religious historical fiction – Rosepoint Publishing

Appalachian Song by Michelle Shocklee #BookReview #TuesdayBookBlog

Book Blurb:

Forever within the memories of my heart.

Always remember, you are perfectly loved.

Bertie Jenkins has spent forty years serving as a midwife for her community in the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee. Out of all the mothers she’s tended, none affects her more than the young teenager who shows up on her doorstep, injured, afraid, and expecting, one warm June day in 1943. As Bertie and her four sisters tenderly nurture Songbird back to health, the bond between the childless midwife and the motherless teen grows strong. But soon Songbird is forced to make a heartbreaking decision that will tear this little family apart.

Thirty years later, the day after his father’s funeral, Walker Wylie is stunned to learn he was adopted as an infant. The famous country singer enlists the help of adoption advocate Reese Chandler in the hopes of learning why he was abandoned by his birth parents. With the only clue he has in hand, Walker and Reese head deep into the Appalachian Mountains to track down Bertie Jenkins, the midwife who holds the secrets to Walker’s past.

My Review:

I can’t help it. I really enjoy dual timeline novels. The storyline of this novel starts in Appalachia during the 30s with five sisters, one of whom, Birdie, is a midwife.

The Jenkins sisters have a small farm in the mountains that manage to eke out just enough to sustain them through the worst. It is late one night when they are alerted about something or someone in the woods and upon investigating discover a young girl, pregnant and with a gunshot wound. They manage to save both she and her baby.

About thirty years later, the death of Walker Wylie’s father sets off a journey he never imagined. His mother divulges he was adopted and they knew very little of the circumstances of his birth.

Not a new or unique plot but the location of the southern mountains and the earlier time places you square in the cabin with the sisters as they nurse Songbird back to health and then the birth of her baby.

Wylie enlists the help of another midwife to find his birth parents. Wylie is apparently very well off having a successful singing career, but takes the time to see the journey of discovery through.

The characters are well drawn, although I was not able to engage with Wylie as much as the sisters. He does mellow out somewhat by the conclusion. There are themes of unwed teen pregnancy, Christian values, family (without the familial connection), and sacrifice.

The pace slows somewhat with the backstory of Wylie, but everything comes together beautifully, if not unexpectedly. A sweet story of adoption and love.

I received a digital copy of this book from my local library that in no way influenced this review. These are my honest thoughts.

Rosepoint Rating: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Contemporary Christian Fiction, Christian Historical Fiction, Religious Historical Fiction
Publisher: Tyndale Fiction
ASIN: B0BX14RV95
Print Length: 339 pages
Publication Date: October 3, 2023
Source: Local Library

Title Link(s):

Amazon-US | Amazon-UK | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Michelle Shocklee is the author of several historical novels, including COUNT THE NIGHTS BY STARS, winner of the 2023 Christianity Today Book Award in Fiction, and UNDER THE TULIP TREE, a Christy Award and Selah Award finalist. As a woman of mixed heritage–her father’s family is Hispanic and her mother’s roots go back to Germany–she has always celebrated diversity and feels it’s important to see the world through the eyes of one another. Learning from the past and changing the future is why she writes historical fiction.

With both her sons grown, Michelle and her husband make their home in Tennessee, not far from the historical sites she writes about.

Michelle loves hearing from readers! Connect with her at http://www.MichelleShocklee.com

#ThrowbackThursday

Reaping the Whirlwind by Rosey Dow – #BookReview – #ChristianHistoricalFiction

Book Blurb:

No one suspects foul play when an old recluse dies behind locked doors.

The doctor claims the old woman’s heart gave out, and Deputy Sheriff Trent Tyson doesn’t give the case another thought until the medical examiner finds poison.

This death is just one in a series of unusual deaths happening in Tyson’s quiet town, which takes the deputy sheriff on the hunt for answers while the rest of the town is caught up in local hysteria, starstruck by visiting celebrities William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow. Within a week, Deputy Sheriff Trent Tyson is on the tenuous trail of a serial killer who snuffs out the unwanted, the disabled—the most helpless and lovable—without reason and with no mercy.

Reaping the Whirlwind is a historical mystery set during the real events of the Scopes evolution trial in 1925 Dayton, Tennessee. The mystery weaves through trial events in an accurate portrayal of this pivotal case that forever changed the U.S. education system.

His Review:

Dayton has always been a small town devoid of any fame, but the city wants to be famous so they decide to set up one of their teachers to take the fall. He is arrested for teaching The Theory of Evolution as opposed to Creation as the source of human kind. This radical teaching will not stand in this small Tennessee enclave of Christianity.

The case attracts two of the most famous jurists of the early 20^th century; Charles Darwin and William Jennings Bryant. Newspapers from all over the country begin to sensationalize the trial and the notoriety. The local deputy constable/detective, Tyson, is assigned the case.

Because Bryant and Darwin are coming to town every possible domicile is let. The small town becomes notorious. Meanwhile, some young people are mysteriously dying of poisoning. Between keeping order at the courthouse and trying to solve the cases of murder Tyson has his hands full. Being a single parent, his first obligation must be to his disabled daughter, Lori.

The author weaves a very intricate fabric of suspense into the story. Everyone involved is extremely careful with the town’s young people and yet they keep dying! Guarding the courthouse and maintaining order in this small town becomes a very challenging task. Can Tyson solve the murders and foil the culprit? This is a fun and intricate story and plot line. Enjoy! 4 stars – CE Williams

Many thanks to Lana McAra and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Rosepoint Publishing: Four Stars

Book Details:

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction, Religious Historical Fiction, Historical Mysteries
Publisher: Morgan James Fiction
ASIN: B0BT141GD6
Print Length: 378 pages
Publication Date: June 13, 2023
Source: Author and Publisher

Title Link(s):

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo

The Author: Rosey Dow is the pen name of Lana McAra, an award-winning, international best-selling author and ghostwriter of more than 40 titles with a million books sold, including three cookbooks. An author via traditional publishing with Barbour Publishing and WinePress Publishing for 25 years, she has been editing and ghostwriting for more than 20 years, working for WinePress Publishing as well as Author One Stop and individual clients.

She won the national Christy Award for Reaping the Whirlwind in 2001, and her historical cozy mystery series, Colorado, sold more than 250,000 copies. Her titles have appeared around the world in bookstores and libraries in regular print, large print editions and audiobooks. She also has several journals and other titles under the name This Girl Loves Paper.

Originally from Delaware, she lived on the tiny Caribbean island of Grenada for 14 years and now resides in North Florida.

©CE Williams – V Williams

Enjoy Your Sunday!

Elinor: A Riveting Story (Daughters of the Lost Colony) by Shannon McNear – #BookReview – #TuesdayBookBlog

Rosepoint Publishing: Five Stars

Book Blurb:

A Journey Full of Hope…
Escape into a riveting story based on the mystery of the Lost Colony of Roanoke.

Author Shannon McNear portrays history with vivid authenticity.

In 1587, Elinor White Dare sailed from England heavy with her first child but full of hopes. Her father, a renowned artist and experienced traveler, has convinced her and her bricklayer husband Ananias to make the journey to the New World. Land, they are promised, more goodly and beautiful than they can ever imagine. But nothing goes as planned from landing at the wrong location, to facing starvation, to the endless wait for help to arrive. And, beyond her comprehension, Elinor finds herself utterly alone. . . .
The colony at Roanoke disappeared into the shadows of history. But, what if one survived to leave a lasting legacy?

His Review:

Freedom of religion is one reason to come to “the New World.” Elinor and her husband braved the wild Atlantic Ocean to start a new life across the sea. England has been at war with both Spain and France and has learned to take what they want by force. However, the New World is already populated with indigenous people. How does one make a new country? The usual European way was by the force of arms.

The population of the New World has struggled for centuries with war between themselves. The primary problem with the newcomers were the radical new weapons they possessed. Therefore, it was easier to try to befriend the colonists and assimilate them into the native culture. The pilgrims thought that the natives were “heathens” and had no real god. Knowing the “True God,” they needed to indoctrinate the natives.

Planting, growing livestock, and building housing were the initial goals of the young colonists. The natives already had long houses that were shared by the entire tribe. The colonists set about making bricks and building stockades as well as individual houses for the inhabitants. They depended upon the generosity of the natives to help them get through the first winter. There was simply too much work and too little time to accumulate enough stores for the long winter.

Soon the natives realize that the interlopers would not contribute but rather attempt to take everything they needed by force. Another problem was the diseases that the colonists had brought to the new land, which ran rampant through the tribes and killed as many as 40% of the population. It soon became apparent that the interlopers needed to go. People who were hunting and gathering when caught alone were quickly dispatched.

Shannon McNear has written a very charming story of the “lost” first colonists to the new world. The moral dilemma faced by the principals in the story is very thought provoking. Every population throughout the history of humanity has faced such questions. This saga illuminates the struggles then and the continuing struggles that are going on today around the world. I highly recommend this story to anyone who is a student of history. 5 stars – C.E. Williams

We received a complimentary review copy of this book from the author and publisher through NetGalley that in no way influenced this review. These are his honest opinions.

Book Details:

Genre: Christian Historical Fiction, Religious Historical Fiction, Historical Christian Romance
Publisher: Barbour Fiction
ISBN: ‎ 1643529544
ASIN: B09GJVTKTD
Print Length: 323 pages
Publication Date: December 1, 2021
Source: Publisher and NetGalley
Title Link(s): Elinor [Amazon]
Barnes and Noble

The Author: Shannon McNear loves losing herself in local history. A Midwestern farm girl who lived in Charleston, South Carolina, for more than two decades before being transplanted to North Dakota, she’s a military wife, mother of 8, and a member of ACFW and FHL. When not cooking, researching, or leaking story from her fingertips, she enjoys being outdoors, basking in the beauty of the northern prairies.

TV Netflix Series When Calls the Heart vs Audiobook (Women of the West series Book 11) by Janette Oke #historicalfiction

The reason you should never say never is that you’ll invariably end up doing it.

You can usually tell (sight unseen) a Hallmark production by the music and the fairytale romance following. I’m not the Hallmark movies watcher in this family—it’s the CE—and Netflix knows his Hallmark proclivity from the stats that apparently note his selections pretty closely. But this one caught my attention, too, and we’ve been binge-watching again. When I saw that it was originally a Canadian author’s western historical series, I had to go looking for it at my local library to see what they had. They had one audiobook (!!) as well as a number of ebooks and you know I will choose the audiobook. What I discovered was a TV Netflix series loosely based on a bestselling series originally written by author Janette Oke as western religious fiction.

When Calls the Heart Netflix Series

When Calls the Heart is a Canadian-American television drama series, one of many we’ve watched and enjoyed lately. It was inspired by Janette Oke’s book from her Canadian West series. Developed by Michael Landon Jr, the series began on the Hallmark Channel in the US on January 11, 2014.

Elizabeth Thatcher (Erin Krakow) is a young teacher from a wealthy family anxious to follow the calling of her heart to teach. She finds herself in a classroom in Coal Valley, a coal-mining town in Western Canada.

The life is tough enough without the mine disaster that kills Abigail Stanton’s (Lori Loughlin) husband and her only son, along with 45 other miners in an explosion. Trying to get on with their lives, they rename the town Hope Valley. (As most know, Loughlin was involved in the 2019 college admissions bribery scandal and sentenced to two months, her husband five. She was removed from the series in Season 6.)

Universally appealing, gorgeous costumes, themes of loss, love, growth, and redemption. Was supposed to be filmed in Colorado but moved instead to Vancouver, BC. The program creator, Michael Landon Jr does a superior job with his storytelling, pushing engagement.

When Calls the Heart season became available internationally on Netflix in August 2017 but will be removed January 24, 2021.

Audiobook-Original Print Series

A Gown of Spanish Lace: Women of the West, Book 11 (Abridged)
Ariana loves her life as a schoolteacher in a little frontier town. But one evening after classes are done and she prepares to hurry home, her life changes in an instant when a band of rough outlaws abduct her and take her far away from all she has ever known. Trapped in a small shack, Ariana prays and waits, her emotions swinging between terror and boredom as days stretch into weeks. Still, the outlaws refuse to tell her why they’ve taken her or what they plan to do.

Then the boss’ son appears in the doorway of her cabin. He seems different from the others, but can she trust him? Will she ever again see her mother and father, the couple who lovingly adopted her and raised her as their own? Will she ever wear the beautiful wedding dress so carefully saved for her – her one remaining link to her birth parents?

My Thoughts

First, I was unhappy the audiobook was an abridged version. Elizabeth is a schoolteacher in the northwestern territories and in a rather weak plot device to explain her kidnapping, is abducted and taken far away. She is treated as a hostage which gradually relaxes weeks later when the “boss’ son” suddenly takes over her care. In the backstory, it is explained she was adopted after her birth parents were killed in a wagon train raid. Her one remaining link to her birth mother—a wedding dress.

Okay, Laramie, the son of an outlaw—the one who “didn’t fit” (not a beautiful Canadian Monty, resplendent in his iconic uniform) takes over. Ariana is deeply religious, praying heavily first to live, then to see her adopted parents, home, and school again. She gradually appears to have feelings for Laramie as he tends to loosen the bonds.

Actually a pretty tame bunch of outlaws, almost caricatures (at least around Ariana—could have been MUCH worse) and having raised Laramie that he could be so different.

It could happen.

There was a heavily religious theme and that of Ariana gradually pulling Laramie into Christianity, amid themes of faith, trust, and forgiveness. Maybe because I had the abridged version, so much detail was missing. The plot line progressed at a nice pace (abridged…remember?), but there were elements of implausibility. Otherwise, very sweet, very clean. Not sure I could start back at Seasons of the Heart, Book 1 though.

Overall Impression

Mercy! At least this one isn’t the shocker that Virgin River turned out to be for me. If anything, it swung in the reverse, a squeaky clean version of western frontier life. But I must vote for the Hallmark version. I love the Mounties (and Jack Wagner—why did he have to leave?) Oh…and Elizabeth. Actually, I much prefer the characters in the Hallmark version. Elizabeth (Ariana) is a level-headed intelligent woman extolling moral lessons on her students (Christian principles from the Oke published series without being preachy).

There are two or three “bad” guys who gradually turn to the “good” side. The mining town cleans up to become a lumber (sawmill) town, and as always, there are the busy-body citizens—who can sometimes do good as well.

The storyline is engaging and entertaining, although I’ve noticed a slight change from possible realistic period costumes and hairstyles to dresses of décolleté and hair worn down in curls. (Difficult without a curling iron.) It is a time of change, the turn of the Century, and the Industrial Revolution. Perhaps also a time of some societal confusion, women just beginning to become a force of nature, as well as nurture.

The first seven seasons on Netflix will go bye-bye in January. Season 8 debuts in February on…yeah, the Hallmark Channel. We’ll wait until it hits Netflix.

Book Details

Genre: Western Religious Fiction, Religious Historical Fiction, Christian Westerns
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
ASIN: B005E87WUY
Print Length: 260 pages
Listening Length: 3 hrs 13 mins (Abridged version)
Narrator: Aimee Lilly
Audible Release: April 15, 2016
Publication Date: August 1, 2006
Source: Local Library (Audiobook Selections)
Title Link: A Gown of Spanish Lace [Amazon]

The Author: Janette Oke (née Steeves) was born on February 18, 1935 to Fred and Amy Steeves in the family’s log house near Champion, Alberta. Janette Oke pioneered inspirational fiction and is the leading author in the category today. She received the 1992 President’s Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association for her significant contribution to Christian fiction, and has been awarded the coveted Gold Medallion Award for fiction. Janette and her husband, Edward, have four grown children and nine grandchildren and make their home in Canada. Most lately she has collaborated on a series with her daughter Laurel Oke Logan. Bethany Fellowship Inc. (now Bethany House) has been Oke’s benefactor and says of Oke, “Oke’s pioneering influence on Christian historical fiction, and Christian fiction as a whole, has lifted her to near-legendary status.”

The Narrator: Aimee Lilly has narrated over 200 audiobooks in a wide variety of genres, most of them for Oasis Audio, including 100 books in the Boxcar Children series. An Earphones Award winner, she has also been nominated for an Audie Award, an Independent Audiobook Award, and a Voice Arts Award.