When I Meet You - Olivia Newport

From Christianbook.com :
"A trunk abandoned at Denver’s Union Station more than a century ago leads Jillian and Nolan to untangle the mystery of its contents—including correspondence with the head of Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency Denver office. While Nolan digs into the legalities of the findings, Jillian searches for the descendants of a stolen identity who might not be who they think they are on Colorado ranch land. When Drew seems anxious to hear what Jillian has to say but his Great Aunt Min slams the subject closed—twice—Jillian is all the more determined to find out what happened to the woman who never claimed her luggage, why Min doesn’t want to talk about it, and what will happen for Drew if he gets the answers he seeks.
 
When I Meet You is the third book in the Tree of Life series by Olivia Newport. You’ll want to return to the lovely Colorado mountain town of Canyon Mines again and again to explore and celebrate unforgettable family stories that will inspire you to connect with your own family histories and unique faith journeys."

This is the third book in the Tree of Life series that I've read.  I still love the characters of Jillian the genealogist and her father, Nolan, the opera-singing, gourmet-cooking, lawyer, as well as the side characters in their town of Canyon Mines, Colorado.  I liked how this installment brought us a bit more backstory to Jillian and the loss of her mother, as well as the family history there that she's trying to uncover.

However, the rhythm of this story was a little bumpy for me.  I can handle the time shifting, but the correspondence added an additional layer of time lines, and trying to tie Jillian's ancestors in with the woman who was lost to history, as well as trying to unravel the financial mystery...it took me awhile to get the gist of what was happening.  

I give this book 3 stars.  I still love the concept of using genealogy and family history to tie people together and to even solve mysterious questions of the past and present, but I struggled to get into this one.  The ending wrapped up the story well, though, and I was glad I persisted.

You can find When I Meet You 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.

The White City - Grace Hitchcock

Winnifred Wylde is the daughter of an Inspector, and is known for seeing a crime around every corner.  However, when she thinks she sees a woman being taken during the Chicago World Fair, her father assigns a bodyguard, Jude Thorpe, and eventually allows her to go undercover to see what she can find out.

I have read many books centered around the Chicago World's Fair; knowing that this one was based on actual events gave it a very different feel.  I really appreciated the author's notes at the end, straightening out what was fact versus what she added to the story.  The slightly unsettling thing was that this book made it so easy to get wrapped up in Winnie's story and dilemma over Jude, that it was easy to lose sight of the fact that it was based on a real serial killer.  While the suspicious character was always depicted as shady, the depth of his evil nature didn't really come through until everything wrapped up in the end.  It certainly would have made it a more disturbing book to go more in depth along the way, but I think I would have liked some more hints or clues as to what he was really up to.

I'm not sure how much the police were looking into the case at the time, but maybe more of a tie in with a real investigation into the disappearances, laid against Winnie's amateur (and dangerous!) sleuthing could have given it more of a suspense and danger tone, rather than a romance book that happened to have a murder in it.

I did really enjoy Winnie's and Danielle's love of books, and Danielle's habit of taking Winnie's books to read herself.  I loved Winnie's few interactions with the bookstore owner, and that's the sort of relationship/character development I'd love to see more of.

I give this book 3.5 stars; I felt like it straddled the line of a romantic/fictitious suspense vs. a real-crime book.  Had it landed squarely on either side of the line, I think it would have fared better. (No pun intended).  I have already downloaded the next in the series, and I am looking forward (maybe with one eye closed!) to the continuation of the series.

You can find The White City HERE.
You can find the author's site HERE.

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

Ladies of Intrigue - Michelle Griep

Ladies of Intrigue contains three novella-length stories:
"The Gentleman Smuggler's Lady," set in 1815 in Cornwall, England;
"The Doctor's Woman," set in 1862 in Mendota, Minnesota; and
"A House of Secrets," set in 1890 in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Three stories, involving three women with very different settings and backgrounds, yet they manage to fit together by their main character's pluck and dedication.  Helen, in "The Gentleman Smuggler's Lady," has come to England to care for her ailing father, with the generosity of the Seaton family enabling her to have left her job as a governess to do so.  However, she isn't sure she can trust her host, as her first experience with him has him kidnapping her off her newly arrived ship after having looted it.  "The Doctor's Woman," Emmy, is just about to travel to her aunt's home after her father, the town's doctor, has died, to return to a "civilized" life of dining and dancing.  Instead, she finds herself being called upon to use her medical experience within the nearby fort.  A temporary doctor arrives, and together, they see to the needs of the fort's occupants, and the large group of Sioux which has been led into the fort for temporary containment.  The third woman, Amanda, is happily betrothed to the city attorney, Joseph, in "A House of Secrets.  Yet, as she attempts to please her father by taking on a large charity project, she soon finds that the titular house is not the only thing hiding secrets.

I enjoyed this collection of stories more than I expected, with Helen and Isaac, perhaps, being my favorite characters.  I enjoyed the banter, and how the women in all three stores were strong, and spoke their minds, yet meshed well with the men who admired their spunk.  All three women were looking to serve, putting others' needs above their own.  The men in their lives supported and enhanced these pursuits, with encouragement and enthusiasm, rather than condescension or apathy. 

I give this book 4 stars.  It's really hard to feel invested in characters in such a short space, but I feel that this author did a service to her Ladies, and I wish only that there was more to their stories so I could read more about them!

You can find Ladies of Intrigue 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.

Home - Ginny Yttrup

Melanie Vander has an approaching deadline for her sixteenth book, but she can't seem to find the same sort of escape in her characters this time.  Rather, her characters seem to be pulling her in a direction she doesn't want to go, forcing her to examine not only their lives and backstory, but her own.  Meanwhile, her husband, Craig, is trying to keep his business and family financials above water, while watching his wife run away yet again, and Melanie's friend and neighbor, Jill, is facing her own rising issues.  Where can these folks find safety?  What does it take to find one's way home?

I have read a lot of books where the main character is writing a story, and the "story" turns out to be the book the main character is a part of.  This book sort of did that, but with the twist of the main character (and author?) using her main character to work through emotions and grief that she'd been unable to process in real life in real time.  The other characters in the book, however, who surround Melanie in her real-life are suffering their own emotional crises, and as she works through her character's problems, she is able to begin coming out of her hole to help them.  As she says in a phone call to her friend, Jill, "New is good, I think.  Let's do new."  There was a good balance of Melanie understanding her own problems through Chloe, but then working them out in her real-life relationships.

I loved how this book worked its characters through their problems; even though the easy thing was to run away, to ignore the things that kept coming to the surface, each character was eventually able to confront the hard things in their lives.  Nothing was glossed over, sometimes the only solution to the problem was not a fun one, and I appreciated that.  Usually, there's a conveniently timed rich uncle, or promotion, or romance waiting in the wings, but these characters faced everything in their own way, eventually together, and together, they made real-life choices with real-feel consequences.  My only complaint might be that I want to see where they all go from here!

I give this book 3.5 stars.  It's never easy to be vulnerable in fiction, and a lot of readers probably want their fiction to turn out like a fairy tale, but there's not a lot of truth or growth in that.  Sometimes, we need to see that faith holds true even when the world around us does not.

You can find Home 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.

Woman of Courage - Wanda E. Brunstetter

Amanda Pearson has essentially been left at the altar, as her fiance tells her just before their wedding that he's leaving her for her best friend.  Rather than remain in shame within their Quaker community, Amanda convinces her father that they should set out for the Oregon Territory to bring the Good News to the Nez Perce Indians.  Trials and hardships shadow Amanda as she travels, and she is forced to examine her faith and her decisions to pursue this path.

I don't read a lot of historical fiction, but I do enjoy the time period of the expansion west.  I can't even imagine the hardships of crossing the country on horseback, with very few comfort items and months on the trail.  Amanda doesn't immediately strike the reader as one of hardy stock, yet she perseveres through tragedy and difficult circumstances while keeping her faith intact and even attempting to share the Word with all she comes in contact with.  Her character comes across as naive, yet sincere, and it's believable that she would grow on the people who initially resist her "Bible thumping."  However, I did find it difficult to believe that that many tragedies could befall both her and every person she met.  Maybe not the tragedies themselves, but the catalyst they provided to turn the characters to God felt too neat and tidy.  Not all tragedies lead to conversions, and not all conversions are proceeded by tragedy, but you wouldn't know that from this book.

Overall, I give this book 3 stars.  It could have felt a little deeper, with more examination of the faith that Amanda was sharing, but the characters were tied together well; and as a reader, I cared about them enough to be happy when things turned out well for them.

Edited to add:
This book contains several references to, and scenes of abuse - both domestic and child.  I wouldn't want any readers to be unaware of this facet, whether it might affect them personally, or be something they'd want to be aware of before recommending it to others.

You can find Woman of Courage HERE.
You can find Wanda's website HERE.

Odd disclaimer: I was supposed to receive a copy of this book from Barbour Books, in exchange for my honest review.  However, there seems to be a mix-up, and I never received my copy.  But no big deal, I borrowed the e-book from my library so that I could still review it as I promised!

Taken for English - by Olivia Newport

Taken for English is the third installment in the Valley of Choice series.  Annie has committed to the Amish faith through baptism, and is patiently awaiting Rufus' proposal.  Her future sister-in-law, Ruth, who has foregone the Amish baptism in order to pursue a career in nursing is living with Annie while she serves an internship in the town.  Meanwhile, their paths cross with several people new to the town who will cause upheaval in their lives.  How will their encounters affect their life choices?

While I did read the first book in this series, Accidentally Amish, I missed reading the second book, In Plain View.  I can't say that I noticed a gap in the series, but perhaps the characters would have felt more fleshed out in this novel if I had read the series to completion.  The first novel was intriguing for me, to watch Annie's transition from a technology-driven life, to the simple life of the Amish.  This book did not have the same driving interest.  Annie has fully settled into her Amish lifestyle, and does not seem to miss her old life; maybe the second novel was where she experienced doubts as she transitions.  Additionally, the inclusion of the ancestral history seemed almost superfluous to the contemporary story.  I kept wanting the chapters of Joseph and Maura to be over so that I could get back to Annie and Rufus.  Other than the obvious connection of the color of Rufus' eyes, there was no real tie-in or lessons passed down to connect teh stories.

I give this book 2.5 stars; I finished reading it because I felt invested in Annie and Rufus' story from the first book, but I did not feel that there was any growth or developments in this installment to make me love it.

You can find a copy of Taken for English HERE.
You can find the author's website HERE.

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

Today's Shadows - by Becky Melby

Heather Conrad has lost her job as an assistant to a hotel company's CEO when her boss is let go for scandalous reasons.  Choosing to spend some time house-sitting for her former boss while she gets her life plan together, Heather, instead is surprised that "house-sitting" turns into "babysitting" for 3 months while her former boss jets off to Venice.  Additionally, Heather is now responsible for helping 6-year-old Izzy settle into her new house, a task made more daunting by strangers continuing to show up too often for coincidence and by the fact that Izzy keeps getting lost in secret passages built for servants long ago.  Intertwined with the story of Heather and Izzy is the story of Maggie, a servant well-familiar with those secret passages and tiny room at the top of the stairs.  What do their stories mean to each other, and how will they intersect to tie them together?

I am not often drawn to books with half the story in the past, and half the story in the present, but this book was very well done, and I was equally invested in both Maggie's story of long-ago, and Heather and Izzy's story from today.  Although Ryan, the love-interest, initially appeared to be somewhat of a goof, as his story filled in, he became more endearing, and a good match for Heather.

I gave this book 4 stars, mostly based on the seamless joining of the disparate stories, and Heather's search for truth to where God has worked in her life.  Also, even though this book is listed as #3 in a series, there is no sense that the reader is missing anything for having not read the other two novels.  My theory from reading the other books' descriptions is that the series is linked by theme only, and not by a common character or story.  As much as I enjoyed this book, I will likely look to read the rest of the series.

You can find the author's blog HERE
You can purchase the book or read an excerpt HERE..

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

Accidentally Amish - Olivia Newport

Annie Friessen has lived a life steeped in technology.  She co-owns a software development company and has made a small fortune with her computer skills.  However, when she feels threatened by her friends and business partner, she ends up experiencing life with an Amish family and begins to wonder whether the simple life is better.  Rufus, the Amish man who helps her out, also has his livelihood threatened by a jealous competitor, but believes in the Amish way of turning the other cheek.  How will these two communicate? Is it possible for them to understand each other? Is there the possibility of their lives joining?

Usually, I shy away from Amish fiction, but I liked the idea of a story where the Amish and English world intersect so completely, where an Outsider truly tries to see what Amish life is like.  While it felt a little over the top for Annie to frequently make mental notes of things about the Amish that she could Google later, it felt very true to the tech generation, and I liked that the characters commented on the oddness of it directly.  Over the course of the book, it felt more natural for her to turn from her computer to the people around her. She began to learn that people, rather than computers or even money, are what people need for help and healing.  At one point, Rufus says "You have been in our home.  you have been in our church, among our people.  You have even used your technology to study us.  Still you do not understand.  Just when I think you begin to grasp our ways, you take things into your own hands again."  He also says "Our life is grounded in submission, and yours seeks control.  you can't have both."  This is a fundamental shift in worldview for Annie, and I like how it's a gradual shift in both thought and lifestyle for her.  The additional backstory of her research into how her and Rufus' families intersect historically lends weight to the very real conflict of decision to lead an Amish life.

I give Accidentally Amish 3 stars.  It was an interesting read to watch the transition from a technologically-driven life to a simpler one where she could seek God more easily.  Obviously, I do not believe that technology needs to be shunned, or I would not be writing this blog.  However, I can acknowledge that it can be distracting from the important things in life.

I received a copy of this book for free from Barbour Publishers, in exchange for my honest review.

A Lady in the Making - Susan Page Davis

A Lady in the Making is book #3 in the Prairie Dreams Series, by Susan Page Davis.  As is typical for me, I did not realize that it was part of a series when I requested it. However, the author does a pretty good job of giving the reader enough details from the past that after a few chapters, it's easy to forget that you don't know the complete backstory of the characters.  Millie Evans has a history of being a thief and living a life of crime with her half-brother Sam.  Yet, she has decided that she wants to lead a better, honest life, and she wants Sam to go straight with her.  When he tries to draw her back into their old life, she runs away, only to be met on the stagecoach by one of her past marks, a man she tried to get to marry her so she could live a life of luxury.  Now, stuck with David through limited travel options, she tries to convince him that she's changed as they cross the country together.

This book was a little lighter than what I have been reading lately, but I still found it an enjoyable read.  Millie's past weighed on her, not so that she couldn't move forward, but in a way that made her more aware of each choice she made and caused her to want to atone for her actions.  She was a hard worker and eager to prove that she wasn't who she used to be.  I was glad David's upbringing as a "gentleman," and the circumstances throughout their travel forced him to remain in Millie's company long enough to see that her change was genuine.  Even though the list of catastrophes which befell the pair bordered on outrageous, they didn't feel overly contrived, and the story flowed fairly well.  I enjoyed watching their friendship and trust develop slowly, and then continue to bloom into romance.

I give this book 3 stars.  I enjoyed it, and it was decently written, but it didn't really teach me or make me think.

The author has a website HERE.

I was provided a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.