Tag Archives: Bethany House

IN LOVE’S TIME by Kate Breslin — Riveting! 5-star review

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At the height of World War I, two sweethearts face impossible odds in this powerful tale of courage, duty, and heartbreak.

In the summer of 1918, Captain Marcus Weatherford arrives in Russia on a secret mission, with a beautiful ballerina posing as his fiancée. He’s there to find the Romanov tsarina and her son and glean information about a plot to assassinate Lenin. As the danger intensifies, Marcus’s sense of duty battles with his desire to return home to Clare, the woman he truly loves, before it’s too late.

Military hospital orderly Clare Danner still suffers from Marcus’s betrayal after learning he’s engaged to another woman. Clare also fears losing her daughter, Daisy, to the heartless family who took her away once before. Only Marcus can provide the critical proof needed to save Daisy, but when an injury leaves him powerless to help, Clare’s fate–and the fate of the top-secret mission–hangs in the balance. [back cover copy]

The title of IN LOVE’S TIME declares it's a romance. What it doesn’t tell you is that it’s also packed with mystery, intrigue, heroes and villains. And like any good detective story, it’s loaded with surprises and twists throughout. (In fact, one of the biggest caught me totally off guard just pages from the end.) I thoroughly enjoyed searching for clues and guessing which were real and which were misdirection. But let’s return to the beginning. The book opens amidst a dangerous search for not only the Russian tsarina and her son but also information about a plot to assassinate Lenin. The high stakes story is always engaging and keeps you turning pages. It is well-balanced. Action never overpowers the romance, and the love story, filled with its own complications, never eclipses the war-time drama.

The title of IN LOVE’S TIME declares it’s a romance. What it doesn’t tell you is that it’s also packed with mystery, intrigue, heroes and villains. And like any good detective story, it’s loaded with surprises and twists throughout. (In fact, one of the biggest caught me totally off guard just pages from the end.) I thoroughly enjoyed searching for clues and guessing which were real and which were misdirection.

But let’s return to the beginning. The book opens amidst a dangerous search for not only the Russian tsarina and her son but also information about a plot to assassinate Lenin. The high stakes story is always engaging and keeps you turning pages. It’s well-balanced ~action never overpowers the romance, and the love story, filled with its own complications, never eclipses the war-time drama.

Breslin draws her characters thoroughly. They stand out clearly as unique people with deeply-held opinions and feelings, and I cared about what they cared about. When it seems they’re about to lose something important, Breslin deftly weaves in another plot twist.

The settings and historical detail are well done, always fresh, clear, and well-balanced. They drew me into the place and time, and I enjoyed the visit.

I’ve read most of Breslin’s novels and they’re all complex, engaging tales with surprises aplenty. I’ve come to expect intrigue, danger, suspense, romance, twists and turns. But she still astonishes me! Laura Frantz says IN LOVE’S TIME is “riveting.” I couldn’t agree more. (As does my husband who is currently reading it!) I heartily recommend IN LOVE’S TIME to readers who enjoy historical drama, intrigue, and romance.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher and was not required to provide a positive review. All opinions are my own.

AS DAWN BREAKS by Kate Breslin – BRILLIANT! 5-star review

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Her daring bid for freedom could be her greatest undoing.

Amid the Great War in 1918 England, munitions worker Rosalind Graham is desperate to escape the arranged marriage being forced on her by her ruthless guardian and instead follow her own course. When the Chilwell factory explodes, killing hundreds of unidentified workers, Rose realizes the world believes she perished in the disaster. Seizing the chance to escape, she risks all and assumes a new identity, taking a supervisory position in Gretna, Scotland, as Miss Tilly Lockhart.

RAF Captain Alex Baird is returning home to Gretna on a secret mission to uncover the saboteur suspected in the Chilwell explosion, as Gretna’s factory is likely next. Fearing for his family’s safety, he’s also haunted by guilt after failing to protect his brother. Alex is surprised to discover a young woman, Miss Lockhart, renting his boyhood room, but the two eventually bond over their mutual affection for his family–until Alex receives orders to surveil her.

Rose squirms beneath Alex’s scrutiny while she struggles to gain her workers’ respect. But when her deception turns to danger, she and Alex must find a way to put their painful pasts behind them and together try to safeguard the future.  [back cover copy]

Kate Breslin’s story AS DAWN BREAKS is at times as tender as the gentle sunrise painted on the cover, at others as stark as a post-tornado landscape. But above all, it’s BRILLIANT!

2017 Silvertown, London

2017 Silvertown, London

Against the backdrop of World War I, the drama of Rose Graham’s personal life unfolds. She faces a bleak future imprisoned in an arranged marriage to a wicked bully. A shaft of light pierces her misery when an explosion levels the building she works in at a munitions factory, leaving the world to believe she was killed. If she can act fast enough and boldly enough, she just might begin a new life posing as another. She gathers a dead woman’s few belongings and papers and flees.

As her new life in Gretna, Scotland intersects with others, Rose creates a tolerable existence—if she can just keep her story straight. Especially when Alex Baird, the RAF captain son of her landlords, unexpectedly returns home and seems very interested in Rose’s past. She must discern if he’s friend or foe. But before she can, the threads of their lives begin to tangle and the knots just grow bigger, right along with the risks both to her and those she loves.

JACQUARD Fabric red DAWN BREAKS BreslinBreslin’s story is an intricate weave like a detailed jacquard fabric. She gives us a charming love story amid an adventure and mystery, sprinkled with humor. She layers danger, risks from every direction, and plants clues and misdirection as well as Agatha Christie. And when Rose’s road seems to become a cramped, hopeless dead-end, a door is suddenly flung open streaming light and hope.

 

AS DAWN BREAKS is populated with well-drawn, believable characters, including a well-developed secondary cast that make us feel right at home in the Baird household. Breslin’s characters leap from the page. Their struggles made me ache; their successes, cheer.

And I must say a word about setting. Breslin is masterful in drawing her story world and characters, which clearly emerge from the historical time and place. Every detail rings true, and the story is perfectly balanced, never overloaded with historical details.

I highly recommend AS DAWN BREAKS for those who enjoy historical mysteries, intrigue, and tender love stories.

I received a copy of this book from Bethany House Publishers, but was not required to write a positive review. Opinions expressed here are mine.

YOURS IS THE NIGHT by Amanda Dykes ~ a stellar read. 5-star review

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A mysterious song in the forest . . .
A discovery in war-torn France . . .
A journey toward hope.
Cover-Yours in the NightThe trenches of the Great War are a shadowed place. Though Platoon Sergeant Matthew Petticrew arrived there with a past long marked by shadow, the realities of battle bring new wounds–carving within him a longing for light, and a resolve to fight for it.

One night, Matthew and his comrades are enraptured by a sound so pure, a voice so ethereal, it offers reprieve–even if only for a moment. Soon, rumors sweep the trenches from others who have heard the lullaby too. “The Angel of Argonne,” they call the voice: a mysterious presence who leaves behind wreaths on unmarked graves.
 
Raised in the wild depths of the Forest of Argonne, Mireilles finds her reclusive world rocked when war crashes into her idyllic home, taking much from her. When Matthew and his two unlikely companions discover Mireilles, they must embark on a journey that will change each of them forever . . . and perhaps, at long last, spark light into the dark.

[back cover copy]

Trench Art of WW I

Trench Art of WW I

Yours is the Night, latest book by Amanda Dykes, is set against the dark days of World War I but it’s an amazing book that shimmers with courageous souls, generous hearts, noble spirits, and the fight for light. A reader might have concern about reading a tale set during World War I, especially since Amanda is known for bringing characters and settings to life. I’ve read many books set in wartime. A few I’ve stopped reading. Some I gritted my way through but felt assaulted in the reading. Amanda is almost unique in her ability to keep the story real while finding and focusing on glints of light and life that not only balance out intense images of battle but make the tale a thing of hope and beauty.

She fills her cast with characters from diverse backgrounds ~ a New York horse farm, Oxford University, a woodland cabin. And I’ve fallen in love with every one of our band of travelers. Each is unique, totally likeable, and has no intention of joining the war. But as we journey with them, each is impacted by some aspect of the conflict and must deal with it or be crushed by it.

As I’ve mentioned in reviewing Amanda’s previous books, she writes delightful, lyrical tales with beauty and tender understanding of the broken places in a person. She writes of the impact of choices and how consequences echo into the future. And always, the fight for light and The Light. This book continues that lovely, powerful writing filled with imagery, symbolism, and surprises. I’ll share just a sample.

SHEEP - black face flock cr COPY…a flock of sheep bleated, eating grass like all was as normal as could be …. The scene sliced clean away when I blinked, that green grass flashing into colorless dirt, the blue sky swallowed up by dark. How long, I wondered, would memory keep doing this? Showing up and slashing into the present? [p 141]

This country so deeply scarred by trenches and terror is beginning to feel its wounds stitched together by Allied forces … victory by victory. [p. 174]

The sticks and curves and letters arranged themselves into words that shattered my world. [p. 205]

… Characteristics that stuck out like odd limbs on a person bumbling through the corridors of life, until he found that they weren’t odd limbs at all, but rather the carefully crafted shape of himself, molded to fit like a puzzle piece into this moment.  [p. 257]

MATCH BOXAt times, writing a book review is difficult because a so-so story or cliché characters don’t inspire. But writing a review for this one is difficult because the story is so good that my words fall so very short of conveying the beauty, the power…the light & joy the author has infused into it. I heartily recommend Yours is the Night for a stellar read (and re-read). Join the journey through fear and fog of war, yearning for life and love and peace, and most of all discovery. Who knows? You may, like me, even want to begin carrying a box of matches with you.

Trench Art photo credit: http://www.trenchartofww1.co.uk/images/Lights_Out_Candle_2014.JPG?298

Some links to sources for a copy of Yours is the Night if you’re so inclined:

Baker Book House (pre-order special through 8/2/21: 40% off + free shipping + free gift while supplies) last): https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/260758

Christianbook.com: https://www.christianbook.com/…/9780764232688/pd/232681…

Bookshop.org (Supports independent bookstores) https://bookshop.org/books/yours-is-the-night/9780764232688

Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/…/yours-is…/1137897809…

Wal-Mart: https://www.walmart.com/…/Yours-is-the-Night…/683442923

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0764232681

Books-a-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/…/Amanda-Dykes/9780764232688

Indiebound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780764232688

 

THE KISSING TREE ~ Fun Romances. 5-Star Review

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THE KISSING TREE is four distinct love stories, from the pens of four skilled authors, inextricably entwined by the grandfatherly oak and family.

KISSING TREE cover 516

In this Texas-sized romance novella collection, courting couples, decades apart, leave a permanent mark of their love by carving their initials into the same oak’s bark.  

Regina Jennings’ Broken Limbs, Mended Fences:  When a young man from her past returns and upends their small town with a new invention, schoolteacher Bella Eden is reminded of the heartbreak she suffered years ago under the old oak tree.

Karen Witemeyer’s Inn for a Surprise: Determined to keep love alive for others, Phoebe Woodward builds an inn that caters to couples. When her father sends a property manager to help make it a success, she finds her whimsical vision thwarted.

Amanda Dykes’ From Roots to Sky:  WWII airman Luke Hampstead found comfort in letters from the sister of a lost compatriot. When he visits Texas to thank her, he discovers her constructing a project with surprising ties to his letters.

Nicole Deese’s Heartwood: Abby Brookshire’s world is turned upside down when the historic tree she’s strived to preserve as groundskeeper at the Kissing Tree Inn is put in danger of removal. The only way to protect it is to partner with the man she’s been ignoring since he left town years ago.  [from back cover]

And that cover! A perfect reflection of romance inside with a hint of the tree that arcs over the stories.

pexels-gareth-davies-1598377The tree, a massive live oak, stands resolute as a judge, strong as a longshoreman, and as kindly and captivating as Aslan. Like a kindly grandfather, it welcomes, shelters, and inspires generations of an entire town.

The characters in these novellas are as clearly-drawn as any full-length novel, and just as dear.  Phoebe Woodward is described as “kind-natured and bookish, two qualities generally admired;” Hannah as “hard to keep track of;” and Luke as having “the sort of smile that took its time finding its way to the surface.”  (Can’t you just see that slow-growing radiance?!)

330px-Oak_at_the_Protestant_Children's_Home_Sept_2012The tales span over a century and are four delicious romances ~ but so much more. Built around the tree, they also contain connections and references to earlier people, and therefore build on each other.               

Though all share the tree as a central element, the tales are amazingly varied, not contrived, and carry deep insights. And they’re great fun. The meet-cutes are some of the best I’ve read, especially—well, I can’t tell you. I’d spoil your enjoyment.

I heartily recommend this collection to anyone who enjoys romance and family sagas.

Thank you to Bethany House for a free review copy of this book. I was under no requirement to write a positive review.

Photo credits: Amazon, Gareth Davies, Chris Pruitt

Book Review – FOR SUCH A TIME by Kate Breslin

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

In 1944, Jewess Hadassah Benjamin feels abandoned by God when she is saved from a firing squad only to be handed over to a new enemy. Pressed into service by the SS, she is able to hide behind the false identity of Stella Muller. However, in order to survive and maintain her cover, she is forced to stand by as her own people are sent to Auschwitz. 

Suspecting her employer is a man of hidden depths and sympathies, Stella cautiously appeals to him on behalf of those in the camp. His compassion gives her hope, and she finds herself battling a growing attraction for this man she knows she should despise as an enemy. 

Stella pours herself into her efforts to keep even some of the camp’s prisoners safe, but she risks the revelation of her true identity with every attempt. When her bravery brings her to the point of the ultimate sacrifice, she has only her faith to lean upon. Perhaps God has placed her there for such a time as this, but how can she save her people when she is unable to save herself? [from back cover]

Kate Breslin’s debut novel For Such a Time is a compelling and beautiful story of a Jewish woman whose blonde hair and blue eyes not only allow her to pass for Aryan, but convince many Germans that she is Aryan despite the stamp on her papers that says she’s a Jew.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERABreslin drops the reader into WW II at Thereseinstadt, the Nazi transit camp in Czechoslovakia, where the cold, starvation, brutality, and hopelessness are portrayed in piercing clarity. (The gift of telling a story that pops off the page and into your living room sometimes doesn’t feel like a gift when what appears is a world such as Thereseinstadt.)

Also dropped into this place is the young woman Hadassah Benjamin whose papers say she is Stella Muller. She’s forced to serve as secretary to the SS commander, resulting in her having heart-breaking knowledge and being in jeopardy of discovery if even a slight ill-timed frown is ever seen. Excruciating decisions must be made, and innocents from infant to elderly are in jeopardy.

This tale is one of surviving harsh circumstances through the power of love, will, faith, and community. Also clearly on display despite the setting are flashes of  kindness, tenderness, courage, sacrifice, and of love emerging and tentatively trusting, then provoking more courage and kindness.

A satisfying ending awaits those who read Breslin’s powerfully-told story. She seamlessly weaves fact and fiction and I was grateful that she included in the author’s note which parts of the story were true and which were fiction.