Christian Historical Fiction discussion
Lori Wick
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Jennifer
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May 27, 2009 05:18PM
Ok...i'm starting a new thread! I just got three books in Lori Wick's newest series, Big Sky Dreams. I love Lori Wick. If you haven't read her, you should! She has tons of historical fiction books. I'm starting Cassidy, the first in the series soon. I'll let you know how it goes. If you have read the series, it would be nice to hear some feedback on what you think.
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Hahaha...you crack me up! Yeah, I kinda read the back page of her little note and saw that one of the characters appeared in one her series that i've already read. I know! So bad of me to look, but I couldn't help it.
I have to agree with Margaret. Lori Wick was the 2nd christian fiction author I've read, and her older stuff is by far much better. I highly recommend Sophie's Heart for a current read, and the Rocky Mountain Memories series for a historical read.enjoy:)
I enjoyed Knight and the Dove and Who Brings Forth the Wind (both part of Kensington Chronicles), though especially in the former, some of the historical inaccuracies drove me slightly nuts.
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I will definitely continue to read her new stuff in the future too. It just seems as this one particular series was rushed in the writing and editing maybe. I just do not know.
I've read all of them I loved the Kensington Chronicle sereies. And Rocky Moutain Memories was great too. I own them both series. I did read Sophie's Heart when it came out and liked it. I've read all of her books, so I got excited when I saw her new series, but I would have to say that The English Garden Series and The Kensington Chronicles are my fav!
Sorry, but lori's books are me and margaret's depression books. they get sad, worse, then usually better at the end. very depressing. yeah, don't read them if you are already depressed. I guess I liked Sophie's Heart because the book took place in madison, wi, and I grew up near there and could actually picture the characters walking around one of the grocery stores there. btw Lori lives just outside of madison, so it felt real to me.
That's pretty cool, Amy! Have you met her before?I haven't read any of her books, but the Kesington Chronicles do sound interesting! I'll let you know what I think of her books once I read them. :-)
The English Garden Series is pretty upbeat, and you would totally love the Kensington Chronicles!! It is something you would like, I think. I'll even give you links to them so you don't have to look them up!Here's the English Garden Series The Proposal, The Rescue, The Pursuit, The Visitor...it's not necessarily in that order though!Kensington Chronicles series The Hawk and the Jewel, The Knight and the Dove, Wings of the Morning, Who Brings Forth the Wind. The Hawk and The Jewel is the first of the series.
You may also like her Californian series as well. Sean Donovan, Donovan's Daughter, Whatever Tomorrow Brings, As Time Goes By
Then there's her Place Called home Series that's good too. The Californian series is kinda sad because of the circumstances that happens in one novel,but it's still really good. But I think the Kensington Chronicles may be your fav of the bunch.
Amy wrote: "Sorry, but lori's books are me and margaret's depression books. they get sad, worse, then usually better at the end. very depressing. yeah, don't read them if you are already depressed. I guess I ..."
Hahaha..I've never considered them depression books. Francine Rivers is usually my depression books
no I've never met her, but in 2000 when I read the rocky mountain series, there were comment postcards in the book. I filled one out and got a reply from Lori, with the postmark from Black Earth, wi. but that's one post office for a few towns. i wish i could meet her. would be nice. :)
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The Princess is another good one.
Yeah, I would say Pretense is depressing even if it is good. Princess is really good. I enjoyed it. If I remember correctly, I don't think it's that depressing. But, it has been awhile since I read it so someone else who's read it recently can tell you more.
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Dudette Heidi Kate, if you insulted me I'd let you know. I'm pretty light hearted about my PAST history of depression because it is just that, in the past. It is because of these books and because of talking about books and with people who love books as I do that I'm a silly giggly girl now.
If you offend me, I wouldn't beat around about it, I would tell you that hurt. This did not.
I'm new here, but have loved Lori Wick books since the late 90s. In fact, I just started a new network with a couple of online bookclubs (the one on The Princess starts Feb 15, 2010), and we'll always have a book club on Lori's books running. The site is: http://sweetromance.ning.com/I agree with a couple of other ladies here, I tend to like Lori's older books better. My favorite series is The Californians, and A Place Called Home series, and the English Garden series. Lori was the first Christian author I'd ever read in fiction.
Did anyone notice in one of her books (I think it was Pretense) that they go to a fireworks show in Wisconsin and someone's handling fireworks and she refers to the him as 'some guy named Bob'? I wondered if that was a nod to her husband Bob.
I've only read The Princess by her - but it was one of the first Christian fiction books I ever read, and still one of my favorites. It isn't depressing ~ it's a very romantic love story.
Hi! The book was Sophie's Heart. And I do believe it was a hint at her husband. They live just to the west of Madison and that's where the fireworks take place. I live near Madison and enjoyed that book, because I had been in many of the places it takes place in, like Woodman's grocery store. It was definitely a good book!
Thanks Amy! I just laughed out loud when I came to that. In The Princess, she refers to the garden club head honcho (sorry for the lingo, I haven't had coffee yet this morning) as Mr (or was it Mrs.) Potts. She's done that with other stuff to, I found it very funny.Thanks for remembering which book it was!
For the book club at http://sweetromance.ning.com/ it was a toss up between choosing our first Lori Wick book club read between The Princess, Sophie's Heart, or Bamboo Lace. Went with The Princess, since we can do the other two in following months, or whatever readers vote to do next.
I have most of her books but haven't read them all yet.loved all I have although she is one who took liberties in the one about the storm set in ww2 in how she placed things in Australia they were really incorrect geographically but I still loved the book.
Loved the callifornia series I really associated with Marshall griggs.
I have so many tbr books on my list but I have about 3 series and some single books yet to go.
I did enjoy the one about white chocolate.
Hi Ausjenny,I loved Marshall Riggs also. The one about the storm, I kept trying to make a connection with the character there and Kaitlyn & Rigg.
I couldn't get into White Chocolate, but have seen so many say they've enjoyed it. I'll have to try it again. The Californians are my favorite.
Hope you can join our online Lori Wick book club at: http://sweetromance.ning.com/
We just started it, that's why I keep inviting folks from here to it. Hoping for some great discussions.
I've said for years that Lori Wick is my favorite author. I've read so many of her books over and over again. I have to admit that I've been very disappointed in her last few series though. I almost didn't even continue buying her books after I read Cassidy because I was so disappointed. I kept on reading them though and they did improve by the end of the series. I'm not sure what changed but it seemed like I couldn't connect with the characters anymore like I did in her older books. My favs are her first three series (Californians, Kennsington Chronicles and I can't remember the name of the third one) and Sophie's heart. I also loved the victorian era series. I would recommend any of those over her most recent books. I am looking forward to her next book though as I hope to see her return to her original style.
I wanted to ask, and since Zette brought it up, and without any disrespect to Lori Wick (whom I love), those who don't enjoy her newer books, can you put your finger on what changed in her writing or story telling?I agree with Zette, for me there's a loss of connection with the characters. She really put us in the heart and mind of the characters earlier on, but somehow that doesn't seem to come through as much in her later work.
I'm just wondering if anyone else felt the same way. Maybe the focus of her writing that she used to put into character development goes a little more into plot now????
I'm looking forward to her new book. Can't wait for it to come out.
yeah, I didn't read the next two in this series...kinda bummed with Cassidy. But, it' been awhile since I finished it so I think I can at least try to finish the series. I loved the ones you mentioned Zette. You may be thinking of either the Rocky Mountain Memory series or The Yellow Rose Trilogy, Or A Placed Called HOme series.
Tina wrote: "I wanted to ask, and since Zette brought it up, and without any disrespect to Lori Wick (whom I love), those who don't enjoy her newer books, can you put your finger on what changed in her writing ..."I just think it started out slow and you couldn't really get a chance to love the characters like before. If a book starts out slow for some reason, then I lose interest in it and the characters. Maybe it was a mixture of the storyline and the lack of development of the characters in the Big Sky Dreams series. IDK, but her newest one she has coming out looks good.
Its interesting I read her first 3 series as they came out and and found the books got better as each series was written. I still have quite a few to read as I said.I liked her more than Janette Oke because I found with Janette Oke's books they became to predictable although I loved the series the single books as they went on were all similar to a degree and lost some of there charm. Her books with Davis Brunn have been good although one of those earlier series I didn't like quite as much.
Ausjenny wrote: "Its interesting I read her first 3 series as they came out and and found the books got better as each series was written. I still have quite a few to read as I said.I liked her more than Janette O..."
Yeah, I liked Janette Oke books when I was in high school...too predictable now. But i do like her Songs of Acadia series with Bunn. And I think her Creole Inheriantce sereis was good too.
I've loved Lori Wick for forever, it just seemed this Big Sky dreams series was way off, but then again after the first book I really did read the rest. Which, I made a promise to myself I would read them. So, now that it's been awhile maybe I can get into the last two books.
My mother-in-law is a huge fan of Lori Wick and gave me "Pretense" and "Sophie's Heart" a long time ago. They are both good, as is "Princess", but my favorite series of hers are the Kensington Chronicles and the English Garden series. I enjoy them mostly because I love most literature from that period. But I've always found her writing--however good--somewhat cheesy. While I like to read her books on occasion, she's definitely not my favorite writer. I much prefer Karen Kingsbury, Kristen Heitzmann, or lately, Linore Rose Burkard (I'm reading her London Regency series now and it is awesome! Her writing style is very similar to a secular romance novelist I used to read who wrote several novels about that time period, of course without all the language or sexual content).I haven't read any of the Big Sky Dreams series and, given some of the negative comments posted, I probably won't bother.
I love Karen Kingsbury! And, i 've heard good things about Linore Rose Burkard...I love regency romances. I want to read them!
Oh my, please ready your tomatoes for throwing at me for shamelessly plugging the http://sweetromance.ning.com/ again, but we're starting a Lori Wick online book club I think on Feb 20th (The Princess is the selection). Then on March 1st we're running a Linore Rose Burkard Before the Season Ends online book club - Linore's offering a book giveaway for a member of the site to win (could be just the book club, haven't worked out details yet w/her).Back on Lori Wick--I'm also eager for her new book and hope the release date doesn't get pushed back again. I'm really sick with head cold, if I didn't make sense in this post, I'm going to blame the Nyquil, lol.
Tina wrote: "Oh my, please ready your tomatoes for throwing at me for shamelessly plugging the http://sweetromance.ning.com/ again, but we're starting a Lori Wick online book club I think on Feb 20th (The Princ..."lol! Hope you feel better. It made sense to me! Those look like fun. I'm part of the CHF ning
AARG. Oh, Tina! I wanted to put this in my newsletter and I thought of it, and then forgot. I remember looking at your website for the link and didn't see it, and then I got sidetracked! (As often happens in this busy house).So sorry! You're so sweet for doing this.
I'll have to make sure I announce it on FB and Twitter, and other places. Again, I apologize for not providing that back up, however!
Tina wrote: "Oh my, please ready your tomatoes for throwing at me for shamelessly plugging the http://sweetromance.ning.com/ again, but we're starting a Lori Wick online book club I think on Feb 20th (The Princ..."
Yep, Jennifer, it was the Place Called Home series :0) I can't believe I couldn't remember the series name since I've read them so many times the books are about to fall apart!
I started reading Lori's books when I was a teenager and have read all of them over the years. My favorites have been Pretense and the Kensington Chronicles. Pretense is actually one of my all time favortite books ever and I've read it countless times.Karen Kingsbury is my current favorite author. I've read all of hers and am usually at the bookstore the day her new one releases :)
Melissa wrote: "I started reading Lori's books when I was a teenager and have read all of them over the years. My favorites have been Pretense and the Kensington Chronicles. Pretense is actually one of my all time..."LOL! You sound like me with Karen Kingsbury! I do the same thing! Had to even form a group on here of her books since there wasn't one!
http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/1...There it is in case you want to join :D
It's not really active, but it's active enough. I keep people updated on her new books and recently, the stuff that's been happening with her husband having a stroke. So, join if you want, unless you already have I don't know it!
Chestnut Valley Farm and Always and Again are her newest ones that I know of. They came out in 09. So, I haven't heard when her next one is coming out. They have been redoing her old ones and giving them new covers, so I don't know if they are waiting to write a new one or what.
Hi Jennifer,Actually, Chestnut Valley Farm's release date keeps getting pushed farther and farther out (last time I was able to pull up the book on Amazon or B&N the release date was spring this year, or was it 2011???).
You cannot pull up Chestnut Valley Farms any longer on Amazon or B&N. And, Always and Again--I emailed the publisher about a picture for the cover since the release date was so close and they said the title information on those sites is a mistake and they were fixing it to having it pulled.
Tina wrote: "Hi Jennifer,Actually, Chestnut Valley Farm's release date keeps getting pushed farther and farther out (last time I was able to pull up the book on Amazon or B&N the release date was spring this ..."
Ok, I was wondering why it hasn't shown up yet.
Jennifer wrote: "Melissa wrote: "I started reading Lori's books when I was a teenager and have read all of them over the years. My favorites have been Pretense and the Kensington Chronicles. Pretense is actually on..."I'm actually that way with Karen Kingsbury myself now. My best friend Amy and I discovered Karen's books in the summer of 2005 and dove right in! I think we must have read 10-12(maybe more) of her books in that 1st summer to catch up and we haven't stopped since! I still love Lori's books too but she just doesn't release as many or as often as Karen :(
Christy wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Tina wrote: "Hi Jennifer,Actually, Chestnut Valley Farm's release date keeps getting pushed farther and farther out (last time I was able to pull up the book on Amazon or B&N t..."
That is sad. I enjoyed her Big Sky Series and have some other books of hers on my to-read list.
bummer! But, I can see her point. Sometimes you do just need to stop and enjoy what has given you. She used her gift for years and now it's time to focus on other things.
I have read all of her books that are out.She is one my favorite authors. My favorite series of hers is the Californians Series.
I would agree with that Maygan I fell in love with Marshall in this series.
Christian Historical Fiction
Books mentioned in this topic
Chestnut Valley Farm (other topics)Always and Again (other topics)
The Princess (other topics)
Sean Donovan (other topics)
The Proposal (other topics)
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