"Dandelions on the Wind" by Mona Hodgson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Maren Jensen took a job on Elsa Brantenberg’s St. Charles, Missouri farm, she never expected to call the place her home. As she grows to love Mrs. Brantenberg and her granddaughter, Gabi, Maren is transformed from a lonely mail-order bride-without-a-groom to a beloved member of the Brantenberg household. But when Gabi’s father, Rutherford “Wooly” Wainwright, returns to the farm unexpectedly, everything changes for Maren. Despite the failing eyesight that caused her suitor to reject her, she can see that Wooly desperately needs to reconnect with the family he abandoned when his grief sent him running toward the army—and into the Civil War. She also senses there could be something more between the widower and herself, if either can move beyond their past hurts.

Comforted and counseled by the wisdom of the women in her beloved quilting circle, Maren begins to discover the cost such decisions demand of her heart. Are her choices in obedience to God, or is she running from His plan? Is it too late for love to be stitched into the fabric of her life?

I was really disappointed to find this a novella. This could be fleshed out into a full-size novel easily, and I think the story would be better for it. It seemed to skim over the top of the characters and not dig down deep, and that kept most of the characters feeling more two dimensional. I've only read one other of Mona Hodgson's books, and I loved it. This one just felt lacking to me.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Long Trail Home" by Vickie McDonough

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As a young girl, Annie is forced by her father to steal becoming an expert pickpocket. When her father finally abandons her in Waco, TX, she comes across a school for the blind and decides to pretend to be blind to have the safety and love the children there know.

Fast forwarding a few years, Riley Morgan returns from the war to find his parents dead and his fiance married. Taking a job at the Wilcox School for the blind, he finds himself becoming more and more interested in the pretty, blind young woman that works there.

This is book #3 in the Morgan Family Series, a series which I am thoroughly enjoying reading. I like the characters and the story lines. However, this one dropped a star for trying to convince you that for all of these years, Annie has been able to fool everyone in town except the two women who work at the school. Incident after incident should have completely given it away, especially to Riley. That was just unbelievable. Over all, though, it was a good story that I enjoyed reading.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Wisdom to Know" by Elizabeth Maddrey

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

*Possible Spoiler near the end!*

Lydia Brown is the classic preacher's daughter daughter gone wrong. She's pretty much made every terrible choice she could possibly make, and now her life is out of control. A single car accident brings everything down around her.

Kevin McGregor has been in love with Lydia since high school and truly believes that she is the woman God has for him. Now he has to deal with all of her secrets, and he's not sure he can forgive them all.

This book deals with a myriad of issues from inappropriate relationships, to drug abuse to abortion. I wasn't sure about the book in the beginning, but it drew me in and I began to care for the characters and what happened to them. It was good to see characters that weren't perfect--that didn't always have the right reactions or words to say--but people that were trying to live for God and do what they should.

There were a couple of negatives to the book. It was never explained why Lydia felt she never measured up in her parents eyes to her sisters. When she realizes she is pregnant, she feels she can't tell her parents as there would be yelling, tears and looks of disappointment. Okay, the last two make sense, but the way her parents are portrayed throughout the book, she had to know they wouldn't yell at her. I'm not sure if that was just an excuse to not tell them, or a mistake by the author. *POSSIBLE SPOILER*!!! Finally, the last few pages felt rushed. From not talking to each other to marriage in 12 pages was a bit much. The book was only 237 pages long, so it's not like it was a terribly long book that had to be rushed. I wish the author would have taken a bit more time with that aspect of the book.

All in all, I felt this was a good book dealing with sensitive issues, and I would recommend it. I realize some thought the abortion was glossed over with no description of her decision, thoughts, doubts, etc. but I felt that was covered quite well when Lydia talks with Becky in the hospital. All she was thinking of was that she couldn't hide the pregnancy, she couldn't marry quickly as she was no longer with the father, disappointing her parents and best friend, so she did it quickly--on purpose--before she could think about it too much and change her mind. Unfortunately, I'm afraid so many do the same thing, rushing into it without letting themselves think about it hardly at all. That felt pretty realistic to me.

I received a copy of this book from Hope Springs Books through BookCrash.com for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Secrets" by Robin Jones Gunn

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Jessica is running away to hide in the small town of Glenbrooke, Oregan in the Willamette Valley. Her plan to slip in quietly crashes quite literally when she loses control of her car and ends up in the ER. Things go downhill from there.

This book is full of completely unreal scenarios such as the woman in the emergency room hounding her for her id, contact person and insurance information right after they get her into the ER. I've been in the ER multiple times whether we drove there or in an ambulance and they NEVER asked more than once while everything was happening, and the trip in the ambulance they didn't even ask. They were more concerned with treating me than with paperwork.

In her big plan to escape, Jessica only brought about $300 with her (trying not to give spoilers, but that was unrealistic, too), so after paying her ER bill, she's left with $10.27. A chunk of the book is about her trying not to starve while waiting for her paycheck, which of course is delayed due to her file not being up date. She gave the school one name, while the principal that hired her (who is, of course, now in the hospital due to a stroke) listed her real name. The whole grocery deal was unrealistic, too. Who buys a loaf of bread for $.39?!? Even day old bread is a lot more than that normally.

The biggest problem I found in this book is that during all this financial trouble, Jessica is practically forced into accompanying a group from the church (which she doesn't attend) on a missions trip to Mexico as another chaperone. Really?! Churches are very careful who they have chaperone their kids, especially on an out-of-the-country missions trip. A woman they barely know and that no one has even tried to find out her spiritual state would NOT be a good choice. There were a lot more unrealistic situations (anyone know of a chiropracter giving a MONTH of free treatment to a total stranger?), but these cover enough to give you an idea about the book.

I really liked Teri. She was friendly, helpful, but not so perfect. I loved how she witnessed to Jessica, apologizing if she pushed too hard, but showing how she cared. "Please try to hear my heart and not my clumsy words" was probably my favorite line in the book. I have felt that way before when trying to witness to someone without pushing too hard, but trying to show my heart and how much I cared. We could use more Teri's in our lives.

All in all, this is a bit of fluff writing for killing a few hours as long as you don't mind unrealistic plots and no depth.

I received a copy of this book from WaterBrook Multnomah through Blogging For Books for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Stealing the Preacher" by Karen Witemeyer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Crockett Archer is on a train on the way to candidate for a church that he feels is God's will for his life. Before he gets there, the train is held up, but instead of stealing valuables, they want the preacher that is riding the train. Seems the only thing the head of the hold-up party's daughter wanted for her birthday was a preacher. Joanna Robbins is horrified that her father (a former outlaw) stole a parson for her! Trying to right the wrong, she asks that she be allowed to take a walk with the preacher alone, and then he be sent on his way. During the walk, she opens her heart to the parson that her mother on her deathbed passed to her daughter the charge to always pray for her father an continue to plant seeds that he might someday come to Christ. Their church lost their pastor to a larger town a few years before, and her desire is for a preacher to bring the church back to life. She extracts a promise that he will help her find a pastor for the church, then goes on his way. Neither expected things to turn out how they did!

I went into this book fully expecting a light, fluffy book with unbelievable circumstances. To be honest, I was guilty of judging a book by it's cover/title. I didn't expect to give it above 3 stars, and for that I apologize to the author and readers alike. I loved this book!! Joanna is a sweet girl with yearning to see her father saved, and to have a church again as a light in the community. Crockett is a man's man, a true cowboy, that gave up ranch life to follow God's calling to reach the lost and help the hurting. There's not your usual long, drawn-out misunderstanding caused by the vixen and taking up half the book (or more). Though he gives her the benefit of the doubt, Crockett sees through her immediately. I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, plot and writing. I will be reading more of this author!

I received a digital copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley.com for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Reflections of Rosalyn: A Life of Victory" by Theresa Franklin

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The story of Rosalyn and the events that shaped her life. The book starts as Rosalyn faces life without her beloved husband who she just lost to a long illness. It jumps back and forth between the present and her past. Unfortunately, that's where the author lost me. I've read books in this style before and, while not my favorite, they were okay. This book seemed very choppy and disjointed. It would take me a minute to figure out which time we were in. Many times the switches made no sense--they didn't flow at all--while other times something she was facing in the present would bring a memory of the past. I felt like the book never really came together. Some of the story line felt forced, as well. Other than a couple of bad incidents, things seemed to just constantly fall into place in Rosalyn's best interests which seemed very unreal. This book had a lot of promise, but I felt it didn't quite live up to it.

I received a digital copy of this book from the author through CWA for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

"Jennifer" by Dee Henderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After finding God and falling in love, life is good for Dr. Jennifer O'Malley. But can her faith--and her family--survive the challenges ahead?

A sweet, short prequel to the O'Malley series. I really enjoyed this book. It was so nice to get Jennifer and Tom's back story that is only touched on in the other books. Jennifer is a lovely girl, a doctor working with the sickest kids who really puts herself and her heart out there with her kids. I appreciated that Jennifer as a new christian didn't take the bad news well with lots of trust in God initially. You see her hurt that the God she just trusted in is allowing this terrible thing to happen to her.

Tom is a wonderful man who gently witnesses to Jennifer, falls in love with her and determines to stand beside her no matter what--even when Jennifer tries to push him away.

This is a lovely story that makes me want to re-read the O'Malley books again to finish her story.

One caveat I have is at Jennifer's baptism where Tom clearly says in part that the baptism is for the forgiveness of her sins. The Bible clearly teaches that it's repentance (which is not mentioned) that saves us, not baptism. I realize there are many that don't agree with me, but I provide an honest opinion--not always a popular one--and that is the reason this dropped to four stars out of five.

I received a free digital copy of this book from Bethany House Publishing through NetGalley.com for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.