Review

In Black and White by MaryAnn Diorio

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Tori Pendola, artist and student of Art History at the University of Pennsylvania, will soon graduate. She has already been offered a good job but longs for love. She finds it in Jebuni Kalitzi.

Jeb is an African exchange student and son of a tribal chieftain in Ghana. The economics major falls in love with Tori, a white woman that his tribe would not approve of him marrying.

It’s 1959 and the couple faces apartheid in Africa, prejudice in America. They face societal barriers, threats, rejection, and insults.

I was quickly pulled into their struggles, which mounted as the story progressed. The author does a great job showing the prejudice on both sides. Recommend.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

Caleb’s Destiny by Carole Brown

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Book 1 in Troubles in the West Series

Destiny McColloch travels west to find a man named Caleb. She hasn’t seen him in fifteen years. Her memories of the boy from her childhood are sketchy, but she’s sure she’ll know him. Her search doesn’t start well as a stagecoach robbery lands her as a guest at Mr. Michael’s ranch.

Mr. Michael has enough to do without a feisty guest to watch over. A dangerous foe in town threatens his safety and those around him. How can he keep her safe?

Believable, lovable characters—and some readers will love to hate—drew me with them into the danger and mystery. Readers of historical romance set in the Wild West should enjoy this novel.

I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

A Malleable Heart by Jennifer Uhlarik

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The Blacksmith Brides Collection

Leah Guthrie bears the heavy burden of raising and caring for her brother and two sisters after the death of their parents. They scrape by on what she earns by washing neighbors’ clothes. Then the wagon wheel breaks.

Blacksmith Bo Allen has earned his reputation for quality work as well for his ornery character. Leah can’t pay him double his rate for a rush job. Something in him softens to see her struggle, especially with the trouble she has with her younger brother.

Yet Bo has endured much abuse in his childhood. He must find a way to deal with it.

This story deals with anger and forgiveness. The characters tugged at my heart and I couldn’t put it down.

I’ve read other books by this author and will look for more. Recommend!

I loved this whole collection.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

A Tempered Heart by Angela K. Couch

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The Blacksmith Brides Collection

Widowed Esther Mathews brings her son, Charlie, back to live in her father’s home after her husband dies. Her father and sister make no efforts to get close to Charlie, who is different from other boys. Her heart breaks that no one loves him like she does. Until she meets the blacksmith.

Thomas Flynn, blacksmith, takes pride in his work, but he’s deeply in debts inherited from the man who apprenticed him. It will take years to pay them. Though he longs for Esther and Charlie to be his family, he can’t marry and saddle them with his debts … to her father.

The struggles faced by the sweet boy in the story raised all my maternal instincts. I fell in love with all the main characters, who each faced their own heartaches.

This story tugged at my heart. Recommend!

I’m loving this collection!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

Forging Forever by Amanda Barratt

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The Blacksmith Brides Collection

Charles Bainbridge receives a deed to his father’s mine—one his father gambled away—from a friend, who was on his deathbed. Charles made a living as a blacksmith, but mining was in his blood. This deed gave him an opportunity to alter his future.

Elowyn Brody has felt the backside of her father’s hand too often not to follow him without questioning. Had she known where he led, she might have escaped what he planned.

But she didn’t know.

Fate draws Charles and Elowyn together at a moment of crisis. How can he, a struggling blacksmith, help her?

The struggle faced by the characters tugged at my heart. I found myself pulling for them as they both dealt with difficult memories from their own past.

I’m loving this collection!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

Worth Fighting For by Pegg Thomas

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The Blacksmith Brides Collection

With her husky brothers scaring off any man coming near, Meg McCracken despairs of finding a husband. But now she has a new fear. Trouble is brewing in the Colonies. Her father and brothers plan to fight on the side of the Patriots but plenty of folks in Philadelphia are loyal to Great Britain—Loyalists.

Alexander Ogilvie isn’t looking to remain a blacksmith like his pa and brothers. His plans to forge a trail Westward are misunderstood as cowardice by his family … and by Meg.

I loved the characters in this story and the glimpse into those turbulent days leading up to the American Revolution. I felt as if I were there.

I’ve read several books by this author and will look for more. Recommend!

-Sandra Merville Hart

Amazon

A Heart for Freedom by Janet S. Grunst

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Book 2 in The Heart Set Free Series

The freedom of the Colonies is at stake. Matthew Stewart doesn’t want to put his family in jeopardy and choose a side. He’s been loyal to the crown all his life, so he’s tempted to become a Loyalist. On the other hand, Patriots want to throw off the shackles and govern themselves. He and his wife, Heather, have friends who have chosen opposite sides.

Arguments and fights are something Matthew wants to avoid, so when two men approach him with an opportunity to serve, he keeps it to himself. It’s the only way to protect his wife and children.

Heather knows that Matthew is hiding something, but what is it?

Then Matthew leaves under mysterious circumstances. Where is he?

The author does a great job with revealing the history of the Revolutionary War and its effects on colonist. Being a history buff, my interest was snagged. The characters and their struggles were believable.

I’m looking forward to reading the third book in the series.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas

Wyatt by Susan May Warren

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Book 4 in The Montana Marshalls Series

Wyatt Marshall, the goalie for the Minnesota Blue Ox NHL team, is in Russia to rescue Coco Stanley, the woman he loves. Ruby Jane, his sister, is already safely back home in the States.

Coco, the daughter of a Russian general, is in constant danger. She has to get some information to Wyatt and then let her son’s father go. She does what she does best—flee. Yet Wyatt can’t let her go that easily. Then he discovers she has a son. His son.

Danger follows Wyatt as Coco meets up with York, who is trying to protect.

York loves Ruby Jane (RJ) but feels unworthy of her. But RJ isn’t as safe as they’d all hoped.

This fast-paced romantic suspense had me on the edge of my seat the whole journey.

A second love story in this novel also tugged at my heart. The author does a wonderful job of weaving these into the story.

Multiple viewpoints tell a gripping story. There are lots of characters in the story and I had trouble keeping their various connections to each other straight in the beginning.

A page turner! The story ends with a cliff-hanger and readers will want to read the next book in the series.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Christianbook.com

A Heart Set Free by Janet S. Grunst

/ sandramervillehart

In 1770, with no other way to reach the freedom of the Colonies, Heather Douglas indentures herself as a bondservant for seven years to pay for her passage from Scotland and a tract of land. She’s unprepared for the hunger, disease, and death on the ocean voyage. Ashore, she awaits her turn to see who will buy her indenture.

Matthew Stewart, a widower struggling to run his farm, despairs of bringing his two children back to their home until he sees Heather. He pays her indenture and marries her.

Heather, aware that marrying a fine Christian man is a better fate than could have befallen her, tries to be a good stepmother. Her stepdaughter resents her presence and defies her.

Falling in love with her husband wasn’t in her plans, though her feelings scarcely matter. She will never measure up to Matthew’s first wife.

The title exactly fits the story! My interest was snagged early in the story. The characters were believable and likeable, making this a page turner for me.

I’m already reading the second book in the series, A Heart for Freedom.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas

Follow the Dawn by Rachelle Rea Cobb

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Anna Emory lives at Ainsworth Hall in Northampton, England, with her stern, dictatorial father in 1569. She longs for her older sister, who had fled years ago to escape an arranged marriage. They’d been close and Anna wonders why Margried hadn’t sent for her … or even written, but the worry fades under her father’s ultimatum—Anna must marry. Her breath hitches as it always did in stressful moments. While her father is away arranging the marriage, Anna escapes to her sister’s new home miles away.

 

While Captain Mathieu Tudder had fought the Dutch Revolution in his ship, he entrusted the care of his son to friends. Defeated, he returns to pick up where he left off with his son. Too much time has passed and the boy feels closer to Anna, whom Tudder mistakes for a nursemaid.

Anna enjoys her sister’s company yet worries what will happen when her father finds her. She has always felt a kinship with children—men are another story. Her father never wanted her so she assumes the same is true for all men.

The struggles of each of the characters kept my attention. Anna has lived in a verbally abusive relationship so long that she does not trust men. Tudder fights feelings of failure. Many readers can relate to these emotions.

Though Tudder longs for his son’s company, hours and even days pass without him spending time with his son. I found this strange because they were living in the same large castle.

Interesting secondary characters enhance the story, making it a good read.

-Sandra Merville Hart

Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas