Wordless Wednesday - Country Roads

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Some of the local roads have wide open views, and some seem to edge up against the crops.

And every now and again, your choice to go down a little traveled road will take you to a one-lane bridge over a little creek like this one.

And that's why I so often choose the winding roads through farmland and woods rather than the highway.

This post is linked at Wordless Wednesday, hosted by Life on Chickadee Lane.

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Recent Reads - An Artless Demise

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An Artless Demise (A Lady Darby Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber - Kiera and Sebastian Gage are enjoying a Guy Fawkes Night gathering with friends in London when the news arrives of a murder that appears to be the work of resurrectionists. Because of Kiera's history (her first husband was a surgeon who forced her to use her artistic skill to draw anatomy), she is subjected to suspicions and snubs from many in society as she and Gage trace clues about the murder. Then young heirs to titles in fashionable Mayfair fall prey to a murderer, and the situation escalates further when Kiera is the victim of blackmail.

Are the Mayfair murders the work of 'burkers' or is someone taking advantage of the fear gripping London? Kiera and Gage face the monumental task of figuring out the motive and finding the murderer, all while facing the threat to Kiera and her unborn child from blackmailers.

By the same author: The Anatomist's Wife, Mortal Arts; A Grave Matter, A Study in Death, A Pressing Engagement, This Side of Murder, As Death Draws Near, A Brush With Shadows. Treacherous Is The Night

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Scripture and a Snapshot - Pleasant Places

LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup;

you make my lot secure.

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

surely I have a delightful inheritance.

I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;

even at night my heart instructs me.

I keep my eyes always on the LORD.

With him at my right hand I will not be shaken.

~Psalm 16:5-8~

I love what the psalmist says here, as he acknowledges that his lot in life is a good one and praises the Lord for it. Obviously we don't always feel like we're in a good place, and some of us are not in a good place. But I think each of us can find something that we are thankful for - if nothing else, we have the Lord. 

My 'boundary lines' are indeed in pleasant places! I love my home and where I live, my family, my faith community and my friends. Boundary lines could also be the guidelines and guard rails in place to keep me safe and faithful to the Lord. Those are in pleasant places too, partly because I'm old enough to recognize that boundaries are a good thing! 

I also have a 'delightful inheritance' in the faith and values that have been passed down through the generations of my family and the people I hold dear. That is the inheritance I have the responsibility to hand on to my children and grandchildren. 

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Share Four Somethings - July 2019

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It's time once again to look back over the month and share Something Loved, Something Said, Something Learned, and Something Read. July has been very busy and full - not quite the relaxed summer pace I might have expected!

Something Loved

We celebrated Canada Day and Independence Day - and our daughter's birthday!

There was a beautiful wedding to attend.

My husband's hockey league held their annual charity tournament and raised over $17,000 for Platoon 22.

We enjoyed a lot of fun times with family and friends!

Something Said

A simple statement in a Facebook post from a young friend.

If you live close to the people you love, never take it for granted. ~ Haleigh Engels

Something Learned

Did you know that Charles De Gaulle had a daughter with Down Syndrome? And that he and his wife kept her with them rather than put her in an institution as was common practice at the time? I found this little article on an author's Facebook page and learned something about this historical figure who is usually remembered only for his leadership of the French Resistance and as the President of France following World War II. Interesting story about him, and also a reminder that political leaders have families and private lives that are sometimes a contrast to how they are portrayed as public figures.

General Charles De Gaulle is well known throughout modern history as the leader of the Free French Forces. What is not as well known is that his youngest daughter Anne (January 1, 1928 - February 6, 1948) had Down syndrome.
Although public perception of the time was that children born with Down syndrome were a result of their parents [sic] alcoholism, venereal disease or overall degeneracy, the De Gaulles rejected this notion, choosing instead to raise Anne like their other two children. Their personal life became very private and Anne was raised at home, not in an institution (as was common practice at the time). It has been said often that Anne was Charles' favorite child. Described as a man who ranged from cocky to stoic by nature, he was a different person around Anne, reportedly describing her as "My joy". He is said to have read stories and sang songs to her and showed an affection that he rarely showed others, even those in his own household. Anne was raised to feel no less or different than anyone else.
After the war, Charles and his wife Yvonne founded the Fondation Anne de Gaulle, a home for disabled girls, many of which [sic] had intellectual impairments. In 1948, Anne succumbed to pneumonia a month after her 20th birthday, and died in her father's arms. Upon her death, he is said to have remarked "Maintenant, elle est comme les autres." ("Now, she is like the others.") . . . When Charles died, he was buried beside his beloved Anne. 

Something Read

I completed three books in July, and I'm pretty close to finished with another two. You can see more about my reading in my Monthly Bookshelf Review for July 2019.

The Heart Changer by Jarm Del Boccio
A Caribbean Mystery: A Miss Marple Mystery by Agatha Christie
The Red Door Inn (Prince Edward Island Dreams Book 1): A Novel by Liz Johnson



   

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 ©2008-2019 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/ 

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Monthly Bookshelf Review - July 2019

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July has been a busy month and honestly, it felt like I read more than what this summary seems to show. Summer hasn't given me much reading time, or at least not yet. We'll see what August holds!

July's Books Completed and Reviewed

The Heart Changer by Jarm Del Boccio - This was reviewed originally for the Homeschool Review Crew and is a book intended for middle grades, so it was a quick read for me. It's a novel for young teens based on a Biblical story. (Read my full review HERE)




A Caribbean Mystery: A Miss Marple Mystery by Agatha Christie - I finally managed to finish a Facebook book club pick in time to participate at least a little in the discussion! This Miss Marple mystery was one I don't remember reading previously, but was very enjoyable.  (Read my full review HERE)




The Red Door Inn (Prince Edward Island Dreams Book 1): A Novel by Liz Johnson - I had this on my Kindle and it's a little outside what I usually choose, since it's a contemporary setting. But it fit with one of the reading challenges I'm working on, and it's set in Prince Edward Island, Canada, so I actually quite enjoyed it. (Read my full review HERE)

During July I started reading:

Unshakeable: A Story of Unwavering Faith and Conviction by Elizabeth Wiens - I got to work on this one for a review for The Old Schoolhouse Magazine and website. It's a novel about a Christian homeschooling family that decides to disobey a new law that made home education illegal. In a way, it's a difficult read because so much of it really could happen.




The Year of Living Danishly: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country by Helen Russell - This is essentially a memoir of a young British woman who moves to Denmark with her husband, and her attempt to discover why the Danish people have such a consistently high happiness rating. It's interesting, but slow going at this point.

During July I continued reading:

An Artless Demise (A Lady Darby Mystery) by Anna Lee Huber - Almost finished with the latest Lady Darby mystery, and I must admit that I'm still pretty much in the dark about the murderer and his motive.

Coming Up in August!

Immanuel Labor: God's Presence in Our Profession by Russell E. Gehrlein
A Study In Scarlet Women (The Lady Sherlock Series) by Sherry Thomas
Secrets in the Mist (A Gothic Myths Novel) by Anna Lee Huber


  

This post will be linked at:

Feed Your Fiction Addiction - July 2019 Wrap-Up Round-Up & Giveaway

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Scripture and a Snapshot - Evening Sacrifice

I call to you, LORD, come quickly to me;

hear me when I call to you.

May my prayer be set before you like incense;

may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.

~Psalm 141:1-2~

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The Express Bride

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The Express Bride by Kimberley Woodhouse -  After her father's death, Jacqueline "Jack" Rivers took over management of his Pony Express station, thriving in her work but worried that the company will not allow her to continue in the position once they realize she's a woman. She is still grieving her dad when Elijah Johnson arrives looking for information about someone that may have passed through the area twenty-some years ago. Jackie and Elijah quickly strike up a friendship and Elijah decides to stay at the station for awhile, awaiting further instructions from his employer. Another guest at the same time is a government official who approaches both Jackie and Elijah about helping him gather information about counterfeiters operating in the Utah territory.

Elijah has been commissioned by his employer, Mr Vines, to follow the trail of the wife and daughter that left more than twenty years ago. Anna Vines had escaped her husband's abuse with her infant, and had covered her tracks very well, but Vines is a changed man and his failing health has motivated him to make one more attempt to reconnect with his daughter. Elijah doesn't have much information to go on - Anna had headed west, had traveled under different names, and had passed away when the daughter was about three - but some cryptic entries in the guestbook at Jackie's station seem to match up so he sticks around to find out more. As he puts the pieces together, he begins to suspect that Jackie may actually be the long-lost daughter and heir of his employer. And if she is, how will she take that news? Will she believe that Elijah is genuine in his growing affection for her, or will she think he is trying to get access to the fortune she could inherit?

The novel opens with the prologue of Anna Vines and her desperate bid to escape her drunken and abusive husband, and keep her infant daughter safe. So the reader has some inside information that Jackie is almost certainly the long-lost daughter of Charles Vines. Jackie and Elijah are both engaging sympathetic characters, and an older and wiser Mr Vines is as well. The historical detail and background of how the Pony Express station operates creates an intriguing backdrop for the whole story, and I quickly found myself hoping that Jackie and Elijah would discover the truth about her identity and looking forward to a joyful reunion with Jackie's biological father.

The subplot about the counterfeiting operation seemed disconnected from the main story right from the start, and I felt like it was there only as a device to add an element of danger. It also added some suspense when Elijah was gravely injured in a stagecoach attack and because he was unconscious for quite some time, he and Jackie were unable to exchange any information. But in my opinion, the storyline about the counterfeiting operation was an unrelated aside and purely coincidental.

From the publisher:

The Wilderness Is a Great Place to Hide

Jacqueline Rivers manages a Pony Express station in 1860 Utah territory after her father's death. There are daily stresses placed on her in this unconventional role - and now a government official is asking her to sniff out counterfeiters. When Elijah Johnson passes through on the stage while on an exhausting quest to find his boss's heir, he doesn't want to leave the beguiling station manager. In fact, he may never leave when caught in the crossfire of the territory's criminal activities. Jackie can't decide if Elijah is friend or foe. Can she remain strong when secrets of the past and present are finally unearthed?

Other books in this series: The Mayflower Bride, The Pirate Bride, The Captured Bride, The Patriot Bride, The Cumberland Bride, The Liberty Bride, The Alamo Bride, The Golden Bride

Book Nine in the Daughters of the Mayflower series.

By the same author: The Mayflower Bride, The Patriot Bride, The Alamo Bride, The Golden Bride

Visit Barbour Publishing for more info on where to buy.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review.

©2008-2019 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.