A Bride Opens Shop In El Dorado, California by Keli Gwyn

Elenora Watkins and her daughter are headed for a brand new life in El Dorado, California when their stage is stopped by a bandit. Knowing that her prayers have not been answered lately Elenora decides that she will have to take care of the situation for herself as always. 

Upon arrival in El Dorado Elenora’s plans quickly fall apart when mercantile owner Miles Rutledge refuses to take her on as a partner in his store. Elenora, not to be daunted decides to open a store of her own instead. Opening her mercantile right across the street from Miles’, Elenora is determined to prove to him and to the other men in town that she can run a business just as well as any man. 

With Miles’ mother taking care of Tildy, Elenora’s daughter, and much of the women in town excited about the new products that Elenora brings into her mercantile a battle of the sexes soon ensues between Miles and Elenora.

Miles is determined to never let another strong-willed woman enter his life but slowly Elenora begins to touch his heart. Elenora wants to be able to provide for herself and Tildy and to be treated as an equal partner in the mercantile business. Will these two ever be able to see eye to eye?

I loved this story! There were several parts that made me laugh out loud. The interchanges between Elenora and Miles had sparks flying. From the opening pages with the stagecoach robber to the satisfying ending A BRIDE OPENS SHOP IN EL DORADO, CALIFORNIA kept me entertained throughout. This is definitely going on my favorites shelf!

So Shines The Night by Tracy L. Higley

Daria is a tutor running away from evil when she meets Lucas. Lucas is a wealthy merchant living in Ephesus. He too has been in the presence of evil. When Lucas invites Daria to come to Ephesus with him and become his tutor she has mis-givings but sees no other way to escape the evil surrounding her in Rhodes.

Daria is once again thrust into the presence of evil in Ephesus. Lucas is set on a deadly path to exact revenge upon his wife's murderers. He has become friends with the sorcerers and the Christians in an effort to find out which group is responsible for his wife's death. Daria's desire to question everything and find out everything she can about Lucas puts her in danger.

Set in Ephesus during a time when the people of The Way were hated and feared, when Paul was speaking about the One True God, both Daria and Lucas find themselves confused about who to believe. Daria is set on pleasing the gods with offerings but yet as a scholar questioning her belief in those gods. Lucas has allowed himself to be filled with hate and vengeance almost to the point of joining the very evil that claimed his wife's life. Will Paul's influence and preaching of the One True God touch both Daria and Lucas and set them free from the claims of evil that are upon them?

Tracy Higley has a way of bringing history to life. If you have never read one of her books then I suggest you remedy that immediately! Especially if you like historical fiction. So Shines the Night focuses on a time in history when the church is just getting started. People of The Way are feared and reviled. It was interesting to see fictionally what Paul could have been like in his zeal to win people for Christ. It was also fun to "meet" other biblical characters that traveled with Paul such as Timothy and Priscilla and Aquila. I especially wanted to shout a cheer when the One True God conquered evil. So Shines the Night shows once again how well Tracy Higley researches a time in history and brings together a story that grips the readers attention.

Other books by Tracy Higley that I have read:

Guardian of the Flame
Isle of Shadows
Pompeii: City on Fire

To check out more of Tracy's books visit her website at: http://tracyhigley.com/

Love's Miracles by Sandra Leesmith

Margo Devaull is a psychologist. When Vinnie Zanelli tells her that his brother Dominic (Zane) has agreed to therapy but refuses to leave his home Margo agrees to go to Zane. What she finds is a man that has cut himself off from any emotional connections and has secluded himself from his family. Zane has not agreed to therapy and he is in denial that he needs it. It only takes Margo a short visit for her to realize that Zane could be suffering from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) from his time in Viet Nam.  Margo has experience with counseling soldiers with PTSD and knows that she can help Zane if he would just open up to her. 

Zane has no intention of opening up to anyone. He has worked for years burying the secret that he has carried from Viet Nam. What he doesn’t realize is how persistent Margo can be and also how much he comes to look forward to her visits. The law dictates that no doctor can become involved personally with a patient until after therapy has been ended for 2 years. Margo knows that Zane needs help, but he refuses to seek it from anyone but her. The problem is that Zane and Margo are drawn to each other, which makes it impossible for Margo to be his doctor. Unable to give up on trying to convince Zane to get help, Margo risks losing her license and practice. 

My Thoughts:

I enjoyed LOVE’S MIRACLES. It was well-written and kept the interest of me as the reader. I enjoyed the romance between Margo and Zane, even though it was forbidden it was understandable. There was a bit of passion that at times threatened to go beyond the bedroom door, but even though both characters expressed a desire for a more physical relationship the author managed to keep the story PG. I’m looking forward to trying another one of Sandra Leesmith’s books soon. 

About the Author:

Sandra loves to hike, read, bicycle, and write. She lives in Arizona with her husband and Labrador retriever. During the hot summer, she and her husband travel throughout the United States in their motorhome, where she enjoys the outdoors and finds wonderful ideas for her next writing project.








You can learn more about Sandra and her books at http://www.sandraleesmith.com

LOVE'S MIRACLES is currently on sale through Amazon for $2.99 to purchase go HERE.

GIVEAWAY!!! Fill out the Rafflecopter for a chance to win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Grave Consequences by Lisa T. Bergren

Cora and her family are still on the Grand Tour of Europe. A new person has joined the group. Art with his new Kodak camera begins touring with them, snapping pictures wherever they go. Cora finds him unsettling at first as he seems to focus his camera on her more than the others.

Cora is still confused about her feelings for both Pierre and Will. Will seems to hold her heart, but Pierre's affections are also hard to deny. When Cora's father insists that she allow Pierre to try and win her heart Cora is further thrown into turmoil.

Dogged at every turn by the men that attacked them at Pierre's home, Will must hire more guards for protection. When the attackers continue to follow the Kensington's and Morgan's, Wallace Kensington and others in the group hatch a daring plan to catch the culprits.

The more time Cora spends with her family the more she truly comes to love them and refuses to let anything happen to them. Cora also refuses to cut the Tour short and go back home to Montana. The more time that Will and Cora spend together the more their affections grow, but both know that Wallace Kensington would never allow one of his own to marry a man with no means.

Grave Consequences takes Cora and her family from Provence through Venezia where each stop they tour beautiful countrysides, ancient castles, and glittering palaces. They get to experience not only the culture of each stop, but also new experiences such as jumping from great heights into an ice cold river. They attend elaborate parties where they wear their finest garments and dance the night away. At each stop we as the reader are able to see and feel the same sights, happiness, thrills, fears and heart-aches that the characters themselves experience. The second book in The Grand Tour series definitely did not disappoint and I am looking forward to the third installment Glittering Promises coming out in September.

I received a copy for review from the publisher David C. Cook through NetGalley. I also bought the book from Amazon because I love the cover!

Waiting for Morning by Margaret Brownley

Molly would do anything for her young brother Donny. After all she believes that it is her fault that he is in a wheelchair. Molly has been working as a dance hall girl in order to support herself and Donny since their father has died. When the town they live in catches fire Molly barely escapes with Donny and a few clothes that she can save from her tent home that they share.

When Molly hears of a rancher looking for an heiress to run her ranch in Arizona Molly and Donny head there. The only catch to becoming the heiress is to sign a contract to agree never to marry. Molly doesn't believe that she will ever have a chance to be married. Every time she has been proposed to, when the man finds out about her invalid brother Donny the potential groom runs for the hills.

On their way to the Last Chance Ranch Molly and Donny meet Dr. Caleb Fairbanks. When his new horseless carriage backfires Molly believes they are being shot at. Molly has always protected Donny so she instantly gets out her rifle and shoots back! Caleb makes an even lesser impression when once again his carriage backfires and he starts a stampede that runs straight for Molly and Donny's wagon.

Caleb is attracted to Molly but Molly has put up many barriers to her heart. She believes that The Last Chance Ranch is definitely hers and Donny's "last chance". When Caleb starts working with Donny to help him build up his inactive muscles Molly is less than happy. Miss Walker the ranch owner is also less than happy when she realizes that Molly had failed to mention her brother Donny. But Molly is determined to make this last opportunity work for she and Donny. She promises Miss Walker that she will be able to care for Donny's needs along with all of her duties on the ranch.

Having been shunned and gossiped about in her former church Molly has had no use for churches since. She hates the fact that people judge her by her dress. Molly's reason for dressing loud is to bring attention away from her crippled brother. Through Caleb, Molly learns that she too has judged church people wrongly and therefore limited God in her life.  It is hard for Molly to realize that the guilt she has carried around for years was false guilt and that God has directed her path throughout.

Waiting for Morning is the second book in The Brides of Last Chance Ranch series. The first is Dawn Comes Early. Also the character of Caleb Fairbanks is from another book written by Margaret Brownley A Vision of Lucy. I'm really liking The Brides of Last Chance Ranch series and am hoping that soon Miss Walker will have her romance. I think that in Waiting for Morning she was starting to soften a bit so I'm looking forward to seeing what the author has in store for her and her ranch.

I received my copy of Waiting for Morning from Booksneeze.

Ring of Secrets by Roseanna M. White

It's 1779 and the Revolutionary war is in full swing as well as all of the spy rings for both the British and the Patriots. Winter Reeves is living in New York City with her grandparents. The Hampton's are not happy to have Winter with them. They never approved of her mother's marriage to her father and have resented it ever since. They are determined to get Winter married advantageously and getting her off their hands.

Winter has many secrets she is keeping. As part of the Culper ring of spies her life hangs in the balance. Not only is she in danger from her grandfather who threatens to dump her in Holy Ground(the part of town where prostitutes live), but she is also in danger of her cover as a spy becoming known.

Winter's grandmother wishes her to marry Bennet Lane, a wealthy Englishman who is set to inherit his uncle's estate in England. In order to gain his attention Winter's grandmother insists that Winter play the part of a flighty simpering young woman without an intelligent thought in her head. This works to Winter's advantage in that who would think of her as an actual spy?

Bennet has secrets of his own about why he is in New York when he longs to be in Connecticut teaching at Yale. Bennet sees through Winter's charade but is still confused. Is she really as clueless as she appears or underneath is there lurking an intelligent young woman? The more Bennet is around her the more he is convinced that there is more to Winter than meets the eye.

As Bennet and Winter slowly fall in love Winter is faced with revealing her deepest secret to Bennet and risk everything that he feels for her.

Having just finished another book on the Revolutionary war with a woman character passing secret letters I found it interesting that Ring of Secrets was next on my reading list. I really enjoyed it as the story line was much different. Ring of Secrets brought out a lot of emotions as I was reading. I found myself angry at Winter's grandparents for the way they treated her. I found myself laughing at some of Winter's antics as she played her part of the bored and clueless socialite. I found myself championing her bravery as she dedicated herself to passing along information to the Patriots. And I found myself sighing happily as Bennet and Winter's love grew for each other. A great historical read!

The Messenger by Siri Mitchell

Hannah Sunderland and her family are Quakers. The Quakers are non-violent people. Hannah and her family have chosen not to take sides in the Revolutionary war. Hannah's brother Robert has gone against their beliefs and joined the Patriots, his family has disowned him.

Jeremiah Jones owns a tavern where he is able to keep tabs of what is going on with the British army. He has already lost an arm in one war so is considered useless by most people. When the job of being a spy for General Washington falls into his lap Jeremiah must enlist the help of someone to be able to get into the jail to visit the prisoners.

When Robert is taken prisoner his family refuse to visit him in jail. Jeremiah is able to talk Hannah into not only visiting her brother in jail but also is able to talk her into passing a message on to a particular prisoner. After all, nobody would expect a Quaker woman of duplicity and spying.

Through their dangerous liaison of providing the prisoners with food and a means to escape Hannah and Jeremiah must learn to trust each other. Because of Hannah's Quaker beliefs this endeavor proves to be even more dangerous than either she or Jeremiah first thought. The more Hannah visits the prisoners the more she begins to question the belief of the Quakers in disowning the prisoners in need. With corruption abounding the prisoners are starving and forced to live in squalor while others turn a blind eye. Can two people be the means of saving them without being caught and tried for treason?

I really liked this story and found myself hoping that through all of the obstacles in their way that Hannah and Jeremiah would find a love for each other. But the romance or love story of The Messenger was not the main thrust of the book. I liked the fact that it dealt mainly with Hannah's struggle with her conscience to remain true to her faith and the Quaker beliefs or to listen with her own heart to what God was telling her no matter that it went against everything that she was taught. I also am becoming a sucker for those men that want to change their waywardness because of the love and example of a good woman. Jeremiah was rough around the edges at first but through his association with Hannah found himself wanting to be a better person for her. If you like Historical fiction then this is definitely a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Making Waves by Lorna Seilstad

Marguerite Westing is being courted by one of the most boring men she has ever met. Roger Gordon is the man that her mother expects her to marry. But Marguerite has no desire to marry Roger. When her family go to vacation at Lake Manawa for the summer Marguerite hopes for a reprieve from Roger's attentions.

When Marguerite meets Trip Andrews and finds that he owns a sailboat she is determined to get a ride on it. When she and her father sail across the lake with Trip and his crew Marguerite is hooked. She loves to sail. One problem though, nobody will teach a woman how to sail. Marguerite comes up with a plan to learn by having her brother take lessons from Trip as she "supervises" the lessons. One problem though, she can't swim. Which happens to be one of the criteria Trip has for taking them out on his sailboat. Marguerite tells him she can, after all he didn't ask her how well she could swim.

The more time that Marguerite spends in Trips company the more she realizes that she cannot marry Roger. But when her father manages to gamble away their entire fortune Marguerite is forced to accept his proposal in order to save her family from ruin. Expecting her daddy to rescue her at any time Marguerite underestimates the lengths to which Roger will go to make her his own.

I really enjoyed Making Waves! Marguerite's character is very entertaining. She's full of adventure and lively and manages to get herself into all sorts of predicaments. Held back by the confines and restraints put on women in the 1800's, Marguerite is a trial to her poor mother who just wants to see her married well. It was fun to see how Marguerite would work around her next obstacle. A fun read and I am looking forward to continuing reading the next book in the Lake Manawa summers series.

Isle of Shadows by Tracy L. Higley

Tessa's life is not her own. She has been trained as a hetaera(a courtesan) and is now owned by Glaucus, a man that has made her life miserable for the past 10 years. But Tessa's life is about to be changed. When Glaucus is found dead Tessa allows her heart to hope for a brief moment that she will be free. Putting off the inevitable, Tessa persuades a young slave and Simeon, Glaucus's head servant to help her dispose of Glaucus's body. She also convinces them to keep Glaucus's death a secret until she can find a way to escape Rhodes and being owned by another man. 

Tessa has wrapped her emotions deep inside and become like a stone. Niko's and Simeon try to touch the heart of the woman they hope is still buried deep within. In the meantime someone is plotting an assassination to further his own political aspirations. Tessa is hoping to uncover the plot and still be able to free herself before Glaucus's death is discovered and she is handed over to the next highest bidder.

Isle of Shadows was formerly called Shadow of Colossus and is one of the Seven Wonders books. I really enjoyed reading Isle of Shadows. Set in a time period before Christ on the island of Rhodes where gods and goddesses are worshiped Tessa finds faith and hope in the One True God that her new-found Jewish friends share with her. A bit of romance, some suspense and a natural disaster make Isle of Shadows a very memorable read. I've read two other books in the Seven Wonders series:

Guardian of the Flame
Pompeii: City on Fire

A Passion Denied by Julie Lessman

John Brady has always thought of Elizabeth O’Connor as a little sister. He knew that she has always had a crush on him, but he never thought of her “in that way” before. Now his “little buddy” has grown into a beautiful young woman. She has become “Lizzie” to all of her friends and family, but to Brady she will always be Beth.

When Lizzie enlists the help of her sisters Charity and Faith to help her gain his attention, Brady is forced to confront the feelings he has for her. Knowing that he can never act on those feelings, because of his past, Brady denies the love that he feels for her. But when his past shows up to haunt him Brady may lose not just his best friend, but also the love of his life. 

A Passion Denied is the 3^rd and last book in The Daughters of Boston series. I really like Brady’s character. He is a man of God, but struggles with the idea of God forgiving him for his past. It is easy for him to touch others lives and bring them to Christ, but his hardest struggle is with forgiving himself. I loved the way his life touched others, and others were used to touch him, especially his priest friend Father Mac. As with all of Julie Lessman’s stories A Passion Denied stressed me out! Julie assures her readers that all of her books have a “happy ending,” but it’s the getting to that happily ever after that stresses me! Her characters take twists and turns down dark paths on their journey to faith and trust in the ultimate lover of their souls. Another thing I loved about A Passion Denied was not just the love story of Lizzie and Brady, but that we also got to revisit Charity and Mitch and Faith and Collin as well as Patrick and Marcy. Each marriage filled with the passions and struggles of married couples learning to live with each other and growing in the faith that sustains each individual. The next chapter of the O’Connor family begins with A Hope Undaunted. Little Katie Rose is all grown up and giving the men in her life fits! Having read The Winds of Change series first you can check out my reviews:

A Hope Undaunted

A Heart Revealed

A Love Surrendered

The Daughters of Boston Series:

A Passion Most Pure

A Passion Redeemed

A Passion Redeemed by Julie Lessman

Charity O'Connor has decided that Mitch Dennehey is the only man for her. He stirs her passion and she stirs his. But Mitch is still in love with Charity's sister Faith. He wants nothing to do with Charity knowing in his heart that he could never trust her. Mitch sets out to forget both O'Connor women and court Kathleen, one of the sweetest women he knows next to Faith. She has always loved him and Mitch knows that given time he will come to love her as well.

Charity hatches a plan with Mitch's enemy Rigan in order to make Mitch jealous. Mitch warns Charity to stay away from Rigan, but wounded by Mitch's rejection Charity runs right into the arms of danger.

Afraid for Charity's safety Mitch agrees to take her home to Boston and her family. Mitch once again struggles with his attraction to this woman who stirs his passions with both anger and lust. Charity is determined to use every means possible to get Mitch to marry her even if she has to lie and use her feminine allure to get him.

The second book in The Daughters of Boston series focuses mainly on Charity although we do get a glimpse of the rest of the O'Connor family throughout. I struggled in A Passion Most Pure to figure out what drove Charity to be the way she was. In A Passion Redeemed we learn more of her background and what events led to her insecurities and need for attention. Charity is definitely a picture of a wounded soul in need of redemption. I came to understand her character better and even came to like her!  Julie Lessman has a way of drawing the reader into her stories. I found myself experiencing all kinds of emotions as I read A Passion Redeemed. I would get angry and exasperated at Charity and Mitch. I found myself getting teary at a tender moment of forgiveness and love displayed. And of course enough romance to make your heart melt! Looking forward to the next book A Passion Denied.