Monthly Bookshelf Review - March 2018

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March's Books Completed and Reviewed

The Mayflower Bride: Daughters of the Mayflower by Kimberley Woodhouse - Mary Elizabeth is one of the Separatists on the Mayflower, and William is one of the Strangers. The difficulties of the journey bring them together, but Mary Elizabeth must decide if William can be trusted with her heart. (Read my full review HERE.)

The Mayflower groaned and creaked with each plunge into the swells. Willima had lost count of how many times he'd been thrown to the deck by the crashing waves. But they had to fix the main mast, or all their hopes were lost.

A Light on the Hill (Cities of Refuge) by Connilyn Cossette - After a tragic mistake results in Moriyah being accused of murder, she must flee to one of the Israelite cities of refuge, and trust the brother of her accuser to help her. (Read my full review HERE.)

He interrupted again. "I thought I could do this--take you to Kedesh. I told myself it was the right thing to do, to ensure justice for Zeev and Yared. but I cannot do it. I can't watch you be put on trial and accused of murder by my own brother."

Keturah (The Sugar Baron's Daughters) by Lisa T. Bergren - Lady Keturah and her two younger sisters travel to the West Indies to take over the running of their late father's sugar plantation. They face danger and opposition that they'd never expected, but Keturah also has a chance to experience real love. (Read my full review HERE.)

She concentrated on the island, her thoughts turning to the fears she harbored about her new life on the shores ahead. How was she to manage it? Truly Even with Selah and Ver to help her . . . 

During March I continued reading:

As Death Draws Near (A Lady Darby Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber - Kiera and Gage cut their honeymoon short at the request of Gage's father, who sends them to Ireland to investigate the murder of a young nun.

I had anticipated as much, guessing that one of the reasons Lord Gage had recommended his son bring me was because I was one of the few people who possessed both of the traits this investigation required. I was a woman and I possessed a detailed knowledge of anatomy, reluctantly accrued at the hands of my late anatomist husband, but acquired all the same.

 



During March I started reading:

The Weaver's Daughter: A Regency Romance Novel by Sarah E. Ladd - Kate's father is a weaver tied to the traditional trade, and Henry Stockton is heir to the local wool mill and determined to continue modernization.

Kate took Charles's arm and turned toward Stockton House. She bit her lip as her gaze climbed from the hedges flanking the door to the leaded windows above it to the slate roof stories above her. A strange sense took hold of her, as if the moment she stepped foot in the enemy's home, everything would change.

The Innkeeper's Daughter by Michelle Griep - Alex is disguised as a merchant and gambler in order to find a traitor, and Johanna is doing her best to keep the family inn operating against increasing odds. Alex wants to help her, but can't jeopardize his mission by telling her the truth.

Alex strode down the street, wishing for the hundredth time he could ease the ugly questions he'd created in Johanna's eyes. Not that he blamed her. Men didn't usually hand over coins without the tether of expectations.

Coming Up in April!

In Places Hidden (Golden Gate Secrets) by Tracie Peterson
The Pirate Bride by Kathleen Y'Barbo
A Treacherous Curse (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery) by Deanna Reybourn
Praise Habit: Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi (Experiencing God) by David Crowder
Delilah: Treacherous Beauty by Angela Hunt
Downsizing The Family Home: What to Save, What to Let Go by Marni Jameson

     

    

      

This post will be linked at:

5 Minutes For Books - What's On Your Nightstand, March 27
The Book Date - March Reading In Review

©2008-2018 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Teaser Tuesday/First Chapter First Paragraph - The Innkeeper's Daughter

This post contains affiliate links. 

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by Ambrosia at The Purple Booker. To play along, just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page
• Be careful not to include spoilers!
• Share the title and author, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers!

 Suffer? The word circled like a vulture, ready to swoop and stab the barely healed scars left behind by her father. "The only thing my father suffered from was too much drink and a lying tongue. I abhor both!"
~The Innkeeper's Daughter by Michelle Griep, page 66

 

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First Chapter/First Paragraph/Tuesday Intros is a weekly link-up hosted by I'd Rather Be At The Beach. To participate, share the first paragraph (or two) of a book you're reading, or thinking about reading.

Dover, England, 1808

Numbers would be the death of Johanna Langley.

Three hours of sleep after a night of endless--or more like hopeless--bookkeeping. Two days to pay the miller before he cut off their flour supply. And only one week remained until the Blue Hedge Inn would be forced to close its doors forever.

Numbers, indeed. Horrid little things.

A frown etched deep into Johanna's face as she descended the last stair into the taproom. Stifling a yawn, she scanned the inn's public room, counting on collaring their lone boarder, Lucius Nutbrown. His payment would at least stave off the miller. Six empty tables and twelve unoccupied benches stared back. Must all the odds be stacked against her?

Here's the blurb:

Threats from abroad mean nothing when there's danger at home.

Officer Alexander Moore goes undercover as a gentleman gambler to expose a high-stakes plot against the British crown in 1808 - and he's a master of disguise, for Johanna Langley believes him to be quite the rogue . . . until she can no longer fight against his unrelenting charm.

All Johanna wants is to keep the family inn afloat, but when the rent and the hearth payment are due at the same time, where will she find the extra funds? If she doesn't come up with the money, there will be nowhere to go other than the workhouse - where she'll be separated from her ailing mother and ten-year-old brother.

Alex desperately wants to help Johanna, especially when she confides in him, but his mission - finding and bringing to justice a traitor to the crown - must come first, or they could all end up dead. 

It'a race against time for them both.

What do you think? Would you continue reading?

©2008-2018 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

What I'm Reading - March 26, 2018

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This weekly reading list meme is hosted at Book Date. Join in to see what others are reading and maybe get some ideas of what to read next!

I finished reading . . .  

Keturah (The Sugar Baron's Daughters) by Lisa T. Bergren - Keturah and her two sisters travel to the West Indies to manage their late father's sugar plantation themselves. They face all kinds of trials and troubles, and Keturah has to be willing to open her heart to trust and love in order to succeed. (Read my full review HERE)

I'm currently reading . . .

The Innkeeper's Daughter by Michelle Griep - still early in this story, but I've met Johanna and her family, who are barely making ends meet running an inn; and I've met Alex who is staying at the inn while on an undercover assignment.




The Weaver's Daughter: A Regency Romance Novel by Sarah E. Ladd - Kate has been helping her father in his weaving trade but times have been hard thanks to new machines that the larger mills are using.




As Death Draws Near (A Lady Darby Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber - Kiera and Gage are investigating the murder of a novice nun in Ireland.

 


Next on the stack... 

In Places Hidden (Golden Gate Secrets) by Tracie Peterson
The Pirate Bride by Kathleen Y'Barbo
A Treacherous Curse (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery) by Deanna Reybourn
Praise Habit: Finding God in Sunsets and Sushi (Experiencing God) by David Crowder
Delilah: Treacherous Beauty by Angela Hunt
Downsizing The Family Home: What to Save, What to Let Go by Marni Jameson

     
   

   

On my blogs recently . . .

Here on Just A Second:

Recent Reads - Keturah
Scripture and a Snapshot - Palm Sunday
Wordless Wednesday - First Days of Spring

And on my homeschool blog, Homeschool Coffee Break:

VideoText Interactive (Blogging Through the Alphabet)
Homeschool Highlights - Spring Snow Edition, Week Twenty-nine
Virtual Refrigerator - Dwight
Books in Print and Handwritten Notes

What are you reading?

©2008-2018 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Recent Reads - Keturah

This post contains affiliate links. 

 Keturah (The Sugar Baron's Daughters) by Lisa T. Bergren - Lady Keturah Banning Tomlinson is a young widow returned to her family home and two younger sisters when they receive news of their father's passing. He had been living in the West Indies building up his sugar plantation, but recent years had been difficult and the estate was losing money. Then the plantation manager also passed away and Keturah decides to take matters into her own hands. She and sisters Verity and Selah decide they will travel to the West Indies and run the plantation themselves, despite their cousin and guardian's attempts to dissuade them from such an unconventional and dangerous course. Young women of good character and noble families simply do not sail across the ocean unaccompanied! As fortune would have it, an childhood friend, Gray Covington, is also headed to Nevis to try his hand at growing sugar cane, and this news is received with mixed feelings. Gray would be glad to watch out for the sisters on their journey and help them in Nevis, but Keturah is determined to be as independent as possible. Her marriage was abusive and unhappy, and she is adamant that she will never be under the control of any man again, and she is sure she will never want to marry again. And yet, she cannot forget that she once wanted Gray's attentions nor can she long deny that she still is drawn to him.

Once they arrive in Nevis, Keturah is faced with one trial after another. The estate has gone to ruin without a manager, and most of the slaves have run away. It's late in the season to plant sugar cane, and she desperately needs to hire a manager, yet whenever she hears of a man available, someone else has hired him before her. Finally she discovers that the other owners are conspiring against her - offended that a woman would try to run a sugar plantation. They are hoping to force her or one of the sisters to marry one of the growers so that they can take over her land. Keturah finds an unlikely ally in one of the former slaves, and finally accepts Gray's assistance in order to succeed. And as she and Gray work together, her heart is softened and the two of them grow closer. But there is still a manager on a neighboring estate that means to harm Keturah, and more difficulties to face - yellow fever, a hurricane and mudslide, and the continued opposition of islanders - before Keturah can overcome her fear of marriage so that she and Gray can plan a future together.

It's been a few years since I've read something from this author, but the cover and the plot description caught my attention; and the story itself captivated me right from the start. Keturah is a wounded, stubborn, but determined character who I was rooting for all the way. Their experiences on board the ship and their courage and compassion as they adjust to life on Nevis are fascinating. Their reactions to the brutality of the slave trade and how they handle the reality of their situation with dignity add to the draw of the story. And of course, there's a good love story woven through it, along with the promise of at least one more to come.

From the publisher:

In 1772 England, Lady Keturah Banning Tomlinson and her sisters find themselves the heiresses of their father's estates and know they have one option: Go to the West Indies to save what is left of their heritage.

Although it flies against all the conventions, they're determined to make their own way in the world. But once they arrive in the Caribbean, conventions are the least of their concerns. On the infamous island of Nevis, the sisters discover the legacy of the legendary sugar barons has vastly declined -- and that's just the start of what their eyes are opened to in this harsh and unfamiliar world.

Keturah never intends to put herself at the mercy of a man again, but every man on the island seems to be trying to win her hand and, with it, the ownership of her plantation. She could desperately use an ally, but even an unexpected reunion with a childhood friend leaves her questioning his motives.

To keep her family together and save the plantation that is her last chance at providing for them, can Keturah ever surrender her stubbornness and guarded heart to God and find the healing and love awaiting her?

By the same author: Grave Consequences, Glamorous Illusions, The Blessed, The Betrayed, The Begotten

Visit the Baker Publishing Group for info on where to buy.

©2008-2018 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Scripture and a Snapshot - Palm Sunday

Carry Your Name, Kat - March 2016

As he was drawing near--already on the way down the Mount of Olives--the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples." He answered, "I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out."

~Luke 19:37-40~

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As for me I will always have hope;

I will praise you more and more.

My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds,

of your saving acts all day long--

though I know not how to relate them all.

I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, Sovereign LORD;

I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.

Even when I am old and gray,

do not forsake me, my God,

till I declare your power to the next generation,

your mighty acts to all who are to come.

Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,

you have done great things,

who is like you, God?

~Psalm 71:14-19~

Hosanna!

Scripture & a Snapshot is hosted by A Glimpse of Our Life.

Sunday Scripture Blessings is hosted by Peabea Scribble Pad.

Glimpses is hosted by Embracing Every Day, a lifestyle blog by Barbie Swihart. 

©2008-2018 Just A Second. All rights reserved. All text, photographs, artwork, and other content may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written consent of the author. http://justasecondblog.blogspot.com/ 

 We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.