Posted November 9, 2023 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
To Bind Fire by
D.E. Carlson Series: Empire of Ash and Song #1 Publisher: D.C. Mountain Publishing (2023 (September 13))
ARC,
eARC (453 pages)
Via: Author Rating: Synopsis
A powerful imposter. A land torn by war. Their only hope-a child born in innocence. And Iris has killed him.
Iris is a frightened girl thrust into a foreign world by her own terrible mistake.
Besaun is Crown Prince of the Fire Empire who would rather tinker than assume the throne.
Both are fated to save the world.
Iris knows little of her past and less of her heritage, but she knows Fire. It whispers to her, leaping at her urging, delighting her eyes.
But then, fire takes everything from her, and she learns her bloodline’s terrible secret.
Her terrible secret.
Because of her, the world is dying.
But there is hope for them all, if she can face her deepest fear.
If she can master the fire.
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2023
Posted May 12, 2021 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Forget Me Not by
Sarah M Eden Series: The Gents #1 Publisher: Covenant Communications (2020)
eARC (256 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Synopsis
Nottinghamshire, 1785
Julia Cummings has long been acquainted with loss-her mother, her brother, her sister, her friend, all gone too soon. But the loss that pushed her grief to the limit as a young girl was that of her best friend, Lucas Jonquil, who abandoned her without looking back. Now, eight years later, Lucas has returned to Lampton Park, and Julia has steeled herself-she will never forgive the man who broke her heart.
After losing too many of his friends and family to early deaths, Lucas vowed to live life to the fullest. And after traversing the world, he has returned from his adventures to find his family and home as he left them-except for Julia. The little girl he left behind has blossomed into a captivating lady, a lady who makes it clear she despises him. With little hope of reconciliation, the former friends are blindsided when their parents make a shocking announcement. Lucas and Julia have been betrothed without their knowledge and are to marry immediately. Now Lucas must rely on the help of his closest friends to win the heart of a lady who loathes him-a lady he’s coming to love more deeply every day.
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2021
Posted May 5, 2021 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
The Duke Meets His Match by
Karen Tuft Publisher: Covenant Communications (2020)
eARC (208 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Reading Challenges: Read 2021 Synopsis
At thirty years of age, Susan Jennings has long been considered a spinster. Exceptionally intelligent, she has little tolerance for London and the dreaded Season—if that’s how one is expected to find love, it’s not for her. But when an invitation arrives that cannot be ignored, Susan leaves her comfortable life in the country and enters the fashion and frivolity she most despises. She quickly discovers, however, that there is more to loathe in London—and his name is George Kendall.
George, Duke of Aylesham, has learned to keep his distance from cloying females chasing the title of duchess. Susan Jennings, however, proves an entirely different challenge—a woman who has pushed him to the limit of his patience with their every encounter. But their simmering hostility is disrupted by a thoughtless slip-up: to avoid a marriage of political strategy, George claims he is already betrothed. And when pressed for the name of the lucky woman, only one name comes to mind: Susan’s. Their forced betrothal proves advantageous, but when their verbal sparring must change in order to be convincing, the line between fact and fiction becomes blurred by something neither expected: love.
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2021
Posted April 28, 2021 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Beauty Among Ruins by
Jnell Ciesielski Publisher: Thomas Nelson (2021 {January 21})
eARC (368 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Reading Challenges: Read 2021 Synopsis
In Ciesielski’s latest sweeping romance, an American heiress finds herself in Scotland amid the fallout of the Great War, and a wounded Scottish laird comes face-to-face with his past and a woman he never could have expected.
American socialite Lily Durham is known for enjoying one moment to the next, with little regard for the consequences of her actions. But just as she is banished overseas to England as a “cure” for her frivolous ways, the Great War breaks out and wreaks havoc. She joins her cousin in nursing the wounded at a convalescent home deep in the wilds of Scotland at a crumbling castle where its laird is less than welcoming.
Alec MacGregor has given his entire life to preserving his home of Kinclavoch Castle, but mounting debts force him to sell off his family history bit by bit. Labeled a coward for not joining his countrymen in the trenches due to an old injury, he opens his home to the Tommies to make recompense while he keeps to the shadows. But his preference for the shadows is shattered when a new American nurse comes streaming into the castle on a burst of light.
Lily and Alec are thrown together when a series of mysterious events threatens to ruin the future of Kinclavoch. Can they put aside their differences to find the culprit before it’s too late, or will their greatest distraction be falling in love?
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2021
Posted April 21, 2021 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
History's Queen by
Mike Aquilina Publisher: Ave Maria Press (2020)
eARC (192 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Also by this author: Seven Revolutions Reading Challenges: Read 2021 Synopsis
The Virgin Mary’s part in history doesn’t begin and end with her yes to God. Popular Catholic author Mike Aquilina points out that Mary is at the center of history from creation to the end of time and everywhere in between. In History’s Queen, you’ll learn about the many ways the mother of humanity has left her mark on the great events of time, not only as we see them in the Bible, but also in pivotal events such as Fatima, the battle of Lepanto, and the plague.
In this journey through two thousand years of Mary’s active participation in world events, each chapter of History’s Queen highlights a Marian intervention that is emblematic of a particular era, and opens our eyes to the ways in which Mary provides a vital key for understanding both our past and our future.
Mike Aquilina—author of The History of the Church in 100 Objects and editor of the Reclaiming Catholic History series—provides a fresh, fascinating, and classical view of history to today’s readers, exploring:
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Mary’s centrality in the Church Fathers’ view of history;
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Mary’s role in preserving Byzantium during the explosive rise of Islam;
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Marian devotion in medieval Ireland that inspired generations of great missionaries;
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Mary’s role in military victories at Lepanto and Vienna; and
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the message of peace received by three shepherd children in Fatima that sustained the world through a century of unprecedented violence and apostasy.
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2021
