Burn - Ted Dekker & Erin Healy

Ted Dekker is my favorite Christian fiction author.  I have read Kiss in the past, another book written by these two and found it to be okay, but it wasn't one of my favorites.  I have to say that I truly seem to enjoy Dekker's solo efforts more, but I have an open mind, and I did really like Forbidden that was written with Tosca Lee.  As a matter of fact, I am still hoping for the second book in that series to drop in price.  I'm probably going to be waiting quite a while.

Janeal, Robert and Katie are friends living in a Gypsy community.  Janeal feels like she doesn't belong and when she finds out that her father has been keeping an important secret from her, she sees a way out of her current life, but she's basically going to have to cooperate with the devil for that to happen.

After a horrible tragedy, each of these people believes that the others didn't survive.  Janeal has made decisions that haunt her and follow her around.  Robert survived but his survival was hidden to protect him.  He has spent his life trying to track down the monster that killed everyone he loved.  When he catches up to him, Robert finds out that someone else from the fire survived.  Catching up with that person will be overwhelming.

I don't want to give too much away about this book.  The unexpected twists are something that I have come to expect from a Dekker book and the part that makes me put it down at the end and just say, "wow."  I think that this book was really good, a solid effort between these two.  I was involved in it once I started and had to make myself put it down.  Good Book!

Dear Lady (Coming to America #1) - Robin Lee Hatcher

This series was on my watch list and all 4 books popped up under my limit, so I picked them up.  In the past, I have read Catching Katie, A Vote of Confidence, Return to Me and Belonging.  While the latter 2 on the list were hardly my favorite books, I did enjoy the others and the subject matter of this series made me think that I would enjoy it.

Lady Elizabeth has escaped from an engagement to a cruel man to an uncertain future in America.  Heading off to Montana on her own, she hopes to fill a position as schoolmistress in a tiny town.  Her contact has been a 10 year old girl whom she has been exchanging letters with for quite some time.

Once she is dropped off at the cabin of Garrett Steele, she begins to wonder if she had made a good decision.  He obviously doesn't want her there and seems to be anxious to get rid of her.  Garrett has been hurt by a cruel wife who died years ago.  She was never happy with what Garrett could provide for her and was hardly a good wife.  He believes that Beth will end up being the same as his dead wife and works hard to keep his distance.

As usual, his plans don't work.  The other problem is that his best friend, Owen, is pursuing Beth and not willing to give up.  Beth thinks that Garrett still loves his deceased wife, but she still can't make herself love Owen.  She loves Garrett.

Small town gossip and circumstances throw Garrett and Beth together and eventually they really can't deny their feelings.  Garrett continues to deny them for as long as he can, but Beth breaks through his defenses.

I liked this book.  As in Belonging, the daughter plays a key role in making sure that the schoolmistress and her father get thrown together, but I still liked the book.  I enjoyed the character of Beth and look forward to the next one in the series, Patterns of Love, which is the story of Inga, a woman who travelled to America with Beth and corresponds with her throughout Dear Lady.  Good Book!

Belinda - Colleen Coble

Colleen Coble is hands down my favorite Christian romance author.  I've been able to read Smitten, but it wasn't one of her solo efforts.  Unfortunately for me, her books rarely drop below my $5 limit.  While searching on amazon the other day, I was shocked to see this little gem up for $0.99.  Looking closely, it was listed as 64 pages, but with this author, I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to mind.

Belinda is running a sort of antique junk yard where people can come and get fixtures for their house.  Her husband died a few years ago, and Belinda is living under the thumb of his mother.  Belinda has never been good enough in her eyes and is always threatening to sell the building her business is in out from under her and try to take custody of her daughter. Keeping her on the edge of poverty gives her power over Belinda and she is quick to rub it in.

Rick comes in as a customer and is instantly drawn to the pair.  He wants to be a part of their lives, but Belinda has been torn down so many times that she no longer feels that she has any chance with anyone.  She thinks that Rick is only hanging around to be a friend to her daughter.  Once her deceased husband's mother gets wind that a man is hanging around, her threats become stronger and more real for Belinda.

This little novella was a welcome break for me.  I liked the story a lot and it was a quick read.  Originally this story was part of a larger book called Forever Friends.  As of now, this little section of the book is the only part available on Kindle.  It feels like the past 5 books I've read have a deceased spouse in them (including the one I'm reading now), but it didn't really take away from my enjoyment of the book.  Good Baby Book!

Always the Designer, Never the Bride (Emma Rae Creations #3) - Sandra D. Bricker

Having read the first two in this series, Always the Baker, Never the Bride and Always the Wedding Planner, Never the Bride, I was pleased when this third installment popped up for free.  I really looked forward to an enjoyable read.

Audrey is a woman struggling to hold on to her dream.  She absolutely loves to design wedding gowns, but it's a hard industry to make your name in and she is at the end of her rope.  All her chances hinge on this hard to please bride that strings her along and treats her like dirt.

Even though she can't really spare the time, she is headed to Georgia to attend her best friend's wedding.  Although she's already married, her original ceremony was a quick one due to her husband's obligations to the Marines.  Audrey's problems follow her to Georgia and she begins to despair.

J.R. is the brother of the groom and a free spirit.  Riding his Harley around the country and fixing up other people's bikes is his job.  Upon meeting Audrey, he gawks at her repeatedly and comes falls in love with her.

As usual, there are appearances by just about everyone from the first two books.  The updates were okay, but I felt that there was something lacking in the story involving Audrey and J.R.  I felt that the lack of faith in the book was something that also ended up bothering me.  It seemed like any time Audrey turned to God it was as a passing thought.

As the series continues on, I think that it's going to continue on without me.  Russell was still annoying and I just felt like there was so much keeping up with everyone that the main story suffered for it.  Too many cooks in the kitchen kind of thing.  I did enjoy the first two, but I don't plan on reading any more of these in the future.

The Messenger - Siri Mitchell

I picked this one up for free and held off reading it for quite a while.  This isn't my first read from this author, I have read She Walks in Beauty in the past, but I can't really remember the story even after reading the synopsis on amazon.  It's still in my library, so I couldn't have disliked it.

Hannah is a Quaker that is trying hard to hold up her end of the 'not taking sides' part of her religion.  Her brother, who abandoned his impartiality, has been arrested and sent to prison.  Jeremiah runs a tavern and is part of a spy ring.

I didn't make it far into this one.  Only about 8%.  The chapters bounce back and forth between Hannah and Jeremiah.  This is set in the colonial period, which I am discovering, is not my favorite setting.  There was just something about this book that I didn't like.

Nothing against this author, it was a learning experience for me as I will avoid books in this time period from now on.  I've tried to read a few now and I'm not sure that I've finished any lately.  I certainly don't think that I've enjoyed them much.

Before the Scarlet Dawn (Daughters of the Potomac #1) - Rita Gerlach

This is one of the books that pops up for free and I decide that I'm going to give it a shot.  I made it about 30% through before I decided to quit.

Eliza is facing the fact that she is alone in the world.  Just after her father dies, she receives word that her brother is gone as well.  She just happens to meet up with childhood friend, Hayward, and feels the love that she has always held for him blossom.

Hayward is from a wealthy family and his cousin wants to marry Eliza.  She wants nothing to do with that man.  Hayward plans to move to America, thus his father plans to disinherit him and leave the lands, etc. to the cousin.

Once her father is dead, Eliza has 2 weeks to vacate the house.  Her housekeeper/mother figure has promised to stay with her, but Eliza doesn't want to take a position in anyone's house.  Her solution is to convince Hayward to marry her and take her to America with him.

She flat out asks him to take her after she overhears the conversation Hayward has with his prospective fiance that refuses his offer.  The day before she has to leave the house, Hayward magically appears out of nowhere and takes her to Gretna Green.  A fight with his family and off they go to America.

I quit once they made it to the house on the river.  Something seemed off about the interactions between these two.  I didn't understand what prompted Hayward to change his mind when he had been so adamant about refusing Eliza in the first place.  I didn't understand much about their relationship in general and decided that the book was not for me.

Where the Wildflowers Bloom (Sisters at Heart #1) - Ann Shorey

This author has written another series, At Home in Beldon Grove.   I have picked up the first in that series in the past, The Edge of Light, when it was free but didn't really enjoy that one. The subject matter in that series doesn't really appeal to me.  Even though this was not my first time reading this author, this book seemed more up my alley, so I didn't mind picking it up for free.

Faith has lost much most of her family, most recently her father and brother to the war between the states.  Left with just her grandfather, she is noticing that his memory isn't what it used to be.  He asks her to run the family mercantile for him and she now has her own set of problems.

Curt is a man that has been emotionally and physically scarred by the war.  He feels that he'll never get past the flashbacks and nightmares and be whole again.  He abandons hope of courting Faith for this reason.  When an 'old flame' comes back into the picture, Curt feels like his chances have dwindled even more.

Royal Baxter went away to war with Faith's hair ribbon.  Apparently, he left with many other ladies' as well.  He turns his eye to Faith and encourages her to sell the store and go with him to Oregon to start over.  Faith wants to run from her memories and believes that maybe Royal is God's answer to her leaving the town.  Her grandfather believes that she won't be able to escape her memories, no matter where she runs to.

Faith doesn't really listen to her heart.  When troubles arise at the store, Faith turns to Curt for help.  She doubts her feelings for Royal but she feels like she's gone too far to turn back now.  When Curt seems interested in another woman, Faith feels a jealousy she doesn't understand. 

I enjoyed this book.  It didn't really strike me as anything unique, but it was still a good read just the same.  Book 2 is due out in February 2013 and tells the story of Rosemary, Curt's sister.  I really liked her character so I'm considering tracking it.    I'm glad that I picked this one up, though and give it a Good Book! review.