Anneliese Dalaba's Blog, page 8
November 15, 2019
First Line Friday #89
Today I’m sharing with you a novel from a series I read several years ago. The series is called The Fires of Gleannmara written by Linda Windsor. I’ve read several of her books and she does not disappoint. The particular novel I’m sharing today is Riona, which is the 2nd book in the previously mentioned series. (But the 1st and 3rd books are just as exciting and wonderful to read.)
This series is full of adventure and sitting-at-the-edge-of-your-seat type of moments. It’s a page-turner. The heroine is strong, but also gentle and tender. She knows what she believes and will not compromise her faith. The hero is swoon-worthy. I have read this series twice, but now that I’m looking at it again, I think I will make it three times.
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First Line:
The mist over the loch was so thick a body could walk on it.
From the Back of the Book:
THE WARRIOR — Kieran, the proud warrior-king of Gleannmara, great-grandson of Queen Maire and King Rowan, was once rejected by Riona of Dromin. But this time the willful lady will have no choice. Kieran promised his dying best friend, her brother, to protect Riona as her lord and husband. She must give up her absurd dedication to a fickle God who lets the good die while the vile go unpunished. Kieran’s sword and lifelong love is all she will need.
THE WOMAN — When Riona takes to heart three orphans, she begs God for guidance. What of her plans to join the church? Besides, how can she adopt a family without a husband? But when the arrogant Kieran of Gleannmara rides through the abbey gate, Riona cannot believe this is God’s answer! She could never accept his swaggering arrogance—or his anger at God.
THE WAYS OF GOD — Kieran is framed for murder. Suddenly the prideful king becomes a fugitive, fleeing for his life. His only hope? The faith and wit of a would-be nun, her prodigal band of homeless waifs—and the very God he has so fiercely denounced.
These unlikely cohorts are joined in an adventure of faith, hope, and love—an adventure that, for Kieran, can have only one end: acquittal . . . or death.
Now it’s your turn. First Line Friday is something every reader can participate in. Pick up a book near you. Type the first line in the comments, along with the title of the book and the author. If you’d like, check out the books other readers have featured on their blogs by clicking on the Hoarding Books link at the end of this post.
November 7, 2019
First Line Friday #88
I am currently in the beautiful state of Colorado for an Executive Leadership Conference. Some of you may not know, but my husband is a pastor and currently serves as a district official. Our time in Colorado has been a time of refreshing for us, both physically and spiritually. Truly a blessed time. By the time you read this post, I will be flying home. Isn’t “home” such a wonderful word? I love going home.
The book I’m featuring this week is Rebecca’s Hope by Kimberly Grist. At the beginning of each chapter, you get to read a couple of lines Rebecca wrote to her “absent” father over the years. Letters that had been sent back unopened. The rest of the chapter shows what is currently happening. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and hope you will give it a try.
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First Line:
Dear Papa, The doctor said I could take the cotton out of my left ear now. But it still sounds like there is something in it…
Rebecca raised her heavy tray above her head to maneuver to the next customer in the crowded diner normally filled with locals.
From the Back of the Book:
Raised by her guardian and influenced by the mostly male population of Carrie Town, Texas, Rebecca benefited from a forward-thinking, unorthodox education not typical for a young woman in the late Nineteenth century.
As an adult, she is armed with skills that most would covet, yet she lives in a boarding house, works as a waitress, and struggles financially. Most single women in the area didn’t stay single long. Most, but not her. The townspeople all agree she is in need of a husband. Even the young girls in her Sunday School class have taken action and written an ad for the paper.
Wanted: Husband for Rebecca Mueller. **Must be handsome, nice, like children, and live within walking distance of Carrie Town School.
Will her circumstances change and allow her to hold out for true love?
Now it’s your turn. First Line Friday is something every reader can participate in. Pick up a book near you. Type the first line in the comments, along with the title of the book and the author. If you’d like, check out the books other readers have featured on their blogs by clicking on the Hoarding Books link at the end of this post.
November 4, 2019
Book Review: It All Started at the Masquerade
I recently finished reading/listening to It All Started at the Masquerade by Janice Cole Hopkins. This novel is available as an ebook, paperback, and audiobook.
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My Thoughts:
I love a good story and this one did not disappoint. Melanie’s brother needs money for his plantation, so he arranges a marriage for her with a wealthy man. Melanie is sincere in her faith and refuses to disobey God’s word. She speaks her mind when necessary and she doesn’t hesitate to defend the defenseless. Lott is rich and wants a devoted and obedient wife. Lucas is a great investor and has amassed a fortune. He is also a wounded former military man and a hermit. Toby is her much-loved, childhood friend who would do anything to see Melanie have her happily-ever-after. Who will she end up marrying? I loved the hero of this story. It all felt real. And I had a hard time putting this book down.
Book Description:
When Melanie Carter’s older brother decides she’s to marry Lott Jenkins, a wealthy man who has the reputation of being harsh and unbearable, she knows her life has just started on a downward spiral. However, she’s determined to trust that God wouldn’t want her with such a man and tries to make the best of the awful situation. At a masquerade ball in Edenton, she meets a rather mysterious man dressed as a knight, and she can’t forget him.
Lucas Hall can’t forget Melanie either, but he might as well. Once she sees the hideously scarred side of his face, she’d be repulsed like everyone else. That’s why he wears a mask whenever he goes out, which isn’t often. He wouldn’t have gone to the masquerade ball if his housekeeper hadn’t tricked him into going. Now he’s haunted by a scene he saw between Lott Jenkins and Melanie. No woman should ever be treated with such disregard, but what can he do? If he tried to help, they’d take one look at him, and he’d be no help at all.
About the Author:
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Janice Cole Hopkins grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina with a love of history and heritage. She often says she lived much as the people did in historical times. Twelve of her novels are historical, and five of those are set in the Appalachian Mountains. She majored in history and English in college and holds a master’s degree. She had written for magazines for years but didn’t begin her first novel until she became her mother’s caregiver. She published her first novel four and a half years ago and now has twenty-one with more on the way.
Visit her at:
November 1, 2019
First Line Friday #87
The book I’m featuring this week is By Hook or By Rook by Rebecca Connolly. This is not a Christian romance, but it is a clean historical romance that can be easily enjoyed by all. Sort of like a Hallmark Movie, except a lot more exciting, lol.
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First Line:
“I need a favor.”
My Thoughts:
I enjoyed this clean romance. Lots of fun dialogue between the hero and heroine. There is definitely a romantic spark whenever these two are together. But something is holding them back. The main character is a spy, who goes to London balls in disguise. That is how the heroine knows him. So is she in love with the real man or the camouflage? Definitely an enjoyable read.
Book Description:
The most dangerous journeys…
Jeremy Pratt is a spy for the Crown, and one of the best. He had been in more dangerous situations than he can admit, and has always come out unscathed. But escorting his colleague’s cousin home to her family, even in disguise, just might be beyond his skills, and the temptation beyond his ability to withstand.
May be ones of the heart…
Helen Dalton is convinced there is more to this man escorting her than meets the eye, and something familiar about him, as well. There is only one man in the world who looks at her so intensely, banters with her so easily, and makes her blush so furiously. And when he manages a daring and heroic rescue, she wonders if she ever knew him at all.
Now it’s your turn. First Line Friday is something every reader can participate in. Pick up a book near you. Type the first line in the comments, along with the title of the book and the author. If you’d like, check out the books other readers have featured on their blogs by clicking on the Hoarding Books link at the end of this post.
October 25, 2019
First Line Friday #86
This week I’m featuring a Regency Brides novel by Carolyn Miller called The Elusive Miss Ellison.
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First Line:
“Why, Livvie! Whatever are you doing?”
My Thoughts:
I love Regency Romances so I had to give this one a try. After I finished reading this book, I could only sigh. So sweet. So romantic. I thoroughly enjoyed the hero and the heroine. They faced many obstacles. I felt a wide range of emotions as I read the novel. But in the end, I was completely satisfied. Just beautiful!
Book Description:
Handsome appearance counts for naught unless matched by good character and actions.
That’s the firm opinion of not-so-meek minister’s daughter Lavinia Ellison. So even though all the other villagers of St. Hampton Heath are swooning over the newly returned seventh Earl of Hawkesbury, she is not impressed. If a man won’t take his responsibilities seriously and help those who are supposed to be able to depend on him, he deserves no respect from her. In Lavinia’s pretty, gray eyes, Nicholas Stamford is just as arrogant and reckless as his brother–who stole the most important person in Livvie’s world.
Nicholas is weighed down by his own guilt and responsibility, by the pain his careless brother caused, and by the legacy of war he’s just left. This quick visit home to St. Hampton Heath will be just long enough to ease a small part of that burden. Asking him to bother with the lives of the villagers when there’s already a bailiff on the job is simply too much to expect.
That is, until the hoydenish, intelligent, and very opinionated Miss Ellison challenges him to see past his pain and pride. With her angelic voice in his head, he may even be beginning to care. But his isn’t the only heart that needs to change.
These two lonely hearts may each have something the other needs. But with society’s opposition, ancestral obligations, and a shocking family secret, there may be too many obstacles in their way.
Fans of Georgette Heyer, Lori Wick, and Julie Klassen will enjoy the spirited exchanges between the bluestocking minister’s daughter and the bruised war hero as they move past pride and presumption to a humbled appreciation of God’s grace and the true strength of love.
Now it’s your turn. First Line Friday is something every reader can participate in. Pick up a book near you. Type the first line in the comments, along with the title of the book and the author. If you’d like, check out the books other readers have featured on their blogs by clicking on the Hoarding Books link at the end of this post.
October 22, 2019
Book Review: Just Below the Surface
My Review:
I finished Just Below the Surface on my flight home from a business trip and couldn’t wait to get on here to let you know what a wonderful book this is. I chuckled and I cried. I cringed and felt great relief. This story took me on an emotional roller coaster and I enjoyed every minute of the ride.
Billie is a sweet and very real heroine. I love her relationship with her cousin, Anne, and her relationship with her father. The way that her father deals with his illness and the love he has for his daughter are both heartwrenching and heartwarming. Lindsay did a great job of developing her secondary characters.
Merrick Anderson is a swoon-worthy hero. At first, he seems cold. But as the story progresses, you begin to realize there is more to him than what is see on the surface. I wanted to keep reading and reading and reading. When I got to the end, I released a sigh of great satisfaction. So sweet. So romantic. I look forward to more novels by this author.
Book Description:
Working for the stone-cold Merrick Anderson isn’t on Billie Sterling’s list of dream jobs, but it pays well and the benefits are great. Besides, with her dad battling cancer and overwhelming debt, she’s in no position to be choosy. While rumors about Mr. Anderson fly, Billie chooses to stay, believing God has a plan. Can she break through the stony heart of her employer to find the man she knows is underneath, just below the surface?
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About the Author:
Although Lindsay A. Marcum has been writing since she was a teen, she published her first children’s book, God’s Little Lydia Lu, in 2010. Since then, she has written blogs about her children and has helped friends and family with personal/independent writing.
In January of 2019 she published Just Below the Surface, her first contemporary Christian romance novel, and is currently working on the sequel. She has a passion for writing, God, and her family.
When she’s not writing, she’s spending time with her husband and four children, singing on the church praise team, volunteering at her local pregnancy resource center, or making people laugh on Facebook. Being an extreme extrovert keeps her busy connecting with people, and she loves it.
She also loves coffee and feels that it deserves an honorable mention since it’s been her help and companion through many late hours of writing.
She writes not only for the love of it, but also to bring honor and glory to her savior, Jesus Christ.
“Whatever is good and perfect is a gift from God our Father above, who created all the lights in the heavens.” —James 1:17
October 4, 2019
First Line Friday #85
Happy Friday to all of you! Fall temperatures have finally arrived in Michigan. We are enjoying highs in the 50s now. And the fall leaves are slowly becoming a colorful splendor to behold. Fall is my favorite season. Which season do you enjoy most?
The book I’m featuring this week is actually an anthology comprised of three Christian Historical Romances. The title of the book is Romancing the Rancher’s Daughter, and the first story I will share is Waylaying the Hauler by Cindy M. Amons.
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Chapter One
Ottawa, Kansas, 1919
What a mucky mess August rains made. Denton Stephens checked his load and then hitched up his collar to keep out the sputtering end of the morning’s deluge.
Now it’s your turn. First Line Friday is something every reader can participate in. Pick up a book near you. Type the first line in the comments, along with the title of the book and the author. If you’d like, check out the books other readers have featured on their blogs by clicking on the Hoarding Books link at the end of this post.
September 27, 2019
First Line Friday #84
Today, I will share a nonfiction. It’s called A City Saunter Story by Ariniko O’Meara who purposed to walk every street in Lansing, Michigan. This is her story.
Ariniko’s book gives you a glimpse into Michigan’s Capitol city that has faced its trials, but its citizens refused to let it die. Some of the streets she walked stirred up old memories and she shares stories of her life. Ariniko encountered many residents of Lansing on her walks and you will read those stories as well. Her project gained media attention. This fascinating book is filled with delightful stories that caused me to laugh as well as stories that moved me to tears. There are even scary moments that occurred as Ariniko tread on roads in the seedier parts of Lansing. She had set out to walk every street, and she didn’t permit herself to make excuses because of an area’s negative reputation.
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[image error]From the back cover of the book.
Ariniko is a professional photographer, so I would encourage you to take the time to visit the City Splendor page on her website.
First Line:
At first, the idea seemed a bit ridiculous, and like most of my unconventional ideas, I ignored it.
Now it’s your turn. First Line Friday is something every reader can participate in. Pick up a book near you. Type the first line in the comments, along with the title of the book and the author. If you’d like, check out the books other readers have featured on their blogs by clicking on the Hoarding Books link at the end of this post.
September 24, 2019
A City Saunter Story
I received my copy yesterday of A City Saunter Story written by Ariniko O’Meara. Ariniko decided to walk every street in Lansing, Michigan and kept a journal of her experiences. Having grown up in Lansing, her story unfolds as familiar streets remind her of childhood, youth, and adult events and occurrences.
Ariniko’s writing will draw you in and take you on a journey through Lansing from her vantage point. The stories made me laugh and cry, and taught me things of the city I currently live in—but did not grow up in—that I never would have realized had I not read A City Saunter Story.
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If you are interested in purchasing this book, click HERE. For anyone who lives in Michigan, Ariniko’s knack of story-telling will educate while it entertains and moves you deeply.
Ariniko is also a photographer. I would encourage you to click on City Splendors at the top of her website and browse through the beautiful pictures of Lansing, Michigan which the author took while on her city saunters.
September 23, 2019
September Newsletter
My September newsletter has just been sent. In it, I share a link to where you can find Christian, clean, sweet, and wholesome fictions for only 99 cents. I also share a book recommendation by an author I enjoy reading.
If you have not yet signed up for my newsletter, please do so now, and I will send you the September newsletter.
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