Liz Tolsma: Daisies are Forever

By Kelly Bridgewater

I couldn't imagine living in a world where bombs are going off constantly, and you have to live in constant fear for your life. But millions around the world face this reality every day. Back in World War II, millions around the globe felt threatened by the Nazi Regime and the Russians who wanted to conquer everything, including trying to make the perfect race.

Liz Tolsma created a fictional world out of her grandmother, Lillian Tolsma's past. Listening to the stories told by her grandmother and her older relatives, she learned firsthand how the Germans and Americans tried to survive the onslaught of destruction at the hands of the enemy. I find World War II history fascinating, and lately, I have been devouring a number of books in this genre. I love all of Sarah Sundin's World War II novels and Kate Breslin's book, Such A Time As This. I keep downloading a number of books in the genre to my Kinde, but I haven't gotten around to reading them yet. Hopefully, some day soon.

What drew me to Liz Tolsma latest book was the cover of her book, Daisies are Forever. The cover on this book and the preceding one, Snow on the Tulips are artistically beautiful. I love the dark background with white and black images filtered with a little bit of tan and yellow in the lamp post. The image of Gisela, the twenty-year-old heroine is in full color and staring into the great unknown. A great eye catching cover.

Tolsma created a strong, motivated heroine in Gisela who carries the guilt of leaving family members behind as she escapes to safety. Gisela makes decisions which affect others around her, including saving the life of Mitch, a run away ex-soldier, by claiming he was her husband. On the other hand, Mitch is a strong hero who fights and protects Gisela and the two little girls who belong to Gisela's cousin, Ella, who she left behind.

The plot shows the graphic nature of how horrible the Nazi's and Russians were as they tried to dominate the entire European continent. The story features the long passage of traveling across a frozen lake to hiding out in bomb shelters for days as they have to listen to loud music and the sounds of a number of women being raped by the Russian soldiers. My favorite part was watching Gisela and Mitch learn how to forgive their own personal guilt and move on in the love and grace of God while learning to fall in love with each other.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Net Galley and the opinions are my own.

Mary Weber: The Storm Siren

By Kelly Bridgewater

Mary Weber just published her debut novel, The Storm Siren, from Thomas Nelson Publishers. It is a first in a three book series rightly entitled The Storm Siren Trilogy. This is a Young Adult Speculative fiction piece that takes place in another time.

The story features a seventeen-year-old protagonist, Nym, who is a rare Elemental because up until her existence all Elemental were males and killed at birth. Somehow she had bypassed that law and lives at seventeen. Elementals have powers to control certain aspects of the atmosphere. With the title being, The Storm Siren, you could probably guess by now, that Nym controls storms—all the lightening, clouds, thunder, and rain.

As the story opens, Nym is standing at the on a stage being bided off to slave owners. She has been through this number of times. Standing high above everyone else, Nym observes a little red head girl getting smacked around by her new owner. Anger rises from every core of her being, and Nym releases a huge storm killing everyone around her.   

Adora, a wealthy woman, purchases Nym and allows her to live in her elaborate home and take lessons to control her elemental powers with Colin, another trainee, and Eogan, the trainer. Nym must decide to protect war-ravaged Faelen or be killed. Of course, she chooses to train. Over a course of five weeks, Nym learns how to control her powers.

The book may be designed for young adult, but I truly enjoyed the story. The character, Nym, is a character that most people can empathize with. She doesn’t feel like she belongs in her world, and no one would understand her. I truly wanted to see her succeed and throw away the bonds of slavery that wrapped around her wrists a number of times. Both metaphorically and realistically.

The plot moved right along that you really felt like you were walking through the rough terrain of Faelen. You experience the wind blow and the rain droplets when Nym allowed the storm to explode.

I truly enjoyed the book and can’t wait for the next installment. Plus, I love the cover on this book. I can't wait to see what art work will appear on the next book.

I received an ebook copy of this book from Netgalley, and all the opinions stated above are my own.  

Ronie Kendig: Hawk

By Kelly Bridgewater

Military fiction. Lots of technical jargon in a far away area where most readers have never been. Especially when the story takes place in Afghanistan. Who really wants to go there anyway with all the terrorist threats and the Muslims hating Christians and women? Sounds like a dangerous place to visit. You don’t hear many people saying, I want to travel to Afghanistan. I’m definitely not one of them.

Ronie Kendig is a military brat who has traveled probably all over the world as a kid and an adult. If you haven’t read her books, she features military in the majority of her books. Her latest series, “The Quiet Professionals” takes place in Afghanistan with a group of male soldiers. The first book in the series is called Raptor 6. The second book is entitled Hawk.

Hawk is the nickname given to Staff Sergeant Brian “Hawk” Bledsoe who deals with the idea of God and his past of being called “smart.” Hawk is a strong hero who hates the terrorist, especially after he is told to stand down and watches two men on his team die before his very eyes. Hawk has a temper, which lands him in a lot of trouble with his team. Even through all his character flaws, he is the type of hero any girl would want protecting her in time of trouble.

The heroine is named Fekiria Haidary, a Muslim lady who struggles with the idea of the Western God and wants to be seen as an equal in the eyes of the Muslim men. Without her father’s permission and ignoring her father’s direct orders to leave the army, Fekiria trains to become a pilot secretly. She becomes one of the best pilots the group has seen in a long time. Wanting to please herself and what she believes she is called to do, she keeps flying, even though she runs into her brother and all hell breaks loose.

The plot becomes dangerous as Fekiria has to use her pilot skills to wreck havoc on a local young girl school that her friend is teaching at.  Through a blizzard with the reality of frostbite while being chased further up a mountainside by the shrouded terrorists, Fekiria and Hawk must keep their skills ready at a moment’s notice while trying to survive the bitter cold temperatures with little children on their backs.

I, personally, enjoyed this military crafted story much better than Raptor 6. It was more of a struggle for the two characters who had to deal with their past issues and come together to find love, God, and true freedom. The writing was riveting, especially with the details of the frozen tundra and the wind whipping through the characters thin clothes. I felt like I was climbing that mountain with them as they struggled for their lives.

I received a e-copy of the book from NetGalley and the opinions are all my own.

Julie Lessman: Surprised by Love

By Kelly Bridgewater

I may not be a huge fan of historical or contemporary romance, but there are a few authors who take my breath away, and I can’t wait to devour their latest books. Becky Wade, Sarah E. Ladd, and Julie Lessman to name a few. I have read every single book by Julie Lessman; including her latest release Surprised by Love, which is great. The first two books of the Heart of San Francisco series are called, Love at Any Cost and Dare to Love Again.

Surprised by Love features the return of Megan McClare, the frumpy bookworm who wants to be a lawyer or a doctor. When returning home from Paris for the past year, she had a complete makeover. Gone are the huge glasses, frizzy orange hair covered with contacts and slick brown hair. Even Bram, her best friend who is ten years older than her, has his breath taken away when Megan enters the room at the beginning of the chapter. Megan is a caring, loving character who wants to help the wayward women of the bad part of town.

Similarly, Bram Hughes is a great strong shoulder for Megan to lean on. He has always been there to comfort and lead Megan whenever she has trouble with Drew Caldwell, the smart boy who was popular and picked on her throughout high school. Bram is the type of hero every girl would love to have in her life. He listens and always knows the things to make Megan smile. He gives into every whim that Megan wants to do, even sailing out further in the bay with storm clouds pounding in their direction. Bram made me sigh and happy a number of times.

Julie Lessman has a way with words by making her character’s actions come to life just beautifully. For instance, “[Logan] peered at her out of the corner of his eyes, the humor in her face coaxing a faint smile to his lips. ‘Your self-esteem is safe with me, Cait,’ he said, wishing she didn’t look so blasted beautiful in that form-fitting jade satin dress that heightened the green of her eyes. His mouth crooked. ‘Which is more than I can say for Turner’s face if he lords it over me tonight.’” (171). I love how she climbs into Logan’s mind that the reader can actually experience exactly what he is thinking about Cait. I can’t write that well yet. I keep struggling with making my characters that realistic.

Plus, I love how Julie Lessman creates her characters to be so realistic. They don’t fall in love on the first page and then wiggle around the concept of dating throughout the whole book. I enjoy that most of her characters are realistic. They may have feelings for someone else, but they do the right thing by staying true to their values.

I recommend any of Julie Lessman books to anyone, whether you like historical romance or not. I pass all my physical books off to my friends and family. Her books don’t stay long on my shelf, but I’m glad to pass books I enjoy off to others to enjoy.

Thank you, Julie Lessman for your God-given talent to write such moving and wonderfully written stories. I can’t wait to read more of your books.

I received a complimentary copy of Surprised by Love from Revell, and the opinions above are my own.

Review of The Bound Heart by Dawn Crandall

By Kelly Bridgewater

On August 5^th, I reviewed Dawn Crandall’s first book in The Everstone Chronicles titled The Hesitant Heiress. See my blog on that day if you are interested in reading the first book in the story. The Hesitant Heiress features the love story of Nathan Everstone and Amaryllis Brigham who make an appearance in The Bound Heart.

Of the two books by Dawn Crandall, The Bound Heart, was my favorite. As a heroine, Meredyth was a strong character who I enjoyed experiencing her story as she struggled with the mistake she made in her past. Making one mistake can change the way all of us have an outlook on life. Meredyth was plagued with guilt because she believed a lie. Meredyth’s emotions were so spot on that I became so swept in the story that sometimes I couldn’t believe she wasn’t right there next in me in person. Being a first person narrative, Crandall did a good job of making Meredyth a realistic hero that every reader could love.

As a hero, Lawry Hampton was a great guy who loved to take care of children in desperate need of his care. He was the type of guy who lived by his faith by founding an orphanage in Seattle. Lawry gave the children of Seattle somewhere to live, food to eat, and someone to care for them just like the Bible says in Matthew 25:40, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.” What girl wouldn’t swoon over a man who put others’ needs in front of his own desires? Lawry was a strong hero who sparked an interest in my heart.

Crandall did a good job at description of the wealthy society of 1891 Boston. I felt like I was sitting around with the rich and famous, watching their interactions with each other. Crandall does a good job of drawing her readers into the story and making them breathless as they observe their surroundings in the wealthy houses and the interworkings of their normal lives.

In February 2015, Dawn Crandall’s third and final book in the series comes out, and I am really excited to see what the next book entails. Dawn is definitely an author who will make a name for herself in the historical romance genre.

I received an ARC of The Bound Heart from Dawn Crandall in exchange for my honest opinion. All of the stated opinions are mine.