Tag Archive | Baker Publishing

The Seeds Of Change by Lauraine Snelling With Kiersti Giron

Aug19

Safe In His Shadow

The Seeds Of Change by Lauraine Snelling with Kiersti Giron is a most charming Christian historical novel that will swell your heart with love. It is the first book in Leah’s Garden series which promises to be fabulous.

The action is set in 1865 as we follow a family of four sisters as they journey westwards across America in search of a new life and safety. The girls have a pioneering spirit and are not afraid to muck in where needed on the wagon train.

We see the fragility of life as characters are struck down with illness or accidents. Medicine is primitive, often relying on herbs and natural remedies to help to heal. It is important to trust God. “I trust Your healing.”

Everyone grows up quickly on the wagon train. It is a community that must pull together if they are to survive. There is strength in numbers. They travel six days a week, knowing the importance of rest and a day for the Lord.

Knowing God and putting Him central to our lives is important. “You got to think and ask God for guidance.” God knows us better than we know ourselves and we can trust Him. “I choose to trust You. Peace eased out tension.” When we know God, we can experience a supernatural peace despite our circumstances.

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Chasing The Horizon by Mary Connealy

Aug8

Forging Towards The Frontier

Chasing The Horizon by Mary Connealy is a thrilling historical Christian novel that I just could not put down. It is the first book in A Western Light series which promises to be marvellous.

This is a pioneering adventure as we follow a wagon train going west in 1869. There is much bravery as it is unchartered territory ahead. The way is thwart with danger. The reader is able to empathise when tragedy strikes.

As well as striving forwards, there is a running away from a greedy, tyrannical husband and father. He is merely interested in the fortunes of his wife and daughter, and not concerned for their welfare. His greed and lust for riches blinds him to all else.

The leading lady is brave and forward thinking. Since her mother was incarcerated in a mental institution three years earlier, Beth has planned a way of escape.

There are some kind hearts within the novel who help those in need. This reminds the reader of the Biblical story of The Good Samaritan. The kind hearts cannot overlook the injured.

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Double Take by Lynette Eason

Aug8

Gripping, Glued & Guessing

Double Take by Lynette Eason is the first book in a fabulous new series called Lake City Heroes. It is a contemporary Christian novel that gripped me from the start.

Lynette Eason is the master of the suspense novel, reeling the reader in from the start. We learn that there is a killer targeting the lead character. It appears that someone is back from beyond the grave, but how can that be? Do eyes deceive what a head thinks it knows?

The reader is glued and guessing throughout. Even we do not know if the killer is who they appear to be. Or is the victim so traumatized that her mind is tricking her? Grab yourself a copy of the book and see if you can work it out.

We see characters suffering from PTSD as they carry baggage from the past. God longs for us to hand our burdens up to Him. He wants us to trust Him even when we cannot trust ourselves. Sufferers from PTSD need love and support in order to heal too.

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Embers In The London Sky by Sarah Sundin

Aug7

Searching & Sacrificial Love In Action

Embers In The London Sky by Sarah Sundin is an absolutely wonderful Christian historical wartime suspense. It captured my imagination from the start, engaging me till the very end.

The novel opens in Nazi-occupied Holland in 1940, continuing to London and finishing halfway through 1941. Sarah Sundin waves actual events into the novel. We ‘see’ the total devastation caused by the Nazis in central Europe – lives and dwellings broken or disrupted by the Nazi war machine. We ‘witness’ the evacuation from Dunkirk in May 1940. “Soldiers plucking cheer and courage from the cauldron of defeat.” Many lives were lost.

The reader follows the lead character, Dutch born Aleida as she travels to London in search of her young son. Aleida speaks up for those whose voices are unheard. Whilst her personal search continues, she researches the lives of the evacuated children. Prejudices raise their ugly head as foreign-born children are given to institutions and not families. Their stories need telling. We see that though humans may forget others, “God would never forget her.” God sees all. His heart breaks for injustice and war. “Surely His [God] heart broke at the suffering and destruction Hitler caused.”

There are those within the novel who suffer from disabilities. These are hidden away for fear of being treated as ‘less-than’, or in the case of a cruel father, for embarrassment or disgust. The reader’s heart breaks for a young boy and his mother, both of whom are subject to domestic abuse.

A grown man hides his asthma for fear of being seen as a label. “When people know, they no longer see me, only the asthma. They treat me as an invalid.” His fears are unfounded. People see him and they care.

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