Pegg Thomas

The Blue Ribbon Brides Collection

The Blue Ribbon Brides Collection: 9 Historical Women Win More than a Blue Ribbon at the Fair by Cynthia Hickey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another Barbour collection full of engaging characters and fun stories, these all set during a county or state fair. Having spent a good deal of my growing up years at the county fair, then twenty years as a 4-H leader and 4-Her’s mom, these stories brought back many fond memories. It’s hard to pick any favorites out of this bunch, all of them combine a competitive spirit with the life lessons each character needs to learn. I love that each competition is different, from quilting to baking to farm animals to auto racing … there is something in here for everyone.

I Heard the Bells

I Heard the Bells by Angela K. Couch
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A good Christmas story with a heartfelt message. Perfect to pick up and read this holiday season. The novella is a quick read that will stick with you after you’re done. Angela Couch is a wonderful author who brings her characters to life for the reader.

A Bound Heart

A Bound Heart by Laura Frantz
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another wonderful story by Laura Frantz. This one lands the readers on Scotland’s craggy coastline and then sweeps them out to sea to find hope on distant shores. A delightful blend of cultural norms and national loyalties that clash with the harsh realities of the mid-eighteenth century. Colorful characters in a wide range of personalities pepper the story with enough emotional impact to keep the pages turning. You’ll love some, hate some, and have a hard time figuring where others fit into that spectrum. A beautiful read that releases on January 1st. What a great way to start the year and use those Christmas gift cards!

Toward the Sunrise

Toward the Sunrise by Elizabeth Camden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a charming novella about a woman who gets herself into a “situation” and the unexpected hero who helps her out. I really liked both characters and enjoyed how they played off each other. The author did a great job of writing the scenes with the goats too. As someone who has raised sheep for over 25 years, it was fun to read well-researched and believable scenes like that! Too often, writers miss the details that make such things fun for people who know how it really works. Kudos to Elizabeth Camden!

The Deepest Sigh

The Deepest Sigh by Naomi Dawn Musch
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. I don’t know what I expected in this book, but I was engrossed from start to finish. The characters didn’t let me go even after I’d shut the book. They are deep, complex, and achingly human with their hopes, dreams, faults, and foibles. Sometimes you don’t know whom to root for. Sometimes you want to slap one of them. Sometimes you want to weep for them. Beautifully written in a style that will appeal to any who enjoy historicals and historical romance. Set during WWI at a very pivotal time in our history, a very satisfying story of people who did their best in a world that was shifting and changing before their very eyes. I highly recommend this one.

Ohhhh! Book two is just as good! Read my review of The Softest Breath.

And book three might be the best of the bunch! The Brightest Hope.

A Southern Season

A Southern Season: Stories from a Front Porch Swing by Eva Marie Everson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yikes! I can’t believe I didn’t review this when I read it. Well … slap me with a wooden spoon! Better late than never. 🙂

I’m a huge fan of Linda Yezak’s writing. Her humor, her characters, and her lively way of putting words on the page, so I’m going to concentrate on her story in this collection, “Ice Melts in Spring.” This one is different than Linda’s other stories, a bit more serious, a bit deeper in some aspects, but still the same lively writing that brings the reader right into the story. AND it has a dog in it. I’m a sucker for any story with a good dog in it. Buy it. Read it. Enjoy it.

The Regency Brides Collection

The Regency Brides Collection: 7 Romances Set in England during the Early Nineteenth Century by Michelle Griep
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was a nice collection of stories set during the same time frame, but vastly different in many other ways. I enjoyed the collection, but the stories that really stuck out at me were Amanda Barrett’s “First Comes Marriage” and MaryLu Tyndall’s “The Highwayman’s Bargain.” If you enjoy clean romance reads with engaging characters and a touch of old world charm, you really can’t go wrong with any of these novellas.

A Musket in My Hands

A Musket in My Hands by Sandra Merville Hart
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A unique look at the War of Northern Aggression from the standpoint of a pair of southern sisters left in destitute circumstances. With dismal prospects – and limited food – they set out to disguise themselves as soldiers and join the Confederate Army and the two men who hold their hearts. Any notion that they’ll be safe there is quickly squashed as they march their way toward Franklin, Tennessee.

Wonderfully detailed history that adds to the story without distracting the reader, an interesting and often overlooked sector of the population during this war, and a heart-warming love story all rolled into one.

Mist O’er the Voyageur

Mist O’er the Voyageur by Naomi Musch
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is in the middle of my wheelhouse. I love everything Great Lakes and historical Great Lake settings are my favorites. The added plus is that it takes place during Colonial Times. Yeah. Win-win-win for me.

The author does a superb job of setting this story among the rough-and-tumble world of the French Voyageurs. You’ll feel the strain of the canoe paddle in your hands, the spray of Lake Superior against your face, and the turbulent waves battering your fragile vessel. Truly an experience across the pages.

Don’t miss out on this one!

The Cumberland Bride

The Cumberland Bride by Shannon McNear
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the first book in the Daughters of the Mayflower series that I’ve read. Having read a couple of novellas by this author, I was happy to dive into this novel. It didn’t disappoint! I was transported back in time to the backcountry of Kentucky, surrounded by the magnificent landscape, and immersed in the lives of those brave pioneers who risked it all to settle the land.

Author McNear didn’t sugar-coat the experience. She drags the reader into a river, over a mountain, and keeps them looking over their shoulder for hostile natives. She also does a very good job of balancing the differences between those natives and the settlers. And one of the things I really like is the author’s notes and historical notes at the end. I love learning how much of the story was true.