The Element of Love by Mary Connealy

 

1872 California. Part of a really good series, this book is mostly about Laura. There are three sisters, with the story opening as they escape from their evil stepfather before he sells them off in marriages to creeps that are advantageous only to him. As they're leaving, their Mother feigns a fall and goes back to buy them time. Their real father had amassed a large logging operation, training his daughters to take over the company one day and build it even further. They were each highly schooled and each has very special skills. When he died, their mother married the wrong man who had fooled all of them and wanted control of the company. So, they all have deep trust issues. As they're running away, they join a missionary group for safety and anonymity. The parson is a young man with a past, now saved and trying to spread the Good News. Very interesting as it develops. I really liked reading it and was fully engrossed. Each character is very real and 3D. Good lessons of Christian faith. Need to have the next one to binge read it!

I received this book free from the author, publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

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Finding Us by Tracie Peterson

 

Very similar to the first book yet entirely different. You don't think of the evil people who attend events like the Expo in Seattle 1909. This continuation is a wonderful story of Eleanor who is there to work with a camera at the Expo until the event is over, but loves botany. She meets a botanist also working there, who had been living in Alaska and had recently been on a ship that sank getting to Seattle. There the plot thickens and it's hard to put it down. Characters you'd like to know. Strong lessons of faith. Excellent story. 

I received this book free from the author, publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

#FindingUs #NetGalley #TraciePeterson #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout #BethenyHouse #ChristianHistoricalFiction #FiveStarHistorical 

Synopsis

One candid photograph will change the lives of four people forever.

While taking photographs at an exposition in Seattle in 1909, Camera Girl Eleanor Bennett snaps an image of a woman in widow's clothes with deep sorrow etched in her expression and a young infant in her arms.

Eleanor longs to study botany at the University of Washington and soon becomes fast friends with botanist Bill Reed, but she can't stop thinking about the widow in the photograph. She is stunned to learn Bill recognizes the woman as the sister-in-law he believed lost in a shipwreck.

As Eleanor and Bill hunt for Amelia Reed to reunite her with her grief-stricken husband, they must stand together to face the danger that follows and learn to trust that God will direct their paths. 

About the author

Tracie Peterson is the bestselling, award-winning author of more than one hundred books. Tracie also teaches writing workshops at a variety of conferences on subjects such as inspirational romance and historical research. She and her family live in Montana.

Visit Tracie's web site at: http://www.traciepeterson.com

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Wagon Train Wife by Catherine Kennedy

 

She will do anything to ensure her sister's safety… even marry a man she barely knows.

Good read. I love wagon train stories, the trip, the starting over. The reason Eliza, Hannah and Thomas left is enough to get hooked. The path they take and people they meet on the way are quite interesting and endearing. Has some interesting twists. 
I received this book free from the publisher and Book Sirens review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

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Quotes:

“I believe God put us in each other’s paths. He knew before we did we needed each other.”

"As Thomas had stated earlier, this was supposed to be a happy day. There would be time later to mourn what she had given up securing her sister’s safety."

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The Memory Keeper of Kyiv by Erin Litteken

 

This is a story that is difficult to read, haunting. The writing and storytelling make you feel like you're there, but that's the problem. It starts in 1929 in Ukraine when things were still mostly normal for Katya and her family, but it changed quickly. Per the author between 1932 and 1933, one in every eight Ukrainians died in this manmade famine. Stalin had taken over, requiring that the people "support the state" by turning over everything they had, forcing collectivization on them. People who didn't comply were killed or deported, taxed beyond being able to pay. This story of survival was recorded and revealed in 2004, this story flipping back and forth between times to explain what happened. Seventy years later, a young widow discovered her grandmother’s journal that will reveal the long-buried secrets of her family’s haunted past. The high cost of survival from treatment like this, treatment over years. Riveting, heart wrenching, hard to put down. This country is at war again with Russia, so it's even more important to be reminded of what happened there before. Hard to believe that it could happen again now in this day and age. 

I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

@BoldwoodBooks  @BookandTonic #BoldwoodBooks #TheMemoryKeeperofKyiv #NetGalley #BooksYouCanFeelGoodAbout @erinlitteken #fivestarbooks 

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A Lady's Maid by Jen Geigle Johnson

Very interesting story set in London 1831. Depicts the struggle after Peterloo of the people who were trying to get the vote for poor people and also include women. Fully developed characters let you see into the lives of the Ton and their servants. These main characters are of the best, show how each individual's contributions are important to the whole, and the courage it takes to continue when what you see doesn't look like you're doing any good yet you press on. It shines a light on the things that go on through evil but are out of sight. And that love can grow through adversity.

I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
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Hidden Among the Stars by Melanie Dobson

 

"Only God knows the entire score of our lives , but we all have our assigned parts, measures to sing solo or with a choir."

Modern time - Callie and her sister have a bookstore, and she reads stories to children. She hides painful things in her life and needs someone she can trust in her life. She blogs about second hand books they bring into the store, and is given one that belonged to an Austrian girl just before Hitler took their country over. It's interesting to go back in time (1938) and learn more about her and those in her life at that time. The story weaves back and forth through both times, and is so well written it leaves you on the edge of your seat wondering how it will turn out for those in both time frames. Who would ever dream that someone like Hitler could ever come along. Sure, we all have people who don't like us for one reason or another, but never on the scale that was. Who would dream up the torture and mistreatment at that time and the evil that some could commit on others. Thankfully very few, but we all deal with situations in our own way. This is a very good story in a beautiful setting. I don't like to see books come to and end, but I needed to get to the end to know what happened.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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The Unexpected Champion by Mary Connealy

Christian Historical Fiction. 1868 Dismal, Nevada. The old Wild, Wild West. This story is built with people from previous books and an underlying evil that needs to be solved. A Pinkerton Agent comes into the mix when one of the evil doers is shot. With a few pages turned you can easily get into the full story and keep straight who everyone is. Mary Connealy is one of those very gifted storytellers. It's easy to become fully engaged in the story and you won't even notice as time rushes by. The chemistry between the characters is deeply woven with pictures of old Nevada, including Lake Tahoe. Richly developed people who are painted with life stories.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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Escape to Everly Manor by Chalon Linton

Regency romance (clean). I was fully engaged within the first chapter. And I swear that I held my breath through the whole book.

When both of her parents die, Lizzie is left with her half brother. Their Uncle shows up, an evil man, and takes everything away from them. He arranged for her 9 year old brother to go to sea to work on a ship and allows a suitor that she and her father had rejected, another evil man, to become engaged to her. This is a page turner. And it doesn't end too soon! So many stories go through a set process only to wrap up and end within three pages. This does not. Satisfying romance that keeps you glued to the book until the end. Exquisitely written. Fabulous escape.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher and NetGalley book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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