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!

Rich, Powerful Romantic-Suspense ~ THE LOST HEIRESS by Roseanna White, 5-star Review

Posted on June 18, 2019 by marykaymoody

Brook Eden has never known where she truly belongs. Though raised in the palace of Monaco, she’s British by birth and was brought to the Grimaldis under suspicious circumstances as a babe. When her friend Justin uncovers the fact that she is possibly a missing heiress from Yorkshire, Brook leaves the sun of the Mediterranean to travel to the moors of the North Sea and the estate of her supposed family.

The mystery of her mother’s death haunts her, and though her father is quick to accept her, the rest of the family and the servants of Whitby Park are not. Only when Brook’s life is threatened do they draw close—but will their loyalty come too late to save Brook from the same threat that led to tragedy for her mother? [from back cover]

The moment we meet Brook Eden, her playfulness and audacity invite us to join her. And from page one when she cajoles best friend Justin to teach her to drive the Rolls Royce he’s parked in front of her, we dash off with them on adventures from Monaco to England.

Roseanna White has penned complex characters with competing wants that make each person’s journey one filled with difficult choices. Add to that the fact someone desperately wants what Brook or Justin have—and will go to any lengths to get it. How can a mere slip of a girl, a newly restored heiress, protect herself from schemers hidden all around? How can two young people negotiate those dangerous days and have room left for falling in love? The journey to find out if they can will make you fly through the pages of this fascinating story.

White spins the story so well that almost all distance between reader and characters vanishes like a morning fog. We walk so intimately with Brook as she eventually finds out her name, her place, and her history that when she’s overcome with emotion because she finally belongs somewhere, our own breath catches. It all comes alive for us as if we traveled through time to the Edwardian era in sun-drenched Monaco or the chilly mists of Yorkshire.

From inciting incident, to growing trouble, to resolution, White fills the story with surprises, twists and turns like a mountain road. I particularly admire a scene when the family has been praying for a missing member, White gives the reader a glimpse of the amazing, unique way that prayer is answered, while no one in the story ~ even those who are the answer ~ has a clue. Masterful plotting and writing, there and throughout. I highly recommend this riveting tale to fans of historical romance and suspense.

Captivating Story ~ WHOSE WAVES THESE ARE By Amanda Dykes Book Review

Posted on April 30, 2019 by marykaymoody

In the wake of WWII, a grieving fisherman submits a poem to a local newspaper: a rallying cry for hope, purpose . . . and rocks. Send me a rock for the person you lost, and I will build something life-giving. When the poem spreads farther than he ever intended, Robert Bliss’s humble words change the tide of a nation. Boxes of rocks inundate the tiny, coastal Maine town, and he sets his calloused hands to work, but the building halts when tragedy strikes.

Decades later, Annie Bliss is summoned back to Ansel-by-the-Sea when she learns her Great-Uncle Robert, the man who became her refuge during the hardest summer of her youth, is now the one in need of help. What she didn’t anticipate was finding a wall of heavy boxes hiding in his home. Long-ago memories of stone ruins on a nearby island trigger her curiosity, igniting a fire in her anthropologist soul to uncover answers.

She joins forces with the handsome and mysterious harbor postman, and all her hopes of mending the decades-old chasm in her family seem to point back to the ruins. But with Robert failing fast, her search for answers battles against time, a foe as relentless as the ever-crashing waves upon the sea. [from back cover]

In Whose Waves These Are Amanda Dykes has constructed the woodsy seaside village of Ansel-by-the-Sea so clearly we can see the wind-pushed ripples and waves, smell the wood smoke, and hear the silvery sound of DIY wind chimes.

Ansel is a place where God’s presence and provision hovers over the residents like the fog hovers over the coast, and gossip is shunned but residents are not. Each one’s well-being is valued by the townsfolk who see beyond behavior and into a person’s heart, needs, and broken spots—which are handled respectfully and tenderly. Ansel residents help each other find ways to stitch together the rent pieces. In short, it’s a place anyone would like to live in.

The characters ring true as we accompany them on the journey of living and losing, finding and forgiving, heartbreak and reconciliation; learning the importance of each decision made, each step taken, and the impact of the consequences. Because a person chooses his actions but not his consequences. And make no mistake—there will be consequences.

Whose Waves These Are is a dual-time story. For those put off by dual-time stories, there’s no need to avoid this one. Dykes has mastered the techniques, and this story slips from World War II era and contemporary smoothly. It’s the easiest to follow of the many dual-time stories I’ve read.

Dykes tells this tale in a lovely, lyrical style. And displays a keen understanding of loss, pain, grief, guilt; and the courage required to make peace with them and move into hope and living again. A few quotes serve to prove my point—and whet your appetite.

“If everything around you is broken, it’s time to unbreak something.” [p 75]

[Annie arrives at her uncle’s home after a twenty-year absence] “A step inside feels like she’s trespassing, the house assessing her every step as if to say Who … are you …?” [p 60]

“She’s learning that this guy is never in a hurry. Whatever he’s thinking, he gives it time to be thought.” [p 92]

[conversation Robert observes about a man missing after World War II]“Your husband,” Eva says gently. “He hasn’t returned … yet?” Her wording is hopeful but gentle and Robert wants to kiss her for it. He would have blundered that question a thousand ways. [p240]

“Fire dimming … He drops to his knees, grips earth, grips jagged hope.” [p 348]

Themes of brokenness and mending, hope, purpose, and light are woven through the stories of these realistic, flawed characters as they struggle and prevail. The journey through this story is thought-provoking and light-filled; a trip you’ll want to repeat with a second and third read. Whose Waves These Are is a captivating story that is sure to become a classic. I heartily recommend this glorious story.

You can meet Amanda on her website here and share all sorts of beauty and bookish things. You’ll also find links to her other cyber-spaces.

I thank Baker Publishing Group for a free review copy of this book. I was under no requirement to write a positive review.

Photo credits: Mary Kay Moody

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.]

CHATEAU OF SECRETS by Melanie Dobson – Book Review

Posted on September 20, 2018 by marykaymoody

Imagine a beautiful June in 1940 and you’re living in a chateau in Normandy, France with your nobleman father. You awake one morning to learn you are ruled by Hitler and at the mercy of Nazi soldiers because some government officials in Paris decided to surrender. In World War II, life was upended like that. And life-altering, split-second decisions had to be made.

Chateau of Secrets by Melanie Dobson is 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. Gisèle Duchant navigates those precarious WWII days fraught with danger, betrayal, and the ironies of courage, secrets, and choices made for survival. The depth of the struggle is exemplified as young Gisèle ponders how to continue:

German soldiers, Paris, June 14, 1940

“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
The Germans had killed … and now they were destroying her country. How was she supposed to care for the men who had killed him? And even more, how was she supposed to love them—love evil? She despised everything they were doing.” [p 191]

Years later her granddaughter Chloe Sauver tries to unravel the stories into truth and piece together facts, hidden for decades, as she assists a documentary filmmaker.

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.

* photo credit: Bundesarchiv, on Wikipedia

Book Review – THE SEA BEFORE US by Sarah Sundin

Posted on June 27, 2018 by marykaymoody

A 5-star read, I loved The Sea Before Us and read many passages to my husband, an avid reader of World War II history. The story opens with a bang (one of the best I’ve read!) and captivated me with appealing characters, a compelling plot, and settings that shimmered with life in my living room. Here are just some of the things I liked about it.

In The Sea Before Us, Sarah Sundin has crafted a rich, gripping tale of love, loyalty, and duty thriving despite opposition. U.S. Naval officer Wyatt Paxton and British Wren Dorothy Fairfax are thrown together while working on the Allies’ preparation for D-Day. Complications and confusion come at them from every side—family, friends, culture, the military, romance, duty, personal and professional values. As the world hurtles toward the critical turning point of D-Day, Wyatt and Dorothy hurtle to their own turning point and must learn to trust each other if success is to be won.

BIG BEN by Laura Climent

Each character faces intense personal challenges. As their lives intersect, the challenges are magnified. Skills, perceptions, priorities, and alliances shift. Yet Sundin always keeps us near the beating heart of the story ~ as when Wyatt and Dorothy look at her paintings, she says, “I liked watercolors then, so sheer and ephemeral. But they’re naïve…. Oils, the density … show the world the way it is.” We feel with aching clarity that the world has cracked open and memory will be forever split into BW, before the war, and AW. Sundin weaves this absorbing tale so well that all surprises flow reasonably from the story line and characters. No groaner-coincidences here. But plenty of tension and jaw-dropping moments.

I love World Ward II stories, and The Sea Before Us carried me away to dark, uncertain days in England. Sundin braids new, riveting history into the characters’ journeys. And her research is so thorough that she was able to surprise my husband (that WW II buff). No easy task. The D-Day preparations are fascinating to read; the training and battle scenes come to life. Sundin skillfully displays various skirmishes in detail sufficient to make you chilly as survivors are pulled from the cold Channel waters, but with a restraint that protects readers from gruesome detail such as in the opening scenes of “Saving Private Ryan.”

Under Sundin’s pen, fact and fiction meld seamlessly. As I noted in my April 2018 review of Kate Breslin’s For Such a Time, I’m grateful when authors inform readers exactly where that dividing line falls. This is my first Sarah Sundin novel, though she’s been on my authors-to-read list for a long while. I won’t make the mistake of putting many books ahead of hers in the future! And because this is book 1 in her Sunrise at Normandy series, I won’t have to wait too long.

Book Review – MIRAMAR BAY by Davis Bunn

Posted on May 16, 2018 by marykaymoody

When Connor Larkin boards a late night bus in downtown L.A., he’s not sure where he’s going or what he’s looking for. Putting his acting career—and his fiancée—on hold, he’s searching for a part of himself he lost on the road to success. Now, with his wedding day approaching, Connor finds himself stepping into the sleepy seaside town of Miramar Bay—where one remarkable woman inspires him to rethink all of his choices . . .

Unlike the pretentious starlets back in Hollywood, Sylvie Cassick has had to work hard for everything she has. When Connor hears familiar music drifting out of her restaurant, he can’t escape a feeling of finally coming home. Sylvie isn’t sure what to think when this impossibly handsome stranger applies for a waiter’s job. Yet once he serenades her customers—and slowly works his way into her heart—she realizes there’s more to him than he’s letting on. But as the world outside Miramar begins to threaten their fragile bond, Connor will have to risk losing everything to gain the life he longs for—and become the man Sylvie deserves.

Miramar Bay is the story of mid-list actor Connor Larkin, who’s escaping Los Angeles, and restaurateur Sylvie Cassick, who’s hanging on to her last thread of hope after someone uses her historic eatery as a cover for illegal activity. These two people must find the courage and community to live out their true selves.

The story pulled me in immediately. Bunn is a true craftsman who makes his stories come alive. His settings unfurl before our eyes such that we can almost step into the story, be it a glitzy Hollywood world or the sleepy coast town of Miramar Bay. “The light held a cathedral quality, spilling through the ocean mist like heaven’s own stained glass.” Who would not pause at such a place?

Or describing a place near sunset: “There was a breathless hush to the air, neither any wind nor the faintest ripple to mar the ocean’s surface. The Pacific stretched out in blue-gold majesty to join with the cloudless horizon. The air was a mix of sunlit heat and the water’s biting chill. The result was a champagne headiness.”

Bunn’s enchanting way with words continues throughout. He 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.

I love Davis Bunn’s novels. He is equally skilled whether writing contemporary or historical, romance or suspense. His stories are captivating and rich in detail while flowing right along, never lagging or lacking. Miramar Bay is another in a long line of successes and I highly recommend it.

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!

Mary Kay Moody

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

Tag Archives: 5-star review