Wildflowers from Winter - by Katie Ganshert

Bethany Quinn has worked hard to leave her small town behind, not just the location, but her family, her friends, and the girl who she was when she lived there.  Yet, when her mother calls to tell her that her best friend from childhood is going through a tragedy and her grandfather has had a heart attack, Bethany finds herself back in the town she managed to escape.  Trying to keep her new persona of a professional architect from the big city of Chicago, she finds it difficult to handle the challenges being thrown her way, and she struggles with letting go of her independence to let either people, or God, into her life.

Although Bethany is the main character of Wildflowers from Winter, the author does a good job of developing the other characters well. The story shifts points of view from Bethany, to her friend Robin, and to Evan, the man who has been living with her grandfather and taking care of his farm for the past five years.  I felt that the characters of Bethany and Evan were especially well-developed, with the reader slowly learning all of the pertinent facts from their respective pasts.  Not so slowly as to be frustrating, but at an expected pace, in line with the story.  The only character-development I would have liked to have seen more from was Bethany's brother David.  She references him frequently, but he never makes an actual appearance in the story, and we learn very little about him.

Bethany's struggles felt very real, especially her struggle with God and how she felt that the people in her life who had turned to God had let her down.  It takes patience from those around her to demonstrate that not all those who call themselves Christians will hurt her and judge her.  And it takes some lessons in trust for Bethany to learn that being vulnerable to God in her life will make her stronger.

I also enjoyed the love story plot in this book.  It was not unexpected, but it did feel secondary to the plot, which made me enjoy it more.  Connecting the two characters was not the point of the book, nor did the author use it as the solution to Bethany's (or Evan's) problems.

Overall, I enjoyed this book.  I felt invested in the characters enough to hope that there might be a sequel someday (?).  I would really like to follow them further, maybe to see how Robin's cafe turns out, or see what happens to David in Afghanistan, or see Bethany and Evan work the farm together.

I give the book 4 stars.
Try the first chapter HERE to see if you like it!
The author has a blog HERE (and she's doing a giveaway right now - of another good book!)
Let me know if you read this book - I would love to talk about it!

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I received a copy of this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah as part of their Blogging for Books program, in exchange for my honest review.

Finding Our Way Home - by Charlene Baumbich

In Finding Our Way Home, Sasha and Evelyn are, perhaps, the most mismatched pair of women you could hope to find. Sasha is a former ballerina, recovering from a career-ending injury, and Evelyn is a strong, independent, entrepreneurial teenager with self-described large, clumsy feet. Evelyn's decision to defer college and run her own odd job service leads her to Sasha who requires in-home care while she convalesces. The two of them start out at odds, but eventually are able to recognize the strength in each other and encourage each other as friends to reach for bigger dreams.

While this book was a bit cheesier than those I normally read, I did enjoy the characters. Sasha's recovery, which was not only physical, but also emotional and spiritual, was relatable, and Evelyn's quirky life was humorous, but also peppered with enough difficulty to make her seem real as well. Her trademark prayer of simply, "Grace," became a central theme to recoveries on the part of both main characters, as well as their very relationship. Grace covers all. Amen? Amen.

The characters' love stories are secondary to their relationship with each other and God, but serve to demonstrate an accurate contrast of youthful hurried love versus true love that has developed over time. While mistakes have been made in both, the love built on a relationship, with God as the center, is able to withstand the trial and come out stronger on the other side.

I give this book 3 stars. I don't think I would have picked it up to read if it hadn't been a review choice, and I can't think of many friends I would directly recommend it to. It's a light read, and a fast read, but not a deep read, nor one that "sticks" with me.

If you would like to read an excerpt from the first chapter, you can read it HERE.

You can find out more about the author, Charlene Ann Baumbich, HERE.

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I received a free copy of this book as part of Waterbrook Multnomah's Blogging for Books program. I was not required to post a favorable review.

Not This Time

Not This Time, by Vicki Hinze is the third book in a series. In this third installment, best friends Sara and Beth have to work together to rescue Sara's husband, Robert, who has been kidnapped. But is Sara what she seems? Is Robert? Is Beth capable of harming her best friend's husband, whom she openly dislikes? The authorities think that maybe she is, even as she works with them to find Robert, and the people behind his alleged kidnapping. Everyone in the village is either in danger, under suspicion, or both. In the midst of the chaos, Beth continues to fall harder for Joe, a man who comes with his own secrets, and who is trying his best to get past the hurt in Beth's past to show her he can be trusted.

It took me longer to get interested in this book than usual. Part of that was not realizing it was part of a series until I had already begun reading. The characters seemed to have backgrounds that I wasn't familiar with, and there were references to events in the past that I can only assume were covered in previous books. Also, it felt weird to me to keep talking about the "village," but that grew less weird as the book went on.

As a reader, I don't like when it feels like an author is deliberately obtuse about information. This story felt like it was working hard to keep the reader from guessing the mystery, and that bothered me a lot. A well-written plot shouldn't have to give false leads, or continue to hint at information that the author refuses to reveal. At that point, I begin to stop caring about the details.

I would give this book 2.5 stars. I don't recommend it as a stand alone book, but perhaps, with more background on the characters, it might make a decent series.

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I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah publishers as part of their Blogging for Books progam, in exchange for my honest review.

God Gave Us Love - by Lisa Tawn Bergren

God Gave Us Love, by Lisa Tawn Bergren, with art by Laura J. Bryant, is a sweet board book about how God wants us to love everybody, even if we don't "like them" all the time. Grampa Polar Bear explains to Little Cub how God designed us to love, because He is Love, and that there is that something of Him in each of us that makes us "want to love others as God loves us..." even though "we don't always feel like loving them." Little Cub realizes that Grampa is right, and the book ends with her asking God to "help her love others better...even the otters."

I love Lisa Tawn Bergren's "God Gave Us..."books. I love that they help me teach important concepts to my three boys about God and, in this case, His love for them. It is important to me that she doesn't water down these concepts, and her spiritual points are strong, yet clear enough even for toddlers. This book gives us another way to explain God's love, the love that was so big that He sent His Son to die for us, to show us love. For now, my boys can say the words, but hearing over and over about God's love, in forms like this story, will continue to reinforce the concept until their little hearts really understand it.

I give this book 5 stars as a children's book.
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I received this book for free from Waterbrook Multnomah publishers as part of their Blogging for Books progam, in exchange for my honest review.

Dawn Comes Early - by Margaret Brownley

Dawn Comes Early tells the story of two women: Miss Walker, the owner of Last Chance Ranch, who has chosen a solitary life on the ranch, and Kate Tenney, a woman responding to a advertisement seeking an heiress to the Last Chance Ranch. Miss Walker is seeking a strong, independent woman to run the ranch upon her passing, but she requires that the woman be able to handle the ranch, and that the woman signs a Spinster Pact - agreeing to remain unmarried in order to take possession of the ranch. Kate has been seeking stability her entire life, and has also forged a deep mistrust of men, so this situation seems an answer to prayer for her. If she prayed, that is. When she arrives, she finds that the ranch is more than she bargained for, in terms of the work required of her, and that it might be less than she needs in life.

Overall, this was a pretty typical western romance book. There was the expected heroine who thinks she doesn't need a husband, and the strong, caring man who sets out to prove otherwise. Throw in some outlaws and meddling family members, and it makes for an entertaining read, although not a terribly exciting one. I liked Kate, and I liked the blacksmith Luke as characters. I did like, without trying to spoil the book, that the ending wasn't perfect. Since this is the first in the series, however, I expect that certain things may continue to work out in the next book. And I am okay with that. Sometimes books wrap up way more neatly than life ever could, and it was nice that the heroine had to make some hard choices, without everything coming together at the end, in spite of them.

I give this book 3 stars. I am intrigued at the prospect of this series and these characters continuing.

Close Enough to Hear God Breathe - Greg Paul

I never thought I would post a review on a book I didn't finish. This book is my first. I tried several times to just get through it, but every time I had to put it down. I waited and tried again, and the same. I finally give up.

I was excited to read this book - closer intimacy with God? Yes, please! Putting aside the trappings of this life to feel the heart of God? I was all about it. However, from the very beginning, between the author's crass descriptions of John the Baptist, and the irreverence with which he personalized Jesus Himself, I found myself disengaging from the text. The more I read, the further I felt the book wandered until I couldn't remember what the author's point was supposed to be. The stance he takes with the Bible ("The Bible, first and foremost, is a story...") did not sit well with my theology and beliefs, nor did his treatment of Christ on the cross.

So with that, I had to put the book aside, a little more than half finished. Maybe one day I'll give it one more try, but for now, I say no, thank you, and give this book 1 star, because even with the difficulty I had reading through it, I still found a point or two that I could apply to my life. His statement that "two things are necessary for me to be able to hear someone breathing: I must be quiet and I must be close," can help me draw closer to God, even if the rest of the book cannot.

I received this e-book for free from Thomas Nelson publishers as part of their BookSneeze program. I was not required to publish a positive review.

Saving Grace - Annie Jones

Saving Grace is a sequel to The Prayer Tree, which I did not read. The book takes four women who have apparently formed a prayer circle and unlikely friendships, and are looking for a way to stay connected as their lives are slowly moving them apart. Naomi decides that the town's eccentric widower, Miss Grace, would make a perfect project to bring them back together. While she initially presents a challenge, and other obstacles threaten to derail their project, the women eventually, and predictably, break through her tough facade and strengthen their friendships, their relationships, and their faith.

It has been awhile since I have struggled this much to get through a fiction book. While the story didn't seem uninteresting on the surface, I found myself just not caring about the characters. The love story seemed contrived, and the suitor all too eager for it to work out, making me think there might be a twist to that story, but that never came. The storyline with Miss Grace was too predictable - the crotchety elderly lady who seems to not want friends, who eventually softens and enjoys the effort made for her benefit.

Maybe if I had read the first book, I might have been more invested in these women as characters, but having read it as a stand-alone work, I can only give it 2 stars.



I received this e-book for free from Multnomah Waterbrook Publishers as part of their Blogging for books program. I was not required to publish a positive review.