Category: book review historical

Let’s get to our first Monday Review of the year!

I chose to start the year with this sweet historical romance novella set in Montana. Her Mail Order Mix-Up is book 1 in the Brides of Lone Hollow series by London James. I was blessed to get my hands on an advanced reading copy. The book will release on January 25, 2022, but you can preorder it now. PREORDER

Maggie Colton leaves home in secret to escape her parents’ desire for her to marry someone she doesn’t like. Why would she do that when she’s fallen in love through letters to a man with a charming daughter in Montana? She’s quite shaken when she discovers her trip is not going to turn out the way she imagined.

Her fiancé is dead. There will be no wedding. No being a mother to pretty little Sadie.

Great hook! I mean what will Maggie do? If she goes home, she’ll have to deal with her parent’s displeasure and marry someone she doesn’t like. She’s disappointed because she’d already fallen in love with Clint and his little girl. But she can’t stay, she hasn’t enough money to rent a room for long, nor does she have a job.

But wait! There’s another brother! Cullen McCray. But don’t think for a minute he’s going to step into his brother’s shoes and marry Maggie. After all, he has already been thrown into being his niece’s guardian. All he wanted was to live in his cabin all alone away from memories and the family ranch he walked away from years ago.

This mail-order bride book is just what I needed for a quick little read curled up on my couch next to the woodstove and a cup of warm cinnamon tea in my hand. Treat yourself to an evening of romance with Her Mail Order Mix-Up by London James. Preorder it now and it will arrive on your reader just when the January days never seem to end.

Preorder now!

Cullen McCray has no desire for marriage and love after the death of his first wife. A self-proclaimed lone wolf, he only wishes to spend his life in his cabin in the mountains, far away from his family’s ranch and his brother. But when Clint dies in an accident, he leaves behind a young daughter and it’s up to Cullen to pick up the pieces to help the girl. Question is can he also pick up the pieces for the woman, who he knows nothing about, coming to marry his dead brother?

When Maggie Colton steps off the stagecoach in the small town of Lone Hollow, she’s unaware of her intended husband-to-be’s accident. She also doesn’t know about his brother or the condition of the cattle ranch she believed was something other than what it is. Clint hadn’t exactly been honest about everything, leaving Maggie to rough it in an older ranch house, an even older guest house, and barn that has seen better days. Not to mention hundreds of cattle, dozens of chickens, pigs, horses, and what she is sure is fattest cat she’s ever seen.

Will Cullen send her back before her bags are unpacked? And if she stays, will Maggie be able to not only win his heart, but survive this new life she’s found herself in?

This book was a joy to read and review. Finding Landy Enderly by Joanna Davidson Politano captures your attention by the end of the first paragraph when Raina is caught in a Cinderella moment.

Haven’t we all dreamed of being someone else for just a bit? That happened to Louisa in Mind of Her Own–writing that book almost made me what to hit my own head! But that’s a contemporary book and Finding Lady Enderly is historical so let’s get back to Raina!

Imagine living in London in squalor stitching rags together to make money. The clothing you wear is seldom clean. You share a room with a widow and story your valuables behind a loose brick in the wall. Your family has left you for better lives.

People make fun of you and you’re known as the Rag Woman, no one calls you by your name. What if the man you loved had drowned at sea before he asked you to marry him? You’d be miserable right?

Then this amazing thing happens. You get an offer to be a substitute countess! You feel a little strange about it but it will change your life forever.

Would you do it? All the servants, the big house, the clothes… too perfect to be true? Yes, yes it is. But Raina is stuck and she can’t see a way out but it is a book so there is a way out.

There are twists and turns and you’ll be racing to the end to discover them all in this gothic era novel.

Read Finding Lady Enderly today!

Queen of the Rockies Book 1 by Angela Breidenbach delighted this reader with the true details added about Montana history.

Living in the present day I never considered that in 1889 Helena, Montana would have even considered the need to make the city a tourist attraction.

Calista Blythe while not a real person is a very believable character. In my mind, I could see her struggles with entering a beauty pageant. Not everyone wants to be one but when there is a chance to help others if she does enter it becomes harder to say no.

I felt her sadness at the plight of the street urchins, many left because it was the last stop of the Orphan Trains. Can you imagine being six years old and having to work? Calista can’t either.

Of course, it is the Snowflake Pagent so heartstrings are pulled with each disaster that occurs. Then there’s the funny moments and a love that Calista doesn’t even notice.

It’s a great read.

This is an old book but oh so much fun to read. Fancy Pants by Cathy Marie Hake is a delightful and funny read about a woman who refuses to marry a man who can’t remember her first name! It’s Lady Syndey Hathwell by the way. So how does she escape this problem? Let’s just say there are scissors and pants involved.

This is one of those can’t put down books. What I didn’t realize is there are more books in this series! Color me happy! I’ll be adding the rest of the series to my TBR pile. Someday that tower is going to come crazing down on my head. Hmm, bed rest and books to recover?

Read Fancy Pants now!

When Britisher Lady Sydney Hathwell’s father dies, the American who planned to wed her suddenly reneges. Stranded in America and penniless, Sydney contacts a relative in Texas who, mistaking her male-sounding name, invites his “nephew” to join him on his ranch.

“Big Tim” Creighton, however, is appalled when this mincing fop arrives at Forsaken. He determines he’ll turn Fancy Pants Hathwell into a man before the boss returns home. From the get-go, he has “the kid” mucking stalls, clearing and plowing a field, and assisting with a difficult calving. But when Sydney’s true identity is uncovered, Tim resents being deceived. Yet in time, he also finds that he doesn’t like all the attention Sydney garners now that she’s wearing pretty gowns…

Together Sydney and Tim will discover the importance of family and what it means to be a man–and a woman–of God.

The Number of Love by Roseanna M. White caught me by surprise. The heroine of this story works as a codebreaker during the Great War. The story takes place in London. But the fact that she was a woman working with men during this time wasn’t what caught my attention.

Margo De Wilde’s life is all about numbers. Again, not unusual as we all know people who are brilliant with math. Margo is neurodivergent. That label is never applied in this book but if you are aware of friends or family who are high functioning autistic, you’ll see it right away.

Because I’m not neurodivergent it was difficult for me to put myself into this character—WAIT! That does not mean I disliked the book or Margo!
Instead of imagining myself as Margo as one tends to do when reading good books—they are after all escape hatches into worlds you can’t explore—I found Margo fascinating. Watching her go from happy with her ability to break codes, experience tragedy, and then finding herself in social situations she never expected kept me reading right through to the end.
The story itself is well-written and has intrigue, some action, and romance. Win-win!

Get it here

Three years into the Great War, England’s greatest asset is their intelligence network–field agents risking their lives to gather information, and codebreakers able to crack every German telegram. Margot De Wilde thrives in the environment of the secretive Room 40, where she spends her days deciphering intercepted messages. But when her world is turned upside down by an unexpected loss, for the first time in her life numbers aren’t enough.

Drake Elton returns wounded from the field, followed by an enemy who just won’t give up. He’s smitten quickly by the intelligent Margot, but how can he convince a girl who lives entirely in her mind that sometimes life’s answers lie in the heart?

Amid biological warfare, encrypted letters, and a German spy who wants to destroy not just them but others they love, Margot and Drake will have to work together to save themselves from the very secrets that brought them together.

Read it now!

Once again Jody Hedlund has kept me up until I finished reading Cowboy for Keeps.

What is it that makes reading (or writing) about life when it was so hard to survive? I look at the things Greta did to make money in this book and I shudder to think what would happen to me and my husband if I couldn’t put in a Walmart order!

Books with a child side character always touch my heart and this one has Astrid. She is spunky despite her illness. Again, something I lack, a cold will set me to fussing and asking for hot tea and a blanket.

Cowboy for Keeps starts off with a bang and sends Greta right into desperation mode when she finds out the man she’s to marry has died. Now she has no money and no husband. I admire this character as she sets out to find another way to earn money other than working at the brothel. No worries, she doesn’t go there. Instead, she ends up marrying before nightfall.

Hedlund makes me feel like I’m right there in the Colorado mountains looking at all the beauty of the trees, feeling the crisp air and breathing the fresh air that is so good for Astrid.

What I liked about this book is there is an attraction between the two of them—a slow simmering pot of water just ready to boil. The romance feels realistic, what should happen when people are getting to know each other. Hedlund carries this off well throughout the book never crossing the line of what Christian readers expect from a Christian romance.

Greta Nilsson’s trip west to save her ailing little sister, Astrid, could not have gone more wrong. First, bandits hold up her stagecoach, stealing all her money. Then, upon arriving in Fairplay, Colorado, she learns the man she was betrothed to as a mail-order bride has died. Homeless, penniless, and jobless, Greta and her sister are worse off than when they started.

Wyatt McQuaid is struggling to get his new ranch up and running and is in town to purchase cattle when the mayor proposes the most unlikely of bargains. He’ll invest in a herd of cattle for Wyatt’s ranch if Wyatt agrees to help the town become more respectable by marrying and starting a family. And the mayor, who has promised to try to help Greta, has just the candidate in mind for Wyatt to marry.

Get Cowboy for Keeps

Come Back to Me by Jody Hedlund starts with some suspense and rocky family dynamics. It doesn’t take long to realize you won’t be setting this book down to do something else.

It’s another book a bit different for me. I’m no fond of time travel books but it’s Jody Hedlund, I had to try it. Sometimes it pays to read in something different. I enjoyed this book isn’t strong enough to convey my feelings.

This is part 1 of a 6 part series. I can’t wait for part 2 Never Leave Me which you can preorder now. It comes out Jan. 4, 2022.  Hedlund pulls off a time travel that makes sense. She doesn’t time hop constantly which means most of the time in part 1 is spent in medieval times. This book is rich in details that put you there with Marian as she tries to navigate the times when women weren’t heard, and the clothing weighs heavy with its many layers in warm weather.

I’d recommend this book in a heartbeat.

Come Back to Me

The ultimate cure that could heal any disease? Crazy.

That’s exactly what research scientist Marian Creighton has always believed about her father’s quest, even if it does stem from a desire to save her sister Ellen from the genetic disease that stole their mother from them. But when her father falls into a coma after drinking a vial of holy water believed to contain traces of residue from the Tree of Life, Marian must question all of her assumptions. He’s left behind tantalizing clues that suggest he’s crossed back in time. Insane. Until Marian tests his theories and finds herself in the Middle Ages during a dangerous peasant uprising.

William Durham, a valiant knight comes to Marian’s rescue and offers her protection … as his wife. The longer Marian stays in the past, the more she cares about William. Can she ever find her father and make it back to the present to heal her sister? And when the time comes to leave, will she want to?

Bestselling author Jody Hedlund is your guide down the twisting waters of time to a volatile era of superstition, revolts, and chivalry in this suspenseful story.

Having a library card of my own was a big deal when I was a kid. It was a passport to all kinds of worlds through the pages housed in the library.

I stepped back in time and now have a card. My local library which is about 5 minutes from my home is located outside I (by about 100 ft.) of the city limits. To get a card there I would have to spend over $300 because they go by the tax value of your home. It doesn’t matter that we pay taxes to the schools etc.

To get a card I could afford I went to a neighboring town. It gives me chills to walk in this library.

The Belleville Public Library is a Carnegie Library and while not as grand as the one in Nashville it still shines.

The building was designed by Otto Rubach, a Belleville native. The building is designed in the Beaux Arts Style which the Carnegie Corporation preferred.

Inside the staircase has marble sides and a brass handrail! Just walking those steps to the second floor takes you back in time.

So I checked out my first book using their digital system Hoopla. I thought this would be an appropriate read.

This book begins with a necessary lie that seems as if it will hurt no one. When mistaken for another person with the same name, Clara Kelly. This was a slow read for me because the writing is rich with details and phrases that I re-read to enjoy them. Like this one: He whispered her name, letting it roll over his tongue like a fine cordial.

This is a clean read, no heat so no worries if you are concerned about that.

I enjoyed this, while not my usual read I think I’ll be looking for more of her books. As an author, I like to study writers who can write with such care for history and yet still entertain.

Clara Kelley is not who they think she is. She’s not the experienced Irish maid who was hired to work in one of Pittsburgh’s grandest households. She’s a poor farmer’s daughter with nowhere to go and nothing in her pockets. But the woman who shares her name has vanished, and assuming her identity just might get Clara some money to send back home.

Clara must rely on resolve as strong as the steel Pittsburgh is becoming famous for and an uncanny understanding of business, attributes that quickly gain her Carnegie’s trust. But she still can’t let her guard down, not even when Andrew becomes something more than an employer. Revealing her past might ruin her future—and her family’s.

With captivating insight and heart, Carnegie’s Maid is a book of fascinating 19th century historical fiction. Discover the story of one brilliant woman who may have spurred Andrew Carnegie’s transformation from ruthless industrialist to the world’s first true philanthropist.

Not a Sparrow Falls (Wyldhaven Book 1) by Lynnette Bonner

Bonner starts out with the most impossible character I could imagine for a western adventure set in 1891. Charlotte Brindle doesn’t need to get married for financial reasons; she has her teacher’s degree. The problem comes when her parents have picked a man for her to marry. She just can’t stand that man and for good reason!

Her impulsiveness has her applying for a teaching position in Wyldhaven and before she can take a breath, she’s on a stage heading for her new adventure, one she didn’t think included bullets aimed in her direction.
This is a fun fast-paced read. I’m looking forward to book 2, On Eagle’s Wings.

Schoolteacher Charlotte Brindle is relieved that her long journey from Boston to Wyldhaven is about to come to an end. And then the bullets start flying! As she sprawls on the floor of the coach and curls her arms around her head, she wonders whatever in the world possessed her to give up the civility of a Boston school for the promise of adventure on the wild frontier?!

Her fellow passenger, an elderly man named Patrick Waddell, has obviously angered the men outside. And he has no intentions of going down without a fight—or without a bargaining chip!

Sheriff Reagan Callahan grinds his teeth in frustration when Patrick Waddell emerges from the coach with the tiny slip of a schoolteacher as his hostage. Reagan’s perfectly planned-out capture has just been shot to smithereens. What had the town’s founder been thinking when he hired a woman like her? A petite and prim woman was not the kind of teacher Wyldhaven needed. He should be back at his desk drinking coffee! Instead, he now has to mount a rescue!

Take the next stagecoach to Wyldhaven,
where the coffee’s perked hot,
the sheriff likes his apple pie fresh from the oven,
and adventure invariably waits just around the next river bend.

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The Strange Journey of Alice Pendlebury

Isn’t that a great title? The book is by Marc Levy, a French writer but the book is translated well into English.

This is one of those writer moments when you read a book and think you wish you would have written it. 

It’s a bit different from what I normally read. I do try to read in my genre so I know what my readers expect when they pick up my books. 

The Strange Journey of Alice Pendlebury is a bit more literary and I found it refreshing because I had to work a bit harder at reading it. I didn’t know how it would end, I suspected but I think that is because I am a writer and I know the ‘things’ that make a book work. You don’t want to watch a movie with me. I can tell you how it will end almost every time within five minutes of watching it. 

Alice is a Nose. She creates perfume and sees the world through smells.

One evening Alice’s friends tease her into seeing a fortune teller at the fair. She doesn’t believe in such things of course but she goes to get them to leave her alone and that they can catch the train back to London on time. 

That is when her life shifts, memories she doesn’t believe are hers infiltrate her dreams and eventually sends her on a trip to Istanbul with her neighbor Mr. Daldry.

This is not a paranormal book, it’s historical and takes place in 1950. I want to make that clear because of the fortune teller comment earlier.

This book…with the way the author brings in smells and taste it feels as if you are in Istanbul.

I wanted to take my time and savor every page but Marc Levy has a way with words. I kept turning the page until it was early in the morning.   

Get it here!

From international bestselling author Marc Levy comes a witty and beguiling novel of one woman’s unexpected journey to follow her destiny.

Alice Pendelbury believes everything in her life is pretty much in order—from her good friends to her burgeoning career. But even Alice has to admit it’s been an odd week. Not only has her belligerent neighbor, Mr. Daldry, suddenly become a surprisingly agreeable confidant, but he’s encouraging her to take seriously the fortune-teller who told her that only by traveling to Turkey can Alice meet the most important person in her life.

What’s more, the peculiarly insistent Mr. Daldry has even agreed to finance Alice’s trip—one that against all reason seems to be predestined. It’s on this journey, crazy from the outset and strangely irresistible, that Alice will find out that nothing in her life is real, that her past is not true, and that the six people she’s about to encounter will shape her future in ways she could never have dreamed.