What You Said to Me - Olivia Newport

 

Feeling like she's the latest in a line of women who make bad choices and can't find a way to be happy, Tisha Crowder ends up essentially doing community service time as Jillian's assistant.  Only, Jillian has a hard time seeing that there's any assisting being done.  Yet, between Nolan's unwavering patience and optimism, and Jillian's glimpses into Tisha's life, Jillian gains an understanding of what's inside Tisha, and together, they find that maybe there's some good in her family line after all.

This might have been my favorite of the series!  I really felt like I could put myself in the shoes of all the characters in this book.  I could see Nolan's desire to help Tisha, because he could see that her circumstances were turning her into something she didn't need to be.  I could feel Tisha's discouragement at her situation and her doubt that Jillian and Nolan meant the nice things they said about her, because it conflicted with everything she'd ever heard from her mother, and that made them seem like platitudes.  Even Jillian's reaction to Tisha was totally reasonable, because her project was important to her and her client, and it must have been nerve-wracking to have a lackadaisical, lackluster teenager mope into her workspace with no regard to accuracy.  While Nolan remained steadfast, Jillian and Tisha changed together, and their growth seemed realistic and satisfying.

I give this book 4 stars.  While it was my favorite thus far, and I enjoy this ongoing series and continuing to connect with Jillian and Nolan, they aren't books I see myself rereading, although I found myself wishing I remembered more from the previous installments as I struggled to remember some of the side characters this time around.

You can find What You Said to Me HERE.
You can find the author HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

The House at the End of the Moor - Michelle Griep

An innocent man wrongly imprisoned; not just wrongly imprisoned, but targeted and accused, in order to stall his work to improve the lives of the poor.  A beautiful opera singer, propositioned with the threat of blackmail, forced to leave her gift behind and live an anonymous life on the barren moor.  A daring escape, an injured stranger, a Constable bent on meting out justice, plots uncovered  - in all of this, what is God's plan? Where is His justice?

There was so much action, redemption, and reconciliation in this book; it was thrilling, heartbreaking, and gripping.  Yet, the dark characters and the violent evil they wrought on undeserving and unsuspecting recipients was harsh and difficult to stomach.  I understand that it highlighted their depravity and lack of understanding of God's mercy and justice, but I felt that it could have been hinted at, but left a bit more off of the page.

I give this book 4 stars; I loved so much of it, it would have easily been a 5-star read without so much violence.

You can find The House at the End of the Moor HERE.
You can find the author HERE. I will definitely be looking to read more from her!

From Sky to Sky - Amanda G. Stevens

In this follow-up to No Less Days, Zac Wilson has stuck around in town with David Galloway, after connecting with the fellow longevite under terrible circumstances.  While there, he is approached by more people like him, who claim that several more of their kind have been dying. Are they finally aging out, or is something darker happening?

In my review of No Less Days, I mentioned that it would have made a good series, and I was right!  Having this book added to the first makes the story much richer, and watching these characters struggle with their odd balance of humanity and immortality becomes an epic battle rather than a skirmish snapshot.  I questioned how one's faith in God might grow, or stagnate, over several lifespans that didn't result in a face-to-face meeting - that was delved into more thoroughly in this book, and it added so much to the story.  There are still questions hanging out there, and I can only hope that there are more books to come to continue this unusual story of a family knit together by unique circumstances and not necessarily by choice.  I'm so interested to see how they find their way back together, and if they can find peace with what seems to be their lot.

I give this book 4 stars.  I almost didn't pick it up because its description is so odd for a Christian fiction novel, but I'm so glad that I did!  It definitely gives the reader a lot to think about how they handle their small breath of years they get to spend here.

You can find From Sky to Sky HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

In the Cradle Lies - Olivia Newport

The Tree of Life series is set in the small town of Canyon Mines, and centers around Jillian Parisi-Duffy's work as a genealogist.  Besides her steady paycheck work of hunting down next-of-kin for insurance companies, she can't help but be curious about the strangers who wander into her town with mysterious backstories.  The Inn at Hidden Run introduces Jillian to Meri, who has run away from her family and doesn't want to talk about it.  In the Cradle Lies brings Tucker Kintzler to town, with his piles of cash and crazy dream to find the Inn's Hidden ski run namesake.  In both novels, Jillian works with her father, a lawyer skilled in mediation and getting people to open up to him, as well as a cast of small-town characters, to dig out enough information to piece together the history these folks need to find peace with their pasts and a path for their futures.

This is such an interesting theme for a series of novels; I love that the small town people we meet continue to tie them together, but a new puzzle for Jillian to solve makes each novel unique.  If you can suspend the question of whether Jillian should be looking into people's pasts who haven't asked, it's engaging to watch the story come together, utilizing a dual timeline to bring their past and current stories together.  Tucker's family history was darker than I anticipated, and I had trouble reconciling the quick tying up of ends with the slow reveal of the atrocities. 

I give both books in this series 3 stars; I enjoy the idea of the genealogical mysteries, and I will likely continue to read the series, but I don't see myself reading these again.

You can find The Inn at Hidden Run HERE.
You can find In the Cradle Lies HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, from the publishers, in exchange for my honest review.

The Noble Guardian - Michelle Griep

Abby Gilbert leaves a loveless home situation with high hopes that her planned marriage to a Lord will turn out to be a love match, even though she's only met the man once.  Along the way, she encounters Samuel Thatcher, a lawman with his own baggage and doubts, but one who takes his duties very seriously.  As the two travel long distances through dangerous situations and complications arise such as a request to deliver a small child to her aunt, they each must face whether the holes they're looking to fill can be met by a person, themselves, or whether they need to look to Someone greater.

I am not a huge fan of historical fiction, but the more I heard about this book, the less I could resist it.  I am so glad that I finally picked it up; Abby and Samuel are such compelling characters that you can't help but want their hearts to heal and for them to find their fulfillment with God.  I always love when a male character appreciates the strong points of the female character, rather than just her curves or fine features, and Abby's bravery and inner strength were what drew Samuel to her over and over again.

I give this book 4 stars.  It seems that this is part of a series, but it was definitely enjoyable as a standalone novel.  I will be looking for the first two, though, if they're as good as this one!

You can find The Noble Guardian HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

No Less Days - Amanda Stevens

From CBD: "As far as he knows, David Galloway can't die. As those he loves grow old and perish, he grows increasingly isolated in his Michigan used bookstore, until at last he finds others who share his predicament. But when crimes come to light that are older than any mortal, what will God require of him?"

I feel conflicted about how I feel about this book.  Sound confusing?  That's how I feel about it, too!  The premise is intriguing - a man who can't die, perpetually 35, alive since before the Civil War, what are the possibilities in that long of a life on earth?  Would those granted the ability consider it a gift to be used for good, or a curse to resent? For a man of God, how do you live over and over, without knowing when you'll make it to heaven?  How do you find a community of believers, if you have to move every 10 years or so before the fact that you're not aging would start to raise suspicions?  

Some of those questions were addressed, but the book also took a very dark turn that I wasn't expecting. I felt like the story was trying to go in too many directions to thoroughly explore any one of them.  It felt like it would have made a good series; that would have allowed the characters and their relationships to develop, as well as give time to flesh out some of the side plot lines.  The discussion questions at the back were thought provoking, though, and would allow a conversation to follow some of those thoughts to see where the readers thought they'd lead.

Overall, this was a unique book, and I appreciate that.  I give it 3 stars; while I wish it went a little deeper, I was intrigued by the possibilities it presented.

You can find No Less Days HERE.
You can connect with the author on Facebook HERE.

I received a digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.

The Glass Castle - Trisha Priebe and Jerry Jenkins

On her 13th birthday, Avery is out playing in the woods when she finds herself captured.  The next thing she knows, she's living behind the castle walls within a community of other 13-year-old orphans who are secretly performing all the work for the castle.  Why are they all here?  Who has ordered the 13-year-olds captured, and why?

The premise of this story was intriguing enough for me to choose it to review; but I had a hard time accepting the world once I tried to enter it.  Why are all of the kids 13?  Why does nobody question this?  Who's in charge?  While I wanted to like these kids, and root for them, I wasn't even entirely sure what I would be rooting for.  In order to feel invested in these characters, I felt like there needed to be more background to the world within which they were living, and I needed more life stories to get to know them as characters.

Also, from the ending, this is clearly the beginning to a new series, but nowhere within the description was that made clear.  It is a pet peeve of mine to start a book not knowing it is not going to come to a satisfying conclusion.

I give this book 2 stars.  I don't even know if I care about these characters enough at this point to follow up if and when the next book is released.  That's unfortunate, because I thought the plot sounded fairly original, and I was interested to see where it could go.

I received a copy of this e-book from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

You can find The Glass Castle HERE.
You can find Jerry Jenkins' website HERE.
You can find the publisher, Shiloh Run Press - an imprint of Barbour Publishing, HERE.