Happy 2014!

Wishing you a Happy New Year

filled with books to enjoy

and to fill your days!

Rest Not in Peace ~ Review

Rest Not in Peace
The Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, surgeon #6
By Mel Starr

In Rest Not in Peace, Master Hugh is stymied when Sir Henry Burley is found dead.  Was it the sleeping potion he prescribed? Or something more sinister at work?

Rest Not in Peace will keep you guessing until the very end as to the guilty party.  Was it Sir Henry's dissatisfied second wife, his daughter, one of his knights, or the squires?  Every clue Master Hugh finds just creates more questions - at least in his view.

Adding to his investigation are the circumstances surrounding Sir Henry's visit to Lord Gilbert and Bampton Castle.  Why had Sir Henry outstayed his welcome and was the murderer one of Bampton Castle's own?

If you like medieval historical fiction and a fan of murder mysteries you won't be disappointed in Rest Not in Peace. Take a trip to 1368 England and have a cup of tea as you settle in for an ingenious and perplexing English murder.  Join Master Hugh as he calls upon his skills and knowledge as both a surgeon and a bailiff to solve a murder for which there is no apparent cause.  Can a healthy man's death be attributed to a harmless sleeping potion?  Hugh de Singleton is determined to discover the truth even as something more sinister returns to Bampton and to England.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher Lion Fiction and Kregel Blog Tours in exchange for my honest review.


About the Book:

Master Hugh, surgeon and bailiff, is asked to provide a sleeping potion for Sir Henry Burley, a friend and guest of Lord Gilbert at Bampton Castle. Sir Henry--with his current wife, a daughter by a first wife, two knights, two squires, and assorted servants--has outstayed his welcome at Bampton.

The next morning, Sir Henry is found dead, eyes open, in his bed. Master Hugh, despite shrill accusations from the grieving widow, is asked by Lord Gilbert to determine the cause of death . . . which had nothing to do with the potion.

The sixth tale following Hugh de Singleton, Rest Not in Peace is sure to find its place among fans of detective and medieval historical fiction.

A December Bride ~ Review

A December Bride
A Year of Weddings Novella
Denise Hunter

Every couple has a love story. Join us for a year of contemporary, seasonal wedding novellas, releasing in e-book every month. Each e-novella will include an excerpt from another wedding story in the Year of Weddings Collection as well as a list of the author’s full-length novels. 

A December Bride is the first in the A Year of Weddings novellas.
Layla O'Reilly is desperate, her date for ex-fiance's wedding has canceled on her just hours before the wedding.  And desperation alone has her going to the wedding with Seth Murphy - the man she blames for breaking her engagement to Jack.

In a moment of chivalry Seth informs Jack and his new bride Jessica that he and Layla are engaged.  But before Seth can explain the true situation to Jack the news travels throughout Chapel Springs and Seth and Layla are literally the talk of the town.  And Layla may get her dream job because of this "engagement" if only she and Seth can keep up the act for the next three weeks.

But for Seth the hard part of the act is that for him it is no act, Layla has captured his heart if only she'd accept it and know that he had no part in his best friend's betrayal.  But can he get Layla to put aside her anger and see that he was there for her before Jack knew she existed?  He has just days to win her heart before the engagement is ended.

This is the perfect week-end read on a snowy afternoon.  A December wedding is a special event and you've been invited to take a front row seat!

I was provided a digital loan of this title by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Description

Happily ever after begins today. The honor of your presence is requested at a December wedding. Happily ever after guaranteed.  

What started as a whim turned into an accidental - and very public - engagement. Can Layla and Seth keep up the facade in Chapel Springs this holiday season - for the sake of her career . . . and his heart?

Under normal circumstances, Seth Murphy, the best friend of Layla O'Reilly's ex-fiance would be the last person she'd marry. But the news of their upcoming (and phony) nuptials convinces a big client that Layla may be high-society enough to work for his agency, a coup that would put her fledgling home-staging business on the map. Seth has secretly loved Layla for years, even when she was dating his best friend. Maybe she'll never forgive him for the way he hurt her back then, but he has to try. And Layla is willing to keep up their engagement farce until she's landed her client. For Layla, it's the chance to save her career. But for Seth, it's his last chance to win her heart.

Rock Harbor Lost and Found ~ Review

Rock Harbor: Lost and Found
By Colleen Coble 
  and Robin Caroll

Emily O'Reilly's puppy Sherlock is everything she had hoped for in a search and rescue dog.  But Emily has a knack for getting into trouble and she's about to get into more trouble.  Her mother is hanging around trying to get Emily to spend time with her.  There is a suspicious fire at the high school.  Emily and Olivia uncover a secret - a big one.  And bad things are about to happen to the O'Reilly family and Emily thinks that she's to blame.

Emily learns some valuable lessons in Lost and Found including that some secrets should never be kept and she learns that there are hidden dangers on the internet - dangers that almost cost her more than she ever imagined.

Emily wants to help but her impatience  and curiosity have a way of make her act without thinking things through.  I also think that Emily's dad can at times be just a little uptight, which is understandable with some of Emily's stunts.  But both come off as real people which makes this a believable story that subtly teaches middle grade readers a valuable and cautionary message.  This is a worthy sequel to Search and Rescue.

I was provided loan of a digital ARC of this title by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Description

An old photo brings a shocking revelation and it’s up to Emily and her best friend Olivia to solve the case!

Fourteen-year-old Emily O’Reilly and her best friend Olivia Webster have a knack for solving mysteries. Emily has been busily training her new puppy Sherlock to be a Search and Rescue dog so that the two can lead search-and-rescue missions someday. So when Emily stumbles across an old photo of Olivia’s adoption day—a fact that has never been revealed to Olivia—the two quickly decide to uncover the mysterious details surrounding Olivia’s birth parents.

But the two bite off more than they can chew as they dig into learning more about Olivia’s adoption without notifying her parents. And to make matters worse, Emily’s mother Marika, a convicted felon recently released on parole, will stop at nothing to contact her daughter—a fact that Emily is not happy about.

When her beloved stepmother Naomi disappears, Emily takes it upon herself to connect the dots and conduct her own snow-bound search-and-rescue mission with Sherlock. Will Emily ever find the secret behind Naomi’s disappearance? And will Olivia ever learn the truth about her adopted parents?

In Love and War ~ Review

In Love and War
By Carla Kelly

In Love and War is a compilation of four regency romances by Carla Kelly.   Included in this collection is The Light Within, A Hasty Marriage, Something New, and The Background Man.

In The Light Within finds Lord Thomas Waggoner trying to stop his older brother from ruining the family.  But through a mistake in identity he accidentally spirits away the wrong woman.  

Blessing Whittier and her mother-in-law are trying to get the British Admiralty to admit that they sank her husband's ship.  But the lords of the Admiralty have little time for American women and their troubles.  When she receives a letter promising to settle her matter - she believes that this is the answer that she's been waiting for.

The Light Within is a short yet delightful story that will give you a pleasant and enjoyable afternoon.

In A Hasty Marriage a runaway old maid of 32 (ouch!) and a widowed captain are about to be caught up in the early days of war.  Captain Hiram Titus has brought the Hasty to England, but the threat of war may make this his last voyage for a long time.  Meanwhile Ann Utley is a spinster of independent means who escapes from a coming proposal by way of a tree.  When they meet in Portsmouth they are attracted to one another but with such a short acquaintance nothing can come of it.  Or will the efforts of well-meaning friends speed things along?

In Something New Major John Redpath's duty to a young French orphan is about to throw a wrench into the upcoming nuptials of his friend Lieutenant Sir Edmund Parkhill.  With a fiancee who in her sister's estimation is becoming an ogre this is a wedding to be remembered.  Maire Deux is a delightful addition into their home in widowed Audrey Winkle's opinion, but her mother, Mrs. Caldwell and her sister Emmeline only find fault and scandal in the four year old orphan.  But Marie's presence is about to play matchmaker.

In The Background Man Charles Mortimer is overseeing the opening of the Grand Hotel.  He is acting as a temporary manager until Mr. Simmons recovers from his gout.  Malaria has kept Charles from advancing in his career, but he occupies his time by recording his memories of Wellington's time in India.  But Miss Millicent Carrington is about give him something else to occupy his mind.  But what will Charles choose - the rules of the Grand Hotel or his heart?

Four delightful stories from the Regency period to wile away the winter hours...  If you've read Carla Kelly before you won't be disappointed in For Love and War.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

About the Book:

Beloved romance writer Carla Kelly shares a treasured collection of wonderfully written stories of dashing war heroes and the sassy heroines who can’t help falling for them. From daring sea captains to genteel lords, there’s a little something for every heart’s fancy. Readers everywhere will adore these four regency romances—now available together for the first time in one must-have book!

About the Carla Kelly:

Award-winning author Carla Kelly is a veteran of the New York and international publishing world. The author of more than thirty novels and novellas for Donald I. Fine Co., Signet, and Harlequin, Carla is the recipient of two Rita Awards (think Oscars for romance writing) from Romance Writers of America and two Spur Awards (think Oscars for western fiction) from Western Writers of America. She is also a recipient of a Whitney Award for Borrowed Light and My Loving Vigil Keeping.

Double Agents ~ Review

Double Agents
Justin Hall #4
By Ethan Jones

Justin Hall and Carrie O'Connor are back in action and even more danger.  Tasked with helping the CIA stop a Chechen terrorist attack against the United States CIS's best are determined to get the job done.

With all the excitement of the previous Justin Hall novels you won't be disappointed in Double Agents.  When the CIA approaches CIS about a Chechen threat against the US - Justin and Carrie are tasked to help be the go-between between the CIA and Russia's FSB.

But nothing goes quite according to plan and with a double agent involved someone's life is on the line and not everyone will return home... Regardless of the losses and the personal favors IOU's that are racking up Justine and Carrie are going to stop a terrorist and his planned attack on US soil.

Double Agents is another thriller from Ethan Jones and you won't want to miss a single second of the heart pounding excitement!  And there is a terrific little tidbit at the end that hints at even more Justin Hall excitement to come...  I, for one, can't wait for Rogue Agents!

I was provided a digital ARC in exchange for review.

The Wanderers ~ Review and Excerpt

The Wanderers
By Paul Stutzman

The Wanderers is a story that will touch your heart.  Johnny Miller is Amish and has been Amish all his life, but something has been calling to him - a pull that he can't explain or understand.  But then he meets Annie Yoder, the new school teacher who has a passion for butterflies and Jesus.  Annie is what Johnny needs to still the desire to wander and explore the world outside what he knows.  But when tragedy strikes can Johnny still his wandering spirit before he loses even more.

But Johnny is not the only wanderer in this story.  Interspersed throughout is a story of the fight to survive and to fulfill one's destiny.  But the focal point of this aspect of the story are two Monarch Butterflies - Sabio and Mariposa (or Posy).  Sabio and Posy are the fourth generation in the migratory cycle and their lives are intertwined with those of Annie and Johnny in an unusual way.

This is a story of new beginnings and tragic endings.  It is a search for purpose and survival.  And it is a story of love and the ability to see beyond one's self.  Be sure to have a box of tissue nearby - you may need it!

The Wanderers is set before and during the years of Viet Nam.  And the setting is Ohio, Indiana, the western states (mainly California), and Texas.  And there are an amazing array of people who cross paths with Johnny during his travels.

The story is told from the POV of various characters including Johnny, Annie, Johnny's parents, and the Monarchs. This unlike any other Amish story you have ever read!

This is the first book in The Wanderers series and believe after reading the first book you will be waiting for the second book Wandering Home!  I know I am.

I was provided a copy of this book in conjunction with this Pump Up Your Book tour in exchange for my participation and my honest review.

About the Author:

Paul Stutzman was born in Holmes County, Ohio in an Amish family. His family left the Amish lifestyle soon after Paul was born. They joined a strict Conservative Mennonite Church where Paul was raised to fear God and obey all the rules the church demanded. Paul continued to live among and mingle with his Amish friends and relatives his entire life. Paul married a Mennonite girl and remained in the Amish community working and raising a family. After Paul lost his wife to cancer, he sensed a tug on his heart- the call to a challenge, the call to pursue a dream. With a mixture of dread and determination, Paul left his job, traveled to Georgia, and took his first steps on the 2,176 mile Appalachian Trail. What he learned during the next four and a half months changed his life-and can change yours too. After completing his trek Stutzman wrote Hiking Through—a book about this life changing journey.

In the summer of 2010 Stutzman again heeded the call for adventure and pedaled his bicycle 5,000 miles across America. He began his ride at the Northwest corner of Washington State and pedaled to Key West, Florida. On his journey across America he encounters people in all circumstances, from homelessness to rich abundance. The people he meets touch his life profoundly. Stutzman writes about these encounters in his book Biking Across America.

Recently Stutzman released his first novel entitled The Wanderers. The Wanderers is a story about Johnny, a young Amish boy growing up in a culture he is not sure he wants to embrace. A young Amish girl named Annie wins his heart and life is great for a time. Entwined with Johnny and Annie’s story is the allegory of two Monarch butterflies, worms who have been transformed into amazing creatures specially chosen to carry out the miracle of the fourth generation. They, too, must undertake a long journey before they finally find home.

In addition to writing, he speaks to groups about his hiking and biking experiences and the lessons learned during these adventures. Stutzman resides in Berlin, Ohio and can be contacted through his website at www.hikingthrough.com or www.paulstutzman.com.

About the Book:

An Amish Love Story About Hope and Finding Home

Everything in God’s nature, Johnny observed, did what it was created to do. Everything, that is, except the human race. Johnny was born into an Amish family, into a long line of farmers and good businessmen. He is expected to follow the traditions of family and church as he grows to adulthood. But even as a boy, he questions whether he can be satisfied with this lifestyle. He wants “more” — more education, more travel, more opportunity.  His restlessness leads him down a dangerous road where too much partying and drinking result in heartbreaking consequences. He’s adrift, and no one seems to be able to help him find his direction.

Then he meets spunky Annie, who seems pure and lovely and devoted to her God. Her past, though, holds sin and heartbreak. She was a worm, she explains, but God has transformed her into a butterfly. Johnny falls hopelessly in love; and eventually he, too, finds the power of God to transform lives. Settling down on the family farm, he forgets about the questions and the restlessness, thinking that he is happy and at home, at last.

But in a few short hours, tragedy changes his life forever, and he is again wondering… and wandering on a very long journey.

Entwined with Johnny and Annie’s story is the allegory of two Monarch butterflies, worms who have been transformed into amazing creatures specially chosen to carry out the miracle of the fourth generation. They, too, must undertake a long journey before they finally find home.

Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE.

First Chapter Reveal

Title: The Wanderers
Author: Paul Stutzman
Genre: Amish Fiction
Publisher: Carlisle Printing
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0984644911
ISBN-13: 978-0984644919

Purchase your copy at AMAZON

First Chapter:

I was ten when I had my first taste of beer. A late start, to be sure, but I was never bothered much by peer pressure. My friends had all sampled the stuff two or three years before, but I had felt no desire or need. There was only one reason I drank on that hot August day. I was thirsty.

Finished with my morning chores, I started across the hayfield with an armful of boards ripped from the old washhouse. Previous generations had scrubbed and soaked and steamed in the one-room shack in front of our farmhouse; my parents, though, had upgraded to a new kerosene washer, and now the women worked in the coolness under the long front porch. An old kettle still hung above the brick fire pit, but the washhouse sagged like a tired old work horse.

My dad had assigned me the task of dismantling the washhouse. That was fine with me; I had plans for that scrap lumber. I wanted to enlarge the deer stand at the edge of the distant woods. The stand was my hideout, where I spent countless hours contemplating life. It was a haven for my wondering mind, and I called it my institution of higher learning.

Eight years of school at Milford Elementary, in the little village several miles east of our farm, were not enough for me. While most Amish children were happy to be finished with formal education, I wept when I could not attend the local high school.

The English students sometimes mocked us Amish as backwards farmers, but I enjoyed school, excelled in sports, and had the gift of gab. Although I was known as something of a "charmer," I never liked the word. It's true, I could talk myself into or out of anything. You do have to make the most of whatever talents God's given you.

The school of higher education that I did attend was built in a stately oak that stood sentinel at the edge of our woods. Two gnarled branches cradled my hideout, ten feet off the ground, overlooking the fields that my family had owned for generations. Years ago, my grandfather had secured several boards across the limbs and nailed short slabs up the oak's trunk, a ladder ascending to the platform. Over time, the trunk swallowed up most of the rungs, but edges still protruded far enough for deer hunters to clamber up and lie in wait for the quarry.

My first hunt with my dad and my brother was also my last. Finally, I was deemed old enough to go hunting with the men. I climbed the ladder and settled into waiting, tense with excitement. Very soon, a doe came through the woods, paused at the spring to drink, then walked slowly down the side of the ravine. One shot echoed through the quiet morning. We scampered down the ladder rungs and approached the deer, lying bleeding on the hillside. It struggled to its feet, took another tumble, and lay still.

My excitement vanished. I felt only sadness and pangs of remorse. The doe's brown eye was open, staring at me, asking, "Why? What did I do to deserve this?"

Dad had a knife in his hands; I knew what must come next. Backtracking, I was violently sick behind a bush. I was not meant to be a hunter, and no one would ever shoot another deer from that stand if I had any say at all.

I did have my say. Well, my mom did. Although Dad was the authority and power in our house, Mom often held the reins. With tears streaming down my face, I unloaded my sad description of the dying deer. "We can't shoot them anymore. We just can't."

Soon the NO HUNTING signs were posted, and the woods, deer stand, and all of God's nature on our 120 acres were mine.

Well, perhaps not quite everything fell under my protection. Every year, we butchered a pig, a horrible sacrifice for the betterment of our family. My dad and brother would select the offering. I always wondered how the selection was made, but I never asked. They'd grab the unlucky swine by the hind legs, lift it over the fence, and carry it away as it squealed in terror. As the surviving porkers looked on in great relief, I'd run to the house, up the stairs, and cover my head with my pillow. I'd hear the shot anyway.

While my family processed the departed, I'd venture to the pig pen. I knew each hog by distinguishing marks; and, in dread, I checked to see who was missing. Spotty had survived. Curly was still here. Snort made the cut. We would be eating Limpy. A wild dog or coyote had wriggled through the board fence one night and taken a bite out of Limpy. Our German shepherd, Biff, had heard the commotion and chased the intruder away before he could get a second bite. On the day of Limpy’s demise, I reminded myself that I must take caution; I must never injure myself in any way that might cause my own lameness.

***

My usual route from the washhouse to the deer stand followed the cow path leading from the barn to the pasture field and traveled twice a day by our herd. On this day, the hay field between the house and the woods had been mowed and I took advantage of this shorter route. I might have chosen the hay field even if the route were longer; as a ten-year-old, I drank in the sensory gifts of summer: the aroma of new mown hay, the sweetness of warm strawberries, the smell of an August rain on dusty ground.

"Johnny, go get us some Stroh's!" my older brother Jonas called. He and his friend Jacob were in the field, making hay. Jacob had been recruited to help my brother today because Dad was on a lumber buying trip, and the clouds warned there would be rain by tomorrow. I dropped my boards reluctantly and retraced my steps back to the farmhouse.

My great-grandparents had built this house over a spring, and the cool waters flowed through the basement, filling a concrete trough where my mom stored crocks of butter, fresh milk and cream, eggs, watermelon, and any kind of dish she was preparing for the next meal. Those amber bottles of Stroh's were chilling in a corner of the trough just inside the door. I grabbed two by the necks and rushed back outside, leaving a wet trail of spring water.

The Stroh’s stash belonged to Jonas. Dad was bishop of our Amish church, and I had never seen him drink beer. As a church leader, he was very much aware that anything misused, misread, or mistaken could affect his reputation and influence in the community.

Jonas, on the other hand, had no such reputation to protect. Sixteen, he had recently concluded his formal education and he knew exactly where his future lay. He was not yet a member of the church, but he would join in a few years, get married, and settle down right here in our valley. He had big plans to take over the sawmill that my dad ran as a part-time operation. I was the younger of Dad's sons; my father's hope was that I would be farming the Miller family land someday.

"You thirsty?" Jonas handed his half-empty bottle to me. I was thirsty. But that first taste was not good.

Still, that swallow in the hay field meant that now I was one of the men. I may have been a Miller boy, but now I was a Stroh's man.

Yes, I admit, many bottles of Stroh's beer would find their way to the deer stand in the years to come. For a while, it was not only my thinking stand, it was my drinking stand. More of a beer stand than a deer stand. Stroh's beer would get me into so much trouble; but it would also lead to meeting Annie. And then, for a short time, I had it all. I was an Amish man living the dream.

Until it was all taken from me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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