With Every Letter (Wings of the Nightingale #1) - Sarah Sundin

Ever since I came across this author, I know that her books are something to look forward to.  I've had this one on my Kindle for some time, because I knew that once I started it, I wouldn't want to put it down.  Now that the kids are back in school, I was ready to dive into this book.  I've read her first series, Wings of Glory, in the past and really enjoyed them. That series included A Distant Melody, A Memory Between Us, and Blue Skies Tomorrow.

In this series, we're learning about the flight nurses in WWII.  Mellie is an outcast that has never learned how to make friends.  When she is convinced to join in a letter writing exchange, Mellie gets to be herself without having to worry about the man on the other end judging her by her looks or her awkwardness.  Mellie doesn't fit in with the other nurses and it puts her place on the squad in jeopardy.

Tom has been judged his entire life by the actions of his father.  His father was executed for murdering two people and there's even a children's rhyme that immortalizes the fact. To compensate for his father's past, Tom, an engineer, doesn't lead his men, he bribes them with rewards for getting their work done.  His leadership skills are coming into question because of his constant need to convince everyone that he is not his father.  He enjoys writing Mellie anonymously because he can be himself and not be judged.

A chance encounter causes Mellie to figure out who Tom is and she holds that information to herself.  She believes that if she tells him who she really is, he will reject her and he won't be able to be as open as he is in his letters.  As Tom struggles with his feeling between letter-Mellie and the real Mellie, he pushes to meet the letter writer and take his chances.  Mellie resists.

As with her other books, the author has obviously done her homework.  It is evident in the amount of detail you read in the scenes.  If you've read my review of A Distant Melody, you'll know that I am really interested in WWII history because of my grandfather.  I have to say that I was happy to see an honorable mention of the B-26 in the book, the plane my grandfather piloted, even though his service was a little later in the war than when this book is set.  I almost give myself eye strain reading Sundin's books.  There's a great balance of history and romance and I highly recommend them.  The second book in this series came out on August 1 and is called On Distant Shores.  It tells the story of Georgiana and I anxiously await a price drop! Remember to read these in order for the best read.  Great Book!

Diary of a Real Payne #1 - Annie Tipton

I don't normally read too many children's books, but I saw this one pop up on Netgalley and wanted to give it a chance.

These days there is a trend of diary books.  Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Dork Diaries, etc.  I was intrigued by the idea of a Christian themed series of the same type.  My kids love diary books so finding more books they will read is always something I’m watching for.

Emma Jean (EJ) – is the daughter of a minister and a second-grade teacher.  She has a little brother and all the problems of a 10-year-old.  She thinks that she’s going to have the worst year ever with her fourth grade teacher Ms. Picky and avoiding her arch-nemesis, CoraLee.

This book isn’t all diary.  The chapters start out with a diary entry and then we hear EJ’s story.  The copy that I read didn’t have all the little pictures that make these types of books so appealing to children.  For a sample of those, I used the sneak peek at amazon that lets you look inside.

Overall, this book is a winner.  Having read some of my daughters’ diary books, I had something to compare this book to.  If I had one complaint, I think it would be some of the people that EJ uses when she has her head in the clouds.  While I can stretch my imagination to understand how a 10-year-old would know who Jacques Cousteau is, I couldn’t come up with a reason someone that age would know who Donald Trump is and what he does.  My children haven’t heard of either person.  To the author’s credit, she makes sure that those people are explained in the story.

This is the start to a new series and I look forward to picking this one up for my girls and looking for more.  Great start to a new series for kids!

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The Dawn of a Dream (At Home in Beldon Grove #3) - Ann Shorey

Looking back at my review of Where the Wildflowers Bloom, I see that I have read the first book in this series in the past.  I also noticed that I wasn't overly fond of it.  So what inspired me to pick this one up, I'm not sure.  I paid $1.99 for it and hoped to enjoy it.

Luellen is a married woman who discovers that her husband is already married.  As she pursues a divorce, she jumps at the opportunity to go to school and get her teaching certificate.  Once she's there, she is so determined to finish school that she won't let anything get in her way.  When she finds out that she is pregnant, she needs to find a way to hide it from the school.

I won't say much about the plot, I don't want to give too much away should you decide to read it.  I just felt like this woman was the most selfish character I have read about in a long time.  She doesn't seem to care about anyone but herself.  Her parents are ill, and she wonders about being able to return to school.  When I was reading about how she was ignoring symptoms related to her baby, I was disgusted with her.

I held out a hope that she would come around, but I didn't hear her even mention being selfish until about 86% in.  She acts like the world revolves around her and when things don't go her way, she wallows in self-pity.  The way she treats her friend makes me wonder why the woman was nice to her.  If she's not hiding something, then Luellen is trying to boss her around and tell her what's best for her.  The "happy" ending didn't strike me as happy, because I felt bad for Wade being stuck with such a selfish manipulative woman.

Yes, it's fiction, but I want to enjoy my time reading.  I made sure I didn't have the other book in that series on my watch list, because if I didn't enjoy the first or third, I'd probably not enjoy the second one either.  I'm not giving up on this author, I still have the second book in the Sisters at Heart series, When the Heart Heals, on my watch list.  The third book, Love's Sweet Beginning, is scheduled to come out in February.  This one is definitely a pass for me.

Rosemary Cottage (Hope Beach #2) - Colleen Coble

This is one of my favorite authors.  The first book in this series, Tidewater Inn, was a great read and I looked forward to reading this one.

Amy has come to the island to investigate the death of her brother.  Most of her friends and family are telling her that it was a horrible accident, but Amy has gotten an email telling her there is more to the story.  Determined to get to the truth, Amy moves to the island and decides to set up business as a midwife.

Curtis works for the Coast Guard and has been taking care of his sister's daughter.  His sister was killed by a boat and now that Amy is on the island, his aunt is pushing him to tell Amy that the child's father was her brother.  Both families come from money, so once Amy tells her parents, a custody battle begins, which also threatens the growing feelings between Amy and Curtis.

Overall a great read.  There are plenty of twists and turns, although I had some of it figured out.  This book explores the dangers of setting people on pedestals, especially seeing family members as incapable of any wrong.  The characters from book 1, Libby and Alec, show up but in a minor role.  It would be okay to read these out of order.  What I love about series written by Colleen Coble is the fact that you can read them out of order and still get a great read.

As of now, I couldn't find the title of the next book in this series, but I believe that there will be at least one more.  Her series come in groups of three most of the time.  The next book I found coming out is called Butterfly Palace and comes out in January.  From the sounds of it, this will be part of the Under the Stars series, but I can't say for certain.  Rosemary Cottage was a great read and I look forward to the next release from one of my favorite authors! Good Book!

A Claim of Her Own - Stephanie Grace Whitson

I've read Sixteen Brides in the past and really enjoyed that book.  I had a few of her other books on my watch list and was able to get this one for $3.99.

In this book, we're following two different relationships.  We're following Swede and Tom, but we're mostly focused on Mattie.  She has escaped her past and has come to find her brother and start over.  Unfortunately, things don't really pan out the way she wants and she needs to come up with a different plan.  As she rebuilds her life, she becomes friends with a preacher and starts to ask questions about God.  With her past catching up, there's the anticipation about how things will end.

Aron is a reluctant preacher, but he is living out what he preaches.  His past hasn't been stellar and he readily admits to his problems.  The other characters that we follow are Tom and Swede - they work together to open a store in Deadwood.  Swede is used to pushing merchandise up the trail by oxen while Tom runs the store back in town.  Swede longs to leave the hauling life behind, but she's not sure what to do about her feelings for Tom.

While I liked this book, I was a little confused at the end.  So much time was spent building the anticipation of when Jonas would catch up with Mattie, I felt that it was not as detailed as it could have been.  I'm still not sure what exactly happened.  I also felt that the relationship between Aron and Mattie could have been explored a little more and the end not as rushed.  I still liked the book, but I just felt that the end could have been better.  All in all, a nice read.  As of now, I still have A Most Unsuitable Match on my watch list.  Good Book!

Always Remembered (American Tapestries) - Janelle Mowery

I was able to pick this one up for $1.99.  In the past, I have read a few of this author's books, including Showdown at Barncastle Inn and the entire Colorado Runaway series: When All My Dreams Come True, When Love Gets in the Way, and When Two Hearts Meet.  I enjoyed all these titles, so it was a no-brainer for me to pick this one up.

This story revolves around the battle for the Alamo in Texas.  At this point, it's a war between the Mexicans and the Americans that have developed the land.  Rosa's father had come to the land and been killed.  Now she has to deal with her stepfather, who feels that the Americans need to leave.  His passion for helping his side of the cause pushes him to use Rosa to gain information about the fort.  While she doesn't want to betray the men in the fort, her stepfather uses her mother to force her to get the information he wants.

Miles has watched Rosa from a distance and has finally stepped forward and gotten noticed.  While there are other men that are looking for Rosa's attention, Miles catches her eye.  He is supposed to be finding out who is leaking information about the fort to the Mexican president's troops and it sounds like Rosa's family is in the middle of it.

This was an unusual book for me.  Most of the time, I look at the interaction between the characters romantically, but this time, I was more interested the history in the book.  I applaud authors that take on historical events, because it is so easy to do it in such a way that you offend every historian that knows their stuff.  The way this book was written, I just had to keep reading and find out what happens to Miles.  The Alamo wasn't a happy ending event, so I was curious how this was going to pan out.  I was drawn to Miles' character more than Rosa's, and I almost felt like the relationship between the two was in the way at times.  I was more interested in the information leak and how Miles was going to solve the problems that surrounded him.

This book is part of a series called American Tapestries.  These books are all written by different authors and focus on different times in American history.  I noticed the Oregon trail, the Titanic, the American Revolution and some others.  Due to the variety involved in both topic and authors, I don't have any of the others on my list.  I did like this book, though and recommend it to get some perspective on the Alamo.  Good Book!

Fancy Pants (Only in Gooding #1) - Cathy Marie Hake

I was so glad when this book popped up for free.  In the past, I've been able to read Forevermore, Whirlwind, and Letter Perfect.

Sydney is facing a dilemma.  She has come to America to meet the man she is supposed to wed.  Unfortunately, the man is hardly interested in her as a person.  He wants her more for her connections.  Sydney tries to tell him that they won't suit, but he doesn't care if they would or not.  Determined not to marry a man she doesn't love, Sydney decides to run away to her uncle's ranch.  From the sounds of it, her uncle isn't interested in meeting a woman, and since Sydney is desperate, she heads to the ranch dressed as a man.

Fooling Tim isn't going to be easy.  It's harder to hide her gender than she thought and the work is hard.  Since her uncle is gone, Tim is in charge of the ranch and has his hands full trying to turn this "Fancy Pants" into a real man.  They end up being good friends. When Sydney's secret is revealed, it changes everything.  Tim feels betrayed and is convinced that their friendship will never be the same.

I really enjoyed this book.  The interactions between Sydney and Tim were amusing, and I loved the way they worked together.  It was a great read and I had trouble putting it down. Book 2 in the series is Forevermore and book 3 is Whirlwind.  I don't have book 4, That Certain Spark, or book 5, Serendipity, but I would like the chance to read them in the future.  Good Book!