Heart Land (By: Kimberly Stuart)

Heart Land: A Novel
By: Kimberly Stuart

Story Line: 2 Stars
Depth: 3 Stars
Faith: 2 Stars
Love Story: 4 Stars
Overall: 2.5 Stars

Grace Klaren left Iowa ten years ago in pursuit of her dreams of becoming a fashion designer in New York City. However, when she is unexpectedly fired, Grace journeys home, to the heartland, hoping to get back on her feet - with the intention to moving back to NYC as soon as possible. But going home also means going back to the place where Tucker is; the only boy she has ever loved and regretfully left to pursue her dreams. With help from her grandma, Tucker and some friends, Grace starts to see potential for new success and must wrestle with how far she will go to create a name for herself! 

This book's cover and description captured our attention and we were eager to jump in. The story is filled with charming characters but unfortunately they lack those defining growth moments so vital to great stories. We had great hopes that faith would be strong and vibrant, but instead was pretty mild. 

These two chicks really tried to enjoy this read more, but sadly we felt it lacked in several areas. We owe it to our readers to write very honest reviews, even though it is hard for us to do. We wish our best to this author and hope to enjoy another of her books in the future.

Note: We were given this book in exchange for our honest review.  

Honeysuckle Dreams (By: Denise Hunter)

Honeysuckle Dreams (A Blue Ridge Romance)
By: Denise Hunter

Story Line: 5 Stars
Depth: 4 Stars
Faith: 4 Stars
Love Story: 5 Stars
Overall: 4.5 Stars

The Blue Ridge series continues with Honeysuckle Dreams and believe us when we say Denise Hunter brought her "A" game with this novel! We are thrilled to give her an excellent review after giving up some much coveted sleep as we read, "just one more chapter!"  ;)

We were introduced to both Brady and Hope in Denise's previous book, Blue Ridge Sunrise, but now we get a front row seat into their stories. Brady has recently taken sole custody of his son, Sam after the passing of his ex-wife. However, just when he feels he's getting into a new rhythm as a single dad he is dealt a huge blow. He has come to find out he actually is not Sam's biological dad and his in-laws are filing for custody. While Brady is devastated he most definitely will not give up without a fight. Biological or not, Sam is his son! After a misconception from his attorney, Brady is led to believe his chances will improve greatly if he was engaged. 

Hope, Brady's sister's best friend, has happily been helping Brady out by watching his son Sam when she can. Not only does she love this little boy, but his dad has been a friend to her for years and naturally she wants to help him out. How far will she go to help him out though? When Brady mentions his chances in keeping Sam are better if he is engaged, is it crazy that Hope offers to step in and be his fiance? As friends of course! Because that's what any good friend would do right? 

This story flowed so effortlessly. We were hooked in the first few pages and did not want to put it down. The characters are both real and lovable. We appreciated the way Denise navigated through the hurts and baggage that both Brady and Hope have from the past. We also loved how the characters both have to rely on the Lord to teach them valuable truths in order to walk fully in Him. Can they trust Him not only with their past hurts but with their hopes for the future as well? 

Pick up this book, you will not be disappointed. Now we patiently, or not so patiently await her next book in the series!

Note: We were given this book in exchange for our honest review.  

Troubled Waters (By: Susan May Warren)

Troubled Waters
By: Susan May Warren

Story Line: 5 Stars
Depth: 3 Stars
Faith: 5 Stars
Love Story: 4 Stars
Overall: 4.5 Stars

Billionaire Ian Shaw is used to being in charge. In fact, he has been able to control almost everything in his life - up until his niece Esme ran away, and doesn't want to be found. The mystery continues to elude him, but now his fortune has been liquidated, and worst of all - his relationship with the woman he loves is in shambles. 

Sierra Rose desperately loves Ian, but finds it impossible to be around him. Not only is he desperately trying to control the world around him, but Sierra is also harboring a secret: She knows Esme's whereabouts, but has made a promise not to tell Ian. With these two walls between them, it appears their relationship will never be able to get a foothold. But when a freak tragedy occurs, Ian and Sierra are thrown together in desperate circumstances where they must work together to survive - including finally talking through their issues. 

We've been waiting for Ian and Sierra's story since the prequel novella to this entire series came out over a year ago! And it did not disappoint. 

Ian has been trying to control his life, and the lives of those around him, for as long as he can remember. Author Susan always does an amazing job weaving faith into her stories, and Ian's journey to God and surrender is real and raw. It takes a lot of suffering to bring Ian to his knees and realize that God is the only one who can control everything. This book is action packed, and you pretty much cannot put it down right from the first page. Being that this series centers around a rescue team in Montana, snow and mountains have become the usual scenery for us - but we enjoyed a nice break as we journeyed to the warm Caribbean with Ian and Sierra. 

Also in this story, we get a glimpse into the continuing story of Pete Brooks and Jess Tagg, who are going to have a lot to work through in the next couple of books! Overall, this entire series is incredible so far, and this book just deepened our love for the PEAK Rescue Team and Susan May Warren's writing. Now, if she could just publish her books faster so we could have the rest of the series now! :)

Find it on Amazon: Troubled Waters

Note: We were given this book in exchange for our honest review.  

Catching the Wind (By: Melanie Dobson)

Catching the Wind
By: Melanie Dobson

Story Line: 5 Stars
Depth: 4 Stars
Faith: 4 Stars
Love Story: 3 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars

Whatever happened to Brigitte Berthold? At 10 years old, she and her best friend, 13 year old Dietmar, barely escaped from Nazi Germany into England. But once there, they were tragically separated. Now, for the last 75 years, Dietmar has spared no expense and spent a lifetime trying to find Brigitte - only to hit dead ends at every turn. As he is now an old man nearing the end of his life, he has one last hope of finding her - an American journalist named Quenby Vaughn, a woman he believes might just have the heart to help him complete his quest. 

Melanie Dobson's writing is superb, weaving together the past and the present, as Quenby uncovers a WWII treason and espionage ring. As she traces Brigitte's footsteps from all those years ago, through England and beyond, the author paces the story perfectly and brings to light just the right amount of information to keep us readers hooked. 

Catching the Wind will take the reader deep into WWII Nazi Germany, exploring espionage plots and the sad reality of many people's living conditions and dangers they faced. In the present, there are issues of abandonment, broken families and poor choices that are dealt with. However (perhaps our favorite part), author Melanie does a beautiful job in reconciling these sad realities with the grace and forgiveness of God. Rather than tying all these little problems up into an unrealistic, neat bow, the characters are able to experience real forgiveness, reconciliation and just let other things go. 

These two chicks highly recommend you pick up a copy of this book to read, but be warned: you may have a few late nights reading in your future!

Note: We were given this book in exchange for our honest review.  

Blue Ridge Sunrise (By: Denise Hunter)

Blue Ridge Sunrise
By: Denise Hunter

Story Line: 4 Stars
Depth: 3 Stars
Faith: 2 Stars
Love Story: 4 Stars
Overall: 3 Stars

Zoe left Copper Creek five years ago with no intentions of returning. However, now that her beloved grandmother has passed away, she ventures home with a boyfriend and her four year old daughter in tow. Her plan is to stay for the funeral and then get out of there - but she didn't expect to inherit the family peach orchard. She is now faced with the difficult decision to leave behind her career and success in the country music industry to run the struggling business. And to make matters more complicated, her old flame Cruz Huntley is the orchard's manager - not only do they need to work together, but there's a whole lotta baggage and history for them to delicately work through.

When us two chicks see a Denise Hunter book coming out, we get all giddy inside! She is one of our favorite authors who has brought us so many wonderful reads. However, this one fell a little short for us. The faith was very light; we would have liked to see more depth to their relationships with the Lord and more redemption for the characters. The chemistry between Cruz and Zoe sizzles at times, but felt a little shallow; some deeper conversations would have been the cherry on top for these two.

However, we do enjoy this series and we look forward to the next one being released!

Note: We were given this book in exchange for our honest review.  

To Wager Her Heart (By: Tamera Alexander)

To Wager Her Heart
By: Tamera Alexander

Story Line: 3.5 Stars
Depth: 4 Stars
Faith: 3 Stars
Love Story: 3 Stars
Overall: 3 Stars

These two chicks have been eagerly anticipating this third installment of the Belle Meade Plantation Series! However, although the first two books were worthy of a place on our Golden List, this final read didn't shine nearly as bright. Although the first 75% of the book was written incredibly well - great character development, interesting plots and deep themes of racism in the post Civil War era in the South - the last part of the book fell flat for us. 

Alexandra is a gentle, kind soul and learns to lean on the Lord for courage as she steps out of society's expectations for her and decides to teach at the first freedmen's University in the United States. We admired her love for all people, no matter the color of their skin, and her willingness to give up comfort to do this! Sylas is determined to clear his father's name from a tarnished reputation, and we loved the lengths he went to in his quest.

Like the first two books in this series, Tamera expertly weaves historical details and settings into this fictional story, and it reads along at an even pace. But unfortunately, the end of the book took a bad turn for us. The story became choppy and rushed, and some of the plot lines left us unsatisfied and unresolved. Although we loved the settings and the characters, and even most of the story itself, we kept waiting for a climax but never felt like we got one.

Having to give this book (and one of our favorite authors!) only 3 stars is a disappointment, but we look forward to her future books.

Note: We were given this book in exchange for our honest review.  

Novella - Christmas at Canton (By: Tamera Alexander)

Christmas at Carnton
By: Tamera Alexander

We love getting our appetite ready for a new series with a novella to kick things off! Tamera has a new series coming out based around the Carnton Plantation in Franklin, Tennessee. We have loved her previous series based around other historical plantations and this one has hopes of being just as wonderful!.

This story is set in the time period of the Civil War. Aletta - a widow, a mother to a six year old boy and eight months pregnant, is desperate for hope. She has lost her job and is being evicted out of her home. This war has taken everything from her. Can she find the strength to keep fighting while also encouraging those around her? When she lands a job at the Carnton Plantation for the Christmas season, she falls in love with the people and surroundings but has only been promised the position for a short amount of time. One person in particular has caught her eye - and a part of her heart.

Captain Jake Winston, a Confederate sharpshooter, is now on the injured list. Sent to Carnton on a special task to assist the Women's Relief Society Auction is not what he desires for his foreseeable future. However, soon he realizes these women are fighting their own battles and he starts to have a change of heart. But can his heart handle the emotions a young widow and her son provoke?

We eagerly await this new series and were thankful to have this sweet introduction!

Find it on Amazon: Christmas at Carnton

Note: We were given this book in exchange for our honest review.