Mine Is The Night

Liz Curtis Higgs' follow up book to Here Burns My Candle continues Bess and Marjory's journey after losing everything they hold dear - Marjory's sons, Donald, who was Bess' husband and Andrew, and all their physical possessions after they are charged with treason for Donald and Andrew's support of Prince Charlie.

Stepping from a battered coach on a rainy April eve, newly widowed Elisabeth Kerr must begin again, without husband or title, property or fortune. She is unafraid of work and gifted with a needle, but how will she stitch together the tattered remnants of her life? And who will mend her heart, torn asunder by betrayal and deception?
Elisabeth has not come to Selkirk alone. Her mother-in-law, Marjory Kerr, is a woman undone, having buried her husband, her sons, and any promise of grandchildren. Dependent upon a distant cousin with meager resources, Marjory dreads the future almost as much as she regrets the past. Yet joy still comes knocking, and hope is often found in unexpected places.
Then a worthy hero steps forward, rekindling a spark of hope. Will he risk his reputation to defend two women labeled as traitors to the Crown? Or will a wealthy beauty, untainted by scandal, capture his affections?
The heartrending journey of the Kerr women comes to a glorious finish in Mine Is the Night, a sparkling gem of redemption and restoration set in eighteenth-century Scotland.

The only struggle I had with this book is the language. Ms. Higgs does a wonderful job using authentic Scottish terms. It takes a bit of getting used to but it adds so much to the book that the effort is definitely worthwhile.

As these books are based on the Biblical story of Ruth, Naomi and Boaz the outcome is pretty certain - but getting to it is the fun part. The characters continue to develop and some change to the point their former character is all but lost. Love finds not only Bess but other major characters - some crossing class lines.

These two books are must reads. Ms. Higgs has a gift for story telling and her descriptions - whether they be of people or places - make you feel like you are there in person. I'm only sorry the story ended here.

Highly recommended.

Jody

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review

The Secret

Beverly Lewis is one of my all-time favorite authors and Amish fiction books are also favorites. The Secret is the first book in her Seasons of Grace series.

I so wanted to like this book. As you can tell from the title, the book is about a secret. There are so many mentions made of the secret, so many times it is almost told. But it got to the point where I felt like we had had enough obstacles and it was time to just reveal the secret and be done with it. I found myself not wanting to put the book down but not because I was engrossed in the story but because I was tired of waiting and I wanted to know what the book was about already.

But even more than that, I just could not get interested in this book. The characters didn't pull me in. I didn't have that terrible desire to find out what happens to them. To be honest, I didn't even finish the book.

If you have a Kindle (or Kindle app) you can get this book free from Amazon right now.

Jody

Plain Proposal

Beth Wiseman has written a wonderful story about a young Amish woman named Miriam who is in love with a young Amish man named Saul and is willing to follow him wherever he leads her.

During the later teen years, Amish men and women go through a time called rumspringa. It's basically a "running around" period where they can experience things not common to the Amish faith. During this time is when men and women will possibly drive a car, watch tv or go to the movies, dress in "English" clothes and see if the draw of the "world" will pull them away from their community or if they will try all things available and find that what's waiting in their own back yard is all that they've ever really wanted. During this time Saul has found a job outside of the community that he feels will help him to follow a dream.

As Saul is ready to leave the community and Miriam is ready to follow him, Miriam's cousin Shelby arrives for the summer. Shelby is not Amish but since her parents have divorced and she's made some rather poor choices, her parents decide to send her to Paradise to stay with the relatives for the summer.

How will Miriam's "English" cousin affect Miriam and Saul's plans? How will Shelby's time with her Amish relatives change Shelby?

Very good book. Highly recommended.

Jody

My copy of this book was provided by BookSneeze.

The Union Quilters

I can't tell you how thrilled I am that Jennifer Chiaverini's latest installment in the Elm Creek Quilts series has arrived! The Union Quilters is set in the Civil War era and this time we're right in the middle of the battle!

This book is a win-win for me - I love the Elm Creek series and I love the Civil War. Ms. Chiaverini has done her homework for this book. I happen to be lucky enough to be geographically located less than 1/2 hour outside of Gettysburg. I am familiar with Chambersburg, Mercersburg, Harrisburg, and quite a few of the other locations in the book.

We were privy to two sides of the story in this novel. The men who went away to war and the women who stayed home and found ways to support their men. We saw the convictions of the men who left their homes and families and took up arms. And we saw the equally strong convictions of those who would not take up arms for any reason. We saw the compassion one soldier had for another - whether on the same side of the fight or on the opposite. And we saw the compassion the civilians had for each other as many had to flee their homes and many others opened theirs.

Some things were not a surprise but were heart wrenching nonetheless. If you have read all the prior novels you will know some of the people who will not be coming home from the war. But at one point my heart just clutched and the tears threatened.

All in all a wonderful read.

I can't recommend this novel highly enough.

Jody

What The Heart Sees by Kathleen Fuller

This delightful collection of three stories is wonderful when you don't have a lot of time to invest in reading a long novel.

There are three stories and each is around 150 pages long. Because the stories aren't terribly long, there aren't a lot of characters to have to keep straight. A couple of the characters are mentioned from one story to another so I would recommend reading them in the order they are in the book.

"A Miracle for Miriam" from An Amish Christmas

Miriam fell for Seth, but he broke her heart. Years later, after he's nearly killed in an accident, Miriam sees him at a Christmas party and notices something is different about him-not just how he looks, but how he acts. When Seth pursues her, she must decide whether to guard her heart or accept his love.

"A Place of His Own" from An Amish Gathering

When Josiah left Paradise the first time, he didn't even say good-bye. Now he's back, ten years later, and he's changed. Why is he so distant and bitter? Where is the boy who used to be Amanda's best friend? Amanda is learning that there are things even a capable Amish girl can't fix. But can she stand there and watch him walk away...again?

"What the Heart Sees" from An Amish Love

A tragic accident rocks a peaceful Amish community, leaving Ellie Chupp blinded and Christopher Bender's future shattered. But they find love and forgiveness in a place they least expect.

All three stories were wonderful. There was enough information, detail and background for you to feel like you got to know the characters.

Quick, easy reads. Recommended.

Jody

My copy of this book was provided by Book Sneeze.

Death of a Chimney Sweep

Join us as we once again head back to the quaint village of Lochdubh in the far North of Scotland. MC Beaton's Hamish Macbeth is once again challenged to find the perpetrator of several murders.

Captain Henry Davenport and his wife Milly have purchased a house in the small town of Drim, which just happens to be on Hamish's beat. Davenport is found one day stuffed up his chimney and the suspicion naturally falls to the chimney sweep who was cleaning the chimney right before the body is discovered. Then the chimney sweep is found dead, apparently from a traffic accident. But was it really an accident?

Hamish uses his intuition and cunning to follow leads that his superiors dismiss to track down a killer.

This is the 27th Hamish Macbeth mystery and I have thoroughly enjoyed them all. Hamish is like an old friend and each book is like he's stopped for a visit to catch me up on his cases. He brings along old friends - Angela Brody, The Currie Sisters, Angus MacDonald, Elspeth Grant - as he attempts to solve the crimes.

Highly recommended.

Jody

The Bridge of Peace

The Bridge of Peace is the second book in Cindy Woodsmall's Ada's House series. Although it is a series, the books can be read as stand alone novels. There are references to the first book but everything is explained.

This book's main character is Lena Kauffman, a young Amish schoolteacher with a very noticeable birthmark on her face. As she looks past the stares and whispers she puts all her energy into teaching. But not all of the children are easy to reach and the school board works more against her than with her.

Grey Graber, Lena's childhood friend, is struggling to deal with his wife's distance. She's shut him out of her life and he doesn't know why or how to fix it.

As Grey fights to win his wife back, Lena fights for her job. There are numerous incidents that have been set up to make Lena look incompetent. This book has a bit of violence that isn't really the norm in books of this nature and there is a recurring theme of bullying.

As a stand alone novel this was a very interesting book so I'm sure I'll be reading books one and three also.

Jody

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review