The Solace of Water

by Elizabeth Byler Younts

Description

In a time of grief and heartache, an unlikely friendship provides strength and solace.

After leaving her son’s grave behind in Montgomery, Alabama, Delilah Evans has little faith that moving to her husband’s hometown in Pennsylvania will bring a fresh start. Enveloped by grief and doubt, the last thing Delilah imagines is becoming friends with her reclusive Amish neighbor, Emma Mullet—yet the secrets that keep Emma isolated from her own community bond her to Delilah in delicate and unexpected ways.

Delilah’s eldest daughter, Sparrow, bears the brunt of her mother’s pain, never allowed for a moment to forget she is responsible for her brother’s death. When tensions at home become unbearable for her, she seeks peace at Emma’s house and becomes the daughter Emma has always wanted. Sparrow, however, is hiding secrets of her own—secrets that could devastate them all.

With the white, black, and Amish communities of Sinking Creek at their most divided, there seems to be little hope for reconciliation. But long-buried hurts have their way of surfacing, and Delilah and Emma find themselves facing their own self-deceptions. Together they must learn how to face the future through the healing power of forgiveness.

Eminently relevant to the beauty and struggle in America today, The Solace of Water offers a glimpse into the turbulent 1950s and reminds us that friendship rises above religion, race, and custom—and has the power to transform a broken heart.

Biography

Elizabeth Byler Younts gained a worldwide audience through her first book Seasons: A Real Story of an Amish Girl and is a RITA nominated writer. Elizabeth lives in Central Pennsylvania with her husband, two daughters, and a cockapoo named Fable. 

Go to www.elizabethbyleryounts.com to learn more.

My Perspective ~

Deep down and truthfully, we are no different from one another. We all need the air to breathe, and water is life. I just finished this book, and I'm reflecting on numerous disquieting feelings, a good elixir due to the substance in this book. Racial and religious boundaries are traversed with grace and grit. Relationships are developed with realism and depth. Descriptive with haunting details, life and all its complications are revealed with earthiness and depth of feeling. Historically accurate, authentic, and candid, the characters and events throughout this novel are incredibly original and diverse.

Told by the voices of three of the characters from this tragic story, each is unique and valid. Deep personalities reveal the uniqueness of how they face adversity and seek to overcome the stark realities that each faces. Survival over grief is at the crux of this hauntingly beautiful novel. Lessons in forgiveness are crucial in the light of deception. I highly recommend this powerful novel, and will undoubtedly read this book again in the future!

The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond

by Jaime Jo Wright

Description

For over a century, the town of Gossamer Grove has thrived on its charm and midwestern values, but Annalise Forsythe knows painful secrets, including her own, hover just beneath the pleasant facade. When a man is found dead in his run-down trailer home, Annalise inherits the trailer, along with the pictures, vintage obituaries, and old revival posters covering its walls. As she sorts through the collection, she's wholly unprepared for the ramifications of the dark and deadly secrets she'll uncover. 

A century earlier, Gossamer Grove has been stirred into chaos by the arrival of controversial and charismatic twin revivalists. The chaos takes a murderous turn when Libby Sheffield, working at her father's newspaper, receives an obituary for a reputable church deacon hours before his death. As she works with the deacon's son to unravel the mystery behind the crime, it becomes undeniably clear that a reckoning has come to town--but it isn't until another obituary arrives that they realize the true depths of the danger they've waded into.

Two women, separated by a hundred years, must uncover the secrets within the borders of their own town before it's too late and they lose their future--or their very souls.

Biography

Professional coffee drinker & ECPA/Publisher's Weekly best-selling author, Jaime Jo Wright resides in the hills of Wisconsin writing spirited turn-of-the-century romance stained with suspense. Coffee fuels her snarky personality. She lives in Neverland with her Cap’n Hook who stole her heart and will not give it back, their little fairy TinkerBell, and a very mischievous Peter Pan. The foursome embark on scores of adventure that only make her fall more wildly in love with romance and intrigue.

Jaime lives in dreamland, exists in reality, and invites you to join her adventures at jaimejowright.com!

My Perspective ~

Only this author's second novel, I'm impressed once again at the creativity and talent she exhibits through her writing. Connected stories a century apart are told brilliantly as the two stories are woven together across time. Characters are deeply developed, and the storytelling is descriptive. I could feel the murkiness of Gossamer Grove as dark secrets unfolded throughout both time frames. Relationships are well depicted, and questions of character rise to the surface as developments emerge. Rich with the history of the locale, Gossamer Grove was as real as any small town in America, with its secrets and intrigue.

I highly recommend this book, and look forward to future novels by this talented author!

Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands

by Susan Carol McCarthy

Description

Here is one of those rare and remarkable debuts that herald the appearance of a major new talent on the literary scene. Inspired by real events, Lay That Trumpet In Our Hands is a wise and luminous story about a northern family, a southern town, and the senseless murder that sparks an extraordinary act of courage.

To this day, my family is in disagreement as to precisely when the nightmare began. For me, it was the morning Daddy and Luther discovered Marvin, beaten, shot, and dying, in the Klan’s stomping grounds off Round Lake Road. My brother Ren disagrees. He points to the small cluster of scars that begin just outside his left eye and trail horizontally across his temple to the top of his ear. Ren claims it started when the men in white robes took the unprecedented step of shooting at two white children. Others say it was when Mr. Thurgood Marshall of the NAACP and Mr. Hoover’s FBI came to town. Mother and Daddy shake their heads. In their minds, the real beginning was much earlier....

Biography

Susan Carol McCarthy was born and raised in the rural grovelands of pre-Disney central Florida. After graduating University of South Florida, however, McCarthy wrote advertising for then-opened Walt Disney World in Orlando. Later, after successful stints at McCann Erickson Advertising in Atlanta and San Francisco, McCarthy married a Californian and settled in San Diego as a full-time freelancer.

In 1991, McCarthy's writing life took a dramatic turn. A batch of news clippings from the Orlando Sentinel and a startling letter from her father detailed a series of shocking race crimes that occurred throughout Florida in 1951-1952. (Records of an FBI investigation, a Grand Jury hearing, and KKK indictments had been sealed for 40 years.) Her father's account of his daring cooperation with the FBI became the basis for McCarthy's award-winning debut novel, LAY THAT TRUMPET IN OUR HANDS. 

My Perspective ~

Lay That Trumpet in Our Hands literally made my heart ache. Details of life in Florida in the early 1950s, and the activities of the Ku Klux Klan are vividly told in this heart wrenching novel. A debut novel, it is written with the polish and insight of a seasoned author. The story is told by a young girl named Reesa. Her tale of life as a preteen during a violent time in our nation's history is told with grit and clarity. Her young black friend, Marvin, was killed violently by members of the KKK, an unthinkable crime that brought to light atrocities that no one should have to experience.

I loved Reesa's family dynamics and the supportive relationships they shared. They set examples of tolerance and acceptance in a community of prejudice and suspicion, and stood firmly for righteousness in the wake of hate crimes. I loved this gritty, touching story of a girl's coming of age in a violent time in our nation. Descriptive, earthy and told with a bold honesty, I will be reading this impressive book again! I highly recommend it!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book. All expressed opinions are my own. 

The Nightingale

by Kristin Hannah

Description

France, 1939 - In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn't believe that the Nazis will invade France … but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne's home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne's sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can … completely. But when he betrays her, Isabelle joins the Resistance and never looks back, risking her life time and again to save others.

Biography

Kristin Hannah is an award-winning and bestselling author of more than 20 novels including the international blockbuster, The Nightingale, which was named Goodreads Best Historical fiction novel for 2015 and won the coveted People's Choice award for best fiction in the same year. Additionally, it was named a Best Book of the Year by Amazon, iTunes, Buzzfeed, the Wall Street Journal, Paste, and The Week.

My Perspective ~

The Nightingale is a deeply powerful story of strength and survival, hauntingly beautiful and intensely harrowing! An unforgettable tale of endurance is told in agonizing detail. I highly recommend this impressive novel!

Fire Storm

Where There's Smoke, There is Fire

The Amish of Mackinac County #1)

by Laura V. Hilton
Giveaway!

Description

When Bridget Behr and her family migrate from a bustling Amish community in Ohio to the remote and isolated Upper Peninsula of Michigan, they’re met with an ugly surprise: the house they had bought sight unseen is an uninhabitable wreck. While her father and brother try to find work in the area, the family is forced to live in tents until the house and barn are rebuilt. Bridget can’t shake the guilt that it was her fault her family moved—and is too afraid to trust anyone, especially the flirtatious, overly-friendly Amish man who lives next door.

Gabriel Lapp has made Michigan his home out of necessity, but can’t wait to move back to Florida with its sunshine and warmer temperatures. But when Bridget’s family seeks refuge with Gabe during a fierce thunderstorm, he can’t help but feel a tug of responsibility for them—especially the girl with the dark green eyes.

Just as Bridget is finally settling into friendship, a new life, and maybe even love, a devastating forest fire ravages the county, destroying both land and the Behrs' dreams. Now Bridget and her family must decide: will they leave behind the ashes and start anew in another Amish community?  Or will they dare to fight for the future they’d hoped for in Mackinac County?

Biography

Award winning author, Laura Hilton, her husband, Steve, and their five children make their home in Arkansas. She is a pastor’s wife, a stay-at-home mom and home-schools. Laura is also a breast cancer survivor.

My Perspective ~

Fire Storm is this author's very best accomplishment to date! I became so deeply involved with Gabe's life that I found myself in tears several times. All of the characters in this book are real people in my mind. Described with such raw and primal depth and sensitivity, I melted emotionally. I will be reading this book again and again. My heart ached as one tragedy transcended to another.

I have been a fan of Amish fiction for many years, but I find that this author goes far beyond the norms of the genre, and expands her characters and action into unexplored territory. Written with passion and great sensitivity, this book will remain a lifelong favorite!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book with no expectations for a positive review. All expressed opinions are my own.  

CONTEST GUIDELINES: Please leave a comment and your email address using [at] and [dot] to protect your email address. Giveaways are limited to residents of the continental US only, please. I am not responsible for loss or damage through the postal service. Winners have one week to claim their prizes. Thank you so much for visiting my blog! I appreciate all of your comments!

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A Widow's Hope

by Vannetta Chapman

Description

His scars are visible.

Hers are hidden…

An Indiana Amish Brides match

After tragedy claimed her husband’s life and her son’s ability to walk, Hannah King doesn’t want a new man. She has her family, a home and mounting debts. Scarred Amish bachelor Jacob Schrock offers Hannah the job she desperately needs. But while Hannah helps Jacob resolve his accounting issues, can she and her little boy also heal his wounded heart?

Biography

Vannetta Chapman writes inspirational fiction full of grace. She has published more than one hundred articles in Christian family magazines, receiving more than two dozen awards from Romance Writers of America chapter groups. She discovered her love for the Amish while researching her grandfather’s birthplace of Albion, Pennsylvania. Her novel Falling to Pieces was a 2012 ACFW Carol Award winner. A Promise for Miriam earned a spot on the June 2012 Christian Retailing Top Ten Fiction list. Anna's Healing was a 2015 Carol Award finalist. Chapman writes Amish romance, Amish cozy mysteries, and Christian dystopian (suspense). Chapman was a teacher for 15 years and currently writes full time. She lives in the Texas hill country with her husband. For more information, visit her at www.VannettaChapman.com.

My Perspective ~

Hannah has too much on her mind to be distracted by anything but the most important details in her life, caring for her disabled son, moving on with her life after the loss of her husband, and attempting to find a way to help her parents keep up payments on their farm. Her heart is scarred, and anything beyond day to day duties is more than she can handle. 

Jacob Schrock lost his parents to a fire that burned their home to the ground. Badly burned from attempting to rescue them, Jacob hides himself behind his woodworking and building business. His bookkeeping is way out of order, and the IRS is knocking at his door. Can Hannah take a job with Jacob and solve both of their problems? Pick up a copy of this poignant book, and discover the secrets that two scarred individuals harbor. It's a powerful look at how our deepest pain can be used to move mountains. Excellent book!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book. All expressed opinions are my own.

Midnight Blue

by Simone van der Vlugt 

Description

From Simone Van Der Vlugt comes her European bestselling novel of a young woman's rise as a painter in Holland's Golden Age—perfect for readers of The Miniaturist, Tulip Fever, and Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Amsterdam 1654: against the backdrop of Holland's Golden Age, a dangerous secret threatens to destroy a young widow's new life.

Following the sudden death of her husband, twenty-five-year old Catrin leaves her small village and takes a job as a housekeeper to the successful Van Nulandt merchant family. Amsterdam is a city at the peak of its powers: science and art are flourishing in the Golden Age and Dutch ships bring back exotic riches from the Far East. Madam Van Nulandt passes her time taking expensive painting lessons from a local master, Rembrandt van Rigin, and when Catrin takes up a brush to finish some of her mistress's work Rembrandt realizes the maid has genuine talent, and encourages her to continue.

When a figure from her past threatens her new life, Catrin flees to the smaller city of Delft. There, her gift as a painter earns her a chance to earn a living painting pottery at a local workshop. Slowly, the workshop begins to develop a new type of pottery to rival fancy blue-on-white imported Chinese porcelain—and the graceful and coveted Delft Blue designs she creates help revolutionize the industry. But when tragedy strikes, Catrin must decide whether to defend her newfound independence, or return to the village that she'd fled.

My Perspective ~

Being of Dutch heritage I enjoy collecting Delftware, and was intrigued to find this to be a history of the origins of the pottery. The cover of this book caught my eye, as the beauty of Delftware is exhibited in beautiful detail. The story within is a difficult tale of love and loss, moving forward in life, and seeking both solace and happiness. Famous painters of the 17th century Holland are mentioned, as are detailed descriptions of how Delftware developed over time. Catrin's story rises above all else in this poignant narrative of a torn life. Descriptive in both character and landscape, I was transformed to the canals and fields of Holland as the author gave rich descriptions of the countryside and the cities as well as the events in Catrin's difficult life. I was captivated by this well written novel. I highly recommend it, and look forward to more from this author. 

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book with no expectations for a positive review. All expressed opinions are my own. 

The House on Foster Hill

by Jaime Jo Wright

Description

Kaine Prescott is no stranger to death. When her husband died two years ago, her pleas for further investigation into his suspicious death fell on deaf ears. In desperate need of a fresh start, Kaine purchases an old house sight unseen in her grandfather's Wisconsin hometown. But one look at the eerie, abandoned house immediately leaves her questioning her rash decision. And when the house's dark history comes back with a vengeance, Kaine is forced to face the terrifying realization she has nowhere left to hide. 

A century earlier, the house on Foster Hill holds nothing but painful memories for Ivy Thorpe. When an unidentified woman is found dead on the property, Ivy is compelled to discover her identity. Ivy's search leads her into dangerous waters and, even as she works together with a man from her past, can she unravel the mystery before any other lives--including her own--are lost?

Biography

Professional coffee drinker & ECPA/Publisher's Weekly best-selling author, Jaime Jo Wright resides in the hills of Wisconsin writing spirited turn-of-the-century romance stained with suspense. Coffee fuels her snarky personality. She lives in Neverland with her Cap’n Hook who stole her heart and will not give it back, their little fairy TinkerBell, and a very mischievous Peter Pan. The foursome embark on scores of adventure that only make her fall more wildly in love with romance and intrigue.

Jaime lives in dreamland, exists in reality, and invites you to join her adventures at jaimejowright.com!

My Perspective ~

This is a debut novel like none other! I don't know what I was expecting to find when I picked up a copy of this book, but I was pleasantly surprised to discover a riveting story of epic proportions! The suspense throughout this book kept me captivated and on the edge of my chair! Parallel dual time stories and their connections to one another are daunting. Character development is excellent and the descriptive qualities throughout this novel are intriguing. Unpredictable and fast paced, I found myself planted in this story until the very end. I highly recommend this impressive suspense novel, and look forward to future books by this talented author!