78. Sea View Christmas

78. Sea View Christmas (On Devonshire Shores) Julie Klassen. 238 pages. [Source: Review copy] [4 stars, adult romance, christian romance, historical romance, christian fiction]

First sentence: Miss Sarah Summers sat on her neatly made bed, a treasure in each hand. In her left she held a letter from the man she'd been betrothed to before his death at sea more than three years before. In her right palm lay a dried thistle--stalk, spiny bulb, and purple flower crown--the symbol of Scotland. It had been given to her by a Scotsman who, despite her efforts to forget him, still occupied a large part of her thoughts...and, if she were honest with herself, her heart. 

Premise/plot: Miss Sarah Summers cannot forget Callum Henshall and his stepdaughter Effie. They were among the first boarders at her family's boarding house. It has been a good number of books--three? four?--since Sarah has last spoken with him face to face. BUT neither has forgotten the other. This Christmas season, Callum and his stepdaughter have returned to the boarding house...has he come to woo her and win her? Probably. Possibly. Maybe. Meanwhile, Georgiana, the youngest sports-minded sister, is having a strong flirtation of her own with Colin, a local young man who's just a few years older. Nothing definite happens between them too, but they have the feels for each other AND it's just a matter of time. Probably. Possibly.

My thoughts: I was sad to learn this is the last in the series. I really LOVED this series and wish it would continue for at least one or two more books. I think Georgiana could have used her own novel. There are a few stepdaughters that could use a novel perhaps. And though I can't recall her name--it's been four or five days since I finished the novel--the mother became guardian to one of the orphans in town. So the stories COULD have continued on. 

Julie Klassen is one of my favorite authors. I love this cozy series of romances. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

41. A Matter of Honor

41. A Matter of Honor. Laura Frantz. (Audio narration by Amy Scanlon). 2024/2025. 206 pages. [Source: Library] [adult historical fiction, adult historical romance, Christian romance, novella, 4 stars]

First sentence: In the glittering, beeswax-scented drawing room of Kensington Palace, Orin Hume stood beside a Paladian window. 

A Matter of Honor is a novella, a companion novella, to The Rose and the Thistle by Laura Frantz. It has been a few years since I read The Rose and the Thistle. But Orin Hume, the romantic lead, is the young brother of one of the characters in that book [The Rose and the Thistle]. There are a few characters that overlap, I believe, but they are decades older. I do believe this one could be read as a standalone. 

Orin Hume loves, loves, loves Lady Maryn Lockhart. Maryn loves, loves, loves Orin Hume. A terribly tragic accident happening years before--I believe five???--has proven an almost impossible obstacle. It was an accident that injured Maryn and killed her [twin] brother. Orin wrote letters to Maryn. Maryn wrote letters to Orin. Did Orin read Maryn's letters? No. Did Maryn read Orin's letters? No. Maryn's sister prevented her letters from being mailed. Maryn's grandfather hid the letters Orin actually did send. It isn't until recently that these two have reconnected--from a distance. He still loves her. She still loves him. She is a recluse, mostly. He is reluctant to go where he's not welcome. After all, why didn't she respond to his many letters? 

Will these two ever come face to face and actually talk with one another openly and honestly about what they have felt, what they are currently feeling, and how they will feel forever? Maybe. Maybe not. 

I listened to this one on audio book. Amy Scanlon was MARVELOUS. It was an absolute delight to hear all the dialogue of this novel. Her narration of the narration was also lovely. But it is the dialect where she shines brightest. I ADORED her accents. 

The romance was lovely but slow. I do wish that Maryn especially had been less stubborn. Sometimes the obstacles are more internal--mental blocks--many romance books use more melodramatic obstacles that are less believable--kidnappings, fire, etc. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

33. The Elusive Truth of Lily Temple

33. The Elusive Truth of Lily Temple. Joanna Davidson Politano. 2024. 400 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars, historical fiction, historical romance, Christian fiction]

First sentence: I hadn't decided if I'd tell the whole truth or not, when the men arrived. Peter would have, because he's Peter. I, however, never let facts hinder the power of a good story. 

Set in England in 1903, The Elusive Truth of Lily Temple stars a silent actress--stage name Lily Temple--and a private investigator, Peter Driscoll. Peter meets Lily when he's investigating a stolen gem--a gem that's been missing for many years. He finds it in the possession of an actress, Lily Temple, however, he feels strongly that she is not the thief--or at least not the original thief. Soon these two are slowly, reservedly entering each other's worlds and having mini-adventures as she becomes involved in Peter's other current cases. Still there is something....elusive...about her and her past. Peter finds her mesmerizing, but, he has a good head on his shoulders. Lily has no reason to trust anyone--even if that someone is Peter. Still she finds herself opening up more to Peter than she has any other human being in years and years. Life hasn't been kind--plenty of disappointments and betrayals in the past. 

Solving one case may just lead Peter into terrible trouble that he can't escape. If Lily tells him all, then she knows--even if he does not--that his life would be in danger. Could he survive the truth? 

I loved, loved, loved this one. I did. I LOVED the writing. I did. The narration was fabulous. I cared about Lily *and* Peter. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

8. Left Behind

8. Left Behind (Left Behind #1) Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. 1995. 470 pages. [Source: Library] [christian fiction, 2 stars, contemporary fiction]

First sentence: Rayford Steele's mind was on a woman he had never touched.

When I was in my late teen years, there were two book series that were being talked about--Left Behind and Harry Potter. I was slow to read them both, though I did read the first books in both series around the same time--when I was in college. Both books I considered slow, slow, slow, super slow. I recently read the Harry Potter series and appreciated it for the most part (though it's not for everyone). I decided I'd give this series a go. Or at least attempt to do so.

The premise is simple: The rapture occurs in the first chapter of the book and everyone else has been....drumroll please....left behind. The story follows three or four main characters as they try to piece together what happened and why. Rayford Steele and Buck Williams are the two male leads of the story. (Chloe, Rayford's daughter, and Hattie, Rayford's flight attendant, round out the cast.) Rayford is almost certain right from the get go that it is the rapture, that this was a supernatural occurrence, that Christ has returned for the saints, that these are the last days. Everyone else takes more convincing---for the most part. 

I am a Christian.

I am a Christian who genuinely believes in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

I believe the Bible to be the Word of God, inerrant, infallible, God-breathed--the whole works. 

I mention all of the above so that you know where I am coming from in my review. I am not mocking the Bible. I am not mocking the second coming. I am not questioning the existence of God. I am not doubting God's promises. 

But this book suffers from two or three issues.

1) The writing is bad especially in terms of characterization and dialogue. Nails on a chalkboard bad. 

2) The writing comes across as cocky and condescending. I think this has to do with being a little too confident in their particular interpretation of the end times than perhaps anyone should be. 

3) The book has an obvious point and becomes repetitive in trying to reiterate the point. Now the point itself--believe in Jesus Christ, repent of your sins, turn to him, have faith, all of it--none of these are bad points. But they don't make for the absolute best fiction. That is when you are crafting a novel, crafting characters and dialogue, it might be a good idea to go a little deeper and broader. 

I can't say that the book is theologically awesome. Because while I am sure that Jesus Christ *is* returning, the way everything is laid out in the novel makes a lot of assumptions, presumptions, goes way above and beyond what can be clearly supported by Scripture. I am reminded of old cartoons where a character is running and happens to run off a cliff. The character keeps on running--on air itself--until that moment when they look down and there is nothing below. 

I think it is easy to mock the writing--just read some reviews on GoodReads and the like--and somehow turn it into a mockery of the end times itself. Or to turn it into a mockery of those who do believe. But the two shouldn't have to be linked together. You can believe in God and also not enjoy a book. 

I will say this in the book's defense. IF THE PACING OF THE LAST HUNDRED PAGES had been the pacing from the start, then the book might not be so bad. The book is just so incredibly dull until it isn't. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

89. The Sisters of Sea View

The Sisters of Sea View (On Devonshire Shores #1) Julie Klassen. 2022. 448 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Sarah Summers carefully lifted the family heirloom, a warm mantle of nostlagia settling over her.

Historical romance--Regency Romance--Christian fiction. 

After the death of their father and the decline of their mother's health, four sisters--Sarah, Emily, Viola, Georgiana--decide (somewhat reluctantly) to open up their seaside home to (paying) guests. 

Long story short: I absolutely loved, loved, loved, loved this one. It was just giddy-making. I loved the family. I loved the neighborhood and community. I loved meeting the guests. I loved the stories. I loved the relationships. I loved the layers.

Three of the four sisters are well-developed and get a lot of time and attention. [Georgiana, well, maybe in future books she will be developed and have a story.] 

There are multiple narrators. The narrators do not switch over at chapter breaks. Within a chapter, the point of view might change several times. The only negative thing I can say about this one is that--at least in the advanced reader's copy--there's no visual clues that the narration has changed. 

It was so funny to have Mr. and Mrs. Elton from Emma show up as guests in this one!!! They added much comic relief.

ETA: Yes, I read this one twice in one year. The sequel just released. I checked both books out of the library. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

63. Letters from My Sister

Letters from My Sister. Valerie Fraser Luesse. 2023. 320 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Callie Bullock traced an imaginary circle on the windowpane, framing a cluster of ladies in their picnic dresses--swirls of fine cotton in shades of spring.

I am conflicted about Valerie Fraser Luesse's Letters From My Sister. But I'll circle back around to that....

Callie Bullock love, love, loves her sister, Emmy, though the two sisters are incredibly different. Some drama surrounds the family in this one, however, after Lily McGee (a young, beautiful black widowed woman returns to Alabama pregnant. Some men have cartoon-like lusty reactions to seeing her. So much so that the Bullock family--along with her own grandmother/great-grandmother--decide to "hide" her in plain sight. She'll remain with the family and enter into their protection. But some neighbors just can't take a hint. There is a villainous family in the neighborhood--and the one saint in the family happens to be engaged to Emmy. (He literally has an evil twin.) 

One night...things are set in motion. Readers remain clueless to the events of this fateful night as readers are 'trapped' with Callie's amnesia, knowing what she knows. I will NOT spoil anything from this point on.

What I liked: I did enjoy, for the most part, the romance between Callie and Solomon. Their relationship was sweetly developed. Both were fully developed characters. Neither was perfect. They had good communication. There was never a self-sabotaging moment (or two) where the characters are so endlessly stupid and getting in their own way. It was quite a relief. 

It had some drama, no lie, but it didn't seem horribly melodramatic all things considered. Like the events considered in context of their time--it seemed relatively realistic. But do expect SADNESS. 

What I didn't like: I personally did not like the inclusion of psychics or seers. And these were presented in a positive, affirming way. These 'seers' with 'second sight' or 'prophetic visions' may not bother other readers. But the depiction of psychics as being blessings from God and tools of the Holy Spirit, well, it didn't sit quite right with me. Personally. 

I also didn't like going through 70 percent of the book without a date--YEAR--given. I know it's historical. I could detect after the first few chapters that it was post-Civil War. But I spent SO MUCH TIME trying to puzzle out what decade, what year this was supposed to be. It wasn't until the heroine was asked her birth year and then volunteers when her next birthday will be--giving a year--that I find out. This was VERY annoying to me. Again, many readers might not care at all. But I like to know. It's important for me for context. 

It did feel a little woke at times. Not horribly. Just like the conversations seemed more like a twenty-first century add-ons. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

62. Dear Henry, Love Edith

Dear Henry, Love Edith. Becca Kinzer. 2023. 373 pages. [Source: Library] [Contemporary Christian Romance]

First sentence: Henry grimaced, not sure which irritated him more--the persistent ache in his knee or the relentless voice in his ear.

Dear Henry, Love Edith is a premise driven contemporary romance. Is it merely clean or is it distinctively Christian? It is published by Tyndale, a Christian publisher, but I think it falls into merely clean. (I do enjoy reading clean romance novels. It's a GOOD thing, but, from a Christian publisher I expect a slight bit more. Again, nothing wrong with the novel as is. So what is the premise of this premise-driven novel? Edith is coming to stay with a stranger; she thinks he's an older gent, being the uncle of one of her acquaintances (online perhaps?). Henry reluctantly has agreed to play host at the behest of his niece; he thinks the woman, Edith, is an elderly widow. They meet early on but don't exchange names. He thinks she looks like Goldie Hawn, I believe. She thinks he looks like Paul Newman, I believe. There's instant attraction but they don't know each other or even how to get to know one another. At the house, these two don't meet for quite a long time. They don't keep the same hours. They just write chatty notes back and forth. (Each thinking the other is elderly and that there is a BIG age gap between them). 

Of course there is conflict in this one...which allows for some pretending and such.

I definitely enjoyed this one. I would say I loved the beginning, enjoyed the middle, and was indifferent to the end. The last fifty pages or so was a bit of a let down--personally. But I definitely enjoyed almost all of this one. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

51. Fairest of Heart

Fairest of Heart. Karen Witemeyer. 2023. [June] 352 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: "Keep your eyes down and head bowed," Edith instructed. "Do nothing to draw attention. A woman like Narcissa LaBelle lives for the spotlight, so you must make yourself dim in comparison. I won't be able to help you once her troupe leaves town."

Historical romance. Christian fiction. Spin on Snow White. 

Karen Witemeyer is one of my all-time favorite, favorite, favorite authors. I wasn't sure, at first, how I felt about this being a spin on Snow White. But I ended up loving this spin. I shouldn't have doubted that she was capable of such a feat.

Penelope Snow is an orphan working as an assistant/servant to Narcissa LaBelle, an actress with a traveling troupe. The troupe has come to Texas and is performing around the state. Travis Kingsley is a Texas Ranger. He's just off one job and mid-rescue of an injured dog when these two meet. Their first meeting is oh-so-brief and seemingly inconsequential. And perhaps it might have stayed that way....if....

Penelope is trying on her mistress's corset and gown...as a favor to the seamstress. Narcissa was very angry with the last fitting of the dress. She has made several heated threats. Penelope and the seamstress want to calm the situation down. But when someone interrupts this fitting and jumps to conclusions...that Penelope wants to become an actress on the stage, a rival to Madame LaBelle, well, Narcissa decides to send Mr. Cecil Hunt to take care of her....permanently. 

Fortunately, Penelope is found by seven old cowhands--who live together at the Diamond D ranch. (There is a "Doc" who is grandpa to Travis.) Penny finds her people, if you will, and truly feels like she belongs with these seven! (And Travis does come by to visit now and then.) 

As for Travis, well, he's on a new case...a string of burglaries/robbery. Men are reporting missing jewelry and the theatre troupe is soon suspect since their route links up to these robberies. 

Is Penny safe in her new life? Will Narcissa (and Hunt) hunt her down again?

I loved this one so much. I loved all the characters. I think it being a spin on Snow White worked really well. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

24. The Rose and the Thistle

The Rose and the Thistle. Laura Frantz. 2023. 416 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Struck by sunlight, the sprawling chateau was a blinding, rose-hued white. It reminded Lady Blythe Hedley of home, of her family's Northumbrian castle with its pink harled walls, a pearl in an emerald-green meadow. 

The Rose and the Thistle is a historical romance novel set primarily in Scotland circa 1715/1716. It is a time of unrest. There are those--in England and Scotland--that would have the Stuarts back on the throne. (Jacobites). There are those that have conceded that the king on the throne is George I. Lady Blythe's father, an Englishman, is Catholic and a Stuart-supporter. His views on politics may put his daughter at risk. (There is no 'may' about it. They will. They do.) Lady Blythe has grown up Catholic, to be sure, but her mind isn't so much occupied with politics and political intrigue...as it is book-learning. She's fluent in many languages. She loves to read. She loves to learn. 

To keep her safe--or safer--her father decides to send her to live with her godfather--a Scottish nobleman. (Her godfather is barely, barely in the story). Everard Hume (a Protestant), is a Scottish Lord, who is a little less than thrilled with taking in Lady Blythe. Though once she arrives, what can he do??? Soon, she's turning their lives topsy-turvy, but almost certainly for the better. How long will she stay? Will these two--an English Rose and a Scottish Thistle--make a pair?

I loved this one. I absolutely loved it. Laura Frantz is one of my favorite, favorite, favorite authors. I love the Scottish setting. I love the historical time period. I love the characters, the story. I love all the Hume brothers--in residence. I love that it isn't so much focused on two individuals falling in love. I love the cast of characters. I love the dialogue. This one was just a treat from first page to last.

Yes, it did take me about a month to read. But it wasn't because it was slow or dull. It was because I was savoring each and every chapter. I didn't want to rush through it. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

42. Zanna's Gift

Zanna's Gift. Orson Scott Card. 2020. 250 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: There are many ways to lose a child, and none of them is merciful. But like all unbearable things it can be borne, and in the weeks before Christmas 1938, the Pullmans were learning how.

Premise/plot: Zanna's Gift is a LOVELY Christmas novel. Zanna, the youngest of the Pullman family, has a special way to memorialize her older brother, Ernest, after his unexpected death at age fifteen.

The best way to read Zanna's Gift is without knowing a thing about it. I promise you. I'm doing you a favor by NOT summarizing the plot and sharing what Zanna's GIFT was and how it was a gift that kept giving and giving, how that gift came to symbolize so much to the entire family. 

My thoughts: LOVE. I loved this one absolutely and completely from start to finish. It was one of those perfectly perfect EXPERIENCES. It feels like more than just a book, a story, a fictional work. THESE CHARACTERS ARE REAL. How it hasn't been adapted into a movie if it was truly published originally in 2004 is beyond me. It would make an excellent movie.

I would recommend this one to people who aren't necessarily readers. Of course I recommend it to readers who read anything and everything. But for those who are reluctant to pick up books, please consider reading this wonderful amazing book. 

If you LOVE Christmas, this is an absolute must. I could easily see it becoming a book that you feel you HAVE to read each and every year. 

This was my SECOND year to read Zanna's Gift. Last year I was surprised by how magical this read was--a celebration of life, love, and family. This year I was reminded of just how beautiful and touching it is. These characters have remained with me throughout the year. 

Is it Christian fiction? Maybe? Faith plays out in the background of this one. Faith isn't fleshed out in this one--in terms of theology. But I'm not so sure it needs to be for the beautiful themes to come through. There is nothing in Zanna's Gift that is anti-Christian. It is a treat of a book for ALL readers regardless of faith background. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

38. The Florence Legacy

The Florence Legacy. Lauraine Snelling. 2022. 400 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Breeanna Lindstrom stared at the envelope in her hand. Probably a thank-you note since it was from Jade's husband. Tears immediately burned her throat and leaked from her eyes. How she missed Jade.

Jade left three friends ten thousand dollars apiece so they could take a dream vacation to Florence, Italy. Breeanna [or Bree], one of our two protagonists, is super-excited about the trip. Even in the midst of her family's messiness, she's still super thrilled to be getting away from it all. [One child is expecting a new baby soon. Her other child is drowning in debt and homeless.] She's also started seeing her best friend's brother-in-law. [They meet at the funeral of her best friend's husband.] He gives her lessons in Italian. The other protagonist, Pierre-Rene Dubois, besides being a love interest, is getting ready to start up his own business, a coffee shop. He wants a vet-friendly coffee shop. His chapters focus on getting this business started.

The novel is contemporary Christian fiction. To the extent that the characters are developed and fully fleshed out, they are presented as broken-imperfect people living in a broken-imperfect world. For example, relationships are messy. Pierre-Rene's relationship with his son and son-in-law is messy. He loves them and respects them, but, he's still balancing out how to be involved in their day-to-day lives. He is striving to make the relationship stronger and better. Likewise, Bree's relationship with Jessica, her daughter, is problematic as well. Jessica acts out--lashes out--at her mother and brother. She is upset that she has no money and doesn't have a place to stay. Any attempt to help is seen as an attack. And yet the lack of an attempt to help is also seen as being hostile. 

The plot is minimal at best. Essentially there is lack of any interesting plot. The vacation to Italy--despite the publisher's description as being hilarious--is lackluster. Except for one of the friends getting mugged and having to return to the States early, all the friends do is eat, drink, and go tourist-y places. That doesn't translate well in a book. In a movie, there could be a montage of the three-to-four friends doing all the tourist-y things and laughing and having a grand old time. In a book, well, it's just boring. The characterization of the other friends is bare as well. There's just not any fleshing out of these side characters to make readers care. 

I found this a tedious read. I do think these characters given another plot might be of interest. Pierre-Rene's PTSD, for example, is probably worthy of being explored in a book. Likewise, books about families struggling with reconciliation and healthy boundaries could be a good thing. But it was just hard to come to care for any of these characters or to be engaged in the story. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

35. The Sweet Life

The Sweet Life (Cape Cod Creamery #1) Suzanne Woods Fisher. 2022. [May] 308 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Dawn parked in front of her childhood home in Needham but couldn't make herself get out of the car. For this brief moment, the terrible news belonged only to her. As soon as she told someone, especially her mom, it would make it somehow more real. More true. Maybe it wasn't real.

Premise/plot: The Sweet Life follows a mother and daughter--Dawn and Marnie Dixon. Marnie has recently gone through treatments for breast cancer; Dawn has recently been left at the altar--well, almost. These two set out on the paid-for-and-can't-be-refunded honeymoon. What neither expected was to fall in love with their destination. Marnie decides to make the ultimate, ultimate leap of faith and BUY an ice cream shop in the historic district. Dawn is flustered--very. How could her mom be so reckless and spontaneous? Yet she agrees to help support her mom. If the shop can make a success of it between memorial day and labor day, then all is well and good...but if it's not it's time to step back and reconsider. Dawn loves to make ice cream--it was a hobby she shared with her dad (who recently died). The narrative alternates between the two women.

My thoughts: I really LOVED this one so much more than I expected. I don't typically read contemporary romances. And to be fair, this isn't so much a romance as it is women's fiction. Both Dawn and Marnie have some growing to do in their lives. And they have to learn how to best support one another in a loving, caring, forgiving way. There are a couple of guys in the picture...but never stealing the show from the main thing. I definitely want to keep reading this series.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

28. The London House

The London House. Katherine Reay. 2021. [November] 368 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: Caro hugged Martine, whispering close to her ear. 

There are essentially two main stories unfolding in Katherine Reay's The London House. There is a story within a story. Caroline Payne is being compelled to revisit a "dark family secret." A friend--or former friend, possibly still a true forever friend--is about to publish an article revealing her family's dark, scandalous past. She doesn't believe him--at first. Her father--who is dying--is irate. She cannot deny blind facts. But she can question their interpretation and possible biases by the author. His name is Mat Hammond, and they were college friends and classmates. The big "dark" "scandalous" secret is that her great-aunt Caroline Waite ran away with a Nazi lover [allegedly] and betrayed her country. The cover-up through the generations is that Caroline died as a child. 

Caroline promises to comment [or contribute] to the story...but only after she's done her own research into the past. She returns to her family's British home--THE LONDON HOUSE--and finds the diaries, letters, etc. from both her great-aunt and her grandmother. There are certainly "secrets" to be found, but do they fall in line with Mat's story??? Or does what she reads convince her that Mat's theories are all wrong??? Is the "scandalous secret" that simple and straight forward? 

Much of the plot is centered around events in the 1930s and early 1940s. In the years leading up to war and the war itself. Caroline [the aunt] wroked in Paris for a designer named Elsa Schiaparelli. There are some historical details woven into the story. Like discussion of the lobster dress. 

Quotes:

History reflects humanity. It isn't one dimensional, or even two-dimensional; it's multifaceted and far more complex and nuanced than we allow.

Humans are messy. Their history is going to be messy. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

26. The Brilliance of Stars

The Brilliance of Stars. (Jack and Ivy #1) J'nell Ciesielski. 2022. [November] 352 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: She kissed Jack hard on the mouth, then aimed her Beretta over his shoulder and fired a round of shots down the medieval corridor of Dobryzov Castle. 

The Brilliance of Stars is a spy-thriller-romance with hints of the supernatural. It is set during the midst of the first world war or the "great war" or the "war to end all wars." It is published by Thomas Nelson, a Christian publisher, so I assumed that it would be Christian fiction.

Ivy and Philip are orphans continually down on their luck. Though not biologically related, they've been there for each other in their darkest of days. And their luck changes--for better or worse--when they are together on the streets. They stumble across something that could potentially prove deadly... a very private conversation with spies in a super secret spy organization. But, the two are taken back to head quarters and are essentially recruited. (Because why not??? Homeless orphans with no education are prime potential spies.) Philip is drawn to the weapons and inventions and the fighting action--or potential thereof. And Ivy, well, Ivy is drawn to the intellectual aspects of it. She'll learn to read and write English, and pick up a dozen plus foreign languages in just a year or possibly two. All the while packing away history, literature, and folklore for multiple cultures. She'll need quick recall of all the above for her super-secret missions in warring countries.

Jack Vale, our super-dreamy hero, is training both Philip and Ivy. Though he's falling truly, madly, deeply in love with Ivy. (Though pretending not to.) When they are deemed field ready, he'll be supervising them both. The three of them will form part of a team...and most of their mission will occur in a war-torn, toppling Russia. 

Their spy missions have absolutely nothing to do with World War I OR with the Russian Revolution. Their spy missions instead have completely everything to do with super secret spy organizations with occult ties. So think MARVEL MOVIES or ALIAS. The potential 'supernatural' connection has more to do with vampire folklore and the occult than to anything else. I also feel the author was inspired by this Marvel-esque super soldier idea.

I was drawn to this one potentially because of WORLD WAR I and, you know, actual history. Whether the focus was on World War I in general OR the Russian Revolution, it didn't matter so much. But I wasn't interested in a spy/thriller that was focused more on occult super secret evil organizations. So the book began to lose me when it went that direction. 

There is so much potential for stories set in the real world in Russia during 1917 that I didn't need this other. 

The romance I felt was a little heavy-handed. The dialogue was very cheesy. Which might work for some readers. No judgment. But it gave off Anakin and Padme vibes. Again, just my opinion. And to be published by a Christian publisher, I felt it was a little too physically graphic. Granted, they were married. But still. That doesn't mean readers need so much information about intimate moments.

The writing wasn't exactly my cup of tea.

• Jack gritted his teeth as fury boiled to his lips. 
• Blood trickled from the slash angled across her bicep, the bright red drops marring her white skin and glowing in the campfire light.
• The body that belonged to the voice stepped out of the darkness, unshrouding itself from a memory of billowing smoke, panicked screams ripping through a castle, and a single bullet lodging into skull and brain.
• Balaur uprooted himself like a mushroom from its mud pit and walked to the reindeer, crooning low in his throat.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

22. Where the Road Bends

Where the Road Bends. Rachel Fordham. 2022. 336 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: The small band on her ring finger glistened in the sunlight as Norah King walked the family land she had nearly lost.

Premise/plot: Norah King, our heroine, needs to marry to save her family farm. Jake Granger steps up...mostly because he really wants that farm for his own. But when Norah stumbles across an injured man on her property, a man with severe injuries, a man who is possibly dying, she sees only one way forward: to help him no matter the cost. Of course, she believes that Jake will believe her that when she tells him about the circumstances as to why they are together in her farm house, he will believe the best in her. But her first priority is doing anything and everything to nurse him. The injured man is down on his luck boxer named Quincy Barnes. He has no memory how he came to be there, but, he does know that Norah is sent from God. Taking this as a sign from God, he vows to make a fresh start and start making changes that will make him a better man, a man worthy of someone like Norah. He knows she's engaged to marry. He isn't trying to woo her away from Jake (who wants her farm). 

All of that occurs in the prologue, MOST of this book occurs two years later (circa 1882, still Iowa). Quincy is a new man, a business man, a man with a big heart that wants to make amends for his past mistakes...and one of those mistakes concerns Norah... But knowing that surely Norah is a married woman, he only wants to write her a letter...but that letter ends up being returned to sender... which sends Quincy on an adventure of his own...

My thoughts: I love all the Persuasion love. Persuasion is her favorite book. He goes out of his way to gift her with HER original copy (with an inscription from her mother). He reads it so they can discuss it. They adopt it as "their" own book. It's always nice to see all the love for Captain Wentworth and his letters. But. As much as this novel may be trying to be Persuasion 2.0, I had ALL the vibes from Les Miserables. That could be just me. (I do love Les Miserables.) Both books do have a theme of redemption and second chances. 

I found this a quick, enjoyable read. I loved that it wasn't melodramatic. It had places where it could have gone melodramatic, pushed things into that zone. (There was only one little scene where it might have crossed the line.) 

I loved the romance. I loved Quincy and Norah together. I loved the side characters as well. It was just a well-balanced story that was sweet in all the right ways. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

18. Come Down Somewhere

Come Down Somewhere. Jennifer L. Wright. 2022. [September] 400 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: The army moved in on a Sunday. 

Olive Alexander, our young teen protagonist, is angry that her family home--a ranch--is being "taken over" by the army. She'll be sent to live with her grandmother, her brother is heading overseas, and her mother (and uncle) will stay behind on the ranch to continue to oversee the ranch. She's new to town (Alamogordo, New Mexico) and starting (traditional) school for the first time. Her best chance for finding a good friend ends abruptly. Turns out the other new kid, Jo Hawthorne, is the daughter of the sergeant who has "taken over" the ranch. Jo consistently pursues a friendship; Olive resists. But these two have a LOT in common, and given enough time these two might just find a forever friendship.

Come Down Somewhere is set in New Mexico during the later years of the Second World War. The army is about to conduct a super-secret ultimately dangerous experiment that might just end the war. There are TWO narrators and two time periods. Jo Hawthorne is narrating the "present" mid 1950s storyline. Olive Alexander is narrating the "past" mid 1940s storyline. Both storylines are driven by angst and uncertainty. 

Because of how the narration unfolds, there is plenty of suspense and tension in the relationship between the two women, the two narrators. One mystery being WHAT happened on the day of the test and HOW that day ultimately shaped both of them. 

I would categorize Come Down Somewhere as a historical coming of age novel. Olive and Jo--in the past--are definitely struggling as they grow up during a stressful time. 

It is published by a Christian publisher. But part of the angst-driven narrative is about the ups and downs of life--mentally, emotionally, spiritually. In the past storyline, Olive is ANGRY and resistant to any idea of God. God, quite frankly, doesn't exist so she insists and its how she lives her life. Jo, on the other hand, while still struggling very much with the harshness of life still holds onto her faith and views God as being her salvation. She doesn't insist that Olive share her faith. There are no conditions on her offer of friendship. In the present storyline, Jo is ANGRY and resistant to any idea of God. God deserted her in the desert (couldn't resist). Her faith, her trust, her hope in God is practically nonexistent. So part of the tension is also how did Jo come to this place in her life...and where does she go from there. 

As I mentioned, there is plenty of tension and conflict in this one--in both stories. It did have a mostly unexpected twist. Well, actually several twists but not all equally unexpected. It was a good read. 

Though it is Christian and though it is historical, it is NOT in anyway a romance.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

16. The Great Passion

The Great Passion. James Runcie. 2022. [March] 272 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: There are gaps of time into which we sometimes fall, when the pattern of our days is suspended. It happens when there is a birth or a death, an arrival or a departure, the moments either side of it becoming forms of descent and recovery, when we do not know quite what to do or how long this unexpected bewilderment will last. In general, I prefer not to talk of those years, now that my hair is thinned and grey, but once people discover how well I knew the family, they question what it must have been like to be amongst the first to sing Bach’s music. 

Set in Leipzig, Germany, in 1727/28, The Great Passion is a historical novel about Johann Sebastian Bach's writing of St. Matthew's Passion. The protagonist is a young musician, Stefan Silbermann, who is studying under the Cantor (aka Bach). The book chronicles his time at school--for better or worse. He's mourning the loss of his mother and struggling to make friends with his classmates. But his time with Bach and his family help him make peace and find his voice.

I love, love, love, LOVE this novel. I love it because it is beautifully written. It is such an incredible read. Amazing narrative style. I do recommend listening to Bach's St. Matthew's passion--either in German or English. You can find it easily online to stream. (Several different recordings are found on Spotify.)

Quotes:

After everyone returned to work, I found that I could not concentrate. You assemble an instrument, I thought, just as you put together a life: the blocks of wood in the workshop were like fragments of memory; the sounding board echoed the conversations I had had in the past. I was like an old musician I had once seen sitting at a keyboard without touching it, trying to remember what he had once performed but unable to play any longer, his fingers arthritic, his memory failing.

Perhaps every death is a reminder of the first one we witness.

You will miss your mother. You might even miss me, if you can believe such a thing. But keep in mind that this is all for the best. We must be grateful for each blessing God gives us rather than nurse every injustice. Unhappiness is a form of ingratitude.

When you are older you will learn to expect disaster, but you don’t know much about sorrow when you are a child. If you did, then there would be no such thing as childhood. I lost my first wife and thought I would never recover, but life continues, often more quickly than we expect it to, and we learn to adjust to suffering. Still, I imagine there are times when you must feel forlorn. Do you know the piece Froberger wrote, Méditation sur ma mort future? The dance of life becomes the dance of death. You can practise a partita, or perform a prelude and fugue, but sometimes it’s good to study a lament.

I sometimes wonder how one’s life might sound in music.

We may travel through the valley of the shadow of death, but how we live is what matters, don’t you think? We have to make full use of the opportunities and talents that God has given us. Do not forget the Parable of the Talents. It commands us to work.

Neither was I, Monsieur Silbermann. My mother died when I was nine. I still think about her. It’s not a sin to mourn, but we cannot dwell on the past. Otherwise we ruin our future.’
‘Things were better for me when she was alive.’
‘Then we have to think of something else, or we go mad. But perhaps you are not prepared. And maybe that is why you are here, at this school? To make you ready to offer the world something other than your own sadness. We cannot be defined by our grief, otherwise it’s the only thing anyone will say about us. Do you understand that yet?'

I have always found it strange how so few facts define a life.

So, he expects you to get on with it. What do you make of the organ?’
‘I think—’
‘It’s terrible, isn’t it? We could do with a new one. The one at the university church is far superior. Have you heard it? I must show you. Perhaps I can benefit from your expertise?’
‘You will know far more than I do.’
‘But you have grown up with the organ, Monsieur Silbermann. It is in your blood. What is it your family say?’
‘There’s blood and skin in all our instruments.’
‘Exactly that. We give our lives to our music. There can be no half-measures. Remember that!’

'How do you get on with the Cantor?’ he asked.
‘It is hard to tell.’
‘That doesn’t surprise me. He speaks in music. Always remember that about musicians. German is not their first language. Music is. That’s why it’s sometimes difficult to understand what we’re saying.’
‘I can follow him perfectly well,’ I said. ‘I only worry that I am not quick enough. He treats us as if we are professional musicians already.’
‘It’s only right that he has his standards. He and his wife were at court before. Goodness knows why they would ever want to come here, Monsieur Silbermann. It must be for the children. They get a proper education in Leipzig and he can get them into the university for free.’

I’ll tell you a secret, Monsieur Silbermann. Everyone, no matter who they are in life, feels alone. We are on our own and we are all afraid.’
‘You think that’s true?’
‘I know it is. We just have to accept it and live through it.’

Now that I am older, I notice that people my age often look back to times of cruelty and betrayal, remembering grudges, nursing grievances and thinking of the opportunities they missed: all the disappointments of their unlived life and the thoughts of what might have been. But perhaps it’s healthier to remember all the kindness. It gives us a far greater chance of happiness.

If a house has enough love, there is always space. It’s only when there’s no love that there’s no room.’

We cannot understand light without darkness, joy without pain, peace without war, love without hatred, beauty without ugliness or youth without age. We only know the best by experiencing the worst. We understand life because of death. We can only be reborn once we die.

You must love the Lord as boldly as you can,’ he told her. ‘Then you will have no fear. Remember Luther. “The smaller the love the greater the fear.”

I even wondered if it was too much to bear, to keep coming back to the loss, even in music, but one thing the Cantor taught me was that, as well as practising new pieces, I could apply our recent experience and understanding to the preludes and chorales I had played in the past. They were old acquaintances, he told me, friends who would never disappoint. I could revisit them and see them in the light of any greater maturity or wisdom I had acquired, and then add different interpretations and variations.

Our daily task is to remember that all of life is learning.

When we think of the behaviour of other people,’ he began, ‘we have to remember that almost everyone is frightened of something. It might be a confrontation that we are worried about, a piece of work, a continuing illness or the death of a friend, but we should keep in mind that if nothing lasts in this world then the very thing that we dread the most cannot last either. All things must pass. The moment we have feared approaches. It takes place. Then it becomes the past: and only a memory. So, rather than dreading the moment, perhaps we should look forward to the memory of it instead? We must learn to think beyond our fears. Perhaps you are too young to contemplate this, but one day, I promise, you will understand.’

We have to remember that the reverse is true. We are living as long as we are dying. We should not continue in dread. No one can thrive in the shadows.

Perhaps some people are more at home when they play music than they are when they live their life.

Apart from the context. When I go to church, there is such a sense of doom. Where is the joy of Christ’s redemption and the promise of eternal paradise?’
‘In my music!’
‘But do we hear it often enough? It may be announced with trumpets, but how can that joy be sustained? How can our time on earth be enjoyed as well as suffered? We have to attack it, celebrate it, give people something to aim for. We can’t just wear black and wait for death. Look at your rector. What kind of life is his?’
The Cantor did not answer the question directly but smiled, rather sadly, and answered, ‘Show me what you have in mind.’

If the joy provided by the birth of our Lord is infinite, then so must be the variations, Monsieur Silbermann! There is so much pain and misery in the world that people forget the joy: the sure and certain hope that our sorrows will one day end. Always remember that this is so much greater than the anxieties we face on earth!’

He struck out a few phrases on his own to show me what he meant. ‘It will be Lent soon enough, and we will be lost in the winds of winter; but Advent lasts just as long in the year, and its message is eternally optimistic.

The Virgin Mary feels the child inside her kick with life and her spirit lifts, more than she ever thought possible, more than anyone who has ever rejoiced before, and so the music kicks with life at the same time. You need to perform with your face shining. Your body must feel as light as air and all your troubles have ceased. Everything is redeemed, Monsieur Silbermann. Everything. So, you have to sing as if you can breathe without stopping to take in any air at all, because this is what eternal life will be like. We will breathe forever. Mary gives birth to a life without end. It’s the most astonishing thing, don’t you think?’

Singing, she insisted, was our way of escaping the world and rising above it, letting the words float on the air before coming back down to rest. The Magnificat had to persuade people to look at their lives entirely differently after it had been sung, just as the Annunciation was to change the Virgin Mary’s life, together with that of all mankind, forever.

Words and music can be dangerous in the wrong hands, Picander. People can be persuaded to think all manner of things. We must act responsibly.’ It wasn’t clear whether the Cantor was trying to tell Picander something or not, but ‘the great poet’ was not listening. I think he preferred to use the time other people spent talking to prepare what he was going to say next rather than take in what they were telling him.

Or you yourself might answer, “Yes, my hair may be gold as a guilder, but people always know where I am in a crowd.” We must be ready, Monsieur Silbermann. The sombre preachers are always telling us that we must prepare ourselves for death, but isn’t it equally important, nay, even more vital, to equip ourselves for life?’ He looked at me, waiting for a reply, but I knew this to be a rhetorical question. As far as he was concerned, Picander had had the last word and now considered himself free to go on his way.

But we must find a way, a language to describe it and give people comfort,’ Picander suggested. ‘Music can be a form of acknowledgement, of recognition: an acceptance of our helplessness … ’
‘Yes, yes … ’
‘ … and the beginning of a shared understanding?’
They began to imagine what it would be like if Stolle sang the funeral piece himself. The cantata would have to be from his point of view, they thought, or rather from a point of view they would have liked their friend to take in order to aid his recovery. Picander remembered the story of Simeon, from the Gospel According to St Luke. He was the old man of whom it had been prophesied that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah. And so, when he finally caught sight of Christ on the Feast of the Purification, he knew, at last, that he could end his life, and that he could face it with confidence in the hope of heaven, and that death had lost its terror.

But Anna Magdalena disagreed. Every death was different, she said. Grief was specific and precise. There was no general understanding of sorrow or loss, and anything they might say to Stolle, the words they used, the songs they sang, the advice they gave, could not take away how swiftly and painfully his wife had departed this life.

We concentrate on what the story means at the same time as telling it. We develop the themes of sacrifice, sorrow and loss, extracting all the pain and all the love so that, when it comes to the end, the congregation understands that there is nothing left to give. Nothing more can be said or sung.’
The Cantor stood by the fire as the wood took. ‘A work that is an act of faith in itself?’
‘We have to make them think that their lives depend on how well they listen. We have to present the hardest and most bitter sorrow anyone has ever known.’
‘And how do we do that?’
‘We set the story in the present. What would the people of Leipzig say if Christ came to us today, and they saw him now, in the town square, or outside the city walls? Would they believe him? Would they follow him? Or would they still crucify him as they have just killed that prisoner we saw beheaded? What happened there was far more violent and prolonged than anything anyone had been expecting. The crowd was volatile, impatient and quick to condemn. Their inhumanity was frightening.

It can’t be a sombre reflection on something that happened long ago. We need agitation, conflict. Perhaps we can even imagine the past and the present speaking to each other: what it meant to those first witnesses to the Passion of our Lord, and what it means to us now: our truth and their truth, how people crucify Christ every day.’
The Cantor let the idea take hold. ‘An opening exordium. A funeral tombeau. Write this down, Monsieur Silbermann. Two choirs. The Old and New Testament.’
‘The Daughters of Zion from the Song of Songs meet the new Christian believers,’ said Picander. ‘We use the chorus in the same way the Greeks did. They can choose to take part, or they can step aside. They act and they commentate. They express their pity, their anger, their fear and their sorrow.’

We include dialogue, soliloquy and prayer: Peter’s betrayal, and Mary at the foot of the cross, just like the prisoner’s mother at the execution. And the congregation become part of the story. They cannot escape their responsibility. They are made to think about their guilt and the nature of penitence and redemption. They have to know what it is to lose everything they hold dear.’
‘Monsieur Silbermann, are you taking this down?’ the Cantor asked. ‘We start with an invitation to mourn, to share in the drama rather than simply listen to it. We help the congregation understand the inevitability of loss and sorrow. Other people raise their questions in books and sermons. We answer them in music.’

We must remember Luther’s teaching: we are all beggars before the Lord.’
Picander suggested we took chapters twenty-six and twenty-seven of St Matthew’s Gospel as our text and structure the Passion around six main scenes to be performed on either side of the Good Friday sermon. Part One would concentrate on Christ’s anointing at Bethany, the Last Supper, and his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Part Two would tell the story of the trial, crucifixion and, finally, Jesus’s death and burial.

We sum up a life. We tell its story and we pay tribute. With Christ as our subject the music has to be more glorious than any written for a lord or a prince. For he is the ultimate prince, the Prince of Peace.’
‘And yet we murdered him,’ said Picander. ‘That is the tale we must tell.’

You have to understand, each and every one of you, how important it is: the committing of sin. We’re all guilty. Schuld. And Christ’s death is our redemption. You have to believe that nothing matters as much as this. The music has to be full of pain and love. You have to sing as if your own salvation depends on this very chorale. Again … ’

You must understand the drama. If you don’t live within it, if you don’t keep it in your heart and understand that this is about your life and your death and the possibility that all your hopes will end on this very day, then we cannot continue. You have to work hard and concentrate on every moment.

I know it’s challenging. Some people complain that Sebastian writes like a keyboard player. They say he forgets that you don’t have to breathe when you play an instrument, but they are wrong. At one point in this aria we have nineteen bars of singing and there’s only a quaver’s rest; but there is a pause, and it’s here that he stops and gathers us to the point of what he is saying to make it even more emphatic. The moment of recuperation gives you room to take in enough air to hit the phrase aus Liebe once again and make it even more beautiful and filled with longing. “For love. My saviour will die out of love.” This is the meaning of the Passion and you are the person to tell us, Monsieur Silbermann. No wonder you need to take a deep breath before you do so. A big breath before big news. Do you understand? Your breathing becomes part of the meaning. That’s what makes it exciting. It’s so much more than a practical matter. Let me show you.’

I know that it is hard for all of you,’ the Cantor replied, ‘but if I make the music easy then we are already defeated. Our sorrows will have conquered us. We must let people know that we are always more than our suffering. Remember the words of the prophet Isaiah. “He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to comfort all who mourn, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes.” That is what we are offering those who come to hear the Passion.

Remember the doubts you have had before your performances in the past and how you came through them; how happy you were with what you had accomplished, how glad you were when it was over and how much you looked forward to singing again? This is what we do. We face our terrors and we hope to triumph. Our faith will protect us. Our talent will see us through. “Beauty instead of ashes”.’

It’s hard when you have to keep living in this one.’ Gleditsch checked that his reed was aligned and let his fingers float up and down the keys, ready to warm up his oboe. Before he started playing he added one more thought. ‘I wonder, perhaps, if silence is a kind of home. We have it before we are born and after we have died. It is there before the music begins and after it has ended. We should always recognise its power before we interrupt it.’

The story was the one we all knew. But what the Passion did was to make us feel that it belonged to all of us, here in Leipzig, for the first time. It was not a theological lecture, or a piece of improving rhetoric, or even an account of an event in the history of Palestine. It had become our story. It was happening now, during this performance, in the present tense, and I could see, on the faces of the congregation below, that they recognised they could do nothing more important than listen because they had become part of it all.

When Jesus told his followers that one of them was going to betray him, the response, Lord, is it I?, came eleven times, one for each of the disciples apart from Judas. This was followed by a silence. And in this quiet came the terrible realisation that this wasn’t a question that only the disciples could ask. We had to ask it too: Lord, is it I? We were all, equally, responsible.

We were all guilty. First Judas betrayed Christ. Then Peter. Now it was our turn. We were all inadequate. We were all broken. And in that silence, we had to recognise the true horror of what had happened and acknowledge that we were complicit in the drama, simply by being the frail and flawed human beings that we are.

I looked down at the congregation below and tried to imagine each and every one of their lives: the magistrate who worried that he was losing his mind; the blind man who spouted nonsense that rhymed; the society lady with the expensive hat; the alcoholic wondering how long the service was going to last and when he could buy his next beer; the boy who had been David Stolle’s last victim of bullying and whose voice had just broken; the child who had become an orphan last month and was not sure if anyone was going to take him in or where he was going to live.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

85. Zanna's Gift

Zanna's Gift. Orson Scott Card. 2020. 250 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: There are many ways to lose a child, and none of them is merciful. But like all unbearable things it can be borne, and in the weeks before Christmas 1938, the Pullmans were learning how.

Premise/plot: Zanna's Gift is a LOVELY Christmas novel. Zanna, the youngest of the Pullman family, has a special way to memorialize her older brother, Ernest, after his unexpected death at age fifteen.

The best way to read Zanna's Gift is without knowing a thing about it. I promise you. I'm doing you a favor by NOT summarizing the plot and sharing what Zanna's GIFT was and how it was a gift that kept giving and giving, how that gift came to symbolize so much to the entire family. 

My thoughts: LOVE. I loved this one absolutely and completely from start to finish. It was one of those perfectly perfect EXPERIENCES. It feels like more than just a book, a story, a fictional work. THESE CHARACTERS ARE REAL. How it hasn't been adapted into a movie if it was truly published originally in 2004 is beyond me. It would make an excellent movie.

I would recommend this one to people who aren't necessarily readers. Of course I recommend it to readers who read anything and everything. But for those who are reluctant to pick up books, please consider reading this wonderful amazing book. 

If you LOVE Christmas, this is an absolute must. I could easily see it becoming a book that you feel you HAVE to read each and every year. 

This was my SECOND year to read Zanna's Gift. Last year I was surprised by how magical this read was--a celebration of life, love, and family. This year I was reminded of just how beautiful and touching it is. These characters have remained with me throughout the year. 

Is it Christian fiction? Maybe? Faith plays out in the background of this one. Faith isn't fleshed out in this one--in terms of theology. But I'm not so sure it needs to be for the beautiful themes to come through. There is nothing in Zanna's Gift that is anti-Christian. It is a treat of a book for ALL readers regardless of faith background. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

76. Shadows of Swanford Abbey

Shadows of Swanford Abbey. Julie Klassen. 2021. [December] 416 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Miss Rebecca Lane quaked at the thought of returning to Swanford after more than a year's absence, even though her heart had never really left.

Shadows of Swanford Abbey is a book I loved cover to cover. If you enjoy historical fiction with equal blends MYSTERY (suspense) and ROMANCE, then I recommend Shadows of Swanford Abbey with you wholeheartedly without any reservations. It is set in England during the reign of George IV. (I would be tempted to just call it REGENCY era and leave it at that. But George III died several months before this novel opens, and so the Regency is at an end. George is no longer Prince Regent, but King.) 

Rebecca Lane, our heroine, is a lady's companion. She is returning home for a visit with her brother, John. She's heard that he is doing horribly. (What we would call depression...or depression + addiction). Her brother, who dreams of being an AUTHOR, a published one at that, divides his time between writing and despair that he cannot get a publisher to read his work to see if it's publishable. He's also very BITTER over something that happened in the past. 

Her brother will not make a place for her in their small home--her former room being HIS workspace now--so she finds herself going to Swanford Abbey a local village hotel (or inn?). As the name suggests, it has been converted from an abbey to a hotel. Rebecca Lane finds herself staying at the same hotel as her employer--among others. It's surprising how many familiar faces she finds staying there at the same time! Including her long-time crush, Frederick Wilford. (He's still oh-so-dreamy; and now he's a widower). And his brother, Thomas. 

Mystery surrounds Swanford Abbey. The longer she stays, the more aware she becomes of the mystery--that all is not as it appears to be, that danger is lurking far closer than anyone suspects....

She's a woman on a mission--get her brother's manuscript in the hands of either a publisher (staying at the hotel) or an author (also staying at the hotel). But the task seems IMPOSSIBLE. Is getting her brother's manuscript worth risking everything?

I loved, loved, loved everything about this one!!! I loved the characterization. I loved that the characterization goes beyond just the heroine and hero. We've got a community of characters--residents at the hotel, the surrounding community, family--that are given enough depth and substance to come across as developed. That is rare--in my opinion. I loved spending time with the characters. I loved the development of relationships, the unfolding of secrets and mysteries. I loved the dialogue. Nothing felt rushed or under-developed in the romance department. I loved that I was kept guessing as to the identity of the murderer. I loved the author's note at the end. 

This may just be my FAVORITE Klassen novel yet. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

73. The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery

The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery. Amanda Cox. 2021. 352 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Sarah nudged aside last night's puddle of clothes with her bare foot, the exposed designer label sticking out a bit too much.

The Secret Keepers of Old Depot Grocery is a multigenerational saga following three generations of women: Glory Ann (the grandmother), Rosemary (the mother), Sarah (the daughter). If you haven't guessed it from the title, these women each have secrets of varying significance. 

Sarah Ashby, our "present day" heroine, has returned to her hometown after being widowed. She's distraught--but not for the reasons you might think. Hence the secret.

Rosemary Anderson, Sarah's mother and Glory Ann's daughter, has a secret as well. What she isn't keeping secret is her desire for her daughter to NOT come home. I'll rephrase that, Rosemary does NOT want her daughter's life to be limited by her small hometown. Not after she's "escaped" once. No, it would be better for Sarah (so she says) that she returns to the big city (Chicago) and go on living life to the fullest. She's also not keeping secret the fact that it is time to sell the family-owned grocery story, Old Depot.

Glory Ann Clearwater, Sarah's grandmother and Rosemary's mother, has a few secrets as well. She loves, loves, loves the store and cares deeply about her family. She adores Sarah. The two are like peas in a pod. 

The book alternates time periods and narrators. The present day is almost always focused on Sarah. The past alternates between Glory Ann and Rosemary. The past starts in June 1965. 

I really enjoyed so many things about this one. I liked the family. I loved, loved, loved, loved, LOVED Clarence Clearwater. He's a tremendous character. His story arc is HEARTBREAKING. I did enjoy watching these relationships build and rebuild. Plenty of substance.

There was only one major flaw as far as I'm concerned. It's the kind of thing that irritates/frustrates/disappoints me greatly. However, I would imagine most readers couldn't care less. In April 1972, Cox has a young Rosemary (and a younger sister, Jessamine) wear ELMO on their matching outfits. April 1972. 1972. If you guessed that Elmo--the muppet--had not even been constructed let alone voiced by Kevin Clash in April of 1972, you'd be correct. It would have made much more sense if they'd been wearing BIG BIRD sweaters. Elmo "was born" if you will in the 1980s. I believe Kevin Clash gave him his iconic voice and personality circa 1985? 1986? Before he was a background muppet with no distinctive voice or characteristics. Wikipedia lists his first appearance as 1980 in the video We're All Monsters. Again that would have been as a background muppet--a long, long, long stretch from main character. 

I was also slightly skeptical that glass bottles would have still been used for Coca Cola in 1982? But for that I remain uncertain. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible