Scripture and A Snapshot - February 28, 2015

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But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: 

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; 

his mercies never come to an end; 

they are new every morning; 

great is your faithfulness.

"The LORD is my portion," says my soul, 

"therefore I will hope in Him."

~Lamentations 3:21-24~

This artwork was done by my daughter this past week, and I shared it in an art post on my homeschool blog, with this brief explanation:

It wasn't for an assignment, and she couldn't explain exactly why she'd chosen a scene like this. When she showed it to me and commented that it was kind of dark, I asked her if she was doing artwork in phases like Picasso, and this was her Dark Phase. She thought for a moment and said "No, because if it was really a Dark Phase, I wouldn't have included the cross."

Sometimes it seems that we go through a "dark phase" when the news seems to be mostly bad, the challenges seem overwhelming, and we feel we are drowning in sadness. If that is where you are today, I pray that you will find comfort and hope in knowing that God's faithfulness and mercy are greater than any darkness you face. 

Scripture & a Snapshot is hosted by A Glimpse of Our Life.
The Weekend Brew is hosted by My Freshly Brewed Life.

©2008-2015 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/

Teaser Tuesdays - February 24, 2015

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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!

"You see," Max explained as he pumped, "there's different kinds of dead: there's sort of dead, mostly dead, and all dead. This fella here, he's only sort of dead, which means there's still a memory inside, there's still bits of brain. You apply a little pressure here, a little more there, sometimes you get results."
~The Princess Bride by William Goldman, page 317

He had yet to see an unarmed genius outduel an idiot with a pistol. He'd rather stand with half a dozen fighters who could swing a sword and weren't smart enough to know the odds than two dozen Lund Landers who could make a clock out of chicken bones and clothespins.
~The Legend of the Firefish by George Bryan Polivka, page 158

©2008-2015 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/

Recent Reads - A Change of Fortune

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A Change of Fortune by Jen Turano -  The delightful cover image is what got my attention with this book, but once I started reading, it didn't take long for me to fall in love with the characters and wonder what kinds of trouble the spunky heroine could get herself into in her determination to retrieve her stolen fortune.

Lady Eliza has come from England to New York to try and find her father's former estate manager, who has stolen the family fortune and is posing as a member of the nobility. She has taken a governess position while she looks for more information about the thief. She meets Hamilton Beckett at a dinner party in the opening chapter, but the real fun begins when they encounter each other again while exploring breaking and entering at the house where Eliza believes her stolen goods may be hidden. The evening ends in near-disaster, with Eliza and her friend Agatha mistakenly arrested, and then being dismissed by her employer, but Hamilton is there to lend assistance. They join forces to bring down the bad guys, since they realize that the villains are somehow connected; and Hamilton invites Eliza to stay with his family until her fortune has been restored. It's no surprise that the two fall for each other.

  I adored the characters and the fast-paced rollicking storyline, even though I was continually telling myself things like, "that would never have happened" and "that is so completely unlikely".  The story is full of scenarios that are unlikely in the extreme, beginning with the theft of Eliza's fortune. I found it next to impossible to believe that an estate manager could blithely leave England with chests full of valuables and pose as a member of the British nobility in New York during this time period. That's just loaded with improbabilities. There are numerous such inconsistencies as well as the requisite type of amazing coincidences to keep drawing characters together, but for all that the story is well told, and with such interesting characters that I couldn't help but enjoy it and I am interested in reading more from this series.

If you're a stickler for historical accuracy (and I usually am), this may be a frustrating read, but if you're willing to overlook the over-the-top inconsistencies in favor of a light-hearted clean romance, you may enjoy this one as I did.

©2008-2015 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/

Scripture and a Snapshot - February 21, 2015

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O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you.

Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble.

The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high;

he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness,

and he will be the stability of your times, 

abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge;

the fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure.

~Isaiah 33:2, 5-6~

Scripture & a Snapshot is hosted by A Glimpse of Our Life.
The Weekend Brew is hosted by My Freshly Brewed Life.

©2008-2015 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/

Recent Reads - Ticker

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Ticker by Lisa Mantchev - Penny Farthing has a clockwork heart. The doctor who invented it saved her life, but at what cost to others? Dr Warwick is awaiting trial for murder, because his testing of improvements to the Ticker and other Augmentations have killed dozens of people. On the last day of his trial, there are protests throughout Bazalgate, and an explosion at the Farthings' factory that nearly kills Penny's brother Nic. When Penny and Nic finally make it home, they discover that their parents have been kidnapped, and they receive a ransom note demanding all the research for Augmentation.

With the help of friends Violet and Sebastian, and the head of the security force army, Marcus Kingsley, Penny and Nic try to stay ahead of the mysterious enemies and unravel the mystery of who has kidnapped their parents and why.

This is the first steampunk novel I've read, and I have to say I loved it from the opening sentence. Well, from my first look at the cover art, actually! Bazalgate is set in an alternate universe that is a charming - and surprisingly believable - combination of Victorian industrial and futuristic mechanical world. The story is told from Penny's point of view, and she is delightfully plucky and determined character, with a witty and slightly ironic voice. The mystery was detailed enough to keep me guessing even when I had a good hunch as to what was going on, and the romantic elements were sweet and clean, yet with an undercurrent of powerful emotion and passion. This was another occasion when I absolutely fell in love with a book that is clearly intended for a young adult audience. It is so well-written and clever that I can heartily recommend it to adult and teen readers alike. In fact, I have already encouraged my young teen daughter to read it when she has the chance, and I myself am hoping to be able to read more by this author.

©2008-2015 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/

Recent Reads - Where Trust Lies

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Where Trust Lies by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan - This book follows Beth Thatcher as she returns home for a summer break after spending a year teaching school in a small mining town in Alberta. Of course Beth is eager to see her family again, but a visit home also means being parted from Jarrick, the Mountie who had just begun courting her. Beth is often surprised at how much she has grown accustomed to the much more primitive conditions of Coal Valley compared to her family's elegant lifestyle in Toronto, and is initially dismayed when plans for a family steamship cruise are announced. She worries that it will be even more difficult for Jarrick to communicate with her, and that she might miss the hoped-for letter inviting her back to Coal Valley to teach for another year.

With arrangements made for mail to be forwarded and the possibility of a phone call from Jarrick at some of the stops on the cruise, Beth agrees to join her mother and sisters on the cruise. But the family dynamics are sometimes strained as Beth tries to reconnect with her mother, and as younger sister Julie often insists on going her own way rather than listening to advice or practicing much caution in her choice of companions. Just when it seems the gently moving story will have only mild family tensions as the problems to be overcome, things do get genuinely dramatic and the pace picks up as one of the sisters finds herself in danger and the rest of the family must come together to keep up hope and faith for a happy ending.

I loved the descriptions of the sites in Quebec and Eastern Canada that the family visits, and enjoyed the sweet relationship growing between Beth and Jarrick, even across so many miles. The tensions between family members were interesting, and as I read, I often was reminded that the so-called generation gap is not so very new! Mrs Thatcher had her view of the world and what she thought was appropriate, and in their own ways, all three of her daughters were taking a more contemporary approach to life - Margret questioned the necessity of allowing the nanny to have strict and regimented control of her baby's upbringing; Beth wanted to be able to pursue her education and career and make her own decisions; and Julie often fought against what she thought of as "old-fashioned" views because she admired her new flapper friends and their daring style and thirst for adventure. It is Julie's recklessness that results in the great crisis towards the end of the book, and although in some ways I could see something like that coming, it was a bigger threat than I had anticipated. Julie was not an easy character for me to like or sympathize with, possibly because some of her imprudent decisions reminded me of my own mistakes as a young person, or some of the things my own son has done that I thought were foolish!

Another very enjoyable read, and I have to assume that another book in the series will pick up where this one left off, so that we can find out what happens to Beth and her Mountie next!

From the publisher:
She loves her friends and students in the West, but family obligations have called her home. Where does she truly belong?

After a year of teaching in the Canadian West, Beth Thatcher returns home to her family. She barely has time to settle in before her mother announces plans for a family holiday -- a luxurious steamship tour along the eastern coast of Canada and the United States. Hoping to reconnect with her mother and her sisters, Beth agrees to join them, but she quickly realizes that things have changed since she went away, and renewing their close bond is going to be more challenging than she expected.

There's one special thing to look forward to -- letters and telephone calls from Jarrick, the Mountie who has stolen her heart. The distance between them is almost too much to bear. But can she give her heart to Jarrick when it will mean saying good-bye to her family once again -- and possibly forever? And will she still want to live in the western wilds after the steamship tour opens up a world of people and places she never imagined?

Then comes a great test of Beth's faith. Someone in her family has trusted the wrong person, and suddenly everything Beth knows and loves is toppled. Torn between her family and her dreams, will Beth finally discover where her heart truly belongs?

A companion story to Hallmark Channel's When Calls the Heart TV series!

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

By the same authors: Where Courage Calls

©2008-2015 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/

Teaser Tuesdays - February 17, 2015

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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!

"Fool!" cried the hunchback. "You fell victim to one of the classic blunders. The most famous is 'Never get involved in a land war in Asia,' but only slightly less well known in this: 'Never go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.'"
He was quite cheery until the iocane powder took effect.
~The Princess Bride by William Goldman, page 180


"Miss Sumner is too pretty to be a nanny," Piper remarked to no one in particular.
"She's not too pretty to be our mama," Ben said.
~A Change of Fortune by Jen Turano, 32% on my Kindle

©2008-2015 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/

Recent Reads - Night of a Thousand Stars

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Night of a Thousand Stars by Deanna Raybourn - Poppy Hammond is at the church, about to be married to an aristocrat and have a safe and sensible life, when she makes her decision. She flees the chapel in her wedding gown, and with some help from the handsome curate who happens by as she is planning her escape. Sebastian Cantrip gives her a listening ear and a lift to her father's country village, and Poppy thinks of him as her hero. After the family has all had their say about her broken engagement, she tries to contact Sebastian again only to find that he seems to have disappeared. With the help of her lady's maid, Poppy tracks down some clues and heads off to the middle east in search of Sebastian and adventure. Apparently there is more to Sebastian than she first thought, and she seems to have found even more adventure and danger than she'd bargained for.

Fans of Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia mysteries will find some familiar characters in this book even though it takes place many years after the final Lady Julia story. Poppy is a headstrong character with a thirst for adventure and a yearning to make her own way; and an intriguing mix of naivety and worldliness. She jumps to conclusions about Sebastian and other characters and totally misreads some of the signs around her, but her grit and determination are endearing even when she is a bit  clueless. There are plenty of twists and turns, and maybe a few surprises along the way as Poppy unravels the mystery and finds that she may be living out a family destiny.

Although I'm still disappointed that there won't be any more Lady Julia mysteries, I was delighted with this quirky heroine and her story; and glad that there was a little tie-in to Lady Julia to help bridge the gap. There are references to and appearances by characters from A Spear of Summer Grass and City of Jasmine as well, neatly tying all together. I'm eagerly awaiting whatever Raybourn has in store for readers next!

By the same author: Bonfire Night, Twelfth Night, City of Jasmine, Whisper of Jasmine, Midsummer Night; A Spear of Summer Grass, Silent in the Grave, Silent in the Sanctuary, Dark Road to Darjeeling, The Dark Enquiry, Silent Night, The Dead Travel Fast

©2008-2015 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/

Scripture and a Snapshot - February 14, 2015

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Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. it does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Three things will last forever -- faith, hope, and love -- and the greatest of these is love.

~I Corinthians 13:4-7; 13 ~

Scripture & a Snapshot is hosted by A Glimpse of Our Life.
The Weekend Brew is hosted by My Freshly Brewed Life.

©2008-2015 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/

Teaser Tuesdays - February 10, 2015

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Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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!

"Is she dead?"

Eliza was having the loveliest dream regarding a dashing hero who just happened to look exactly like Hamilton, but it seemed somewhat odd to have that particular question interrupt it.

~A Change of Fortune by Jen Turano, 30% on my Kindle

Shopping with Mother was difficult. Shopping with Margret and Mother was taxing. But shopping with Julie and Margret and Mother would be nearly unbearable. She steeled herself to endure the day.

~Where Trust Lies by Jeannette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan, 9% on my Kindle

Although I'd already gotten to 'know' Beth (the "she" in the quote from Where Trust Lies) by the time I read this far, I found it entertaining to meet up with a young lady who had to steel herself to endure a day of shopping for clothes!

©2008-2015 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/

Scripture and a Snapshot - February 8, 2015

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Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

~I Thessalonians 5:16-18~

Scripture & a Snapshot is hosted by A Glimpse of Our Life.
The Weekend Brew is hosted by My Freshly Brewed Life.

©2008-2015 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/

Recent Reads - The Dancing Master

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The Dancing Master by Julie Klassen - Alec Valcourt moves his mother and sister to a village in Devonshire, hoping to be able to support them as a dancing and fencing master. To his surprise, there is an unwritten law that prohibits all dancing, an edict from Lady Amelia Midwinter in response to some painful event in her past. Lady Midwinter hires Alec as a clerk on her estate, however, and he develops a friendship with her daughter, Julia. Julia seems reckless and flirtatious, and the attraction between the two is quite obvious, but Alec realizes that it's unlikely that he would ever receive permission to court her. Julia's relationship with her mother becomes more strained as she tries to understand what secrets from the past are still driving Lady Midwinter to view dancing masters with such disdain, and as she starts to unravel secrets about her own past as well. She also wonders what is hidden in Alec's past, since he avoids giving information about his life in London and why he left.

The theme of past secrets and shame intruding upon the present is woven throughout the storyline. Each of the three main characters (Alec, Julia, and Lady Amelia) have something in their past that haunts them and affects them deeply. Alec is an easy character to like and sympathize with, although one wonders at times why he is so enamored of Julia. Her behavior is spoiled, petulant, and self-centered a great deal of the time, but as I got to know her I sympathized with her more. Lady Amelia is definitely not a likeable woman at the beginning of the book either. There are several twists and turns as the mysteries and secrets of the past are uncovered bit by bit.

Overall, this was a wonderful and unusual story. It's rather different from many of this type in that so much of the story is told from Alec's viewpoint, and that Lady Amelia is a major character rather than a secondary one. This was the first Julie Klassen novel that I've read, but I know I shall be looking to read more from her!

©2008-2014 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/

Recent Reads - Where Courage Calls

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Where Courage Calls (Return to the Canadian West) (Volume 1) by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan - I have been a loyal reader of Janette Oke's books for ever so many years, and especially enjoyed the Canadian West series, which followed Elizabeth Thatcher's adventures as she became a schoolteacher in frontier Alberta and eventually married the RCMP officer she met there. So when I caught sight of a new book by Oke and her daughter that carries on the series, I bought it immediately.

Beth Thatcher is about to leave her beautiful Toronto home to become a schoolteacher in the little mining town of Coal Valley, Alberta. In many ways she is following in the footsteps of her relative and namesake, Elizabeth. The conditions in Coal Valley shock her at first - there is no school building, and there are very few of the amenities she is accustomed to. The children have had very little education, and most of them lost their fathers in a recent mining accident. The widows have little and are largely at the mercy of the mining company, but have banded together to provide their children with an education. Beth comes to love the people and think of the town as her home. She also finds that her affections are somewhat torn between Edward, the young man who is a family friend and has come west as an RCMP officer, and Jack, the Mountie who often visits Coal Valley in the course of his duties. When her year contract is up, she will have to make some difficult decisions about whether she wants to return, and which man will win her heart.

As in the previous books of the series, I loved reading about places that are familiar to me, being from southern Alberta. The story-telling takes a gentle pace, and explores Beth's thoughts and feelings as she adjusts to life on her own in a much different world than the one that she grew up in. For much of the book, the focus is on the relationships within the mining town and Beth's interactions with the people, but the possibility of romance is an undercurrent. There are a couple of surprise twists in the story that add some suspense, and I must admit that I really didn't know which of the two Mounties Beth would choose if she had the opportunity - not until the outcome was revealed!

I'm now eager to get through the next book and find out what happens next!

©2008-2015 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/

Teaser Tuesdays - February 3, 2015

This post may contain affiliate links.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. 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!

 I finished Ticker by Lisa Mantchev a couple days ago - my review is coming soon!

"My dearest Miss Farthing, will you do me the unutterable honor of wearing this cheap bit of metal that will most likely turn your finger green, pretending to love and honor me as your husband for the purposes of subterfuge and strategem?"
"My hearts and stars, that will go down in the history books as the most romantic business proposition of the century, I am certain." Still my Ticker thudded in its new, horrible way as Marcus slid the ring onto my finger.

~Ticker by Lisa Mantchev, 68% on my Kindle

©2008-2015 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/