The Brightest Hope by Naomi Dawn Musch
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I wasn’t sure how the author was going to take the “bad boy” of book #2 and make him the hero of book #3 … but she nailed it! What a great end to this trilogy. Two emotionally wounded people who are drawn together against their will only to be torn apart when the unimaginable happens. Plenty of twists and turns and just the right amount of sighs. Highly recommend this one – but read The Deepest Sigh and The Softest Breath first!
My heart breaks for the families who have once again lost loved ones to violence. And it’s angered by those who once again maneuver to gain political points on the backs of those who sorrow.
Legacy Rejected by Robin Patchen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Another wonderful adventure in Nutfield from author Robin Patchen. As always, her characters are engaging and quirky, the setting is *the* small town we all wished we lived in, and there are parts of the story that keep you guessing. While it’s fun to see the cameo appearances of characters from her other series, there’s no need to read them before reading this. But if you haven’t – you’ll want to anyway!
The Softest Breath by Naomi Dawn Musch
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow. This is the second book in the series. I loved the first, The Deepest Sigh, and this one might even be better. The wonderfully rounded characters are both endearing and flawed. The setting is post-WWI when so many changes were happening both socially and industrially. The hero is charmingly old-school, and the heroine is snappily modern. The tension between them is believable and understandable. I didn’t want to put it down!
This book, as well as The Deepest Sigh, was originally published by Desert Breeze Publishing which has since gone out of business. Author Musch is putting the books back in production independently and is releasing book three, The Brightest Hope, on August 1, 2019. I never really thought I liked books written in this era, but she’s proved me wrong. I’ll be first in line to get my copy!
Yours Truly, Thomas by Rachel Fordham
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
There is a lot to like about this story. The characters are engaging, the story premise is interesting, the setting is charming, and there’s a big dog in it. I love stories with dogs in them. However – you saw that coming, right? – it could have benefited from another round of editing. There are grammatical/punctuation errors, and if you just read over those, they won’t bother you, but there are more issues that should have been addressed. However – because every review should have two of these – it’s still an enjoyable story.
I don’t tend to post a lot about me on this blog – and perhaps I should – but today I need to whoop-n-holler a little bit. It’s been an exciting year so far.
Back in February, I decided to enter the ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) Carol Awards. I had three books release last year, and I hemmed and hawed about which one to enter. Well, I gave up and entered all three. It was announced this evening that I have two of the three finalists in the novella category. “Her Redcoat” in “The Backcountry Brides” and “In Sheep’s Clothing” in “A Bouquet of Brides.” Yowzer! The winner will be announced at the ACFW Conference in September.
At about the same time, I entered the RWA (Romance Writers of America) Faith, Hope, & Love Readers Choice Award. I only entered one of the books in that contest, “In Sheep’s Clothing,” and it’s also a finalist there. The winner will be announced at the end of July.
And then, knock me over with a feather, I was nominated for the ACFW Editor of the Year! I have no idea who nominated me (they don’t tell you), but I’m now a finalist in that contest as well. The winner will be announced at the ACFW Conference in September.
Did I mention that it’s been an exciting year so far? Well … it sure has. Even if I don’t win a single one of these contests, at least I know that I’m good enough to romp with the big dogs.
Pegg Thomas