Autumn by the Sea (By: Melissa Tag)

Autumn by the Sea
By: Melissa Tagg

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

Autumn by the Sea captured our attention before we even opened the book! The author, the title, and cover drew us in. 

We have become big fans of author Melissa Tagg, and her writing just keeps getting better with each book. We thoroughly enjoyed the setting, pace, and mystery in this new series. Her characters grow on the reader quickly, and give us much to look forward to as the rest of the series is released. Melissa weaves different layers into the plot so engaging the book kept us turning pages long into the night. 

What caught us off guard - different from Melissa's previous books - was the ongoing mystery will seemingly take more than one book to solve! Therefore we eagerly wait for the next in the series. While we may have preferred a stronger faith aspect to be woven in a little more, we would highly recommend this book to others.

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

Jewel of the Nile (By: Tessa Afshar)

Jewel of the Nile
By: Tessa Afshar

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

Tessa Afshar is one of our favorite authors, and we were thrilled to see another publication from her! Jewel of the Nile was an engaging story that swept us away right from the first page. 

Chariline knows almost nothing of her deceased parents' story. Never having quite felt at home being raised by her aunt, she is shocked and excited to discover her father is in fact, still alive. She knows almost nothing of him - not his name or where he may be located. After finding a clue to her father's whereabouts and identity, Chariline determines to travel to Rome at any cost - even putting her life in danger by stowing away on a ship to get there. 

This Rome-bound vessel belongs to none other than Theo, whom we know from one of Tessa's previous books, Thief of Corinth. What follows is a story of suspense and adventure, life-changing faith, memorable characters and a sweet love story. 

As per usual, Tessa's historical writing is so extraordinary, her readers are transported back into the Roman Empire and the Kingdom of Cush. We highly recommend picking up this novel for a good escape where your faith might also grow as a result!

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

A Cowboy for Keeps (By: Jody Hedlund)

A Cowboy for Keeps
By: Jody Hedlund

Series: Colorado Cowboys (Book #1)

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

These two chicks on lit were very excited when we came across A Cowboy for Keeps. Jody Hedlund is one of our favorite authors, we love mail order bride stories, and we were eager to see her write a western! While we found a lot we liked, we found this story lacking compared to many of her other books. 

Greta and her younger sister, Astrid, are heading to Colorado in hopes that the mountain air will help heal Astrid's consumption. Greta will do anything to help her sister, including marrying a man she has never met. Surprisingly after arriving, she learns her intended has died and she is penniless and out of options. 

Wyatt is having a rough go getting his cattle ranch up and going. He's going to prove to himself and his family back east that he won't fail. When the Mayor strikes a deal to invest in cattle if Wyatt will agree to marry Greta, he reluctantly agrees. Little does he know that he might be getting more than he bargained for - will he lose his heart in the process? 

One of the most refreshing parts of this read was Jody didn't hold back in writing of the harsh realities new settlers faced as they moved out west. In order to survive, they were better off sticking together. The love story is sweet and progressed slowly. However, the characters seemed to go around in circles with their emotions and it started to drag towards the end. All that to say, we are eager to see how the rest of the series plays out.


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

The Price of Valor (By: Susan May Warren)

The Price of Valor
By: Susan May Warren

Series: Global Search and Rescue (Book #3)

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

The Price of Valor is book three of the Global Search and Rescue series, and we finally get to read Ham's story. Author Susan May Warren does not disappoint! 

After Ham finds out he is father to a ten year old girl, he knows his wife Signe is still alive. Why has she been in hiding all these years? Why is he just now finding out about their daughter? Determined to find them both, bring them home and keep them safe, he embarks on a much bigger challenge than anticipated. 

Meanwhile, Signe has been on a deep undercover assignment that has gone way too far! In a desperate move to protect her daughter, Signe sends her home to the father she has never known - and the husband who has believed Signe to be dead all this time. Riddled with shame and guilt, Signe has little hope for her life moving forward. She just wants their daughter to be safe and for truth to come to light. She figures there is very little chance Ham would want her after everything. But Ham and his God are both in the business of offering grace and forgiveness. 

This book is very fast paced and will keep you turning the pages long into the night. We love the characters and Susan is one of our favorite authors! The only drawback is that at times this book was a little hard to follow - with so many things coming together at once, the reader must also have a good knowledge of the first two books in the trilogy and the series prior. It made our heads spin a little, but fans of Susan May Warren who have read all of these will be sure to enjoy this one as well.


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

A Life Once Dreamed (By: Rachel Fordham)

A Life Once Dreamed
By: Rachel Fordham

Story Line: 4 Stars
Depth: 3 Stars
Faith: 2 Stars
Love Story: 4 Stars
Overall: 3.5 Stars

Agnes Pratt's future is all planned out after being proposed to by her one true love. However, after learning a devastating secret from her past, she must flee Buffalo for a small mining town in the Dakota Territory. Leaving her fiance and the comforts of home, she must start over and keep the past in the past. 

James Harris has no idea why his childhood best friend and love of his life ran out on him six years ago. He promised her she was the only woman he would ever love. Where could she have gone? After receiving a letter from Agnes' mom detailing her whereabouts, he is determined to find out what happened and earn back her love. 

The new doctor in town has everyone talking, but one glimpse of him has Agnes shaking, speechless. How did he find her? Her heart still belongs to him, but she can't imagine getting involved again - he is the one person who cannot know her secret. When the truth is revealed, will they be able to work through the past or will they forfeit a future together? 

We enjoyed this lighthearted read and liked getting to know the characters. While a little slow at times, we were eager to see how the story would unfold. One area we would have loved to see more developed is the faith aspect. Overall we do enjoy Rachel's books and her ability to transport us back to frontier life in the 1880's.


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

Bride of Convenience (By: Jody Hedlund)

Bride of Convenience
Series: The Bride Ships (Book 3)
By: Jody Heldund

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

Zoe Hart eagerly awaits a new life in British Columbia after her passage on a bride ship. Knowing her brother fled to these parts after being falsely convicted of a crime, Zoe first and foremost wants to reunite with him. If she needs to wed a man in this new land in order to fulfill that, then so be it! The prospects in this new and unfamiliar place are plenty, but who can she give her hand to, and eventually her heart? How will she know who is safe and who will help her find her brother? 

Pastor Abe, whom we have been introduced to in previous books in this series, has a heart for the lost in these mining towns, and is content waiting to travel home to England to his love. He and Zoe meet right as a man is dying and asks them to find a home for his baby girl. Thrown into a most unusual circumstance, Abe wants to protect the baby and Zoe, but how? A man Abe does not trust has offered to marry Zoe and take the baby if needed. As Abe worries about what to do, he receives a most unfortunate letter from his intended in England with news she is engaged to another man. Heartbroken and upset, Abe steps in and says he will marry Zoe. 

Who doesn't love a good "marriage of convenience" story? Well written books like this become some of our favorites, and this one nestled its way into our hearts on a deeper level. The storytelling was excellent and we connected deeply with the characters. Both Abe and Zoe's were given tremendous character development as they learn how to be husband and wife, and more importantly, how to follow God's lead in learning to love others. The ups and downs of this story made a beautiful picture of how we are to treat and love others. We thoroughly enjoyed this book and we hope you do as well! 


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

The Crushing Depths (By: Dani Pettrey)

The Crushing Depths
Series: Coastal Guardians (Book 2)
By: Dani Pettrey

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

CGIS Agents Rissi Dawson and Mason Rogers and their team are back in book two of Dani Pettrey’s newest series, this time to investigate a suspicious death on an oil rigger off the coast of North Carolina. 

At the end of book one, The Killing Tide, Rissi and Mason are shocked to come face to face with each other after sharing a traumatic, complex history and having no communication for years. As they try to sort through the jumble of emotions upon seeing each other again, they must narrow their focus on the investigation at hand: the death and other strange occurrences on the oil rig, which is rumored to have a curse surrounding it. 

As she usually does, Dani gives the reader an excellent storyline to dig into. We alternately weave through the mystery and the relationships with eagerness and savor each morsel of intrigue. Mason and Rissi share a past as foster kids in a group home, and some darker subjects from this time in their lives are mentioned but not explored heavily. Their love story is touching, and had us cheering for them both all the way. 

However, this read fell short of our usual standards and Dani’s usual slam bang finishes. Although the storyline was excellent for the first three quarters of the book, we couldn’t help but feel the end was anti-climactic - there didn’t seem to be a climax, and the answers to the mysteries left us disappointed. In short, the end feel flat for us. We kept waiting for the, “oh no!” moment that never came. 

That being said, we are eager for the next book in this series and being able to revisit some characters we have grown to love. We still need to hear Noah, Emmy and Logan’s stories and we genuinely look forward to those! ! 


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