To Capture Her Heart

To Capture Her Heart is the second book in Rebecca DeMarino's series, The Southhold Chronicles.  This book tells the tale of a young Indian woman, Heather Flower.  After a neighboring tribe kills Heather's future husband right before her eyes, Heather is kidnapped by this tribe and they demand a ransom from her father for her safe return.  Once the ransom is in their hands, Heather is left in the forest to die!   Lieutenant Dirk Van Buren has been sent out with a group to find the Indian maiden.  Dirk is struck with awe at Heather's beauty when she is finally located!

When Dirk is finally able to return Heather to her friends and family, he realizes that there is another man who also has an eye for Heather.  Benjamin Horton's family has been friends with Heather's family for years and Benjamin has been in love with Heather for many of those years.  Watch and see what will occur on the pages of this book as these two rivals spar for Heather's attention!

This tale was a bit harder read than the other two books in this series; however, it is worth the time to put all the pieces of this story in place!


I received this book from Revell in exchange for my unbiased review.

Place in His Heart

A Place in His Heart is the first tale in Rebecca DeMarino's series, The Southhold Chronicles.  On the opening pages of this book, you meet Mary Langton.  After being left at the alter, Mary desperately wants to find and marry a man who will love and be there for her.  When Mary crosses paths with Barnabas Horton, a newly widowed man in her hometown, she sees him as a potential alternative to the man her father has planned for her to marry. Barnabas is also in need of a wife to help him raise his two young boys and he sees Mary as an answer to his prayer.   You cannot help but wonder what will occur between these two when you see that Barnabas is still desperately in love with his fist wife!

As you watch Barnabas, a Puritan, plan to take his family to America, the new world forming on the other side of the ocean, you know that there will be hard times ahead.  It is interesting to get a glimpse of what America may have looked like in its first days as you watch Barnabas and Mary struggle to build a life together as they attempt to settle into both this new world and their marriage!

Will Mary ever feel truly accepted by her husband?  Will Barnabas ever be able to love his new wife?  Hold on until the final pages to learn the answers to these questions!

41 Will Come

41 Will Come, the first book written by pastor, Chuck E. Tate, will encourage you as you walk through life's tough trials!

The number 40 is frequently mentioned in the Bible in connection with trials that someone is experiencing; however, we do not often consider that the number 41 is right around the corner!

Chuck Tate sets out seven steps to help you move from fear to faith and from indecision to action, when facing your trial.

1.  Know your enemy.
2.  Embrace your cause.
3.  Smash fear in the mouth.
4.  Shake off your doubts and doubters.
5.  Prepare in order to receive a payoff.
6.  Word Up!  Read, study and declare the Word of God!
7.  Attack the giant standing between you and your victory!

Even though this book did not read easily for me at times, the message of this book came through loud and clear on every page!  God alone is our best defense through the trials that threaten to keep us from His purpose for our lives!


NavPress/Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.

Honor Redeemed

Honor Redeemed is the latest from Christine Johnson.  You meet Prosperity Jones on the opening pages of this novel.  This young woman, who lives quietly in Nantucket, has just lost her mother after her long struggle with consumption.  Having previously lost her father in a whaling accident, Prosperity now has no one to turn to but her fiance, Lieutenant David Latham.  David is currently stationed at a fort in Key West; and as Prosperity makes plans to travel to meet up with him, she has no idea what to expect when she arrives in this new place!

Only hours after Prosperity plants her feet on the soil of Key West, she is surprised to learn that while David has been stationed far away from her, he has actually married a woman from the island!  Now Prosperity must decide where to turn next.  After she finds a position at a local hospital, Prosperity is surprised when she is drawn to a call at David's home to assist with his new wife as she is in the midst of giving birth.  To Prosperity's surprise, the baby boy cannot be David's child.  The tone of the baby's skin points to someone else as his father!

This story grows more complicated as you see David's wife die in childbirth and then you also see Prosperity begin to develop a close friendship with a local doctor, Dr. Clayton Goodenow.  You have no idea what will happen when it appears David has been afflicted with yellow fever!  Wait and see where Prosperity will end up by the end of this tale!


I received this book from Revell in exchange for my unbiased review.

The Loyal Heart

The Loyal Heart is the latest book from Shelley Shephard Gray. Robert Truax, a lieutenant in the Confederate army, has been captured and relocated to a Yankee prison.  During his time in prison, Robert makes a pact with some of his fellow inmates.  If and when they are finally released, they would have each other's backs.  No matter what crisis they may encounter, they will be there for each other, no matter what!

Once Robert is released from prison and has started rebuilding his life, he suddenly finds himself traveling to Galveston, Texas to check on the widow of Phillip Markham, one of the soldiers in his prison pact who died just months before the war ended.  What Robert finds is that Miranda Markham, now a shell of a woman, is barely existing in the midst of a community who thinks that Phillip was a traitor to the confederate cause.  Robert knows that he must step in and step in fast!

Watch and see how Robert fights, along with two other members of the pact, to improve Miranda's standing in this town, by revealing that Phillip was truly honorable and a hero in the war.  You will be surprised to see where Miranda lands by the end of this tale!


I received this book from Zondervan in exchange for my unbiased review

To Love a Stranger

I recently received a copy of To Love a Stranger, written by Colleen Coble.  This book is a reprint of one of Colleen Coble's earlier series entitled Wyoming.  On the opening pages, you meet Bessie Randall.  She has just learned that her younger sister, Lenore, has been corresponding with a man from Utah named Jasper Mendenhall.  To make matters worse, Lenore has also used Bessie's name to marry this man by proxy!

Bessie decides she must honor this commitment and she begins the long journey from Boston to Utah.  Once Bessie arrives at Fort Bridger, Jasper is surprised when he finds his wife to be a plain-faced woman instead of the beautiful girl from the photograph he had received in the mail!

Hold on as you see how Bessie and Jasper slowly begin to learn about each other.  Bessie wonders how Jasper will ever be able to love her after he has had his mind set on her beautiful, younger sister. This is an interesting journey to see how Bessie learns to survive in this land that is so different from her former world with a man who may never learn to love her!  

I received this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for my unbiased review.

An Elegant Facade

An Elegant Facade, the latest novel by Kristi Ann Hunter, opens with Lady Georgina Hawthorne traveling into town with her older sister, Lady Miranda.  This evening will be the beginning of Georgina's debut season; however, it will also be the start of Miranda's fourth season!  Georgina's only hope is to find a potential mate before her own secret is revealed!

From the start Miranda seems to have her eye on one of Georgina's top choices for a potential mate, the Duke of Marshington.  When Miranda actually marries the Duke about half-way through this tale, Georgina suddenly must turn her focus elsewhere.  After her maid, Harriette, falls and is unable to provide her assistance, Georgina does not know if she can keep her secret hidden.  Georgina does not know how to read or write!

When Mr. Colin McCrae, a close friend to both of Geogina's brothers, learns her secret; he begins helping her.  You wonder what in the world will come of the mismatched coupling!  As Georgina focuses on pursuing several other gentlemen, she cannot seem to keep her thoughts from drifting toward Colin.  You will be surprised to see where she finally lands by the end of this tale!

Reading this book was slow at the start, but thankfully picked up its pace by the final pages!

I received this book from Bethany House in exchange for my unbiased review.