Deception on Sable Hill by Shelley Gray

This book was pretty good… I enjoyed it a bit. I’ve never really been into mysteries before, but this one was decent.

As I literally just mentioned, I’m a bit biased in my opinion of this book, because I’m not really fond of mysteries. But I didn’t mind it. I just don’t know if I’ll ever read it again. I haven’t read the first book in the series, Secrets of Sloane House, yet so I can’t base any of my opinions of that book onto this one.

The storyline itself is pretty good, but there’s not really enough mystery and intrigue to actually make it a mystery story… it’s like it accidentally made into a mystery, like it wasn’t supposed to be.

I do like how there was a brief summary of what happened to our main character, Eloisa. From reviews I’ve read, she was introduced in the first book, though her story is dug into more in this one. I definitely sympathized with her. It would have been a lot harder back then to go through what she did.

I hated the constant mention of social obstacles and blah blah blah. I understand back then it would have been a bit more difficult to marry, having to sort of stay within your social circle, but it was just constant. Of course Eloisa and Sean loved each other, but it was extremely, ok well maybe not extremely, but it was pretty annoying.

All annoyances aside, their relationship was pretty adorable.

All in all, I would give this book about 3 out of 5 stars… Maybe if I had read the first book I might have been able to get to know her character.

This book was super slow… very slow.

Remember the Lilies by Liz Tolsma

I was very excited to read this. I absolutely adore reading books from the World War 2 era.

This book was pretty fantastic. Like I said, I’m a bit biased because reading books from the 1940s-1950s is a favorite pastime of mine. This is the first book I’ve read by Liz Tolsma, and I am very pleasantly surprised.

Additionally, this is the first book I’ve read set in Japan, and it was very interesting. I felt like I was learning a history lesson, though it wasn’t boring to me. It was, in sense, fun. I hardly ever hear anything about the Japan side of the war, and it interesting. It reminded me a little bit of Sarah Sundin’s writing, though Liz’s seemed a bit more write for adults, where Sarah’s seems a little more written for both adults as well as young adults.

I adored the relationships Irene had with her Aunt Anita and Rand. Anita and Irene were obviously very close, and the relationship buildup of Irene and Rand. I don’t like it when relationships move fast, and this one, though personally a little slow for my taste (*wink* *wink*), progressed pretty normal.

All in all, I loved this book so much its sort of hard for me to write a review about it haha.

Thanks to BookLook and the publisher for my copy of the book.

Out of the Ruins by Karen Barnett

This book has easily become a favorite. I was not completely sold on it at first, but once I started the second chapter I became much more eager to finish it.

The aftermath of the earthquake was very descriptive and heart wrenching, and knowing that though this book was probably much tamer than the actual event is so sad.

The book was mostly of hardships, through Abby losing a loved one and the earthquake, but the sweet romance was just perfect – not too in your face, but not just… ‘there’ either.

I loved how Abby seemed to slowly come to God, rather then just out of the blue accepting Him as her Savior. When that happens in books, it just seems so unrealistic, so when I find stuff like what was in this book, I really have to give the author a round of applause because it seems very hard to do.

I will definitely read this again, and am looking forward to the next books in the series.

*I received this book through a giveaway, thanks to Goodreads.com

Paper Roses by Amanda Cabot

I was originally not interested in this book because of it’s Texan/western theme, but it was free on kindle so I decided to try it out. It was an amazing book, so I’m really glad I didn’t let the setting get in the way of reading this sweet story.

The relationship between Sarah and Clay was gradual, it wasn’t really love at first sight, which I liked. It seemed more realistic. I also liked the plot twists in the book… gave it a bit more dimension. The characters had real problems, they didn’t have cookie cutter lives and then all of a sudden something happened. They started out with problems, which made them seem more real. The story really grabs your attention, making it a page-turner.

The romance was very sweet. Not too overdone, which is nice.

Their is a bit of violence mentioned from the very beginning, though most of the hot-and-heavy stuff is toward the end.

The ending felt a bit fast paced for me personally. I feel like Cabot could have drawn it out just a little bit, but it still had a nice closure to it.

All in all, this book was just really good. I would definitely recommend this to anyone.

Bridge to Haven by Francine Rivers

This is the first book I’ve read of Francine’s, and is by far the most touching, heart-wrenching, sweetly romantic books I’ve ever read.

At first, I was a little iffy and wondered if I had made the right decision in getting this book. But once I got into it, I couldn’t stop reading it!

I really loved the relationship between Abra and Joshua. Though we don’t see it much, it was incredibly sweet and couldn’t have been better. I could however, understand how people could get a little uncomfortable around their romantic relationship because she did grow up around him as a brother for the first five years of her life. It didn’t bother me, though, because they weren’t related in a biological sense.

Abra got herself into trouble, and even today we see what she went through all over the news. She was sexually abused, emotionally abused, and forced into an abortion. I really felt sympathetic toward her, regardless of how she thought she felt or deserved to be treated.

Yet another thing I loved was that she wrestles with her faith throughout the book. I’ve always said how much I’ve hated when characters just all of a sudden take an interest in becoming a Christian, and then in that same moment they become one. It just never feels realistic. But it’s something we see her struggle with and doubt all through the book, when she finally accepts it and becomes a Christian.

I will definitely read it again, and hopefully one day I’ll have daughters to read this.

Warning:
This book contains death, rape, depression, and abortion. I would not recommend it for girls under the age of 15.