"A Wing and a Prayer" by Julie Lessman - The Cousins O'Connor book 1

Lieutenant Alex Kincaid pegs Grabriella "Gabe" O’Connor as trouble the moment she steps foot on Avenger Field as a WASP cadet. As the eldest brother of a boy whose jaw Gabe broke in grade school, Alex is familiar with her reputation as both a charismatic ringleader and a headstrong hooligan who’s challenged every male and nun from grade school to college. As her WASP flight instructor, Alex eventually expels Gabe when she pulls a dangerous stunt. But when he is an evacuation pilot in France eight months later, their lives intertwine once again, exposing them to a danger as perilous as the German tanks roaming the Reichswald Forest: a love that neither expects.

I liked Gabe, but I was also extremely frustrated by her. She's fun--a real spitfire. But she's also a master manipulator, and her only remorse is in getting caught. She doesn't change for the longest time (nearly 500 pages); instead, in each selfish decision, she just reaffirms her faults, like a downward spiral that she's in danger of not being able to pull out of. It's no wonder Alex can't--and won't--trust her.

Now Alex . . . he's the best thing about the story. His strength of character is what sets him far above any other guy in the book, maybe even over the swoony assortment of heroes in the rest of the O'Connor Family Saga; a man who stands on principles and does what is right, not what is easy, even when it costs him. But he doesn't do it for the sake of following rules--he does it out of love. He cares more for Gabe's well-being than he does for her opinion of him, and he suffers for it. I was most impressed.

For fans of romance, this is trademark Lessman--not to be missed. And it packs a spiritual punch too, both about love vs selfishness, and about learning to trust God and not leaning on one's own strength. I look forward to a book about Hope!

O'Connor Family Saga:

A Light in the Window (prequel)

Daughters of Boston
1. A Passion Most Pure
2. A Passion Redeemed
3. A Passion Denied

Winds of Change
1. A Hope Undaunted
2. A Heart Revealed
3. A Love Surrendered

The Cousins O'Connor
1. A Wing and a Prayer

"At Love's Command" by Karen Witemeyer - Hanger's Horsemen, book 1

Ex-cavalry officer Matthew Hanger leads a band of mercenaries who defend the innocent, but when a rustler's bullet leaves one of them at death's door, they seek out help from Dr. Josephine Burkett. When Josephine's brother is abducted and she is caught in the crossfire, Matthew may have to sacrifice everything--even his team--to save her.

Hanger's Horsemen reminded me of a cowboy version of the A-Team (just more legal). They fully depend on each other both on the job and off, and they always have each other's backs. There's no crazy Murdock, but they're all competent cavalry men, each with their own strengths. I appreciated their policies on protecting life, even the lives of their enemies--a direct result of their stint in the cavalry and the horrors they experienced. Wounded Knee was a terrible atrocity, and I appreciated how being there, being part of the slaughter, changed the direction of their lives.

Josephine is great too. She, also, is quite competent, able to stitch any wound--on friend or foe--without flinching. She's strong, as a woman doctor had to be, especially in that day and age. Of course, sometimes that strength can be a hindrance. I was right there with her when she is forced to sit and wait, wanting to step in and help control the situation yet unable to do so. I loved the quote:

"Control was nothing more than an illusion, a lie to trap the competent in their own capability. One that created such a dependence on self that it clogged the conduit of wisdom and power flowing from the Omnipotent until only a trickle of living water found its way through."

It's so easy to rely on one's own competence and common sense. And God did give us a sound mind to use, but when we begin depending on our own ability instead of God, that's when we get into trouble. It's an area where I personally am especially prone to miss the mark.

I hope we get the stories of the rest of the horsemen as well!

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

Hanger's Horsemen
1. At Love's Command
2. The Heart's Charge
3. In Honor's Defense

"A Gilded Lady" by Elizabeth Camden - Hope and Glory, book 2

Secretary to the first lady of the United States, Caroline Delacroix is at the pinnacle of high society--but is hiding a terrible secret. Immediately suspicious of Caroline, but also attracted to her, secret service agent Nathaniel Trask must battle his growing love for her as the threat to the president rises and they face adventure, heartbreak, and danger.

In whatever creative historical profession Camden comes up with for her heroines, I can expect to learn something, but this book showed me just how ignorant I am about our president, first lady, and what goes on in the White House. While I knew vaguely that there had to be a lot of people behind the scenes of the White House, I now have a much greater appreciation for all the people who keep the country's administration running smoothly. I never imagined how much work there could be, especially in little things, like sending thank you cards to every town that rang their bells as the McKinleys' train passed through.

And again, while I knew that McKinley was one of the assassinated presidents and that Roosevelt succeeded him, that was about it. I hadn't known anything about the first lady, or really anything that characterized the McKinley administration. This was an entertaining peek into our country's past.

I liked Caroline. She is not without her faults--she's even very aware of them--but she's classy, bold, and unintimidated by the authorities and powers she works with daily. She's a woman who knows how to get things done, and though she struggles with temper and unforgiveness, she is willing to love a difficult (and for some, nigh-unlovable) woman and has a heart for immigrants. Nathaniel's sense of order and justice are a stark contrast to her general disregard for the rules, but they temper each other nicely.

Overall, it was a highly satisfying read, loaded with intrigue, romance, and history. I greatly look forward to Luke's story in the next book!

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

Hope and Glory
1. The Spice King
2. A Gilded Lady
3. The Prince of Spies

Lynn Austin's "If I Were You"

In the wake of WWII, Audrey Clarkson leaves her manor house in England for a fresh start in America with her young son. As a widowed war bride, Audrey needs the support of her American in-laws, whom she has never met. But she arrives to find that her longtime friend Eve Dawson has been impersonating her for the past four years. Unraveling this deception will force Audrey and Eve's secrets--and the complicated history of their friendship--to the surface. From polarizing class divisions to a common love to shared loss, Eve and Audrey have endured  much in their friendship. Will their ties from the past be enough to reconcile their future?

It's a complicated story about friendship between two young women whose lives have been entangled since childhood, each envying the other, loving the other, pushing the other, supporting the other. War levels the playing field between them, though there is always a hint of tension from how each one covets the life the other holds. It's definitely a thought-provoking story about friendship, both its power to build up and tear down, to bind together and split asunder.

Eve really digs herself a hole . . . and because of how deep she digs herself in, the ending felt a little too easy. Not Audrey and Eve's relationship in the end--everything they've been through, the way their relationship had been over the years--that, to me, was plenty believable. But in regards to everyone else that Eve deceived, there will be consequences; we don't see them, given where the book ends, but they're there, waiting. And those consequences will affect Audrey too, no matter how unintentional.

But this book is definitely more about the journey than the destination, and the ending is just one more stop in Eve and Audrey's complicated journey of friendship. It's well worth the read!

Thank you Tyndale House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.