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The Space Between the Words by Michèle Phoenix | Book Review

January 27, 2019 by Jamie Leave a Comment

“Enduring with courage, resisting with wisdom, and pressing on in faith.”

“There were seconds, when I woke, when the world felt unshrouded. Then memory returned.”

When Jessica regains consciousness in a French hospital on the day after the Paris attacks, all she can think of is fleeing the site of the horror she survived. But Patrick, the steadfast friend who hasn’t left her side, urges her to reconsider her decision. Worn down by his insistence, she reluctantly agrees to follow through with the trip they’d planned before the tragedy.

“The pages found you,” Patrick whispered.
“Now you need to figure out what they’re trying to say.”

During a stop at a country flea market, Jessica finds a faded document concealed in an antique. As new friends help her to translate the archaic French, they uncover the story of Adeline Baillard, a young woman who lived centuries before—her faith condemned, her life endangered, her community decimated by the Huguenot persecution.

“I write for our descendants, for those who will not understand the cost of our survival.”

Determined to learn the Baillard family’s fate, Jessica retraces their flight from France to England, spurred on by a need she doesn’t understand.

Could this stranger who lived three hundred years before hold the key to Jessica’s survival?

Books dealing with recent horrific and tragic events will never be an easy read. It’s a painful revisit and a reminder of the broken world we live in. Phoenix’s story of loss, pain and the path to healing though, not only had me fully engaged, I was reminded that life is beautiful and precious. I enjoyed the modern day story, but also really enjoyed the historic piece of this novel. It was a piece of history I didn’t know and glad I now do.

Not an easy story, but a must read for fans of women’s fiction from @frenchphoenix

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We’ll never escape terrible events while we’re on earth. It’s a hard reality, but I’m thankful of the hope I have that this isn’t it. Dealing with grief, how our minds respond, to the healing we need and the time it takes, this novel will remind you to never waste a moment and when life deals us a heavy blow, all hope is not lost.

(Thank you to BookLook Bloggers for a copy of the book. All views expressed are my own.)

Where to Buy: Amazon | | CBD | Goodreads

Ascension Of Larks by Rachel Linden | Book Review

January 23, 2019 by Jamie

Remember when I said I was only going to have a break in July and then there was silence for most of August too? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Here’s the thing. I bought a house. (It was the best birthday present I’ve ever given myself – ha!) I also thought it would only take a day or two to get said house in order. I’m so funny.

Anyway, I’m finally getting into a routine that doesn’t include unpacking boxes on the weekends and so back to blogging! I make no promises of regular scheduled programming just yet (I learned) and I’m still so behind on everything blogging, but it’s a start! So let’s dive in.

When globetrotting photographer Maggie Henry loses the only man she’s ever loved, she jeopardizes her rising career and steps in to care for her best friends’ three young children on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest. Free-spirited and fiercely independent, Maggie’s star is rising fast. But she has a secret. She can’t let go of her first and only love, renowned architect Marco Firelli, now married to her best friend Lena.

With the shattering news of Marco’s death, Maggie rushes to the Firelli family’s summer home on San Juan Island and attempts to provide stability for the children as fragile, perfectionist Lena slowly falls apart. When Maggie is offered a once-in-a-lifetime chance to compete in the world’s most prestigious photography competition, she finds herself unable to leave the only family she has during their time of need. Devastated, Maggie takes a series of photographs documenting their life in limbo.

A mysterious man appears on the island, and Maggie soon realizes there is more to him than meets the eye. Daniel Wolfe, an award-winning Native American poet hiding in exile on the island, is responsible for Marco’s death. Maggie is both drawn to and repelled by Daniel, a sensitive, tortured soul with secrets of his own. Out of their loneliness and grief they form an unlikely friendship. Maggie develops her recent photographs, and she’s elated to discover that they are good enough for the photography competition. She still has a chance to win. But she must first relinquish the past so that she can move forward and embrace the reality of her unexpected life.

What to say about this book? All in all it wasn’t a bad read, but I didn’t connect with it. I would put it down, come back to it, then put it down again. I know part of the reason is I’m not a fan of best friends being in love with their best friend’s husbands and normally I wouldn’t pick it up, but since he died in a tragic accident, I was intrigued.

An intriguing book cover and plot line. How did it pan out?

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Outside of not connecting with the characters, there were some things that were introduced a bit too late in the story. If brought about earlier, they could have helped with story connection, character development and arc. I did appreciate learning about the island, the unique lives of the characters, and the children, I just wish I became invested more.

I do love this cover though and I’m also interested to see what’s next from Linden.

While this question has nothing to do with the book, how have y’all been? How was your summer?

(Thank you to BookLook Bloggers for a copy of the book. All views expressed are my own.)

Where to Buy: Amazon | | CBD | Goodreads

Almost Sisters by Joshilyn Jackson | Book Review

December 29, 2018 by Jamie

I’ve been trying to write this review for days. Usually I can get my thoughts together and have something ready to go, but not the case with this one. I think I’m still trying to figure out how exactly I felt about this book. I guess I just need to give it a go…

Superheroes have always been Leia Birch Briggs’ weakness. One tequila-soaked night at a comics convention, the usually level-headed graphic novelist is swept off her barstool by a handsome and anonymous Batman.

It turns out the caped crusader has left her with more than just a nice, fuzzy memory. She’s having a baby boy—an unexpected but not unhappy development in the thirty-eight year-old’s life. But before Leia can break the news of her impending single-motherhood (including the fact that her baby is biracial) to her conventional, Southern family, her step-sister Rachel’s marriage implodes. Worse, she learns her beloved ninety-year-old grandmother, Birchie, is losing her mind, and she’s been hiding her dementia with the help of Wattie, her best friend since girlhood.

Leia returns to Alabama to put her grandmother’s affairs in order, clean out the big Victorian that has been in the Birch family for generations, and tell her family that she’s pregnant. Yet just when Leia thinks she’s got it all under control, she learns that illness is not the only thing Birchie’s been hiding. Tucked in the attic is a dangerous secret with roots that reach all the way back to the Civil War. Its exposure threatens the family’s freedom and future, and it will change everything about how Leia sees herself and her sister, her son and his missing father, and the world she thinks she knows.

I will start with this. The narrator was really funny. She had quite a few hilarious lines and the ways she processed things made me chuckle on more than one occasion. I love a funny narrator. I appreciated the unique aspects of the story (even if I thought her comic book story was added more than necessary, as it broke up the flow for me).

A story that might be for fans of contemporary and family story

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But even with its unique bits, there were too many pieces that when all was revealed, I wasn’t impressed. I get what the author was working towards (and the issues she wanted to deal with), but I struggled. Maybe it was how the issues, like race, were dealt with, but overall I wasn’t much of a fan. I also know that’s vague, but don’t want to spoil anything.

Have you read any of Jackson’s books?

(Heads up: Adult themes and minor language)

(This was a Summer pick for SheReads.org. Thank you to She Reads and William Morrow for a copy of the book. All views expressed are my own.)

Where to Buy: Amazon | | Goodreads

Book Spotlight: Jane of Austin by Hillary Manton Lodge

December 13, 2018 by Jamie

(If you’re wondering about Book Spotlights, these are what I do for some of books I get to work on! You can find them all here)

First and foremost I need to let you all know, I am obsessed with this cover. So let’s take a moment to pause and just enjoy the beauty of it………
……
……

Alright, now that we have, let’s continue! This book made me want to hop on a plane immediately to Austin and visit all of my favorite places. The recipes in this book also made me really hungry. If you enjoy Jane Austen retellings, check out this fun read this summer (or fall…or winter).

ABOUT THE BOOK

“Know your own happiness. You want nothing but patience – or give it a more fascinating name, call it hope.” Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

Just a few years after their father’s business scandal shatters their lives, Jane and Celia Woodward find themselves forced out of their San Francisco tea shop. The last thing Jane wants is to leave their beloved shop on Valencia Street, but when Celia insists on a move to Austin, Texas, the sisters pack up their kid sister Margot and Jane’s tea plants, determined to start over yet again.

But life in Austin isn’t all sweet tea and breakfast tacos. Their unusual living situation is challenging and unspoken words begin to fester between Jane and Celia. When Jane meets and falls for up-and-coming musician Sean Willis, the chasm grows deeper.

While Sean seems to charm everyone in his path, one person is immune – retired Marine Captain Callum Beckett. Callum never meant to leave the military, but the twin losses of his father and his left leg have returned him to the place he least expected—Texas.

In this modern spin on the Austen classic, Sense and Sensibility, the Woodward sisters must contend with new ingredients in unfamiliar kitchens, a dash of heartbreak, and the fragile hope that maybe home isn’t so far away.

Spotlighting @hillarylodge’s newest release, Jane of Austin!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hillary Manton Lodge is the author of the critically acclaimed Two Blue Doors series and the Plain and Simple duet. Jane of Austin is her sixth novel. In her free time, she enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, graphic design, and finding new walking trails. She resides outside of Memphis, Tennessee with her husband and two pups.

Connect with the Author: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Pinterest

Where to Buy: Amazon | B&N | CBD | Goodreads

The Divide by Jolina Petersheim | Book Review

December 1, 2018 by Jamie

When I read Jolina Petersheim’s The Alliance, I was so impressed at the idea and execution of such a creative storyline and since then I have been eagerly awaiting the conclusion and I was not disappointed.

In this gripping conclusion to The Alliance, nearly six months have passed since Leora Ebersole’s Old Order Mennonite community fled to the mountains for refuge after an attack destroyed the power grid and altered life as they knew it. Since then, Leora has watched and waited for news of Moses Hughes, the young Englischer pilot who held off invading looters long enough for everyone to escape. Unsure Moses even survived, Leora has begun to warm to the affections of Jabil Snyder, who has courted her patiently. But she struggles to see herself as the bishop’s wife, especially when she learns that Moses is alive and has now joined a local militia.

An unexpected encounter in the woods deepens Leora’s crisis, as does a terrifying new threat that brings Moses’ militia into the community’s shaky alliance with the few Englischers left among them. When long-held beliefs are once again put to the test, Leora wrestles with the divide between having faith and taking action. Just how much will her shifting landscape change her?

One of the things that impressed me most about this second installment was how realistic Petersheim developed the story. Her story is full of what real people would have struggled with, decisions that would have been made, plans that might not have turned out and the bad that would have come along with it.

Another novel you won’t be able to put down from @Jolina_Joy! #TheDivide

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I recommend reading The Alliance first, as you’ll appreciate the story more. I thought the continued character development worked well and I really enjoyed getting more back story, especially with Moses. It’s a book that ended well (and not perfectly wrapped up), but I’m not going to lie, I would love to see a glimpse of more.

If you enjoy dystopian/apocalyptic stories , this is a different one to check out. If you aren’t too sure what you think about dystopian, this one is just real enough to give it a shot.

Which dystopian novel should I read next?

(Thank you to the author and Tyndale for a copy of the book. All views expressed are my own.)

Where to Buy: Amazon | | CBD | Goodreads

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Hola! I'm Jamie. A Narnian & native of Middle Earth. I work in publishing (It's the best). Mexican food is my love language. Sometimes I put words together & post them on the Internet and I heart Jesus a whole lot. Read more here.

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Some of the book links in my posts are amazon affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only link to books I've read or items I believe you readers will enjoy (like Fun Finds!). I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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