Just A Second: February 2018

Tuesday, February 27

Teaser Tuesday/First Chapter First Paragraph - As Death Draws Near

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!

I frowned, glancing down at the missive one more time, and then set it aside. "A nun murdered in a convent? This sounds like the beginning of some ghastly Gothic novel. One expects a mad monk or a poorly disguised ghost to appear next."

~As Death Draws Near (A Lady Darby Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber, at 3% on my Kindle

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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.

For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
- PSALM 88:3, BIBLE, KING JAMES VERSION

JULY 1831

KESWICK, ENGLAND

It began with a letter. Or perhaps, more accurately, a messenger. Though I suppose it's pointless to quibble over such a triviality.

My new husband, Sebastian Gage, and I had been enjoying a delightful picnic at the top of a hill overlooking Derwentwater in the thick of the Lake District of Cumberland. Our mutual friend, Lord Keswick, had offered us the use of his home, Brandelhow Manor, for our wedding trip while he and his family were in London for the season, and we had happily accepted. After a rather tumultuous ten months, filled with murderous inquiries, an uneasy courtship, my sister's difficult childbirth, our rushed marriage, and the grim court trial from a recent investigation, we had both longed to escape the clamor and bustle of daily life for a time.

Here's the blurb:

In this historical mystery from the national bestselling author of A Brush with Shadows, Lady Kiera Darby and Sebastian Gage get tangled in a dangerous web of religious and political intrigue.

July 1831. In the midst of their idyllic honeymoon in England's Lake District, Kiera and Gage's seclusion is soon interrupted by a missive from her new father-in-law. A deadly incident involving a distant relative of the Duke of Wellington has taken place at an abbey south of Dublin, Ireland, and he insists that Kiera and Gage look into the matter.

Intent on discovering what kind of monster could murder a woman of the cloth, the couple travel to Rathfarnham Abbey school. Soon a second nun is slain in broad daylight near a classroom full of young girls. With the sinful killer growing bolder, the mother superior would like the send the students home, but the growing civil unrest in Ireland would make the journey treacherous.

Before long, Kiera starts to suspect that some of the girls may be hiding a sinister secret. With the killer poised to strike yet again, Kiera and Gage must make haste and unmask the fiend, before their matrimonial bliss comes to an untimely end.

What do you think? Would you continue reading?

If you like the sounds of this one, you may be interested in the first in the Lady Darby series, The Anatomist's Wife (A Lady Darby Mystery Book 1) which is on sale for Kindle right now:

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Monday, February 26

Bookshelf Review - February 2018

This post contains affiliate links.

February's Books Completed and Reviewed

The Ladies of Ivy Cottage (Tales from Ivy Hill) by Julie Klassen - Miss Rachel Ashford is a gentlewoman in reduced circumstances, but should she consider marriage to the distant cousin who inherited her family home, or take a chance on rekindling the relationship with her past sweetheart Sir Timothy Brockwell? (Read my full review HERE.)

"What are you saying?" Sir Timothy's jaw tensed, and Rachel saw dark suspicions glinting in his eyes. He guessed, or at least feared, more than he let on.

Judah's Wife: A Novel of the Maccabees (The Silent Years) by Angela Hunt - The story of the Maccabean revolt told from the point of view of Leah, the young wife of Judas Maccabeus. (Read my full review HERE.)

I had feared my father. I had despised my mother for what I perceived as weakness. And I had withheld love from Judah because he would not honor me before HaShem. I knew very little about loving, but perhaps I could learn.

During February I started reading:

The Mayflower Bride: Daughters of the Mayflower by Kimberley Woodhouse - Mary Elizabeth is one of the Separatists headed to the New World on the Mayflower, and William is one of the Strangers. But their lives soon become intertwined during the times of uncertainty and hardship.

As the Mayflower drew nearer to the shore, a new sense of delight made Mary Elizabeth smile. After so many days at sea, they were finally here. No matter what they faced next, it couldn't be near as horrifying as what they'd been through already. She was sure of it.

A Light on the Hill (Cities of Refuge) by Connilyn Cossette - This novel picks up Cossette's Exodus series with Moriyah, who was introduced in Wings of the Wind.

From the moment my friend Alanah and I had been kidnapped by Midianite traders from the Hebrew camp, I'd determined to cling to Yahweh--to the hope that somehow my people would rescue us from Jericho before they invaded. But after being stolen from the home of Alanah's sister Rahab, where we'd taken refuge for the past few months, and tied to this Asherah pole in the courtyard of the temple, I'd been forced to acknowledge that Yahweh may not have heard my pleas, or deigned to answer.

As Death Draws Near (A Lady Darby Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber - Started reading this on my Kindle, but have been interrupted too many times lately! Will get back to it soon because Lady Darby is one of my favorites!

"Sometimes the truth of our actions eludes us. Sometimes we require others to point it out."

Coming Up in March!

A Treacherous Curse (A Veronica Speedwell Mystery) by Deanna Reybourn
Keturah (The Sugar Baron's Daughters) by Lisa T. Bergren
The Weaver's Daughter: A Regency Romance Novel by Sarah E. Ladd
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, February 27
The Book Date - Reading Month In Review 2018 - February

Sunday, February 25

Scripture and a Snapshot - The Flowers Fall

A voice says, "Cry out."

And I said, "What shall I cry?"

"All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

because the breath of the LORD blows on them.

Surely the people are grass.

The grass withers and the flowers fall,

but the word of our God endures forever."

~Isaiah 40:6-8~

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.

Friday, February 23

Recent Reads - Judah's Wife

This post contains affiliate links.

Judah's Wife: A Novel of the Maccabees (The Silent Years) by Angela Hunt - This is the second novel in Hunt's "The Silent Years" series, which focuses on Israel's history between the time of the Old and New Testaments. And in this one, she brings to life the Maccabean revolt by telling the story from the point of view of Leah, the wife of Judas Maccabeus. Leah is a fictional character, of course, but as this story goes back and forth between her first person account and Judah's, the facts and setting of historical events are put into perspective and given a face.

Leah has grown up in an unhappy home, with a cruel and hypocritical father and a seemingly weak and passive mother, so she hopes for stability and safety when she agrees to marry Judah. Judah certainly treats her well, and his family seems to welcome her, but Leah is cautious and reserved, and is very careful to not do anything to upset her new husband - just in case he turns on her like her father did. Judah loves his new bride, but doesn't quite know how to show her or how to get to know her better.

The entire Maccabees family moves to a village away from, Jerusalem where they believe they can live out their Jewish faith without interference from the ruling Seleucids or the Hellenes (Jews who have adopted Gentile practices), and Judah and Leah are settling into married life when Judah's father kills a representative of the Gentile king who has tried to force the Jews to worship a pagan god. The period of time known as the Maccabean revolt began and eventually Judah became the leader of the growing army of faithful Jews. Leah is terrified of all violence and does everything she can think of to convince Judah to abandon the cause and stay home with her - where it's safe and peaceful. But as time goes on, and Leah learns more about love and faithfulness from her husband and mother-in-law, even she must accept that the Maccabean cause is just, and that Judah's purpose is to lead the army.

But what is Leah's purpose? Does HaShem (God) have a purpose for her? And what will loving Judah and finding her purpose cost her?

This is a gripping story that kept me turning pages all the way through, but as anyone who is familiar with the history of Israel might guess, the ending is not entirely happy. The story-telling is masterful though, and I came away feeling like I knew and understood so much more about what the Maccabees were fighting for and how God was continuing to work in Israel even during what we call the "silent years".

From the publisher:

To Be Silent Would Be to Deny Their God, To Defy Would Bring the Wrath of the King.

Seeking quiet and safety after a hard childhood, Leah marries Judah, a strong and gentle man, and for the first time in her life Leah believes she'll have peace. But the very nation Judah was named for has been conquered by a cruel king, who decrees that all Jews are to conform to Syrian laws or risk death for following the laws of Moses.

Judah's father resists the decree, igniting a war that will cost him his life. But before dying, he commands Judah to pick up his sword and continue the fight--or bear responsibility for the obliteration of Israel. Leah, who wants nothing but peace, struggles with her husband's decision--what kind of God would destroy the peace she has sought for so long?

The miraculous story of the courageous Maccabees is told through the eyes of Judah's wife, who learns that love required courage . . . and sacrifice.

By the same author: Egypt's Sister, Bathesheba: Reluctant Beauty