Reviewing: The Right Kind of Fool by Sarah Loudin Thomas

...from the publisher...

 Thirteen-year-old Loyal Raines is supposed to stay close to home on a hot summer day in 1934. When he slips away for a quick swim in the river and finds a dead body, he wishes he'd obeyed his mother. The ripples caused by his discovery will impact the town of Beverly, West Virginia, in ways no one could have imagined.

The first person those ripples disturb is Loyal's absentee father. When Creed Raines realized his infant son was deaf, he headed for the hills, returning only to help meet his family's basic needs. But when Loyal, now a young teen, stumbles upon a murder it's his father he runs to tell--shaping the words with his hands. As Creed is pulled into the investigation he discovers that what sets his son apart isn't his inability to hear but rather his courage. Longing to reclaim the life he abandoned, Creed will have to do more than help solve a murder if he wants to win his family's hearts again. 

...my thoughts...

Sarah Loudin Thomas' The Right Kind of Fool took me right to that hot day in Beverly, West Virginia in 1934. I could feel the heat and desire to shed my shoes and dip my feet in that cool water with Loyal Raines, a young deaf teenager by my side.  He was exploring that delicious feeling we all feel when we are 14 and escaping the strictures of rules that keep us indoors when we just know we should be out having fun.  Only Loyal got more than he bargained for.  

True to her fashion of hooking the reader into her pages, this author had me reading once more into the wee hours of the night. I can't recall any book written by Sarah Loudin Thomas that didn't intrigue me from the start.  Loyal is a formidable hero who is bright for his age, able to see things many overlook and with the knack of remembering what is laid out before him.  He stumbled upon a murder, saw things that could or could not be true and the fact that he was deaf had a profound impact on all that unfolded.  I particularly liked reading his thought process throughout the book. Whether he reasoned through the clues about the murder, his parents relationship. his desire for friendships or to prove himself to his father, he was wise beyond his years.

This story is definitely a murder mystery, and it is a good one.  It is also much more.  It is about pulling people together by one young man who, when finally allowed, touches the lives of his community.  His courage is inspiring and his love is a gift.  The events of the story are almost secondary to the master weaving of a family back together.  This is an inspiring story of hope, set in a time when deaf children were not seen for their precious worth. They were different and often overlooked.  Loyal was not going to be overlooked.  Things are much improved these days, yet all of the modern conveniences pale in comparison to seeing the smiles of a group of children playing where one of them just happens to be deaf. Many thanks to #BethanyHouse and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this wonderful book in exchange for an honest review.  The opinions are mine.

Reviewing: The Sowing Season by Katie Powner

...from the publisher...

After he's forced to sell the family farm he's labored on his whole life, 63-year-old Gerrit Laninga doesn't know what to do with himself. He sacrificed everything for the land--his time, his health, his family--with nothing to show for it but bitterness, regret, and two grown children who want nothing to do with him.

Fifteen-year-old Rae Walters has growing doubts and fears about The Plan--the detailed blueprint for high school that will help her follow in her lawyer father's footsteps. She's always been committed to The Plan, but now that the pressure to succeed is building, what was supposed to unite her family in purpose, may end up tearing it apart.

When their paths cross just as they each need a friend the most, Gerrit's and Rae's lives begin to change in unexpected ways. Can they discover together what really matters in life and learn it's never too late for a second chance?

...my thoughts... 

I didn't know what to expect the first time I opened the pages to The Sowing Season.  Inside was a surprise that filled me each time I turned a page to see what was happening to Gerrit and Rae.  I felt torn between laughter and compassion for Gerrit. After selling a farm that totally consumed his life, he was confronted with time; time to see what he missed all the days and nights while he worked a farm that, in the end, provided nothing meaningful in his life. Except memories.

Rae was the perfect daughter. She had a bright disposition, was number one in her class and volunteered in all the right places in order to check off the boxes on her long list of "must-do's" to secure her a spot at Columbia University.  She was so perfect she wasn't really enjoying life.

It is amazing that Rae and Gerrit found each other. It was even more amazing that they became friends.  He could have been her grandfather. She could have been the daughter who gave up on him when he was too busy working on the family farm.  Yet, he saw the real Rae.  She saw a man who was waiting to change.

I enjoyed this book and recommend it for those who enjoy a good story.  I recommend it all the more for young and old alike as it bridges what people of a certain age used to call the "generation gap". It appeals because the characters are so human.  Reading The Sowing Season was my introduction to Katie Powner's work and I look forward to more in the future. 

Just In Time: The Fruitcake Challenge Now Available in Audiobook Format!

...from the publisher...

When new lumberjack Tom Jeffries tells the camp cook, Jo Christy, that he’ll marry her if she can make a fruitcake “as good as the one my mother makes”, she rises to the occasion. After all, he’s the handsomest, smartest, and strongest axman her camp-boss father has ever had

in his camp - and the cockiest. And she intends to bring this lumberjack down a notch or three by refusing his proposal. The fruitcake wars are on! All the shanty boys and Jo’s cooking helpers chip in with their recipes, but Jo finds she’ll have to enlist more help - and begins corresponding with Tom’s mother. 

Step back in time to 1890, in beautiful Northern Michigan, near the sapphire straits of Mackinac, when the white pines were “white gold” and lumber camps were a way of life. Jo is ready to find another life outside of the camps and plans that don’t include any shanty boys. But will a lumberjack keep her in the very place she’s sworn to leave?

...my thoughts...

 I enjoy reading historical fiction and stumbled upon the Lumberjack Ball by Carrie Fancett Pagels several years ago.  I have enjoyed several of her other books, mainly set in the late 1800's in Michigan. When the opportunity from the author to read The Fruitcake Challenge in audiobook format I jumped at the chance. Audiobooks are not a replacement for the written word for me, but an addition to print copies.

The Fruitcake Challenge is the first book in the Christy Lumberjack Series.  Imagine being a woman living in a camp full of lonely lumberjacks. Women are scarce and you are likely to be proposed to on a regular basis.  Lucky for Jo, our heroine, she has two burly, protective brothers. No man would dare to bother Jo, until Tom Jeffries.  Confident, good looking and full of himself, his first impression on Jo was anything but impressive.  Until he issues his fruitcake challenge, that is.  Still grieving at the recent loss of her mother, she is weary of the camp, the men and would love nothing better than her independence. I enjoyed the banter between Jo and Tom in the kitchen with the other cooks.  I felt like I could have sat down on a bench and had a cup of coffee and fruitcake with everyone.

This audiobook is narrated by Virginia Gray.  She did a nice job on both women and men characters, not an easy task. I hope to listen to more books narrated by her in the future.  

Novellas are quick but shouldn't be overlooked.  This one is entertaining, and with the fruitcake theme, it reminded me of my own mother making her grandmother's fruitcake every year for Christmas. 

 

 

A Haven for Her Heart

 ...from the publisher...

Homeless after being released from a women's reformatory in 1939Toronto, Olivia Rosetti is taken in by an angel of mercy, Ruth Bennington. The two discover they share a painful past and together decide to open a maternity home for troubled women.

Despite the success of the home, Olivia is haunted by her inhumane treatment at the reformatory and the way her newborn son was taken from her. She feels undeserving of love--until she meets businessman Darius Reed. Although his attention makes her heart soar, he can never learn of her past.

Greek widower Darius Reed is determined to protect his daughter from the prejudice that killed her mother. He'll ensure her future by marrying a woman from a respected Toronto family. But when Darius meets Olivia, he's immediately drawn to her beauty and compassion.  

Can love prove stronger than prejudice and past mistakes? Or will Olivia's secrets destroy any chance at a future together?

...my thoughts....

A Haven for Her Heart is a story that will touch your heart.  Set in 1939, it broaches the subject of women who found themselves in trouble with no place to go.  Canada was in the throes of World War II and sending its young men to serve across the Atlantic.   Olivia Rosetti gave more than her heart to her fiancee and it had devastating effects on her life.  He was killed in battle and she found herself pregnant, alone and unmarried.  Today, society doesn't have the same stigma as it did in a time when women in her situation could be arrested and suffer the treatment Olivia experienced.

Alone, forlorn after the birth of her son, she found herself seeking shelter in the church where she met Ruth. Ruth opened new doors and together they were an inspirational team.  I enjoyed this book, not only for the well written story but also for the well developed characters who emerged resilient and strong.  Thank you #Bethanyhouse and #netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Reviewing: Depending On You by Melissa Jagears

 ...from the publisher...

Can the joy and hope of Christmas restore their love before it’s too late?

Leah Whitsett’s life was ideal until the disastrous day she nearly died because of her husband’s deceit. When he returns home weeks

before Christmas, she knows the best gift she can give him is forgiveness, but how can she relinquish her hard-won independence knowing he plans to turn their family’s life upside down again?

Bryant has always known his wife was a gift he’d never deserved, but how can he provide for her in a town that no longer wants anything to do with him? He longs to atone for the misery he’s put his loved ones through, but when he brings a family member home for the holidays, he and Leah may end up even further apart.

With emotions high and their marriage at stake, will the season bring the hope they need…or are their rifts too large to mend?

...my thoughts...

Depending On You by Melissa Jagears is a story of forgiveness and second chances. This is book 3 in Melissa's Frontier Vows series, and I was happy to learn that Leah's story was about to be told.  Left for dead by some hired men exacting payment for her husband's dastardly deeds, I wondered what would become of her.  She had always been a devoted wife and mother and clearly didn't receive any of what she experienced for her husband's cowardly deeds.  Now, her husband Bryant is released from prison only to find Leah distant and not ready to welcome him home with open arms.  

She lost everything because of him.  Now running the local laundry, she has had to start from scratch, something Bryant would have to do too, only he has the added stigma of being an ex-convict and hard to hire. Bryant was humbled, and willing to work at any job to start over in a town that has a long memory when it comes to trusting an untrustworthy man.

Leah was not sure she would ever allow him into her heart again, but she allowed that he was a loving father.  Witnessing her daughter's marital struggles, Leah was touched by the ways Bryant's fatherly influence guided his daughters.  I could write on about the story line, but why spoil a good book for new readers?  I recommend this book to all who enjoy Melissa Jagear's books and hopefully to those who are looking for a good story that takes you back to frontier days.  While this book could stand alone, I recommend reading Romancing the Bride, book one, and Pretending to Wed. This is a good series and I like how Melissa tied everything together, happy endings in all.

                

The Dress Shop on King Street

...from the publisher...

Harper Dupree has pinned all her hopes on a future in fashion design. But when it comes crashing down around her, she returns home to Fairhope, Alabama, and to Millie, the woman who first taught her how to sew. As Harper rethinks her own future, long-hidden secrets about Millie's past are brought to light.

In 1946, Millie Middleton--the daughter of an Italian man and a Black woman--boarded a train and left Charleston to keep half of her heritage hidden. She carried with her two heirloom buttons and the dream of owning a dress store. She never expected to meet a charming train jumper who changed her life forever . . . and led her yet again to a heartbreaking choice about which heritage would define her future.

Now, together, Harper and Millie return to Charleston to find the man who may hold the answers they seek . . . and a chance at the dress shop they've both dreamed of. But it's not until all appears lost that they see the unexpected ways to mend what frayed between the seams.

...my thoughts...

 The Dress shop on King Street is Millie's journey back to those early days when life seemed to be full of dreams of owning her own dress shop. An excellent seamstress, she longed to create beautiful fashions in her own shop. Fate and circumstances changed her life forever when she left Charleston for Fairhope Alabama.  Along the way, she met her wonderful husband and began a life that may have seemed temporary at first, just until she was able to open that dress shop.  Then, after the birth of her daughters, she begins to straddle two worlds. As the story unfolds, so to does a mystery of Millie's true identity and links to a past that she was finally ready to rediscover.  

Millie is a wonderful character and this reader wanted to learn more about her.  Ashley Clark has captured the spirit of a woman who led a very private life because of the circumstances of her birth. Mysterious and beautiful, accomplished and shy. She held secrets in her heart, yet her husband loved her for who she truly was.  Her signature red hat was her trademark companion over decades that brought love, pain and changes in a world that was very different than that day in 1946 when she was looking into that dress shop on King street. I enjoyed reading this book and thank #BethanyHouse and #netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.