A Match in the Making

 

Gwendolyn Brinley has decided to take the summer apart from her position as her cousin's companion, and to spend it with Mrs. Parker in Newport.  What she doesn't plan for is Mrs. Parker breaking her leg and assigning Gwendolyn the role of assistant matchmaker.  When she inadvertently reveals the existence of matchmakers to the "catch of the season," Walter Townsend, she finds herself inundated with requests and conflict as the society set duke it out to make the most advantageous matches. How can she keep herself removed from the tumult while seeking to learn as much as she can about the people involved?

Gwendolyn is yet another of Mr. Turano's unconventional, strong-minded, female characters: insightful, compassionate, and independent.  And, of course, she manages to find an ending that sacrifices none of those elements of her self, but one that enhances and sweetens the person she already is.

Once again, Jen Turano has managed to draw me into her fictional world within the first few pages, to care about her characters, and to be sorry when the story is over.  I can only hope that at some point this series will involve Gideon and Adalaide's story, because I know that one will be just as amusing and satisfying as this one was.

5 stars, and I cannot wait for the next installment in the Matchmakers Series.

You can find A Match in the Making HERE.
You can find the author HERE.

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

Hearts of Steel - Elizabeth Camden

 


In this continuation of the Blackstone Legacy, we meet Maggie Moriano, a woman driven by her fear of falling back into poverty, and who pinches every penny to turn her ice cream business into a success.  She is on her way, until she makes a personal enemy of Charles Morse, both by calling him out on his underhanded dealings and by forging a relationship with Liam Blackstone.  Maggie and her fellow Garsden Street business owners become collateral damage in the war between the greedy, immoral capitalist Morse and the undereducated but people-focused Liam.

Elizabeth Camden once again delivers a story of an interesting and undertold slice of history.  In fictionalizing the plight of good people working hard, only to be felled by unregulated monopolies and loose laws and corrupt systems, she forces the reader to consider lines and boundaries of profits versus charity and justice versus revenge.  The characters demonstrate repeatedly that the quick solution isn't always the best solution, and that sometimes self sacrifice is required to make the world better for everyone.

4 stars.
I do wish we'd seen more of previous books' characters.  Although they make appearances, it would be nice to feel that we were still following the larger story of those we'd previously met in this fictional journey.

You can find Hearts of Steel 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.

Dreams of Savannah - Roseanna M. White

 

I started this book really conflicted.  With the eye-opening chaos within the country over the last year concerning racial issues, I had a hard time with a book set in the south during the Civil War.  I didn't want to find myself sympathizing with characters who felt like slavery was okay, as long as they treated their own slaves decently, or who really felt like the whole war was over states' rights.  I should have known that Roseanna White would do better than that.  There are still stories to be told about the south, from both white and black points of view, and there had to be turning points for some to realize that the way of life they were used to was not the right way to live.  So, while this book still made me uncomfortable, I think it fell mostly on the side of highlighting just how wrong it really was.

4 stars - I almost put it down early on, but I am glad that I did not.  It's tough for me to read stories with characters who are just wrong, and refuse to open their eyes to what's right, but I was glad for those characters whose eyes were open to the people they had chosen not to see before.

You can find Dreams of Savannah 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.

Things We Didn't Say - Amy Lynn Green

 

From www.christianbook.com :

When translator Johanna is enlisted to work at a camp for German POWs, she reluctantly returns to her Midwestern hometown. As she gets to know the men and their charismatic spokesman, Stefan, she advocates for their better treatment---which angers the community. When the lines between compassion and treason blur, can she decide where her heart truly lies? 

This was such a gripping story!  From the starting point of a German POW camp in the heartland of America, meant to assist farmers who had sent their sons to war, to the epistolary format, it was a unique read and well done.  Jo was a deeply complicated and unusual character, with her reluctance to come home, her gift for linguistics, and her American-Japanese penpal friend whose family was in a Japanese relocation camp.  This was a setting I was completely unfamiliar with, but Ms. Green does an excellent job weaving the historical setting into her letters and giving the reader a complete picture of the era and her characters.

Things We Didn't Say was a debut novel by Amy Lynn Green, but I can't wait to see what she writes next! 5 stars to this beautiful novel.

You can find Things We Didn't Say HERE.
You can find the author's site HERE.

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