Author: Iola Goulton

Bookish Question #157 | What’s your favourite novel featuring a royal family?

Do you read novels featuring a real or made-up royal family?

My first thought was that I’m not a big fan of stories with royal families. And that’s half true. I’m not a fan of contemporary stories with made-up royal families. Many of the stories are written by American authors which seems weird, given they fought two wars to assert their independence from England … and the British Royal Family.

It could also be that I’m not a fan of billionaire books either. I guess I can see the attraction of life with no financial worries, but I’m not convinced that marrying a billionaire is the answer. Be real. With all the negative press around Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg, would you really want to be married to any of them?

Historical fiction is a different story.

I have been through phases of reading novels set in various times in British history, and a lot of those featured the royal family. I’ve read a lot about the Tudors (probably too much), but I’ve also read several Sharon Penman novels centred on earlier periods in history.

What I haven’t read and would like to read is novels (especially historical fiction) featuring royal families from other countries.

Do you know of any stories featuring non-British royal families?

What about you? What’s your favourite novel featuring a real or made-up royal family?

 

God is good and He is mighty. Sometimes we simply have to stand back and let Him do His thing.

Book Review | Closer Than She Knows by Kelly Irvin

Kelly Irvin made her name in Amish romance before publishing Tell Her No Lies, her first romantic suspense novel, in 2018. I was impressed by that novel, but was less impressed by Over the Line (I’m from New Zealand, and the story was too pro-gun for my tastes, especially in the aftermath of the Christchurch shooting).

Closer Than She Knows takes all the strengths of Tell Her No Lies and builds on them to deliver a powerful novel.

Teagan O’Rourke is a court reporter. She’s not a journalist, but the person who sits in the courtroom and transcribes every word spoken during a trial. That’s new—I’ve never read a novel featuring a court reporter before. It was interesting to find the court reporter is also responsible for the physical evidence in the trial, and that’s where Closer Than She Knows starts …

Teagan is transporting trial evidence under police escort when her escort is shot in the head. That’s shocking enough, but when Teagan’s next-door neighbour is stabbed to death and another friend attacked in Teagan’s house, then the police suspect Teagan is also a target. Notes found by the bodies leave Teagan’s father, a retired policeman, suspecting the murders might be related to one of his cases—a convicted murderer and suspected serial killer.

What follows could be a typical chase-type romantic suspense novel, but it’s more than that.

There’s also Teagan’s relationship with Max, the youth leader at her church. He thinks she’s not interested in anything more than friendship because he’s a recovering alcoholic. She’s not interested … but for a completely different reason. Max challenges her on her reasoning, partly out of selfish reasons (he disagrees with her), but more because he says her belief is limiting God. That was an interesting and welcome twist.

Yes, Closer Than She Knows is definitely Christian fiction, and it isn’t afraid to address some of the hard questions in life and faith: why do bad things happen to good people? Can we go against something we believe in when the people we love are in danger? Can we trust God with the hard things? And more …

There was plenty of tension which kept me turning the pages until the satisfying end. But there were also touches of humour and some tender moments amid the suspense and the introspection. Overall, Closer Than She Knows is an excellent example of Christian romantic suspense, with a great balance between faith, romance, and suspense, and a cast of believable and interesting characters.

Recommended for fans of Christian romantic suspense.

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

About Kelly Irvin

Author Photo: Kelly IrvinKelly Irvin is the bestselling author of the Every Amish Season and Amish of Bee County series. The Beekeeper’s Son received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, who called it a “beautifully woven masterpiece.” The two-time Carol Award finalist is a  former newspaper reporter and retired public relations professional. Kelly lives in Texas with her husband, photographer Tim Irvin. They have two children, two grandchildren, and two cats. In her spare time, she likes to read books by her favorite authors.

Find Kelly Irvin online at:

Website | Facebook | Pinterest | Twitter

About Closer Than She Knows

Teagan O’Rourke has always loved murder mysteries. In her job as a court reporter, she has written official records for dozens of real-life murders. She’s slapped evidence stickers on crime scene photos. She’s listened to hours of chilling testimony. But she’s never known the smell of death. And she never thought she might be a victim.

Until now.

A young police officer is murdered just inches away from her, and then a man calling himself a serial killer starts leaving Teagan notes, signing each with the name of a different murderer from her favorite mystery novels.

Panicked, Teagan turns to her friend Max Kennedy. Max longs for more than friendship with Teagan, but he fears she’ll never trust someone with a past like his. He wonders how much of God’s “tough love” he can take before he gives up on love completely. And he wonders if he’ll be able to keep Teagan alive long enough to find out.

As Teagan, Max, and Teagan’s police officer father race to track down the elusive killer, they each know they could be the next victim. Desperate to save those she loves, Teagan battles fears that once haunted her in childhood. Nothing seems to stop this obsessed murderer. No matter what she does, he seems to be getting closer . . .

Find Closer Than She Knows online at:

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And don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday | Week 137 | The Key to Everything by Valerie Fraser Luesse

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from The Key to Everything by Valerie Fraser Luesse. Here’s the first line of Chapter One:

Though he couldn't have known, nor even guessed, Peyton Cabot had just witnessed a bittersweet kiss goodbye.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About The Key to Everything

Peyton Cabot’s fifteenth year will be a painful and transformative one. His father, the heroic but reluctant head of a moneyed Savannah family, has come home from WWII a troubled vet, drowning his demons in bourbon and distancing himself from his son. A tragic accident shows Peyton the depths of his parents’ devotion to each other but interrupts his own budding romance with the girl of his dreams, Lisa Wallace.

Struggling to cope with a young life upended, Peyton makes a daring decision: He will retrace a journey his father took at fifteen, riding his bicycle all the way to Key West, Florida. Part declaration of independence, part search for self, Peyton’s journey will bring him more than he ever could have imagined–namely, the key to his unknowable father, a reunion with Lisa, and a calling that will shape the rest of his life.

Through poignant prose and characters so real you’ll be sure you know them, Valerie Fraser Luesse transports you to the storied Atlantic coast for a unique coming-of-age story you won’t soon forget.

Find The Key to Everything online at:

Amazon | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

Click the button to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today:

First Line Fridays hosted by Hoarding Books

You can then click the link which will take you to the master page of all this week’s #FirstLineFriday posts.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

And don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Will you buy a book if you don’t like the book cover? Why or why not?

Bookish Question #156 | Will you buy a book if you don’t like the book cover?

Will you buy a book if you don’t like the book cover? Why or why not?

Maybe …

When it comes to ebooks, I’m not picky about what the cover looks like, because I don’t have to look at it and no one else has to see it.

I’m more likely to be picky when it comes to paperbacks. Mostly because they’re more expensive. But also because I have to look at it 🙂

A book’s front cover is one of the main selling tools, so there needs to be something else about the book to draw me in if I don’t like the front cover. Perhaps it’s a book someone recommended to me. Perhaps it’s from a favourite author. Perhaps it’s an older book, and the cover hasn’t been updated in line with modern trends.

In those cases, I’ll read the back cover description and the opening pages. If I’m interested, I’ll buy it … but I’m much more likely to buy the ebook than the paperback if I don’t like the cover.

What about you? Will you buy a book if you don’t like the cover?

There were three women in the house, and they were all mad at him for different reasons. That took a special kind of skill.

Book Review | Carolina Breeze (Bluebell Inn Romance #2) by Denise Hunter

When the tabloids publish pictures of up-and-coming actress Mia Emerson in what looks like a compromising position with her (married) leading man, Mia escapes Hollywood for the Bluebell Inn in North Carolina. After all, it’s the week of what was to have been her honeymoon, before her fiance broke it off.

Mia chose the Bluebell Inn for her honeymoon because her deceased grandparents used to own the building. She’s delighted to find the Inn’s library includes her grandmother’s journal, where she discovers unknown stories about her family history … including a missing jewel that is supposed to be hidden in the inn.

Meanwhile, Levi is hiding his own secrets. The inn is facing financial problems, something he’s been hiding from his sisters, who co-own the inn. If there really is a missing jewel and Levi could find it, then their financial problems would be over …

What follows is a Christian romance that’s more complex than many, as both Mia and Levi need to get past the lies and half-truths in their pasts to allow for a possible future together. I found it had to put the novel down once I’d started, because the characters and their situation was so compelling. As with many romances, there was an obvious answer … but what seems obvious to the reader isn’t so obvious for the characters.

Carolina Breeze is the second book in Denise Hunter’s Bluebell Inn Romance series, following Lake Season. You don’t have to read Lake Season first (I didn’t), but Carolina Breeze does contain a couple of spoilers for Lake Season. If that’s going to bother you, read Lake Season first.

Recommended for fans of contemporary Christian romance.

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

About Denise Hunter

Denise HunterDenise Hunter is the internationally published bestselling author of more than 30 books, including “The Convenient Groom” and “A December Bride” which have been made into Hallmark movies. She has appeared on the The 700 club and won awards such as The Holt Medallion Award, The Carol Award, The Reader’s Choice Award, The Foreword Book of the Year Award, and is a RITA finalist.

Denise writes heartwarming, small-town love stories. Her readers enjoy the vicarious thrill of falling in love and the promise of a happily-ever-after sigh as they savor the final pages of her books.

In 1996, inspired by the death of her grandfather, Denise began her first book, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she’s been writing ever since. Her husband says he inspires all her romantic stories, but Denise insists a good imagination helps too!

When Denise isn’t orchestrating love lives on the written page, she enjoys traveling with her family, drinking good coffee, and playing drums. Denise makes her home in Indiana where she and her husband raised three boys and are currently enjoying an empty nest.

Find Denise Hunter online at:

Website | Facebook

About Carolina Breeze

A jilted bride. A struggling innkeeper. And a romantic mountain getaway that changes everything.

Rising Hollywood star Mia Emerson is looking for a safe place to land in the wake of a public breakup and celebrity scandal, and she finds it in the lake town of Bluebell, North Carolina—the location of her canceled honeymoon. She wants nothing more than to hide and wait for the tabloids to die down.

Soon after her arrival at the Bluebell Inn, Mia meets Levi Bennett, who runs the inn along with his two younger sisters. Drawn to one another from the start, Mia trusts Levi to keep her location from the press, and Levi confides in Mia about the precarious financial state of the inn—a secret he’s been keeping from his sisters.

When Mia and Levi discover an old journal that hints at a rare diamond necklace hidden in the inn, they set off on a treasure hunt to find the long-lost heirloom. What they don’t expect to surface are feelings they thought were safely locked away. Mia and Levi must decide if falling in love again is too big a risk—or if it will uncover a treasure of its own instead.

You can find Carolina Breeze online at

Amazon | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

And don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

First Line Friday

First Line Friday | Week 136 | The Widow’s Secret by Katharine Swartz

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from The Widow’s Secret by Katharine Swartz (who also writes as Kate Hewitt). It’s an intriguing dual timeline book about a shameful period in England’s past. Here’s the first line of Chapter One:

The insistent buzz of her mobile startled Rachel Gardener out of a restless doze just after seven.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About The Widow’s Secret

Marine archaeologist Rachel Gardener is thrilled to be summoned to the coast of Cumbria to investigate a newly discovered shipwreck. She is also relieved to escape the tensions of her troubled marriage, and to be closer to her ailing mother. Yet the past rises up and confronts Rachel, as seeing her mother surfaces hidden childhood hurts. When the mysteriously sunken ship is discovered to be a slaving ship from the 1700s, Rachel is determined to explore the town of Whitehaven’s link to the slave trade.

Soon she learns of Abigail Fenton, the young wife of a slave trader, who has a surprising secret of her own, lost to the ages. The more Rachel learns about Abigail, the more she wonders if the past can inform the present… Perhaps Rachel can learn from Abigail and break free from her troubled history, and embrace the future she longs to claim for her own?

Find The Widow’s Secret online at:

Amazon | Goodreads | Koorong

Click the button to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today:

First Line Fridays hosted by Hoarding Books

You can then click the link which will take you to the master page of all this week’s #FirstLineFriday posts.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

And don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Have you enjoyed reading a book despite not liking the cover?

Bookish Question #155 | Have you enjoyed reading a book despite not liking the cover?

Have you enjoyed reading a book despite not liking the cover?

Yes!

I will admit to being drawn to certain books because of the cover. It’s a quick visual signal the book might be a book I’d like (or not e.g. if the cover has too much black or too much bare flesh …).

I can’t recall any titles off the top of my head, but I do know I have enjoyed many books despite not liking the cover.

Even if I could remember titles or authors, I wouldn’t name them. After all, it’s possible the author didn’t like the cover either, and I wouldn’t want to embarrass them (or remind them).

What about you? Have you enjoyed reading a book despite not liking the cover?

I admire your strength and drive, but sometimes those things need to be tempered with grace.

Book Review | A Mosaic of Wings by Kimberly Duffy

Christian Historical Romance with a Unique Setting

Nora Shipley is a woman ahead of her time, and a unique heroine. She doesn’t want to marry the man her stepfather has chosen for her (and no surprise there. He’s a misogynistic boor). She wants to go back to university and complete her master’s in entomology (yes, the study of insects). First she’ll need to win a scholarship … which means spending six months in India.

While I like butterflies and understand the importance of honeybees, I’m not a fan of other insects. And I definitely share Nora’s feelings about cockroaches. What captured my interest in A Mosaic of Wings was the Indian setting, and this was definitely the strength of the novel for me. These chapters showed the beauty of India, and something of the culture—both good and bad.

I enjoyed seeing Nora develop as a character and make some difficult choices.

The novel wasn’t overtly Christian, but Nora’s responses to her most difficult choices were definitely based on a Christian world view—even when those choices contradicted the decisions made by some of the Christians she met.

I didn’t enjoy the US-based scenes nearly as much.

That was mostly because of stepfather Lucius, although partly because of Nora’s mother. She was a frustratingly weak character who seemed to spend her time either ill in bed, or arranging social events her daughter wanted no part of. She was such a vapid character that I sincerely wondered if she was being drugged by Lucius (she wasn’t, but that would have been the most logical explanation for much of her behaviour).

Lucius is plainly set up as the antagonist and has no redeeming features except for loving Nora’s mother. Well, he says he does. He certainly doesn’t act as though he does. Mind you, the same could be said of Nora’s mother’s attitude towards Nora. As a result, while Nora’s difficulties with Lucius drove most of the novel’s conflict, I didn’t find it entirely believable. Lucius tries to force Nora to do something, saying she gave her word. Fine. She did, and she is a woman who seeks to keep her word. But I don’t think she needs to keep her word when he has so plainly not kept his.

Overall, this is a novel about choices and freedom.

Some people have more choices than others. It’s also about how sometimes we have to make a choice that might not be the easiest choice for ourselves, but is the right choice for others.

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

P.S. If you read or have read A Mosaic of Wings and you’re as horrified by Sita’s predicament as Nora is, then I encourage you to check out the Dignity Freedom Network and their work rescuing jogini girls in India. Yes, this practice is still going on despite having been outlawed in 1988.

About Kimberly Duffy

Kimberly Duffy enjoys writing historical fiction that takes readers back in time and across oceans. Her books often feature ahead-of-their-time heroines, evocative settings, and real-life faith. When not writing or homeschooling her four children, she enjoys taking trips that require a passport and practicing kissing scenes with her husband of twenty years. A Long Island native, she currently resides in southwest Ohio.

Find Kimberly Duffy online at:

Website | Facebook | Instagram

About A Mosaic of Wings

It’s 1885, and all Nora Shipley wants, now that she’s graduating from Cornell University as valedictorian of the entomology program, is to follow in her late father’s footsteps by getting her master’s degree and taking over the scientific journal he started. The only way to uphold her father’s legacy is to win a scholarship, so she joins a research expedition in Kodaikanal, India, to prove herself in the field.

India isn’t what she expects, though, and neither is the rival classmate who accompanies her, Owen Epps. As her preconceptions of India–and of Owen–fall away, she finds both far more captivating than she expected. Forced by the expedition leader to stay at camp and illustrate exotic butterflies the men of the team find without her, Nora befriends Sita, a young Indian girl who has been dedicated to a goddess against her will.

In this spellbinding new land, Nora is soon faced with impossible choices–between saving Sita and saving her career, and between what she’s always thought she wanted and the man she’s come to love.

Find A Mosaic of Wings online at:

Amazon | ChristianBook | Goodreads | Koorong

First Line Friday

First Line Friday | Week 135 | The Silk Merchant of Sychar by Cindy Williams

It’s First Line Friday! That means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from The Silk Merchant of Sychar by Cindy Williams, a wonderful novel about the woman Jesus met at the well.

Here’s the first line of Chapter One:

It was the fourth watch of the night and Leah's husband had barely cooled in his tomb.

What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?

 

About The Silk Merchant of Sychar

One woman, five husbands and the weary rabbi at the well who knows everything she ever did.

The day after they bury her husband Leah Marcellus loses her baby. A widow and childless, what man will want her now?

Her father arranges a second marriage—a profitable business arrangement—sealed on Mount Gerizim, the holy mountain where every true follower of Yahweh worships, but Leah’s heart belongs to another. Her passion only brings trouble – jealousy, murder and lies.

Leah’s skill at the loom and the secrets of dye –the woad, the murex and madder—brings her renown among the Roman women of wealth.
Yet death and betrayal soon steal her security. In desperation, Leah sacrifices her peace of mind and risks everything to protect her family.

From the olive groves of Samaria to the bloodied sand of a Roman stadium to the exquisite silks brought from the East, The Silk Merchant of Sychar weaves colour into the biblical account of the woman at the well.

You can find The Silk Merchant of Sychar by Cindy Williams online at

Amazon | Goodreads | Koorong

 

Click the button to check out what my fabulous fellow FirstLineFriday bloggers are sharing today:

First Line Fridays hosted by Hoarding Books

You can then click the link which will take you to the master page of all this week’s #FirstLineFriday posts.

And you can click here to check out my previous FirstLineFriday posts.

 

Share your first line in the comments, and happy reading!

And don’t forget to click here to check out my Amazon shop for my top picks in Christian fiction!

Can you recommend a book that has helped you deal with a major life issue?

Bookish Question #154 | Can you recommend a book that has helped you deal with a major life issue?

We can learn a lot from reading. Books can change the way we look at things, and help us deal with life issues.

Can you recommend a book that has helped you deal with a major life issue?

The Bible, obviously. But what else?

It speaks to my preference as a fiction reader that my first thought with this question was to think of a novel. I considered the question, but nothing came to mind.

But when I stepped back and thought about it, I realised I have recently read a nonfiction book that has answered some big questions … unasked questions, perhaps, but questions all the same.

Becoming Sage by Michelle Van Loon

Becoming Sage is written for “mature” Christian women, and talks about how to cultivate spiritual maturity in the second half of life. It points out that most churches are full of programmes for the young (children and teens) and the young in Christ (discipleship programmes for new Christians), but they often fail when it comes to addressing the needs of more mature members of the church.

Van Loon points out that our spiritual life is an ongoing journey. That’s something we probably know intellectually (after all, we know we will be human and sinful until we die). But we don’t always think through the implications: that we need to continue to grow spiritually, which means putting ourselves in a church family that enables and encourages that growth.

While there haven’t been any novels that have helped me deal with a life issue, I have certainly come across novels that have challenged my thinking. Two books stand out to me–one you’ve probably heard of, and one you probably haven’t.

When the Shofar Blew by Francine Rivers

Francine Rivers needs no introduction. When the Shofar Blew is a warning call for the church about putting pastors and other Christians on some kind of pedestal and assuming they can do no wrong. It’s also a reminder that God can and will forgive.

Confessions of a Teenage Hermaphrodite by Lianne Simon

This is the story of a child born with a body that falls outside our definition of “normal” and her challenge as she grew up: should she be the son her earthly father wanted, or the daughter she believed her heavenly Father created her to be. The book opened my eyes to a medical condition that’s a lot more common than we know, and the issues aren’t as black and white as many of us were raised to think.

What about you? Can you recommend a book (fiction or nonfiction) that’s helped you deal with a major life issue?