A Tree, A Book, and A Breeze

Playing by Heart Anne Mateer Bethany House Lula Bowman has finally achieved her dream: a teaching position and a scholarship to continue her college education in mathematics. But when she receives a shocking telephone call from her sister, Jewel, everything she's worked for begins to crumble. After the sudden death of Jewel's husband, Jewel needs Lula's help. With a heavy heart, Lula returns to her Oklahoma hometown to do right by her sister. But the only teaching job available in Dunn is combination music instructor/basketball coach. Neither subject belongs anywhere near the halls of academia, according to Lula! Lula commits to covering the job for the rest of the school year, determined to do well and prove herself to the town. Reluctantly, she turns to the boys' coach, Chet, to learn the game of basketball. Chet is handsome and single, but Lula has no plans to fall for a local boy. She's returning to college as soon as she gets Jewel back on her feet.  ...

A Home For My Heart Anne Mateer Bethany House Publishers I was definitely looking forward to this book from Anne Mateer. Her previous novels, Wings of a Dream and At Every Turn , were sweet and fun, and that’s what I was expecting with A Home For My Heart . However, while A Home For My Heart was without a doubt a very sweet story, it didn’t live up to my expectations. The main reason this book didn’t click with me was because of the main character. I just couldn’t warm up to Sadie, even though I wanted to. Mateer’s heroines always have some flaw they have to overcome, of course, but in this one the way Sadie caused a mess just made me annoyed rather than sympathetic to her character. I did find it a little odd at first that this is my least favorite of Anne Mateer’s books when it’s also the one that has the most endorsements by popular authors, but I do think there are a lot of people who will like this book, even if I didn’t. I, personally, just had a hard time getti...