High As The Heavens by Kate Breslin

A British nurse in WWI German-occupied Brussels, Evelyn Marche spends her days at the hospital and her nights working at a café… or so it seems. Eve’s most carefully guarded secret is that she also spends her nights carrying out dangerous missions as a spy for a Belgian resistance group.

When a plane crashes as she’s en route to a rendezvous, Eve is the first to reach the downed plane and she is shocked to recognize the badly injured pilot as British RFC Captain Simon Forrester, her “dead” husband. She risks her life to conceal him from the Germans, but as the secrets between them grow and the danger mounts, can they still hope to make it out of Belgium alive?

Okay. First off… the cover is gorgeous. I absolutely love the cover. Kudos to Kathleen Lynch! It definitely made picking this book an easier choice. 😉

The second reason I picked this book was because it was about La Dame Blanche. That network has intrigued me ever since I first heard about it. It was composed of 30% female agents… something unheard of at the time and by the end of the war, its 1,300 agents gathered an estimated 70% of all military intelligence. Amazing or what?

High as the Heavens starts off well. Because of Edith Cavell’s (yeah, also look up her. Amazing woman!) work, Evelyn, also a British nurse, has to be extremely careful in her dealings with La Dame Blanche. It helps that she has an Iron Cross to make the soldiers trust her more. She brings home the information to her mother, who then codes the information into lace and sends it to the British. She’s playing with fire as her double-agent relationship with Major Reinhardt. To top it all off, members of her local resistance are being arrested because of, she thinks, a traitor in the network. But who?

And then her dead husband arrives.

Yes, the story starts off well.

However, I feel it stalls. I’m sure there are many people who wouldn’t agree with me, but it seems like more of the book is about Eve and Simon’s relationship than about La Dame Blanche or her other work. I can definitely see how having a resurrecting husband can be a little… interesting, but I picked it up to read about La Dame Blanche!

Other than that little hitch, I loved the book. The plot was amazing, the characters vivid, the traitor devastating, and the ending strong. I liked the peek into the world of La Dame Blanche, learning about the different ways that messages were sent and received, about the ingenuity of people and such. Eve’s mother used lace, Zoe used shopping lists. There were hollowed out broomsticks, hastily given messages passed from person to person. Somehow, they made it all the way to safe territory where they could be used for good.

If you like a bit of romance mixed together with the suspense of being an agent, definitely pick this book up. Hopefully, it’ll become a new favorite!

 

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion. All views are my own.*

Never Give Up by John Mason

Anything worth doing is going to have some obstacles. Some people look at setbacks as evidence that whatever it is they’ve been striving for just wasn’t meant to be. But according to bestselling author and master motivator John Mason, the moment most people give up is the moment of their greatest opportunity.

In this inspiring book, Mason gives you fifty-two keys to never giving up on your dreams. He shows you how to move forward when you’re on the verge of quitting, how to avoid unneccessary vtrouble, and how to keep your energy level up in the face of setbacks. 

Whatever your dream–whether you’re building a portfolio, a family, a business,  or relationships–you’ll find the strength and motivation to go on, break through, and claim the prize.

Behind the Scenes by Jen Turano

Click on the cover to see on Goodreads. Alternatively, click here to view on Barnes and Noble.

After spending the last six years banished to the wallflower section of the ballroom, Miss Permilia Griswold has finally figured out a way to pass the time at all the New York high-society events she attends. Under the pseudonym “Miss Quill”, she is the author of society gossip columns filled with tidbits only an insider in society–albeit one on the fringes–would know.

When she overhears a threat against Mr. Asher Rutherford, the owner of one of the most up-and-coming department stores in the city, she’s determined to warn him. But the irritatingly handsome man doesn’t believe her, leaving her no choice but to take matters into her own hands. What she doesn’t anticipate is that she’ll end up putting herself at risk in the process–or that she and Mr. Rutherford, a man with secrets of his own, just might end up joining forces after all.

Pursued by Lisa Harris

When the dust settles, Nikki discovers that the woman who had been seated next to her on the plane is missing–and no one will admit she was ever there. Then she learns that Erika Hamilton had been flying to Nashville with an air marshal as a key witness in an upcoming grand jury trial. Nikki wonders if her disappearance from the crash site means she’s running from trouble or straight into it. Before Nikki can even see her family or recover from the crash, she and her team are pulled into a missing persons case where the motives are as unclear as the suspects. Can she get to Erika before anyone else does?

Bestselling and award-winning author Lisa Harris has planted danger around every turn in this can’t-put-it-down thrill ride that will leave you stunned.

Shadows of the Hersweald

This is the first time I’ve read anything by Hope Ann, and it will not be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed the story. It was a delightful fantasy story in which you could also see the redemption of our Prince and Savior.

Folks… whoever likes fairy tales or fantasy interwoven with tales of Christianity… definitely check this story out.

I demand it of you.

(Lol. Jk, jk. Not really.)

Murder is No Accident

Click on the cover to view on Goodreads. Alternatively, click here to view on Barnes and Noble or Christian Book Distributors.

What happens in the past stays in the past.

Sometimes.

Dementia has Miss Fonda living as a time traveller. Sometimes she’s here, sometimes she’s then. When she finds the body of Geraldine Harper at the bottom of her steps, she’s transported to the past, to her sister’s death.

It was an accident then, and it was an accident now too… or is it?

When a second body shows up, it’s obvious that something caused Geraldine’s fall. But with all the new people in Hidden Springs, who was it? And when Alex comes to town… will Michael be able to handle her leaving again?

It you like your small-town America sweet and quirky–with a dash of sinister–you’ll love this latest whodunit from deft storyteller A. H. Gabhart.

Long Time Gone

I was super excited when I requested this book. I thought it would be interesting being a cowboy story… being that I’m cowgirl and all that. And, well, the plot line was great. The action was great. Everything was great except… well… I uh…

I accidentally picked up a romance novel.

Those of you who have been reading for a while know that I don’t like romance novels. A little romance on the side is just fine and dandy, but… the entire focus being falling in love? That kind of sets me off a little bit. Mostly because romance novels are too unrealistic for me and they have the weird ability for the two main characters to be immortal because of their love.

I loved Long Time Gone with everything except for the romance. I thought the romance was… um, cheesy and unreasonable. I was disappointed when Angie was helping to tend to Cole (who was very close to dying) and was admiring his brother through it all. Excuse me, Angie… do you think you could work on saving Cole before starting to fawn over Justin?

And… Justin? Maybe perhaps it’s not the best time to be thinking about how much you love Angie in the middle of a gunfight. Please, get rid of the bad guys so that they don’t kill you and your family, and then you can do all the thinkin’ you wanna.

I was also sorely disappointed Angie’s inability to stick to her morals. Justin took her home once and she said that a man and woman shouldn’t be riding alone together. That was what she believed. That is what she didn’t follow. Again, she said that she wouldn’t let herself be alone with him. Guess what happened? Okay, occasionally it couldn’t be helped. But she also could have stuck to her guns (yep, pun intended) a little more on the times when it could be helped.

Well, ya know, other than that… it was great! Like I said above, I loved the plotline, loved what happened, loved watching Angie get “countryfied”. Everything was awesomeness. There was everything that there’s supposed to be a fiction cowboy western story!

 

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my opinion. All views expressed here are my own.*

King’s Blood — The Second Kinsman Chronicles is Here!

The Five Realms have been destroyed. The remnants of the population who escaped now find themselves confined only to several hundred ships adrift at sea. Guided by hope, rumor, and a promise, they sail north into the unkown, desperate to find land that might become their new home.

As the king’s illness worsens, Sâr Wilek takes authority over the expedition and struggles to rule the disjointed people, while assassination attempts, vicious serpents, dangerous storms, and dark magic endanger his life and the survival of his people. 

One prophecy has come to pass, but another looms dauntingly in the future. Who is this promised Deliverer? And if the Magonians have him, what might that mean for the realm of Armania?

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The Blogger Aesthetic Award

Hey, everyone! A big shout out to Abi Leah at Happily Abi for nominating me for this awesome award! I saw the post on her site, and it looked like a ton of fun, so I was super excited when I saw that she had nominated me. 😀 Thanks, Abi!

The Rules

We’re Losing A Friend, A Part of Our Family

Malnutrition so ravaged his little mind that the seizures began. His mother — out of food and out of options, but full of love — wrapped him in a blanket and kissed him one last time.

She saved his life.

She placed him outside a police station and waited. She hoped. Maybe she even prayed to one or many gods — that her boy would be found and loved, fed and healed.

And he is. Today, he’s my son.

We adopted our son Sambhaji from India five years ago.

He eats Cheerios at my kitchen table instead of parathas at hers. He throws a mean fastball and does better on spelling tests than I ever did — his mind and body have healed well.

He loves to read, pretend he’s Batman, and get mail from his friend Ranjith in India.

Ranjith is growing up in the same small Indian village where Sambhaji lived. My son is Ranjith’s sponsor, pen pal, friend.

 

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