Eliza's Home by R. Herron

Eliza's Home is a sweet little novella by Rachael Herron. It's currently free for kindle (March '14). Ms. Herron does a great job in a short space of making you love Eliza.

It's 1945 and Eliza is a spunky woman who is running from an abusive husband. She's been married for three years, but was only with her husband for a short time before and after the war. She married him because her sister told her it was time to settle down. But knowing she can't take him any longer, she flees north through California where her car breaks down after all her money flew out the window.

Her rescuer is the handsome Joshua Carpenter, who - wouldn't you know - is building his own home. He hires Eliza to help him and she plans to use the money to get further from her husband. While the storyline is a little predictable - of course they fall in love - it's still a story of hope.

Eliza has made herself at home with Joshua and the community of Cypress Hollow (there's a whole series of books, apparently, I will need to check them out!). But she feels she's not good enough as a divorcee and leaves. She goes back to her sister's house and tells her everything.

As it turns out, Joshua doesn't give up so easily. He followed Eliza to her sister's home and confronts Eliza's husband and tells him to give her a divorce immediately. It was a little unbelievable that he agreed so quickly, but it's a novella - sometimes things happen quick! Joshua reveals that no place is home to him without Eliza there and of course she is overjoyed! Who wouldn't be?

This novella is amazingly sweet. It's not a Christian work, but aside from a little language it could be. I highly recommend it for those times you know you have an hour to kill or you're on the beach!

Loving Eliza by Ruth Ann Nordin

It's been a while since I've been active here, but my life was consumed by our newest family member! And while I've read many books in the last 2 years, reviewing hasn't been a priority. But I'm hoping to get back to reviewing a little more regularly!

I read Loving Eliza last week and it was a quick, easy read. Ms. Nordin does a wonderful job of drawing the reader in quickly and endearing Eliza to us.

Eliza was a prostitute in the bustling city of Omaha, but now she's in South Dakota to work for the sister of a pastor friend of hers. Except the woman has passed away unexpectedly, leaving Eliza unsure what to do next. She's approached by the town mute, John, who mistakes her for his mail-order bride. Once Eliza explains she is not the bride and it seems the bride is nowhere to be found, Eliza agrees to work for John until she can find another job and his actual bride arrives.

Over time the pair grow comfortable together and John is obviously in love with Eliza, even to the point of trying to take her to the local church whenever they are in town. But Eliza's past is a secret and she says she is unworthy of marrying such a wonderful man.

John's brother, Troy, tries in vain to court Eliza, much to John's dismay and Eliza's attempts to dissuade him. And as soon as Eliza admits her feelings for John, his mail order bride arrives! Eliza leaves and works for the town's grouch who eventually discovers her secret past and threatens to tell everybody.

I won't give away spoilers except to say that this is a story of true love - so you can imagine what happens in the end, but it's not without some twists and turns.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a quick, sweet love story. Ms. Nordin is a fabulous writer!

Her Good Name by R. Axtell

In 1892 Espy Estrada is a poor half Portuguese girl in a small Maine town who dreams of doing more with her life than working in the cannery like the other poor Portuguese young ladies around her. A new job as a maid for a local teacher seems promising - especially when he offers to tutor her and help further her education for free.

Espy has all the male attention any girl could want - even that of local heir and pretty boy Warren Brentwood III who is recently back from college.

The two strike up a friendship, and, of course, any reader can see where this is going. Poor girl from the wrong side of the tracks - rich boy who gets whatever he wants...but of course the difference in their social classes keeps them from even seeing each other and from thinking the other would be interested in the least.

Her Good Name gets off to a very slow start. The entire first half of the book is basically back story. Girl and Boy knew each other as kids, they are now reacquainted but know nothing can come of their friendship because of social class. They are both placed on a church committee where they find ways to both linger together longer and avoid each other entirely.

Warren is being pursued by fellow upper-class girl, Christina. Espy seems to have a constant trail of love-sick boys after her. Neither likes the attention the other receives.

Then one day the teacher Espy works for makes a move on her - and his wife catches their embrace. Or, rather, his embrace, as Espy has somehow been completely unaware of the man's advances that even a child could have picked up on. Not wanting to admit to trying to kiss the maid, the husband says she made moves on him, Espy is fired and the entire town is abuzz because of it. This is where the book gets its name - her good name (which honestly wasn't "good" to start with since she was seen as just another Portuguese working girl) becomes sullied amidst the upper-crust. And for some reason love interest Warren believes the gossip.

The book actually gets slightly interesting when Espy moves to Bangor, Maine, to find more suitable work and to escape the undying gossip around town. Months later she is shocked to see Warren there as well - it seems he's left his father's lumber business in order to study theology and become a minister. The two spend a lot of time together where they fall in love without admitting it to each other.

Warren returns home for a short time and is invited by their hometown pastor to preach. He writes Espy and says he needs her there for moral support. Having not returned home since leaving her sullied reputation behind, Espy is hesitant, but goes for Warren's sake. There he parades her in front of his disapproving parents and their friends, making her further realize she is not a part of his social standing and never will be.

Her Good Name is a very predictable fiction novel. It might be good as a beach read - or, as I read it, something to pass the time while ignoring one's three children and it didn't much matter if I was interrupted over and over.
I found Espy and Warren hard to cheer for. Both had the "woe is me and my lot in life" attitude, though they enjoyed doing charitable work. And I realize I wasn't around 120 years ago, but I seriously doubt the misdeeds - true or false - of a poor immigrant's daughter would warrant the tongue wagging Espy received from the town's elite. And her reaction to run away didn't endear me to her at all. I felt she needed to stand up for herself - make her story known and believed, especially to the man she was actually falling for.

I would give this novel 2.5 stars out of 5. Readable, but hardly enticing.

Courting Morrow Little by Laura Frantz

Every now and then you read a book that stays with you after you finish the last page. This is one of those books. Courting Morrow Little by Laura Frantz is the story of Morrow, a young woman from the wilds of Kentucky in the times of the American Revolution. After two years in Boston with an aunt, she returns to her father and the home where her mother and sister were killed and her older brother was whisked away by Native Indians.

As a returning single woman, many men set eyes upon her - from ragtag soldiers and frontiersmen to those in power. One set of eyes belong to a young half-blood who is the son of a Shawnee man her father has befriended.

In time, Morrow goes from feeling disdain to friendliness toward the men who stop at her home without warning or invitation. And eventually she realizes she is in love with Red Shirt - the Shawnee half-blood.

Many troubles ensue for Morrow and Red Shirt - running from the law of the land, illness, many separations and more. That would be my chief complaint with this novel - our heroine and hero don't spent nearly enough time together.

But overall Ms. Frantz spins a wonderful tale full of picturesque scenery and details, but not so much that you lose the story. Courting Morrow Little does have Christian undertones, but I think it would be enjoyed by anyone who loves to read romance novels with a memorable story line behind it.

Overall, I would give this book 4.5 out of 5 stars. A must-read of anyone who loves a great love story.

All The Flowers in Shanghai by D. Jepson

Duncan Jepson brings us a haunting novel, All the Flowers in Shanghai about a young girl, Feng, in pre-Revolution China. Told solely in the first person, we learn immediately that Feng is writing to a daughter that she had claimed was stillborn but was apparently still alive and was now telling her the story of her life.

Feng was the second daughter. The "spare" to her parents, who are only called Ma and Ba. She has an older sister, only called Sister, who is being groomed to marry a man of a higher status and has been treated like a princess her entire life. Xaio Feng dresses like a peasant and spends her time roaming the gardens with her grandfather and knowing nothing of life aside from the Latin names of flowers.

As her sister is preparing to marry the rich Sang heir, Feng meets a village boy and falls immediately in like with him. They spend a lot of time together, but when Sister is suddenly unable to marry, it is up to Feng to fulfill the contract made with the Sang family.

But Feng was never groomed for any of it - she knew nothing of the ancient traditions and ceremonies involved in a wedding or marriage. She insults her new in-laws immediately, but doesn't seem to care because they took her away from the life she had known and enjoyed. And when her new husband clumsily forces himself on her, Feng turns bitter and angry.

Her mother-in-law's insistence for a male heir angers Feng, so when she does become pregnant she manages to detach herself from her developing baby and makes her maid swear to give the child away if it is a girl. Of course, the entire novel is a story she has written for a child she never knew, so when a girl is born, the reader is not surprised. Her maid takes the baby and gives it away to an older couple and Feng tells the family she had birthed a stillborn son.

The story continues from there - covering more than 30 years time in all and goes into the beginning of communist China where Feng makes some drastic and unforeseen changes in her life.

In the end, I did not feel connected to any of the characters in this book, except maybe the given-away daughter since the letter was to her. Feng goes from a sweet, unassuming innocent to a cold-hearted, angry and bitter woman. Feng's family simply abandons her without and any life lessons (though I'm assuming that's just how things were in depression-era China). Her husband I can only assume is a fool and simply does what he is told by his father, mother and then wife.

I also felt like Feng spent much of the book searching for a true parent figure. Her mother treated her cruelly, using her children only as pawns to move up in station. For many years Feng looked to her older maid as a mother figure, then sought out another mother-figure after that. It seems that Jepson gave Feng many women who could fill the role, but none who could fill the pain Feng felt.

Overall, I give All the Flowers in Shanghai 3.5 out of 5 stars. It was fairly easy to read, but some of the material was tough and at times the language more crass than I'm used to, but it certainly fit with the storyline.

Kathleen Morgan is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and Child of the Mist certainly doesn't disappoint.
Set in the 16th century Scotland Highlands, the story opens with a grim scene. That of Naill Campbell watching helplessly as his beloved wife and child die in childbirth. We later learn that it had been their fourth stillborn child.
Then the tale jumps a year to the life of beautiful MacGregor clan heir Anne MacGregor who is known throughout her lands as a healer - though some call her a witch because of her Old Ways of healing.
One evening she is sent to the home of a peasant couple having their first child. While she is attending to the laboring mother, cattle thieves raid the town - men from the hated Campbell clan. When one sees her breath life in to the still young babe, he calls her a witch and wants to kill her. She stands her ground and is then released by a kind - yet still hated - Campbell warrior.
Soon the same Campbell man who saved her life - who also happens to be the Campbell clan heir - is captured by the MacGregors. Anne tells her father that the man saved her life and she was honor bound to save his in return. So instead of killing the man, the MacGregor chieftain gives him his daughter - Anne - in an effort to end their decades-long feuding.
Anne and the Campbell heir, who of course of Naill from the first scene, are handfasted. Meaning they are like-married for a year and a day. After that time they may either have a real marriage or they may go their separate ways. Anne doesn't want to be married - let alone to a thieving, murdering man like Naill Campbell (who is called the Wolf). And Naill had only lost his beloved wife a year before and is not ready to commit to another, let alone love her, at all.
Naill and Anne set forth for Campbell land where they face many challenges. One being Naill's handsome cousin Iain, who fancies himself in love with Anne and thinks his cousin is a rake and will treat her poorly. The second - and biggest problem - is that someone on the inside of the Campbell clan has betrayed Naill and wants to see him dead.
Who is the traitor? Naill suspects many. His cousin Iain tops his list because of his affections for his psuedo-bride and Naill is jealous. But his Uncle Duncan would be second in line behind Naill himself for the title of Chieftain. Hugh, a cousin, is also in the heir line-up, as is another cousin, Malcolm. Any one could be working against Naill and trying to claim the Chieftainship for himself.
Of course, many problems arise for our young couple. At first they hate each other. Then of course, they fall in love but their own stubborn prides get in the way and despite loving each other, they do not trust each other. Thrown in the fact that many townspeople, Naill's family included, call Anne a witch, and it's a recipe for a disastrous relationship except for the love the couple have for each other even though they refuse to admit it or do anything about it.

In the end, what will happen? Will Naill discover who the traitor is before he loses not only his life and title, but the woman he has grown to love? Will Anne's homeopathic healing abilities get her arrested for being a witch? And of course, will love prevail and the couple wind up together or will the traitor, Iain's affections and the couple's own differences come between them?

Child of the Mist is a very quick-paced book and a fairly easy read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading more of her series called These Highland Hills. She also as a series called the Brides of Culdee Creek, of which I have read Book 1 and loved.

I give Child of the Mist 4 out of 5 stars and highly recommend the author to anyone who likes romance without the smut. Right now it's FREE for the Kindle (as of 2/6/12), so scoop it up and read it!

The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck

I read The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck by Kathleen Y'Barbo last week. It was quite the interesting tale, but to be honest, it took me the better part of a week to read, which means it did not hold my attention as well as I would have hoped.

The book, which takes place in the late 1800s, is centered around Charlotte Beck, a young lady who is more interested in commerce than marriage. Charlotte's step-mother, however, would prefer to see her married first and spends the entire debutante season in London showcasing her to potential noblemen.

Charlotte, you see, is an American heiress. And in this day and age it was common for rich American girls to marry British nobility who had nothing more than a title with no money to go behind it.

At a party, Charlotte happens to fall into the arms of nobleman Alex Hambly - literally. The two have an instant attraction but mutual dislike for one another. Charlotte things Alex is a rogue viscount and Alex thinks Charlotte is an insufferable brat.

Over a series of events, Charlotte's father presents the pair an offer they can't refuse. He will send Charlotte to college as she wants if she will agree to marry Alex after school. Alex, in return, will get a large financial gain. But Charlotte is convinced that after 4 years she will be able to talk her father out of the arrangement.

When dear old Daddy won't give in on the arranged marriage, Charlotte and Alex plot to leave the marriage unconsummated and get the marriage annulled as soon as possible.

Will their plot work? Will they want to get an annulment once they are officially wed?

I do recommend reading the book, I enjoyed the twists and turns, but I do admit it did not hold my attention as I would have liked. I give The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck by Kathleen Y'Barbo 3 out of 5 stars.


I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

A Sound Among the Trees

I received this book quite a while ago, except that the UPS man did not deliver it to the right door and I never saw it. Fast forward to now when I read this book! I received this book from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing Group in exchange for this honest review. All opinions are my own.

Susan Meissner delivers an intriguing tale of deception, rumors and unsure love in this book set in modern day Virginia. A Sound Among the Trees is something of a ghost tale where family matriarch Adelaide runs Holly Oak, a plantation house, that has been occupied by her family for generations and is thought to be haunted by her great-grandmother Susannah Page.

Adelaide's grandson-in-law Carson, who was widowed by her granddaughter Sara 4 years before, is remarrying. He moves his new bride Marielle into Adelaide's plantation home. Yes, you read that right, her granddaughter's widower, his two children, and the new wife. I thought it was an odd arrangement to be sure. The modern story focuses on how Marielle adjusts to living in the literal shadow of the late Sara. She is compared to Sara by all of Adelaide's old lady friends, by her new husband Carson, by his children Hudson and Brette and by Adelaide herself. She wonders if she will ever stack up.

But when Adelaide's friends tell Marielle about the ghost that haunts the house, her curiosity is piqued. Susannah was thought to be a spy for the North during the Civil War after marrying a Southern officer. Marielle begins to search for answers including calling a local psychic. Adelaide tries to tell her there is no ghost, it's the house that is cursed.

Things take an interesting twist when the deceased Sara's dead-beat mother, Caroline (daughter to Adelaide) shows up. Only now Caroline has sobered up and wants to help her mother and the grandchildren she has never known. Caroline winds up helping Marielle feel more adequate as a new wife and mother to Carson, Hudson and Brette.

Through all this Marielle and Caroline discover and reveal letters written by supposed ghost Susannah to her cousin in Maine that reveals everything that happened during the war.

Confusing though it sounds, this was a good book and I enjoyed reading it. It did seem a little far-fetched and I would have much preferred to read two separate books - one centered on Marielle coming into the family as a new wife and step-mother and then one that told the story of Susannah. It was a little much all together as one book.

I would give A Sound Among the Trees 3.5 stars out of 5. Very well written!