A Tree, A Book, and A Breeze

  When the Day Comes Gabrielle Meyer Bethany House Publishers   Libby has been given a powerful gift: to live one life in 1774 Colonial Williamsburg and the other in 1914 Gilded Age New York City. When she falls asleep in one life, she wakes up in the other without any time passing. On her twenty-first birthday, Libby must choose one path and forfeit the other--but how can she possibly decide when she has so much to lose? This is one of the most unique premises for a Christian fiction book that I've yet found. The idea of living in one world and waking in another is something I have read before (any of y'all remember Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy?) But I've never seen it done with historical time periods.  I do admit some of this one was difficult to read, being both stressful and anger-inducing. (In one time period, our main character is forced into marriage and basically raped by her husband). The uncertainty also made it difficult for me to really get attached to ...

  Carved in Ebony Jasmine L. Holmes Bethany House Publishers This book wasn't quite what I expected, although now that I'm taking a better look at the title, I'm realizing I should have guessed that. Rather than being straight-up biographical (as I thought) this mixes biography and memoir. Some of the book was a little repetitive (although, granted, there isn't a whole lot of information to work with for a few of the women) and I would have loved it if it had included at least a few pictures. I think the chapter I enjoyed the most was on Charlotte Forten Grimke; I recognized the last name, and then she was described as a "folklorist" (among many other things!) and then it turns out that she collected folklore from South Carolina's sea islands! All of the ladies included led interesting lives, but I think she's the one I'd most love to have a conversation with. I received a copy of this book for free from the publisher in exchange for...

  Shadows of Swanford Abbey Julie Klassen Bethany House Publishers In pursuit of an author who could help get her brother published, Rebecca Lane stays at Swanford Abbey, a grand hotel rumored to be haunted. It is there she encounters Sir Frederick--the man who broke her heart. When a mysterious death occurs, Rebecca is one of the suspects, and Frederick is torn between his feelings for her and his search for the truth. I enjoyed this one just as much as I have Julie Klassen's other books. This one had a well-developed mystery that reminded me of Charles Dickens (which makes sense, since in the afterward she mentions one of his characters as a particular inspiration.) I especially enjoyed the setting and while this book was lighter on the romance than a lot of the author's other books, I really did love the characters together. In fact, this one had a pretty distinctive cast of characters altogether, and after watching Death on the Nile the other night, I couldn't hel...

 A Heart Adrift Laura Franz Revell   It is 1755, and the threat of war with France looms over colonial York, Virginia. Chocolatier Esmee Shaw is fighting her own battle of the heart. Having reached her twenty-eighth birthday, she is reconciled to life alone after a decade-old failed love affair from which she's never quite recovered. But she longs to find something worthwhile to do with her life. Captain Henri Lennox has returned to port after a lengthy absence, intent on completing the lighthouse in the dangerous Chesapeake Bay, a dream he once shared with Esmee. But when the colonial government asks him to lead a secret naval expedition against the French, his future is plunged into uncertainty. Will a war and a cache of regrets keep them apart, or can their shared vision and dedication to the colonial cause heal the wounds of the past? Bestselling and award-winning author Laura Frantz whisks you away to a time fraught with peril--on the sea and in the heart--...

  A Midnight Dance Joanna Davidson Politano Revell   All theater romances are tragedies. Ella Blythe knows this. Still, she cannot help but hope her own story may turn out different than most--and certainly different than the tragic story of the Ghost of Craven Street Theater. Yet as she struggles to maintain her tenuous place in the ever-shrinking ballet company, win the attentions of principal dancer Philippe, and avoid company flirt Jack, Ella cannot deny the uncanny feeling that her life is mirroring that of the dead ballerina. Is she dancing ever closer to the edge of her own tragic end? Or will the secrets that are about to come to light offer release from the past? Full of twists and turns, A Midnight Dance is centered by a compelling mystery, complicated characters, and an evocative setting. It's not a short novel, but it's an easy one to get sucked into. In reading this book, though, I've realized that I'm actually not a fan of ballet stories- there...

  The Barrister and the Letter of Marque Todd M. Johnson Bethany House   As a barrister in 1818 London, William Snopes has witnessed firsthand the danger of only the wealthy having their voices heard, and he's a strong advocate who defends the poorer classes against the powerful. That changes the day a struggling heiress, Lady Madeleine Jameson, arrives at his door. In a last-ditch effort to save her faltering estate, Lady Jameson invested in a merchant brig, the Padget. The ship was granted a rare privilege by the king's regent: a Letter of Marque authorizing the captain to seize the cargo of French traders operating illegally in the Indian Sea. Yet when the Padget returns to London, her crew is met by soldiers ready to take possession of their goods and arrest the captain for piracy. And the Letter--the sole proof his actions were legal--has mysteriously vanished. Moved by the lady's distress, intrigued by the Letter, and goaded by an opposing solicitor, Snop...

   The Nature of a Lady Roseanna M. White Bethany House Publishers   1906 Lady Elizabeth "Libby" Sinclair, with her love of microscopes and nature, isn't favored in society. She flees to the beautiful Isles of Scilly for the summer and stumbles into the dangerous secrets left behind by her holiday cottage's former occupant, also named Elizabeth, who mysteriously vanished. Oliver Tremayne--gentleman and clergyman--is determined to discover what happened to his sister, and he's happy to accept the help of the girl now living in what should have been Beth's summer cottage . . . especially when he realizes it's the curious young lady he met briefly two years ago, who shares his love of botany and biology. But the hunt for his sister involves far more than nature walks, and he can't quite believe all the secrets Beth had been keeping from him. As Libby and Oliver work together, they find ancient legends, pirate wrecks, betrayal, and the most my...