Archive | February 2020

Hannah’s Courage by Molly Jebber

Feb8

Community And Love

Hannah’s Courage  by Molly Jebber is a delightfully warm Amish historical novel that will leave you smiling. It is the third book in the Amish Charm Bakery series but can be read as a stand-alone. I enjoyed reconnecting with familiar faces.

There is a wonderful community feel to the book as the Amish bond over food and company. Homes, hearts and businesses are opened to those in need. Strangers receive warm welcomes.

Friendship is important. We all need friends with whom we can talk and trust them to tell us the truth in love.

The characters are realistically drawn and likable. Their interactions are delightful. There are misunderstandings that create tensions in the reader as we long for them to be resolved.

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Fire Storm by Nancy Mehl

Feb6

Unconventional Leading Lady

Fire Storm by Nancy Mehl is a compulsive Christian contemporary thriller suspense that will keep you gripped and guessing. It is the second book in the Kaely Quinn Profiler series but can be read as a stand-alone.

Cold case crimes are resurrected in present day as there appears to be copycat crimes. Kaely Quinn tries to piece together the clues to solve the mystery. “Ghosts of the past whirled around her.” As her job dominates, there seems to be no time for family. “Your job is just something you do. Not who you are.” We must live a balanced life and make time for those who love us. We will never find our true worth in our jobs, we are worth so much more than that.

Family is important. Fractured families need to come together to heal the rifts of time. Forgiveness must be given even though some things feel too big to be forgiven. We must extend the hand of grace to those around us.

Guilt links to the theme of forgiveness. Guilt is a heavy burden to carry. “Feeling guilty never made me better. Never made me stronger.” Guilt weighs us down. It is not ours to carry. We need to release it to God and walk into our future.

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Little White Lies by Philippa East

Feb6

Lives In Tandem

Little White Lies by Philippa East is a cracking debut novel that will have the reader’s heart racing to the end. It is a superb contemporary psychological thriller that deals with guilt and what-ifs.

Once a lie is out there and compounded it spirals out of control. The truth lies buried for fear of making a bad situation even worse.

Lives on hold for seven years hope to resume happy families but restoration seems impossible as everyone seems to be keeping secrets. High expectations were unrealistic.

Childhood bonds resume but some things are too broken to be fixed.

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The Alibi Girl by C.J. Skuse

Feb6

Searching To Belong

The Alibi Girl by C.J. Skuse is a marvellous contemporary psychological thriller suspense that I positively devoured. I was hooked and asking questions from the start.

C.J. Skuse draws the reader in and drip feeds information as we try to put the pieces together to solve the puzzle. I fell for some red herrings along the way and my jaw literally dropped at at least one point.

The Alibi Girl was a cleverly constructed tale and one that I fully participated in as it was told in the first person. I ‘became’ the voice in the story. The novel has two main voices and two distinct time periods – now and eighteen years earlier. Bonds formed in childhood remain intact as characters long to return to a time they last experienced happiness. The past influences current behaviour.

There is a mystery to solve. I found myself swirling in the mists of time, not knowing quite what to expect.

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