Have you read many Easter themed books?
I have to admit that I have not.
Well, I’ve read the Bible. And (once upon a time) I read children’s version of the Easter story to my children (my youngest is now eighteen).
I have A Stray Drop of Blood by Roseanna M White on my Kindle, but have yet to read it. Maybe this year. After all, it will count towards my Mt TBR (to be read mountain) challenge.
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 Bookshop by the Sea by Denise Hunter, one of my favourite contemporary Christian romance authors (Sweetbriar Cottage is simply brilliant!) Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:
After her mother was bedridden and her father bailed on the family, Sophie became a second mother to her twin brother, Seth, and younger sister, Jenna. Sophie supported her siblings through their college years, putting aside her own dream of opening a book shop in Piper’s Cove—the quaint North Carolina beach town they frequented as children.
But now it’s finally time for Sophie to follow her own pursuits. Seth just got a new job, the family house is sold, and Jenna is set to marry her college beau in Piper’s Cove. But the destination wedding reunites Sophie with best man Aiden Maddox, her high school sweetheart who left her without a backward glance to run an extreme sporting business in Florida.
Much to Sophie’s chagrin, seeing Aiden again resurrects familiar feelings—which she promptly tries to bury in the tumult of the day. As soon as the wedding crowd fades, Sophie turns her focus back to establishing her beloved bookstore.
But then an advancing hurricane strands Aiden in Piper’s Cove and with the hotels booked to capacity he asks Sophie to put him up until the storm passes. As the two ride out the weather, old feelings rise to the surface. But can Sophie trust Aiden to stick around? And does daredevil Aiden have the courage to risk his heart?
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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.
No.
Maybe.
I will often preorder the kindle version of books from authors I’ve read before, especially if the book is part of a series. In those cases, I already know the author and their writing (and often the characters and their stories).
But I will rarely buy a book from a new-to-me author without reading the sample first. In general, if I read the sample in one sitting and the price is right, I’ll buy the book.
I’ll almost always buy a book if it’s 99 cents. I’ll often buy a $1.99 ebook (especially if it’s on sale and is usually $7.99 or more). I’ll never buy a book if it’s $9.99. I don’t usually pay more than $5.99 for an ebook. Instead, I’ll wait for it to come on sale.
I listened to a podcast where Ginny Yttrup interviewed Suzanne Woods Fisher about her latest release, The Moonlight School. There were two things discussed in the interview that convinced me I had to read this book.
One of my favourite aspects of historical fiction is the opportunity to learn about new people or events. This one that sounded fascinating: the moonlight schools created by Cora Wilson Stewart in Appalachia, to teach the adult residents of the “hollars” to read.
As a reader, I’m not always a fan of dialect in fiction, as I find it can distract from the story. As a writer and editor, I’m always intrigued to read a well-executed writing technique and to dissect how it works.
The book started with a list of characters, something I generally don’t like except in historical fiction where it’s important to know which characters are fiction and which are based on real people (something Suzanne Woods Fisher discussed in her ending Author’s Note). Done badly, a cast of characters (or family tree) can give away half the book’s plot. (I once read one where the family tree showed the main character was going to die halfway through the book. Talk about a spoiler!
Even done well, I find that a list of characters subconsciously signals bad writing—as though the author (or publisher) are worried the reader will get confused without the list. Personally, I find the opposite is true. I find a long list is more likely to confuse me because the list doesn’t say which characters are important and which are not. Good writing should introduce the characters in such a way that the reader knows who all the characters are—and how important they are—without getting lost. I don’t think the character list was necessary in The Moonlight School, as I ignored it and never felt lost.
Next, there was a Glossary, because the book used a lot of Appalachian dialect. I have a similar view on glossaries as I do character lists. If the book is well-written, then the meanings of the nonstandard words should be obvious from the context and the Glossary becomes unnecessary. Adding the glossary feels like the book is going to be hard, and it wasn’t.
Also, let’s be honest: while it’s easy to flick back to the list of characters or the glossary in a paperback, it’s almost impossible in an ebook. So it’s better to write the book in such a way that neither are needed.
In both cases, I think Suzanne Woods Fisher’s writing was strong enough that the characters, character relationships, and dialect were all easy enough to understand without the introductory lists.
While the writing was excellent, I found the story very slow going. Why? Because the title, the book description, and the podcast interview had all intrigued me with the promise of the moonlight schools—something that wasn’t mentioned at all in the first half of the book.
So if the story isn’t about the moonlight schools, what is it about? It’s about Lucy Wilson, who leaves her home in Lexington, Kentucky, in 1911, to work as assistant to her father’s cousin, Cora Wilson Stewart, the first female Superintendent of Education in Rowan County.
Lucy initially finds the move from city to country life difficult, and I found her difficult to like. She seemed like a bit of a wet blanket, and I didn’t exactly find it believable that her upper-middle class upbringing hadn’t included riding lessons. However, I warmed to Lucy as she gradually got to know and appreciate the countryside and the people, and as she comes to appreciate the benefits of the less sophisticated way of life.
Lucy is also upset by the way the lumber companies—including her father’s company—are ruining the land. She realises one of the reasons is because the local people don’t understand the logging contracts they are signing, because they can’t read. This leads into conversations about literacy and the beliefs of the time: that adults can’t learn to read.
After that, I got into the story better and enjoyed it a lot more. Parts of the story were reminiscent of Christy by Catherine Marshall, including the innocent young girl barely out of school, the crusty older woman as the mentor, and the subtle and not-so-subtle attention of two very different men.
Overall, I think I would have enjoyed the book much more if it had been described as a coming-of-age story in the style of Christy, set against the backdrop of the changes logging brought to the Appalachians—good and bad—and the subsequent motivation to improve adult literacy. I think if I’d have known that before I read the story, I would have enjoyed it more.
The Moonlight School by Suzanne Woods Fisher is a coming-of-age story with a touch of mystery and romance, set in 1911 Appalachia. #BookReview #ChristianFiction Share on XAs such, my reactions to this book show the importance of setting expectations as an author, then delivering on them. The book was excellent. But it wasn’t the book the title or book description promised.
Thanks to Revell and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.
Suzanne Woods Fisher is an award-winning, bestselling author of more than 30 books, including On a Summer Tide and On a Coastal Breeze, as well as the Nantucket Legacy, Amish Beginnings, The Bishop’s Family, The Deacon’s Family, and The Inn at Eagle Hill series, among other novels. She is also the author of several nonfiction books about the Amish, including Amish Peace and Amish Proverbs.
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Born in those hills, Cora knows the plague of illiteracy. So does Brother Wyatt, a singing schoolmaster who travels through the hills. Involving Lucy and Wyatt, Cora hatches a plan to open the schoolhouses to adults on moonlit nights. The best way to combat poverty, she believes, is to eliminate illiteracy. But will the people come?
As Lucy emerges from a life in the shadows, she finds purpose; or maybe purpose finds her. With purpose comes answers to her questions, and something else she hadn’t expected: love.
Inspired by the true events of the Moonlight Schools, this standalone novel from bestselling author Suzanne Woods Fisher brings to life the story that shocked the nation into taking adult literacy seriously. You’ll finish the last page of this enthralling story with deep gratitude for the gift of reading.
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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 Better Than First by Kari Trumbo, which promised to be a fun friends-to-more Christian romance … and I think it features a disabled heroine. I’m looking forward to it.
Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:
What’s the book nearest you, and what’s the first line?
Isla won’t let anything hold her back, except telling her best friend she’s in love with him.
When Isla Florez’s coach and best friend challenges her to make a bucket list, she’s worried her dreams of a gold medal will slip away. If she agrees, won’t she miss time at the track?
The more she allows Duncan to show her, the more value she sees in everyday life…and love.
Duncan Schmitz went from homelessness to his dream job as a youth pastor, but it isn’t enough.
He’s loved Isla from afar for ten years. As a challenge, he takes it upon himself to remind her what life is like off the track. And maybe also remind her he’s not just her coach, but the friend who’s always been there for her.
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.
I don’t know if there is a specific subject or theme I would like to see more often.
I would like to see Christian fiction set in countries other than the USA and historical England. (I do know of a fair few stories set in Australia, probably because I know so many Australian Christian authors.)
I would like to see more Christian fiction from BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour) authors. The 2021 Christy Awards have introduced the Christy Own Voice Award, a new award for a BIOPIC author, and that’s a great encouragement.
I would like to see more books set in contemporary England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
I would like to see more novels set in Europe—historical and especially contemporary Europe.
I would love to see more books set in Africa, India, and Asia.
I would love to see characters who aren’t like me, and to understand how they become Christians and how they live as Christians in countries that don’t have a Christian heritage.
Don’t get me wrong: I love my US Christian fiction. But Christian fiction is predominantly driven by evangelical American Christianity, and I would like to see something more.
Mei Ling Chen is a woman disguised as a man working in a mining camp in 1859 California. Her brother is ill, so she escapes to try and find him some medicine. She arrives at the doctor’s house in Green Hill Creek, but is discovered by the doctor and his sister.
Noah is suspicious, but his sister, Lucy, persuades him to help the girl Noah assumes is a boy, and persuades Mei Ling to trust them. As Noah gets to know Mei Ling, he realises he is developing romantic feelings towards her … but how will a relationship between them ever work?
Mei Ling isn’t immediately accepted in Green Hill Creek, and some of the residents think all Chinese women are prostitutes and attempt to treat her accordingly. Others merely want her out of town because she doesn’t fit in.
She is accepted once the people discover she is a trained midwife and that’s great, but wouldn’t it be better if we accepted people who are different to us based on who they are rather than based on what they can do? After all, God accepts us based on who we are … grace, not works.
Mei Ling also challenges the assumption that all Chinese are godless heathens. The reason she and her brother are in California at all is because her family is Christian and her parents were martyred for their faith.
As such, The Doctor’s Honor has all the strengths of Nerys Leigh’s previous books—excellent characters, solid plot, and plenty of humour to dispel the tension. But this goes a little deeper and challenges the reader’s beliefs about race and stereotypes.
Recommended for fans of Christian historical fiction.
Nerys Leigh writes thoroughly romantic Christian historical love stories. She loves heroes who are strong but sweet and heroines who are willing to fight for the life they want.
She’s from the UK, which you would think puts her in a unique position to not write about mail order brides in the American west, but the old adage of writing what you know has never appealed to her. She has an actual American read each book before publishing to make sure she hasn’t gone all English on it.
As the only doctor in the tiny frontier town of Green Hill Creek, Noah Wilson lives a quiet life with his sister, and he’s fine with that. Until a Chinese woman breaks into his home and changes everything.
Before he knows it, his sister is promising Mei Ling their help and he’s mounting daring rescues and fighting to save her brother’s life and…
…and falling for a woman who can’t ever be his.
Overnight, life goes from simple to very complicated indeed.
But perhaps complicated is just what Noah needs.
It’s First Line Friday! (I have to say that these posts seem to be coming around a lot faster than every seven days!)
Anyway, First Line Friday means it’s time to pick up the nearest book and quote the first line. Today I’m sharing from Make-Believe Fiance by new-to-me author Vivi Holt. Here’s the first line from the Chapter One:
Has anyone read books by Vivi Holt? What did you think?
Heath Montgomery has it all — fame, fortune and a mega-watt smile, but one thing he doesn’t have is a date for his cousin’s wedding.
When they cross paths, Heath has an idea — what if he paid her to be his date? No strings, no complications, just a simple business transaction — a way to finally win his father’s trust, and get his parents off his back about settling down once and for all.
She’s poor and plain. He’s wealthy and arrogant.
They didn’t want anything more than a simple arrangement. They never planned to fall in love. But sometimes Cupid has a mind of his own.
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.
I am of the opinion (shared by most booklovers) that the book is always better than the movie. As such, why would I ever doom any book to becoming a movie?
The reason books are better is that movies (and TV shows) have to focus on the visible–the dialogue and action. Books have the visible action, but can also have the character’s thoughts. That adds a depth to the book that the movie can’t always replicate.
As such, I’m always dubious of any book review that says something like “this book would make a great movie!”. That’s basically saying the book is shallow, with little or no character development but plenty of visual action (Exhibit A: that Dan Brown novel).
The books which make good movies are those books with compelling and fast-paced plots, but which lack character development (Exhibit B: any James Bond movie. Half a dozen actors, but the man’s character has barely changed in fifty years).
So I guess the book I’d like to see made into a movie is a book I haven’t read and perhaps don’t have any interest in reading but would still like to know what happens (but without reading the Cliff Notes version).
Let me think …
Thinking …
Still thinking …
Hannah Morgan is a border patrol officer with the Canadian Services Border Agency in Yukon. She’s on patrol when a small boy appears in the snow … followed rapidly by a man with a gun. She soon discovers the boy has escaped from a gang kidnapping children as child labor.
Layke Jackson is a police officer on loan from Alberta. He volunteered to investigate child labor smuggling, but the investigation becomes personal when he discovers his half-brother’s son is one of the kidnapped children.
Hannah, Layke, and small Gabe try to evade the kidnappers, but the gunmen keep finding them. It became obvious early on that there was a leak in law enforcement. Unfortunately, I picked this up a long time before Hannah or Layke worked it out. While I like working out who-dun-it before the big reveal, I also like the law enforcement professionals to pick up clues faster than I do.
Abducted in Alaska is from Love Inspired Suspense, which means that as well as the snow-filled Alaskan setting, it has a developing romance (nicely done) and a strong faith element.
Hannah is a Christian who thanks God whenever something good happens, and prays when she needs help (two excellent habits for all of us to seek to emulate!). Layke is not a Christian, but is challenged by Hannah and Gabe’s faith. Overall, Abducted in Alaska is a solid romantic suspense with plenty of emphasis on the suspense and action.
Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.
Darlene L. Turner is an award-winning author and lives with her husband, Jeff in Ontario, Canada. Her love of suspense began when she read her first Nancy Drew book. She’s turned that passion into her writing and believes readers will be captured by her plots, inspired by her strong characters, and moved by her inspirational message.
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could cost them their lives.
Saving a boy who has escaped his captors puts Canadian border patrol officer Hannah Morgan right into the path of a ruthless child-smuggling ring. Now with help from police constable Layke Jackson, she must keep the child safe. But can they rescue the other abducted children and bring down the gang…all while protecting a little boy and keeping themselves alive?
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