A MATTER OF HONOR by Laura Frantz ~ charming, engaging. A true delight! 5-star review

Posted on August 1, 2024 by marykaymoody

Having grown up at Wedderburn Castle in the serene Scottish Lowlands, Orin Hume is thrust into the dazzling realm of London society and Court circles as Poet Laureate of Britain. But at the height of his fame a former tragedy and his ties to a lass he once loved lead him home to Berwickshire again. When his return is further marred by lost love letters and scheming kin who conspire to keep the pair apart, can Lady Maryn Lockhart, now Duchess of Fordyce, forgive him? Or will the shadows of the past and the complexities of the present rewrite their love story? [back cover copy]

A MATTER OF HONOR by Laura Frantz is a charming read. A novella, and though shorter and thus having fewer characters and complexity than a full length novel, is every bit as engaging and delightful a journey to her promised happily-ever-afters as are her full-length works.

The story is set in Berwickshire (an area of the Scottish Borders), and the setting comes alive under Frantz’s pen—whether a misty spring morning on the Hume estate.

A windy overlook near Fast Castle ruins along the coast.

Or strolling one of many gardens. Reading this is actually more like watching a movie!

Though we’ve met many of the characters previously in Frantz’s novel THE ROSE AND THE THISTLE, readers need not be concerned if they haven’t read that. The characters are 24 years older, and Frantz presents each one with sufficient clarity and well-chosen detail that we immediately feel acquainted:

Lovell sent Orin a sharp look. “… Why has no English lass turned your head? You’ve been in London for years, ever since the—”

The unfinished sentence held the lash of a whip. “Ever since the accident, aye.” … He’d rather talk of anything but the accident. (p 12)

Summoning every shred of courage she had, and disguising her disfigurement as best she could, she said a prayer and sallied forth. She, who had hidden in a cottage for years, was being forced into the open like a hothouse flower. How she chafed at this new role. But determination to get off on the right foot with Grandfather’s tenants came first. (p 65)

I thoroughly enjoyed meeting the person young Orin Hume has become—a kind, contemplative man of great honor and compassion. And his life-long friend, Maryn, who was to become his wife until a cruel accident, and then even crueler kinfolk, interfered. Frantz deftly reveals the depth of caring these two have for each other and the interference they’ve experienced. She deftly peels away layers of subterfuge and shows us the consequences—until it seems all but impossible they can untangle the schemes against them and find their way back to each other.

Should [Orin] seek his brother’s counsel … The laird was a very practical man. Suppose Everard tried to dissuade him? …. In truth, what mattered most was the Almighty’s opinion. Only [Orin] hadn’t asked Him.” (p72)

Would [Maryn] have done anything differently? The facts remained and trumped any fine feeling. She was part invalid. She could not do her own hair, could not dress without help. She could no longer ride a horse nor play the pianoforte … She could not even pick up a child …. Did that not preclude her from marriage? (p 78)

But as each makes decisions to move on with their life, and give of themselves to make the lives of others better, their view of each other changes. They grow and are emboldened to take risks in sharing their hearts. Their journey to each other is WONDERFUL reading—packed with beauty, honor, delightful scenes, and surprises a-plenty.

He looked as magnificent as she felt disheveled. Clad in a blue and black tartan coat and dark breeches, every inch of him was finely tailored but not overplayed. Time had done nothing to diminish his presence. (p 93)

You can purchase A MATTER OF HONOR on Amazon. And meet Laura online at her website or from there on social media.

Photo credit: Spring morning, woods & bluebells — Bing wallpaper; Coastal overlook, Fast Castle — Copyright 2024 Anne Burgess, www.geograph.org.uk/photo/7811838, licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence; Cottage garden — http://www.wandlenews.com/english-cottage-garden/; Letters — Laura Frantz Pinterest.

BORN OF GILDED MOUNTAINS by Amanda Dykes ~ Captivating! 5-star review

Posted on July 9, 2024 by marykaymoody

A lost treasure. A riddled quest. The healing power of friendship.

Legends are tucked into every fold of the Colorado mountains surrounding the quaint town of Mercy Peak, where residents are the stuff of tall tales, the peaks are taller still, and a lost treasure has etched mystery into the very terrain.

In 1948, when outsider Mercy Windsor arrives after a scandal shatters her gilded world as Hollywood’s beloved leading lady, she is determined to forge a new life in obscurity in this time-forgotten Colorado haven. She purchases Wildwood, an abandoned estate with a haunting history, and begins to restore it to its former glory.

But as she does, her every move tugs at the threads of the mountain’s lore, unearthing what became of her long-lost pen pal Rusty Bright, and the whereabouts of the infamous Galloping Goose Railcar No. 8, which vanished years ago–along with the mailbag it carried, whose contents could change the course of countless lives. Not to mention the fabled treasure that–if found–could right so many wrongs.

Among the towering mountains that stand as silent witnesses, the ghosts of the past entangle with the courage of the present to find a place where healing, friendship, and hope can abide amid a world forever changed. [back cover copy]

From the opening lines of Born of Gilded Mountains, Amanda Dykes drew me into her Rocky Mountain hamlet. No. In all honesty, I have to say she accomplished that with the light-sparked cover!

Meeting four boys “orbiting 10 years old” was like a reunion with cousins I knew well. And meeting the rest of the characters was as just as smooth and comfortable. As pages turned I joined old friends, and we walked paths to new places with expansive woodland vistas. Encountered new challenges and old roadblocks. Heartrending loss. Heartwarming sacrifice. Boundless gifts. And the pathway is strewn with glimmering surprises and beautiful turns of phrase.

We meet Mercy Windsor on the downhill slope of her Hollywood career. I find it remarkable how, in only a few pages of prologue, Amanda introduces Mercy to us. This excerpt from a newspaper account is an example:

“She arrived on a train and was on her first Hollywood set three hours later. In a world where aspiring actresses give up by the dozens each day … Mercy Windsor’s rags-to-riches … is the stuff of legends. ,,, Who would take on a 10-minute black-and-white scene in the last silent film? … [Owen Haskell] the famously severe film critic was moved until words evaded him. ‘Go and see it,’ he said simply.

‘The single tear that flooded the world.’ they called it. This unknown actress with the face of a waif … Dared to be understated [rather] than the overwrought twisting hands she was urged to employ. To let a single tear splash upon her hand, so empty of her child’s grip….

Soon, the film was everywhere…. The people’s message ‘Give us more of her!’ …and a star was born…. They loved her … The spotlight grew. Roles followed as Cinderella, Guinevere … She didn’t just live on their screens—she lived in their hearts….

Pinnacle Studios … to the press. ‘Mercy Windsor was a gem … but after an unpleasant set of circumstances, Pinnacle has found it unavoidable to prematurely end its relationship with Miss Windsor, who is, in fact, in breach of contract.’ The Mighty Mercy has fallen … and there does not seem to be anyone to catch her.”

In this marvelous tale characters forge unbreakable bonds as we accompany them through various adventures, explorations, and celebrations, all as we wend our way thru a setting as unique, engrossing, and wonder-filled as Oz, Middle-earth, or Narnia.

I ache to tell you detail of the physical adventures or adventures of the soul ~ but fear I cannot without spoiling some of Amanda’s clever surprises—which are glittering gemstones tucked in every fold of this tale.

But I can say I loved the characters and their relationships; the settings are beautifully rendered and real. I felt queasy at the heights, refreshed by cool breezes whispering through pines and over sparkling streams. I loved the journey. I love the heart in this story. It is packed with beauty, humor, kindness, light, compassion, faith, hope, and is a delight to savor!

ABOUT AMANDA: Amanda Dykes is a spinner of hope-filled tales who spends most days chasing wonder and words with her family. She’s the winner of the 2020 Christy Award Book of the Year, a Booklist 2019 Top Ten title, and the winner of an INSPY award for her debut novel, Whose Waves These Are. She’s also the author of Set the Stars Alight (a Christy Award finalist), Yours is the Night (recipient of the Kipp Award, Christy Award finalist), All the Lost Places (Christy Award finalist, starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Foreword), and three novellas. Find her online at amandadykes.com. Or on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/authoramandadykes or on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/amanda_spins_stories/.

Photo credit: Boys – section of Snap the Whip by Winslow Homer, 1872. Woman with Tear – from Photoplay Magazine, September 1915, Woodland gallery – Mary K. Moody.

EMBERS IN THE LONDON SKY by Sarah Sundin ~ compelling, powerful, riveting. 5 stars!

Posted on May 22, 2024 by marykaymoody

EMBERS IN THE LONDON SKY is a superb story from an author who delights us with every book.

As the German army invades the Netherlands in 1940, Aleida van der Zee Martens escapes to London to wait out the Occupation. Separated from her three-year-old son, Theo, in the process, the young widow desperately searches for her little boy even as she works for an agency responsible for evacuating children to the countryside.

When German bombs set London ablaze, BBC radio correspondent Hugh Collingwood reports on the Blitz, eager to boost morale while walking the fine line between truth and censorship. But the Germans are not the only ones Londoners have to fear as a series of murders flame up amid the ashes.

The deaths hit close to home for Hugh, and Aleida needs his help to locate her missing son. As they work together, they grow closer and closer, both to each other and the answers they seek. But time is running short—and the worst is yet to come. [back cover copy]

EMBERS IN THE LONDON SKY is jammed with drama and hard choices—even before factoring in the war!

Sundin is a marvelous storyteller, skilled at creating a sense of place. We feel as if we’re there, whether on a road through the low countries teeming with frightened people fleeing before the German invasion, walking in London over wet cobblestones below a fleet of barrage balloons or heels sinking in muddy parkland, or through smoke-filled streets amid noise of planes, bombs, sirens, cries. And the roar of a fire.

Sundin’s characters, achingly real, appealed to me immediately. Aleida, despite losing her son and arriving in England with very little, has gumption, grit, and hope. And Hugh, despite his upper-class status is working for the BBC, broadcasting from Dunkirk and among the ravaged buildings and populace of London, has warmth, equanimity … and a secret. A cast of vibrant and interesting secondary characters are also very involved.

Weaving these vivid locations and vibrant characters into the inherent drama of war — bombings, people living on top of one another, families separated, danger, illness, politics, espionage—would be a good story. But Sundin, with great skill, goes well beyond, creating a plot that twists and turns like a living thing, giving readers a satisfying story on every level.

But pointing to the various elements Sundin provides to give us a great story falls short of revealing how good this powerful story of love, courage, and sacrifice is. I think one aspect I love about Sundin’s writing is her ability to reveal something about a character in a tiny detail. A small action. A concise bit of prose.

On page 91, for example: Hugh and Aleida have become acquainted and Hugh goes to her apartment unexpectedly to give her a list, promised her by Hugh’s uncle, of homes and institutions to check in her search for Theo. Aleida isn’t home so he waits for her on the street and takes glee in surprising her when she returns. They go inside.

“Hugh paused inside the door, and his smile collapsed. On the coatrack hung Theo’s little gray cap and blue coat.

‘When I find him,’ she said, ‘I’ll be ready.’”

We learn so much about Hugh’s sensitivity and Aleida’s love, hope, and determination despite already searching 6 months for Theo. If Sundin can pack that into just 29 words, imagine the story packed into 369 pages!

Photo credit: Barrage balloons, London damaged bldg- Wikipedia, London Blitz; plane-wallup.net; Building with flowers: Ray Bullen; Elephant-World Wildlife Fund

THE SEAMSTRESS OF ACADIE ~ a stellar story by Laura Frantz! 5-star review

Posted on February 1, 2024 by marykaymoody

THE SEAMSTRESS OF ACADIE is yet another of the stellar works by Laura Frantz.

As 1754 is drawing to a close, tensions between the French and the British on Canada’s Acadian shore are reaching a fever pitch. Seamstress Sylvie Galant and her family–French-speaking Acadians wishing to remain neutral–are caught in the middle, their land positioned between two forts flying rival flags. Amid preparations for the celebration of Noël, the talk is of unrest, coming war, and William Blackburn, the British Army Ranger raising havoc across North America’s borderlands.

As summer takes hold in 1755 and British ships appear on the horizon, Sylvie encounters Blackburn, who warns her of the coming invasion. Rather than participate in the forced removal of the Acadians from their land, he resigns his commission. But that cannot save Sylvie or her kin. Relocated on a ramshackle ship to Virginia, Sylvie struggles to pick up the pieces of her life. When her path crosses once more with William’s, they must work through the complex tangle of their shared, shattered past to navigate the present and forge an enduring future. [back cover copy]

The Acadian expulsion from Nova Scotia is an event that is seldom used as novel settings. It’s a sad chapter in history, and Frantz makes great use of every opportunity for drama in this engaging story. And while the true events are tragic, Frantz in her typical way creates a story worth reading and easy to stick with. (I have started some books that were so disturbing, I could not make myself finish them. This is not such a book.)

Frantz gives us characters we root for, who grow and change through their trials, and are so appealing and interesting we just have to keep reading.

The settings come alive such that you may shiver in the cold, slip your shoes off thinking they are sopping wet, mop the sweat from your brow, or startle at a creak thinking it is a twig snapping as someone creeps up on you. I admire how well Frantz depicts her settings. I am drawn in every time.

We meet the Acadian families in their natural setting and enjoy their lives and celebrations.

But as British ships amass in the bay, the people who, for over a century, have lived simply, worked the land, fished the waters, and found ways to live peaceably with their neighbors sense their way of life is being threatened. Deceit and treachery abound and we are shocked along with them when they are piled aboard dilapidated vessels, forced to leave almost everything behind, then find families are broken apart.

Hardships multiply—filth, disease, storms, Disaster strikes—even to sinking ships. And we hope that those who survive will find peace and wholeness in the new land.

But humanity is there and humanity brings its own kind of wickedness, and hanging on to integrity and hope can be a very long battle. Add the clash of cultures, few friends and new foes—discerning who is friend or foe becomes critically important.

After reading a Frantz tale, I often try to figure out what it is that makes her novels superior quality. She gives us intriguing plots with many surprises, characters who, though flawed, possess integrity, honor, and kindly ways; and settings that come alive. But something beyond that makes her stories ones where I pause and re-read a scene because it’s so compelling. She has a way of imbuing characters with significance—especially those from less valued echelons of society—children, minorities, the elderly.

Another admirable skill Frantz demonstrates is her ability to choose the perfect, tiny action to focus on to elicit powerful emotional responses from her characters and thus from readers. For example, how often have you been brought to tears watching someone wash a shirt? Or from noticing the wallpaper in a new room you enter? Tiny, almost inconsequential actions that have a profound impact in the story as she tells it.

I suspect there are many other skills Frantz employs that I have not yet identified. But identifying them is not necessary to enjoying this captivating story. And we can be assured that Laura Frantz will always end on a hope-filled note.

You can purchase THE SEAMSTRESS OF ACADIE anywhere books are sold. And meet Laura online at her website or from there on social media.

Another Masterpiece by Davis Bunn ~ THE CHRISTMAS HUMMINGBIRD. 5-star review

Posted on January 18, 2024 by marykaymoody

Ryan Eames is a policewoman and single mother dedicated most of all to her lonely, uniquely gifted son. Stretched thin by double shifts and grappling with an out-of-season coastal wildfire, Christmas cheer feels as far away as a distant carol on a winter night. Until duty draws her into the life of a stranger.

Ethan Lange is alive because Ryan reached his canyon home before the blaze. Christmas is only days away, and Ethan has lost everything. A man reckoning with a painful past, it’s not the first time he’s been forced to start over. At least now it’s in the redeeming embrace of Miramar Bay.

Forging an animal rescue operation, Ryan and Ethan first unite by their cause and the rally of a close-knit community. But it’s Ryan’s extraordinary child who draws them into something deeper and surprising. Something to be thankful for. Now with every beat of their hearts, Christmas in Miramar Bay looks to be a season of love, healing, and sweet mercies that will be remembered for a lifetime. [back cover copy]

Davis Bunn’s writing usually grabs me and THE CHRISTMAS HUMMINGBIRD is no exception. From the beginning when Ryan Eames rescues Ethan Lange from a wildfire licking at his canyon home I was in the story.

Having lived through a nearby wildfire and worked on a team assisting those who’d lost their homes and/or businesses recover, everything about the setting resonated. Like the way the color of the sky tells you that fire is consuming your world, or ash flutters out of a blue sky like snow for weeks

depending on the way the wind blows. And the smell of “burned” comes and goes on the wind currents. The moonscape aftermath. And the yearning of everyone for dew, rain, or an ocean breeze. But this story captivated me for so much more.

The tentative romance developing between two hurt people is a thing of beauty. Here’s a snippet:

“As [Ryan] stowed her groceries in the trunk and settled in beside her son, she was tempted to call and cancel. Not have to go through the process of introducing another strange man into their home life. It would be so easy to tell Ethan they needed to keep their relationship totally professional.

But the truth was, it felt so good. She liked him. She liked the way others saw him. She liked the flavor of hope. It tasted like a spice from some long-forgotten dream. “

The characters are well-drawn, relatable, and flawed, but a joy to get to know. And Bunn’s descriptions are superb—as this one where Ethan sees Ryan across the room:

“Ethan guessed her age at early thirties …. She held herself very erect, very aware. Like a bird of prey waiting for the reason to launch herself into flight.”

I liked also the storyline where the rescued becomes a rescuer—and a hummingbird is just one of those rescued. Hummingbirds are vulnerable to heat and smoke. (Did you know their hearts beat 1000+ times per minute?) The details of what goes into rescuing the hummingbird population from the fire zone are fascinating, and offer an opportunity for Ethan to bond with Liam, Ryan’s remarkable son. Liam is an interesting character—he marches to the beat of his own drummer which involves a lot of drawing and a lot of silence. Unusual for an eleven-year-old.

These three become a powerful triumvirate who work to resolve numerous issues for each other and the larger community. THE CHRISTMAS HUMMINGBIRD is a marvelous depiction of something I often write about—help from unlikely places. Add in mysteries solved, bonds formed, and Christmas and you have a keeper of a storyI highly recommend.

Davis Bunn is Writer-in-Residence at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University. He has won 4 Christy Awards and his books have sold in excess of eight million copies. You can learn more about his at his website.

YESTERDAY’S TIDES by Roseanna White ~ Fascinating! 5 star review

Posted on February 21, 2023 by marykaymoody

In two world ward, intelligence and counterintelligence, prejudice, and self-sacrifice collide across two generations.

In 1942, Evie Farrow is used to life on Ocracoke Island, where every day is the same–until the German U-boats haunting their waters begin to wreak havoc. And when special agent Sterling Bertrand is washed ashore at Evie’s inn, her life is turned upside down. While Sterling’s injuries keep him inn-bound for weeks, making him even more anxious about the SS officer he’s tracking, he becomes increasingly intrigued by Evie, who seems to be hiding secrets of her own.

Decades earlier, in 1914, Englishman Remington Culbreth arrives at the Ocracoke Inn for the summer, never expecting to fall in love with Louisa Adair, the innkeeper’s daughter. But when was breaks out in Europe, their relationship is put in jeopardy and may not survive what lies ahead for them.

As the ripples from the Great War rock Evie and Sterling’s lives in World War II, it seems yesterday’s tides may sweep them all into danger again today. [back cover copy]

YESTERDAY’S TIDES by Roseanna White is a gripping tale of fierce love, loyalty, and sacrifice that spans two world wars and half the globe.

Set largely on Ocracoke Island of North Carolina’s Outer Banks, it reveals some fascinating and new (new to me—but perhaps not to North Carolinians) historical episodes. And while the history is intriguing, the story and characters Roseanna weaves are even more so.

YESTERDAY’S TIDES is a dual-time novel and one of the best technically that I’ve read. The story is chock full of interconnections, immersing the reader in both stories such that each new detail reverberates in both eras.

One tip I’ll give readers: tolerate the ambiguity. Even embrace it. Any “holes” you notice aren’t holes but really partial revelations with more to come. Similar to meeting new neighbors, you don’t learn everything about them immediately. They’re revealed slowly, in layers, over time. That is also true for the characters, complex and believable, that we meet in YESTERDAY’S TIDES.

White shares with readers the characters, settings, and drama of the war and families and sacrifice with a deft hand and a breezy style as fresh as the seashore. A couple of quotes will show you:

“She turned his hand so his palm was up and dropped in a handful of screws. ‘There. I knew you’d prove useful.’

‘Oh, yes. Four years at Cambridge prepared me excellently for being a bowl.’” [p53]

“Habit. That’s what it was. What kept her here. Habit, trussed up with names like ‘duty’ and ‘responsibility.’” [p 285]

I highly recommend YESTERDAY’S TIDES. But be warned ~ I suspect you’ll enjoy meeting this Ocracoke family and be drawn into the story so thoroughly that you’ll postpone bedtime night after night.

Roseanna White is a Christy Award winning author who’s written “a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books.” Find out more or connect with her at http://www.roseannamwhite,com.

THE ROSE AND THE THISTLE by Laura Frantz ~ Captivating! 5 Star Review

Posted on February 2, 2023 by marykaymoody

In 1715, Lady Blythe Hedley’s father is declared an enemy of the British crown because of his Jacobite sympathies, forcing her to flee her home in northern England. Secreted to the tower of Wedderburn Castle in Scotland, Blythe quietly awaits the crowning of a new king. But in a house with seven sons and numerous servants, her presence soon becomes known.

No sooner has Everard Hume lost his father, Lord Wedderburn, than Lady Hedley arrives with her maid in tow. He has his own problems–a volatile brother with dangerous political leanings, an estate to manage, and a very young brother in need of comfort and direction. It would be best for everyone if he could send this misfit heiress on her way as soon as possible.

In this whirlwind of intrigue, ambitions, and shifting alliances, Blythe yearns for someone she can trust. But the same forces that draw her and Everard together also threaten to tear them apart. [back cover copy]

THE ROSE AND THE THISTLE captured me from the first.

Lady Blythe is instantly appealing because she has character, values, and spunk which shine against the plight that engulfs her from her father’s political choices. When she returns to England, she faces losing everything and is sent packing to old family friends in the Scottish Borders. And who wouldn’t instantly care about the braw Scotsman preparing to carry the weight of his large family and the laird’s tenants while grieving his father. This new laird, who learns that for some experiences there’s just no schooling or training that prepares you.

All the characters are strong, compelling, yet flawed and completely realistic. In the scene below, only hours after his father’s death and fewer since he went to bed, Everard is awakened from a deep sleep to news of unexpected visitors.

Below, half a dozen people stood near the castle entrance, all looking up at him … Plus a pair of bedraggled women. … He faced the woman he guessed to be the duke’s daughter. She was dressed, or barely. A flattened gown without hoops, hair in a frayed braid, her face ashen. She appeared to wear no stockings, just slippers….Her eyes were wild. Weary.
‘Who are you and why are ye here,’ he asked …
‘I am Lady Blythe Hedley, the Duke of Northumbria’s daughter. And this is my lady’s companion.” She straightened as if gathering her misplaced dignity, the lift of her chin a rebuke to his bluntness. “And you, sir?”

Hardly the chivalrous behavior one expects from nobility, but understandable considering his circumstances.

Frantz is skilled, at portraying people, places, personalities, landscapes, conveying a person’s viewpoint, thoughts, feelings, assumptions, and struggles with only a few well-chosen details. And she is masterful at weaving into the story tiny threads that hint at a possible romance.

The chancy times mean the characters face plenty of dilemmas with pressure to make alliances—but wrong choices could cost them everything: money, friends, title, lands, even their lives. And Frantz is exceedingly clever at tossing in varied personal challenges as she paints the broad strokes of this troubled history with the fine detail of individual dramas.

All these heavy issues could make for a very dark story. But Frantz sets the story in landscapes come alive and laces it with humor, loveliness, sacrifice, and dashes of pure delight.Some favorite methods she uses are below. (And please feel free to mention your favorites in the comments. I’d love to hear them.)

Sparkling epigraphs

Silence, maiden, thy tongue outruns they discretion. [p 102]

Glass, china, and reputation are easily cracked and never well mended. [169]

The path to heaven passes through a teapot. [p 221]

What worries you, masters you. [p 227]

Names:

Mrs. Candlish, the housekeeper, (perhaps I should write it Candle-ish) because she spreads light wherever she goes.

And pets Wallace, the puppy, and Pepys, the sparrow who sings treasonous tunes.

Endearing Characters/Nobleness of Spirit:

A loyal servant referring to a snobbish woman: “Her Royal Loftiness doesna have much to do with it.”

Pure Beauty:

Like tangled gold, [her hair] fell free in all its glory.

Tender Moments:

Frantz gives us plenty of these, though I think the one on page 127 as she closes the funeral chapter may be the best… But it would be unfair of me to tell you about it rather than let you discover it for yourself.

I appreciate how Frantz imbues the humblest of things and people of lowest status with great importance.

An example is Lady Blythe intruding belowstairs to check on Mrs. Candlish’s well-being because the housekeeper has appeared harried and tired. Lady Blythe brings a gift—a simple bowl of fresh blackberries, a humble token of appreciation and honor from a Lady to a servant, but a grateful guest to another woman.

All of these skills and plenty of others are on display throughout THE ROSE AND THE THISTLE. I find it impossible to say that one element is most important, but the rich story that results from her weaving them all is a joy to read. In reviews, we are encouraged to say what we liked and what we didn’t. I can’t determine anything in this story I did not like. (I mean—a couple characters were scoundrels but a good story must have conflict.) The only thing I could suggest is to make the epigraphs in a larger or easier-to-read font. I give it 5 stars and plan to read it again!

Laura Frantz is a Christy Award winner and the ECPA bestselling author of numerous historical novels. You can connect with her on her website and Facebook. She is active on Instagram ~ and right now is participating in a big book giveaway.

Story GOLD by master storyteller Amanda Dykes ~ ALL THE LOST PLACES. 5 STAR review

Posted on December 15, 2022 by marykaymoody

When all of Venice is unmasked, one man’s identity remains a mystery . . .

1807
When a baby is discovered floating in a basket along the quiet canals of Venice, a guild of artisans takes him in and raises him as a son, skilled in each of their trades. Although the boy, Sebastien Trovato, has wrestled with questions of his origins, it isn’t until a woman washes ashore on his lagoon island that answers begin to emerge. In hunting down his story, Sebastien must make a choice that could alter not just his own future, but also that of the beloved floating city.

**Examples of the Venetian guilds: seafoam satin, printers, lace, Murano glass.**

1904
Daniel Goodman is given a fresh start in life as the century turns. Hoping to redeem a past laden with regrets, he is sent on an assignment from California to Venice to procure and translate a rare book. There, he discovers a city of colliding hope and decay, much like his own life, and a mystery wrapped in the pages of that filigree-covered volume. With the help of Vittoria, a bookshop keeper, Daniel finds himself in a web of shadows, secrets, and discoveries carefully kept within the stones and canals of the ancient city . . . and in the mystery of the man whose story the book does not finish: Sebastien Trovato. [back cover copy]

ALL THE LOST PLACES comes alive under Amanda’s hands, skilled at spinning history and imagination into magical gold like old fairy-tale Rumpelstiltskin.

The characters are captivating and took immediate residence in my heart and mind. (Well, one only in my mind, not heart! But he has so much to tell.) They are flawed and real and resonate as the shimmering story unfurls like a spool of satin ribbon wending its way through the implausible islands, the mirroring rivers, the unyielding social order.

The tale begins with a dilemma to be solved, but each step toward resolution leads to another conundrum. And like all good puzzles, pieces and clues gathered must be turned this way and that to discern where they fit. IF they fit. Or we must simply be patient and let the story emerge. And like sunshine beaming upon a foggy mist ~ this story will reveal hidden longings and questions. And the great love of The One Who Made You.

Umbrellas. Have to read the story. 🙂 Mosaic. Torcello Cathedral, Venice Murano Glass Chandelier

Amanda’s storytelling is poetic and powerful such that one cannot turn pages fast enough to satisfy the desire to know what happens next. Yet as the end drew nearer, I ached at leaving it behind. I highly recommend this book to all those who love stories laced with history, intrigue, romance, and hope.

The flags on the book pictured below indicate spots that touched me, shimmered in a special way. The 60 pages early and late unbedecked reflect the reading done before I found flags and after I ran out of the colorful heralds.

You can get a peek at the first chapter on your computer by clicking this link: http://cdn.bakerpublishinggroup.com/processed/book-resources/files/Excerpt_9780764239502.pdf?1663881818 Happy reading!

And if it touches you like it did me, you can purchase ALL THE LOST PLACES where ever books are sold, but often the best deal is from Baker Book House: https://bakerbookhouse.com/products/431757

Amanda Dykes is a drinker of tea, dweller of redemption, and spinner of hope-filled tales who spends most days chasing wonder and words with her family. She’s the winner of the 2020 Christy Award Book of the Year, a Booklist 2019 Top Ten title, and the winner of an INSPY award for her debut novel, Whose Waves These Are. She’s also the author of Set the Stars Alight (a Christy Award finalist), Yours is the Night (recipient of the Kipp Award, Christy Award finalist), All the Lost Places (starred reviews from Booklist, Library Journal, and Foreword), and three novellas. Find her online at amandadykes.com.

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

A HEART ADRIFT by Laura Frantz ~ Rich & Powerful! 5-star review

Posted on January 4, 2022 by marykaymoody

It is 1755, and the threat of war with France looms over colonial York, Virginia. Chocolatier Esmée Shaw is fighting her own battle of the heart. Having reached her twenty-eighth birthday, she is reconciled to life alone after a decade-old failed love affair from which she’s never quite recovered. But she longs to find something worthwhile to do with her life.

Captain Henri Lennox has returned to port after a lengthy absence, intent on completing the lighthouse in the dangerous Chesapeake Bay, a dream he once shared with Esmée. But when the colonial government asks him to lead a secret naval expedition against the French, his future is plunged into uncertainty.

Can Esmee and Henri’s shared vision and dedication to the colonial cause heal the wounds of the past and reunite them?

Laura Frantz’s A HEART ADRIFT just released in the midst of winter storms. Though the winds shook our windows and rain battered our roof, I spent the day relaxing into a warm Virginia breeze and Esmée Shaw’s life in colonial, coastal Virginia. And like the kite in the opening scene, I was tugged constantly onward from the first page.

As a single woman in colonial Virginia, Esmée Shaw’s options are limited, and even ten years after her love left her behind for the sea, her heart hasn’t healed; and she wants to do something meaningful with her life. Until she figures that out, she takes comfort burying herself in the work of Shaw’s Chocolate shop. But when she hears talk of Captain Henri Lennox’s possible return after years at sea, her heart, mind, and spirit are aflutter.

Frantz’s characters are as clear and real as my next-door neighbors. She gives succinct yet strong hints of their desires, values, etc, such as when Esmée’s father observes, “You were in love once.” Frantz reveals how this seemingly mild observation impacts Esmée: “His low words rolled across the empty shop like a rogue wave, swamping and nearly upending her.”

Molinillo – to whisk chocolate drinks.

Frantz creates varied and interesting situations for her characters to display their struggles, feelings, secrets … And while colonial era standards limit choices for women, a rich interior life that Frantz shares with readers provides a wide landscape to learn about them. An example is when a customer specifically asks for Esmée to wait on her rather than “the help.”

“The widow was fond of reminding Esmée she was not among York’s founding families but an outsider, an easterner. Still Esmée tried to be cordial.”

Another example when Esmée and her father discuss the possible war and secret meetings he has with the governor. Esmée questions and probes but cannot find out how Capt. Lennox is involved. “The coach lurched to a stop…. Feeling like a kettle left too long at the fire, Esmée gathered her hat and gloves….Would she ever have answers?”

Esmée Shaw is a noble character with nary a bad word to say about anyone as she straddles the classes in colonial Virginia, This highlights another of Frantz’s skills. I appreciate how she imbues characters from all classes, politics, races with dignity. ‘Tis a rare skill that accurately shows how some characters are looked down upon and treated meanly in a particular era, yet infuses them with the dignity and value they have in God’s eyes. Frantz always accomplishes this subtly, such that it doesn’t even register. It slips between the lines of text like a gentle wave rolling over the sand, barely visible until I stop, look back, and analyze. When you read this story, observe the behavior of girls from the almshouse, a rejected suitor, a “black jack,” and of course those Esmée loves.

Readers can rely on Frantz to create an historic story world that is so accurate and vivid in detail that it comes alive. One thing I especially admire: Frantz excels at creating a plot anchored in the colonial setting that reveals exactly how precarious life in that era was. Readers could easily view dangers through a 21st century veil of risk mitigated by a governmental or cultural safety net, through expectations we have in a constitutional democracy. But life in Colonial times had no such reliable buffers. Frantz displays great skill in showing that her characters live on a razor’s edge.

Alliance
by Pamela Patrick White

“Just shy of his sixteenth birthday, he’d been working late in his father’s dockyard when a press-gang overtook him, the certificate of exemption he carried in his pocket of no consequence … the gang pummeled him ,,, tore up his paper, then took him aboard the HMS Victory. Fueled by fury as well as ambition, he’d worked his way up from cabin boy to midshipman to officer till he’d used the Royal Navy to gain his own vessel and his own captaincy.”

Everything about this tale of love lost, love gained, self-sacrifice, faith, and heroism fits together like an intricate jig-saw puzzle. It flows rich and lustrous like the smooth, aromatic chocolate Esmée works on her marble chocolate stone. I highly recommend this to readers who enjoy historical and inspirational romantic fiction.

(Thank you to Baker Publishing Group for a copy of the book. I was not required to write a positive review in return.)

Great Point Light on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts

If Laura Frantz is a new author to you, you can learn more on her website or visiting on Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook.

WHEN TWILIGHT BREAKS by Sarah Sundin ~ 5-Star Review to 10-Star!

Posted on March 16, 2021 by marykaymoody

WHEN TWILIGHT BREAKS, Sarah Sundin’s latest, is a tour de force.

Munich, 1938

Evelyn Brand is an American foreign correspondent determined to prove her worth in a male-dominated profession and to expose the growing tyrrany in Nazi Germany. To do so, she must walk a thin line. If she offends the government, she could be expelled from the country–or worse. If she does not report truthfully, she’ll betray the oppressed and fail to wake up the folks back home.

Peter Lang is an Americvan graduate student working on his PhD in German. Disillusioned wit the chaos in the world due to to the Great Depression, he is impressed with the prosperity and order of German society. But when the brutality of the regime hits close, he discovers a far better way to use his contacts within the Nazi party–to feed information to the shrewd reporter he can’t get off his mind.

As the world marches relentlessly toward war, Evelyn and Peter are on a collision course with destiny. [from back cover]

Evelyn and Peter grapple with truth versus propaganda in the increasingly divided, tense country. And if they are to help each other survive the treacherous terrain of Nazi Germany, they will have to reconcile their conflicting perspectives

All the characters in this story are completely real and compelling. The choices they face are heart-breaking. Their spiritual struggles authentically arise from their experience. And the forces that impact them lead to gripping, high stakes journeys where threats, like a tornado, intensify and accelerate.

Sundin draws her characters and settings clearly and thoroughly which helps keep the action brisk. Without intending to, I stayed up hours past normal, walking with Evelyn and Peter, trying to determine who was trustworthy and who was not. The supervisor, neighbor, professor, landlord, restaurateur? The new friends? Maybe the old friends? God?

Much like how our 21^st century world had to learn how to handle a novel virus, this cast of characters has to learn about the novel threat of Nazi Germany. Their journey to do that is compelling and kept me engaged even after shutting the book. I highly recommend it.

(I can give you a man’s point of view soon as my husband is reading the story now.)

UPDATE ~ Hubby also gives it 5 stars! The story drew him in and kept him engaged with taut writing. A tale filled with drama, intrigue, internal and external struggles, and a tender romance that does not overpower the rest of the action. He liked how the author sprinkled in bits of spiritual questions or needs that Peter and Evelyn had. No complaints and just one unanswered question. 🙂

Mary Kay Moody

Writing at the Intersection of Our Plans and God's Purpose

Tag Archives: inspirational fiction