Terri Blackstock: If I Live

By Kelly Bridgewater

THE HUNT IS ALMOST OVER.

Casey Cox is still on the run after being indicted for murder. The hunt that began with her bloody footprints escalates, and she’s running out of places to hide. Her face is all over the news, and her disguises are no longer enough. It’s only a matter of time before someone recognizes her.

Dylan Roberts, the investigator who once hunted her, is now her only hope. Terrifying attempts on Dylan’s life could force Casey out of hiding. The clock is ticking on both their lives, but exposing the real killers is more complicated than they knew. Amassing the evidence to convict their enemies draws Dylan and Casey together, but their relationship has consequences. Will one life have to be sacrificed to protect the other?

With If I Live, Terri Blackstock takes us on one more heart-stopping chase in the sensational conclusion to the If I Run series.

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

Not that long ago, I wrote a blog post about why suspense authors can't carry the suspense over one book. Television shows do it every season, so why can't books do the same thing. Terri Blackstock took the idea of a suspense that carries over three books, and I have loved them all.

The plot moved very fast with the final conclusion to Blackstock's If I Run series, If I Live. Just like the previous two books, Casey Clark was on the run from the law and didn't know who to trust. I really enjoyed following and getting to know Casey as she star lighted in three different novels. In If I Live, just when I thought the novel was completed, Blackstock threw a twist in the plan and made Casey and me struggle a little more to that moment of happiness. I really enjoyed that. This third book was worth waiting for. I stayed up really late finishing the book in one day. It was great.

Through the entire three novels, I watched as Casey finally learned to trust God and give all her struggles over to him. She learned to lean on him and see his movement in her dire situations. Her transformation story was really cool to watch. Blackstock's ability to dig deep into what it really means to hunt and surrender to God stroke a cord with me.

Dylan is a huge character in the final book. I think he gets more air time in the If I Live than Casey does. He works really hard to free her, so he can spend the rest of his life getting to know her. He was a strong, honorable man of God. I liked him as a hero. He grew on me.

The romance developed over the three novels, and I liked how Casey and Dylan had to learn to trust each other and started to fall in love with each other by the end of the series. I really enjoyed how Dylan didn't want to rush the relationship at the end because he understood that relationships that start under dire circumstances might not last. He wanted to take it slow and get to understand the real Casey. That was realistic.

Overall, If I Live by Terri Blackstock is a fast-pace thrilling ending to a three book suspense series with an admirable heroine and a hero worth waiting for. I really enjoyed this series. Now I need to sit down and read all three of them in a row to fully grasp the story.  Fans of Lynette Eason, I believe, would love this series. I really hope more suspense writers create a story that lasts more than one novel.

I received a complimentary copy of If I Live by Terri Blackstock from Zondervan Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Shelley Shepard Gray: Love Held Captive

By Kelly Bridgewater

After the War Between the States, a Confederate officer longs to heal the heart of a beautiful woman—but first he’ll have to right the wrongs that were done to her.

Major Ethan Kelly has never been able to absolve himself of the guilt he feels for raiding a woman’s home shortly before he was taken prisoner during the Civil War. He is struggling to get through each day until he once again crosses paths with Lizbeth Barclay—the very woman he is trying to forget.

Life after the war is not much different for former Captain Devin Monroe until he meets Julianne VanFleet. He knows she is the woman he’s been waiting for, but he struggles to come to terms with the sacrifices she made to survive the war.

When Ethan and Devin discover that their former colonel, Adam Bushnell, is responsible for both Lizbeth’s and Julianne’s pain, they call on their former fellow soldiers to hunt him down. As the men band together to earn the trust of the women they love, Lizbeth and Julianne seek the justice they deserve in a country longing to heal

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

I am not a fan of Civil War stories, expect Tamera Alexander's writing. This is the second book in this series that I have read. From the beginning, I was confused on who the women were. There were two sets of women and men, and I had a hard time telling them apart until about a third of the way in. My mind thought they were the same people. Until my mind wrapped around that they were two sets, the story was a little confusing. As for the plot, it takes place in one week. In that one week, both Ethan Kelly and Devin Monroe decide they love these tarnished women and want to marry them. The whole story centers around learning the back story of all four characters and how they would work past their past. I wanted the final showdown to be something big, but it took until about 95 percent into the book to get there, and it was over in one shot. Disappointing. While I had issues with the plot, Gray does do a great job at her research. The story did fit the time period and felt like a Civil War era novel. I'm truly gratetful when an author does that for a book. Makes me admire them a little more. Overall, with a confusing beginning and a lackluster plot, I don't think I would have picked this book up on my own.

I received a complimentary copy of Love Held Captive by Shelley Shepard Gray from Zondervan Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Tamera Alexander: To Wager Her Heart

By Kelly Bridgewater

Seeking justice . . . 

   

Sylas Rutledge, the new owner of the Northeast Line Railroad, invests everything he has into this venture, partly for the sake of the challenge. But mostly to clear his father's name. One man holds the key to Sy's success--General William Giles Harding of Nashville's Belle Meade Plantation. But Harding is champagne and thoroughbreds, and Sy Rutledge is beer and bullocks. 

   

Sy needs someone to help him maneuver his way through Nashville's society, and when he meets Alexandra Jamison, he quickly decides he's found his tutor. Only, he soon discovers that the very train accident his father is blamed for causing is what killed Alexandra Jamison's fiancé--and has shattered her world. 

   

Struggling to restore honor . . . 

   

Spurning an arranged marriage by her father, Alexandra instead pursues her passion for teaching at Fisk University, the first freedmen's university in the United States. But family--and Nashville society--do not approve, and she soon finds herself cast out from both.

   

Through connections with the Harding family, Alexandra and Sy become unlikely allies. And despite her first impressions, Alexandra gradually finds herself coming to respect, and even care for this man. But how can she, when her heart is still spoken for? And when Sy's roguish qualities and adventuresome spirit smack more of recklessness than responsibility and honor? 

   

Sylas Rutledge will risk everything to win over the woman he loves. What he doesn't count on is having to wager her heart to do it. 

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

Tamera Alexander is a new-to-me author. I have read First Impressions and A Note Yet Unsung and enjoy them. I haven't read the first two books in the Belle Meade Plantation Novel, but this seemed like a good book to read. Being a historical novel, I expected the story to have something to do with history. I knew it would have bold characters and a romance to round out the plot. I wasn't disappointed.

The writing was clear and concise. Alexander does a wonderful job at bringing the historical south to life for me. I could see the community, the houses, the wide open spaces, and the train cars. In this novel, I could see the injustice and the justice done with Frisk University. I enjoyed hanging out in the south for a certain amount of time.

As for the plot, I viewed it as different. While the novel focuses on Alexandra and her quest to find meaning and move on from the tragic train wreck that derailed her life. The novel really had no conflict expect internal. Alexandra had to deal with her personal demons while allowing her past life with her parents to move to the wayside. The story moved at a nice pace, but I wanted a little more dilemma to affect the characters. The historical element was deeply admired. I enjoyed watching the Jubilee Singers as they tried to make something more for their lives.

The romance is there between Alexandra and Sy, but it is not the focus of the story. Alexander allows the story to slowly develop. The romance blossomed with longing for each other and gifts to make Alexandra's life better. It wasn't a hasty romance by any means.

The characters of Alexandra and Sy are brave people who want to make a better world around them. They want to see justice served with the Frisk University and with the train wreck that changed Sy and Alexandra's life. I enjoyed how both characters didn't care if they were seen with the underbelly of the city. They stood by their convictions and didn't allow public opinion to change their perspective. Neither character really change. The same characters I met in the beginning of the novel are the same characters at the end.

Overall, Tamera Alexander's To Wager Her Heart is an enjoyable read with barely any conflict. The romance moves along steadily, developing as the story goes along. The plot is different with characters who stand by their beliefs. A good novel to spend a couple of hours with.

I received a complimentary copy of To Wager Her Heart by Tamera Alexander from Zondervan Publishing, but the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Rachel Hauck: The Writing Desk

By Kelly Bridgewater

Tenley Roth’s first book was a runaway bestseller. Now that her second book is due, she’s locked in fear. Can she repeat her earlier success or is she a fraud who has run out of inspiration?
With pressure mounting from her publisher, Tenley is weighted with writer’s block. But when her estranged mother calls asking Tenley to help her through chemotherapy, she packs up for Florida where she meets handsome furniture designer Jonas Sullivan and discovers the story her heart’s been missing.

A century earlier, another woman wrote at the same desk with hopes and fears of her own. Born during the Gilded Age, Birdie Shehorn is the daughter of the old money Knickerbockers. Under the strict control of her mother, her every move is decided ahead of time, even whom she’ll marry. But Birdie has dreams she doesn’t know how to realize. She wants to tell stories, write novels, make an impact on the world. When she discovers her mother has taken extreme measures to manipulate her future, she must choose between submission and security or forging a brand new way all on her own.
Tenley and Birdie are from two very different worlds, but fate has bound them together in a way time cannot erase.

From Amazon

My Thoughts:

The Writing Desk by Rachel Hauck reminded me a lot of her previous series with The Wedding Chapel, The Wedding Dress, and The Wedding Shop. This story is a time slip novel from 1903 - 1960's with a present timeline. The present time line features Tenley, a writer, who is on a deadline to finish her second book, but she has a major writing block stopping her from writing her story. Like her previous stories, the present story mixes with the past, but you have to read the complete novel to find out how they mix and depend on each other. As for the romance between Tenley and her "fiancé" Holt, I figured out pretty early on what was happening with him while Tenley helped her mother with her chemo treatments in Florida. But the romance with Jonas was sweet and showed Tenley what it was like to be in a loving family who cared and cherished her. On the other hand, the pace of the novel moved a long at a nice clip. I didn't feel that it dragged at all.  I hated having to put it down to make dinner for my family. I enjoyed the story idea. I can totally relate to an author who has a number of doubts and cannot come up with a story idea to put down on the paper. Tenley does transform and understand the significance of God in her life by the end. Fans of Hauck's previous novels will enjoy this novel like I did. I recommend it and can't wait to see what else Hauck comes up with.

I received a complimentary copy of The Writing Desk by Rachel Hauck from Zondervan Publishing, and the opinions stated are all my own.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Rachel Hauck: The Wedding Shop

By Kelly Bridgewater



Two women separated by decades. Both set out to help others find their dreams when their own have crumbled.

It's the early 1930s, but Cora Scott is walking in stride as a career woman ?after having inherited her great aunt's wedding shop in Heart’s Bend, Tennessee, where brides come from as far away as Birmingham to experience her famed bridal treatment. Meanwhile, Cora is counting down the days until her own true love returns from the river to make her his bride. But days turn into months and months to years. All the while, Birch Good continues to woo Cora and try to show her that while he is solid and dependable, he can sweep her off her feet.

More than eighty years later, former Air Force Captain Haley Morgan has returned home to Heart's Bend after finishing her commitment to military service. After the devastating death of her best friend, Tammy, and discovering the truth about the man she loved, Haley is searching for her place in life.

When Haley decides to reopen the romantic but abandoned wedding shop where she and Tammy played and dreamed as children, she begins a journey of courage, mystery, and love.

As Cora’s and Haley's stories intertwine through time in the shadow of the beloved wedding shop, they both discover the power of their own dreams and the magic of everyday love.

From Amazon

My Review:

I enjoy reading Rachel Hauck's contemporary romances because they always hit at the heart for me. I don't know why, but her stories have a romance thread, but they also feature a lesson that I need at the moment I read her novels. I enjoyed The Wedding Dress and The Wedding Chapel, so I couldn't wait to see what she did with The Wedding Shop.

I really liked The Wedding Dress for its different timelines. I am really glad to see it come back in The Wedding Shop. I never got confused because Hauck titled the chapter or segments with the POV I was supposed to be in, so after a couple of chapters, I knew the time periods pretty well with their names.

Cora from the 1930- 1980's and Haley in present time had stories that paralleled each other. Their stories were gut wrenching, but both of them needed forgiveness and healing from the past in order to seek and enjoy the love that the Lord had prepared for them. I don't enjoy romances that happen too fast, but in all three of these novels, Hauck allows each of the women to be pursued by men who will love them. Just like a women should be pursued by a man. The romance was just right.

The novel's pace moved at a good clip. The conflict from remodeling The Wedding Shop for Haley and watching Cora struggle with life and dealing with The Great Depression tied nicely together. I had a hard time putting the novel down. I wanted to see what happened with both women's lives. Hauck does bring back the modern day characters from The Wedding Dress and The Wedding Chapel, which was nice to see them again.

The Wedding Shop is a original story that I really enjoyed reading. All three of these novels will go together on my bookshelf. Maybe I'll sit down and read them in order next time.

With lace and tulle, Rachel Hauck's latest installment The Wedding Shop was an original story that parallel two women's lives while they had to learn about forgiveness and healing. I highly recommend this book to fans of romance. 

I received a complimentary copy of The Wedding Shop from Zondervan Publishing and the opinions stated are all my own. 

My Rating:  4.5 out of 5 Stars

Why or why do you no enjoy romances with different time periods in the same novel? Is it confusing? Hard to follow? Like seeing a story with two different POV's?