Tag Archives: general fiction

Mini-Book Review — What Happens Next

5 Feb

What Happens Next by Christina Suzann Nelson is a complexly structured novel that explores what happened after a child goes missing. Even with two timelines and three POVs (Heather, Dora, and Faith), I never felt lost within this story. Did I have questions that demanded answers just as the main characters did? Oh, yes! Podcaster Faith spends her summer back in the small town where her childhood took a turn. Faith’s best friend went missing and there are no answers to the mystery until Faith starts asking questions. Dora believes her daughter is still out there somewhere and lives her life waiting for her return. Life has gone on around her, but she is stuck in the past. Both of these characters do not forget the pivotal event that changed their lives. The story shifts between the present day and the summer when Faith went missing. Faith, the missing friend and daughter, tells her story in a first person voice. I loved that. Faith becomes real, not a long gone character that others tell about. Perspectives from adults and children are important to understand just went on that summer. This truly is a story of what comes next after tragedy and loss, even when no answers are to be found.

What Happens Next is an excellent book. Perfect for a book club discussion, you will want to talk about this book!

Highly Recommended.

Great for Book Clubs.

Audience: Adults.

(I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

Popular podcaster and ex-reporter Faith Byrne has made a name for herself telling stories of greatness after tragedy–but her real life does not mirror the stories she tells. While her daughters spend the summer in Hawaii with her ex-husband and his new wife, she must manage life on her own. But all that changes when she’s asked to spotlight her childhood best friend’s missing person case on her podcast. 

Dora Crane has never accepted that her younger daughter could be dead, keeping her home looking the same as when her daughter disappeared. But when her husband leaves her, and her older daughter intervenes, she agrees to counseling and to pack up her missing daughter’s belongings under one condition: Faith Byrne comes to Deep Valley and sheds light on the cold case. 

As the investigation moves forward, the two women uncover desperate secrets, and Faith and Dora must face the long-hidden truth before they can begin to move forward. 

Christina Suzann Nelson in an inspirational speaker and the award-winning author. Her first novel, If We Make It Home, was honored as one of Library Journal’s top five inspirational novels of 2017.

In 2017, Christina was named the OCW Cascade’s Writer of Promise and received a Cascade award for her novel, Swimming in the Deep End.

Her stories have been published in the Cup of Comfort for a Better World, Cup of Comfort for Adoptive Families, as well as other publications.

Christina is over the top about her passions, including the stories created somewhere in the twists and turns of her less-than-focused brain. When she’s not writing, Christina serves on the board of the non-profit, Every Child Linn-Benton, where she has the opportunity to influence the lives of families and children in the foster care system.

On a typical day, she chases escaped farm animals, reads, hikes with her dog, and enjoys her husband and six kids.

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Mini-Book Review — The Songs That Could Have Been

29 Jan

The Songs That Could Have Been is the second book in Amanda Wen‘s outstanding Sedgwick County Chronicles series. This Wichita, Kansas set novel explores important themes including identity/worth and interracial relationships with its dual timeline plots set in the 1950s and the present day. Lauren has battled body dysphoria and bulimia, but has come out on the other side, until a meeting with a long ago summer love upends her structured world. Lauren’s grandmother, Rosie, is quickly losing herself to Alzheimer’s, but a secret romance from the past begins to merge with her present. Each story is well-crafted, but as a whole they make this novel sing. The book is mostly told in the third person, but Rosie’s first person recollections add a depth and poignancy to the narrative. There is also a naturally developed faith message that God is enough that runs throughout the pages.

While you can certainly read The Songs That Could Have Been as a standalone novel, I would not recommend that. Characters from the first book in the series, Roots of Wood and Stone, play a part in the second book. Besides, this series is too good to miss out on anything! Book three, The Rhythm of Fractured Grace, releases in February.

Highly Recommended.

Audience: Adults.

(I purchased a copy of this book. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

Two couples in love. Two sets of impossible circumstances. One powerful God of grace.

After a tailspin in her late teens, Lauren Anderson’s life is finally back on track. Her battle with bulimia is under control, her career is taking off, and she’s surrounded by a loving family. Then a chance meeting with Carter Douglas, her first love and the man who broke her heart, leads to old feelings returning with new strength. And suddenly her well-balanced world is thrown off kilter.

Now a TV meteorologist, Carter is determined to make amends with Lauren. After all, she still owns his heart. But the reasons they broke up aren’t lost–and those old demons are forcing him toward the same decision he faced in the past. He isn’t sure he’s courageous enough to make a different choice this time around. 

When Lauren’s elderly grandmother, Rosie, begins having nightmares about a man named Ephraim–a name her family has never heard before–a fascinating and forbidden past love comes to light. As Lauren and Carter work to uncover the untold stories of Rosie’s past in 1950s Wichita, they embark on a journey of forgiveness and second chances that will change their lives–and Rosie’s–forever. Along the way they’ll learn that God wastes nothing, his timing is perfect, and nothing is beyond his grace and redemption.

Amanda Wen’s novels have released to both reader and critical acclaim, including a 2023 Selah Award for The Songs That Could Have Been and a Foreword Indies Gold Award and a Christy Award nomination for Roots of Wood and Stone. In addition to her writing, Amanda is an accomplished professional cellist and pianist who frequently performs with orchestras, chamber groups, and her church’s worship team, as well as serving as a choral accompanist. A lifelong denizen of the flatlands, Amanda currently lives in Kansas with her patient, loving, and hilarious husband, their three adorable Wenlets, and a snuggly Siamese cat.

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Book Review: He Should Have Told The Bees

25 Jan

Amanda Cox is coming to my town this weekend! Squee! She writes such wonderful books full of relatable characters and heartfelt stories. In preparation for her appearance at Turning A New Page Book Festival, I read He Should Have Told The Bees. It’s another winner! See below for details and my thoughts.

Uncovering long-held family secrets may sting at first–but the result can be sweeter than honey

Beekeeper Beckett Walsh is living her dream, working alongside her father in their apiary, until his untimely death sends her world into a tailspin. She suddenly finds she must deal with a new part owner of the family business–one who is looking to sell the property. Beck cannot fathom why her father would put her into the position to lose everything they built together.

When Callie Peterson is named in the trust of a man she’s never heard of, she’s not sure what to do. Her fledgling business has just taken wing and her mother has reentered her life asking for help getting into rehab for her lifelong substance abuse issues, making Callie’s financial situation rather . . . precarious. She’s sure she has no right to someone else’s farm, but the money from the sale could solve her problems and give her the stability she’s always craved.

As these two women navigate their present conundrum, they will discover a complex and entangled past full of secrets–and the potential for a brighter future for both of them.

Before becoming a stay-at-home parent, Amanda Cox spent her time counseling children, families, and individuals through life’s challenging moments. Now she uses those same skills to develop layered characters and stories, bringing them on a journey of hope and healing. A journey she hopes her readers experience in their own lives as they read. 

A few of her favorite things are the sanctuary of the great outdoors, the feeling of pen on paper, the sound of her children’s laughter, and exploring new places with her husband of 18 years. (Oh, let’s not forget good fiction and good coffee. She’s addicted to both.) 

You can stay connected with her latest writing updates athttp://www.amandacoxwrites.com. You can find her on social media by searching Amanda Cox Writes.

My Impressions:

He Should Have Told The Bees is another outstanding general fiction offering from Amanda Cox. Family dynamics play a large part in Cox’s novels, and this one is no exception. Navigating a messy family is not easy, but it is especially difficult for Callie Peterson and Beckett Walsh. Unknown to each other, they discover their histories are wrapped in more layers of secrets than they anticipate. A mysterious trust established by Beckett’s father, throws the two together to navigate what looks like a future of broken dreams and loss of identity.

The unfolding of Callie and Beck’s lives creates lots of questions that I and the main characters were anxious to answer. 😉 But Cox takes her time in bringing various characters’ actions and motives to life. The slow pace of the novel is necessary to really get to know who Beck and Callie are. Beck deals with issues of abandonment, while Callie feels an obligation to rescue — all relating to their mother. It’s a sad story in many ways, but Cox brings about healing and wholeness. The provision and care of God is displayed throughout the narrative, often unknown and unsuspected by the characters. The ending is a dramatic and powerful look at how God can take what we want from life and make a better plan.

He Should Have Told The Bees is a book to be savored. Take your time with this one — it’s a gem.

Recommended.

Audience: Adults.

(I purchased the audiobook version from Audible. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

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Book Review: Missy

24 Jan

Novelist Randy Pierce is a participant in the Turning A New Page Book Festival taking place in my small town on Saturday. He’ll be talking about Missy, a small town story with a big message. I’m looking forward to hearing him discuss this book, as well as describe his writing life.

A college party Wayne Jacobs and the love of his life, Missy Vance, did not really want to attend. A final beer Wayne did not need before he got behind the wheel. A horrific crash which killed Missy and, in many ways, destroyed Wayne, a beloved young man from a good Leakesville, Mississippi, family with a bright future. Today, as the crusty, hardscrabble roofer goes about his business and lives out his life, a cloud of despair those close to him can almost reach out and touch hangs over his head. Though Wayne paid his debt to society, spending twenty years behind bars at the state penitentiary in the Mississippi Delta, he just cannot let go of the guilt. Reminders of Missy are everywhere, not the least of which is her still-grieving and angry mother, Margie, an elderly woman in poor health who lives just minutes away and has not spoken to Wayne since the accident. Then Lacy Chamberlin hits town. It gets back to Wayne that the young journalist from Memphis has a fascination with the thirty-year-old accident and the accompanying fallout. Horrified when even his mother and their pastor agree to discuss what happened, Wayne angrily refuses to respond when Lacy begins leaving messages for him. What Wayne does not know is that Lacy Chamberlin carries a secret, a significant one. Her goal is not just to ask Wayne a few penetrating questions, but unburden herself in a way that will turn his life upside down all over again. A hard-hitting, spellbinding tale of loss, grief, and redemption with characters so real they feel like your own friends, neighbors, and adversaries, Missy will make you laugh, cry, and think about what is really important in life … and why it is so crucial that we learn to forgive.

By day, Randy Pierce is the Director of the Mississippi Judicial College at the Ole Miss law school. By early morning and night, he is a writer. The author of three novels, he started writing in 2010 and cannot stop. Randy enjoys learning more about the craft, and his goal is to write stories that cause readers to miss the characters when the last page is turned.

My Impressions:

Missy, by Mississippi author Randy Pierce, is small town southern fiction that explores the impacts a terrible accident can have on a community, as well as individuals. The theme of forgiveness is front and center, and many of the characters struggle with giving and accepting grace and mercy. Wayne and Missy were high school sweethearts before Wayne drove under the influence and destroyed their and their families’ hopes and dreams. I found the story to be poignant, and could definitely see both sides that Pierce presented. But it’s evident that grief and resentment, even uncontrolled hatred, can eat away at someone’s soul. You’ll find twists and surprises as you turn the pages, and the ending was hugely satisfying to me. I did shed more than a few tears too. 😉 While there is a Christian worldview presented in the book, there is some language. It all seemed natural and in context to me — not gratuitous in nature. This is a quick read that I am glad I discovered.

Recommended.

Audience:

(I purchased this book from Amazon. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

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Top 10 Tuesday — Bookish Goals

16 Jan

In 2024 I will continue at least one reading goal I set in 2023 — being deliberate in my reading. Last year I chose quality over quantity and was choosy in the books I read. I surpassed my Goodreads Challenge of 75 books, and it felt good to have read the books I really wanted to read over reading ALL THE BOOKS! 😉 I used to be a big audiobook listener, but I have gotten out of the habit. I intend to up that game in 2024 too.

In my quest to be more deliberate, I plan to read more from my own library — my physical shelves, my NetGalley shelf, my Kindle library, and my Audible library. Hope I can stick with it!

For more bookish goals: check out That Artsy Reader Girl.

Books I Intend to Read from My Shelves in 2024

My book clubs’ selections will go a long way in helping me read from my shelves. Here are the books I already own:

American Queen by Vanessa Miller

Into The Fire by Irene Hannon

Letters from My Sister by Valerie Fraser Luesse

On Moonberry Lake by Holly Varni

The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher

A River Between Us by Jocelyn Green

And these are books I intend to listen to that are already in my Audible Library.

Justice Betrayed by Patricia Bradley

Not by Sight by Kate Breslin

Saving Amelie by Cathy Gohlke

The Wind Blows in Sleeping Grass by Katie Powner

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Mini-Review — The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon

15 Jan

The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon is Linda MacKillop‘s debut novel. You would never know that it was her first. A 2023 Christy Award winner for First Novel, it is a look into the regrets of the past and a hope for the future. Eva Gordon, a cantankerous character if ever there was one, is suffering from dementia. She knows it and her friends and family know it. She is haunted by mistakes and some very poor choices in her past, and seeks to find a way to find redemption. While she is the main character, the supporting characters — her granddaughter and her neighbor — play large roles in Eva’s life and in the direction of the book. When you just can’t take another minute of Eva’s selfishness, secondary characters enter in and your perspective changes. There’s a good bit of humor inserted into the novel — it is much needed as Eva’s dementia worsens. And the hope for a future, however short the days may be, points to healing and redemption.

I found The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon to be an outstanding book. Well-written, with interesting and relatable characters, and a tough topic handled gracefully and with humor, this novel is a must-read. It would be an excellent choice for your book club.

Recommended.

Great for Book Clubs.

Audience: Adults

(Thanks to the publisher for a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

Eva wants to run away from her life–if only she could remember how.

Failing memory has forced Eva Gordon to move in with her granddaughter, Breezy. But Eva hates the bustle of Boston. All she wants to do is move back to her quiet, cozy Cape Cod home and be left alone.

Then Breezy announces she’s getting married, and they’ll be moving to her new husband’s rundown family farm, where he lives with an elderly uncle. They’ll be one big family–but only Breezy and Brent think it’ll be a happy one.

It’s all too much for Eva. Too much change, too much togetherness, too much of an over-crowded life she never wanted. But as her desire for privacy collides with her worsening memory, Eva may find herself in a pickle she can’t get out of. Can an unlikely cast of misfit characters step in to woo Eva from her self-imposed isolation?

Fans of A Man Called Ove will appreciate Eva’s predicament, and enjoy the poignant, hilarious, and intergenerational rescue effort to save her from herself.

Linda MacKillop writes fiction for both adults and young people, and creative nonfiction. Her articles and essays have appeared in books, magazines, and literary journals such as Under the Sun and Relief Journal. The Forgotten Life of Eva Gordon is her first novel. She earned her M.F.A. in Creative Writing at the Rainier Writing Workshop in Tacoma, Washington. As the mother of four adult sons, she and her husband live in an emptynest outside of Chicago. Visit her website at lindamackillop.com.

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Mini-Book Review — By Way of The Moonlight

4 Jan

I have been a fan of Elizabeth Musser for a very long time. Her books are thought-provoking and include complex and relatable characters. The latest of her novels, By Way of The Moonlight, is no exception. I loved the story of two women connected by family, faith, and passions. Nana Dale’s story begins in the early 1930s in Atlanta. Dale experiences both privilege and sacrifice. The modern day story featuring Dale’s granddaughter Allie is a journey of uncovering family secrets and a search for treasure. Both women are strong characters, but I think I loved Dale the best. The historical backdrop of her story is also fascinating. I learned so many things about Georgia (my home state) that I didn’t know before. The role of the Golden Isles during WWII is a story worth telling. There are lots of twists and turns in this family drama, and themes of family, home and legacy are strong. As always, Musser weaves a multi-strand story that leads to a very satisfying ending. Beautifully-written, By Way of The Moonlight is a highly recommended read!

Highly Recommended.

Audience: Adults.

(I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

Two courageous young women, tied together by blood and shared passion, will risk everything to save what they love most.

For as long as she can remember, Allie Massey, a gifted physical therapist, has dreamed of making her grandparents’ ten-acre estate into a trauma recovery center using equine therapy–a dream her grandmother, Nana Dale, embraced wholeheartedly. But when her grandmother’s will is read, Allie is shocked to learn the property has been sold to a developer.

Decades earlier, headstrong Dale Butler’s driving passion is to bring home the prized filly her family lost to the Great Depression, but with World War II looming, she’s called upon in ways she never could have imagined. And while her world expands to include new friends and new love, tragedy strikes close to home one fateful night during the Battle of the Atlantic, changing her life forever.

As Nana Dale’s past comes to light in Allie’s search for answers, Dale’s courage and persistence may be just what Allie needs to carry on her grandmother’s legacy and keep her own dreams alive.

Elizabeth Musser writes entertainment with a soul from her writing chalet—tool shed—outside Lyon, France. Elizabeth’s award winning, best-selling novel, The Swan House, was named one of Amazon’s Top Christian Books of the Year, one of Georgia’s Top Ten Novels of the Past 100 Years and was awarded the Gold Illumination Book Award 2021 for Enduring Light Fiction. All of Elizabeth’s novels have been translated into multiple languages and have been international bestsellers. Two Destinies, the final novel in The Secrets of the Cross trilogy, was a finalist for the 2013 Christy Award. The Long Highway Home was a finalist for the 2018 Carol Award. The Promised Land, won second place in Literary Fiction at the 2021 Georgia Author of the Year Awards and won the 2021 Carol Award for Contemporary Fiction. Elizabeth’s most recent novel, By Way of the Moonlight, was a Publisher’s Weekly Top Ten Pick for Fall Releases in 2022.

For over thirty-five years, Elizabeth and her husband, Paul, have been involved in missions’ work in Europe with One Collective, formerly International Teams. The Mussers have two sons, two daughters-in-law and five grandchildren. Find more about Elizabeth and her novels at http://www.elizabethmusser.com and on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and her blog.

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Mini-Book Review: What We Found In Hallelujah

27 Dec

What We Found In Hallelujah‘s cover has a decidedly beachy, summer-vibe. But this book is set in South Carolina in November at the end of hurricane season. While Thanksgiving and Christmas should be what the main characters are looking forward to, it is the past that haunts them. Vanessa Miller has written the perfect women’s fiction — mother/daughter relationships, sister relationships, and men/women’s relationships are all a part of this excellently-written novel. Fatih and Hope Reynolds are summoned home by their mother. She says she’s been swindled out of her home. But truth has never been their mother’s strong suit. And secrets long-kept abound. The real truth lies somewhere in the past, but it is a hard struggle to bring it to light. The whole Reynolds family has issues! Yet I never felt overwhelmed by the many plot threads. Miller does a great job of bringing them all together in sometimes poignant and sad and sometimes hopeful ways. With strong and diverse voices, What We Found in Hallelujah is a recommended read.

Recommended.

Audience: Adults.

(I purchased the audiobook through Audible. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

Another storm is on the horizon for the Reynolds women. And the only way out is to go through it.

Good things never happen in November—at least not for the Reynolds women. It was the month they lost their patriarch. And the month when fourteen-year-old Trinity went missing during a tropical storm. So Hope Reynolds isn’t surprised when it becomes the month she walks in on her boyfriend kissing another woman. Or when she receives a panicked call from her mother about a mistake that could cost the family their treasured beach house.

Meanwhile, Faith Reynolds-Phillips is facing her own financial struggles. She’s also looking down the barrel of divorce and raising a daughter who reminds her so much of her younger sister, Trinity, that sometimes it physically hurts. The last place Hope and Faith want to be is in Hallelujah, South Carolina, during hurricane season. Going home will force them to confront the secrets that have torn their family apart. But if they can survive another storm, they’ll have a chance to rebuild on a new foundation—the truth.

In the latest novel from prolific writer Vanessa Miller, three women must find the strength to endure the storm and the faith to believe in a miracle.

Vanessa Miller is a best-selling author, entrepreneur, playwright, and motivational speaker. She started writing as a child, spending countless hours either reading or writing poetry, short stories, stage plays and novels. Vanessa’s creative endeavors took on new meaning in1994 when she became a Christian. Since then, her writing has been centered on themes of redemption, often focusing on characters facing multi-dimensional struggles.

Vanessa lives in North Carolina with her husband and family. She graduated from Capital University with a degree in Organizational Communication.

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Top 10 Tuesday — Winter TBR!

12 Dec

I always love doing posts like today’s TTT topic. It helps focus my reading goals and reminds me of what great reading I have ahead. And I tend not to veer off the topic. 😉 So without further ado, I present my Winter TBR! I’ve added a note to each to let you know and remind me why I am reading each book.

For more Winter TBR lists, check out That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Books on My Winter TBR

All’s Fair in Love And Christmas by Sarah Monzon (review)

By Her Own Design by Piper Huguley (book club)

The Foxhole Victory Tour by Amy Lynn Green (review)

He Should Have Told The Bees by Amanda Cox (book festival)

Into The Fire by Irene Hannon (book club)

The Juliet Code by Pepper Basham (review)

Letters from My Sister by Valerie Luesse (book club)

The Lost Book of Eleanor Dare by Kimberly Brock (book festival)

Missy by Randy Pierce (book festival)

The Paris Bookseller by Kerri Maher (book club)

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Mini-Book Review — Hope Beyond The Waves

8 Dec

Heidi Chiavaroli hit it out of the park with her dual timeline novel, Hope Beyond The Waves. With its intriguing subject matter, complex characters, and a hope-filled message, this novel was one of the highlights of my summer reading. The two main characters Emily (1993) and Atta (1916) are burdened by sin and guilt and wrestle with the concepts of penance and forgiveness. Both are abandoned by those closest to them. Emily, shipped off to her grandmother’s home because of her pregnancy, discovers the seemingly untold story of her great-aunt Atta who was sent to live on an island serving as Massachusetts’ leper colony. While Emily is an appealing and relatable character, it is Atta’s story that took hold of my imagination. Atta’s overwhelming fear of a diagnosis of Hansen’s disease is further aggravated by the isolation of her care. I really became invested in her life which seemed so hopeless. Little was known about Hansen’s at the time, and the treatment for it was pretty horrific. But . . . Hope Beyond The Waves is not a bleak book. Far from it. Strong spiritual messages spoke to the hearts of the suffering characters, as well as this reader. Atta finds God’s strength through her weakness.

Hope Beyond The Waves is an excellently written novel that left me thinking long after I closed its cover. It is definitely a highly recommended read.

Highly Recommended.

Audience: Adults.

(I purchased this novel from Amazon. All opinions expressed are mine alone.)

Massachusetts, 1993

After making a grievous mistake that will change her life forever, Emily Robertson is sent away to live with her grandmother on Cape Cod. When Emily finds a timeworn photograph buried in a drawer, she realizes her grandmother has concealed a secret even bigger than her own. Will convincing Gram to reveal their family history help Emily make the most important decision of her life or will it prove her parents right—that family scandal is better off buried and forgotten?

Massachusetts, 1916

Atta Schaeffer plans to marry the man of her dreams and whisk her little sister away from their abusive father. But when she is diagnosed with a dreaded malady, Atta is forced into a life of exile, leaving her sister in harm’s way.

On Penikese Island, Atta’s best hope lies with Harry Mayhew, a doctor who seeks a cure for his patients at any cost. But when experiments fail, Atta runs from Harry—and from God. Can she return to her sister before it’s too late? Or will her illness consume both her body and soul?

A testament to faith and love, Hope Beyond the Waves is the raw account of the journey of two generations of women running from desperate situations toward irresistible hope.

Heidi Chiavaroli is a hope-inspired storyteller writing from the deep curiosity of her own heart. Her debut novel, Freedom’s Ring, was a Carol Award winner and a Christy Award finalist, a Romantic Times Top Pick, and a Booklist Top Ten Romance Debut. Her second Carol Award-winning novel, The Orchard House, is inspired by the lesser-known events in Louisa May Alcott’s life and led her to write The Orchard House Bed and Breakfast series, a contemporary twist on Little Women. Heidi makes her home in Massachusetts with her husband and two sons.

Connect with Heidi online at her website (heidichiavaroli.com).

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