Snow on the Tulips - Liz Tolsma

This is a new author for me and I was drawn to the time period and the location.  I won't get into why I'm so fond of the WWII books, you can find my reasons in one of my Sarah Sundin reviews.

Gerrit has survived his own execution, but he is gravely wounded.  Searching for help, he knows that people's fear of the Nazi's could prevent anyone from assisting him.  He is part of the Dutch Resistance and will do everything he can to recover and get back to doing his part against the Germans.

Cornelia is hiding her brother from having to assist the Germans, but Gerrit's presence puts that in jeopardy.  There is only one hiding place in her house and it is reserved for her brother.  She's already lost her husband to the Nazi's and isn't willing to risk anyone else she loves.

As time passes and Gerrit gets stronger, Cornelia realizes that she is starting to care about Gerrit, but doesn't want to risk her heart again.  Even though she doesn't want to get involved, circumstances force her hand and she comes face to face with her fears.

This was a really good book.  The characters are based on a real story and I have a great respect for the author for taking a piece of history and memorializing it for future generations.  We take for granted the sacrifices made for our freedom, and the stories of WWII are fading fast.  Since this book takes place during the war, there is heartbreak and death.  It's not a happily ever after for every character we meet, but don't let that stop you from reading the book.

In May 2014, another book along the same lines, Daisies Are Forever, is due out.  It's about an American in Germany during WWII, but I can't find that it's listed as part of a series.  It's definitely on my watch list.  Snow on the Tulips is a great book and I recommend it.  Good Book!

The Heiress of Winterwood (Whispers on the Moors #1) - Sarah Ladd

As far as I can tell, this is the first release from this author.  I admit that I was drawn to the cover and the title.  The series title, Whispers on the Moors, was also intriguing and I wanted to give the author a chance.

Amelia's close friend has died and entrusted her with the care of her newborn.  Amelia takes care of the baby for the next few months and feels that she is the child's mother. When the child's father comes back from the sea, Amelia is afraid little Lucy will be taken away from her and that is something she is not willing to accept.  Her solution is to propose marriage to the captain, the husband of her late friend.  Her current fiance is not willing to let Lucy stay with them after the marriage and Amelia will not have her inheritance, and no way to support Lucy, if she isn't married.  The solution to marry the captain seems her only solution.

Captain Graham Sterling is not so sure about that.  Feeling he failed his wife and child, he isn't as willing to quickly agree to her plan, leaving Amelia nervous about her future. When Graham witnesses Amelia's fiance showing his true colors, he knows he can't possibly abandon her to that fate.  After her family finds out about their plans to marry, things start going south and they're going to have to work together to make sure things don't spiral out of control.  And when they do, they're going to discover a lot about themselves and each other.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It was well written and the characters developed.  I look forward to the next book in the series, The Headmistress of Rosemere, with anticipation.  It tells the story of William, Graham's brother.  We do read a decent amount about his character and issues in this book, but I'll save my judgement on reading them out of order until I read the next one.  Many times, you meet characters in one book and their story is in another, but if the background is well stated, the book can stand alone.  The Headmistress of Rosemere is due out December 31, 2013.  The Heiress of Winterwood gets my Good Book! review.

A Match Made in Texas (novella collection) - Karen Witemeyer, Regina Jennings, Carol Cox and Mary Connealy

Anonymous notes show up around the town of Dry Gulch, Texas, helping women find true love.

A Cowboy Unmatched is by Karen Witemeyer and is the first story.  In it, we get to read about Neill Archer.  He has three other brothers and you can read about two of them in Short-Straw Bride and Stealing the Preacher.  In this novella, we read how Neill has been traveling around trying to make the money to buy his own ranch and prove himself.  Clara is pregnant, alone and needs a friend.  Her no-good husband is dead and her father-in-law is determined to take the baby from her.  Clara is going to have to decide whether she trusts Neill enough to save her baby and her heart.  Good story, Witemeyer is a great writer and I always enjoy her books.

An Unforeseen Match by Regina Jennings is up next.  I’ve read Sixty Acres and a Bride in the past and enjoyed her writing style.  Grace has a disease that is slowly taking away her sight.  Now that she can no longer teach, the school board has purchased Clara’s old ranch to give Grace a place to live.  Clayton is a scarred man on his way to the land rush in Oklahoma when his horse dies and he’s stuck in Dry Gulch.  Clayton challenges Grace to try and be more independent.  He is able to be himself since he believes she can’t see the huge scar that mars his face.  As time passes and it gets closer to the time for Clayton to leave, he imagines that maybe he can be the man Grace needs.  Will misunderstandings keep them apart?  Great story, flowed well with the first one.

Next up is No Match for Love by Carol Cox.  I’ve read Love in Disguise and Trouble in Store in the past.  In this story, Lucy takes a job looking after Andrew’s aunt.  It seems that his aunt is seeing cows jumping over the moon.  The aunt isn’t happy about her nephew arranging a nursemaid for her, but Lucy’s circumstances compel the woman to give her a chance.  The sightings don’t stop and once Lucy sees the strange sight, will they be able to convince Andrew that they’re not crazy and find out the truth?  This story was cute and a nice little read.

Finally we have Meeting Her Match by Mary Connealy.  My only previous experience with this author was with the book Out of Control.  Hannah has been taking care of everyone around her for a long time.  When her mother dies unexpectedly, Hannah takes her place running the household.  She is resigned to a spinster life, but her father remarries and basically kicks her out of the house.  Mark has admired Hannah from afar for many years but is completely tongue-tied around her and gives her the impression he’s not interested in her.  The end conversation was a little weird at times, but all in all it was a good ending to a neat book.

Overall, I liked this book and thought it flowed well and each author’s contribution was well written.  Good Book!

*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Miss Merriweather's Marriage (Short story prequel - The Secret Lives of Will Tucker) - Kathleen Y'Barbo

I saw this short story was up for free and decided this was going to be the best way to test and see if I liked the author's writing style.

Millicent is in Georgia with her family.  It seems that her parents and even her brother are on the lookout for her groom.  She, on the other hand, hasn't given anyone a chance in a long time and doesn't plan on going along with their schemes.

Winthrop is an unusual man who catches her eye, but she's not sure what to make of him. When he shows an interest in who she really is, Millicent has to re-evaluate her plans.

This story is a prequel to the author's series, The Secret Lives of Will Tucker.  The story was even shorter than I thought, consisting of four chapters: The Race, The Chase, The Hunt and The Capture.  The story takes up 3/4 of the book and the remainder is a preview of the first book in the series, Flora's Wish.  The second book in the series is called Millie's Treasure.  The final book, which is due out February 2014, is called Sadie's Secret.

The series looks interesting and I'm going to put it on my watch list.  It looks to involve the Pinkerton's and a criminal named Will Tucker.  This story was very short, making it hard to make a fully informed decision, but the characters were entertaining enough and I look forward to reading more.  Good Short Story!

The Icecutter's Daughter (Land of Shining Water #1) - Tracie Peterson

Tracie Peterson is a great author.  The only issue I end up having is that some of her series make it so that you have to read the whole series to get any closure to the story. This series isn't like that and I was glad to get to read the first book.

Merrill has grown up in a household full of men.  She's been taking care of her father and brothers since her mother's death and not giving much thought to her own future.  When a new man comes to town, he catches her eye, but some of the things she overhears makes her doubt his character.

Rurik has come to Minnesota to help out his uncle who is severely ill.  He is fond of Merrill, but his former fiance shows up in town and now Rurik has another problem.  She wants to reinstate their engagement and she is willing to cook up lies to make that happen.  Rurik wants Merrill to believe in him, but even if she does, will anyone else believe his innocence?

This book was a great read.  You get a glimpse into the life of an icecutter and also the custom furniture business.  The characters are well developed and the story interesting. Book 2 is called The Quarryman's Bride and the third title is The Miner's Lady.  This story is stand alone, which is important to me.  Both the other titles are on my watch list and I hope to read them sometime in the future.  Good Book!

When Love Calls (The Gregory Sisters #1) - Lorna Seilstad

I really enjoyed this author's first series, Lake Manawa Summers, and was happy to see that she had started another one.  The Lake Manawa series consists of Making Waves, A Great Catch and Ride of Her Life.  This new series is about three sisters who rely on each other to make their dreams come true.

Hannah has given up her dream of becoming an attorney so that she can take care of her sisters after her parents' death.  Unable to keep their family home, Hannah is forced to enroll as a switchboard operator at the telephone company.

Lincoln feels guilty he was sent to tell the Gregory sisters that they have to move out of their home and tries to make it up to them.  At first, Hannah is resistant but slowly warms to him.  When Hannah's friend is arrested for arson, Lincoln takes the case to help out.

Hannah is wary of a relationship with Lincoln since he has aspirations of politics.  She feels that she won't fit into that world and holds him at arm's length.  Working on her friend's case with Lincoln makes her wonder if she'll be able to be herself and also have a relationship.

This was a good start to the series and I look forward to reading more.  The next book, While Love Stirs, is due out May 2014 and is the story of the middle sister, Charlotte, the sister who enjoys cooking.  I'll be on the lookout for that book and the one about Tessa. Good Book!

The Lawman Claims His Bride (Charity House #4) - Renee Ryan

This book is one of those smaller, Harlequin-like, books that are good, clean fun.  When I saw it up for free, I decided to give it a shot.  This was also a new author for me.

Logan is a U.S. Marshal.  After 5 years he is on his way back to claim Megan as his bride. Unfortunately, she is in a jail cell, suspected of murder.  The problem is that she has lost her memory and can't remember what happened.  Determined to find the truth, Logan feels the need to take Megan away from Denver and to the safety of his family's farm.  To do that without a chaperon, they decide to get married.

Megan is frustrated about the memory loss, but she also has these unexplained fears about her husband.  He has done nothing but treat her with respect and kindness and she vows to make the marriage work.  Even if that means proving to Logan that he needs her just as much as he thinks she needs him.  He's trying a little too hard to try and protect her and she's trying to figure out how to prove she's not a fragile vase.

This book was about what I expected.  I had the killer figured out early which made the ending a little anticlimactic for me.  The characters were nice enough and it appears that this book is part of a series.  The Charity House series consists of The Marshal Takes a Bride, Hannah's Beau, Loving Bella, The Lawman Claims His Bride, Charity House Courtship, The Outlaw's Redemption, and Finally a Bride.  If they popped up for free, I would pick them up, this one was a nice little read.  Good Book!

Twice Promised (Blue Willow Brides #2) - Maggie Brendan

After reading Deeply Devoted, the first book in the series, I was looking forward to the next one.  Once I got started, though, I ended up dealing with holidays and headaches and wasn't able to finish it as quickly as I wanted to.

In this book, we get to read about Greta, who is the sister of Catharine, the heroine in the first book.  Greta has lost the love of her life and has now decided that she'll try becoming a mail-order bride.  It worked out for her sister, so why shouldn't she give it a shot?  The last name of the man she agrees to marry attracts her interest, as it is the same as her deceased fiance.  She's hoping that he might be a cousin or other relation.

When she arrives in Colorado, she finds out that not only is the groom unaware of the situation, but his brother, who was the real author of the letters, has asked two women to come and basically interview to be the bride for his brother.  The women have become friends and agree to give the situation a month to work itself out.

Jess has agreed to give his brother's idea a chance, but only if his brother agrees to court the woman that he doesn't.  When his brother agrees, they use an unusual method of choosing who courts whom.  The problem arises when no one seems to fall in love with who they are supposed to.  Afraid to hurt anyone's feelings, everyone chooses secrecy when a little honesty would go a long way!

This book has the secrets of the previous book, but it was more amusing this time.  The way everyone tiptoed around each other, especially the brothers, was funny.  The only problem I had with the book was that Greta never even considers the possibility that her fiance could have been the brother that Jess lost.  While she believes that her fiance's family was in Wyoming, when she finds out about the death, she's not even curious about his name.

The next book in the series is about Anna, whom we see a small glimpse of in the first two books.  While Catharine and Peter are mentioned a few times, I believe it would be possible to read these out of order and not be disappointed.  The final book, Perfectly Matched, came out in October.  I've got it on my watch list and hope to read it in the future!  Good Book!