​Keturah never intends to put herself at the mercy of a man again, but every man on the island seems to be trying to win her hand and, with it, the ownership of her plantation. She could desperately use an ally, but even an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend leaves her questioning his motives.
 
To keep her family together and save the plantation that is her last chance at providing for them, can Keturah ever surrender her stubbornness and guarded heart to God and find the healing and love awaiting her?

​“…all God asks of us is to do our best, from morning to night. He does not expect us to that things that only He can accomplish, only what we’ve been given to do, and to trust Him with the rest.”
 
This summarizes one of the major themes of Keturah, by Lisa T. Bergren and is a large part of why I enjoyed this book.
 
She has written an excellent work of historical fiction that takes place in Georgian England and the Caribbean with well-developed characters, intriguing themes, and a sweet and believable romance. This is the first book I’ve read Ms. Bergren and is the first book in her new series, The Sugar Baron’s Daughters.
 
Keturah Banning Tomlinson is the hero, the oldest of the Sugar Baron’s daughters. They receive word that their father has passed away and in an effort to earn money to pay off creditors, Keturah and her sisters decide to move to the sugar plantation her father ran on the island of Nevis and take over the operations. Keturah is a great character. She is a widow and suffered emotional and physical abuse from her first husband. This has understandably made her hesitant to trust in God, reluctant to rely on others, especially men. She’s also headstrong, determined, and just a touch naïve. Keturah’s journey to overcome her past is my favorite arc in the book.
 
Gray Covington is our other main character, and he is also wonderful. He is a younger son and spent his childhood and early adult years as a flighty character. He is also a childhood friend of Keturah’s. When the book opens, Gray is dedicated to rebuilding his own family’s sugar plantation and has overcome his earlier “indiscretions” of flirting and kissing a lot of women. Gray is definitely changed himself for the better and works hard at being the best person he can be.
 
Often when a physical journey is involved, the trip itself takes too long and then the “destination” part of the story is resolved too quickly. Luckily Ms. Bergren works out the correct proportion of prior, during, and after the trip from England to Nevis and none of those sections feels unbalanced.
 
The romance between Keturah and Gray developed at a nice pace and I understood both of their motivations for wanting a relationship and reasons why they were leery of being in one. Hopefully we will get to see more of them in the next books in the series!
 
Learning to rely on others, God, and overcoming difficult pasts are themes that are handled well in this book. I appreciated that Keturah’s abuse at the hand of her first husband was not glossed over, nor are the lasting effects it has on her. Secondary characters are also well-drawn, and both of Keturah’s sisters are well-developed with motivations and desires of their own.  
 
One minor aspect of this book that I trouble with is it feels like it disregards the fact that Keturah and her sisters are slave owners. We expect slave owners to be portrayed as over the top evil and there are some in the book like that, but we are also supposed to be okay with Keturah and Gray owning slaves. It is historically accurate but I want to make sure other readers are aware of this.
 
I give Keturah 4/5 stars and recommend it to those interested in learning more about the sugar growing process, the Caribbean, and those who enjoy books about overcoming our pasts.
 
**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Bethany House. All opinions are my own.**

​Judah’s Wife: A Novel of the Maccabees is the second book in The Silent Years series. I’ve enjoyed previous books by Angela Hunt and was excited to have an opportunity to read more. The Silent Years series are not connected to each other, so you don’t need to read the first one prior to Judah's Wife, though I recommend it as Ms. Hunt writes excellent Biblical Fiction.
 
Ms. Hunt brings the story of Judah and his wife Leah to life in a well researched and well-written book that anyone who wants to learn more about the Maccabean Revolt will appreciate.
 
Judah’s Wife alternates first person point of view between Leah and Judah and that can be difficult to pull off, but Ms. Hunt manages it deftly. Leah’s and Judah’s voices are very distinct from each other and it is easy to feel the differences in their characters.
 
The title character is Leah, who is raised in an abusive household. She has an encounter with Judah where he saves her from harm and is intrigued, as he is so different from her own father. Judah is also intrigued by her and their fathers arrange a marriage. Judah is twenty-four and Leah fourteen when the marriage takes place.
 
Based on her childhood, Leah’s desire for a safe, pleasant, untroubled life is understandable. Judah’s lack of interest in violence makes her happy and they begin to fall in love. Yet when the Maccabean Revolt begins and Judah believes he is called to fight, she begins to fear he is violent like her father and draws away from him. However, it takes longer than I would have liked for Judah and Leah to talk with each other about this. 
 
Judah struggles with what he feels God is calling him to do (leading the Revolt) and his love for Leah. His characterization is not as deep as Leah’s but I understood his emotions and feelings, and was pleased with this character development. Judah’s chapters spend a lot of time recounting battles and at times they read like a textbook, but Ms. Hunt writes so well that the chapters are enjoyable and propel the story forward.
 
The themes that Ms. Hunt develops include listening for God’s voice instead of our own. Both both Leah and Judah struggle with their callings and their own ideas about what they want out of life. Ms. Hunt also touches on the conflict between following God and submitting to governments if they are demanding we do not follow God. 
 
One of the things that Leah struggles with regarding her faith is not understanding who God is. She also doesn’t think she is special enough for God to speak to her. That is a point a lot of Christians struggle with.
 
Judah’s Wife is a well-written, well researched work of Biblical Fiction. Leah and Judah are both great characters and the journeys they undertake together and separately are worth the read. The other characters aren’t fleshed out as well, though none feel superfluous or unimportant to the story.
 
I will definitely read more books by Ms. Hunt and the other books in this series. I give this book 4/5 stars and recommend it for anyone who enjoys Biblical Fiction.
 
**I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House, the publisher. All opinions are my own.**

​Major Daniel Adams has his hands full at Fort Reno, especially raising two adolescent daughters alone. If this new governess doesn't work out, his mother-in-law insists she'll raise the girls herself--far away from the fort. Miss Bell bears little resemblance to Daniel's notion of a governess--they're not supposed to be so blamed pretty--but he finds himself turning a blind eye to her unconventional methods. Louisa has never faced so important a performance. Can she keep her act together long enough to help her brother and to secure the respectable future she's sought for so long?

​Holding the Fort is the first book in the Fort Reno series, and the first work I’ve read by Regina Jennings. It definitely won’t be the last!
 
Ms. Jennings has written a great book with underlying themes of honesty, grace, and overcoming our pasts. It is unexpectedly humorous as well, but never at the expense of the characters. You are laughing with them and never at them.
 
Our heroine, Louisa, is a dance hall singer with a unique upbringing. This is generally not an occupation for the protagonist in Christian fiction, and Louisa’s perception of what others think of her job is the main cause of her internal conflict. Louisa is a great character. She’s fun, smart, and resourceful. Louisa does spend most of the book embroiled in deception, though she never feels at ease with it, and that makes her more sympathetic.
 
Daniel, an Army major, is the hero, and he’s trying to raise two daughters while in charge of Fort Reno, which is in Indian Territory. He’s quick to realize something isn’t quite right with the story that Louisa is telling him, but she is able to connect with his daughters. Because of this, he’s willing to overlook the inconsistencies in Louisa’s story.
 
Ms. Jennings’ writing brings the characters to life and the setting is perfectly realized. I really did feel I was in the Indian Territory! Holding the Fort’s themes, including overcoming your past through grace, never feel preachy or out of place, and are one of the best parts of this book.
 
One part of the story that impacted my enjoyment of the book is that Louisa and Daniel make a lot of assumptions about each other in the beginning, and indeed almost to the end. The manner in which the truth about Louisa is revealed to Daniel disappointed me.
 
Despite the above, I do believe in the HEA and the development of the relationship. I’m hoping that Louisa and Daniel reappear in the other books in the Fort Reno series.
 
I give this book 4/5 stars and recommend it to readers who enjoy unusual settings, well-developed characters, and a lovely and sweet romance.
 
**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Bethany House. All opinions are my own.**

​Tracie Peterson was one of the first Christian Fiction authors I ever read, and I have enjoyed reading most of her books since. And I must say that with Beloved Hope, the second in her “Heart of the Frontier” series, Ms. Peterson has written another great book.
 
It centers on Hope, a survivor of the Whitman Massacre, who is struggling to overcome what happened to her there when she’s asked to testify against her Indian attackers at their trial. She harbors anger and a desire for revenge toward them for what they did to her and the others. Hope is a great character. She’s determined to put it all behind her but she can’t, not even once the trial is completed. Hope struggles with leaning on God in the wake of this traumatic event and it is something that I deeply empathize with.
 
I also appreciated that none of the secondary characters, especially Hope’s two sisters, felt her feelings were necessarily wrong in and of themselves. They worried about the damage to Hope herself with her inability to move on from the tragedy by keeping a hold on those feelings.
 
Lance is the other main character, and he’s also a good character, though his development isn’t quite as noticeable as Hope’s is. He’s a soldier at the beginning of the book, tasked with making sure the Indians on trial for the massacre are kept safe during it. He and Hope develop a friendship that eventually blossoms into love.
 
Lance’s main struggle is trying to forgive the man who engaged in a duel with his brother, and to learn to lean on God. The journeys that Hope and Lance take throughout the book are thought provoking and believable.
 
The secondary characters, especially Hope’s sisters, Mercy and Grace, are excellently drawn. None of them feels as if they are a mere plot point. Grace is the heroine of the first book, and Mercy the heroine of the next one. I am definitely picking up both stories. Though they are a series, each book works perfectly well as a standalone.
 
Ms. Peterson always does an excellent job of setting the scene, and this one is no exception. You can definitely see Oregon City through the eyes of the characters.
 
I give this book 4/5 stars and recommend it to lovers of Christian Historical Romance who appreciate tough topics being handled deftly.  There is one part of Lance’s forgiveness story that feels contrived, but it doesn’t distract from the overall themes and didn’t lessen my enjoyment of the story.
 
**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Bethany House. All opinions are my own.** 

​True to You by Becky Wade is the first book I’ve read by this author. And I am absolutely excited to read more of her books. In True to You, Ms. Wade has written an extraordinary story of how we can depend on God even when our lives are thrown into upheaval.
 
I was dropped immediately into the story on the first page. Each scene is detailed and feels distinct from each other. The prose is great, each line serving the story with no unnecessary details. Within the first three pages I felt attached to the main characters.
 
Nora, the heroine, is a great character. Her life was thrown into upheaval unexpectedly and she thinks she’s gotten over it and pieced her life back together. Watching Nora realize that’s not entirely accurate and how she learns to depend on God is a wonderful character arc and I fully believe Nora’s transformation.
 
I related to John Lawson, the hero of the story, even more than Nora. I served in the military and understood him. I won’t spoil the reason he’s searching for his birth parents, but he’s a wounded man with a soft gooey center who often uses humor to escape his emotions before it eventually becomes too much and it all boils over. These are my favorite types of heroes and John is a great example.
 
I rooted for Nora and John the entire time. I fully believe in their romance and that the two of them will be able to overcome any obstacle.
 
I rarely share quotes that I enjoy, but this is one of the best lines I’ve ever read: “’If I was going to make it through, I was going to have to do it on what was left of my true character after all the surface parts of who I thought I was had been stripped away.’” What a great line that really drives home the themes in the book.
 
True to You is the first story in a new series by Ms. Wade and I am eagerly awaiting the next one. I loved this book and give it 5/5 stars. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys sweet contemporary romances with unexpected depth and relatable characters.
 
** I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House, the publisher. All opinions are my own.**

​Ryan thinks he may have finally found a solution to his impossible situation, but he needs Jenny's help. While her loyalty to her country compels her to agree, she was too badly hurt to fall for Ryan again despite his determination to win her back. When an unknown threat from Ryan's past puts everything at risk--including his life--can they overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds stacked against them in time?

​I have never read any of Ms. Camden’s previous books. And based on reading To the Farthest Shores, I am not sure I will attempt another one.
 
I wanted to love this book. It’s written well (Ms. Camden has a lovely prose style), full of excellent details and research, and the characters had both attributes and flaws. In the end, though, I just couldn’t relate to the characters or connect with them in any way, and so the book fell flat for me.
 
The setting, just after the Spanish-American War in the early 1900s, is one rarely seen in historical romance, and featured Jenny Bennett, a nurse heroine from a rough upbringing, and Lieutenant Ryan Gallagher, whose service to his country includes dangerous and secret missions.
 
I liked Jenny well enough, though only at some parts in the story. Though she’s “respectable” at the beginning of the story as a hard-working nurse, her backstory as a child growing up in rough conditions made it seem as if the respectableness was a veneer. I didn’t truly believe she changed as much as Jenny thought she did, and she had issues that I did not feel were resolved satisfactorily.  
 
Ryan is calm. Seriously, he’s so calm I wanted to shake him to make sure he was still alive. And because he is also fairly unobservant (which I found hard to believe as he’s done undercover work in the past), it makes him appear dumber than he is. He’s a perfectly capable character, especially when he’s talking about oysters, but other than that there wasn’t much emotion from him.
 
I also think it suffered that the majority of the story was told from Jenny’s point of view. Because she was so untrusting I kept wanting to yell at her that she needed to listen to what the other characters were telling her. Ryan was trying to protect her and so he avoided telling her things about his past, which made her lack of trust worse. Lack of communication is a big issue for me in romance and these two hardly talk about anything deep or important.
 
I know at that time in history, promises to be married were rarely broken and considered nearly as sacred as marriage itself, but I did not interpret Ryan being with, marrying Akira, and having a child with her as “infidelity” and each time Jenny referred to it as such I was thrown a little out of the story. It was definitely a part of what they needed to discuss and work through, but I do not believe I would classify it as such because they weren’t married or even together when those events happened.  
 
I loved the descriptions of oyster farming and the story itself was excellently researched. Unfortunately, my inability to connect or relate to the characters, along with the lack of communication between them, means this is a story that I cannot recommend for romance fans. Lovers of oysters and pearls will enjoy the details Ms. Camden provides. I give it 2/5 stars for the lovely prose, excellent historical detail, the beautifully detailed setting, and the unusual timeframe.
 
**I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House, the publisher. All opinions are my own.**

​Gifts From Heaven: True Stories of Miraculous Answers to Prayer, a book of short essays detailing a moment in each of the individual author’s life where God answered a prayer, was complied by James Stuart Bell (who also wrote one of the essays).
 
I will admit that I do not often read books about miraculous answers to prayer. Not because I don’t believe in the power of prayer (I do), but because the stories tend to be heart wrenching, dramatic, and often, cross into simply unbelievable.
 
Thankfully, Gifts from Heaven isn’t one of those books. These stories are heart wrenching and dramatic, and I admit I shed a few tears while reading. There are stories about people being healed from terminal disease, people being uninjured after accidents that should have been fatal, and a few in which prayers were answered not in the way the author had hoped. One of my favorites is “He Opened My Eyes” by Jeff Adams. This particular story stuck with me and I marked it to read again later. I don’t want to spoil it, so I won’t reveal what it was about. But all of the stories are well-executed and gave me much to ponder on about how prayer works in my own life.
 
I give this book 4/5 stars and recommend it to anyone who struggles with believing that prayers are always answered.
 
**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Bethany House. All opinions are my own.**

An Uncommon Courtship is the first book I've read by Kristi Ann Hunter, and it definitely won't be the last. And I will be buying the rest of the Hawthorne House series.

Marriage of conveniences are one of my favorite tropes in fiction, and I especially love them when the characters don’t know each other well. Trent and Adelaide are thrown into marriage after spending a completely innocent night stuck in a crumbling ruin.
 
Adelaide is a great character. Due to an upbringing where she is ignored unless her sister needs something, and an overbearing social climber mother, she is very reserved and doesn’t always know how to express her needs or wants. Watching her break out of this shell and become more assertive and aware of her needs is one of my favorite parts of the book. I adore Adelaide.
 
Trent is also a great character. He is honorable in marrying Adelaide to prevent her reputation from being destroyed, and his relationship with his brother is one of my favorite aspects of the book, though it didn’t overshadow the romance. When he realizes he may have feelings for her and how uncertain Adelaide feels in her new life as his wife, he decides to court her to win her affection.
 
Ms. Hunter is a very capable writer. The setting is so detailed I could picture every scene perfectly and it’s excellently researched. A pet peeve of mine is when titled characters aren’t addressed correctly, so I was glad to see it done perfectly in this book! The secondary characters are also well-done and aren’t merely there to move the plot along.
 
This book is part of a series but can stand alone. I do, however, recommend you read the rest of the series simply because I think this author has written an amazing story and I hope the others are just as good. I can’t wait to read the rest of them.
 
I give this book 5/5 stars and recommend it to readers who enjoy a sweet romance with rich historical detail, main characters who live their faith, and excellent secondary characters.
 
**I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Bethany House. All opinions are my own.**