romance
He made a promise, but was it time to break it?
It's been a while since I've read Harlan Coben. I enjoy his work and his writing style, how it flows and doesn't go off on tangents or segue into something else (that really is irrelevant to the story). I like the little quips he puts in and makes you laugh. I enjoyed his friendly banter with his secretary.
This was just a little to contrite. Maybe I don't have enough skepticism in me to think that everything and everyone is somehow involved in such an intricate plan, and that no one can be trusted.
I'm all about cheering for the good guy, but sometimes Coben is just a little too over the top with his characters ~ always able to outsmart the bad guy ~ he is able to really mess up the bad guy, but he remains "tough" enough to keep on ~ and always gets his man in the end, when no one else can. Just a few times I'd like the "hero" to screw up and make a mistake.
I do like that his books are fast moving and keep you turning the pages. I also appreciate the fact that his (good guy) characters have a higher moral ground. In this day and age it seems that there are so many gray areas, and his characters do struggle with right/wrong/gray issues, and I like that his characters always seem to choose the high road.
When I want to read a fast paced, feel good because the good guy gets the bad guy, Harlan Coben is the man!
This is was a 'clean' romance story recommended to me by a friend. She claimed it to be her second favorite book of all time- the first being Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. While I liked this book, I wouldn't rate it up there as one of the best books I have ever read. I was interested enough to keep reading, though. The story line describes the lives of the people who wear the same old wedding dress. There is a bit of a mystery to part of the story where they are figuring out who wore the dress and what kind of life they lived. I liked that different time periods were represented in the book. I would recommend this book as a good read, but I have to be honest that it was not as good as I was hoping it would be.
Summary
Allison is given the gift of a ticket to visit her aunt's family in Missouri with the understanding that perhaps she will better learn homemaking skills under her aunt's tutelage. While there she meets Aaron, a harness maker who has sworn off marriage after seeing how his mom suffered after losing his dad in a car/buggy accident. Aaron learns that love is worth pursuing even if it might be short, and Allison learns that she is loved by her heavenly Father as well. When her father's sister is ill with cancer, Allison returns back to Pennsylvania to care for her, and hopefully win her to the Lord. Will Aaron & Allison ever be together, or will circumstances keep them apart?
Opinion
It feels like the author found a formula for book writing that she felt worked for her, but it doesn't really help the plot. This book is a predictable girl meets boy and then meets God story line. Yes, there are some stumbles along the way, but there didn't feel like there was much new here.
Summary
Caleb Yoder has been ordered by his father not to have anything to do with the girl he is courting because Nellie Fisher's family is part of the New Order Amish community that is forming in their community. Nellie has been trying to do her best to prove that she is as Old Order as the Yoders, but Caleb's Daed is set on having Caleb marry someone else. He puts an ultimatum on Caleb--he must try to get to know another Amish girl or his father will not hand Caleb the farm when Caleb gets married. So Caleb decides to try it once just to please his father, but Nellie finds out. Will he be able to reconcile with Nellie?
Opinion
Being a Beverly Lewis book, I naturally enjoyed it. However, like her other books, I'm annoyed that I'm going to have to read another before the story is finished. I'd rather just have it in one big long book than have to continually feel like I'm being put on hold. On the other hand, because once I start a Beverly Lewis story I can't put it down, it gives me a chance to take a breather and actually live life outside of the book.
Summary
Nellie Fisher's sister Susie dies in a boating accident, and the whole family is struggling with coming to terms with her loss. However, Nellie does have a bright spot in her life--Caleb Yoder is beginning to court her. Meanwhile, her father, at the urging of his cousin, begins to read scripture for himself and is saved. Soon there is a movement of people in the community who claim salvation, but it is not being well accepted by many in the Amish community. As this "New Order" begins to form, Nellie & Caleb find their families on opposite sides of the fence. Will their love survive?
Opinion
I've found that every Beverly Lewis story I've read is a page turner. I definitely have to make sure I have time to just sit and read, because I won't want to put it down and do anything else. This story is an interesting fictionization of some actual events that were going on in the Amish community in the 1960's. My only criticism of the book is that of all of Lewis' series--you have to read the whole set to get the entire story. Each one should have at the end the words, "to be continued . . ."
Not written with an Amish perspective
Summary
Jacob Troyer is sent to Missouri by his father under the guise of helping out a distant cousin. However, when he arrives, he finds out that his father actually sent him there as a potential exchange boy with the intention that Jacob will marry into the new Amish community and help mix up the bloodlines. Jacob knows his father is trying to keep him from marrying his girlfriend back home, and is angry and eager to leave. However, he starts to find himself falling for the oldest daughter of the house. Becky, on the other hand, although she is attracted to Jacob, knows about his girl back home and doesn't trust him. She has been duped before, and left as a single mother that no other man in the community wants to marry. Will their love win out?
Opinion
I really enjoyed the plot in this story, and I intend to read the next story in this series. If it wasn't for such a well written plot, however, and the way it starts to outline elements for the next in the series, I don't think I would consider reading more in the series. The book definitely seems like it was written by an "Englischer" (non-Amish person) who was pretending to write an Amish story. It is like the author took an Englischer story and tried to put "Amish-isms" in it to make it an Amish story. However, one thing I liked about this story was that although it is part of a series, the story is complete in itself--you don't have to read three more books to find out what happens between Jacob & Becky.
Fiction with an unusual historical twist
Summary
When a woman feels uprooted by a move to Southern California for a new job for her husband, she starts to experience stress from living in a new place and a new "upscale" lifestyle. Her marriage begins to suffer and eventually is on the point of divorce. Meanwhile, she begins to read the diary of an ancestor who travelled the Oregon Trail west and who experienced some of the same stresses in her own marriage. Reading the diary changes her life.
Opinion
Yet another wonderfully woven story by Francine Rivers--definitely another tear jerker. I loved the way the two stories intertwined and overlapped. This book really can get you to consider the cost and preciousness of marriage.
in a way, it would be kind of interesting to go back in time and see how those people really lived, but would imagine it would be really hard to give up creature comforts like indoor plumbing and hot showers, not to mention it taking weeks to travel very far, Rain and Selik had an interesting story.
This book was hard to get into. But once I did, it was suspensefull enough to keep me reading it.
I loved the fact that it was pretty clean as far as intimacy. There were, however, several swear words used.
Overall, I liked it for myself, but would not recommend it to anyone.
This story revolves around Tilly, a widow with a young son, Isaac. Tilly owns a very successful garden nursery business. She puts her heart and soul into the business and can thereby hide from the world and temporarily not think about her husband's death. A man comes to her door seeking someone, and willing to pay a huge wage, who will build the garden of his dreams. Tilly is not a landscaper, and despite the amount of money offered, repeatedly tells him she will not take the job. He isn't dissuaded, sure that Tilly is the one to create his vision. The man is James Nealy, a man who suffers greatly from OCD, and has retired young from a successful software development company. He believes that facing his fears, including creating this garden, will be therapeutic.
A family emergency sends Tilly and Isaac back to her childhood home in England, where she faces a former love. However, James shows up again, having followed her to her native home.
Throughout the story, there are many interesting supporting characters.
All in all, a well written book that would be great for a summer read, or for curling up on a cold winter's day.
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