – book 1, HARROW – book 2, RAKEFANG – book 3

Milbrandt weaves a marvelously creative, whimsical world where mountains have moods and some people can discern those moods, even hear the mountain. Where mountains have keepers to protect their hearts. And stone statues can be woken. This is a tale brimming with love, loyalty, and delight ~ where every person and thing is valuable.

Chocked full of fun, mystery, and life lessons, the Galleries of Stone series are be labeled YA, but they’re family-friendly stories along the line of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia, and are equally good for reading by any age, aloud to little ones, or as a family. Milbrandt is a master craftsman whose books overflow with creativity, heroism, love, and joy. I recommend this series to all who want more light and joy in their day.

JULIE KLASSEN

Captivating ~ THE TUTOR’S DAUGHTER

THE TUTOR'S DAUGHTER cover Surely in her Minnesota hometown, Julie Klassen must spend time fishing ~ for in The Tutor’s Daughter she set the hook on page one and steadily reeled me deeper as the story unfurled. [Though, truly I was captured by the cover first. Isn’t it a delight?]

From the time the Smallwoods enter Cornwall, the story’s twists continually ramp up the mystery ~ it seems everyone there harbors secrets. I savored every bit of description. Klassen uses the setting with great skill not only to draw the reader in but to advance the plot ~ always a nice touch.

High stakes ~ LADY MAYBE

Having read at least a half-dozen of Julie Klassen’s books, I am a fan. Lady Maybe is full of the high-quality writing with interesting characters and the rich historical setting Klassen does so well. The story is gripping from its creative and compelling inciting incident. The powerful consequences and possible losses that could result from each choice the heroine faces kept me eager to continue reading. Klassen is a gifted storyteller.

I think Lady Maybe fell a tad short in one aspect—the romantic plot thread. The content was more sexually-oriented than others by Klassen. Also, the heroine waffled between love interests without clear motivation, leaving me with no particular hero to root for. (I wondered if the marked difference between this novel and other Klassen novels is the result of the new publisher.)

SUSAN MEISSNER

Everything about Meissner’s work is rich ~ A FALL OF MARIGOLDS

Reading Meissner’s captivating story of either Taryn or Clara, women buckled by tragedy and strengthened by love, would be a day well-spent. Meissner, however, weaves their stories together, doubling our enjoyment of the gripping journey. Each woman endures an infamous event and recoils from the pain of living. We accompany them as circumstances force them to discover how to peel off their armor like bandages from a burn and let their tender selves face life again.

PEPPER BASHAM

PENNED IN TIME series

An energetic story ~ THE THORN BEARER (book 1)

Basham braids her story around the taut theme of broken people needing to give and receive forgiveness. She excels in hinting at feelings not shown and things left unsaid, giving readers a dance of communication with exquisitely veiled dialogue that allows much opportunity for misunderstanding. This occurs amidst a fast-flowing stream of situations that shuffle the characters and their futures.

SANDY SNAVELY

Intriguing views through ELLIE’S WINDOW

An engaging book with a creative smörgåsbord of characters, themes, and perspectives. … It expands the realm of possibilities for our consideration. A gift on every level.

OPERATION FIRST NOVEL CONTEST WINNERS ~

THE CALLING OF ELLA McFARLAND, Linda Brooks Davis Davis spins a good yarn and draws vivid characters with perfectly chosen details.

SNOW OUT OF SEASON, Christy Brunke That title intrigues me. “Out of season” always means something is awry. … I appreciate believable characters, evocative settings, intriguing storylines, lovely writing, spot-on symbolism, crackling dialog with a dash of charm and humor.

DOUBLE HEADER, Clarice James The author draws characters with plenty of quirks and finds fresh ways to describe them. Her writing skill and witty style make the reader’s journey a delight.

And on a 2nd buffet table ~ Many book review posts were lost in a massive tech glitch on my website. Not wanting to slight some favorite authors and great books, I’m including some notes below from reviews I’ve done on other websites so they may be missing links to the longer versions.

LIZ CURTIS HIGGS

In this 2-volume set, we walk with the Kerr family through the dark and dangerous times of the Jacobite Rising in Scotland, 1745 and find God’s love dazzles like a diamond against a jeweler’s black velvet. I look for a novel to carry me away. This series succeeded magnificently, and I could not recommend it more highly!

HERE BURNS MY CANDLE (book 1)

Here Burns my Candle cover This story didn’t just unfold. It crept into my mind and heart like the chill creeps under Elisabeth’s wool cape. I walked the bustling High Street. Smelled lavender and hay. Heard the rustling sigh of silk skirts, the clip-clop of horses on cobblestones, and cannons boom from Edinburgh Castle. I felt the chill mist on my face, the icy mornings when coal was scarce, and the cold scorn heaped upon the family as allegiances shifted like sand.

Some reviewers said the story grows slowly. Perhaps the action could have been conveyed in two-thirds the length ~ but ah, the experience could not. I believe the pace allows me to accompany the characters as they encounter challenges that induce gradual change in their perceptions, expectations, and reactions, and that is precisely why the story draws me in so thoroughly.

MINE IS THE NIGHT (book 2)

Elizabeth and Marjory are two women who may have lost their titles but not their nobility of character. As they make their way in this new world, the neighbors and challenges they meet provide no end of excitement.

In typical fashion, Higgs creates characters I love to spend time with, places them in a drama as filled with wrinkles as calico stuffed in my quilt-scraps bag, and plants them in a setting so richly drawn that I feel the dew and the odd sensation of drinking from a wooden cup. I soak up the colors of the evening sky.

Finishing the book, I feel as if I’ve just returned from a memorable trip–and long to return. So I do. I leisurely wend my way through the story in Selkirkshire and visit the dear companions residing there on my second read in as many weeks.

Grab your boots; it’s snowing! ~ A WREATH OF SNOW

As usual, Liz doesn’t just tell us a story, she draws us into it, deftly weaving this tale so there’s no escaping accompanying the characters on their journey. In snowbound Stirling, Scotland, we feel the need of a scarf and dry shoes, a loved one’s smile, a ray of hope–and a desire to run away.

When Meg Campbell, her family, and Gordon Shaw are snowed into a town that seems to hold nothing but painful reminders, we feel along with them the suffocation of burdens not meant to be borne. And we celebrate when they confront their deepest secrets, shames, and fears, and then experience God’s wonderful way of using everything to further his purposes and to give light to those trapped in emotional prisons.

With a lovely drawing of the Stirling Railway Station, Liz’s notes and book club questions, snippets of poetry, AND a recipe for yummy shortbread, this is a charming story which I highly recommend whether you love Scotland or not–which I thoroughly do.

[Just a note without reviews: I’ve read all of Higgs’ novels and they are all 5-star reads, captivating and thoroughly enjoyable. I don’t believe there’s one that I haven’t read at least twice.]

ANGELA HUNT

LET DARKNESS COME

Angela Hunt’s tagline is “Expect the unexpected.” I do, yet she continues to surprise me. This taut, intriguing mystery is no exception. Hunt’s understated prose draws the reader into Briley’s, Erin’s, and Antonio’s world–then tilts it, inviting new perspectives, allowing new insights. The story unfurls with masterful precision, early clues barely breathed into the story with such subtlety Sherlock Holmes would have difficulty catching them. An exceptional read. [Another author who writes consistently excellent and intriguing novels. I haven’t read every one, but many; and never hesitate to recommend them.]

NANCY RUE

SULLIVAN CRISP series ~ with Steve Arterburn

I also recommend HEALING STONES (book 1) and HEALING WATERS (book 2) but haven’t written reviews.

HEALING SANDS (book 3) ~ a powerful tapestry woven of drama and mystery, shot through with sparkling threads of humor and poetry. This compelling story grabbed me and held me until the wee hours of the morning with laugh-out-loud and take-my-breath-away moments. Arterburn and Rue’s writing reveals nuanced characters in compelling situations in settings that shimmer in their clarity. You’ll blink sand from your eyes and take new perspectives with you when you close the cover. I will read this book again–and highly recommend it.

SALLY JOHN

Intricately woven, achingly real, story within a story, intriguing, satisfying ~ RANSOMED DREAMS

From the first sentence I was carried away into Sheridan Montgomery’s world as surely as Wendy Darling entered Neverland. And leaving was every bit as difficult. The journey with the characters led to a powerful ending with life-altering shifts in perspective.

Whether you wish an armchair (or beach towel) vacation, or a thought-provoking journey to new insights, Ransomed Dreams satisfies. [Another superb author who doesn’t disappoint. I believe I’ve read every novel she’s written, some more than once. Highly recommend them all.]

JOANNE BISCHOF

THE CADENCE OF GRACE series

Bischof spins tales that draw you in through clearly drawn characters who face obstacles that shake them to the core, leaving them with barely enough strength to take another breath.

BE STILL MY SOUL – book 1, THOUGH MY HEART IS TORN – book 2, MY HOPE IS FOUND – book 3

Gideon O’Riley has two wives—but he doesn’t know it.

Reading that, how can you help but be drawn in? We want to know: How is that possible? And when we discover that, we wonder how you continue moving through life when every person you love and rely on is ripped from you. Though My Heart is Torn is a powerful story of perseverance under testing.

[I heartily recommend books 1 & 2. Somehow I missed book 3! For shame.]

Kristy Cambron’s Stunning THE RINGMASTER’S WIFE

Posted on March 7, 2017 by marykaymoody

ringmaster_final-cover_nov-11 In The Ringmaster’s Wife, Kristy Cambron takes us deep into the rapidly-changing 1920s with young ladies Mable and Lady Rosamund as they carve out lives of their own choosing, following their own dreams.

Cambron’s characters, both fictional historical, are totally believable and engaging. They’re delightfully flawed yet with redeeming aspects that make them endearing. A few times as decisions were made, I wanted to yell, “No! Don’t do that.” And while I was certain danger or heartache lay in that direction, each decision was consistent for that character.

MANOR HOUSE - perhaps ATHOLL fr Paula cr br summer Whether the reserved air of an English nobleman’s estate or the flamboyant life of the circus, Cambron creates a story world that sizzles with life. She has an uncanny ability to choose a golden-nugget detail that conveys the essence of a character, a place, a time. Each line brims with insight into both observer and observed. For example:

“Rosamund watched her mother’s transformation … showering compliments. Dripping with charm. Why her very words could have slithered through piles of sugar.”

CASTLE sitting room-museum frPaula cr Have we any doubt how Rosamund and her mother relate?

“He stood tall, owning his spot by the hearth with a devil-may-care ease unusual for a drawing room in Yorkshire.”

Or that the shocking new visitor captures Rose’s attention?

Scenes and settings come alive in the theater of our minds:

“Mable … walked through the halls of a sanitarium, trying to angle stiff crinolines and yards of lace around the metal wheels of hospital beds positioned as fabric traps …”

Cà d’Zan, Mable & John Ringling’s home on Sarasota Bay in Florida.

Because the two women around whom the story builds are 25 years apart in age, the story unfolds in chapters that jump back and forth in time. While each transition is marked with a date/location slug, I still found following the story a bit difficult. At times I had to return to the previous chapter in order to map out the relationship of the new action with the previous. A minor frustration in a story that captivated me. I cared about what happened in each person’s journey. And I will take great pleasure in re-reading The Ringmaster’s Wife with Cambron’s signature powerful story, lively settings, and fascinating characters. And her lovely way with words.

“Allowing … the clippings, one by one, to float out across the surface of the water. Every one of them danced.… Photos of Steinway pianos. Drawings of pink roses. Catalog pictures of fashion models … all disappeared in the blackness of the sea. It was a ticker-tape parade of forgotten dreams.”

Ahh … Re-reading this is like savoring the finest chocolate.

* Cà d’Zan photo, courtesy of By Fred Hsu https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57645633

Mary Kay Moody

Writing at the Intersection of Our Plans and God's Purpose

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