66. Last Light Over Galveston

66. Last Light Over Galveston. Jennifer L. Wright. 2025. 356 pages. [Source: Library] [christian fiction, historical fiction, survival story, 4 stars]

First sentence: I walked until I could go no farther, until open water was all I could see. It was the end of the road, for sure. Possibly the end of the world. For me, they were one and the same. 

Premise/plot: Kathleen McDaniel (aka "Annie") is running away from her past. She's found refuge in an orphanage in Galveston, Texas, though she is not young enough to technically be in an orphanage. She doesn't want to be a nun herself, but, she's happy to help out in exchange for a safe place to stay. But her welcome is wearing out, perhaps, on the 'fateful' day the hurricane hits the island. She's only lived on Galveston a few months--May through September--yet everyone she has come to love is in great, great danger. No where on the island is safe, no person is safe. 

My thoughts: This one is definitely not my first book on the 1900 Galveston Hurricane; I've read fiction and nonfiction. This may be my first CHRISTIAN fiction novel with that setting. The survival aspect of this one is definitely a strength.

Last Light Over Galveston may try to tell too many stories. Reading is subjective. I would have preferred NOT to have the 'current' storyline interrupted for many, many, many flashbacks to her past--how she came to run away from her old life. I thought the 'added' drama of having her past 'catch up with her' by someone discovering her new location, new life, was a little unnecessary considering THE HURRICANE.  Like, she's already in great danger from the winds, the floods, the collapse of buildings, etc, let's have someone from her past there trying to pursue her. I think if her past story was simplified or revealed through conversation, it would have fit better. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

51. Waiting for Christmas

Waiting for Christmas. Lynn Austin. 2024. 288 pages. [Source: Library] [novella; christian fiction; historical fiction; holiday; Christmas; romance] [3 stars]

First sentence: Adelaide Forsythe held on to her hat in the wintry wind as she hurried home from the trolley stop.

Waiting for Christmas is a holiday novella starring characters from Lynn Austin's All My Secrets. Adelaide and Howard are preparing to celebrate their first Christmas together since marrying. What neither expected was to find an orphaned boy, Jack, and his younger sister, Polly, filling their home with one surprise after the other. Their mother has died; their father is at sea. Both are expecting a miracle for Christmas, it is harder for Howard and Adelaide to have faith in that miracle. 

It is unusual for christian historical romance to focus in on the first few months of marriage and chronicle the adjustment and transition. Most focus on the courtship and wedding....only offering epilogues now and then to fill out what happens after the happily ever after. (That's not to say that this does not happen, Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly comes to mind.) 

I am reading this one out of season. Perhaps reading it during the holiday season would make me feel all warm and cozy. I liked it well enough. I did. I don't know that I absolutely adored it. Then again, I'm not sure I absolutely and completely loved All My Secrets either. I think if you did love All My Secrets this one would definitely be worth reading OR if you love holiday-themed novellas.  

It is set in New York City, turn of the century, 1901. 

© 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

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

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

25. Long Way Home

Long Way Home. Lynn Austin. 2022. [June] 391 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: "I know it looks hopeless," I told Jimmy Barnett's father. "But we can't give up until Jimmy is better. Until he's home again."

Long Way Home is an intense, compelling read set during and shortly after the Second World War. There are two narrators to this historical novel. 

Peggy Serrano is a young woman from a broken home. She's found solace in a neighboring family, the Barnetts. For years, they've made her feel welcome, and at a time when her own home was anything but welcoming. She works for Mr. Barnett, a veterinarian, as his assistant. She's great with animals, perhaps not as great with people. Their son, Jimmy Barnett, has returned home from the war a broken man--deeply depressed and troubled. He attempts to take his own life which leads to his hospitalization in VA hospital. But Peggy (and his parents) refuses to give up on him. She'll do ANYTHING to help Jimmy. And she is the mastermind of quite a project to help him regain his mental health. She'll follow any and every clue to figure out what happened to him during the course of the war. 

Gisela Wolff is a young Jewish woman fighting for survival and to keep her family together. Her story begins in 1938, I believe. (Peggy's story begins in 1946.) The Wolff family is able to emigrate out of Germany to Cuba--however, the St. Louis, the ship which is carrying around 900 Jews, is not allowed to land in Cuba or in any other port. They plead with the world, and the world printed the news but no country, no government, stepped up and welcomed these people who were essentially running for their lives. The ship returns to Europe and its passengers are dispersed to Belgium, France, England, (and maybe a fourth country that I can't recall???) The Wolff family is sent to Belgium. On board, Gisela met the love of her life, Sam Shapiro, and his family. These two both make their homes close to each other. 

Both stories are well-peopled. There are SO many characters that play a role in both stories. And the characterization is so well done. This is a novel with depth, substance, and heart. It is INTENSE. It is impossible to not care about these characters. So as the war progresses--and its aftermath--it's TOUGH emotionally. I do think this one could be triggering. I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It's just that war is UGLY and horrific and atrocious. In a different degree, different way, the WAY that doctors and psychiatrists handled veterans' mental health was horrifying and heartbreaking. This is clearly depicted in the novel.

I was hooked from the first chapter. I was. I read it in two or three days. I never wanted to put it down. I always wanted to keep reading more, more, more. I was so invested and engaged with both stories, both narrators. My review will never do it justice. It couldn't. Even though I'm trying my best to talk about how HUMAN the characters are. It is both character-driven and plot-driven. There is plenty of suspense. 

It is not necessarily an easy read. One of the themes is loss of faith. How do you hold to faith--be it Jewish or Christian--when the world is falling to pieces. When you have witnessed with your own eyes truly horrific, atrocious, heart-breaking, scarring, haunting scenes. When you have experienced great loss again and again. There is no way to be prepared for what it is like to be there, to be surrounded, to have all these experiences to process. There seems to be no going back. So multiple characters do have really tough, really honest questions. And this book does not shy away from God-talk. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

23. A Time to Bloom

A Time to Bloom (Leah's Garden #2) Lauraine Snelling. 2022. 352 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Has it been an entire year? Delphinium Nielsen thought in surprise. She and her three sisters were gathered around the table in their sod house.

A Time to Bloom is the sequel to The Seeds of Change. Snelling does a good job in catching readers back up to speed in just a few pages. The sisters--Delphinium, Larkspur, Forsythia, and Lilac--are settling into their new prairie home. The choice to move may have been very sudden, but, they are making the absolute best of what has happened. Delphinium is the town's teacher, for better or worse. And the sisters--in addition to homesteading--are looking to open up a boarding house... But life has its challenges...always. And rejoicing in the Lord always isn't always easy...especially for our heroine Delphinium. 

RJ Easton is a civil war veteran who is struggling to adjust to live after the war. Namely he lives in near-constant pain since he lost an eye. Opium offers limited relief, but, it is a beast as well. The thought of needing it every day for the rest of his life disturbs him--and rightly so. The pain makes him act (and feel) like a monster. He hates how the pain is warping or tainting his personality, his character. He hates who he has become since the war. He has newly come to town and his skills (prior to the war) make him a great candidate for leading building projects in town--including the boarding house for the Nielsen sisters. 

The story focuses on all the sisters--even Forsythia who married in the first book. So much more than just a romance. I for one thought the book had a lot to say about attitude. What I enjoyed most was the school teacher aspect of it.

I enjoyed this one. It did not have a lot of melodrama--which I appreciated. 

© 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

14. The Element of Love

The Element of Love. (The Lumber Baron's Daughters #1) Mary Connealy. 2022. 304 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: They were running away from the threat of misery, pain, and degradation. And running straight toward danger. Deadly danger. Margaret Stiles Beaumont chose danger. What's more, she chose it for her daughters and prayed without ceasing that she'd chosen right. Even worse, the girls had to face that danger alone. Going back by herself was the only way to be sure the girls made their escape. 

Premise/plot: Laura, Michelle, and Jilly (Jillian) Stiles are running away from their (evil) stepfather. They've left their mother (and their home) behind. They need to--all while finding a place to hide away--find husbands. All three young women need to find husbands--the sooner the better. Laura feels led to join a preacher in his new mission. The "town" of Purgatory is the bottom of the bottom of the bottom of the barrel. If you can live anywhere else, you do. This is a shanty town of sorts with nothing going for it except folks down on their luck. But Caleb along with the Stiles sisters (along with others part of the new mission) want to make a difference to those in Purgatory. And it starts with Laura searching for some milk cows to buy communally for Purgatory. That brings in the Hart ranch (with eligible men). But Laura, well, has her eyes set on Caleb. Even being bold enough to propose to him very very early on in their acquaintance. 

My thoughts: This one has a super-fast pace. I really found the first half super compelling and enjoyable. I was enjoying all three sisters. I was hooked on the story. About the 80% mark, unfortunately, I began losing my enthusiasm for the story. Up until this point, there was plenty of tension and conflict. Plenty. Any more conflict and the story would become unbalanced and ridiculous. So, of course, the book turned ridiculous to the point of obnoxiousness. It's hard to recover from that. So up until that point, it was a definite five stars for me. The last twenty percent, however, was one star. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

12. A Heart Adrift

A Heart Adrift. Laura Frantz. 2022. [January] 400 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: With his back to the coastal win, Henri Lennox settled his arms around Esmee Shaw, guiding her soft, pale hands with his tanned, callused fingers as they let the long silken line out. The pear-shaped kite caught on a gust, tugging at the string till it threatened to snap.

Laura Frantz's newest historical romance is set in Colonial Virginia. The prologue is set circa 1745--our lovers, Henri Lennox and Esmee Shaw, are madly in love. But their love is not to be--something comes between them--the sea. Ten years later (1755) the couple may just get a second chance at love. 

I enjoyed this one. I have long been a fan of Laura Frantz's novels. Her historical novels always make me giddy. This one is no exception. I would say it isn't your traditional (or traditional paced) novel. And that's true enough. Their story is their own. 

This one isn't focused on the courtship or the early days of love (falling in love). This is a story of a couple who has been apart for ten years, who find themselves reflecting on the past relationship after they have several accidental meetings in town. She begins thinking of him; he begins thinking of her. 

It isn't only a romance. Readers are immersed in the community meeting half a dozen or so characters. (Including her father, her sister, her brother-in-law, etc.) The setting is unique. Part of it is set on an island off the coast of Virginia. 

I would say this one has a LOT of kissing and quite a surprising bit of unchaperoned time. 

© 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

83. Every Word Unsaid

Every Word Unsaid. Kimberly Duffy. 2021. 352 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Nothing brought Augusta Constance Travers more joy than slipping away. And nothing frustrated her more than the companion meant to keep her from doing so.

Gussie Travers, our heroine, is Miss Adventuress. She takes photographs on her Kodak camera and writes [fluff] travel pieces. Her work is supposed to be anonymous. No one is supposed to know that she comes from society. But. All secrets come to light...eventually. Such is the case with Gussie's "big" secret. Much to her family's shame and disapproval. A daughter that TRAVELS the country on her own??? A daughter that WORKS???? Who would ever want to marry such a strange and unnatural girl? 

After she is outed, Gussie travels to India--expenses paid by the newspaper/journal/magazine. She'll start her once-in-a-lifetime adventure (as Miss Adventuress) by spending some time with old family friends (who are conveniently living in India, don't you know). But to her utter SHOCK AND DISMAY they aren't exactly thrilled (jumping up and down at her arrival) because they are in the midst of a pandemic--bubonic plague. No worries for Miss Adventuress. Surely bubonic plague isn't dangerous or even all that contagious! She'll do just fine going wherever she wants and doing whatever she wants. No worries. She is free; she is independent. She is going to take photographs of everything and everybody! Hooray for full-time adventures!

She soon finds herself in love with the place and the people. Will she ever want to leave India? What if she wants more from life than adventure? What if she wants something completely different that she has always shunned before? 

I have a love/hate relationship with this book. On the one hand, it kept me reading. I loved the hero--a doctor. And it's a friend-to-lovers romance. Also possibly marrying your best friend's brother??? Regardless of which it truly is, it has some satisfying moments. On the other hand, there were plenty of moments when I truly did want to shout at the characters. There were moments where you doubted the characters had any intelligence at all. (These moments were few, thankfully!) 

Before reading this one, I had no idea of the 1897 Bombay Plague and the resulting Epidemic Disease Act of 1897. To be fair, I didn't learn much history from the novel. But it did make me curious enough to do an internet search to find out if the bubonic plague was a plot device--so the historical characters could voice strong opinions on pandemics and politics--or historical fact. I read this article. 

There were definitely things that I enjoyed/liked about this one. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

82. Blue Skies Tomorrow

Blue Skies Tomorrow. Sarah Sundin. 2011. Revell. 434 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Helen Carlisle strolled up G street, careful to keep a pained expression. Some days the performance of grief was easier than others, but it was always necessary for her son's sake. 

Blue Skies Tomorrow is the third book in the Wings of Glory trilogy by Sarah Sundin. The series focuses on the Novak brothers--Walter, Jack, and now Ray. Ray Novak is a flight instructor who--at the start of the novel--hasn't seen combat. Helen Carlisle, our heroine, is a war widow with a heavy burden and daunting task. 

I decided to reread all three books in 2021. I'm posting my original review below, with additional comments in red. 

I really LOVED Sarah Sundin's A Memory Between Us, the love story between Jack Novak and Ruth Doherty. I LOVED Blue Skies Tomorrow just as much. This third novel in the Wings of Glory series focuses on Ray Novak, another pastor-pilot in the family. He has been able to spend most of the war flying out of combat as an instructor, but, times are changing and he's given a choice, an opportunity, to risk more for his country. And soon Ray has joined his brother Jack in England flying dangerous missions. But. Before Ray leaves, he has the opportunity to fall deeply in love with "grieving" widow Helen Carlisle. 

Helen has become used to hiding the truth. When the novel opens, Helen is hiding the fact that she was secretly relieved when her husband died. She hides behind her work, her charity work, her good causes, etc. She hides behind her roles. The truth is, there are very few people in Helen's life she feels comfortable being completely honest and open with. But that begins to change when Helen begins to fall in love with Ray. She tells him the truth, and he believes her. But the truth-telling, well, it's a little too late or so it appears. For it gets a bit ugly and tense BEFORE his departure, and, well, correspondence helps mend a friendship, but there is so much left unsaid by both. [Blue Skies Tomorrow needs trigger warnings. It does. I almost felt like I was reading a different book this time around. The book is HEAVY and deals with serious topics: spousal abuse, child abuse, gaslighting and manipulation, and dare I say blackmail? Helen's biggest fear is that her son--now a toddler--will grow up to be physically abusive. She seems to think it is in his genes--that he cannot escape this destiny. She sees his fits as a toddler as proof of that. Granted, I'm not saying that fits should be dismissed and not dealt with. (I'm really not). But just because you have a toddler that hits, slaps, or bites in anger at age 2 doesn't mean he's going to behave the exact same way at 22. This book doesn't focus solely on nature versus nurture.] 

[Also what seems to have slipped my mind completely in my first review, was the book's treatment of the Port Chicago Disaster. I'm linking to the wikipedia article. I have since read a nonfiction book on the subject, and am more familiar with it. But the book in addition to all the heaviness of physical and mental abuse deals with racial injustice. It isn't just background, but plays an integral role in the story.]

This one is told in alternating voices, and it is intense--very, very, very, very intense in some places. It is  incredibly compelling. If you enjoyed Memory Between Us, then you HAVE to read this one too. Readers will continue to learn about Jack and Ruth! (Also Allie and Walter).

This one has plenty of romance and plenty of drama!!!

© 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

75. A Distant Melody

A Distant Melody (Wings of Glory #1) Sarah Sundin. 2010. 422 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: One whole delicious week together. Allie Miller clung to her best friend's promise and to the train ticket that would deliver it.

This is my second time reading Sarah Sundin's A Distant Melody. I've posted my original review below. I'll add in FRESH notes.

Allie Miller meets Lt. Walter Novak on a train little knowing that her life was about to change forever. Sure, she'd daydreamed about her life changing forever. But did she ever once take those dreams seriously?! No! She didn't. And why not? Because she is Allie Miller. A character with a lot of heart but not much will. (Or perhaps not much sense.) [ETA: I'd change that today to say Allie is insecure and unable to imagine a world where she is loved--genuinely loved--by others. She does not see herself as worthy of love. And so when people walk all over her--and then some--well, she's like of course they treat me like this...this is what I deserve.]

When we first meet Allie she is on her way to a wedding. She'll be hanging out with her best friend from college, and helping her friend prepare for the big day. Of course, she'll be slightly distracted falling in love with the new guy. (Not that she'll be aware of it for three hundred or so more pages. But. Still.) [ETA: Again, I think this goes back to the idea of her feeling unworthy and unable to inspire love. She can't imagine any man actually falling in love or being madly in love with her. So she pushes down any feelings of attraction as being just unrequited foolish school girl nonsense--not going anywhere. Plus, she's convinced herself that her ONLY future is one where she sacrifices her own hopes, dreams, and happiness to please her parents.]

Walter is in love. He knows it. And he thinks that she's on her way to knowing it as well. The way they are together. Well, it just makes sense that they'd be perfect together. And he is right, by the way, these two are perfect for each other. [ETA: One of the things I do appreciate about this one is the camaraderie between Walter and Allie. Little details--particularly about music of the times--finds its way into their conversations and correspondence. It makes for a lovely setting/mood. This time through I highlighted each song mentioned by name. And since I had just listened to the 1942 Hits Archive on YouTube, so many songs were familiar to me now. I got a real sense for the setting.]

But a few things stand in their way. Okay, more than a few things. What is keeping these two apart? The biggest obstacle is Allie herself. And that's no lie. You might think it would be Allie's parents or Allie's boyfriend. (Allie's parents are DETERMINED their daughter will marry Baxter.) Or the fact that there is a war going on. And Walter is stationed in England. And he's flying planes over enemy territory and risking his life with every mission. And yes, those other factors do enter into it. But Allie is Allie's biggest problem. [ETA: Allie is not alone. She won't be the first or the last to self-sabotage without realizing it.]

So what's her problem? That's a good question. I tried to sympathize with her. I tried to understand just where she is coming from. I tried to put myself in her shoes. I tried to put myself in another time and place. But still I'm a bit stumped when it comes to Allie. [ETA: I think what I wasn't doing the first time around was imagining HOW Allie came to be Allie. She spent twenty-something years (give or take) living in a home with THOSE PARENTS. The messages she must have heard daily that framed her mindset that I am not valuable; I am not loved; I am not worthy; No one will ever want me; I am a disappointment. It's SAD and heartbreaking. Her home life was TOXIC. She has almost been programmed to hate and devalue herself.] 

But to be honest, Allie is not the only one I had a trouble understanding. Her parents weren't exactly fleshed out characters. But. From what we do see, they're awful, just awful. Because I felt them to be a little flat, a little one dimensional, I had a hard time really believing their actions. Though to be honest, I suppose there are parents that awful in the world. Parents that have so little respect for their children that they try to control and manipulate them even when they are grown. Parents who think nothing of threatening or bullying their children. Though I couldn't understand their devotion to Allie's supposed boyfriend. I couldn't understand why they love, love, love him. And why they can barely like their daughter. I couldn't understand why they'd want to hurt and humiliate their own flesh and blood. It just made little sense to me as a reader. What went on in that home all those years that led to this nonsense?! [ETA: I reread my review before finishing the book this second time. So I was reading with intention looking for every scene where Allie interacts with her parents. It's not that they lack development as characters as they are just one-note characters with the villainous filled up to 100%. Every motivation is just to demean, belittle, condescend, mistreat, verbally abuse, destroy their daughter, Allie. We still don't know WHY both parents are so cruel. We don't have any logical explanation for their behavior. They are not acting the way people expect parents to behave.]

Her boyfriend. I think it only takes readers two or three minutes of their time (and that's being generous) to realize that he's not for Allie, not for any woman really. I wouldn't say he's even one dimensional. He's even less present in the novel than that. Yet, just from the tiny bit we see. The bits of dialogue here and there. We know that he is so not right for her. He's unattractive--not physically perhaps, though I honestly can't remember how he's described--but his personality, his soul. He's just repulsive. [ETA:I think personally one of his problems is that Baxter ALWAYS refers to himself in the third person. But he is definitely trying to show off her manly-manly he is by being super bossy and in control.]

And yet. Allie. Poor, poor Allie. She's so very, very lost in her own clueless world that she clings to these Ideas. Ideas of being noble, sacrificial, obedient. Will corresponding with Walt make her shed these foolish ideas, these foolish notions before she's tied down for life to a man that no one (excepting Allie's parents, of course) can respect or love or even like? [ETA: I think the thing that irritates me is that she's clinging to these IDEAS and calling them "being a good Christian." When really she's just misunderstanding and misapplying Scripture.]

A Distant Melody is narrated by Allie and by Walt. As these two acquaintances begin writing letters during World War II, Allie begins to contemplate change, consider making a few decisions here and there for herself. 

Walt isn't a perfect hero. That's why I said Allie and Walt were perfect for each other. He's a bit clueless about some things himself. But he's a good deal more aware of his own weaknesses than Allie is of hers. He will at least admit he has a few problems. (Allie, well, she clings to her weaknesses like they're her greatest strengths.) Still, I liked Walt for the most part. At least his being clueless was because of the mixed signals that Allie was sending him. His confusion seemed a bit legitimate. This didn't stop me from becoming extremely angry at him. As a reader, there was one point when I just about lost it. [ETA: All of this still TRUE. I don't know why Allie clings to her weaknesses as if they make her STRONG and define her ultimately. There is still a couple of scenes with Walt where I am yelling at him.]

Did I like A Distant Melody? I liked it well enough to keep reading. Though it took over 250 pages for Allie to have the smallest glimmer of recognition of the obvious, and even a hundred (or so) more pages after that to realize the VERY OBVIOUS. I didn't really care at the time. I was enjoying the journey, for the most part. [ETA: I ENJOYED THE JOURNEY this time. I wasn't as annoyed or frustrated with the book.]

The setting. World War II. American Homefront. England. The setting really couldn't be any better. For me. As a reader. And the fact that he was a pilot. Well, I think I was the right reader for this one. The details, the small details, helped distract me. I loved, for example, that Allie talks about seeing the film Holiday Inn. That she talks about how hard it would be to choose between Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. And the music. Oh, the music. It was just right. Maybe not every reader will recognize the songs mentioned, know the songs. But for those that do, well, it helps create the right mood, the right tone. [ETA: YES. This.]

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

69. Love on the Range

Love on the Range. (Brothers In Arms #3) Mary Connealy. 2021. 304 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Molly Garner bent over Wyatt Hunt bathing his fevered brow. How many gunshots did a woman have to tend in one lifetime?

Love On the Range is the third book in Mary Connealy's Brother in Arms series. I've already reviewed Braced for Love and A Man with a Past. Each book is about a different brother--or half-brother if you want to be specific. Kevin Hunt, who starred in Braced for Love, fell in love with Win Hawkins, a neighbor and former school teacher. Falcon Hunt, who starred in book two, fell in love with his half-brother's half-sister, Cheyenne. Wyatt Hunt, who stars in book three, falls in love with his half-brother's half-sister, Molly. All three romances are of the INSTA love variety. All three books feature VIOLENCE predominantly. That is there is this UNKNOWN someone or group of someones that continually and persistently try to MURDER all the main characters. Each book will pretend to deal with the actual threat, but the next book will reveal that NOPE, the threat is still there so there's still another somebody involved in an even bigger plot. And since none of the villains have been fleshed out in books one and two, that makes some sense. 

So in this one, Molly Garner, Kevin Hunt's half-sister, decides that since she can't teach (because her so-called bad reputation has followed her all the way to Wyoming territory), she'll try out being an unofficial, amateur, untrained "Pinkerton" agent. You know, as you do. With no training (but an amazing ability to make plentiful desserts every single day no matter how far away the closest store is) she'll get hired on as a housekeeper for a man they suspect is a serial killer. Again, you know AS YOU DO. Makes perfect sense, right? Have no qualifications? no training? No problem! Go live with a man you strongly suspect is a serial killer because you can always hit him over the head with a rolling pin. 

Meanwhile, Molly and Wyatt aren't the only ones risking their lives. It seems the others are as well. They can't seem to go a few days without being shot at by somebody. 

If the plot of the last book has you on borderline frustration in terms of suspending disbelief, this one may push you right off the cliff. It was hard not to get angry and frustrated with the characters. I did enjoy seeing Kevin and Win and Falcon and Cheyenne together. But overall, I would say the book has a very thin, weak, but super-action-packed plot with bare minimum characterization. 

I have read Connealy's books in the past and not been this annoyed. So I think it is just this series. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

67. A Man With a Past

A Man with a Past (Brothers in Arms #2) Mary Connealy. 2021. [July] 304 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: When a man grows up in wild country, huntin' food, eyes wide open for trouble, he knows when he's being watched.

A Man with a Past is the second book in the Brothers in Arms series by Mary Connealy. The first book is Braced For Love. The opening chapters of both books overlap. I would say the first four or five chapters of A Man With A Past overlap with the first book, just from different perspectives. 

There are alternating narrators in A Man With A Past. The top two being Falcon Hunt and Cheyenne. But also Wyatt and to some extent Molly. (Win and Kevin are very much present in the book. But I don't know that we experience the book through their eyes, their perspectives.) 

Falcon, our hero, has amnesia. He spends a good bit of this one walking around thinking things like, "This is a tree. I remember this is a tree." Or "I know how to sit down and stand up." The amnesia aspect of this one gets old really fast--in my opinion. 

Falcon and Cheyenne (and to some aspect the others on the ranch) spend most of their time trying to track down super bad guys. I wouldn't say the villains are fully actualized or fully developed characters. But the plot seems more substantial. I think more time was spent developing the dangerous mystery plot than the romantic relationship. The relationship felt VERY insta to me. Even more insta than Win and Kevin. It's like he is, "I just met you ten minutes ago and I know you're super angry about the situation, but you know what you're beautiful and I think I want to marry you." And she's like "OKAY. I think I'd like that." Swoon. I do get that they are thrown into a situation where their lives depend on trusting each other and they are days (and nights) on the trail with only each other for company. So maybe that's why it's so insta. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

66. Braced for Love

Braced for Love. (Brothers in Arms #1) Mary Connealy. 2021. 304 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Kevin Hunt came awake with a snap. 

Premise/plot: The Hunt brothers are disgruntled. With ample reason, I'd say. Wyatt, Kevin, and Falcon are three half-brothers who have never met. Wyatt Hunt has grown up in Wyoming on a ranch and never thought he'd be having to split the ranch three ways. (Kevin grew up in Kansas. Falcon grew up in Tennessee.) 

The plot of this one is perhaps purposefully written to drive synopsis writers CRAZY. It is over-the-top in many, many ways. Essentially, Kevin Hunt, our hero, is on the way to Wyoming with HIS half sister (Molly) and half brother (Andy) to meet his other half brother (Wyatt). When the novel opens he doesn't know about Falcon (another half brother). Turns out Wyatt has a half-sister (or possibly step sister???) named Cheyenne. Everyone thought the ranch would be divided between Wyatt and Cheyenne. Wyatt is angry. Cheyenne is infuriated. Like if she was a cartoon character, not only would steam be blowing out of her ears, her head would pop off to let steam out. She is 100% rage. 

There's enough tension between all the family members--but that not being enough, there are villains (of course there are!). Will everyone LIVE long to have a family dinner together???

My thoughts: It was a little melodramatic in retrospect. But at the time I was swept up into the story--like several of the characters were in the white water rapids--that I wasn't thinking, hey, this book is so melodramatic. I enjoyed the characters and the depth of most of the characters. The villains were weak, weak, super-weak in terms of actually being developed as characters. The situations were a little over the top, but at the same time those situations led to some great dialogue. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible