Star of Persia by Jill Eileen Smith

This is the story of Queen Esther from the bible fleshed out into a novel. I have read other similar versions of this story but love every one. This one is particularly rich in details of the time and place and the characters are all fleshed out to the point that they seem very real. Jill Eileen Smith always tells a great story and this one is no exception.


I highly recommend this book to all lovers of historical and Christian fiction.


I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Unfollow Me by Charlotte Duckworth

This is a twisted tale of a British internet blogger that posts videos of her family on social media every day. She has a huge following but suddenly she disappears from the internet and all her followers are anxious to find out why. There are some startling developments throughout and it is the perfect suspense story without a lot of dead bodies lying around. The story is told from the point of view of the blogger and her husband and two of her avid followers.


I highly recommend this book if you want something slightly different but still intriguing.


I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Like Flames in the Night by Connilyn Cossette

This is another book in the Cities of Refuge series. This one is about the youngest daughter of Moriyah, Tirzah. Tirzah is a young widow and she doesn’t want to spend the rest of her life watching her nieces and nephews. She wants to train with her brothers to be a spy for the resistance. Her entire family is against if but eventually she convinces them she can go places as a woman they could never get to and would be barely noticed as a servant and she could listen in on important meetings of the enemy.


This book was one I was waiting to come out (rather impatiently) since I had read the other books in the series. It was a very satisfying read and brought that era in Jewish history into focus for me with a lot of rich details provided by the author’s wonderful research.


I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Woman of Sunlight by Mary Connealy

Lover of Mary Connealy’s books take note. The next installment of the Brides of Hope Mountain series is out. I have wanted to read this book ever since the first one came out. And now I’m waiting anxiously for the third book which should come out later this year. This one concerns the youngest sister Ilsa, and the oldest son of the Warrens, Mitch. Someone is still after Mitch and he needs to find the culprit before his family or the ranch is harmed. He and Ilsa end up married and taking the search to Chicago, which is a totally different environment that the one Ilsa grew up in.


I love every one of Mary Connealy’s series and this one is the best yet. If she would just clone herself and get them out there twice as fast I would be so busy reading her books that I would scarcely have time to read any others.


I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

Home Sweet Home By Fern Michaels, Donna Kauffman and Melissa Story

This is a compilation of three feel good short stories. The first on by Fern Michaels had a lot of substance and interesting characters and situations. I loved it. The second one was really confusing from the beginning. So many characters and their relationships to each other were introduced in the first few pages that I could not keep track of who was who and that made the rest of the story hard to read and not interesting to me. The third story was a lovely story and very enjoyable. I just wished it had been fleshed out into a whole book because it moved along well and then suddenly, bang bang bang it was brought to a conclusion and over. I felt the same way about Fern Michael’s story.


Overall I was pleased with the book and it would be ideal for someone who just has a short time to read and they could read one of the stories in one sitting each time.


I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

What They Meant for Evil By Rebecca Deng

Rebecca Deng grew up in the war torn area of Sudan where she lost family member after family member to other tribes and countries. Eventually she was able to escape via a UN program that relocated young people to the US. She ended up in Michigan with a young couple that wanted to make a difference. They became her foster parents. Another girl from a rival group in Sudan also was placed there shortly thereafter. The couple mentored them even after they grew up and left home. Rebecca was able to get advanced degrees and eventually had a family of her own. This was a story of redemption and God’s provision. It makes you more aware of all the suffering that seems ongoing over in Africa in different regions and the plight of the average citizen that gets caught in the crossfire.


The story is not only enlightening, but very interesting and can keep you reading long after you intended to lay the book down and go to sleep.


I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.

The Blizzard Bride by Susanne Dietze

Abigail is a spinstress from the East who is sent from Chicago to Nebraska to be a schoolteacher to try to help a government agent (her former fiancé Dashiel) figure out which of three boys was the son of a desperado that was on the loose and intending to kidnap his boy. The culture shock, the weather, and the need to keep secrets all threaten to derail the process but Abigail is determined.


I truly enjoyed this story as I have all the books in the Daughters of the Mayflower series that I have read. I recommend it to anyone who likes historical romance chock full of interesting characters, wonderful descriptions of places, well researched details of the life at the time and a plot that keeps you awake at night.


I have voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from NetGalley. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.