Book Review: A Bride for All Seasons

It all started with an ad in a mail-order bride catalogue . . .

This charming bouquet of novellas introduces you to four Hitching Post Mail-Order Bride Catalogue prospects in the year 1870, all eager for second chances . . . and hungry for happiness. Year in, year out, they'll learn that love often comes in unexpected packages.

A Bride for All Seasons: The Mail Order Bride Collection

I was tickled to review this new book--a collection of novellas by four of the current best selling Inspirational Fiction authors in the market right now. These ladies are four of my most favorite of all fiction writers in general--so I was tickled to have them all together in one place!

Even though this is a collection of four separate novellas, I'm going to review it as a whole book. Each of these stories is tied together with the common bond of the Hitching Post Mail-Order Bride Catalogue. In each novella the lead characters have corresponded via the mail-order bride catalog--the men being all out in the "Wild West" of the late 1800's and in need of brides--but some wires get crossed in their communication. This is thanks to the catalog's owner who takes it upon himself to make revisions to letters as he sees fit...and consequently there are rather large misunderstandings once they meet for the first time...which is what makes these books so fun!

Each author writes in her own style which allows each novella to easily stand alone. Each of the main characters in the novella are nicely developed and the plots move swiftly but not so fast that things are unresolved. I enjoyed the background each author gave their heroine which drove them to answer a mail-order ad of these men. It's scary to think of what these women did--especially since it's based on things that really happened with the REAL mail-order brides of the Wild West!

I think of all the novellas, my favorite one in the book was "An Ever After Summer" by Debra Clopton. I enjoyed the spunkiness of her heroine and the humor she injected in the plot.

A nice bonus of the book was an authors discussion in the back of the book, where the readers get insights in the behind-the-scenes aspect of writing a joint book. I loved the tidbits each of the authors shared...ESPECIALLY that they are going to collaborate again on another book!

If you enjoy ANY of these four authors, then I know you will enjoy this lighthearted book. It is an easy read and you will wish it was longer!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson as part of their book review bloggers program through BookSneeze. All opinions expressed are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

Fresh from the Bookshelf~ When Mockingbirds Sing

I am eager to share with you my latest book review for the book When Mockingbirds Sing by Billy Coffey. Let me start off by admitting that the summary on the back of the book did not make me eager to read the book. It didn’t seem like my style---but I decided to step out of the box and give it a go.

When Mockingbirds Sing by Billy Coffey

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson press as part of the BookSneeze book review bloggers program. All opinions expressed are my own and I was not required to write a positive review. 

One of the first things that intrigued me was the way the chapters were titled. It wasn’t “chapter one” but rather “Saturday: Seven Days before the Carnival”. Without even reading a word of the story, I was immediately sucked in! I started asking myself “What carnival?” And then I started speculating that something must happen at a carnival and eagerly sought references to it from then on as I read. I think this was a genius move by the author and one I’ve never seen before.

The first sentence of the story is ripe with premonition…

"In those long days between the town’s death and its rebirth, everyone had a story of how the magic came to Leah Norcross." (p.1, Coffey)

And from that sentence I decided that this looming carnival must be related to the town’s death and jumped into the story with both feet.

I would best liken the plot of the story to an onion. As the story plays out, more and more layers are shown until you finally get to the climax and then you realize how everything comes together—and yes, as you peel it there will be tears!

The primary plot focuses on the character of Leah Norcross. Leah is a troubled introverted girl with a very strong stutter. As the story opens we meet her father (a psychologist) and mother who have their own marriage demons they are battling which play out in their relationship with Leah. As readers, we get pieces of this shared as we watch the event of Leah’s 9th birthday party play out.

Before the scene is over, we peel back another layer on the “onion”—the closed mindedness of the townspeople of Mattingly who don’t like people from “Away”. There are secrets in this town and they are slow to trust any newcomers.

Our next chapter begins the next day and Leah who, on an easel she received for her birthday, paints a masterpiece—a picture which seems to come alive in its depth and vibrance…something a 9 year old girl should not be able to do. When questioned, she tells her speechless parents that she painted what the Rainbow Man sang to her. Through this painting, we get introduced into another layer of the plot “onion” in the form of Barney, the man who made Leah the easel—and who wins the mega jackpot lottery because of numbers he sees in the painting Leah makes him. And from this point on the story kicks into high gear as it moves ever closer to the looming "Day of the Carnival"!

Through the course of the story we get involved in the lives of the Norcross family, Barney and Mabel Moore, Reverend “Reggie” Goggins and Allie (Leah’s new best friend). The personal faith of each one and the faith of the town of Mattingly is put to the test because of Leah and her Rainbow Man. Like the back cover says, the story makes you question “What marks the boundary between a miracle from God and the imagination of a child?”

You will be sucked into the story if you give it a chance—making predictions about where the plot is going to go—and then be shocked when it takes an unexpected twist. You will see the images in your mind because of the author’s vivid vocabulary and word pictures. And when the story is over, you might be like me and just go “wow.”

Even though When Mockingbirds Sing is considered inspirational fiction, I think that even those who aren’t hot on this genre would still enjoy it because of the richness of the plot. For those who love this genre, I highly recommend it as well as the Reading Group Guide at the back of the book. This book will definitely make you ask questions about your own faith and allow you to ask yourself about your own thoughts on truly walking by faith and not by sight—which is the underlying message of the story.

Fresh from the Bookshelf: The Rainbow Egg (Childrens Book Review)

I am excited to start reviewing books here on my blog! I love books and read so many of them, that I knew this was an area I could easily enjoy. I decided to cut my teeth in this new venue with a children's book.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Westbow Press as part of their book review bloggers program. All opinions expressed are my own and I was not required to write a positive review.

The Rainbow Egg is a very sweet heartwarming story celebrating the beauty of adoption. The first thing I did was flip through the pages and look at the illustrations. They are beautifully done with a whimsical feel. My seven year old son really enjoyed looking at them and especially enjoyed the illustrations of the chicken house with all the chickens having different patterns and colors on their tummies.

I would say that The Rainbow Egg is written for about a level 2 or 3 reading level based on the sentence structures and vocabulary. I found that there was a better flow to the story when I read it aloud which makes it the perfect book for a parent to read to their child.

The story is very sweet as it follows the journey of the little chicken who lives all alone in the woods with the other woodland animals and then one day lays a beautiful rainbow egg. It chronicles in pictures and simple words, her struggle to care for the beautiful egg without any nest or any help. As she journeys along she finds a chicken house—and needing a rest from carrying her egg, she ventures inside. Little does she know she will find her help inside from Mr. and Mrs. Rainbow who have no egg of their own.

The ultimate theme of this story is one of the powerful love that is involved in adoption. It is subtle in the way it talks about infertility issues as well as how it deals with the choices made by families who adopt--and those who give up children for adoption. I think it would be a beautiful book for a family to have venturing into the world of adoption—or for any child who has been adopted. I think that any family involved in the adoption process would love this book's message.

Would I buy The Rainbow Egg? Not for myself. It isn't anything that would connect with my family dynamics—however, I have friends who have embraced adoption in their families and I know that this book would find a cherished spot on their bookshelves.