Restless Hearts - Marta Perry - DTB

This little paperback was in pretty bad shape when it was donated to the church library. Since its condition prevented it being added to the collection, I held on to it for a while so that I could read it.  It looked like one of those diet books that are entertaining enough to keep me occupied for a few hours.

Fiona Flanagan has had a rough childhood and has now decided to return to her roots in Pennsylvania Dutch country.  Hoping to set up business as a midwife for both the English and the Amish, she has a rude awakening when she is interrogated by the local sheriff upon arrival in town.

Ted left the Amish way of life and is now the local lawman in a small quiet town.  Problem is, it isn't as quiet as it once was.  Vandalism is starting to become a frequent occurrence and Ted must get to the bottom of it no matter what.

Fiona is getting to know her father's family and has no obvious reasons for seeking her mother's family.  They apparently disowned her when she left the Amish and married Fiona's father.  A seemingly harmless act reveals her mother's family and their avoidance of her hurts Fiona more than she cares to admit.

Ted and Fiona come to care for each other, but Ted has been betrayed in the past and has issues with trust.  When the vandalism escalates and hits too close to home, will Fiona help or will she be too afraid of the consequences to do the right thing?

I normally avoid the books that deal with the Amish.  This book tried to have some action in it, but it fell a little flat.  It was a good enough book to keep me occupied for a day or two, but that's about it.  There seems to be a whole series revolving around the Flanagans, but I don't plan on reading any more.

Immanuel's Veins - Ted Dekker - DTB

I have a great respect for Ted Dekker and what he's accomplished.  He's written in more than one genre successfully for years.  I personally own over 20 of his books and have read even more.  This book seems to address today's fascination with vampires.

Toma is a warrior, sent by Catherine the Great, to protect a family in Moldavia.  The mother and twin sisters live in a grand house and are free with their feelings and actions. Warned by an old man with a crow, Toma and his traveling companion, Alek, are told that an evil is coming.  Alek plans on entertaining his own desires while Toma has promised Catherine the Great that he will remain detached.

Once they arrive, it is evident that Natasha is the more wild of the sisters.  Lucine has had a terrible past and is more wary with her feelings.  There is a party at their home that is attended by a couple of people that are very open with their stares - "undressing with their eyes" is the way it is described.  Offense is taken, one man is shot in the head, and the leader, Vlad, takes the rest of the staring people back to their castle.

Toma begins to feel a love for Lucine, but Natasha and now Alek are disappearing up to the castle of Vlad and he needs to know why.  He fears something sinister, but when he goes there to investigate, the alluring women lure him in and he ends up drinking the blood they offer.  Lucine sees him under the influence of the blood and fears that she has misjudged him.

The sensual aspect of this book is something that I couldn't get used to.  To me, it was reminiscent of the Underworld series.  Dark, sensual and violent.  Not really something that I enjoy.

I never did like the whole vampire genre, so it's not shocking that I was unable to finish this book.  It pains me that after all the Ted Dekker books I have read and enjoyed, this is the first one that I haven't been able to finish.  There have been books of his that I have enjoyed more than others, but I usually am engaged enough in the story that I feel the urge to find out what happened.

With much pain, I give this book a bad review.  I don't plan on avoiding Dekker in the future, he's a good author.  I suppose if you really enjoy vampires and that sort of thing, you might enjoy it.  I personally did not.

Heart Full of Love - Colleen Coble

This is another one of Coble's novellas that has recently been released in digital form.  It was $0.99.  This is my third one, Belinda and A Match Made in Heaven being the other 2.

We begin with conflict between Eden and Josh.  Eden is a foster mother and has adopted little Katie.  Josh is Katie's only remaining family, but up until now, he hadn't known of Katie's existence.  He is determined to do what it takes to get her with him.

Josh realizes that Eden isn't going to give up easily, so he tries to figure out a way to convince Eden that Katie belongs with him.  When he hears her story of how she was ripped away from her siblings as a child, he decides that if he can help her find them, that she will be more willing to give up guardianship of Katie to him.

While they spend time together, Josh comes to realize that Eden is a very caring person and starts to lose his heart to her.  He tries to fight it as long as he can, he needs to focus on getting Katie.  Eden is somewhat wary of his motivation at first, but Josh is good with the kids and maybe he does care for her after all.

This book is short, but it is a novella.  You're left with a bit of a cliffhanger at the end regarding Eden's siblings.  These novellas seem to have been part of other collections, so I doubt there is a sequel.  The characters from Belinda show up in this novella, but they are more convenient babysitters than anything else, and I almost missed the connection.  It's not necessary to read one before the other.

I did enjoy the book.  I just wished that it was longer.  The ending was a little rushed and it left me wanting more.  I'm keeping my eye out for more of this author's out-of-print books to come out digitally.  Good Book!

A Veiled Reflection (Westward Chronicles #3) - Tracie Peterson

Finishing off a series.  A Shelter of Hope and Hidden in a Whisper were the first two.

Jillian has been convinced by her twin sister to take her place at the Harvey House in Arizona.  Judith wants to get married, but Mr. Harvey frowns upon girls that don't fulfill their contracts and Judith is afraid that he will demand some of her wages back.  Judith doesn't have the money, she has given it to her fiance to help start his business.  Judith pleads until Jillian agrees to leave her posh existence and head for the desert.

It doesn't take long for Jillian to show her lack of experience and she ends up cutting her hand.  When she is forced to the doctor's office, he insists on inspecting Judith's "burn." Finding nothing on Jillian's arm, she has to come clean about the situation.  Mac agrees to keep her secret.

Mac has been hurt in the past by a woman and has sworn off looking for love.  There's something about Jillian that stirs his heart.  He can't understand how he could look on one sister as a friend and want to be much more with Jillian.

The Navajo are being forced to abandon their traditions and their troubles spill over to the town.  Jillian wants to help.  She may come from a rich family, but she can still see that these people need compassion and love just like anyone else.

Misunderstandings come between Jillian and Mac a few times and Jillian's lies become a problem for those around her.  She eventually knows that she's going to have to tell the truth if she wants to avoid going back to Kansas City and living the society life that her mother and father want her to have.

Although I did enjoy this book, I have to say that Jillian and Mac were not the characters that I expected this final book in the series to be about.  I was hoping to hear more about Una from book 1 or Gwen from book 2.  To clarify, Gwen is a character in the third book, as is Zack from book 1.  I guess that it ties it all together in a way, but I just wished there was more of a consistent thread in the series.  The first two set up the opportunity for that, it just didn't happen to my satisfaction, even with the appearance of the Gwen and Zack. Good Book!

Hidden in a Whisper (Westward Chronicles #2) - Tracie Peterson

After finishing A Shelter of Hope, I went on to read the next book in the series.  My lack of other Kindle books to read probably influenced that decision, but I still wanted to read more of this series.

Rachel was a good friend to Simone, the heroine of book 1.  Now Rachel is working in the new resort town of Morita to make sure that Fred Harvey's restaurant runs smoothly.  Her big surprise is when her former fiance, Braeden, is the new hotel's manager.  Rachel treats him with anger and scorn when he is just trying to clear his name and win back the heart of the only woman he's ever loved.

Minor things seem to go missing, like linens and random things.  Their importance comes into play later on.  The lady benefactress insists that her niece be a Harvey Girl, even though all she wants is to marry a rich man and get away from the desert town.  The niece, Ivy, is bound and determined to create a rift between Braeden and Rachel and will stop at nothing to make things the way she wants them.

Personally, I'm a little torn about this book.  I was irritated at Rachel for the first half of the book.  The way that she never allowed Braeden to explain in the prologue was just unreal. If you love someone, even if you are slow to trust, you still want to hear what the other person's explanation is even if you don't believe what they say afterwards.  Either way, just walking away was just unrealistic.  Another issue I had was most of the ending.  How many crazy people can you get in one place at one time?  It was just weird.

*Something of a Spoiler* The death of the aunt struck me as odd as well.  You would think that since she was purposely confronting someone, she would at least try to use her cane to fend them off, instead of just backing off the staircase.  It's a bit of a spoiler, but it just really bugged me. There was also the matter of the theft of the monogrammed linens and such.  I still am unsure how that was a good addition to the story.

In the end, I did enjoy reading the story, but I could have enjoyed it more had there been a little more thought put into the reality of it all.  If I looked past the unrealistic aspect of it all, it was an enjoyable little read.  My last Kindle book that I have right now is the third book in the series, A Veiled Reflection.  It's next on my list to read and I'm hoping that this end to the series is a good one.  Decent Book!

A Shelter of Hope (Westward Chronicles #1) - Tracie Peterson

I'm always a little wary when I start a series by Tracie Peterson.  Not because of her writing, I think that she is a great author, she just seems to write trilogies that are a continuous story and I really am not a large fan of those.  I bought all three of these some time ago when the price dropped.  I figured if it was a continuous story, at least I would have the whole thing.  It was just a matter of dedicating the time to read all three.

Simone lives up in the mountains with her father.  In the prologue, we find out that her father beats her mother and Simone on a regular basis.  Her mother has had enough and plans to run away and try to get help.  Simone is left behind because she is recovering from measles and is too weak to travel.  Her mother never returns.  When Simone gets old enough, her father is tired of his ever decreased trap business and has decided to sell the whole thing, including Simone, to some random stranger so he can go make his fortune mining gold in Colorado.

Simone decides that she is not going to stand for a grimy man taking her as his "wife" and fights back when he comes after her.  Hitting him over the head with a pitcher, she believes that she has killed him and flees.  She doesn't know that most people are not beat by their fathers and that there are men out there that are not lechers.  She is able to make her way to Chicago where she interviews for a job as a Harvey girl.  Fred Harvey had a chain of restaurants on the Santa Fe line that gave train passengers an elegant meal during their brief train stops.

Jeffrey interviews Simone and knows that there is something more to her than meets the eye.  His mother would like nothing better than for him to marry well and take his place in society, but he wants none of that life.  He pursues her and eventually finds out that she has a lot more secrets than he even suspects.

Simone is going to have to make peace with her past instead of running from it.  She's also going to have to make peace with God.  Her father is after her, he now has a new plan to make money, and this one involves Simone doing all the work for him.  She's also got a lawman after her who is trying to prove to his father that he can finish something and finally make him proud.  His investigations will be frustrating and force him to accept that everything may not be as it seems.

I have to admit that I almost didn't finish this book.  About 20% in, we were still spending a lot of time on Simone's back story, and it was a really depressing back story.  I went back to the summary on amazon and made sure that I was reading the book that I thought I was.  When I realized it was, I kept reading and soon we were in Chicago.

As usual, it was an excellent book by a great author and I was glad to read it.  Simone's story is satisfactorily complete, so if I wanted to, I could quit now and not feel like the story was unfinished.  If she reappears in the next books, that's okay as well.  I'm currently reading the next book in the series, Hidden in a Whisper, which follows Rachel, a character from this book.  I look forward to her story.  Good Book!

Wings of a Dream - Anne Mateer

As I was getting down to my last few Kindle books, I saw this one pop up for free and decided to give this new author a chance.  I was a little wary since some reviews had said that the book was pretty sad.

Rebekah longs for adventure and thinks that she has found that in the form of Arthur, an aviator who is leaving Oklahoma for Texas. She hasn't known him very long, but he puts butterflies in her stomach and provides an escape from the suitors that her mother seems to think suitable for her.

A telegram arrives informing them that Rebekah's aunt, Adabelle, is ill with influenza and Rebekah offers to go to Texas and look after her.  Rebekah's plan is to help out her aunt and then enlist her help in getting to Arthur.  What she finds upon arrival in Texas is not at all what she expects. With her aunt on death's door and four children in the house, it looks like Rebekah's dreams will be put on hold. It seems that Aunt Adabelle is looking after the children while their father is in France.

Arthur isn't what he seems to be and the sheriff in town seems to be sweet on Rebekah. She doesn't feel anything for him but friendship, but wonders if he might actually be what God had in mind for her life.  The sheriff wants to be a Texas Ranger and that would grant her the measure of adventure she craved, wouldn't it?

This story is very complex and interesting.  It's told from the first person, which is not the norm for what I read, but I found it a nice change and it helped me relate to the character more.  There is a lot of sadness in this one.  It is written around the end of the first World War and on top of that, it coincides with the epidemic of the Spanish flu.

I liked the characters and the plot.  For some reason, the sadness didn't bother me as much as it normally did.  I think it might have something to do with the fact that we don't really get to know the characters that die very well.  If you don't like books with a lot of death, you might want to avoid it.  The only small qualm I had with it was the ending. It just seemed a little abrupt.  The author released another book at the beginning of September, At Every Turn.  I have put it on my watch list. It seems like another good read. Good Book!

Hannah Grace (The Daughters of Jacob Kane #1) - Sharlene MacLaren - DTB

This book has been on my watch list for a while, but I didn't read it on my Kindle. Someone was kind enough to donate this book to my church library and I read it in DTB form.  Let me just tell you something: I am spoiled.  I missed being able to read while I folded laundry and I found it incredibly annoying to have to hold the book the entire time!  I am so spoiled...

I've read one other book by this author, Loving Liza Jane, which is book 1 in the Little Hickman Series.  I have the rest of that series as well as this series on my watch list.

Hannah Grace feels that she is the least pretty of her sisters.  She works in her father's general store and is practically engaged the town doctor.  The only thing he seems to be in love with is himself, but Hannah refuses to see that she doesn't love him.

Gabe is the town's new sheriff and he arrives in town with a little surprise.  Jesse, a scruffy looking little boy, has hidden in the back of Gabe's wagon.  When Gabe tries to buy the little boy some new clothes, Hannah sees the bruises on the boy and suspects the worst. Once she finds out that he's the sheriff and he has the best intentions, the two join forces.  Hannah takes care of Jesse during the day and Gabe takes him home at night.

Jesse isn't talking because he's on the run from a gang of criminals.  He witnessed a murder and the gang knows that he saw them.  They've been trying to track him down and make sure that he'll never be able to testify.  The gang is heading to Gabe's quiet town.

I enjoyed this book.  It was an engaging story that I would have had a harder time putting down had it been on my Kindle.  Since it was a normal book, I was forced to put it down more than I wanted to.  I hope that other books by this author drop in price.  She seems to be a really good author and I would like to be able to read more from her.  Good Book!

Tall, Dark, and Determined (Husbands for Hire #2) - Kelly Eileen Hake

I read the first book in this series, Rugged and Relentless, about a year ago and planned on putting the next one on my watch list, but at that time, it had no ASIN number and I subsequently forgot to keep an eye out for it.  As I was browsing through the price drops on eReaderIQ, I saw this one and picked it up for less than $5.

This is the continuing story of Lacey, Evie, Cora and Naomi, who have come to the wilderness to start up the town of Hope Falls.  The mine collapse has left Lacey's brother, who is also Cora's fiance, a broken man, both physically and emotionally.  Evie has found love, but the other women are slow to give their approval of the marriage.  All marriages are to have a vote and Jake hasn't quite passed the test since he has not been especially forthcoming about who he is.

Chase has come to town trying to find out what happened at the mine.  The collapse has left his sister's husband dead and left her destitute.  He's after the truth of what happened and suspects that everything is not what it seems in Hope Falls.  He suspects that the women are involved and that they have an impostor in the house recovering.  If he's not an impostor, it must mean that Braden was somehow involved in the collapse of the mine. Not wanting to believe that they are capable of it, he keeps finding evidence that seems to point to his theories.

Lacey is a major hurdle to his investigations.  She always seems to find a way to get under his skin and they spend more time fighting than getting along.  Lacey feels betrayed by her friends when they go behind her back and hire Chase on to keep an eye on the town while Jake takes the man who killed his brother back to Maine.

The two are barely able to find common ground and most conversations end up in arguments.  Assumptions and misunderstandings are abundant.  Lacey is frustrated that using her womanly wiles on Chase doesn't work and Chase's blunt statements of truth are sometimes hard to take.  The more he believes his absurd theories, the reader knows that it's all going to go badly when he reveals them to the others.  I found myself cringing once or twice.

I did enjoy the book, but I have to admit to getting a little annoyed with Lacey on more than one occasion.  In fact, there were a lot of times that she was showing just how naive she was or speaking her mind without really thinking about what she was saying, even to her friends.  If she didn't get her way, it was more of a 'woe is me' attitude.  Once she kind of got her act together, I wasn't as irritated.

In the end, I did like this book.  The continuing story of the reason for the mine collapse is the reason that I recommend that these books be read in order.  A lot of the important issues from the first book are included as flashbacks in this book, but I would still recommend reading Rugged and Relentless first.  The third book in the series, Strong and Stubborn, is available November 1 and is on my watch list.  It's the story of Naomi, the oldest of the women, finding love.  I look forward to reading it.  Good Book!

Plains of Promise (Wyoming #2) - Colleen Coble

This is one of Colleen Coble's older books that are being released digitally and since I enjoyed Where Leads the Heart, I was glad to be able to continue the series.  This one was available for $2.99.

Emmie is the sister of Ben Croftner, the villain of the first book.  Emmie has been trying to escape from the reputation of her family her entire life.  She finally feels like she has someone who loves her for who she is, marries him and settles down to enjoy her life.  A tragic carriage accident kills her husband and his real widow shows up on her doorstep.  Discovering that she wasn't really married and has no means of support, Emmie finds out about Sarah, (our heroine from book 1) who needs a companion and helper while she is pregnant.

Emmie travels west and fits in well.  A handsome officer, Isaac (also introduced in the first book) appears to be interested in Emmie, but after what she has been through, she wants to have nothing to do with men ever again.  Her heart doesn't want to live without love and so she is forced to deal with her past.

A promise made without thinking it through is what ends up tripping up Emmie in this story.  She never thought that she would have to follow through when she made it and when it seems like she's going to have to, she is sad to learn that she may not have the happiness that she has so recently found.

I did enjoy this book, but I have to say that I wish that Isaac had been a little more developed.  We learned so much about Emmie and there were glimpses of Isaac, but not enough in my opinion.  There were a lot of repeat characters from the first book, and for that reason, I think that this series should be read in order.  The next book, The Heart Answers, is not available yet.  I'm going to keep my eyes open for more of this author's books to pop up digitally.  Good Book!

Gentleman of Her Dreams - Jen Turano

I decided the read this free novella to see if I wanted to add this author's upcoming release, A Change of Fortune, to my price drop list.

Charlotte has asked God for a husband, and she thinks that He has answered in the form of Hamilton Beckett, a widower with children.  Charlotte has a tendency to get herself into trouble - a lot.  Her antics have even landed her best friend, Henry, in jail in the past.

As Charlotte begins to put her plan to win Hamilton's heart into action, Henry returns from being away for two years.  Believing that Mr. Beckett is what Charlotte really wants, he vows to help her any way he can, even though his feelings for her are more than friendly.

These two have the most unbelievable things happen to them.  I found that I could deal with the ridiculous situations with no issues, although I have my doubts about the "boat" scene on the Hudson River.  I don't think a boat in that shape would have made it very far without the problems they encounter.  It didn't really bother me though.

The part that bothered me was the moment Henry picks to tell Charlotte his true feelings.  I had to go back and read it about three times trying to figure out what set him off.  I'm still not 100% sure.  I also find it hard to believe that being friends since they were 4, neither of them let on that they were in love with each other.  Henry left because he started to feel like a burden to her because she sighed when it was their turn to dance.  I can't believe that he wouldn't make some sort of comment, "Oh, so you don't wish to dance?" or something along those lines, even in a joking manner.  These two seem to tease each other all the time.  Instead he leaves for two years?

We do get introduced briefly to the heroine of A Change of Fortune, Lady Eliza Sumner.  I went ahead and put it on my watch list.  There is an excerpt from the novel at the end of this novella, so it's worth it just to give the novel a try.  Overall, I did like this story, but I'm a hopeless romantic, so even though I have some reservations about the reveal, I did enjoy reading this.  Good Novella!

Walker's Wedding - Lori Copeland

I picked this one up for less than $5.  I can usually depend on this author to give me a good read.

We begin by reading about how little Walker wants to think about marriage.  His friend is telling him that he needs an heir for his ranch, but Walker feels like he has all the time in the world to worry about that.  Immediately after proclaiming about how much time he has, he gets horribly gored by a bull.  Rethinking his mortality causes him to send for a mail-order bride.  Who it is matters little, only the fact that she can bear children.

Sarah has wanted to be married since she was a little girl.  She has just been rescued from a marriage to a man that she's known for a short period of time.  Her father has had enough of her shenanigans and is sending her to her uncle's.  He's an evil man who locks her in a room if she does the smallest thing wrong.  Sarah sneaks away and decides to take a train to New York, but on the ride she meets the intended bride of Walker, who is weeping because she has no desire to marry this man.

Sarah sees this as her opportunity to finally get married, the one thing she has wanted. They trade places and Sarah arrives in town and marries Walker, who barely notices that the name of his bride has changed.  Sarah keeps secret the fact that she has run away from home and that she wasn't sent by the mail-order bride agency.  Walker has been betrayed by a woman in the past and Sarah is afraid of the consequences of telling the truth.

I did enjoy this book.  The price went down even more after I purchased it, but I don't mind too much.  The only issue that I had with the story had to be the villain of the tale.  He really didn't make that much sense at the end.  He was really evil there for a little bit, but magically seemed to grow a conscience.  It was just weird how quick he went from villain to coward.  Other than that, it was a cute little story and I liked the characters.  Good Book!

Veil of Pearls - MaryLu Tyndall

This was a book that I picked up for $1.99 when the price dropped.  I have read two of the books in her Surrender to Destiny series, Surrender the Night being the only one that I have a review for.  I thoroughly enjoyed those and felt like I had found a new author.

We begin with Althea escaping her cruel master on a plantation in Barbados.  He has her ankles in chains so that she is unable to run, but this night has the perfect circumstances for her escape.  A gruff, but not evil captain sees her circumstances and helps her to escape to Charleston.  Changing her name to Adalia, she now has to find some kind of employment and pray that she is never found.

Morgan is a plantation owner and a bit spoiled.  He doesn't realize that slavery is a bad thing and Adalia thinks that she is the one to teach him and bring him back to God.  Morgan is entranced by this common woman who is immune to all his charms.  He eventually gets her to attend some parties and events with him, where his friends are less than happy to see a commoner, especially a lady that has had her cap set for Morgan for a long time.

Adalia works for a pious doctor that reads his Bible all the time but yells at his servants like they are nothing. Adalia, being one-fourth African American, sees the wrongs in slavery, but since she passes as a white woman, she never reveals her heritage.  She falls in love with Morgan, and he with her, with all her secrets between them.  Nefarious people push the issue to where it has to be dealt with.

I have to admit that I was happy when I was done with this book, and not because I enjoyed it.  It was one of those that I trudged through just to see what happened at the end.  I really didn't like the holier-than-thou character of Althea/Adalia.  She spouted God at Morgan while she had stuffed Him into a corner herself.  Acting like she had it all together, she would almost make wrong decisions and a man in a white suit would magically appear and spout Scripture at her before disappearing.  Something about those encounters just didn't sound right.

I have taken the other books by this author that I was tracking off my list, save one.  The third book in the Surrender to Destiny series I will still watch for.  I really did enjoy the first two.  I had thought that maybe this was one of her earlier books, the writing didn't seem to flow very well, but ultimately it's her latest book.  This one just wasn't my cup of tea.