The Comanche Girl's Prayer (Texas Women of Spirit #2) - Angela Castillo

This is the second book in a four book series.  The first one was The River Girl's Song, then there is this one, then The Saloon Girl's Journey and finishing up with a Christmas tale, The River Girl's Christmas.

Soonie travels to a settlement of Comanche and Kiowa to teach the children.  Her heritage isn't as obvious to the others, and she faces some prejudice from some of the others.  Mostly a man named Lone Warrior.  She can't seem to keep him off her mind, but all she seems to do is irritate him.  When trouble comes near the settlement, everyone is in danger.

This was a pretty good tale, and I liked it.  Darla, the "saloon girl" in the third book, is introduced in this book.  Zillia, from book one, is also mentioned, but so far, you can read them out of order and be okay.  This is on the short side, coming in at a little over 200 pages, so it's a light, quick read.  Good Book!

An Uncertain Choice - Jody Hedlund

I would consider this book part of an unnamed series.  There's a prequel, The Vow that precedes this book.  Rosemarie is considering three knights in this book.  The fate of the other two knights is explored in two other books, A Daring Sacrifice, and For Love and Honor.

It's only a month before Rosemarie's 18th birthday when an old family friend shows up and tells her that her fate could be different.  When her parents died, she found out she'd been chosen to be a sacrifice to God and would enter the convent on her 18th birthday. Her friend, the duke, tells her that if she marries before that time, she'd released from the vow.

Derrick is one of the knights, but he doesn't feel worthy and doesn't want to compete with his two best friends for the hand of the young maiden.  It's clear that she prefers him, but he holds back for a long time.  Dangers threaten the contestants as well as the people Rosemarie is supposed to protect.

The book is written in first person, which makes the first half of it predictable and somewhat boring.  Being inside the mind of a 17-year-old discovering her feelings of love was a bit much.  Every once in a while, we get to read from Derrick's point of view.  At first, his chapters are so far apart that I wondered why they were in there at all, but toward the end, more chapters included his point of view, and I was able to engage in the story itself and less with Rosemarie's struggle with her feelings.  And the end was just weird.

Overall, if you're looking for a straight up romance, complete with fluttering stomachs and confusing feelings, then I recommend this book.  For me, it was too sappy, and I wish there had been more balance between the points of view.  Sadly, not for me.

The White Feather Murders (Herringford and Watts #3) - Rachel McMillan

As of now, the series order is:
A Singular and Whimsical Problem (novella), The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder (Book 1), Of Dubious and Questionable Memory (novella), A Lesson in Love and Murder (Book 2), Conductor of Light (novella), then this book.

With the world on the brink of World War I, Jem and Merinda get involved in a case that starts out with tormenting the immigrants and ends with murder.  The more involved the lady detectives get, the more danger seems to seek them out.

Once Britain declares war, things change in Toronto.  Ray is now required to check in once a month since he's Italian, and the danger hits a little too close to home.  He sends Jem and their son away, hoping the distance will protect them.  Also, Jasper hopes the new man on the force will help him fight against corruption, but he's disappointed.  He's also still in love with Merinda.

I like Merinda's quirkiness, and Jem's gentle spirit.  The way the author is able to progress the lives of her characters and allow them to adjust in a believable way is something I admire.  The story line is good, and I read through it quickly.  If I had one complaint, it would be the use of the "footnotes" throughout the chapters.  I love the idea of them, but reading them on a Kindle is a bit of a pain, since they're a bit harder to find.  Sometimes the note is on the next page, sometimes it's farther back.  In the past, I was able to touch the asterisk and go to the corresponding note, but I wasn't able to do that in my copy, so it was more of a pain than a bonus.  Being a hopeless romantic, I was a bit bummed at the end, but I hope there will be more Herringford and Watts (DeLuca).  I did enjoy this book and would recommend it.  Good Book!

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

Of Dubious and Questionable Memory (Herringford and Watts - novella) - Rachel McMillan

As of April 2017, the series goes like this:
A Singular and Whimsical Problem (novella), The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder (Book 1), Of Dubious and Questionable Memory (novella), A Lesson in Love and Murder (Book 2), Conductor of Light (novella), The White Feather Murders (Book 3 - due out May 2017).

In this story, an argument at Jasper's birthday party leads Jem and Merinda to enter into a bet against Ray and Jasper.  All they have to do is find a missing girl within the next few days.  The young lady's sister has asked them to retrace the steps the two women took on a trip in Concord, but the only thing Jem and Merinda find are people that haven't seen the missing woman and some very suspicious behavior.

It's not surprising that I liked this novella.  It's quick, witty, and I love the characters.  I haven't been able to read these in order up to this point, but I'm hoping I'll be able to keep up from now on.  I didn't have any issues keeping track of what had happened and what hadn't, but I wish I'd been able to read them in order.  The character's personalities and circumstances change at times, and it could be confusing if you don't like keeping track of what happened when.  I look forward to reading the next book by this author.  Good Novella!

A Singular and Whimsical Problem (Herringford and Watts - novella) - Rachel McMillan

This series is unusual, since the author always seems to have a novella preceding her novels.  As of April 2017, the series goes like this:
A Singular and Whimsical Problem (novella), The Bachelor Girl's Guide to Murder (Book 1), Of Dubious and Questionable Memory (novella), A Lesson in Love and Murder (Book 2), Conductor of Light (novella), The White Feather Murders (Book 3 - due out May 2017).

I wasn't able to read these in order, but the novellas I was missing popped up for free, so I snatched them up.  This being the first one, I was looking forward to how it all began.

Missing Cat.  Missing suffragette.  Missing Sister.

A busy day finds Jem and Merinda with three cases.  Merinda isn't happy to be searching for a mangy cat, but the pay's good, so she puts her best people on it.  The humans, however, will take a lot of disguises and some quick thinking to solve.  With Merinda leading the way, what could go wrong?

I loved this story.  I love the way it's written from Jem's point of view, but I can still get a sense of the personalities of the other characters.  McMillan's writing style is addictive, and I can't wait to read more.  It's on the short side, at around 70 pages and can be gobbled up in a few hours.  No problems giving this a Good Novella! review.

An Awakened Heart (Orphan Train novella) - Jody Hedlund

This is the prequel to a new series.  The first book, With You Always, is due out June 2017.

In this novella, we're following two stories.  First is Christine, a wealthy woman with low self-esteem who has ideas on how to help the poor.  She approaches the pastor, and they start to work together.  They're going to have some obstacles thrown their way, and they begin to doubt they're doing God's will.

The other story is Elise and her two sisters, Marianne and Sophie.  Their mother has just died, and they're on their own.  They live with their uncle, who is more concerned with getting drunk than making sure anyone is safe.  If Elise can't find a way to make more money, they'll be homeless.  And with two small children also depending on her, Elise has her work cut out for her.

I really liked this novella.  I appreciated the author was able to tell two stories that intertwined and eventually came together.  I liked the characters and thought it was really interesting that Christine and Guy weren't as young as I usually read.  They're more middle-aged and it was something I don't see often in books like this.  I can't wait to read With You Always, which tells more of Elise's story.  Good Novella!

Moonfleet - John Meade Falkner

*This is my classic for the 2017 challenge.

John is a teenager trying to find his way.  He lives in Moonfleet, where one of the main occupations is smuggling goods.  He wants to make something of himself, and one night he goes hunting for treasure.  What he ends up with is the beginning of an adventure he'll never forget.  He also has feelings for a young woman named Grace, who is the daughter of an important man in town.

The story started out a little slow in my opinion.  It felt like John kept saying "this is the moment that changed my life" but I didn't necessarily see why until later.  After the slow start, I found that I enjoyed the story.  I would label it bittersweet overall, but there is a happy ending in there eventually.  There's a lot of sadness and bad choices to get through first.

I'm not usually a treasure story kind of person, but this one was really interesting.  I'd never heard of it before but was glad I found it.  Good Book!

Behind the Scenes (Apart From the Crowd #1) - Jen Turano

This is the first novel for the Apart From the Crowd series.  There’s a novella called At Your Request, that precedes this book, but you don’t have to read it to understand what’s going here.  I do recommend the novella, though.  It’s pretty good.

Permilia is a wallflower attending Mrs. Vanderbilt’s ball.  Permilia has given up trying to catch herself a gentleman, much to the dismay of her stepmother and stepsister.  Instead, she’s got a secret of her own that keeps her occupied at society functions.  She runs into Asher, and is surprised to discover she’s comfortable talking to him, which is unusual for her.  Most of the time, she can’t find any words when talking to a gentleman, but she doesn’t have any issue arguing with Asher and telling him what to do.

Later, Permilia is helping search for her friend’s mischievous companion when she ends up trapped in a room she shouldn’t be in.  She overhears a murder plot and loses a shoe Cinderella style.  After that, she returns to the ball, only to have Asher think she’s joking about the threat to his life.  Permilia then takes it upon herself to see to his safety.

Turano has a way of making such wonderful characters, and this book is filled with them.  It’s not just the main characters, either.  I enjoyed reading snippets of Gertrude and Harrison, it made me all the more anxious to hear their tale.  Add in the Huxley sisters, Mr. Merriweather, even the assassin, and you’ve got a great tale.

Next up is Out of the Ordinary, and we’ll be reading about Gertrude, the companion of the mysterious Mrs. Davenport, and Harrison, Asher’s friend.  I can’t wait!  Great Book!

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