AAR Reviews: Return of Devotion

This review is now posted on the All About Romance (AAR) website. Remember AAR is both a resource for book reviews across all the sub-genres of romance and a place to find offers, deals and previews of books soon to be released. Enjoy!

A RETURN OF DEVOTION

by Kristie Ann Hunter

I read A Defense of Honor, the first book of the Haven Manor series, liked it very much, and immediately bought the second installment. I found A Return of Devotion a very different experience, one I struggled with as a reader. Whereas A Defense of Honor has a steady pace driven by the action plot woven with the romance, A Return of Devotion spends a little too much time in the character’s minds and too little time on the romance. This book can stand alone but reading the first will provide the necessary backstory for Haven Manor, its mission, and show the heroine in her element.


William and Daphne are intensely aware of each other, but that awareness serves to bring out Christian themes or the characters’ internal struggles more than increasing romantic tension between them. As a reader, after the first twenty-five pages, I had to reset my expectations into the author’s rhythm of characters focused on the external plot and not on each other, at least romantically. Once I did, I became engaged with these two people, both facing long-held assumptions about their class and their lives and growing into their best selves. However, I sorely missed the more consistent interplay and emotional spark commonly evident in the romance genre.

Fans of Ms. Hunter and readers looking for engaging Christian fiction will certainly enjoy A Return of Devotion with its interesting characters and important moral messages. However, if you’re in the mood for a story focused on the growing love between two people, this book may not be the right choice for you.

Find the Buy Links and Full Review at All About Romance.

AAR Reviews: Midnight on the River Grey

This review is now posted on the All About Romance (AAR) website. Remember AAR is both a resource for book reviews across all the sub-genres of romance and a place to find offers, deals and previews of books soon to be released. Enjoy!

Midnight on the River Grey

by Abigail Wilson

I enjoy a good romantic suspense story, and when this title appeared with its hint of classic Gothic romance from a well-known Christian publisher, I was intrigued. Although Midnight on the River Grey is classed by online retailers as a Christian mystery, the book is a sweet romantic mystery with no obvious spiritual or moral themes.

After the death of her mother, Rebecca Hunter moves to London to live with her Aunt Josephine. The ladies have little income, but it is Rebecca’s hope that she can convince the Court of Chancery to grant her a new guardian. Once she has accomplished that, she and her aunt will be able to access the money meant for her dowry and set up their own establishment.

Mr. Lewis Browning of Greybourne Hall is Rebecca’s current guardian. In a convoluted twist of fate. her elder brother Jacob had been working for him but was killed in a fall off a bridge on the Browning estate. The death was officially ruled an accident but there are hints that Lewis Browning was somehow involved, and Rebecca is convinced that means her beloved brother was murdered. She arrived at this conclusion in no small part because of letters from her “silly, prattling” cousin Ellen whom she believes “had flushed out the details surrounding Jacob’s death.”  The family’s entailed inheritance passed to Lewis, a distant cousin, giving him ample motive for the crime.

If you like a light mystery story with a little spookiness and a sweet romance, you might find it a good read, but those looking for something with more substance will need to look elsewhere.

Buy Links and the full review HERE!

Novella Review: MIDNIGHT IN DEATH, Holiday Heat

I love a good mystery and one of my favorite authors is J. D. Robb (Nora Roberts’ pen name for her In Death series). The series features Lieutenant Eve Dallas, a detective in the New York City of the near-future, and the friends and family she eases into her life as she solves the city’s toughest murder cases. The length of this series (45+ books and growing) gives us an opportunity to dive deep into Eve and Roarke, her financial magnet husband. I’ve enjoyed getting to know this cast of characters over the years, and occasionally take the time to dip back into an old favorite.

Midnight in Death is a novella set between books 7 and 8 of the series. It’s the first holiday Roarke and Eve have celebrated together as husband and wife. The plot of Midnight in Death is straightforward: David Sinclair, a serial killer Eve put away years ago, has escaped – and he has targeted everyone who took part in his downfall. Eve must work against David’s deadline to bring him down before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve.

Robb draws me in with her vivid descriptions of Eve’s emotional landscape – this steely detective used to be all about the job. Now she struggles with the strong feelings she has developed for her new husband, her trainee/partner, and the tentative connection she has begun with the motherly department psychiatrist.

The series is definitely HOT (see my Sensuality Content Ratings), and this story is no different — gritty tone, explicit violence and language, graphic sex — some readers find the series too dark. I read it for the deep, emotionally charged characters the author has created who leap off the page and stay with you long after the story is finished.  

In less than 100 pages, I can live and adventure 15 minutes into the future and sit on the edge of my seat while Eve fights to save those she's come to love (though she'll hardly ever admit it!). It’s a terrific post-holiday break.  I’ll take mine with hot chocolate, please. 

See this and other reviews on my Goodreads page.

Spiritual Snowmen for Christmas Meditations

The Everlasting Snowman by Hunter D. Darden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Last autumn, I met the author of "The Everlasting Snowman" at the Rag Apple Lassie winery in North Carolina and bought the book. I'm always looking for enchanting picture books about the Yuletide season, love, and service to read as part of my holiday meditations. What first drew me in were the watercolor illustrations (by Tamara Scantland Adams), washed in shades of blue, lavender, pink and white that recalled Michigan winters, but also reminded me that I had entered a fantasy world where snowmen talk and share their view of the world. The story follows the life of a snowman family throughout the year and shares the advice a snow child's parents give when faced with the little one's sadness about the brief span of a snowman's life.

The story works on several levels. At its base is a charming story of talking snowmen that children can enjoy. Taken on a spiritual level, the story may open up discussions for both children and adults. First, the snowman tale illustrates one form of everlasting life, a common theme in Christian theology. From a Buddhist perspective, the story might foster discussion about the impermanence of life and how we humans cope with that reality as well as the rhythms and circles of life that we all experience. Finally, the book presents a way to introduce natural science to children by showing how a natural substance, water, is preserved in several forms on earth and is essential to life on our planet.

I thought I had purchased a simple tale of talking snowmen and got a small treasure of wisdom. "The Everlasting Snowman" is worth adding to your winter reading list.


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Review: Jane-A-Day: 5 Year Journal: 365 Witticisms by Jane Austen

Jane-A-Day: 5 Year Journal: 365 Witticisms by Jane Austen by Potter Style
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have not yet completed the 5-year journey with this book, but I continue to find enjoyment every night. The daily quotes come not only from Austen's published works, but also from her letters and the letters of her family. After reading the quote and smiling at the memory or wisdom, I use the brief space as a "gratitude" journal to record the events, things and people for which I am grateful that day.
I don't often note it, but I am grateful for Jane-A-Day!

Like Regency romance? Try Shadow Love.  Handsome Codebreaker + Loyal Daughter + Wartime Intrigue = Romance!

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Review: The Beekeeper's Apprentice

The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm a Sherlock Holmes fan and always wondered what happened to the detective after his glory days. This books starts a series that introduces a young woman who becomes Holmes' student, and in her own right is as fascinating as Holmes. The smooth writing, intriguing the plot, and the budding relationship between the brilliant, eccentric man and the just as brilliant, forthright woman kept me reading steadily through to the end. Add the history surrounding World War I, and I was hooked.

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Wine and Neckties - Can This Romance Be Saved?

Season of Change by Melinda Curtis

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


As with all the Heartwarming book series, this romance is categorized as "sweet", meaning it has no overt sex or violence. But that doesn't mean it's fluffy. Slade's issues run deep (what is up with the ties?), and his ex-wife only throws fuel on the fire. Christine is determined to make a name for herself as a premier winemaker, but she'll need to decide when to cut her losses and run. Add a pair of twin girls and a father with an attitude, and the author brings us a story of deep friendship, small-town quirky beauty, and romance that truly keeps the reader guessing if and how these two will ever get together. After my first read last year, I had put this on my Keepers Shelf, but after re-reading it, I increased my rating from 4 to 5 Stars and fell in love all over again.

For a quick look at all the "Keepers" books I've reviewed, check out my Keepers Shelf Bookstore.



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Sweet Romance Review - My So-Called Love Life

My So Called Love Life by Allie Pleiter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When I need a smile, this is one of the books I pull off my Keepers shelf. Allie Pleiter writes both contemporary and historical stories, but it is in her contemporary work that her humor shines. She is one of the few sweet romance authors who write successfully with a humorous touch. In this novel, Lindy is a voice character actor (learned so much about this profession!) on a successful animated TV series, and Leo is the studio exec that just might shut the show down. Add the show's brilliant--if troubled--writer/director, Lindy's supportive and wise friends, a bowling alley, and an iguana that needs a regular walk. Those are the ingredients for a funny, touching and romantic view of Lindy's life as she tries to hold the faltering show together while falling for Leo. The story is told completely from Lindy's viewpoint as it happens to her. No past tense here telling us about something that happened yesterday, but Lindy's 1st-person account. Every time I open the book, I hear the story as if the events are occurring right now. We see Lindy's faith through her actions and compassion. Nicely done.

A truly delightful and heartwarming book. Pick this up and get set to become an Allie Pleiter fan.

Look for this book at your public library or at my Keepers Shelf Bookstore, Inspirational Romance.


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