Review

Christmas at the Jekyll Island Club by Blossom Turner

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Romance at the Gilded Age Resorts, Book 9

Savannah Ensworth has been given every material thing her heart desired her whole life. The wealth she’ll inherit isn’t the only reason so many men want to marry her. She’s unwilling to give control of her life and her fortune to a husband. The freedom to choose her future is what she most desires but she’ll try to enjoy the Christmas holidays with her parents at their annual stay at Jekyll Island.

Her boredom dissipates when she hears Joseph Bennett’s sermon. He’s at the resort for the Christmas season. She’s attracted to him even as the honesty in his sermons unsettles her.

Yet society has placed too many barriers between them for their friendship to blossom into marriage.

I love reading books set at Christmas as the season approaches. Believable characters and a mystery that surrounds the heroine’s past made this a page turner for me. Twists and turns kept me guessing. The characters had hurdles that seemed insurmountable.

I’m enjoying the settings in this series. Be prepared to be transported back in time to the Gilded Age resorts.

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Their Holiday Secret

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Lulu Boyd is famous for her bakery’s donuts. It’s the one thing she knows she does well, and she enjoys that teenagers from the area visit several times a week. Lulu’s luck with men is another story. When the high school teacher, Preston Green, starts buying donuts once a week, she looks forward to talking with him.

Preston Green plans to teach at the small town’s high school for one year before switching jobs to teach at a college in another state. He’s not looking to begin a short-term relationship. His family is pressuring him to date.

Lulu’s high-school customers convince her to enter a contest to bid on a date. It’s for charity and Lulu reluctantly agrees. It’s one date, after all. Preston bids to have a date for a family holiday dinner. What could go wrong?

I love reading books set during the Christmas season every year. This one didn’t disappoint. It actually reads very much like a holiday movie.

I enjoyed the story. The characters had believable hurdles.

Recommended for readers who also enjoy holiday movies.

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Freedom’s Promise by Pegg Thomas

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Path to Freedom, Book 3

Zachary Brown has a good life on his dairy farm in Mount Pleasant, Ohio, but he longs for a wife and family. He finds a sick boy in his barn, a runaway slave escaping the life Zachary once lived, but new laws have increased the danger to anyone aiding them. Zachary doesn’t turn his back on the boy and then another one comes.

Daniel Whiteford heads to the Quaker community called Mount Pleasant in search of the grandson he’d given away to his indentured servant, Gwen, four years before. He didn’t anticipate that Gwen would have married and have another child nor that she and her husband considered the boy their son.

My attention was captured from the beginning. Likable, realistic characters pulled me into their emotional journey and tugged at my heart. Their faith in tough situations inspired me.

I was especially fascinated by how fugitives continued to find Zachary. I don’t want to give any spoilers here, so let’s say I’m inspired by his faith and determination in the midst of danger.  

I enjoyed this poignant story that held many surprising twists. This is the third book in the series and I hope there will be another! I recommend reading them in order.

This book was a page-turner for me.

Recommended for readers of inspirational historical romances.

I was given a copy of the book by the author. A positive review was not required. The opinions expressed are my own.

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Brokenburn: The Journal of Kate Stone 1861-1868

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

The journal was edited by John Q. Anderson.

Kate Stone was twenty in 1861, the year the Civil War started. She lived on a large cotton plantation, Brokenburn, in northeast Louisiana, about 30 miles northwest of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

Brokenburn was located in the floodplain of the Mississippi River in what is now Madison Parish. Enslaved people worked on their plantation.

In the beginning of her journal, Kate was involved in many social activities—formal dining, informal “spend the days,” evening parties, riding frolics, and neighbor visits. Early morning hunters with their packs of hounds baying, horns blowing, and horses stamping were familiar sounds.

Then the war grew closer. Her brothers and her uncle enlisted in support of the Confederacy. The war brought lots of heartache and tragedy. Kate looked back on her twenty-year-old self and realized that she had been pampered. That certainly changed.

Knowing this was a journal made the tragic deaths of loved ones difficult to read, yet I was grateful for Kate’s honesty.

I bought this book for research purposes. My Spies of the Civil War Series has three books set in Vicksburg during the war— Streams of Courage, Book 4, River of Peril, Book 5, and Tides of Healing. I read many other books for my research. This book provided many details of daily life in the 1860s. I enjoyed it very much.

Great book for history lovers interested in learning about the Civil War in Mississippi and Louisiana.  

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Vicksburg: A People at War by Peter F. Walker

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Vicksburg: A People at War 1860-1865

This nonfiction book reports on events that took place in Vicksburg, Mississippi, during the Civil War (1861-1865).

Walker arranged the book in mostly chronological order, which makes it an easy read. The accounts are well-written and easily grabbed my attention.

Filled with interesting details about important leaders and events, this book also includes quotes from newspapers articles that show thoughts and attitudes of the times. It is a treasure trove of information in that it takes readers back in time with its inclusion of descriptions of businesses and streets, and quotes from many of the folks who lived in Vicksburg. I highlighted many paragraphs as I read it.

In fact, I bought this book for research purposes. My Spies of the Civil War Series has three books set in Vicksburg during the war— Streams of Courage, Book 4, River of Peril, Book 5, and Tides of Healing. I read many other books for my research and this was one I enjoyed very much.

Great book for anyone interested in learning about the Civil War in Vicksburg, Civil War research, and history lovers.

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Rocky Mountain Rendezvous by Misty M. Beller

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Sisters of the Rockies Series, Book One

It’s 1837 and women didn’t travel West alone because it wasn’t safe. Juniper and her three sisters are surprised when the wagon train guide that they’d traveled with to the Green River Valley (future Wyoming) releases them into a large encampment of men without food. Some of the men hadn’t seen a woman for a long time and the sisters are in danger. Their dying father’s request had sent them there to find Peigan Blackfoot woman but how were they to find her?

Riley Turner cringes to see the Collins sisters come West without an escort and worries for their safety. He steps in to join their search for Steps Right, not knowing the real danger was to his heart, for he falls in love with Juniper, who makes it clear they’d return to Virginia as soon as their mission was accomplished.

I love when an author weaves a story where I learn a bit of history as a natural part of the story! The characters were believable and lovable and I was soon enmeshed in their mission. The hero and heroine really tugged at my heart and the author did a great job with secondary characters we’ll see in later books.

Surprising turns, challenges, and dangers kept me turning page. This well-written story makes me want to read the next book in the series!

Definitely recommend! I will look for more books by this author.

-Sandra Merville Hart

 Christianbook.com

Brighten Your Corner by Michelle L. Levigne

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Book & Mug Mysteries

Book Three

After reading the first two books in the series, I was excited to read the third one and it didn’t disappoint me!  

Melba and Cilla, two cousins actively working to open a new candle shop, have trouble right away from Ernie, the last shop owner who had been evicted. Ernie feels the cousins have stolen the shop they’re now renting, and complains he didn’t have enough notice to remove all his possessions.

To make matters worse, Melba and Cilla’s cousin, Charlotte, insists that the shop was her idea in the first place and she’s the business owner. Charlotte has been a thorn in their side for decades and her erratic demands cause no end of trouble for Melba and Cilla, yet Ernie’s threats are even worse.

The author does a great job building tension through twists and turns I didn’t anticipate. This cozy murder mystery snagged my attention right away. I love when a small-town cast of believable—mostly lovable—characters collide in a cozy mystery. The author does a great job at making the characters relatable, and I already had my favorites when I began reading this latest novel.   

There are a variety of characters in this book, and several have scenes written in their own point-of-view. While reading the third book, it was less challenging to remember family connections, though I still had to pay close attention at times.

Levigne has delivered another well-written cozy mystery that kept me turning pages.

I hope this isn’t the end the series!

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The Bake Shop by Amy Clipston

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Amish Marketplace

Book One

Christiana Kurtz is thrilled to open a bake shop in a local market. It’s a wonderful opportunity to serve even more of the delicious desserts she’s become well-known for baking.

Jeff Stoltzfus sells wood and leather goods in the shop beside Christiana. The pretty baker catches his eye but he’s still trying to grow beyond a prior relationship, that his fiancé had ended. She’s married now. Jeff won’t allow himself to be hurt like that again.

Friends and family notice the spark between them, but Christiana’s father may be the biggest hurdle of all.

The Amish romance is light-hearted and easy to read. Readers of this genre will enjoy the book!

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Dancing on My Grave by Michelle L. Levigne

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Book & Mug Mysteries

Book Two

After reading the first book in the series I was excited to read the next one and it didn’t disappoint me!  

While Becca Sheridan is away on an extended mission trip, she keeps in touch with Conrad Price. They’re to meet within hours of her return to Cadburn, Ohio, and she’s excited that this date will be the beginning of moving past the friendship stage.

Then Conrad stops communicating. He doesn’t meet for their date. When she runs into him, he’s changed. He’s forgetting earlier conversations and activities they’ve shared. He also informs her the square dancing club can no use his company for their practices, something they’ve done for years. Becca’s not the only one frustrated with him because he’s treating everyone differently.

This cozy murder mystery snagged my attention right away. I love when a small-town cast of believable—mostly lovable—characters collide in a cozy mystery.  

There are a lot of characters in this book. A variety of characters have scenes written in their own point-of-view, and I had to remember how they were connected—family, friends, enemies, etc.

The author does a wonderful job of building a cast of believable characters.

Levigne has delivered a well-written cozy mystery that kept me turning pages.

I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!

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The Gamekeeper’s Reluctant Bride by Elva Cobb Martin

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Reviewed by Sandra Merville Hart

Charleston Brides, Book 6

Helena Allston tries to run away from the man her father has arranged for her to marry and nearly drowns in the river.

Gideon Falconer, a gamekeeper, rescues an unconscious woman from the river but can’t return her to her family until she can tell him her name. By then, they’ve been alone together overnight and her father insists Gideon proposes to her.

Helena’s belief that Gideon marries her to obtain one of her father’s plantations puts up a roadblock in their relationship.

This story had many twists that snagged my attention and kept me turning pages.

I enjoyed this story! Several characters have secrets that add to the conflict and a need for forgiveness.

Recommended for readers of inspirational historical romances.

I was given a copy of the book by the author. A positive review was not required. The opinions expressed are my own.

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