Category: Book Review

Book Recommendation | Ghost Heart by Lisa Harris and Lynne Gentry

Amazon Description


 A brilliant transplant surgeon. A rogue organ broker. A ghost child.
And the legend that could destroy them all.

 A brutal murder convinces surgeon Mia Kendall there’s more than she imagined to the mysterious spike in heart transplant rejections. Determined to find answers before she loses another patient, Mia gets sucked into a dangerous international medical web. With time running out for her youngest transplant recipient, Mia is forced to partner with a disillusioned ex-military pilot who flies brokered organs across East Africa. But searching for the truth will prove costly for the unlikely duo racing to stop a madman before he annihilates a rare and cursed bloodline.

 From best-selling author Lisa Harris and award-winning author Lynne Gentry comes a chilling, hypnotic medical thriller that will take you from the suburbs of Cincinnati to the jungles of Africa.

My Review

Ghost Heart is medical thriller. I have a love-hate relationship with medical thrillers. I love it because I love the suspense aspects. I hate it because it highlights the inequalities in medical profession both within countries like America, and globally. A million dollars for a heart transplant? The mind boggles.Yes, there is some blood and gore (gore = anything that can’t be fixed with an Elastoplast. There are some good reasons why I didn’t go into a medical profession). The worst of it is actually in the Prologue, so if you read the sample and are afraid it’s going to get worse, don’t worry. It doesn’t.

Kelsey Taylor is five years old, and needs a heart transplant stop urgently. Her mother, Catherine, is prepared to do anything to save her daughter. Even going to Africa to for a heart transplant. The only way she save her daughter is to ask her father for help—which could destroy her relationship with her husband.

Mia Kendall is a heart surgeon in the public hospital in Tanzania. She finds her heart transplant patients are dying. But the transplant patients from the nearby private hospital not. She’s suspicious. What is happening? Is there a problem with her surgical methods? Her post-operative care? Or is there a problem with the transplant organs?

Jeme is a Tanzanian wife and mother. Her husband has recently had a heart transplant, but he’s sick again. And she’s trying to protect her daughter—an albino, at risk of being kidnapped and murdered by hunters for her white skin and blue eyes. Unfortunately, this part of the story is based on fact. Albinos are considered cursed, yet at that same time, their body parts are considered good luck charms.

Ghost Heart focuses on the people who are trying to save lives. Catherine and Jeme, trying to save the lives of their daughters from two very different threats. Mia, trying to save her patients, and to make up for one mistake long ago. Organ transplant pilot Race Daniels, trying to save lives to make up for the two he couldn’t save.

It also highlights the tragedy of our modern medical system, and the way it favours the haves over the have-nots. Those who have insurance or money or who live in a country with a good public health system vs. those who don’t. The tragedy of transplants—the fact one person has to die in order for another to receive a new heart. The tragedy of greed—that where money is involved, someone will find a way to get rich at the expense of others.

The novel is suspense from start to finish, with several unexpected twists. Don’t do what I did and start it when you should be going to bed! Recommended for all medical suspense lovers.

Thanks to the authors for providing a free ebook for review.

This review originally appeared at Suspense Sisters Reviews.

Just Look Up

Book Recommendation | Just Look Up by Courtney Walsh

I requested a review copy of Just Look Up because I’d heard so many good things about it. Surely it couldn’t possibly measure up?

It did.

Lane is an interior designer up for a big promotion at work when her mother calls to say her brother is on life support following a motorcycle accident. She returns home, but is immediately thrown into conflict with everyone in her family (except perhaps her father, who only gets about two lines in the whole novel). The reasons behind this conflict are gradually revealed as the novel progresses

Ryan was also in the motorcycle accident, but escaped with minor injuries. He’s from a bad background, but he’s made something of himself—with the help of the Kelley family, who were surrogate parents for him and his sister throughout his teenage years. He’s always had feelings for Lane, but never felt good enough for her. Now he meets the adult Lane, he realises she has issues, and he might be able to help.

Just Look Up was a great title that worked on many levels.

There was the obvious, that we have to look up to see the world around us, to live. Lane spent much of time looking down at her phone that she missed what was going on around her. And the more subtle, the way Lane consciously or subconsciously looked down on herself.

It seemed to me that looking down was a habit formed early in her teenage years, where she looked down because of her low self-esteem. I could relate to this—and I suspect many grown women can, especially those of us who were bookish teenagers who were never part of the ‘cool’ crowd.

To me, Just Look Up showed the lie that many of us believe in our teenage years.

The lie that we don’t fit in because aren’t good enough. Lane was different to the others in her family—lactose intolerant in a family that made and sold cheese for a living, unattractive and unpopular (or so she thought) in a family that were attractive and popular.

What especially hurt for Lane was that her family perpetuated the lie through their ‘harmless’ name calling (‘Pudge’ is not term of endearment. Ever). The result, I think, was a teenager and adult who never understood how precious she was to God, because she never felt she was precious to her family.

Overall, Just Look Up is a story about how achieving our dreams might not be everything we thought it might be, but the answer might have been in front of us all along.

Recommended.

Thanks to Tyndale Books and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About the Book

After tirelessly climbing the ranks of her Chicago-based interior design firm, Lane Kelley is about to land her dream promotion when devastating news about her brother draws her back home—a quaint tourist town full of memories she’d just as soon forget. With her cell phone and laptop always within reach, Lane aims to check on her brother while staying focused on work—something her eclectic family doesn’t understand.

Ryan Brooks never expected to settle down in Harbor Pointe, Michigan, but after his final tour of duty, it was the only place that felt like home. Now knee-deep in a renovation project that could boost tourism for the struggling town, he is thrilled to see Lane, the girl he secretly once loved, even if the circumstances of her homecoming aren’t ideal.

Their reunion gets off to a rocky start, however, when Ryan can’t find a trace of the girl he once knew in the woman she is today. As he slowly chips away at the walls Lane has built, secrets from his past collide with a terrible truth even he is reluctant to believe. Facing a crossroads that could define his future with Lane and jeopardize his relationship with the surrogate family he’s found in the Kelleys, Ryan hopes Lane can see that maybe what really matters has been right in front of her all along—if only she’d just look up.

About the Author

Courtney WalshCourtney Walsh is a novelist, artist, theater director, and playwright. Change of Heart is her fifth novel and is set in the same town as Paper Hearts. Her debut novel, A Sweethaven Summer, hit the New York Times and USA Today e-book bestseller lists and was a Carol Award finalist in the debut author category. She has written two additional books in the Sweethaven series, as well as two craft books and several full-length musicals. Courtney lives in Illinois where she and her husband own a performing and visual arts studio. They have three children.

Find Courtney Walsh online at …

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Click below to buy Just Look Up:

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You can read the introduction to Just Look Up below:

Book Recommendation | The Long Journey to Jake Palmer by James L Rubart

It’s Throwback Thursday, which means it’s time to repost one of my older reviews.

This week it’s The Long Journey to Jake Palmer by James L Rubart, which is a finalist in the 2017 ACFW Carol Awards in the Speculative category.

This review was first published at Iola’s Christian Reads on 25 August 2016.

Amazon Description

What if there was a place where everything wrong in your life could be fixed?

Corporate trainer Jake Palmer coaches people to see deeper into themselves—yet he barely knows himself anymore. Recently divorced and weary of the business life, Jake reluctantly agrees to a lake-house vacation with friends, hoping to escape for ten days.

When he arrives, Jake hears the legend of Willow Lake—about a lost corridor that leads to a place where one’s deepest longings will be fulfilled.

Jake scoffs at the idea, but can’t shake a sliver of hope that the corridor is real. And when he meets a man who mutters cryptic speculations about the corridor, Jake is determined to find the path, find himself, and fix his crumbling life.

But the journey will become more treacherous with each step Jake takes.

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | ChristianBook | Goodreads

My Review

Jake Palmer is a management trainer who makes a living encouraging others to read what’s on their label rather than believing lies about themselves. But following a horrific incident, he finds himself on a journey to read his own label—to believe the truth about himself instead of the lies he’s been fed by the people he loved most, to the point he’s forgotten who he was.

The Long Journey to Jake Palmer is excellent.

Excellent writing, excellent characters, excellent plot, and an excellent message about learning and believing the truth about ourselves, not the lie. It’s a novel of spiritual and emotional healing, subtly making the excellent point that the physical healing so many people search for is secondary to spiritual healing.

The metaphor (and I truly can’t believe I’m writing that in a book review!) of forgetting who we are is apt: I read an article yesterday which said most five-year-olds have creativity at near-genius levels. But we lose that as we get older until we become merely average. It’s the same message as Rubart shares with Jake Palmer’s story: we forget who we are, and we need to rediscover ourselves.

This is easily one of the best books I’ve read this year.

Recommended—although at over $10 for the ebook, you might want to treat yourself to the paperback.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About the Author

James RubartJames L. Rubart is a professional marketer, speaker, and writer. He serves on the board of the Northwest Christian Writers Association and lives with his wife and sons in the Pacific Northwest.

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Read the Introduction

Quote from A Name Unknown by Roseanna M White

Book Review | A Name Unknown by Roseanna M White

I’m always in two minds about Christian novels that have one character who, let’s say, has issues with honesty. It’s a basic tenet of the Christian faith, so an author who chooses such a character is often starting off on the wrong foot.

I’m also in two minds about novels in which one of the main characters is a novelist—it seems to break the fourth wall, as well as being a somewhat cliché application of the writing principle, to ‘write what you know’. But A Name Unknown quickly overcame both these possible issues.

Rosemary Gresham is a needs-must thief who has survived on the streets since she was orphaned at the age of eight.

She’s now built up a ‘family’ of misfit orphans who rely on her to provide for them, Robin Hood-style. Her latest assignment, from the mysterious Mr V, is to infiltrate the Cornwall home of Mr Peter Holstein and prove he is not the loyal Englishman he pretends to be. This is important, as England is on the cusp of war with Germany, what we know as World War One.

Peter Holstein might be German by birth and by heritage, but he’s as English as the King when it comes to his loyalties. If only he could prove it. He knows the documents are in the library, but the library is dark and cramped, filled with the books, letters, and boxes of generations. He needs a librarian to make some sense of it.

Enter Rosemary Gresham …

A Name Unknown is historical romance with suspense elements. And it’s Christian, although the author favours Peter Holstein’s brand of Christian fiction:

He’d certainly never poured a whole sermon into his novels—that would hardly be right in an adventure story—the ideas still snuck in. The readers got the message. Those letters in the attic assured him they did.

The ideas do more than sneak in. Peter is a Christian who prays, whose faith injects everything he does. He’s an excellent hero, even if he’s not the cliché hero of the adventure novels popular with the Edwardian public.

There were a couple of factual glitches that only a non-American would notice, but these were minor and more than compensated for by the outstanding writing. Roseanna M White is a brilliant writer, and I’ll be looking forward to the sequel to A Name Unknown.

Recommended for fans of Edwardian-era Christian romance.

Thanks to Bethany House and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Roseanna M White

Roseanna M. White pens her novels beneath her Betsy Ross flag, with her Jane Austen action figure watching over her. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two children, editing and designing, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna has a slew of historical novels available, ranging from biblical fiction to American-set romances to her new British series. She lives with her family in West Virginia.

Find Roseanna M White online at:

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Click below to buy A Name Unknown:

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Kobo 

And you can read the introduction to A Name Unknown below:

Book Recommendation | When Death Draws Near by Carrie Stuart Parks

It’s Throwback Thursday, which means it’s time to repost one of my older reviews.

This week it’s When Death Draws Near, the third book in the Gwen Marcey series, following A Cry from the Dust, and The Bones Will Speak. When Death Draws Near is a finalist in the ACFW Carol Awards, in the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller category.

A longer version of this review was first published at Suspense Sisters Reviews on 1 August 2016.

Amazon Description

Gwen Marcey takes death in stride. Until she’s faced with her own mortality.

Forensic artist Gwen Marcey is between jobs when she accepts temporary work in Pikeville, Kentucky—a small town facing big-city crime. But before Gwen can finish her first drawing of the serial rapist who is on the loose, the latest witness vanishes. Just like all the others.

Gwen suspects a connection between the rapist and the “accidental” deaths that are happening around town, but the local sheriff has little interest in her theories. When her digitally-obsessed teenage daughter joins her, Gwen turns her attention to a second assignment: going undercover in a serpent-handling church. She could get a handsome reward for uncovering illegal activity—a reward she desperately needs, as it seems her breast cancer has returned. But snakes aren’t the only ones ready to kill. Can Gwen uncover the truth—and convince anyone to believe her—before she becomes a victim herself?

In a thrilling race against time, When Death Draws Near plunges us into cold-case murders, shady politics, and a den of venomous suspects.

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | ChristianBook | Goodreads

My Review

When Death Draws Near was excellent—as I’ve come to expect from Carrie Stuart Parks. She has chosen a difficult topic, yet manages to tread the line between different branches of the Christian faith with care and consideration. (I would point out that most Pentecostals don’t believe in snake handling or drinking poison. Just because the Bible says we can doesn’t mean we should.)

Her writing is excellent (no surprise—the book is dedicated to “Frank, the master storyteller”, referring to Frank Peretti, her writing coach).

The plot is nail-biting, and the characters feel like real people, with all the accompanying faults.

I recently read a blog post which described fictional conflict as characters doing what they know is wrong. I won’t give details (as that would be giving spoilers), but that is definitely a feature of When Death Draws Near, and adds to the tension. Is that character the evildoer, or is the evildoer the character he is protecting? Or someone else? The author continues the suspense until almost the last page.

While this is the third Gwen Marcey thriller, it can easily be read as a standalone novel. The series elements are more about Gwen’s relationship with her ex-husband (shaky) and her teenage daughter (improving, which gives hope to all of us with teenage daughters).

Recommended for thriller fans, especially those who enjoy TV shows like CSI, or novels by Tim Downs.

Thanks to Thomas Nelson and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About the Author

Carrie Stuart ParksCarrie Stuart Parks is an award winning artist, writer, speaker, and law enforcement instructor. A Certified Forensic Artist, she met her husband, Rick, in the romantic hallways of the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Together they formed a dynamic and successful team in their fine and forensic art, working on major national and international cases and creating exquisite watercolors and stone carvings.

They travel internationally, teaching forensic art to a variety of participants: from the Secret Service to the FBI, from large law enforcement agencies to the smallest two-man departments in their one-week classes. They are the largest instructors of forensic art in the world. Carrie has won numerous awards for her innovative teaching methods and general career excellence and is a signature member of the Idaho Watercolor Society.

Carrie’s Gwen Marcey series chronicles a forensic artist from Montana and is loosely based on Carrie’s forensic cases.

Carrie began her fiction writing career while battling breast cancer. Mentored by NY Times bestselling author, Frank Peretti, Carrie’s debut novel, along with her subsequent novels, have been met with critical acclaim.

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Read the Introduction

Book Review | The Captivating Lady Charlotte by Carolyn Miller

Captivating!

Lady Charlotte Featherington is entering her first London season, where she attracts the attention of several men, including the handsome and flirtatious Lord Markham, and the widowed and mysterious Duke of Hartington. She is certainly capitvating—if a little vapid and immature. However, this is Regency romance, where all the best girls were married off at the age of eighteen, so it’s not surprising that she’s that awkward teenage mix of shallow and insightful.

Charlotte is determined to marry for love.

Her parents (for reasons I didn’t quite understand) choose the widowed Duke for her. Yes, he’s a much better choice than Markham, who is the typical sophisticated and disreputable Regency rake. But he’s friends with Charlotte’s brother, which leads her to think he’s a worthy suitor (yes, immature. Although perhaps her brother should pick his friends more carefully …).

The Duke of Hartington is certainly captivated by Lady Charlotte, despite her outward resemblance to his late unlamented wife. (She might have been more lamented if she hadn’t been quite so obvious about her extramarital activities.) This did lead me to wonder why Hartington was attracted to her—I’d have thought he’d have sought a wife who wasn’t attractive enough to be tempted to wander.

The result of this was that I found the first half of the book a little confusing. But the second half was much better as we (and Lady Charlotte) get to know the Duke of Hartington better. We see his observation and consideration—he’s the only person who notices she doesn’t like champagne and brings her lemonade instead. We also see Charlotte’s character develop, which I liked.

There are three strengths to Carolyn Miller’s writing. First is the historical accuracy.

I’ve read two novels recently where the heroines travelled north to get from Bath to London. Even the most inaccurate map shows London and Bath are roughly east-west. If you’re travelling north (or south), you’re going the wrong way. Simple errors like this pull me out of a story, but I had no such moments with The Captivating Lady Charlotte.

Second, I love Carolyn Miller’s witty dialogue.

Like most readers, the two authors who introduced me to Regency romance were Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer (of course, if Jane Austen ever put a genre to her writing, she would have called it contemporary romance). Austen and Heyer are both known for their intelligent female characters, and their witty dialogue. Carolyn Miller is a worthy successor.

But the main reason I love Carolyn Miller’s novels is because of the way she naturally integrates the Christian faith into her novels.

Hartington has an active Christian faith which is important to him—which is one of the reasons his first wife’s betrayal hit him so hard. We see him live his faith, and we see Lady Charlotte observe him and see there is more to Christianity than the cultural aspect of being seen to go to the right church.

The Captivating Lady Charlotte is the sequel to The Elusive Miss Ellison. It can easily be read as a standalone novel, although those who have read Miss Ellison’s story will enjoy seeing more of her story—especially the way she and her husband influence both the Duke and Lady Charlotte.

Overall, recommended for those who enjoy Christian Regency romance.

Thanks to the author for providing a free book for review. A real book, which she posted to New Zealand!

‘My Daughter’s Legacy’ Blog Tour, Author Chat Party, and Giveaway

Meet two women in different eras but both with unfailing conviction in Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould’s new book, My Daughter’s Legacy. Therese Jennings cannot abide the thought of owning slaves. But when trouble befalls her family, can she reconcile her obligations with her beliefs? Nicole Talbot’s life is back on track after years of substance abuse. But when facts she uncovers cast doubt on her family’s legacy, she must risk all that she’s gained—her fresh start, her family’s trust, and her growing relationship with a new man—to unlock the secrets of the past.

Celebrate the release of Mindy and Leslie’s new book by entering to win the $75 Visa Cash Card Giveaway (details below) and by attending their author chat party on August 1!

One grand prize winner will receive:

  • One copy of My Daughter’s Legacy
  • One $75 Visa Cash Card

Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on August 1. The winner will be announced at the My Daughter’s Legacy Facebook party. RSVP for a chance to connect with Mindy, Leslie, and other readers, as well as for a chance to win other prizes!

RSVP today and spread the word—tell your friends about the giveaway via social media and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 1st!

My Review

My Daughter’s Legacy is a split timeline novel with elements of both romance and suspense. It starts in the present with Nicole Talbot, who has just finished her first year of college … after a long stint in rehab. She is now going home for the summer, staying with her sister, and working as an equine therapy intern at a nearby equestrian centre.

A secret, a body, and a missing manuscript.

Nicole has a secret—something her deceased grandfather said she could never tell anyone. She knows it’s time to tell the truth, but she’s also worried that no one will believe her, especially not Nana, the family matriarch. As an ex-drug addict, she has a well-earned reputation for lying.

When she gets home, Nicole finds she’s not the only one with secrets. Her sister and aunt have been undertaking some family history research which may shed light on Nicole’s secret … but unearths a whole new set of questions about the body they found as children, which subsequently disappeared.

We then switch to the Civil War era.

This is Therese’s story (Nicole’s great-great-great-great grandmother. Plus or minus a great). Therese lives in the South, but her father was a prominent abolitionist, and she shares his views. She takes a job as a governess in Richmond. She also undertakes volunteer work at the local hospital where her friend, Polly Talbot, volunteers. Here she meets Polly’s handsome Northern cousin, Dr Alec Talbot, and also comes into contact with Polly’s brother, Michael, her teenage crush.

Although My Daughter’s Legacy is part of the Cousins of the Dove series, this is the first book I’ve read.

There were references to past events that read as though they’d been covered in more detail in previous books. I haven’t read them (although now I want to!), and I don’t think that was any loss, as I found it easy to pick up the story. There was also a nice summary at the end which rounded out the series.

A dual timeline story can be hard to read.

This is simply because there is one character or story I enjoy better than the other. I often find it hard to relate to the modern character. This is usually because the modern character has some issues that are self-inflicted, but there is no real acknowledgement that they are the author of their own problems:

My Daughter's Legacy

That was the thing I liked about Nicole. She knew she had problems. And she knew whose fault the problems were. Her own. And she was working hard to overcome those problems.

In contrast, many of Therese’s problems—internal and external—were the result of the Civil War and not knowing who she could trust. These are common conflicts in Civil War-era fiction, and meant it took me a little longer to warm to her as a character. What kept me engaged were the fascinating insights into Civil War America. For example the concept that working in a hospital was men’s work, and that hospitals were only for the destitute. Gentlemen were looked after at home.

But in the end, both stories delivered both in terms of suspense and in terms of romance.

Now I’m off to buy the first two books in the Cousins of the Dove series: My Brother’s Crown, and My Sister’s Prayer.

Thanks to Harvest House, Litfuse Publicity, and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

Blog Tour and Giveaway: Grounded Hearts by Jeanne M Dickson

What do you get when you mix World War II, a brave midwife, a wounded pilot, and a risky secret? Jeanne M. Dickson’s new historical fiction novel, Grounded Hearts.

When midwife Nan O’Neil finds a wounded young Canadian pilot at her door, she knows she’s taking a huge risk by letting him in. Still, something compels Nan to take in “flyboy” Dutch Whitney, an RAF pilot whose bomber has just crashed over County Clare. While she tends to his wounds and gives him a secret place of refuge, the two begin to form a mutual affection—and an unbreakable bond.

Join Jeanne in celebrating the release of her new book by entering to win the Celtic Knots Giveaway!

One grand prize winner will receive:

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on July 31. The winner will be announced August 1 on the Litfuse blog.

I’ve already reviewed Grounded Hearts—I thought it was excellent. Click here to read my review at International Christian Fiction Writers.

Grounded Hearts

The Writing Desk

Book Review: The Writing Desk by Rachel Hauck

Rachel Hauck’s most recent novels have all featured a present-day romance and a historical romance, with something that connects the two.

No prizes for guessing what the connection is in The Writing Desk …

In the present, Tenley Roth has just won a major writing award, but she’s convinced she’s only won because she’s the great-great-granddaughter of the author for whom the award is named. Not to mention that she’s just a hack who wrote a romance novel, and she’s exactly zero words into the manuscript that’s due in less than three months. And now she’s in Florida, caring for her estranged mother as Blanche recovers from chemo.

In 1902, Bridie Shehorn has recently graduated from Wellesley. Now Mama insists she marry and move into her rightful role as leader of the Four Hundred. Mama even has a groom picked out—Alphonse, who is from a good family, suitably rich, yet far too fond of the ladies. And he’s not Eli, the handsome Earl who is back in New York after serving in the Boer War.

I have to say that at the beginning, I was a lot more intrigued by Bridie’s story than by Tenley’s.

Most of Tenley’s problems appeared self-inflicted. She’s got an almost-fiance she stays with for no known reason, and a bad case of writers block made worse by constant lying to her agent and editor. On the other hand, Bridie’s problems were mostly caused by a controlling Mama whose idea of good parenting was to do what was best for Mama with little or no regard for anyone else. Bridie least of all.

But I grew more and more interested in Tenley’s story as the novel progressed.

She befriends Jonas, who has the large, close-knit family she always dreamed of, and begins to investigate his Christian faith. Yes, this is Christian romance, although the faith aspects are subtle to the point a reader might not even notice.

Bridie had her own subtle faith journey as well, although the focus of her story was more on her impending marriage, and her writing. Yes, Bridie was also a writer. I thought I’d picked up the connection between Tenley and Bridie early on (and the twist), but there was a lot more to the connection.

Recommended for those who enjoy dual-timeline stories.

Thanks to Zondervan and NetGalley for providing an ebook for review.

About Rachel Hauck

Author Photo Rachel HauckRachel Hauck is an award winning, New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author.

Her book The Wedding Dress was named Inspirational Novel of the Year by Romantic Times. She is a double RITA finalist, a Christy and Carol Award Winner.

Rachel sits on the Executive Board for American Christian Fiction Writers, and is the comical sidekick to Susan May Warren at the amazing My Book Therapy. She is a worship leader and speaker.

A graduate of Ohio State University with a degree in Journalism, Rachel is a devoted Ohio State football fan. She lives in sunny central Florida with her husband and ornery cat.

Visit her at www.rachelhauck.com or www.facebook.com/rachelhauck

Click below to buy The Writing Desk

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Book Review: Unnoticed by Amanda Deed

 5 – 9 May 2017
Australian Christian Readers Blog Alliance
is Introducing
Unnoticed by Amanda Deed
(from Rhiza Press, 1 March, 2017)
About the Book:
Book Cover - Unnoticed by Amanda DeedPlain Jane O’Reilly is good at being unnoticed. Detested by her stepmother and teased by her stepsisters, Jane has learned the art of avoiding attention. That is until Price Moreland, an American with big dreams, arrives in her small town.
Does she dare to hope someone might notice her?
However, Price Moreland may not be the prince that the whole town thinks him to be. Was his desire to be a missionary a God-given call, or just a good excuse to run from his past?
Complete with an evil stepmother, a missing shoe and a grand ball, Unnoticed takes the time-old Cinderella fairy tale and gives it an Australian twist.

 

Author Photograph - Amanda DeedAbout the Author:

 Amanda Deed has penned several Australian Historical Romances, including The Game, winner of the CALEB Prize for Fiction in 2010. She resides in the South Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne with her family, where she works full-time in her local church office.

 Outside of work and family, Amanda loves to write stories filled with intrigue and adventure using her favourite themes as a backdrop: Australia, heritage, romance and faith. Her books include Unnoticed, Ellenvale Gold, Black Forest Redemption and Henry’s Run. For more information, go to www.amandadeed.com.au.

My Review of Unnoticed by Amanda Deed

An Excellent Australian Historical Cinderella Story

Book Cover - Unnoticed by Amanda DeedUnnoticed is a Cinderella story, although there were also hints of Pride and Prejudice in the characterisation of Mr and Mrs O’Reilly—at times, Mrs O’Reilly made Mrs Bennett seem astute and intelligent, and Mr O’Reilly made Mr Bennett seem like an attentive father.

Jane O’Reilly is our Cinderella figure, the unloved daughter forced to take second place to her stepmother and stepsisters—all ugly in attitude if not in looks. The description of Jane brings to mind a young Nicole Kidman, so she’s far from the Plain Jane people call her. But she doesn’t see that. She also doesn’t see that beauty is as much about who we are on the inside as on the outside, nor does she understand that God sees her and loves her for who she is. She doesn’t have to be beautiful.

Prince Charming is Price Moreland, an American who has left the country of his birth with noble intentions to bring the gospel to Australia. At least, that’s what he tells himself. But he’s soon distracted by Jane, who he thinks of as anything but plain. It’s good to see a romance where the hero and heroine both have personal faith journeys.

What raised Unnoticed above other fairytale retellings was the way the character histories were woven in. Not just for Jane and Price, but for Mrs O’Reilly (and her sister, the family cook), and Mr O’Reilly. It showed their neglect and mistreatment of Jane wasn’t because of any wrongdoing by Jane, but was a product of their own backgrounds. I especially liked the way I didn’t feel manipulated into feeling sorry for Jane’s parents.

The writing was solid, although there were a few places where it wasn’t as strong. But these are insignificant in the face of an excellent fairytale retelling with a unique historical Australian setting.

Thanks to ACRBA and Rhiza Press for providing a free ebook for review. You can find out more about Amanda Deed at her website, and you can read the introduction to Unnoticed below: