Love Comes Softly

Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke (Love Comes Softly Book Series book #1)

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Summary: Love Comes Softly introduced the characters of Marty and Clark Davis, whose tragic circumstances brought them to a "marriage of convenience" on the frontier prairies during the mid 1800s. The story of how Clark's patient, caring love mirrored that of the heavenly Father, drawing Marty to faith and to love, has captured the hearts and imaginations of over one million readers.

Review: Love Comes Softly tells the story of young Marty a young woman who on her way to the frontier prairies loses her husband in an accident. Before she can even bury her husband she gets a marriage proposal from Clark Davis who needs a Mother for his little girl; Marty accepts having nowhere else to go and thus begins the journey of how Clark and Marty work through the grief that they have both experienced from losing their first spouses; and the love that will grow gradually for each other in both of their hearts; and how maybe just maybe God did this to show them His love can get a person through hard times; as well as Marty and Clark realizing that maybe this is part of His plan for their lives and only He knows the end from the beginning.

This is the first in a four book series; I have them all in one volume but will be posting each book with its own review.  Love Comes Softly had characters that you just wanted to hold when they cried or laugh with when something joyful happened.  Its one of my favorite Christian fiction series that I've read in quite a long time. I would recommend it to anyone who loves Christian fiction or just Fiction with good morals in general.  

ps The only think I disagree with in the book is how easy it was to get Missie the toddler in the story to obey and just play quietly; I think more detail could've been added about her or at least more realistic scenes where she behaved like a normal toddler.

Calendar Girl by Audrey Carlan

Calendar Girl by Audrey Carlan

<3 <3 <3

Summary: Mia Saunders needs money. A lot of money. She has one year to pay off the loan shark who has threatened her father’s life and is coming after his unpaid gambling debts. One million dollars to be exact. 

Her mission is simple—serve as a high-priced escort for her aunt’s Los Angeles-based company and pay monthly against the debt. Spend a month with a rich man whom she doesn’t have to sleep with if she doesn’t want to? Easy money. 

Unlucky in love with a spirit that never gives up, this curvy motorcycle-riding vixen plans to get in, make her money, and get out. Part of that goal is keeping her heart locked up tight and her eye on the prize. 

At least that’s the way it’s supposed to go…

Review: Calendar Girl volume one tells the story of Mia; a young girl who has a big problem. Twenty-five year old Mia must find a way to pay off her Father's gambling debts. So she agrees to a job at her aunt's high end escort service. Through the next  few months Mia meets many wonderful men each unique in their own way. However one in particular catches her eye and is someone she won't forget easily.

As she lives in this new and exciting time in her life Mia must figure out who she is and what she wants to accomplish in her life.  This book was ok in my opinion not my favorite not my least favorite either however. It is definitely rated R and should not be read by young readers; there are a lot of sexual scenes throughout the book.  I thought there could be more character development and less sex every three seconds; if you like romance it is alright in that area not the best I've read though.

If you want a short quick read I would recommend it but only if you don't mind the raunchier scenes. I will finish the series because I started it and if you like romances I'd recommend it.

And Again by Jessica Chiarella

And Again by Jessica Chiarella

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Summary: Would you live your life differently if you were given a second chance? Hannah, David, Connie, and Linda—four terminally ill patients—have been selected for the SUBlife pilot program, which will grant them brand-new, genetically perfect bodies that are exact copies of their former selves—without a single imperfection. Blemishes, scars, freckles, and wrinkles have all disappeared, their fingerprints are different, their vision is impeccable, and most importantly, their illnesses have been cured.

But the fresh start they’ve been given is anything but perfect. Without their old bodies, their new physical identities have been lost. Hannah, an artistic prodigy, has to relearn how to hold a brush; David, a Congressman, grapples with his old habits; Connie, an actress whose stunning looks are restored after a protracted illness, tries to navigate an industry obsessed with physical beauty; and Linda, who spent eight years paralyzed after a car accident, now struggles to reconnect with a family that seems to have built a new life without her. As each tries to re-enter their previous lives and relationships they are faced with the question: how much of your identity rests not just in your mind, but in your heart, your body?

Review: This is one of the most original novels I've read in quite awhile.  It tells the story from four different viewpoints those of Hannah, David, Connie, and Linda. The plot is each character had a type of life threatening problem that was killing them; they are each given a second chance when a program becomes available where they are given new bodies; clones of themselves and their expected to live better lives in these new bodies with the second chance they've been given.

Each character must find his or her own way in their new 'selves' sometimes making decisions that are selfish and hurtful to others. Learning to live a new life and find themselves in their new realities made for a great read.  I've never read a book that was written quite the way this novel was; the characters seem like someone you could have coffee with or talk to on any normal day. Not unreachable like some characters.  The book follows their up and downs, highs and lows, and touches on the fact that everyone is human and will make mistakes even if they have a perfect new body to do it in.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes the possibilities that a story like this can offer. It kept me tightly woven into the stories the entire time I was reading the book; its definitely one you won't want to put down.

The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll

The Dark Queen by Susan Carroll

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Summary: From Brittany’s misty shores to the decadent splendor of Paris’s royal court, one woman must fulfill her destiny–while facing the treacherous designs of Catherine de Medici, the dark queen.

She is Ariane, the Lady of Faire Isle, one of the Cheney sisters, renowned for their mystical skills and for keeping the isle secure and prosperous. But this is a time when women of ability are deemed sorceresses, when Renaissance France is torn by ruthless political intrigues, and all are held in thrall to the sinister ambitions of Queen Catherine de Medici. Then a wounded stranger arrives on Faire Isle, bearing a secret the Dark Queen will do everything in her power to possess. The only person Ariane can turn to is the comte de Renard, a nobleman with fiery determination and a past as mysterious as his own unusual gifts.

Riveting, vibrant, and breathtaking, The Dark Queen follows Ariane and Renard as they risk everything to prevent the fulfillment of a dreadful prophecy–even if they must tempt fate and their own passions.

My Review: The Dark Queen written by Susan Carroll tells the story of the Cheney sisters who live on the Island of Faire Isle.  In this the first book of the series is Ariane who has recently inherited the title of the Lady of Faire Isle; she is expected to pass down the ways of the wise women who live on this island and to protect her family and those in her domain with the arts passed down to her by her Mother who recently died and left the title of Lady of Faire Isle to her daughter.  These arts by some would be considered magic; Ariane considers them to be scientific. Ariane has the gift of healing; her younger sister Gabrielle the gift of painting and the youngest Cheney sister little Miri has the gift of talking to animals and sensing when their in danger.

Ariane must deal with the comte de Renard who has decided that she WILL be his bride; as well as other plots that she gets tangled up in involving the Dark Queen Catherine de Medici. And her Father has disappeared leaving the girls with bills they cannot pay. The book was very well written and kept the reader coming back for more; I read it in two days and will continue reading this series; as it pulls me into 

the beautiful world of the Cheney sisters.  

For anyone who loves a little magic and science fiction in their love stories I would very much recommend this book; you come to love the characters and really care about what happens to them. Susan Carroll is one of my new favorite authors.

Hitler's Furies (German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields)

Hitler's Furies (German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields)

By: Wendy Lower

<3 <3 <3

Summary: In a surprising account that powerfully revises history, Wendy Lower uncovers the role of German women on the Nazi eastern front—not only as plunderers and direct witnesses, but as actual killers. Lower, drawing on twenty years of archival research and fieldwork, presents startling evidence that these women were more than “desk murderers” or comforters of murderous German men: they went on “shopping sprees” and romantic outings to the Jewish ghettos; they were present at killing-field picnics, not only providing refreshment but also shooting Jews. And Lower uncovers the stories of SS wives with children of their own whose brutality is as chilling as any in history.

Review: In Hitler's Furies Wendy Lower brings to light the role that women in the Nazi regime had in the holocaust and in the deaths of over six million people.  Women were not just passive watcher's who just chose not to help the people who were being murdered; they in some cases were the killer's and enjoyed the power they had over these innocent victims.  Some of the details in the stories about how women in the Nazi regime killed in their own right and by their own choice chilled me to the core.  These women killed children, the disabled and handicapped, mothers, the infirm; no one was safe if they were not considered to be part of the master Aryan race.

The biographies and different accounts of the women's lives were started in the first chapter and in later chapters the reader could see how the power that they were able to gain as Nazi party members or workers turned them from ordinary young girls into ruthless inhuman monsters.  I have read quite a bit about world war two, the holocaust, and its perpetrators; I never knew that women played such a key role in the death lists, literally torturing the victims, and the sadistic qualities that many of these women apparently had in their characters.  Even going as far as murdering children in cold blood; it is beyond my comprehension.

The book was very well researched; I mainly read historical fiction but this book pulled me in; the writer has a good tone and has definitely done her research. I tremble to think that most of these women got off scot free and just lived out the rest of their natural lives after the war was over; like they hadn't been a part of the murder of millions of innocent people. I would most definitely recommend this book if you are a fan of books dealing in the history of World War II .

Miracles from Heaven (A Little girl, her journey to Heaven, and her amazing story of healing)

Miracles from Heaven by Christy Wilson Beam

Summary: Annabel Beam spent most of her childhood in and out of hospitals with a rare and incurable digestive disorder that prevented her from ever living a normal, healthy life. One sunny day when she was able to go outside and play with her sisters, she fell three stories headfirst inside an old, hollowed-out tree, a fall that may well have caused death or paralysis. Implausibly, she survived without a scratch. While unconscious inside the tree, with rescue workers struggling to get to her, she visited heaven. After being released from the hospital, she defied science and was inexplicably cured of her chronic ailment. 

MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN will change how we look at the world around us and reinforce our belief in God and the afterlife.

<3 <3 <3 <3

Review: Miracles from Heaven tells the story of Annabel Beam told by her mother Christy.  The story follows Annabel's journey through her sickness and her family's experiences along with hers. The story culminates around Annabel's miraculous healing after she is rescued from falling headfirst into an old hallow tree on the family's property.  Annabel falls about two to three stories and lands headfirst. Miraculously she is pulled out with just minor cuts and bruises and a concussion.  After this event as about a year passed Annabel's mother chronicles the family's journey as they realize that Annabel really is healed and no longer has the serious medical problems that she had before the fall.  But most amazing and heartfelt is Annabel's story that she went to Heaven while she was 'in the tree' and that she met her Heavenly Father and Jesus.  

Annabel's mother (Ms. Beam) does a wonderful job describing her daughter's journey through heart breaking sickness, a miraculous healing and the experience of seeing Heaven and meeting God.  The book is written beautifully; it pulled me in from the first page and I finished it in one sitting. I would recommend it to anyone who is a Christian or to those who may be doubting your faith; this book reaffirmed my faith for me in a beautiful non-intrusive way. It's a beautiful story of a little girl and her family's faith and reaffirms the fact for me that God truly does know the end from the beginning and is always doing what is best for us even when we don't realize it.

The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott

The Daring Ladies of Lowell 

By: Kate Alcott

Summary: From the New York Times bestselling author of THE DRESSMAKER comes a moving historical novel about a bold young woman drawn to the looms of Lowell, Massachusetts--and to the one man with whom she has no business falling in love.

Eager to escape life on her family’s farm, Alice Barrow moves to Lowell in 1832 and throws herself into the hard work demanded of “the mill girls.”  In spite of the long hours, she discovers a vibrant new life and a true friend—a saucy, strong-willed girl name Lovey Cornell.

But conditions at the factory become increasingly dangerous, and Alice finds the courage to represent the workers and their grievances.  Although mill owner, Hiram Fiske, pays no heed, Alice attracts the attention of his eldest son, the handsome and reserved Samuel Fiske. Their mutual attraction is intense, tempting Alice to dream of a different future for herself.

This dream is shattered when Lovey is found strangled to death. A sensational trial follows, bringing all the unrest that’s brewing to the surface. Alice finds herself torn between her commitment to the girls in the mill and her blossoming relationship with Samuel.  Based on the actual murder of a mill girl and the subsequent trial in 1833, THE DARING LADIES OF LOWELL brilliantly captures a transitional moment in America’s history while also exploring the complex nature of love, loyalty, and the enduring power of friendship.

Rating: <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

My Review: The Daring Ladies of Lowell by Kate Alcott is a novel told in the two voices of Samuel Fiske and Alice Barrow.  With the main focus being on Alice Barrow. Samuel Fiske is the heir apparent to the dynasty his Father Hiram Fiske has built in the town of Lowell with their mill industry, His family is known for their respectable reputation which includes keeping the girls who work in their mills safe. Samuel thus far as led a comfortable life but his world is turned upside down when he meets Alice Barrow who will change the prospects of his future and his very life.

Alice Barrow is a mill girl who has escaped her Father's tyranny and a brave heroine who has come to Lowell looking for her own life and independence.  She finds a friend in Lovey; one of the girls who lives in her boarding house with her.  They develop an immediate bond but Alice's world is torn asunder when Lovey is found dead; at the hands some say of the Methodist Reverend Avery whom it is also said got Lovey with child.

The novel tells the story of working conditions in the factories which left much to be desired and the unrest it caused which would eventually lead to the workers demand for change.  It follow's Alice and Samuel's love story as well as the trial of reverend Avery for Lovey's murder.  It was a very easy read and was a book that I did not want to put down. It felt as if the reader was transported right into the story and the characters felt as though they were friends you were rooting for.

For anyone who loves or is interested in the 1830's and 1840's this story is a shining example of how women in those times fought for what today are considered human rights for workers and for equal treatment of women; also if you want a story that has excitement; friendship; and heroines who you feel as if you could talk to even in this modern day and age I'd recommend this book highly.