Mrs. Lee & Mrs. Gray by Dorothy Love

Dorothy Love

ISBN: 9780718042448

Publisher's Synopsis:

Born in bondage at Arlington, Selina Norris Gray learns to read and write in the schoolroom Mary and her mother keep for the slave children and eventually becomes Mary’s housekeeper and confidante. As Mary’s health declines, Selina becomes her personal maid, strengthening a bond that lasts until death parts them.

Forced to flee Arlington at the start of the Civil War, Mary entrusts the keys to her beloved home to no one but Selina. When Union troops begin looting the house, it is Selina who confronts their commander and saves many of its historic treasures.

In a story spanning crude slave quarters, sunny schoolrooms, stately wedding parlors, and cramped birthing rooms, novelist Dorothy Love amplifies the astonishing true-life account of an extraordinary alliance and casts fresh light on the tumultuous years leading up to and through the wrenching battle for a nation’s soul.

"Slavery is a terrible legacy.

But the problem is one that can be resolved only gradually,

and with God's help."

MrsK's Review:

In 1873, "there was a time when Arlington was a magical place." A place in which Mary Anna Custis Lee knew thousands of rolling green hills, working in her mother's gardens, and the joy of teaching the children how to read, write, and do their sums. Her days were endless, her upbringing was comfortable and her determination to help in the efforts of the American Colonization Society was her cause. As the only surviving child of George Washington's grandson she valued the history and personal belongings of America's first president. Her heritage and her Arlington home were part of a legacy that would touch many lives. Yet, her love of her husband Robert E Lee would prove to be her most treasured blessing.

For Selina Norris Gray her training as a seamstress for the main house didn't go as planned. Her first worry was about her learning once Miss Mary married. She knew that one day freedom would come, she knew she had to learn a skill that could take her beyond Arlington. Years later, she would pick up the guardianship role for Arlington and Mrs. Lee. Her devotion to Mrs. Lee would become the saving grace of Washington's Arlington, as well as the most valued friendship of two extraordinary women.

"How much of life is by one simple moment decided."

The seamless weaving of these women's lives is profound. There is so much more to the story of Mrs. Robert E Lee. So much more to the story of a slave girl waiting for her freedom. So much more of an insight as to the character of General Robert E Lee. As these lives unfold, as a reader, you will be encouraged with their loyalty, their love and their determination. Historical facts that were not made known until a trunk was discovered in 2007, will open your eyes into the depths of what it means to be an American; one who is focused on others and making choices that are sound and just.

Exceptional,

MrsK

"True friendship is a plant of slow growth and must

undergo and withstand

the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation."

George Washington

Meet the Author:

Before returning to her writing roots in historical fiction, Dorothy Love published twelve novels for young adults. Her work has garnered numerous honors from the American Library Association, the Friends of American Writers, the International Reading Association, the New York Public Library, and many others.

"I received this book for free from the Fiction Guild for this review."

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

By Rick Yancey

ISBN: 9780142425831

Publisher's Synopsis:

After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.

Now, it's the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who have scattered Earth's last survivors. To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes, until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie's only hope for rescuing her brother-or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.

"I don't cry for myself.

I cry for the Cassie that's gone."

MrsK's Review:

An intrusion in 1995 leads to a plan that will change every one's life. Cassie never had a chance to live out the "normal" teen years. The 4th wave happened. For now, she is trying to survive in the woods and the nights are getting colder. To build a campfire is too risky. The drones are everywhere.

The top steps of the bus were almost too high for little Sammy's legs. Cassie can't believe that her father allowed them to be separated. Once Sammy gave her his bear, he made her a promise that she would meet him at Camp Haven. A promise that will mean death for many.

"Do you know how to tell who the enemy is, Cassie?"

Evan Walker doesn't like what he has become. As a finisher, he is the one to track down and exterminate those who are hiding. It all started once the 4th wave crept into his little sister's body. Tracking this girl who "slept with a teddy bear in one hand and a rifle in the other," wasn't easy. Why couldn't he finisher her?

At the camp, Private Zombie is given charge over the littlest recruit. For now, his charge will need a lot of comfort, extreme training, and the transformation that begins in getting rid of those memories and hopes of his sister's arrival. Following orders means you live. That is until the removal of the tracker brings reality crashing in around you and experience the 5th wave.

With characters that you root for and some you want to see fail, you will be in a mode of survival. Angst will become your adrenalin rush as you as turn these pages. Do you think you have the grit to make it to the end?

MrsK 

"The eye will take care of her."

 
Amazing read
Added to GMT library shelves!  

   

                 The Infinite Sea #2                    The Last Star #3                    

Meet the Author:

   Rick is a native Floridian and a graduate of Roosevelt University in Chicago. He earned a B.A. in English which he put to use as a field officer for the Internal Revenue Service. Inspired and encouraged by his wife, he decided his degree might also be useful in writing books and in 2004 he began writing full-time.

Since then he has launched two critically acclaimed series: The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp, for young readers, and The Highly Effective Detective, for adults. Both books are set in Knoxville, Tennessee, where Rick lived for ten years before returning to Florida.

The Things We Knew by Catherine West

Catherine West

ISBN: 9780718078102

Publisher's Synopsis:

After her mother's death twelve years ago, Lynette Carlisle watched her close-knit family unravel. One by one, her four older siblings left their Nantucket home and never returned. All seem to harbor animosity toward their father, silently blaming him for their mother's death. Nobody will talk about that dreadful day, and Lynette can't remember a bit of it.

But when next-door neighbor Nicholas Cooper returns to Nantucket, he brings the past with him. Once her brother's best friend and Lynette's first crush, Nick seems to hiding things from her. Lynette wonders what he knows about the day her mother died and hopes he might help her remember the things she can't.

"Sometimes in the dead of night..."

MrsK's Review:

Lynette Carlisle is the youngest in her family. A family in which the Nantucket life style once was the most favored amongst the rich and famous. For Lynette, her Nantucket home is her tether in a storm. It's been 12 years since her mother's death. Her siblings have chosen lives away from Nantucket and now her father's memory is failing. For Lynette, the third floor art studio is her sanctuary where she can escape the pressures of her daily responsibilities. Her father taught her to "let the painting speak for itself," yet now some of her paintings are eerily shadowing her horrifying dreams. Lynette is in need of her family, they must come home! Besides, when did Coop return? Where has he been these last five years?

"Dad, stop! You're confused. Let's go home."

Nick Cooper isn't sure why Drake Carlisle is out front yelling for his dad, it's 4:00 am and his dad isn't even home. Nick becomes concerned not only about Drake, but also about Lynette. As long as he can remember, the Carlisles have always been his family. Once Gray and him began playing on their own, well every memory of his childhood is centered around the Carlisles and Wyldewood.

"Are you going to be ok?"

"That's the one question she didn't have an answer for."

Lynette loved her part time job at the day care and her paintings were just beginning to sell, but it wasn't enough to take care of her father or Wyldewood. So, Lynette must decide if she is going to sell Wyldewood or turn it into a B&B. Her mother's will stated that all siblings had to come home if anyone was considering selling Wyldewood, but would any of them return or even listen to her ideas about renovating  vs. selling? Maybe a second job would help while she waited for everyone to come home. Even though she is grateful for Nick's return, he had is own life to take care of. Right...

When life is threatening to squeeze away your breath... When family is suppose to be your foundation... When your nightmares and fears are creating a darkness... What will save you?

This story is not a typical romance, There is a story line with interesting twists, a few red-herrings, and a family with realistic dysfunctions. Yet, the common thread will be their faith.

MrsK

Recovery relies on your level of faith and grit!  

Meet the Author:

   Catherine West is an award-winning author who writes stories of hope and healing from her island home in Bermuda. Her first novel, Yesterday’s Tomorrow, released in 2011 and won the INSPY for Romance, a Silver Medal in the Reader’s Favorite Awards, and was a finalist in the Grace Awards. Catherine’s second novel, Hidden in the Heart, released in September 2012, was long listed in the 2012 INSPY’s and was a finalist in the 2013 Grace Awards. Catherine’s latest novel, Bridge of Faith, is now available on Amazon.
When she’s not at the computer working on her next story, you can find her taking her Border Collie for long walks or tending to her roses and orchids. She and her husband have two grown children. Catherine’s next novel, The Things We Knew, releases July 2016, through Harper Collins Christian Publishing. Catherine loves to connect with her readers and can be reached at Catherine@catherinejwest.com. 

click on the picture above to read Catherine's blog

"I received this book for free from the Fiction Guild for this review."

The Witness by Robertf Whitlow

Robert Whitlow

ISBN: 9781401688905

Publisher's Synopsis:

Parker House’s secret inheritance is either his greatest blessing . . . or his deadliest curse. The fresh-faced North Carolina attorney shares his German grandfather’s uncanny ability to see future events in his mind’s eye—a gift that has haunted 82-year-old Frank House through decades of trying to erase a murderous wartime past.


While Parker navigates the intrigue and politics of small-town courtroom law, Frank is forced to face his darkest regrets. Then, a big career break for Parker collides with a new love he longs to nurture and the nightmares his grandfather can no longer escape. Sudden peril threatens to shatter not only Parker’s legal prospects but also his life and the lives of those dearest to him.

"I have set watchman upon thy walls, O Jerusalem."

Isaiah 62:6

MrsK's Review:

At the Germany-Belgium border in 1939 Franz Haus begins his discovery that his talent is leading him in to a horrifying truth about his service to his country. Misinterpretations have happened, and yet, the last thing he wanted was a conscience with "blood" on it. Having access to the top commanders within the infantry divisions seemed safer, yet all of that changes with a mission trip and the treatment of resistance fighters. His decision in 1944 will bring him to a crossroad in which he seems caught "between the past and the future."

In New Bern, NC, Parker House is just beginning his career as an associate attorney for Branham and Camp. While waiting for the jury selection to begin, Parker checks his fantasy football team picks and marvels at the technology of 2003. During the selection on juror seemed to stand out. Even though she was a photographer, Parker's ability to "foresee" a strength in her proves beneficial for their client.

Layla Donovan is a photographer serving on a jury. The case is straightforward, so why would the associate attorney be interested in her? At first Layla naturally assumes that Parker just wants to know why the jury had its verdict so quickly. Her reasoning should have ended their evening. And yet, there seems to be something else at work in their lives. 

On the day that Conrad Mueller shows up at Parker's work, many new opportunities and secrets begin coming to light. It's as if some form of justice must be served. How all of these threads are woven together will lead everyone to the truth.

Thomas Blocker is a cunning trial lawyer who is brought in as co-counsel for Parker's newest case. Parker knows the benefits of "seeing" how Blocker prepares, presents, and tries a case will be more than what his firm bargains for, what he doesn't "foresee" are the changes that will usher in dramatic changes in his life... especially in his personal life with Layla. 

Expertly woven, this suspenseful mystery gathers together a list of characters that seem completely disassociated. The story's premise about a soldier's critical decision years ago and its future impact leading to a future climax becomes a stunning moral. How does truth open a doorway to peace?

Definitely a page turner...

MrsK

"I've asked God to forgive my sins,

even those I'm not sure I committed.

When the old guilty thoughts dance around the edges of my mind,

I tell them to beat it.

Ultimately, the power of life and death isn't in my hands anyway; it's in his."

Positively a "read it forward" book!

A story with such a punch that every book club should enjoy.

Meet the Author:

 Robert Whitlow is the best-selling author of legal novels set in the South and winner of the prestigious Christy Award for Contemporary Fiction. A Furman University graduate, Whitlow received his J.D. with honors from the University of Georgia School of Law where he served on the staff of the Georgia Law Review. A practicing attorney, Whitlow and his wife, Kathy, have four children. They make their home in North Carolina.

"I received this book for free from the Fiction Guild for this review."

The Spectacular World of Waldorf by Barbara Terry

The Spectacular World of Waldorf Series

Barbara Terry, Beth Ann Stifflemire, Vladimir Kirichenko

The Spectacular World of Waldorf allows children to discover new places in the USA & Worldwide through humorous and intriguing travels for the picture book age reader. Bright-detailed illustrations combined with the attention savvy stories allow parents, educators and more to introduce the world to small children in a format while grabbing their attention. This comical Labrador draws children into his whimsical adventures in search of his lost reading spectacles. The poor pup has a habit of misplacing them but children will be enticed into his many travels to help silly Mr. Waldorf locate them as he discovers new friends and places in a format that small children will easily recollect and adore.

ISBN: 9781943276356

Publisher's Synopsis:

On this adventure, Mr. Waldorf discovers the Great State of Texas. The curious canine encounters fun new friends and places while exploring the vast state visiting the Alamo, riding a bull for 8 seconds, making new friends in Dallas, exploring Austin and more. Silly Mr. Waldorf has a tendency to misplace his favorite reading spectacles and can't seem to find them while traveling Texas. Will you help him find them and learn all about the lone star state?


MrsK's Review:Being an avid reader is why Mr. Waldorf travels to Texas. His golden spectacles are missing, how do read without your reading spectacles? As Mr. Waldorf travels the state of Texas, he asks everyone he meets if they have seen his spectacles.

ISBN: 9781943276677

Publisher's Synopsis:

On this adventure, Mr. Waldorf discovers the Wild State of Alaska. The curious canine encounters fun new friends and places while fishing for salmon, discovering glaciers, panning for gold and visiting Eskimos. Silly Mr. Waldorf has a tendency to misplace his favorite reading spectacles and can't seem to find them while discovering The Last Frontier. Mr. Waldorf will learn all about Alaska, while seeking his missing spectacles. Will you help him find them and learn all about this amazing state?

MrsK's Review:

As Mr. Waldorf flies into Alaska, the first thing you notice is he isn't wearing his gold spectacles. Maybe he doesn't need them as a pilot. Unfortunately, as he is looking over the edge of a glacier his precious reading spectacles fall out of his pocket. Could this mean that Mr. Waldorf will not be able to read as explores Alaska?

ISBN: 9781943277636

Publisher's Synopsis:

On this adventure, Mr. Waldorf discovers the mysterious China. The curious canine encounters fun new friends and places while visiting Beijing, discovering the Great Wall of China, climbing Mount Everest and traveling the Yangtze River. Silly Mr. Waldorf has a tendency to misplace his favorite reading spectacles and can't seem to find them while discovering The Peoples Republic of China. Mr. Waldorf will learn all about China, while seeking his missing spectacles. Will you help him find them and learn all about the ancient and beautiful country?

MrsK's Review:Mr. Waldorf is so excited to visit the ancient sites of China. Being in a foreign country is like walking into a postcard. So many new sounds, interesting history, and adventurous new foods. Yet, as soon as Mr. Waldorf arrives in China an unfriendly monkey grabs his spectacles and swings up into the canopy of a tree. Now what will Mr. Waldorf do? You know he reads every night!

  

ISBN: 9781943274420

Publisher's Synopsis:

On this adventure, Mr. Waldorf discovers the huge Russia. The curious canine encounters fun new friends and places while visiting Saint Petersburg, the Ural Mountains, Lake Baikai, Russian State Library & more. Silly Mr. Waldorf has a tendency to misplace his favorite reading spectacles and can't seem to find them while discovering the largest country in the world. Mr. Waldorf will learn all about Russia, while seeking his missing spectacles. Will you help him find them and learn all about this historical and enormous country?

MrsK's Review:Did you know that Russia is the largest countries in the world? Can you imagine all of the great sites there are to see? One of the first Russian experiences Mr. Waldorf wants to see his the Russian Ballet. Of course, as he looks over the balcony his spectacles fall into the seats below him. How will he ever find them?

If you can snuggle up with a young reader, do it! These simplified "travel" stories will bring you much joy. Beginning readers will have such fun looking at the colorful illustrations, and they will want you to read them "again."
MrsK

"Whoofishly fun adventures!"

"I received these books for free for my review."
Check out these 2016's titles!

The Loyal Heart by Shelley Shepard Gray

Shelley Shepard Gray

ISBN: 9780310345398

Publisher's Synopsis:

Robert Truax, former Second Lieutenant and Confederate officer in the Civil War, made a promise to his comrade Phillip Markham. If anything happened to Phillip, Robert would look after his beloved wife, Miranda. She was his life, his world, his everything.

After the war, Robert is left to pick up the pieces and fulfill his pact. When he arrives at Miranda's home in Galveston, Texas, things are worse than he imagined. Phillip's name has been dragged through the mud, everyone in town believes him to be a traitor, and his widow is treated as an outcast. Even more disturbing is her emotional well-being. Miranda seems hopeless, lost, and so very alone.

Robert had thought his duty would be simple. He would help Miranda as quickly as possible in order to honor a promise. But the moment Robert laid eyes on her, his plans changed. He's mesmerized by her beauty and yearns to help her in any way he can.

He makes it his duty to protect Miranda, turn her reputation around, and to find some way to help her smile again. But it doesn't prove to be an easy task—Robert knows something about Phillip that could shake Miranda to the core and alter her view of the man she thought she knew so well.

MrsK's Review:

In 1867, Miranda's very existence is on the edge and very fragile. What was once a home of love, pride, and joy has forever been changed. Her husband's death in a POW camp on Lake Erie was causing a slanderous "chill" in the town of Galveston. Her life had become so bleak, that even the journey to the bank would cause intense grief. Not even the walk into town could ease her haunting. 

"To remember when one of us is sitting in the dark

and wondering why he should live to see another morning...

live for each other...

do everything we can to help each other survive."

Captain Phillip commanded a group of men that would remain faithful to him even beyond his death. Though the men from the encampment considered themselves lucky to have served with him, Phillip would not live to know the depth of their loyalty. It was at the time of a burial that Captain Devin asked the men to make a vow. That vow included Phillip's request to look after his wife Miranda.

Lieutenant Robert was not sure that the comfort of a "good woman" was all that a man needed, but he was sure that Captain Phillip's love for Miranda was exceptional. Robert had fought with Devin and never considered not honoring his request. Although, once he was being lead up the stairs to the boarding house's bedroom he "felt lower than he could ever recall." Perhaps Phillip never mentioned him in his numerous letters home. Miranda was in no state to be reminded about his connection, that could wait. Sometimes keeping secrets is the only way to uncover the truth.

Now that Robert was befriending Miranda, he understood the measures a man would take to keep her safe. Frustrated with the "ugliness" of the town and their lack of courtesy towards Miranda, Robert renews his vow to "take care" of her. He will need to discover who is spreading lies about Phillip and Miranda. Who would gain if Miranda is ran out of town, out of her home, or worse? Once again the vow at Lake Erie will bring forth a new commission for those who knew Phillip.

"I've been warning you for a year, and my patience is gone. Your time has run out."

With many characters woven in and out of Miranda's life, only those who remain loyal will help her to understand the truth about her husband, herself, and her purpose in life.

Unique weaving of a romance, mystery, and survival...

MrsK

Enjoyable twists, many threads to unravel, and woven with love.

Meet the Author:

  I live in southern Ohio with my husband, two teenagers, and two dogs. My days are filled with busy activities like most any other mom and housewife. But I also love to write books.

Each morning, after my kids go off to school, I sit at my desk, look out my window, and dream of other places. The hours fly by as I make up people and places and drink way too much coffee.

Writing for Avon Inspire has truly been a dream come true. Being able to spend my days in my make-believe world of the Brenneman Bed and Breakfast is a true blessing. I have enjoyed getting to know more about the Amish culture and tapping into my faith as I show each character’s progression toward a personal relationship with our Lord.

Before becoming a full time writer, I taught elementary school in Texas, Arizona, and Colorado. A job transfer to Ohio led my husband to encourage me to finally give writing a try. After all, I had notebooks full of made up stories.

Getting the opportunity to write Inspirational novels is truly gratifying. With every book, I feel my faith grows stronger. And that makes me feel very special indeed.

"I received this book for free from the Fiction Guild for this review."

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

by Sue Monk Kidd

ISBN: 9780143121701

Publisher's Synopsis:

Writing at the height of her narrative and imaginative gifts, Sue Monk Kidd presents a masterpiece of hope, daring, the quest for freedom, and the desire to have a voice in the world—and it is now the newest Oprah’s Book Club 2.0 selection.

Hetty “Handful” Grimke, an urban slave in early nineteenth century Charleston, yearns for life beyond the suffocating walls that enclose her within the wealthy Grimke household. The Grimke’s daughter, Sarah, has known from an early age she is meant to do something large in the world, but she is hemmed in by the limits imposed on women.

Kidd’s sweeping novel is set in motion on Sarah’s eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership of ten year old Handful, who is to be her handmaid. We follow their remarkable journeys over the next thirty five years, as both strive for a life of their own, dramatically shaping each other’s destinies and forming a complex relationship marked by guilt, defiance, estrangement and the uneasy ways of love.

As the stories build to a riveting climax, Handful will endure loss and sorrow, finding courage and a sense of self in the process. Sarah will experience crushed hopes, betrayal, unrequited love, and ostracism before leaving Charleston to find her place alongside her fearless younger sister, Angelina, as one of the early pioneers in the abolition and women’s rights movements.

Inspired by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke, Kidd goes beyond the record to flesh out the rich interior lives of all of her characters, both real and invented, including Handful’s cunning mother, Charlotte, who courts danger in her search for something better.

This exquisitely written novel is a triumph of storytelling that looks with unswerving eyes at a devastating wound in American history, through women whose struggles for liberation, empowerment, and expression will leave no reader unmoved. 

"There was a time in Africa the people could fly."

MrsK's Review:

For Hetty living on the "scarce side of mercy," would not be her choice. Living on someone property and being a slave meant that others would find a way to keep you from "flying" free. There were so many rules about stealing, disobedience, laziness, and noise. Even though having been placed in the main house, Hetty will be pushed beyond acceptance of her "good" fortune.

Sarah was growing up in a three story home in Charleston. Her father was a judge and had fought with Washington. Elite and upper class doesn't necessarily mean happiness reigns in one's home. In November of 1803, on her eleventh birthday, Sarah decides that she would draft a manumission document for Hetty. She wanted to ownership of another's life. She didn't approve of slavery or the horrors of what an owner could enforce upon a slave.

Nina is Sarah's sister. Determined to follow in her sister's foot steps, she will be the voice at home that will try to bring about a change in the south. Through their correspondence, insights about the struggles to end slavery provides the depth of their character, their destiny, and their choices.

With in every life, there are those cross-road decisions that will alter the path that one once hoped in. For Hetty, it will be her mother running away. For Sarah it will be an opportunity to "strike" out against slavery, a destiny that began with the penning of Hetty's manumission. For Nina, it will be the insightfulness of Sarah's letters that leads her to Philadelphia.

By 1821, all three of these women will be on separate paths. Each one begins their search  for a "voice" that would match their "yearnings" and make a difference. Neither will achieve their goals for they are only on the verge of a maturity which begins clarity to one's path. In 1832, Philadelphia, Sarah will be learning how her faith and an anti-slavery voice could be heard. While Hetty, will be living through the "terror" between pro-slavery and radical abolition with Nina. 

By 1838, Nina has joined Sarah and both ladies will become strong voices against slavery. Their witness and writings will create such a following, and yet... such a fear in Charleston that they will be banned from ever returning to their home. For Hetty, the time has come for her and Sky to leave or "die trying."   

Historical fiction isn't always a journey that is easy to travel. When it is so well written, the character voices resonate with in you to a point of no return. You make a choice to adopt their voice of reasoning and then... then you make a change.
Excellent reading,
MrsK

"How does one hear the voice of God?"

Amazing read for any book club...Booked to Dine book choice.        
Added to my shelf!

Meet the Author:

  SUE MONK KIDD was raised in the small town of Sylvester, Georgia. She graduated from Texas Christian University in 1970 and later took creative writing courses at Emory University and Anderson College, as well as studying at Sewanee, Bread Loaf, and other writers’ conferences. In her forties, Kidd turned her attention to writing fiction, winning the South Carolina Fellowship in Literature and the 1996 Poets & Writers Exchange Program in Fiction.

When her first novel, The Secret Life of Bees, was published by Viking in 2002, it became a genuine literary phenomenon, spending more than 2½ years on the New York Times bestseller list. It has been translated into 36 languages and sold more than 6 million copies in the U.S. and 8 million copies worldwide. Bees was named the Book Sense Paperback Book of the Year in 2004, long-listed for the 2002 Orange Prize in England, and won numerous awards.

The Mermaid Chair spent 24 weeks on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list, reaching the #1 position, and spent 22 weeks on the New York Times trade paperback list. She is also the author of several acclaimed memoirs, including the New York Times bestseller Traveling with Pomegranates, written with her daughter, Ann Kidd Taylor. Kidd lives in Florida with her husband.

The Courtship Basket by Amy Clipston

Amy Clipston

ISBN: 9780310342014

Publisher's Synopsis:

Rachel Fisher is devastated when the young man she’s loved for years leaves her to date her best friend. Her heart is broken, and she has all but given up on love. Determined to keep her mind off the pain, she starts teaching at an Amish school for children with learning disabilities.

Since his father became ill, Mike Lantz has been overwhelmed with the responsibility of providing for his family and caring for his six-year-old brother, John. When John joins Rachel’s class and she learns that his mother is deceased and his father sick, she desperately wants to help the family, even with something as simple as a meal.

With her parents’ old picnic basket, Rachel begins sending food to the Lantz family. As the weeks go by, John’s grades start to improve, and the attraction grows between Rachel and Mike. They can’t deny that their friendship is growing toward something more, but both of them are hesitant to risk a more serious relationship.

The last thing Rachel wants is another heartbreak, and Mike is worried about providing for his loved ones. Will the two be able to reconcile their past hurts with new hope for the future?

"And our hope for you is firm,

because we know that just as you share in our sufferings,

so also you share in our comfort."

2 Corinthians 1:7

MrsK's Review:

What should have been a delightful gathering became a moment of truth so heart breaking that Rachel will become determined to keep herself from ever allowing love to enter and reside within. Or so she thinks. With betrayal comes a deception that one is guilty of some wrong doing. It will take courage, faith, friendship, and love to accept the goodness of a life well lived.

Rachel's story begins in a classroom. Now that she is no longer engaged, many have encouraged her that her talent with children should be a focal point for her healing. As with any educator, Rachel finds a deep level of concern for her students. The preparation for a new student will not cease once the student becomes accustomed to the ways of this school. In fact, John's struggle with reading and math will prove to be a joint learning experience in which many will be blessed.

Mike is John's older brother. He is a craftsman at Bird-in-Hand Builders. His time is consumed with keeping his father's business in production, as well as the duties of their home and his father's failing health. John is a joy, yet his needs can be overwhelming when there is so much to do every day. Even though Mike has extended family to help, he can't take the time to just enjoy being with other young adults in his community. Embedded with in his soul is the faith that "God would see him through this difficult time in his life."

"...Please stop by the school as soon as possible."

"Received your notes and voice mail. Will be in touch."

Will be in touch, really. This man must not understand the magnitude of John's problem. With that in mind, the stubbornness with in Rachel sets forth a series of events that is quite entertaining. Armed with determination, Rachel will go to Mike's business and promote her case for his "at home" responsibility. Of course, it does not go the way she envisioned. Now Rachel will need to make amends and discover a different path for helping John. Never did she foresee that her mother's food basket would be the instrument for an overflow of blessings. 

Rachel will discover that once you begin doing for others your hurts become healed,

Love is found within...

MrsK

"Today is the day!"

So endearing! 

A read-it-forward book worthy to be shared. 

Meet the Author:

 Hi, I’m Amy Clipston. I am an author of Amish and Christian fiction with HarperCollins Christian Publishing. Most of my books focus on the Amish community, faith, and love. I also write romance novels and young adult inspirational stories.

"I received this book for free from the Fiction Guild for this review."