A Tale Of Two Hearts by Michelle Griep

A second chance. At some point in time we all need one. A wonderful story with a strong Christian message throughout. A rags to riches type of story with great heart. A deceptive plan brings them all together in love.

Quote from the book:
If we knew how things would turn out, then there’d be no need for faith, aye?
Effie had a magical way of giving her the courage to look within and dare to hold hands with what she knew to be right.

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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.”

Description from the Publisher
Book 2 in Reader Favorite Michelle Griep’s Charming Once Upon a Dickens Christmas Series
London, 1853: Innkeeper’s daughter Mina Scott will do anything to escape the drudgery of her life, for there’s nothing more mundane than serving customers day after day. Every minute she can, she reads and dreams of someday becoming a real lady—and catch the eye of William Barlow, a frequent guest at the inn.
William is a gentleman’s son, a charming but penniless rogue. However, his bachelor uncle will soon name an heir—either him or his scheming cousin. In an effort to secure the inheritance, William gives his uncle the impression he’s married, which works until he’s invited to bring his wife for a visit.
William asks Mina to be his pretend bride, only until his uncle names an heir on Christmas Day. Mina is flattered and frustrated by the offer, for she wants a true relationship with William. Yet, she agrees. . .then wishes she hadn’t. So does William. Deceiving the old man breaks both their hearts. When the truth is finally discovered, more than just money is lost.
Can two hearts survive such deception?

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The Kitchen Marriage by Gina Welborn and Becca Whitham

A deeply satisfying story. Its great to return to Helena and these characters. It was nice to get to know Jacob and Isaac Gunderson better, and a pleasure to meet Zoe and Nico. This reminded me somewhat of the old Hardy movies. (I think I heard Maurice Chevalier's voice as Zoe's Papa.)
Zoe has both tenderness & tender strength, and is a smart French chef. Her adopted little brother Nico's deception brings her to Jacob as a mail order bride, and they all get to know each other during the time allotted in their contract. She is very shy, which is misinterpreted as a sign of weakness by some. The closeness of the town residents combined with an undercurrent of secrets and danger make it hard to put down, and it's one that I hated to see end. Thankfully there's more to be told so another book will be coming!

Quote from the book:
God created loneliness in Adam's breast by making him name the animals - each of them with a mate - before bringing Eve to him.

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.”

From the Publisher:
A Montana Brides Romance

Book 2

A bright future awaits the women of courage and faith who boldly chase their dreams across the wide-open Montana Territory, prepared to embrace adventure and forge their own destinies . . .

When French immigrant Zoe de Fleur is forced out of her position as household cook for a high society New Yorker, the pretty and talented chef seizes an unexpected chance to head west for a new beginning. She pursues what she thinks is a prestigious job in the frontier’s “finest kitchen,” but instead finds herself in a matchmaker’s agency . . .

Isaak Gunderson is one of Helena, Montana’s most eligible bachelors, but he’s too focused on running for mayor and his family’s business to think about a wife and family. His twin brother, Jakob, is supposed to be too busy as well, yet sends for a mail-order bride anyway. Isaak doesn’t want to fuel an ongoing rivalry with his twin, but this tempting newcomer can’t be ignored. If only she’d come to Helena a different way and loving her wasn’t a betrayal . . .

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An Hour Unspent by Roseanna M. White

Tension and danger build. Twelve orphans who adopted each other as brothers and sisters, destitute and making a way on the streets of London any way they could. It's great to be with them all again, discovering their individual talents, seeing what God blessed them with, and the new relationships they find. This time a clockmaker and his daughter for Barclay. He's employed by a man who puts his "gifts" to work for good, but a thief isn't what Evelina expected, especially in proper society. But then his family is a lot closer to one another, and her fiancé has pointed out that she doesn't feel, that she's an automaton. Her father's invention will give their country an advantage but Germany wants it too. She has to go behind enemy lines to rescue her father, and is glad Barclay has connections. He and his family are there to help them out all along the way, bringing her family into better focus along the way. God uses us all, and doesn't expect any social status. Great story!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the Baker Publishing Group, Bethany - 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.”
#AnHourUnspent #NetGalley

Description from the Publisher:
Once London's top thief, Barclay Pearce has turned his back on his life of crime and now uses his skills for a nation at war. But not until he rescues a clockmaker's daughter from a mugging does he begin to wonder what his future might hold.
Evelina Manning has constantly fought for independence, but she certainly never meant for it to inspire her fiancé to end the engagement and enlist in the army. When the intriguing man who saved her returns to the Manning residence to study clockwork repair with her father, she can't help being interested. But she soon learns that nothing with Barclay Pearce is as simple as it seems.
As 1915 England plunges ever deeper into war, the work of an ingenious clockmaker may give England an unbeatable military edge--and Germany realizes it as well. Evelina's father soon finds his whole family in danger--and it may just take a reformed thief to steal the time they need to escape.

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The Cumberland Bride by Shannon McNear

Excellent journey!
Kate makes me think of how I was as an older teenager. I was awkward around others my age, since there were few who lived around us, and I thought I was always saying the wrong thing in the wrong way. Like her, my heart was true though and I felt things deeply. And I so loved being out in the woods. The area they travelled through Tennessee and Kentucky was beautiful with rolling hills. I used to imagine how it was for the Indians, for Kate's travelling group they were a current reality. I loved camping, so it's easy for me to imaging pioneers moving to another place to live. But I never like to think of the cruelty of the Indians to those moving into lands they had lived on for generations. I really enjoyed this story, told so well that you easily picture it all. And I like the way the characters think. Kate finding her way to be around their trail guide Thomas, and Thomas sorting out his feelings for Kate and her family, since he missed his own sisters. Dangerous journey requires bravery and cool thinking, all wound up with romance. Christian Historical Fiction

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the Author 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.”

#TheCumberlandBride #NetGalley

Description from the Publisher:
Thomas Bledsoe and Kate Gruener are traveling the Wilderness Road when conflicts between natives and settlers reach a peak that will require each of them to tap into a well of courage.

A brand new series for fans of all things related to history, romance, adventure, faith, and family trees.
Love and Adventure Are Discovered on the Wilderness Road
In 1794, when Kate Gruener’s father is ready to move the family farther west into the wilderness to farm untouched land, Kate is eager to learn and live out her own story of adventure like he did during the War for Independence. She sets her sights on learning more about their guide, Thomas Bledsoe. Thomas’s job is to get settlers safely across the Kentucky Wilderness Road to their destination while keeping an ear open for news of Shawnee unrest. But naïve Kate’s inquisitive nature could put them both in the middle of a rising tide of conflict. Is there more to Thomas’s Shawnee connections than he is willing to tell? Is there an untapped courage in Kate that can thwart a coming disaster?
Join the adventure as the Daughters of the Mayflower series continues with The Cumberland Bride by Shannon McNear.
More in the Daughters of the Mayflower series:
The Mayflower Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse – set 1620 Atlantic Ocean (February 2018)
The Pirate Bride by Kathleen Y’Barbo – set 1725 New Orleans (April 2018)
The Captured Bride by Michelle Griep – set 1760 during the French and Indian War (June 2018)
The Patriot Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse – set 1774 Philadelphia (August 2018)?
The Cumberland Bride by Shannon McNear – set 1794 on the Wilderness Road (October 2018)
The Liberty Bride by MaryLu Tyndall – set 1814 Baltimore (December 2018)

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A Rumored Fortune by Joanna Davidson Politano

Delicious mystery!

There's a hidden fortune belonging to an heiress desperately in need of it, with several relatives and so called friends also in pursuit. Her father hired someone to manage the vineyards, and watch over her. A God filled and guided man. Intricate suspense and romance, in a journey of faith. Christian historical set in England. And there's a castle! Excellent quotes from Vinters that relate to the story. Joanna is an author new to me, and goes to the top as one of my favorites. There is a richness and depth to her stories that is equaled by few.

#ArumoredFortune #NetGalley

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the Author and Revell/Baker Publishing Group - 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.”

Description from Publisher:
Tressa Harlowe's father did not trust banks, but neither did he trust his greedy extended family. He kept his vast fortune hidden somewhere on his estate in the south of England and died suddenly, without telling anyone where he had concealed it. Tressa and her ailing mother are left with a mansion and an immense vineyard and no money to run it. It doesn't take long for a bevy of opportunists to flock to the estate under the guise of offering condolences. Tressa knows what they're really up to. She'll have to work with the rough and rusticated vineyard manager to keep the laborers content without pay and discover the key to finding her father's fortune--before someone else finds it first.
Award-winning author Joanna Davidson Politano welcomes readers to Trevelyan Castle, home of the poorest heiress in Victorian England, for a treasure hunt they'll not soon forget. 

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The Lady of Tarpon Springs by Judith Miller

Independent women and Greek sponge divers

Interesting story about sponge harvesting in the early 1900s. A diving crew and boats were brought over from Greece. Aman had invested in them and then died without mentioning it to his daughter - who had inherited the business but didn't want to be involved. She's a female doctor in the small town which is just off the gulf coast in Florida. Her friend is a female lawyer who happens to be Greek so she offers to handle it for her. But neither really knows what they're getting into. However the lives of 51 Greek men depend on this to be a success and diving is dangerous. I found this a little frustrating at first with all of the bantering back and forth between the characters, but quickly became enthralled with the story and found it hard to put down.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher from the Baker Publishing Group, Bethany - 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.”

#TheLadyOfTarponSprings #NetGalley

Description from the Publisher:
Much to the dismay of her Greek family, Zanna Krykos makes a living as a lawyer in Tarpon Springs, Florida. When her friend Lucy needs legal advice about the business she inherited upon her father's passing, she ends up asking Zanna to run the business instead so she can focus on her medical career.
Nico Kalos is a Greek diver who has worked on sponging boats in the Aegean Sea since the age of 14, giving him a vast knowledge of the trade. When he hears of an opportunity to lead a group of spongers to the United States, he seizes it. But his excitement is quickly quelled when he arrives only to discover that a young woman with no experience in the business will be in charge of the new crews.
But as Zanna and Nico face even more complications than they could have imagined, they must learn to work together or risk everything they've worked so hard for.

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