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

An Unlikely Blessing

An Unlikely Blessing is a heartfelt story about a new pastor and life-long city dweller Alex Armstrong, who reluctantly accepts his first assignment, a two-point parish in the wilds of North Dakota. Hilltop Township, a farming community, blooms from the prairie like a wild pink rose—lovely and prickly all at once, much like the people who live there.

Alex quickly finds that this lovely place is in quiet peril. Farmers are struggling to make ends meet: Jonas Owens, a faithful member of Hilltop parish, is on the brink of losing the farm. Alex believes that part of why God called him to Hilltop was to help turn things around, and steps in with ideas for saving the Owens' land. But can even God's minister help save this rural community?

There are a lot of firsts for the new pastor—the annual Hunter's Breakfast, julebukking (also called Christmas fooling), King Oscar's fish balls, and the melody of the musical saw. And the new, single pastor creates remarkable excitement among the unmarried women in the community. If you could die of hot dish overdose, Alex would be a dead man. Whether performing weddings, counseling his flock, or herding cattle by snowmobile, Alex soon discovers that his new church home has as much to teach him as he will teach them. Day by day, he falls more in love with the people of Hilltop Church. People may leave Hilltop, but Hilltop never leaves them.

This is a great book. It's a little hard keeping the people straight because there are so many characters. I understand the need for a good size cast as this is a series and not a single book. Lots of potential for future stories.

Highly recommended.

Jody



My copy of this book was graciously provided by LitFuse Publicity Group for my honest review.

The Rhythm of Secrets by Patti Lacy

Since 1955, Sheila Franklin, a talented musician, has perfectly performed the role of devout pastor’s wife, locking away her past as Sheba Alexander and Sylvia Allen. Her carefully constructed façade crumbles with a single phone call from a young Marine named Samuel, the illegitimate son she secretly put up for adoption. Samuel begs Sheila to use her government contacts to get his fiancé, Mali, a Thai prostitute, into America. A dangerous mixture of love and guilt spurs her to help her only child even though it devastates her husband Edward and exposes her questionable past. After a quarrel with Edward, Sheila and Samuel board a C-130 for Thailand and then search Bangkok’s steamy streets for a Madonna-faced prostitute. The two whisk Mali from a brothel but are seized by a warlord who considers Mali his “number one girl.” In a teak “ghost house,” Sheila discovers God’s grace and gains the freedom she needs to find her own identity—Sheila, Sylvia, and Sheba. A framed story, this novel has roots in the bohemian 1940s New Orleans French Quarter and spans three decades, including the turbulent Vietnam era.

Patty Lacy is a Baylor graduate, taught community college humanities until God called her to span seas and secrets in her novels, An Irishwoman's Tale and What the Bayou Saw. She has two grown children and a dog named Laura. She and her husband can be seen jog-walking the streets of Normal, Illinois, an amazing place to live for a woman born in a car. For more information, visit Patti's website at www.pattilacy.com, her blog at www.pattilacy.com/blog, and her Facebook daily Artbites.

Patti is having a contest:

Enter the Rhythm of Secrets NOOK eReader Giveaway:

Patti and her publisher, Kregel, are giving away a NOOK prize package worth over $150 to one lucky winner!!!!

Enter the Nook eReader Giveaway and you could win:
* A brand new Nook eReader with Wi-Fi
* $25 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble

Click here to enter. Winner will be announced on February 16th at Patti's Rhythm of Secrets Facebook Party.

Jody

My copy was a gift from Lit-Fuse Publicity in exchange for my honest review.

The Choice

The Choice is the first book in the Lancaster County Secrets series by Suzanne Woods Fisher.

Carrie Weaver and Sol Reihl are in love. But Sol dreams of a life as a professional baseball player - something not in keeping with the Amish way of life. Carrie loves Sol enough to leave her family and her faith and be with him.

But then tragedy strikes leaving Carrie with no choice but to stay with the Amish. Sol goes on to play baseball thinking that at some point he and Carrie will find their way back to each other. Carrie feels abandoned and moves on. But will her new life make her happy? What will happen when Sol comes back?

A simply wonderful book with interesting characters. Highly recommended.

Jody

Divine Appointments

Divine Appointments by Charlene Ann Baumbich is the second book in the Snow Globe Connections series.

Josie Brooks is not interested in disruption. Everything in her life is organized, minimal, and efficient. A successful business consultant in Chicago with a type-A personality, she ruthlessly identifies and slashes any source of economic wastefulness with complete disregard for the employees themselves. Soon, everyone at Diamond Mutual calls her "The Dragon" as she orders the termination of decent, hardworking people for the sake of profit. Josie's rigid life, however, mysteriously begins to unravel when a strangely alluring snow globe appears at her apartment. Soon afterward, Josie is forced to confront her own flaws and fears, beginning an emotional journey toward love, friendship, mourning, and new beginnings.

This book is very well written with rich characters that make you feel like you would want to know them in real life. This story is relevant to today because it works around a company that is downsizing. The common blight of joblessness, stress and depression facing the characters in the book mirror life as many Americans know right now.

The hope and encouragement lifting the characters in the book extend to the reader.

Highly recommended - and if you haven't read the first book in the series - Stray Affections - pick that one up too.

Jody

My copy of Divine Appointments was graciously provided by Waterbrook/Multnomah for my hones review.