To Love and Cherish by Tracie Peterson and Judith Miller

From the publishers: "When Melinda Colson's employer announces they'll be leaving Bridal Veil Island to return to their home in Cleveland, Melinda hopes her beau, Evan, will propose. But Evan isn't prepared to make an offer of marriage until he knows he can support a wife and family. Evan works as the assistant gamekeeper on Bridal Veil but hopes to be promoted soon.

Letters strengthen their love, but Melinda remains frustrated at being apart from the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with. Then she learns of a devastating hurricane in Bridal Veil and knows she must give up her position as a lady's maid and make her way back to Evan.

The destruction on Bridal Veil is extensive, meaning every available person is needed to help with cleanup and repairs. Melinda finds a new job on the island, but Evan seems even busier than before, meaning she still never gets to see him. Has she given her heart to the wrong man?

And when Melinda overhears a vicious plot against President McKinley, who is scheduled to visit the island, is Evan the one she should turn to? Will Melinda and Evan ever get the chance to stand at the front of a church and promise "to love and cherish"?"

The cover is beautiful and I was hoping that the story would be engaging.  However, I was disappointed in this book.    The main characters of Melinda and Evan were weak and unlikable.  .  I kept hoping that another hero would show up and we could like him better than Evan, and I think I even liked the antagonist better than Evan.  

Most of the book was Melinda being upset for Evan not proposing and Evan not wanting to get married yet.  The book was slow paced and did not grab my attention in any part of the story. Even the "climatic" end was not a winner.  

I wish I could give this a good review.  I enjoy historical fiction, but I will not be reading any other books from this series.

I received this book in exchange from the publishers for my honest review.

The River by Michael Neale

From the publisher: Gabriel Clarke is mysteriously drawn to The River, a ribbon of frothy white water carving its way through steep canyons high in the Colorado Rockies. The rushing waters beckon him to experience freedom and adventure.

But something holds him back—the memory of the terrible event he witnessed on The River when he was just five years old—something no child should ever see.

Chains of fear and resentment imprison Gabriel, keeping him from discovering the treasures of The River. He remains trapped, afraid to take hold of the life awaiting him.

When he returns to The River after years away, his heart knows he is finally home. His destiny is within reach. Claiming that destiny will be the hardest—and bravest—thing he has ever done.

I have to say that this book lacked depth in many ways.  I was not drawn to any of the characters, least of all the main character Gabriel.  A book can be not very deep, but at least entertaining and engaging.  This book was neither deep, nor entertaining, nor engaging.  This book was choppy and caused me to not really didn't care if Gabriel conquered his fears or got a better life because he was written in a very flat way.  When reading it I felt like I was reading middle/high school writing craft.  

Spiritually there was more mysticism/animism/etc. than Christianity.  There is a hawk that appears to comfort Gabriel, and the River talks to him, an important teacher of his is named after the river, and a special dog helps him at the river.  There could have been many chances to show that God is the One who heals our deepest grief, but instead it was this magical river.

The story line had potential but it was not carried out well.  I cannot recommend this book.

I received this book from Booksneeze for my honest review.  

Unstoppable Chapter 1 Excerpt

Unstoppable by Nick Vujicic (Chapter 1 Excerpt)

Unstoppable

A Season for Tending by Cindy Woodsmall

Rhonda Byler has a gift for tending to gardens, but has a past that haunts her.  Then here is Samuel King and his family's orchard and their family troubles and joys.  Rhonda's understanding and expertise at gardening and canning binds a relationship with the King family.

This is the first book in a series, and it seemed that much of it was setting up for what would come later.  If you want a book with a quick ending, then this is not for you.  The characters and families are developed so that they can be further explored in the coming books.

There were a lot of characters and at first I felt confused with all the names and families, but Woodsmall does a good job and trying to keep things sorted out.

The book kept my attention throughout and I am looking forward to reading the next book so I can find out what happens next!

I received this book for free from Waterbrook Press for my honest opinion.

The Scarlet Cord by Joan Wolf

From the publisher:
“Within one of the Old Testament’s most famous battles lies one of its most tender love stories.
Hidden within the battle of Jericho is the story of Rahab, a beautiful and brave young Canaanite woman who aided the Israelites by hanging a piece of scarlet cord from a window. This act of faith changed her life by placing her in the genealogy of Christ.
Rahab is the beautiful youngest daughter of a Canaanite farmer, taken to Jericho for the pagan New Year celebration so that her father can find her a wealthy spouse. Sala is the only son of an Israelite merchant, in Jericho as a spy for Joshua’s army. Their love would have been destined for heartache, were it not ordained by God.
When Rahab finds favor with the king, and is to become his ritual bride, she abandons the pagan gods who have abandoned her and pleads with the One True God of the Israelites for deliverance. With her prayer answered, she vows to deliver Jericho to Joshua, risking her life to do so.
Motivated by love and empowered by a new faith, Rahab saves her family, and secures her future as one of the most important women in the Bible.”

Joan Wolf created an engaging Biblical fiction story.  The historical knowledge of the Canaanite religion helped to create the mood toward the situation and how Joshua had to deal with it.  I appreciated the author’s note at the end of the book and how she struggled with the “jihad” idea and wanted to deal with it as best she could.  I applaud her honestly and her struggle as an author.  I do think that the Bible calling Rahab a harlot was not just a culture thing however, and although I appreciate what Wolf did, I found it more off base Biblically than I would have liked.  Overall it was an interesting read and I look forward to more of Joan Wolf’s books.

I received this book free from BookSneeze for my honest review.

Wildflowers from Winter by Katie Ganshert

From the publisher, "A young architect at a prestigious Chicago firm, Bethany Quinn has built a life far removed from her trailer park teen years. Until an interruption from her estranged mother reveals that tragedy has struck in her hometown and a reluctant Bethany is called back to rural Iowa. Determined to pay her respects while avoiding any emotional entanglements, she vows not to stay long. But the unexpected inheritance of farmland and a startling turn of events in Chicago forces Bethany to come up with a new plan. Handsome farmhand Evan Price has taken care of the Quinn farm for years. So when Bethany is left the land, he must fight her decisions to realize his dreams. But even as he disagrees with Bethany's vision, Evan feels drawn to her and the pain she keeps so carefully locked away.  For Bethany, making peace with her past and the God of her childhood doesn't seem like the path to freedom. Is letting go the only way to new life, love and a peace she's not even sure exists?"

 I read this book in two days, and it only took that long because I didn't have time to sit and just read.  This book was engaging throughout the read.  The primary and secondary characters are engaging.  I thought it was interesting how the flashbacks were written in first person while the rest of the book was written in third.  I enjoyed that writing craft and how it made the past more vivid to the reader even though the rest of the book was not during that time.

 I appreciated the real feel of the characters and the amount of time it took for them to change or develop.  Sometimes authors have the characters change so quickly and it is unrealistic.  However, I was glad that this author choose to show time passing and events unfolding as the characters developed.  

 The question brought up in the book of seeing religious leaders as God and not God just for who He is was poignant.  Today many people reject God because of who they think He is, based on religious leaders they do or do not like. This book, and the author does a great job at tackling this issue and bring it to the reader. I received this book free for my honest review from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.