"Tidewater Bride" by Laura Frantz

Selah Hopewell seems to be the only woman in Virginia Colony who has no wish to wed. She already has her hands full assisting her father in the family's shop, and now she is in charge of an incoming ship of tobacco brides who must be looked after as they sort through their many suitors. Xander Renick is perhaps the most eligible tobacco lord in the settlement. His lands are vast, his crops are prized, and his position as a mediator between the colonists and the powerful Powhatan nation surrounding them makes him indispensable. But Xander is already wedded to his business and still grieves the loss of his wife. Can two fiercely independent people find happiness and fulfillment on their own? Or will they discover that what they've been missing in life has been right in front of them all along?

Inspired by the story of Pocahontas--or the aftermath of her death--Tidewater Bride brings to life the history of Jamestown and the early Virginia colony. It's expected how certain aspects of life were so very different in the 1630's, and yet it's amazing what was already established--tobacco plantations, the slave trade, shipping routes with India. Relations between colonists and natives were tenuous at best, given the common practice of treachery on all sides, but I really liked the peace child trade (hard as it would be) as a genuine attempt to foster long-lasting peace. I don't know if that was historically accurate to the Jamestown settlement, but it was beautiful and heart-breaking regardless.

As to Xander and Selah, they certainly dance around each other long enough. Both are quite independent, but likeable as well. I didn't completely understand all of Selah's reservations about marrying Xander, but then, we get to see his perspective and she doesn't. But it is satisfying when they finally get together, even amid circumstances one would not wish. The secondary characters were delightful--Xander's aunt, all of Selah's family, little Watseka (I'd especially love to know what happens with her when she grows up!). I appreciated a book with a good father-figure for a change--sometimes they feel few and far between, but Ustus was wonderful.

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

Roseanna M White's "Dreams of Savannah"

Cordelia Owens can weave a hopeful dream around anything. Even when she receives word that her sweetheart has been lost during a raid on a Yankee vessel, she clings to hope and comes up with many a romantic tale of his eventual homecoming to reassure his mother and sister. But Phineas Dunn finds nothing redemptive in the first horrors of war. Struggling for months to make it home alive, he returns to Savannah injured and cynical, and all too sure that he is not the hero Cordelia seems determined to make him. Matters of black and white don't seem so simple anymore to Phin, and despite her best efforts, Delia's smiles can't erase all the complications in his life. And when Fort Pulaski falls and the future wavers, they both must decide where the dreams of a new America will take them, and if they will go together.

I've read more thrilling stories of the Civil War, and I've read more romantic; there are certainly darker, grittier tales, and more moving stories; but overall, it was a nicely balanced and enjoyable book that highlighted the complexity of deep south. Don't be turned off by the opinions voiced in the first couple chapters--characters grow; perceptions change.

Cordelia's daydreams and stories certainly add a dramatic flair to the story. Maybe she comes off a little naïve, but I liked her. I'm glad that in spite of her disagreements with her parents, she strives to honor them. Phineas grows quite a lot in the story--from an entitled planter's son to a thoughtful war veteran. He isn't perfect, even in the end, but he's a strong hero.

Sometimes it feels like there is nothing new under the sun, particularly when it comes to popular eras for historical fiction like the Civil War, but in this book Luther was the surprise--a black Brit who'd never been a slave, trying to break INTO the South rather than escape from it. He just might have been my favorite character, with his humorous way with words (or not words, as the case may be), as well as his strong faith as he searches for his wife.

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.

"The Thief of Blackfriars Lane" by Michelle Griep

Constable Jackson Forge intends to make the world safer, or at least the streets of Victorian London. But that’s Kit Turner’s domain, a swindler who runs a crew that acquires money the old-fashioned way—conning the rich to give to the poor. When a local cab driver goes missing, Jackson is tasked with finding the man, and the only way to do that is by enlisting Kit’s help. If Jackson doesn’t find the cabby, he’ll be fired. If Kit doesn’t help Jackson, he’ll arrest her for thievery. Yet neither of them realize those are the least of their problems.

A green constable and a purported thief working together to solve a mysterious disappearance--what could possibly go wrong? 

A lot of things, that's what. 

This was an entertaining romp around London (or, rather, the City of London--according to the author's note at the end, they are not entirely the same thing). It has something of a dime novel feel (or would that be a penny dreadful, being Britain?), giving it a fun if over-the-top atmosphere. From the rooftops to the sewers, exciting escapades abound.

At first Jackson put me in mind of Constable Carrot from Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, with his earnest country manner and utter greenness, but Jackson grew into his own--working hand-in-hand with a purported thief can do that, it appears. And Kit was all things charming and spunky, just as one would desire in a London street girl. I was glad the villain didn't turn out to be quite so gullible as it initially appeared (I vastly prefer a smart villain; it's so much more satisfying when the heroes best the knave). Overall, it was a light-hearted and entertaining story. 

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

Most Anticipated Christian Fiction 2021!

   

January: Tidewater Bride by Laura Frantz (Revell)
Virginia Colony's most eligible woman is busy matchmaking for a ship of brides, though she has no interest in finding her own mate. Will she reconsider when new revelations about the colony's most eligible landowner come to light?

January: Dreams of Savannah by Roseanna M White (Bethany House)
When Cordelia Owens receives word that her sweetheart has been lost during a raid on a Yankee vessel, she clings to hope and comes up with many a romantic tale of his eventual homecoming. But Phineas Dunn finds nothing redemptive in the first horrors of war. When he returns home, they must both decide where the dreams of a new America will take them, and if they will go together.

February: The Prince of Spies by Elizabeth Camden (Bethany House); Hope and Glory, book 3

Luke Delacroix is secretly carrying out an ambitious agenda to thwart the reelection of a congressman, but trouble begins when he meets the congressman's only daughter. Luke is captivated by Marianne's quick wit and alluring charm, leading them both into a dangerous gamble to reconcile their feelings for each other with Luke's driving passion for vital reforms in Congress.

April: Winning the Gentleman by Kristi Ann Hunter (Bethany House); Hearts on the Heath, book 2

Aaron Whitworth makes the desperate decision to hire the horse trainer of a traveling circus as a temporary jockey for his racehorses. Sophia Fitzroy can't pass up the opportunity to get away from the world of performing. As she fights for the right to do the work she was hired for, she learns the fight for Aaron's guarded heart might be an even more worthwhile challenge.

May: The Nature of a Lady by Roseanna M White (Bethany House); Secrets of the Isles, book 1

Lady Elizabeth "Libby" Sinclair, with her love of microscopes and nature, isn't favored in society. She flees to the beautiful Isles of Scilly for the summer and stumbles into the dangerous secrets left behind by her holiday cottage's former occupant who mysteriously vanished.

May: Let It Be Me by Becky Wade (Bethany House); Misty River Romance, book 2

When high school math teacher Leah Montgomery receives surprising news in the process of taking a test for tracking her ancestry, she asks Dr. Sebastian Grant to help her comb through aged hospital records to learn more. But when Sebastian learns his best friend also has feelings for Leah, he begins to question his resolve to win her.

June: On the Cliffs of Foxglove Manor by Jaime Jo Wright (Bethany House)
1885: Adria Fontaine has been sent to recover goods her father pirated on the Great Lakes during the war. But Foxglove Manor--a stone house on a cliff overlooking Lake Superior--is filled with dangerous secrets, ones that may cost Adria her life.
Present day: Kidnapped as a child, Kailey Gibson has nothing but locked-up memories overshadowed by the chilling promise from her abductors that they would return. When the residents she cares for at Foxglove Manor share stories of whispers in the night, hidden treasure, and a love willing to kill, it becomes clear this home is far from a haven.

  

August: To Write a Wrong by Jen Turano (Bethany House); Bleaker Street Inquiry Agency, book 2

Miss Daphne Beekman is a mystery writer by day, inquiry agent by night. When Mr. Herman Henderson arrives on the doorstep of the agency, desperate for someone to investigate numerous attempts on his life, Daphne soon finds herself in the thick of a case she's determined to solve.

September: Carved in Stone by Elizabeth Camden (Bethany House); The Blackstone Legacy, book 1

A lawyer for the downtrodden accepts a case to challenge the infamous Blackstone family and their legacy of greed and corruption, little expecting them to throw the most sympathetic member of the family at him--a woman endangered by the mystery they unearth.

October: Shiloh by Lori Benton (Tynedale House); Kindred, book 2

The second half of the tumultuous story begun in Mountain Laurel, a tale of kinship, slavery, and the ties that bind us together.

December: Shadows of Swanford Abbey by Julie Klassen (Bethany House)

Rebecca Lane's brother begs her to stay at a haunted abbey to deliver his manuscript to a fellow guest who might help him get published--an author who once betrayed them. And an author who is shortly found dead.

December: Proposing Mischief by Regina Jennings (Bethany House); Joplin Chronicles, book 2

When the son of a mine owner encounters a trespassing farmer's daughter with a pickax and the crystal cavern she discovered, he just might have found the answer to overhauling his family's business, not to mention dodging a marriage more akin to an execution.

Regina Jennings' "Courting Misfortune" - Joplin Chronicles, book 1

Calista York needs one more successful case as a Pinkerton operative to secure her job. When she's assigned to find the kidnapped daughter of a mob boss, she's sent to the rowdy mining town of Joplin, Missouri, despite having extended--and extremely meddlesome--family in the area. When Matthew Cook decided to be a missionary, he never expected to be sent only a short train ride away. While fighting against corruption of all sorts, Matthew encounters the reckless Miss York, whose bad judgment consistently seems to be putting her in harm's way. Calista doesn't need the handsome pastor interfering with her investigation, and she can't let her disguise slip. Her job and the life of a young lady depend on keeping Matthew in the dark.

This was a fun story. A part of me dreaded to keep reading out of fear for what scrape Calista would get into next--though that's also what made it so entertaining. That and the Kentworth relations--the cousins, uncles, Granny. All of them are a hoot and wonderful when they aren't one's own lovingly embarrassing family.

Matthew is a brick--solid, endearing, what you see is what you get. I'm glad that Calista readily recognized his faith and good qualities (once past the initial misunderstanding of his employment, that is), and never viewed him as just a country hick, even though they clearly come from different backgrounds. Calista might be a little reckless, and not as good a liar as she thinks, but she has spunk. At one point she experiences a significant interruption to her plans that is about the last thing she ever wanted, yet she recognizes God's hand in it, and I loved her prayer following it:

Thanks for making me do what I didn't want to do. Thanks for making me be a better person than I want to be today (p.198). 

Would that I would view interruptions with the same spirit and to think to thank God for them! 

I look forward to getting to know more of the Kentworth cousins better!

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.

Joplin Chronicles

0.5: "Intrigue a la Mode" (prequel novella originally published in the Serving Up Love: A Harvey House Brides Collection)
1. Courting Misfortune

2. Proposing Mischief

3. Engaging Deception