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
Posted April 7, 2021 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
A Castaway in Cornwall by
Julie Klassen Publisher: Bethany House (2020 (December 1))
eARC (400 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Also by this author: The Painter's Daughter,
The Secret of Pembrooke Park Reading Challenges: Read 2020 Synopsis
Laura Callaway daily walks the windswept Cornwall coast, known for many shipwrecks but few survivors. She feels like a castaway, set adrift on the tides of fate by the deaths of her parents and left wanting answers. Now living with her parson uncle and his parsimonious wife in North Cornwall, Laura is viewed as an outsider even as she yearns to belong somewhere again.
When ships sink, wreckers scour the shore for valuables, while Laura searches for clues to the lives lost. She has written letters to loved ones and returned keepsakes to rightful owners. She collects seashells and mementos, and when a man is washed ashore, she collects him too.
As Laura and a neighbor care for the castaway, the mystery surrounding him grows. He has abrasions and a deep cut that looks suspiciously like a knife wound, and he speaks in careful, educated English, yet his accent seems odd. Other clues wash ashore, and Laura soon realizes he is not who he seems to be. Their attraction grows, and while she longs to return the man to his rightful home, evidence against him mounts. With danger pursuing them from every side, will Laura ever find the answers and love she seeks?
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2020
Posted March 31, 2021 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
Nothing Short of Wondrous by
Regina Scott Series: American Wonders Collection #2 Publisher: Revell (2020 {October 20})
eARC (336 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Reading Challenges: Read 2020 Synopsis
It is 1886, and the government has given the US Cavalry control of Yellowstone. For widowed hotelier Kate Tremaine, the change is a welcome one. She knows every inch of her wilderness home like the back of her hand and wants to see it protected from poachers and vandals.
Refused a guide by Congress, Lieutenant William Prescott must enlist Kate's aid to help him navigate the sprawling park and track down the troublemakers. But a secret from his past makes him wary of the tender feelings the capable and comely widow raises in him. When her 6-year-old son is kidnapped by a poacher who wants the boy to guide him to the place where the last of the Yellowstone bison congregate, Will and Kate must work together to rescue him, save the bison, and protect the park. In doing so, they may just find that two wounded hearts can share one powerful love when God is in control.
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2020
Posted October 2, 2020 in Reading, Review / 0 Comments
It Started in Budapest by
Julie Daines Series: Romance on the Orient Express #1 Publisher: Covenant Communications (2020)
eARC (184 pages)
Via: NetGalley Rating: Reading Challenges: Read 2020 Synopsis
Molly Cooper is haunted by one simple fact: it is her fault her twin brother, Matthew, has spent his life trapped in a frail body while she has thrived. Deep in her heart, she knows he can’t hold on much longer . . .
In her desperation to save her brother, Molly finds inspiration in an unlikely source: the newly published novel Dracula. When her family embarks on the Orient Express to seek treatment for Matthew in Bulgaria, Molly is prepared to set her plan in motion: she will sneak away from her parents and journey alone to Transylvania, where she will seek a vampire, whose blood can make her brother immortal. Molly’s rash plan is going flawlessly—until she encounters Percy Hunt, a handsome American traveler running from the shadows of his own past. When he discovers Molly’s plan, Percy’s concern for the naive young woman leaves him no choice but to accompany her on her strange quest. But neither Percy nor Molly is prepared for the feelings that quickly grow between them or for the death-defying escapade that awaits.
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Tagged as 4 star, Read 2020
