Review: The Face of the Earth

The Face of the Earth: A Novel

About the Book:

When Mitchell Brannon’s beloved wife of twenty years kisses him goodbye one morning, he has little idea that his life is about to change forever. Mitch returns from work early that evening, surprised Jill’s car isn’t in the garage. But her voice on the answering machine makes him smile. “Hey, babe, I’m just now checking out of the hotel, but I’ll stop and pick up something for dinner. Love you.” Hours later, Jill still hasn’t returned, and Mitch’s irritation turns to dread.

When the police come up empty, Mitch enlists the help of their next-door neighbor, Jill’s best friend, Shelley, to help search. As days turn into weeks and weeks into months, Mitch and Shelley’s friendship grows ever closer––and decidedly more complicated. Every lead seems to be a dead end, and Mitch wonders how he can honor the vows he made to a woman who has seemingly disappeared off the face of the earth.

My Comments:

None of  us like death, but at least with death you know where you stand.  In this book Mitch doesn't know where he stands.  When his wife disappears the police question him as if he might be the reason for her disappearance, or whether she chose to disappear.  As they look into clues Mitch  finds he has his moments of doubt--doubt she will be found, doubt about their marriage, doubt about himself.  In a non-preachy manner this book looks at what fidelity means in a Christian marriage and at what point the bond of marriage is broken.  It is a book about people of faith, about churchgoers who pray, but it is also a book about very real, very human people.  I enjoyed this book, which I received through Edelwiess and recommend it.  Grade:  B+.

Deborah is celebrating with a fun "Date Night" Giveaway (win a $200 Visa Cash Card!) and an Author Chat Party on Facebook! {5/30}

   One winner will receive:

• A $200 Visa Cash Card (Use that to catch up with a loved one – your spouse, friend, sister, mom…whomever!)
• The Face of the Earth by Deborah Raney

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on May 29th. Winner will be announced at the "The Face of the Earth" Facebook Author Chat Party on May 30th. Connect with Deborah for an evening of book chat, trivia, laughter, and more! Deborah will also be sharing a sneak peek of her next book and giving away books and fun gift certificates throughout the evening.

So grab your copy of The Face of the Earth and join Deborah on the evening of May 30th for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven't read the book, don't let that stop you from coming!)

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 30th!

A Tapestry of Fortunes

Tapestry of Fortunes: A Novel

About the Book:

Cecilia Ross is looking for a change. She has decided to take time off from her job as a successful motivational speaker and sell her home. She moves in to a beautiful old house in St. Paul, Minnesota, complete with a big front porch, a wild garden, a chef's kitchen-and three roommates. The four women are different ages, but all are feeling restless, and want to take a roadtrip to find again the people and things they miss. One woman wants to connect with a daughter she gave away at birth; another wants to visit her long-absent ex-husband; a third woman, a professional chef, is seeking new inspiration from the restaurants along the way. And Cecilia is looking for Dennis Halsinger, the man she never got over, who recently sent her a postcard out of the blue. This novel is classic Elizabeth Berg-a portrait of how women grow through the relationships that define them, and a testament to the power of female friendship.

My Comments:

I enjoy stories featuring the relationships between women, and I've heard good things about Elizabeth Berg so when Edelweiss offered this galley I grabbed it.  I enjoyed it, though it wasn't much like my normal reads. Yes there is romance, but it really isn't the focus of the story; the women are.  Another thing  I liked about the book is that it featured women my age, an age at which many of us are starting, whether we like it or not, new parts of our lives as children grow up, jobs change or people die.  The only problem  I had with the book is that none of the characters struck me as people I'd like to have in my life--not that I hated them, I just didn't get the warm fuzzies for any of them.  Grade:  B.  

Book Review: Starting Now

Starting Now: A Blossom Street Novel

About the Book:

For years Libby Morgan dreamed only of making partner in her competitive, high-pressure law firm. She sacrificed everything for her career—her friends, her marriage, her chance at creating a family. When her boss calls Libby into his office, she assumes it will finally be good news, but nothing can prepare her for the shocking reality: She’s been let go and must rebuild her entire life . . . starting now. 

With no job prospects in sight, Libby reaches out to old friends and spends her afternoons at A Good Yarn, the local knitting store. There she forms a close bond with Lydia, the sweet-natured shop owner; Lydia’s spirited teenage daughter, Casey; and Casey’s best friend, Ava, a shy yet troubled girl who will shape Libby’s future in surprising and profound ways. 

As A Good Yarn becomes a second home—and the women a new kind of family—Libby relishes the different person she’s become. She even finds time for romance with a charming and handsome doctor who seems to be her perfect match. But just as everything is coming together, Libby must make a choice that could forever change the life she holds so dear.

My Comments:

This is a Debbie Macomber novel and so you know that it will be sweet and clean.  Libby ends up sleeping with her guy, but all they do is sleep.  The ending is happy, though I think a little on the unrealistic side.  The book is general market romance, not Christian fiction but it mentions religion a little.  Once, Libby goes to the  hospital chapel, but instead of talking to God, she talks to her mother.  Later, she goes to some church down the street on Sunday.  Another character remembers his Catholic mother teaching him his memorized prayers, but it is noted that he hasn't said them lately.  

Starting Now is one of the Yarn Shop books and mentions a few of the main characters from the other books but it doesn't try to catch up readers with all the characters.   Those new to the series should not be lost trying to figure out who is who and how they fit together.  It just doesn't matter for this book, which pretty much has a self-contained plot without threads weaving back to other books.  

In short, if you like Macomber's books or are looking for an enjoyable light read with plenty of happily ever after, give this one a try.  Grade:  B.

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via Edelweiss.  

The Love Shack: My Review

The Love Shack

About the Book:

Globe-trotting photojournalist Gage Lowell spent carefree childhood summers in Crescent Cove. Now that he desperately needs some R & R, he books a vacation at Beach House No. 9—ready to soak up some sun and surprise old friend and property manager Skye Alexander. Their long-distance letters got him through a dangerous time he can’t otherwise talk about. But when he arrives, the tightly wound beauty isn’t exactly happy to see him.

Skye knows any red-blooded woman would be thrilled to spend time with gorgeous, sexy Gage. But she harbors secrets of her own, including that she might just be a little bit in love with him. And she’s convinced the restless wanderer won’t stay long enough for her to dare share her past—or dream of a future together. Luckily for them both, summer at Crescent Cove has a way of making the impossible happen…

My Comments:

I really enjoyed this story, but could have lived with far fewer intimate scenes and far less description of them.  The story focuses on two couples.  Both have been friends for a very long time, but only friends, and during the course of this book...

Gage and Skye have each recently experienced trauma.  While he sets out to help her heal, she does not know what he went through. The members of the other couple have let fear of abandonment keep them from taking the next step.  Will they finally move beyond being "just friends"?  

It is part of a series and the couples from other books make appearances but the cast is not so big or convoluted that it is hard to follow if you haven't read the other books.  Grade: B (would have been B+ if less explicit .  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  

Review: The Chance

The Chance: A Novel

About the Book:

Dubbed the “Queen of Christian Fiction” by Time magazine, #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Karen Kingsbury is arguably America’s favorite inspirational novelist with a dozen bestsellers to her credit. In The Chance, she delves deeply into a theme that resonates with us all: It’s never too late for those willing to take a chance.

Years ago, the day before Ellie moved from Georgia to California, she and her best friend Nolan sat beneath the Spanish moss of an ancient oak tree where they wrote letters to each other, and sealed them in a rusty old metal box. The plan was to return eleven years later and read them. But now, as that date arrives, much has changed. Ellie, bereft of the faith she grew up with, is a single mom living in a tired apartment trying to make ends meet. Sometimes she watches television to catch a glimpse of her old friend —Nolan, now an NBA star, whose terrible personal tragedies fueled his faith and athletic drive in equal measure. But Nolan also suffers from a transcendent loneliness that nothing has ever eased.

In their separate lives, as Ellie and Nolan move toward the possibility of a reunion at the oak tree, Kingsbury weaves a tale of heart-wrenching loss, the power of faith, and the wounds that only love can heal.

My Comments:

This book is prototypical Karen Kingsbury.  It is a heartwarming story that plays on readers' emotions.  It is filled with faith content and is as much about characters' spiritual journeys as it is about their relationships with each other.  The moral of the story is clearly that forgiveness is necessary not only for eternal life but also for happiness in this world.  Kingsbury is also telling her readers that while believers may have to endure suffering in this world, in the end, even in this world, God will work it all out for the best.  Those who like a lot of faith with their fiction will enjoy this story; those who like a more subtle approach or who don't like religious stories should pass.  

Thanks to the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade:  B.

My Review: Three Sisters

Three Sisters (Blackberry Island)

About the Book:

After Andi Gordon is jilted at the altar, she makes the most impetuous decision of her life – buying one of the famed Three Sisters Queen Anne houses on Blackberry Island. Now the proud-ish owner of the ugly duckling of the trio, she plans to open her own pediatric office on the first floor, just as soon as her hunky contractor completes the work. Andi's new future may be coming together, but the truth is she's just as badly in need of a major renovation as her house. 

When Deanna Phillips confronts her husband about a suspected affair, she opens up a Pandora's Box of unhappiness. And he claims that she is the problem. The terrible thing is, he's right. In her quest to be the perfect woman, she's lost herself, and she's in danger of losing her entire family if things don't change. 

Next door, artist Boston King thought she and her college sweetheart would be married forever. Their passion for one other has always seemed indestructible. But after tragedy tears them apart, she's not so sure. Now it's time for them to move forward, with or without one another. 

Thrown together by fate and geography, and bound by the strongest of friendships, these three women will discover what they're really made of: laughter, tears, love and all.

My Comments:

I like stories about the relationships between women.  I like romance novels.  This book is both, and no, the romance is not between two women.  Andi has spent her life not living up to her parent's expectations/desires.  Even her fiancee was the guy her parents liked, and when he leaves her at the altar, she is as relieved as anything.  She's attracted to her contractor, but he's sure that she wouldn't like a blue collar guy like him.  Deanna and Boston are married, but going through rough spots, each for a different reason.  As the women grow closer they help each other find the love of their men.  Boston lost a child and is suffering from depression as a result.  Deanna has OCD.  I enjoyed watching them heal but the healing wasn't pat or easy.

There is non-marital intimacy in the book though it isn't real graphic.  

The book is loosely part of the same series as Barefoot Season (my review); however, there is no backstory from that book that is part of this one.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade:  B+

One Sunday: My Review

One Sunday: A Novel

About the Book:

At age thirty-seven, Alice Ferguson has everything an ambitious, intellectual, self-made woman could want. She has captured a career as an editor of a tabloid magazine, launched her own website full of Hollywood gossip, and even clawed her way into a second-hand pair of Prada shoes. She has also finally landed a husband—no small feat, as it required getting pregnant with his baby.

But when Alice becomes pregnant and experiences health problems, her world is turned upside down. To save her life and the life of her unborn child, she must leave Los Angeles and the stress of her bicoastal career, exchanging the late-night parties of sunny California for the suburbs of Nashville. With a weak smile and an even weaker heart, she soon finds herself living with a husband she barely knows, ensconced in a gated community brimming with perky, plastic, pony-tailed housewives. And then, at the gentle urging of a new friend, she agrees to attend church one Sunday afternoon.

What begins as an experiment beyond her comfort zone sparks something much bigger, as Alice begins to look deep within herself only to find insecurity, fear, and loneliness. One Sunday charts an endearing character’s journey from moral ambiguity through madness, tears, laughter, and heartbreak to a connection with the only One who can help heal her.

My Comments:

This book does what I think Christian fiction does best--it tells the story of one woman's spiritual life and how getting her spiritual life in order helped get the rest of her life in order as well.  Alice suffered some tragedies in her early life and has learned to drug away the pain of life.  She has learned that the only one on whom she can really depend is herself.  When pregnancy complications make her move in with the baby's father she comes to know an ex-NFL player turned preacher and his family.  Through conversations with them and other experiences in the book she comes to the point of making peace with God.  

The story bounces around to various times in Alice's life, and while each section is dated, sometimes I had to check back to orient myself.  Still, for the most part, the technique worked.

What didn't I like?  Well, maybe I'm quick to take offense, but I found the book mildly anti-Catholic.  Basically, Alice was raised Catholic, and after a particular experience in her life when she was fourteen, her father sent her to see a priest, who didn't take it seriously.  While she doesn't say what her spiritual life had been like before that, after that, she checked out of Catholicism in spirit if not immediately in body.  When she regained her spiritual footing it was in an evangelical megachurch with the praise band, the video projector, sermon props and "dunk tank" (her words, not mine) baptismal font.  Why could it not have been some generic pastor of some generic church who turned away a young teen who had a spiritual experience?  What purpose, other than to suggest that Catholicism is spiritually lacking, was there for making her original religion Catholicism?  On the other hand, I will say that at some point it is noted that a priest told Alice that we don't get into heaven on our own merits but because of God's grace.  As someone who has been told by non-Catholics that Catholics think they have to earn their way to heaven, I'm glad to see our beliefs more accurately represented.  

Without the anti-Catholic sections, I would have given this book a B+, as it is, I'll give it a B-.  

When Summer Comes: My Review

When Summer Comes (Whiskey Creek)

About the Book:

One day, Callie Vanetta receives devastating news... 

She needs a liver transplant. But her doctors warn that, in her case, the chances of finding a compatible donor aren't good.  

Determined to spend whatever time she has left on her own terms, she keeps the diagnosis to herself and moves out to her late grandparents' farm. She's always wanted to live there. But the farm hasn't been worked in years and she begins to fear she can't manage it, that she'll have to return to town. 

One night, a stranger comes knocking at her door... 

He's an attractive and mysterious drifter by the name of Levi McCloud, and he offers to trade work for a few nights' shelter. Callie figures she doesn't have anything to lose. He needs a place to stay until he can fix his motorcycle; she needs an extra pair of hands. The arrangement seems ideal until what was supposed to be temporary starts to look more and more permanent. Then she realizes she does have something to lose-her heart. And, although he doesn't yet know it, Levi stands to lose even more.

My Comments:

This is another story in the Whiskey Creek series.  I reviewed When Snow Falls back in October and both books share the large cast of high school friends.  Several of them get a lot of time in this book so I suspect we'll see them in future novels.  One of the main supporting characters in this book is a closeted gay man who is secretly in love with his best friend--a friend who keeps telling the gay man about his (the friend's) heterosexual exploits.  Other members of the gang include Cheyanne and Dylan from When Snow Falls, a close male friend with whom Callie "slept" a few times, and a woman whose life seems perfect (but who is abused).

There is a country song about living like you are dying.  Callie is dying, but hasn't told anyone.  She is spending the summer (which she realizes may be her last) at her late grandparents' farm and one night opens the door to a strange man who is injured.  Maybe knowing death was near made her more open to risks but I can't imagine a single woman living alone in the middle on nowhere doing that.  Still, it does get them together and the story takes off from there.  I liked both Callie and Levi and liked the way they looked out for each other.

I found the large group of friends to be interesting. They live in a small town. They graduated from high school together and are now near 30 but they get together every week at a coffee shop.  They call each other constantly.  I don' know whether to be jealous or feel smothered.  

Physical intimacy happens early in Callie and Levi's relationship and while the reader certainly knows what is happening, it is not described in great detail.  

I enjoyed the story and will read the next book in the series.  Thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy via NetGalley.  Grade:  B.  

The Long Way Home

The Long Way Home: The Chesapeake Diaries

About the Book:

As the only child of a wealthy investment manager, Ellie Chapman has never known anything besides a life of perfect privilege. But her years of good fortune come to an abrupt end when her father is exposed for swindling billions of dollars from innocent investors in a massive Ponzi scheme. And just like that, Ellie loses everything: money, job, home—even her fiancé, who’s jailed as her father’s partner in crime. With no job prospects on the horizon, no cash, and her family name in tatters, Ellie has only one place to go.

Sleepy St. Dennis, Maryland, is hardly where Ellie intends to stay, however. Keeping her identity a secret, she plans to sell the house her late mother left her in the small town and use the proceeds to move on with her life. Unfortunately, her ticket to a new beginning is in dire need of a laundry list of pricey improvements, many of which she’ll have to do herself. And until the house on Bay View Road is fit to be sold, the sole place Ellie will be traveling is the hardware store. But as the many charms of St. Dennis—not to mention Cameron O’Connor, the handsome local contractor who has secrets of his own—begin to work their magic, what begins as a lesson in do-it-yourself renovations might just end up as Ellie’s very own rejuvenation.

My Comments:

I enjoyed this story of love and healing, even if it was a bit on the unrealistic side.  Ellie comes to St. Dennis because she has no where else to go (though she is smart, well-educated and has a close friend who has a lot of connections).  When she gets there she meets Cameron who has been putting a lot of effort into keeping up a house that isn't his.  I liked the fact that the two of them took some time to get to know each other; I didn't like the fact that they ended up in bed before marriage, or even before they were really serious.  I liked  the fact that they realized that overnight visits were not a good idea with a teenager in the house.  While readers were told they were intimate, the act was not described in detail.  

The book is part of a series though I did not realize it until I went to Amazon to get the photo and blurb for this review.  The characters from the other books make brief appearances but I didn't feel overwhelmed by useless characters.  However, Ellie's friend (who is single) discovers that Ellie's ancestor was a renowned  painter who had many paintings in the house Ellie inherited. I'll bet we'll see her in a future book and I'm curious about what will happen to the paintings.  Her gallery-owning friend is eager to show and sell them. Ellie was eager for the money they'd bring, but now that she's decided to stay in St. Dennis, and has learned about her family, will she still want to sell?  How will those paintings affect her relationship with her best friend?  I feel left hanging about those questions, and I'm sure that was the author's intent.  

Another thing I didn't like was that one of the characters mentions speaking to one of Ellie's ancestors via a Ouija board.  Another character saw this ancestor (or a ghost of her) in the house.  I don't think those elements advanced the story and to me they were just creepy.

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via Edelweiss Galleys.  Grade:  B.  

Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives

Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives (Amazon Link)

Jesus of Nazareth:  The Infancy Narratives (Aquinus and More Link)

About the Book:

New York Times Bestseller! The momentous third and final volume in the Pope’s international bestselling Jesus of Nazareth series, detailing how the stories of Jesus’ infancy and childhood are as relevant today as they were two thousand years ago.

In 2007, Joseph Ratzinger published his first book as Pope Benedict XVI in order “to make known the figure and message of Jesus.” Now, the Pope focuses exclusively on the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life as a child. The root of these stories is the experience of hope found in the birth of Jesus and the affirmations of surrender and service embodied in his parents, Joseph and Mary. This is a story of longing and seeking, as demonstrated by the Magi searching for the redemption offered by the birth of a new king. It is a story of sacrifice and trusting completely in the wisdom of God as seen in the faith of Simeon, the just and devout man of Jerusalem, when he is in the presence of the Christ child. Ultimately, Jesus’ life and message is a story for today, one that speaks to the restlessness of the human heart searching for the sole truth which alone leads to profound joy.

My Comments:

It took me a while to finish, but I really enjoyed this little book.  It wasn't a hard book to read, but rather one that had so much to think about that I would read a small section and think about it.  The Holy Father starts by taking a look at what the Gospel of John as to say about the question "Where are you from?" and looks at the genealogies in the other Gospels.  From there he takes us through the familiar Christmas stories and points out the deeper meanings and gives some side information to help us more fully understand the stories.  

One story I've never quite "gotten" is Finding Jesus in the temple.  It has always struck me as a twelve year old doing what he wanted to do without really thinking about the consequences or other people's feelings.  I've always considered the story to be a pretty good indication of Jesus' humanity.  I'm not not a theologian, obviously.  Things about the story that the Pope pointed out were that Jesus' family was devout (they went to the temple and thereby observed the law), that the regular pilgrimages to the temple reinforced Israel's identity as a pilgrim people, that the three days He was missing pre-figured the three days in the tomb, that Jesus claimed God as his father (as opposed to Joseph) and of course, that Mary kept those things in her heart.  Pope Benedict says the actual theological content the story is meant to convey is the link between radical newness and radical faithfulness, rooted in Jesus' sonship.

This one is going on my bookshelf to be re-read next Christmas.  Grade:  A.  

Review: The Air We Breathe

Air We Breathe, The

About the Book:

Seventeen-year-old Molly Fisk does not go outside. She's ruled by anxiety and only feels safe in the tiny tourist-town museum she and her mother run and call home. Yearning to live free but unable to overcome deep wounds from her past, she stays hidden away. Then the chance arrival of a woman Molly knew six years ago changes everything. 

Six years ago, newly single Claire Rodriguez was an empty shell. Only in the unique friendship she strikes up with a young girl--a silent girl who'll only talk to Claire--does she see the possibility of healing. But one day the girl and her mother vanish, their house abandoned. What happened that drove them away? And how can Claire now offer Molly the same chance at finding a life anew?

My Comments:

Sometimes you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I'm going to be grown-up enough to admit that may be what happened to this book.  I just finished another book (which will be reviewed in February) that had what I considered gratuitous anti-Catholicism and I only knocked it down a couple of notches for it; this one I'm giving up on after 50 pages.  Probably had I read it first, the rankings would be reversed.  In short, for apparently no reason (and perhaps there is a reason that would become apparent if I read the whole book) one of the teen characters mentions to another that his family is Catholic and just doesn't get him, the good Bible-reading Baptist that he is.  Why does Christa Parrish make his family Catholic?  Somehow I doubt this book is about him  returning to the faith of his birth, or about him bringing her to Catholicism.  If the publisher or author wants to tell me I'm wrong about this, I'll be glad to finish the book at that point.

The book has chapters titled by the names of characters and moves between 2002 and 2009.  I really liked the writing style and I'm sure there are those who will enjoy the book.  DNF

I' d like to thank the publisher for providing a review copy.  It should be obvious that I am not obligated to write a positive review.

Worth the Weight: A Kindle Freebie That Was Worth It

Worth The Weight (The Worth Series Book 1:The Nice One)

About the Book:

Lizzie Hampton is literally a shadow of her former self. Having lost half her body weight, she's headed to her small hometown to test out her new body on an old flame.  Just a harmless fling to get her self confidence back before she returns to the city and the new man in her life.

But Lizzie's plan has a few bumps in the road.

Finn Robbins can't believe Liz is back in town. Desperate to be the holder of her innocence eighteen years ago, he never got the chance.  Now she's back and he can finally check her off his to do list.

But her friends, his son, and the mysterious Annie may have something to say about that.

The first book in a contemporary romance series which takes place in Michigan's Copper Country.

Includes a sneak peek at Worth The Drive, The Worth Series Book 2: The Pretty One

My Comments:

As my regular readers know, I'm a fan of sophisticated, highly complicated, classic literature (ok maybe not).  However, my reading for the last few weeks has been even lighter that normal.  I've been reading a bunch of dreadful Kindle freebies which are absolutely not worth the trouble of reviewing.  Suffice to say, that they were worth what I paid for them, except that I kept reading them, probably because they were so predictable, so easy, and nothing I'd want to put here.  Yea, I'm a little burned out on reviewing.  

Worth the Weight held my interest for more than a quick skim.  I found myself engrossed in this reunion of first loves.  She lives in the city now, and owns a successful business.  As noted above, she's just lost a lot of weight and now wants a "normal" romantic life. He lives in the small town in which they grew  up, is a farmer and single father to two kids.  Both had to learn to accept themselves and the  choices they had made in life. Both had close friends and families in their corner.  All in all, a really good story.  Like many Amazon cheapies  (still free as of this writing, $0.99 normal price) it has a few typos, but writing is better than I expected.  There are quite a few intimate scenes, they happen outside of marriage and they are on the explict side.  Grade:  B.  

The Bartered Bride Collection: My Review

The Bartered Bride Romance Collection: 9 Historical Stories of Arranged Marriages

About the Book:

Treasure this beautiful collection packed with all the angst of romance founded upon practical arrangements. Four sisters travel in answer to an ad before even corresponding with potential husbands. Two women bend to the will of their parents in taking husbands. A widow commits to a stranger in name only. And two women on the Oregon Trail hitch their lives to men they’ve just met. Will love blossom for convenience sake?

My Comments:

Mail order brides have fascinated me.  I wonder what it was like to travel halfway across the country, far away from all you knew, knowing full well that you weren't going to drive "home" on summer vacation, to meet an marry a man who had to put an ad in the paper for a bride.  I suppose the answer for most of those women is that it was better than the alternative they had at home.  

This collection of nine stories was very religious Christian fiction.  These couples all read the Bible, prayed, quoted scripture and otherwise showed that faith was important.  Honestly, I found it all a bit over-the-top.  Who were these couples?  One was a Cajun couple from Louisiana.  His parents had raised her after her parents died.  His first love spurned him for another.  His parents decided they would marry.  The second married her best friend's brother after meeting him only briefly.  The next four were sisters whose brother-in-law sent them west when he confused an order for bridles with an order for bridals.  Nevertheless, two of them married into the family that "ordered" them; the other two found husbands in the same town.  Another didn't realize she was being sent as a bride, but thought she had accepted a job as a housekeeper.  The final one married the fiancee her sister jilted to save their father from financial ruin.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for making a review copy available via NetGalley.  Grade:  C+