Archives

Not My Valentine by Tony Bassett

May20

Gripping

Not My Valentine by Tony Bassett is a fabulous contemporary crime suspense that I just could not put down. It is the seventh book in the Detectives Roy & Roscoe series but can be read as a stand-alone.

I enjoyed meeting up with familiar faces. Easy banter flowed between the regular police officers. We see the tenacity of the law to solve the case as we drop in on the detectives.

Present day murder is investigated alongside a cold case. The law enforcement officers are relentless in their pursuit of justice and the reader applauds their commitment.

The action is set in the Midlands with a murder in Worcester, and chasing criminals around Birmingham and the Black Country. As a Black Country wench living in Worcestershire, the locations were incredibly familiar to me. This helped me to really bed down into the book.

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Being Alice: In A World Lost In The Looking Glass by Michele Olson

May18

A New Beginning

Being Alice: In A World Lost In The Looking Glass by Michele Olson is a very charming Christian historical novel set in 1981 on Mackinac Island. It is the third book in the Mackinac Island series but can be read as a stand-alone.

I am enjoying reading this series in order as each book is set in the following year, starting in 1979. The reader knows the back story to the characters. Each book focuses on a new leading couple.

This is a book that tells the reader the importance of knowing Jesus and how to draw near to Him. “Their experience is not about religion, but about relationship.” Jesus is not interested in knowing how well we can follow rules. He just wants us to let Him into out hearts. “He [Jesus] asks everyone to come as you are.” We do not need to change and then come to Jesus. We need to come to Jesus and then change will follow.

We all have a Jesus-shaped hole in our heart that only He can fill. “No person can ever fill up that hole in the heart.” Stuff will never satisfy. Only Jesus satisfies.

When we know Jesus, we want to live lives that reflect His heart. “Act like people who follow Jesus and practice kindness and love in our lives.” People will be drawn to Jesus by watching how we live.

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The Dressmaker’s War by Michelle Vernal

May17

The Links From The Past

The Dressmaker’s War by Michelle Vernal is a timeslip novel that entertained me from the start. It is the third book in the Brides Of Bold Street but can be read as a stand-alone.

The action is set in 1982 and during World War II, particularly pivotal is 1945. We learn that for certain characters, Bold Street is a time portal, over which they have no control. For one young mother and her small daughter in 1963, there were life-changing consequences, resulting in a search that has never left hearts.

We see the value of good parents. Sometimes we are not brought up by our biological parents, but by others who love us and treat us with love. There are varying reasons as to why our biological parents have not brought us up, including social stigma on unmarried mothers in the past.

Young children are evacuated at the start of the phony war in September 1939. The young of Liverpool were sent to the countryside. Some were well treated but not all. Bonds were formed in adversity.

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The Girls Who Dared To Love by Diney Costeloe

May12

Engaging

The Girls Who Dared To Love by Diney Costeloe is a powerful historical novel that I loved. It is the second book in the Girls Who Dared series but can be read as a stand-alone. I, however, recommend reading book one first as this book continues where the first book finished.

Now the first World War is beginning. There is a focus on the women folk as some of the men have gone to war.

We see that the leading ladies are very much modern misses as they take control of their lives. They know what they want and who they want, and are not afraid to pursue their desires. They grab life with both hands.

Love arrows fall where they will. Parents do not always agree with their off-spring’s choice of marriage partner. They can either accept it or reject their children. The heart wants what the heart wants.

As the years are passing, old traditions are breaking down. The hierarchy of the classes is breaking down. Women too, are stepping out of traditional roles in order to make their own paths in life.

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