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Book Description:
For sisters Maggie and Jenny growing up in the Pacific mountains in the early 1970s, life felt nearly perfect. Seasons in their tiny rustic home were peppered with wilderness hikes, building shelters from pine boughs and telling stories by the fire with their doting father and beautiful, adventurous mother. But at night, Maggie—a born worrier—would count the freckles on her father’s weathered arms, listening for the peal of her mother’s laughter in the kitchen, and never stop praying to keep them all safe from harm. Then her worst fears come true: Not long after Maggie’s tenth birthday, their father is killed in a logging accident, and a few months later, their mother abruptly drops the girls at a neighbor’s house, promising to return. She never does.
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One Journal Unites Four Generations An aged journal links the lives of four spirited women who battle outside elements, opposition, and all odds to aid new life in the world. Will the fight to find true love be just as hard?
Midwife and widow Adele Marley is content with an adopted daughter, a
Wisconsin farm, and her role in the community. Is there room in her life for smitten banker Jerome Jensen, a man used to getting what he wants? On the wagon-train trail to Oregon, Polly Schultz finds confidence, comfort, and guidance in her own skills by reading her mother’s journal. But can she overcome her rising temper and fear of abandonment long enough to establish a future with minister Gordon Baker?
Thanks to the wise words found in her ancestors’ journal, Christiana is secure in her role of midwife. But how will she convince Noah Cafferty, a journalist who decries women working outside the home, that she is capable of being both a wife and a midwife?
Kendra Silverstone’s confidence is shaken when a client loses a newborn. Will carpenter Steven Nichols and the discovery of a long-lost journal be enough to convince her of God’s will for her life? How will God work to make the dreams of these courageous women come true?
My thoughts...
This book follows a family of midwives through a journal handed down from generation to generation. They write their personal experiences and every birth they've assisted.
The first takes place in Wisconsin. Adele is a widow who has never given birth but she's raising her best friend's daughter. Adele is asked to assist the sister of a banker who intends to win her heart, Adele is hesitant because of the amount of bleeding this woman has with her births.
Next is the story of Polly who has been Adele's apprentice for years and is now on the Oregon trail. She has been hired to assist with the birth of a woman who is on the journey. Polly meets a young minister and it looks like a loveless marriage is going to happen after they both are captured by indians.
Polly's granddaughter, Christiana, is learning to be a midwife from her mother. During this time people are starting to look down on midwives. She's attracted to a young man but isn't sure if he feels the same way. He believes a woman's place is in the home and Christiana's desire is to be a midwife which means she will be away from home and duties often.
I enjoyed the book and give it 4 out of 5 stars. I received an ecopy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Two sisters and the cousin they grew up with after a tragedy are summoned home to their family matriarch’s inn on the coast of Maine for a shocking announcement. Suddenly, Isabel, June, and Kat are sharing the attic bedroom—and barely speaking. But when innkeeper Lolly asks them to join her and the guests in the parlor for weekly Movie Night—it’s Meryl Streep month—they find themselves sharing secrets, talking long into the night . . . and questioning everything they thought they knew about life, love, and one another.
Each woman sees her complicated life reflected through the magic of cinema: Isabel’s husband is having an affair, and an old pact may keep her from what she wants most . . . June has promised her seven-year-old son that she will somehow find his father, who he’s never known . . . and Kat is ambivalent about accepting her lifelong best friend’s marriage proposal. Through everything, Lolly has always been there for them, and now Isabel, June, Kat—and Meryl—must be there for her. Finding themselves. Finding each other. Finding a happy ending.
My thoughts...
This is a book about two sisters, their cousin and aunt who run The Three Captains Inn. The four are not close and they only see each other a couple times a year except for cousin Kat and her mom, Lolly, who run the Inn.
Lolly is a huge fan of movies and selects different actors and/or themes throughout the year for her friends and guests to enjoy. This is Meryl Streep season. Each movie they see encourages the women to talk about their own problems, most of which are depicted in the movies.
Lolly is dying of pancreatic cancer and calls the sisters to the Inn so that she can make an announcement in person. The result is an entertaining read, mostly interesting. I found the storyline a bit slow at times. There is a lot of secrets and hurts that come out, healing comes as well. Good characters, several handsome men are waiting in the background while the women work things out.
One of the sisters, Isabel, learns her husband is having an affair and shortly after getting to the Inn gets involved with a guest. I don't feel she had time to heal from the breakup before jumping into a relationship.
June has a child by a man she fell in love with in an hour, spent two days with him before he disappears and she never hears from him again. When the child starts asking questions about his dad while working on a family tree June decides to search for him. She discovers she's been in love with another man for quite some time and just never realized it.
Kat accepts a marriage proposal from a long time friend, is attracted to an intern working at the hospital and learns a secret about her mother that gets her to thinking about what she really wants to do with her life.
Overall, a light summer read even though it deals with a lot of tough issues such as cancer, death, betrayal, etc. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
I received a copy of this book free from Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review.
In a small community where everyone is holding tight to something, the biggest challenge may be learning to let go. Publisher's Weekly had this to say about Hope Springs: In this engaging novel, Tate expertly crafts an intriguing narrative that explores unrequited love, true faith, and the complicated politics of change in the Christian church. There are many characters, as intimated by the two family trees that open the book, but a lot of plot comes packed with nearly all of them-sisters, cousins, and all.
My thoughts...
This is an uplifting, Christ-oriented book that deals with faith, love, and race. I loved the way the characters were focused on Jesus and following the plans He has for their lives. There are parts that had me stoppping to worship. There are a lot of characters and it was a little confusing at first to get to know them all but after a bit you do.
Grandma Geri's family are coming for Christmas but the unexpected death of their neighbor and good friend, Pastor Jim, brings them in early and even brings in more of the family than expected. There is a common bond between Geri's family and Pastor Jim's which isn't revealed til the end of the book.
It was not expected.
The romances are predictable but still enjoyable to read about. The two young pastors bring a lot into the story as they try to unite this small community.
I received a copy of this book free from the publisher and Litfuse Publicity in exchange for an honest review.
It is time for a FIRST Wild Card Tour book review! If you wish to join the FIRST blog alliance, just click the button. We are a group of reviewers who tour Christian books. A Wild Card post includes a brief bio of the author and a full chapter from each book toured. The reason it is called a FIRST Wild Card Tour is that you never know if the book will be fiction, non~fiction, for young, or for old...or for somewhere in between! Enjoy your free peek into the book!
You never know when I might play a wild card on you!
***Special thanks to Althea Thompson | Publicity Coordinator, Charisma House | Charisma Media for sending me a review copy.***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Mike Duran was a finalist in Faith in Fiction's inaugural short story contest and was chosen as one of ten authors to be published in Infuze Magazine’s 2005 print anthology. He is author of the short story “En Route to Inferno,” which appeared in Coach’s Midnight Diner: Back from the Dead edition, and received the Editor’s Choice award for his creative nonfiction essay titled “The Ark,” published in the Summer 2.3 Issue of Relief Journal. In between blogs, he also writes a monthly column for Novel Journey and has served as editor on the Midnight Diner’s editorial team. Duran is an ordained minister and lives with his wife and four grown children in Southern California.
Disfigured with a hideous scar from his stepmother, Zeph Walker lives his life in seclusion, cloistering himself in a ramshackle bookstore on the outskirts of town. But Zeph is also blessed with a gift—an uncanny ability to foresee the future,to know peoples’ deepest sins and secrets. He calls it the Telling, but he has abandoned this gift to a life of solitude, unbelief, and despair—until two detectives escort him to the county morgue where he finds his own body lying on the gurney.
On the northern fringes of Death Valley, the city of Endurance is home to llama ranches, abandoned mines, roadside attractions...and the mythical ninth gate of hell. Now, forced to investigate his own murder, Zeph discovers something even more insidious behind the urban legends and small-town eccentricities. Early miners unearthed a megalith—asacred site where spiritual and physical forces converge and where an ancient subterranean presence broods. And only Zeph can stop it.
But the scar on Zeph’s face is nothing compared to the wound on his soul. For not only has he abandoned his gift and renounced heaven, but it was his own silence that spawned the evil. Can he overcome his own despair in time to seal the ninth gate of hell?
His words unlocked something deadly,
And now the silence is killing them.
Product Details:
List Price: $13.99
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Realms (May 15, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1616386940
ISBN-13: 978-1616386948
AND NOW...THE FIRST CHAPTER:
He used to believe everyone was born with the magic, an innate hotline to heaven. Some called it intuition, a sixth sense; others called it the voice of God. Zeph Walker called it the Telling. It was not something you could teach or, even worse, sell- people just had it. Of course, by the time their parents, teachers, and society got through with them, whatever connection they had with the Infinite pretty much vanished. So it was, when Zeph reached his twenty-sixth birthday, the Telling was just an echo.
That's when destiny came knocking for him.
It arrived in the form of two wind-burnt detectives packing heat and a mystery for the ages. They flashed their badges, said he was needed for questioning. Before he could object or ask for details, they loaded him into the backseat of a mud-splattered Crown Victoria and drove across town to the county morgue. The ride was barely ten minutes, just long enough for Zeph Walker to conclude that, maybe, the magic was alive and well.
"You live alone?" The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror.
Zeph adjusted his sunglasses. "Yes, sir."
"I don't blame you." The detective looked at his partner, who smirked in response.
Zeph returned his gaze to the passing landscape.
Late summers in Endurance were as beautiful as a watercolor and as hot as the devil's kitchen. The aspens on the ridge showed gold, and the dogwoods along the creeks had already begun to thin. Yet the arid breeze rising from Death Valley served as an ever-present reminder that beauty always lives in close proximity to hell.
They came to a hard stop in front of a white plaster building. The detectives exited the car, and Zeph followed their cue. A ceramic iguana positioned under a sprawling blue sage grinned mockingly at him. Such was the landscape decor of the county coroner's building. The structure doubled as a morgue. It occupied a tiny plot of red earth, surrounded by a manicured cactus garden complete with
2 | Mike Duran
indigenous flora, bison skulls, and birdbaths. Without previous knowledge, one could easily mistake the building for a cultural center or art gallery. Yet Zeph knew that something other than pottery and Picassos awaited him inside.
The bigger of the two detectives, a vaquero with a nifty turquoise belt buckle and matching bolo tie, pulled the door open and motioned for Zeph to enter. The man had all the charm of a cage fighter.
Zeph wiped perspiration off his forehead and stepped into a small vestibule.
“This way.” The cowboy clomped past, leaving the smell of sweat and cheap cologne.
They led him past an unoccupied desk into a corridor. Bland southwestern prints adorned sterile white walls. The stench of form- aldehyde and decay lingered here, and Zeph’s stomach flip-flopped in response. The hallway intersected another where two lab technicians stood in whispered conversation. They straightened as the detectives approached. After a brief nod from one of the white-jacketed men, Zeph’s escorts proceeded to an unmarked room.
“We got someone fer you to ID.” The cowboy placed his hand on the door and studied Zeph. “You don’t get sick easy, do ya?”
He swallowed. “Depends.”
“Well, if you’re gonna puke, don’t do it on these.” He pointed to a set of well-polished eel-skin boots. “Comprende?”
“No, sir. I mean—yes! Yes, sir.”
The detective scowled, then pushed the door open, waiting. Zeph’s heart was doing double-time. Whose body was he about to
see? What condition was it in? His mind raced with the possibilities. Maybe a friend had suffered a car accident. Although he didn’t have many friends to die in one. Perhaps the Hitcher, that mythical appari- tion who stalked the highway in his childhood, had claimed another victim. More likely Zeph’s old man had finally keeled over. However, he was convinced that his father had stopped living a long time ago.
Zeph drew a deep breath, took two steps into the room, perched his sunglasses on the top his head . . . and froze. In the center, framed under a single oval swath of light, lay a body on a autopsy table—a body that looked strangely familiar.
“Take a good look, Mr. Walker.” The detective’s boots clicked with precision on the yellowed linoleum. He circled the rolling metal
th e te ll i n g | 3
cart, remaining just outside the reach of the fluorescent light. “And maybe you can help us figger this out.”
Zeph remained near the door, hesitant to take another step.
“Go ahead.” The second detective sauntered around the opposite side, gesturing to the body. “He ain’t gonna bite.”
The detectives positioned themselves on either end of the table. They watched him.
A black marble countertop, its surface dulled by a thin blanket of dust, ran the length of one wall. In front of it sat a single wooden stool. The low-hanging lamp bleached the body monochrome. Zeph had seen enough procedurals and CSI knock-offs to know this was not an autopsy room. Perhaps it was used for viewings, maybe occa- sional poker games. But as the detectives studied him, he was starting to wonder if this was an interrogation room. Scalpels, pincers, saws. Oh, what exotic torture devices one might assemble from a morgue! Nevertheless, this particular room appeared to have not been used in a long time. And by the fevered sparkle in their eyes, these men seemed inspired about the possibility of doing so.
Zeph glanced from one man to the other, and then he edged toward the corpse.
Its flesh appeared dull, and the closer he got, the less it actu- ally looked like skin. Perhaps the body had been drained of blood or bleached by the desert sun. He inched closer. Sunken pockets appeared along the torso, and he found himself wondering what could have possibly happened to this person.
The head lay tilted back, its bony jaw upturned, cords of muscle taut across a gangly neck. A white sheet draped the body at the chest, and just above it a single bloodless hole about the size of a nickel notched the sternum. He crept forward, trying to distin- guish the person’s face. First he glimpsed nostrils, then teeth, and then . . . something else.
That something else brought Zeph to a standstill.
How could it be? Build. Facial features. Hair color. This person looked exactly like him. There was even a Star of David tattooed on the right arm, above the bicep—the same as Zeph’s.
What were the chances, the mathematical probabilities, that one human being could look so identical to another? Especially in a town the size of Endurance.
4 | Mike Duran
“Is this . . . ” Zeph’s tone was detached, his eyes fixed on the body. “Is this some kinda joke?”
The detectives hunkered back into the shadows without responding.
Goose bumps rose on Zeph’s forearms as the overhead vent rattled to life, sluicing cool air into the room. He took another step closer to the cadaver until his thigh nudged the table, jolting the stiff and bringing Zeph to a sudden stop. He peered at the bizarre figure.
Their similarities were unmistakable. The lanky torso and append- ages. The tousled sandy hair. Thick brows over deep-set eyes. This guy looks exactly like me!
However, it was one feature—the most defining feature of Zeph Walker’s existence—that left him teetering in disbelief: the four-inch scar that sheared the corpse’s mouth.
Zeph stumbled back, lungs frozen, hand clasped over the ugly scar on his own face.
“Darnedest thing, ain’t it?” The cowboy sounded humored by
Zeph’s astonishment. “Guy’s a spittin’ image of you, Mr. Walker.” Zeph slowly lowered his hand and glanced sideways at the man.
“Yeah. Except I don’t have a bullet hole in my chest.”
The detective’s grin soured, and he squinted warily at Zeph. “Indeed you don’t.” The second man stepped into the light. “But
the real question, young man, is why someone would want to put one there.”
My thoughts...
Like books about demons and angels? Then this one is for you. Demonic creatures abound in The Telling. Chilling suspense throughout. Zeph Walker is a prophet and holds the secret to the ninth gate of hell. He wants to forget all about that and continue to live the reclusive life. The story begins when he is picked up by detectives and taken to the morgue to identify a body. A horrific creature like body with his face!
Elderly Annie Lane was chosen to stand in the gap. As people in their town begin to change and become zombie like in their affect Annie gets suspicious and starts investigating. She soon realizes Zeph's time is here.
I thought the pace was a little slow in parts but otherwise it's a good story about the consequences of our choices. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
Lily Anderson longs for a life of adventure, steaming down the Mississippi on a riverboat. But her relatives, wanting her to secure a future for herself and her two younger sisters, are intent on Lily marrying well and forgoing any chance of living out her dream. When a loveless match seems inevitable, Lily makes a last ditch effort to avoid losing her freedom forever by purchasing the steamship Hattie Belle from the father of debonair Jean Luc Champney—unaware that her precious dowry garners only partial ownership of the vessel.
Roguish gambler Blake Matthew’s dreams are finally beginning to take shape after a night of card playing wins him the title to the Hattie Belle. But Blake’s brimming confidence in a successful venture is dampened when he meets his new partner—Lily.
As their riverboat enterprise erupts into turmoil, can Lily and Blake discover that God is the One they can count on when all else fails? Will the siren song of the river evolve into a serenade or a somber lament?
My thoughts...
An entertaining book! From front cover to the back cover I enjoyed this story. Lily buys half a steamship but unbeknowst to her the co-owner is a gambling man and problems arise. Lily wants to marry for love. After a proposal that would be a loveless marriange Lily runs away.
The story opens with an embarrassing situation for Lily. Interesting characters and storyline.
That said, I did find the dialog slowed the story down in areas. I prefer a fast paced novel and this wasn't one. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
I received am ecopy of this book free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Sophia has her life all planned out—but her plan didn’t include being jilted or ending up in Dakota Territory.
Sophia Makinoff is certain that 1876 is the year that she’ll become the wife of a certain US Congressman, and happily plans her debut into the Capitol city. But when he proposes to her roommate instead, Sophia is stunned. Hoping to flee her heartache and humiliation, she signs up with the Board of Foreign Missions on a whim.
With dreams of a romantic posting to the Far East, Sophia is dismayed to find she’s being sent to the Ponca Indian Agency in the bleak Dakota Territory. She can’t even run away effectively and begins to wonder how on earth she’ll be able to guide others as a missionary. But teaching the Ponca children provides her with a joy she has never known—and never expected—and ignites in her a passion for the people she’s sent to serve.
It’s a passion shared by the Agency carpenter, Willoughby Dunn, a man whose integrity and selflessness are unmatched. The Poncas are barely surviving. When U.S. policy decrees that they be uprooted from their land and marched hundreds of miles away in the middle of winter, Sophia and Will wade into rushing waters to fight for their friends, their love, and their destiny.
My thoughts...
Sophia is expecting a marriage proposal from Congressman Rexford Montgomery. Imagine her shock when her roommate gets the proposal!
Sophie is shocked and humiliated and decides to leave the area. She becomes a missionary and is hoping for an assignment out of the country. Where does she end up? In Dakota Territory teaching the Ponca Indian children. The living arrangements are a far cry from what she's used to.
Sophia meets the Agency carpenter and quickly comes to rely on him for more than carpentry.
This is a moving story of the sorrows of the Ponca Indians as well as Sophia's journey. Gets 4 out of 5 stars from me!
I received an ecopy of this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers in exchange for an honest review.
