The Spice King - Elizabeth Camden

Annabelle Larkin has traveled to Washington D.C. to give her sister, Elaine, a chance to find purpose in her life as a blind woman.  She's been given a temporary job with the Smithsonian, with the understanding that if she can convince Gray Delacroix to give up some of his botanical secrets, there may be a more permanent position in store for her.  Gray Delacroix, while reluctant to give anything away for free, and especially reluctant to give anything to the government, finds himself drawn to Annabelle.  When Annabelle is required to search out more than botanical secrets, will she choose Gray or her country? 

I have always enjoyed Elizabeth Camden's penchant for uniquely employed heroines that give an unusual look into her particular periods of history.  Annabelle is no exception; as a botanist working within the Smithsonian and then the Department of Agriculture, the reader is given a peek into the period of time where food additives were not monitored by the government.  I found this setting to be very intriguing and the interplay between Gray's world of food production and the government's growing interest in food safety was an engaging setting for a novel.  The side stories were woven into the larger picture fairly seamlessly, and I am looking forward to finding out how those play out as this series continues!

I give this book 4 stars.  I enjoyed the characters, and I enjoyed the perspective from this view of history.

You can find The Spice King 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.

Shades of Light - Sharon Garlough Brown

Having battled depression and anxiety for most of her life, Wren hits a point where she can't continue to cope on her own.  Taking a leave of absence from her emotionally draining job as a social worker, she seeks help, from professionals, from loving extended family, and from those within her faith.  Making progress, she reaches out to help a struggling friend from her past, but can she help him recover without jeopardizing her own fragile healing?

I don't know that I've ever seen a book this gut-wrenchingly open and vulnerable in regards to mental illness, depression, and anxiety.  Sometimes the intensity and the darkness the characters were experiencing was too much, and I needed to step away to catch my own breath.  However, I've never seen a book take on the heaviness of depression and call out and dash all of the typical "Christian" responses of "you just need more faith," or the belief that Christians shouldn't experience depression.  Those aren't Christian answers, they're lazy answers.

There were themes in this book that I am not personally well-acquainted with, such as the stations of the Cross, and while it didn't detract from my reading experience, I think it would make the book an even richer read for those who are familiar with a more mystical approach to Christianity, with some possibly Catholic rituals added in.  (I apologize if I have mis-categorized the rituals in the book)

I have not read any of this author's previous works, and this book stands alone just fine.  However, I did read somewhere that there are some character crossovers, which I think would enhance the background support of this story if the reader were familiar with them.

I give this book 4 stars.  I don't quite know what else I could wish for from this book, and maybe it's the dark subject matter that leaves me feeling too heavy to say I loved it.  That would be through no fault of the author's writing.  But I know that I could not personally pick up this book back up to read again.  At least not anytime soon.

You can find Shades of Light HERE.
You can find the author's page HERE.

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

Diamond in the Rough - Jen Turano

"Any smidgen of hope that her entrance into New York high society would be deemed a rousing success died the moment Miss Poppy Garrison's tiara became firmly attached to the sleeve of her dance partner."

With that opening, we begin the second installment of the American Heiresses series, and find Miss Poppy Garrison in New York City, living with her grandmother, Viola, participating in the Season.  Viola is determined to show Poppy that being accepted into high society is desirable, and while Poppy was perfectly content living on a horse farm in Pennsylvania, she discovers that she doesn't hate it.  However, mayhem and adventure seem to find her no matter how hard she works on her decorum and poise.  Reginald Blackburn, travelling companion to Lord Charles Lonsdale, is charged with teaching Miss Garrison to fit in to this world of heiresses and money, and yet he finds himself admiring her unflappability in the midst of the chaos that follows her. 

"I've always felt that misfits are far more interesting than normal folks."

I love that Poppy has such a firm grasp on who she is, and what is valuable in the people around her.  The people she is drawn to turn into such rich characters and the relationships that develop throughout the book from such inauspicious connections really made this book great for me.  Poppy owns up to her mistakes, but she is never ashamed of who she is or the accidents that befall her.  She loves others and has a tender heart to those she learns are living in wretched conditions. 

"I think you'll eventually discover that you're delightful just the way God made you, my dear."  "You seem to be an original, my dear, so perhaps you won't feel the need to wait so long before you abandon what's expected of you, embracing who you truly are and who God meant you to be, instead of trying to embrace a sense of who others want you to be."

I love that, even with an entirely new set of characters, by using the same setting as a previous series, Ms. Turano is able to sneak in a cameo of a favorite character from past novels and use her to deliver wisdom from the position of experience. 

This book was one of those rare finds where you don't want to put the book down, but you also don't want it to end too soon!  I loved watching Poppy find herself even more fully, and I enjoyed watching her build up those around her as she did.  I always love Ms. Turano's grouping of friends who enjoy being together throughout the mayhem she puts them through, and this cast of characters is among her best.  I can't wait to hear Beatrix Waterbury's story in the third book!

I give this book 5 stars.  Between Diamond in the Rough and Flights of Fancy, American Heiresses is becoming my favorite Turano series!

You can find Diamond in the Rough HERE.
You can find Ms. Turano's site HERE.

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

Finding Lady Enderly - Joanna Davidson Politano

Raina Bretton, more commonly called "Ragna" in her position as a rag lady, is swept off the streets with a mysterious promise of high wages and a beautiful manor, and told she's under no obligation to stay.  That promise, however, is a lie, and Raina finds herself impersonating Lady Enderly in a ruse she doesn't understand and isn't allowed to compromise.  Complicating the trap is her best friend, and hopefully more, Sully, who has kept her safe and sane in her rough life thus far; Sully's life is in danger if Raina chooses to be less than compliant in this charade she willingly, yet naively, became a part of.

There were so many layers to this book, I hardly know where to begin!  There was the mystery - who is the real Countess, and what happened to her?  There's the dangerous element - what will Victor do if Raina slips?  There's the moral dilemma - Raina knows it's wrong to deceive the people around her, but how else is she to protect Sully, and what if she can use this position for good?  There are the characters whom Raina befriends, whether by choice - Lady Remington and Bradford the butler, or by necessity - Cousin Phillip and the Earl.  There's also the softer side - the literary romantic communication between Sully and Raina through carefully collected book quotations coded in secret to slowly reveal their feelings towards each other.

The people and the mysteries in this story were woven so well together that this was a truly enjoyable read.  Victor was despicable, yet time and again Raina managed to rise above the circumstances and bring joy and change to the people around her that would be longer lasting than the temporary control that Victor was attempting to wrangle.  I loved that even wile trying to be the Countess, Raina couldn't help but see the best in those around her and to try to use her strange situation to help where she could.  The power and position could have gotten a hold on her, and she could have fallen into the same traps as Victor, but she didn't.  And no matter how conflicted she felt in her relationship to God due to the role she was playing, only He could have been working through her to bring such kindness and change.

In the end, I really liked how the book resolved not without consequence for bad choices, but by showing that God can even use those choices and consequences for good.  I give this book 5 stars; this is the second Joanna Davidson Politano book I've read, and as long as she keeps writing, it won't be my last!

You can find Lady Enderly HERE.
You can find the author's site HERE.

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

Love and Other Mistakes - Jessica Kate

Natalie has always intended to take up her father's ministry and carry on his legacy, however, life has gotten in the way, and instead, she finds herself in a dead end job, until the company closes.  Now, her ex- fiance is back in town, and needs her help.  At the same time, the perfect ministry opportunity presents itself.  Can she balance both?

What a surprising book!  I didn't expect much going in, either from the cover (sorry! Cover snob here), or the description, but there was so much more to this book than I thought I was going to get.  This story was definitely deeper than the outward appearances gave it credit for; these characters struggle with hard things (affairs, alcohol, single-parenting, custody issues, and more), and it does not all work out perfectly in the end.  Yet, even in the hardness, there is hope, and there is love, and there is sacrifice for each other. All of which, in the end, points the characters and the reader to the One who sacrificed for all.

I give this book 5 stars.  It's unusual to see so many real-life struggles in a Christian fiction book, especially ones that, like real-life, don't magically work out by the last page.  I will definitely be looking into other books by this author!

You can find Love and Other Mistakes HERE.
You can find the author's page HERE.

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

Fragments of Fear - Carrie Stuart Parks

Evelyn McTavish has been struggling to recover from her fiance's alleged suicide, an allegation that she doesn't think adds up.  When she is called to pick up a dog that isn't hers, she is swept into a whirlwind of secrets and cover-ups and danger until she doesn't know whom she can trust.  FBI agent Sawyer Price is working his own case when he gets pulled into Evelyn's situation, and they find themselves trying to stay alive long enough to put all of the pieces together.

I really enjoyed the characters of Evelyn and Sawyer.  Mostly Tavish (Evelyn), who was dealing with low self esteem, a mother who didn't care, a dead fiance, and a crazy never-ending mystery.  Speaking of which, the mystery itself didn't really appeal to me.  There were too many moving parts, and too many of them seemed to not really tie into each other.  There were too many pointless deaths, and too many trails pointing the reader away from the actual plot.  When the antagonists were revealed, it didn't feel like a clicking of the pieces together.  Also, the wrap up of the story and then movement into "The Months Later" felt jarring.  The story took so long to come together and reveal the characters that the conclusion should have been a little more gradual as well. 

I give this book 3 stars; Tavish was compelling enough to keep me turning pages, but I was dissatisfied with the overall story.  If you like twisty, turny, suspense stories, with lots of murders to keep you wondering, you may enjoy it more than I did, though!

You can find Fragments of Fear HERE.
You can find the author HERE.

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

Sweet on You - Becky Wade

Sweet on You is the conclusion to the Bradford Sisters trilogy, and gives the readers the story of Britt and Zander.  Britt runs her own chocolate shop, Sweet Art, in Merryweather Historical Village, and Zander has just returned from a year and a half of travelling around the world in order to attend his Uncle Frank's funeral.  Zander has been in love with Britt forever, but she has always seen him as one of her best friends.  Should he make his feelings known, or should he try yet again to move on?  And what is the truth about Uncle Frank's death, was it really just an accident? 

I love Becky Wade's sweet romances, and I love the Bradford sisters.  I didn't quite connect with Britt as much as Nora and Willow in the previous novels, but I did enjoy seeing how everyone was doing, and seeing Britt and Zander work through their relationship changes.  I also loved seeing snippets of the caring things they'd done for each other over the years, without the other's knowledge.  It certainly made for a "sweet" friends to more romantic tale.  The mystery component of the book, while intriguing, wasn't even the highlight of the book for me; I enjoyed revisiting these sisters and their expanding family so much more!

I give this book 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.  Overall, this series comes together nicely, and I hope that maybe the author finds another reason to end up in Merryweather so that we can check in on the Bradfords!  I definitely recommend reading them in order, starting with True to You, followed by Falling for You, and concluding with Sweet on You.

You can find Sweet on You HERE. 
You can find the author's page HERE.
She's also very active on Facebook HERE.

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