The Christmas Singing - Cindy Woodsmall

GENRE: AMISH ROMANCE
PULISHER: WATERBROOK
PUBLICATION DATE: NOVEMBER 4, 2011
RATING: 7 OUT OF 10

Believing that her boyfriend Gideon Beiler had betrayed her, Mattie Eash had fled from Pennsylvania to Ohio one Christmas. Now settled into her new life with her Ohio relatives, she has opened a cake shop and has a successful career as a cake-decorator, and a lukewarm relationship with reliable Sol Bender. But when a catastrophe drives her back to her home community in Pennsylvania, she finds herself face to face with Gideon again. As she prepares cakes for two of her friends’ upcoming weddings, she’s forced to spend time with her old boyfriend, who is building the home that one of the couples will move into once they’re married. Their encounters make Gideon wonder why he gave Mattie up all those years ago, and whether now would be the good time to tell her the truth about why he broke up with her. Will Mattie be content to reconcile with Gideon, or have past hurts hardened her heart too much to allow her to forgive him?

This is your typical Christmas novel. The storyline has been done many times before, which makes it comfortable and reliable for the reader, but Cindy Woodsmall inserts a few changes here and there to make the story fresh and original. This has to be the first time that I've read a novel in which an Amish character makes and decorates cakes for a living, and I was equally surprised to read about another character that frequently went on hunting trips. I found it particularly refreshing to read about Mattie making a living for herself as a single woman. Most Amish novels don't go into much detail about the lives of the women who have to support themselves because they don’t marry young and don’t wish to stay at home and be a burden to their parents. Often crafts are shown to be hobbies that Amish women indulge in when they’ve finished with the day-to-day tasks of cooking, cleaning and raising a family, but there are many Amish women who do make their living from crafts such as quilting, sewing and in Mattie’s case, baking and decorating cakes. So it was encouraging to see Cindy revealing this often forgotten aspect of the lives of Amish women, and single women in particular.

I’m not going to deny that the story of a couple who have been separated for years being brought back together by a great catastrophe isn’t somewhat predictable and sometimes over-done. I’m not a massive fan of storylines that are created out of a lack of communication between a couple, but this is partly because I’m fortunate to be a relationship in which there is a lot of communication between both partners. The reason why communication-driven plots are so popular in the romance genre is that it is one of the simplest and most common causes of problems between couples. Mattie and Gideon’s story also contained another plot point that I’ve witnessed a few times recently in romantic fiction; that of one person discovering that they have some sort of medical problem and breaking up with their significant-other in an attempt to protect them from suffering alongside them in their illness. While I struggled to relate to Gideon and Mattie’s relationship problems in this story, I’m certain that the issues of keeping secrets and failing to communicate over misunderstandings will strike a chord with many other readers. If anything, I hope that someone will read this book and come out of it with the revelation and understanding that secrets should never be kept between two people who love each other, and that no matter how difficult it is, communication is key in order for a relationship to survive.

In all honesty, I wish this novella could have been longer. In discussing this book with my book group a lot of us felt that the shortness of the book limited the amount of time that Mattie and Gideon spent together on the page, and we really wished that we could have read about the day that they spent in each other’s company towards the end of the book. But this is the general issue with novellas – they’re short and sweet, but sometimes it just feels like there’s something missing. One thing’s for sure with The Christmas Singing, and that’s that I’ll be looking out for more of Cindy’s novels now that I know what her writing is like. A novella isn’t always the best example of an author’s work, but it’s often a good indication of whether you’ll like their books.

So if you’ve never read any of Cindy Woodsmall’s novels before, The Christmas Singing may be a good place to start. It does contain a well-used storyline, but the characters refresh it and make it into something new and original. This is the perfect book to get you in the Christmas mood, especially if you enjoy romantic tales of reconciliation.

Review title provided courtesy of Waterbrook.

The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck - Kathleen Y'Barbo

GENRE: HISTORICAL ROMANCE
PUBLISHER: WATERBROOK PRESS
PUBLICATION DATE: JUNE 21, 2O11
RATING: 7 OUT OF 10 

Making her debut into London society, Charlotte Beck receives more than she bargained for when she tumbles out of a window into the arms of Viscount Alexander Hambly. The American heiress and English noble find their lives forever entwined as a result of the night’s events, much to the dismay of both parties. Charlotte is known for her inappropriate antics, and while she’d like to escape from the expectations of her parents – a suitable marriage, home and family – by attending university, her father has other plans for her. Charlotte is to marry Alex, whom her father has a business proposition for. Although her father insists that she is not simply a pawn in a financial deal, and that he believes Alex is the perfect match for her, being the only man who can control her and make her stop talking, Charlotte is still unhappy with these plans. It is only when her father and her betrothed promise her that she may attend university before getting married that she agrees to the arrangement. But four years is not as long as she expected, and when she returns to her parents’ home she discovers that no one has forgotten her impending marriage, and there is no escaping it – unless she can convince her new husband to agree to an annulment. But Alex has not forgotten Charlotte and how amusing her teenage antics used to be. Without either of them realising it, Charlotte has already stolen his heart, and he is determined to show her exactly why she should remain married to him.

Charlotte is the sort of character will have you laughing out loud, no matter how restrained you try to be while reading this book. Her escapades – entirely inappropriate for a young woman of good breeding – were hilarious to read about, as were her interactions with Alex and his family. Alex and Charlotte have brilliant chemistry together, even if neither of them realised it to begin with. I thoroughly enjoyed the first part of this book, where Charlotte and Alex slowly get to know each other through Charlotte’s little accidents and near social suicides. They are certainly unusual characters for a historical novel, with Alex’s interest in astronomy and Charlotte’s painting skills being well thought out and described. In a way, Charlotte and Alex are two misfits in the world of courtship and balls, making them perfect for each other.

I also enjoyed the dual setting of this novel and reading about the characters experiences in both London and Denver. I’ve not read many historical novels written by American authors but set in Britain, so this definitely made a nice change. It was interesting to read about the differences between London and New York society, the debutantes, clothing of the period and expected etiquette for young ladies. The pieces of etiquette wisdom given at the start of each chapter are absolutely hilarious, as are Charlotte’s attempts to succeed in achieving them.

While I did love the characters, settings and events of the first part of this novel, I really felt let down by the latter part. As the second section of the novel begins, Charlotte returns from university to live with her parents pending her marriage to Alex. I’d been really looking forward to reading about Charlotte and Alex managing to adapt to married life, which I imagined would be a lot of fun to read about, giving their shenanigans in the first part of the book. However, in the four years that have passed between Part I and II of the novel, Charlotte’s character had undergone a complete transformation. I imagine that Kathleen simply wanted to show how Charlotte had grown up, but she had none of the spunk or ingenuity of the previous Charlotte. To be honest, most of the time she just came across as grumpy or selfish, and the chemistry between her and Alex was completely gone. Alex, on the other hand, was exactly the same as he had been in the first part of the book, which just succeeded in showing how entirely different Charlotte’s character was.

My other complaint with the second part of the book is that Charlotte suddenly has a fear of getting married, brought on by something mysterious that apparently happened to her biological mother during her marriage to Charlotte’s father, who is now remarried. This mysterious “something” had never before been alluded to in the book (or if it had, not enough for me to pick up on it) and seemed to come completely out of the blue. It was as if the author had felt that Charlotte needed a reason for her distrust of marriage, and threw this fear into the story in order to validate Charlotte’s behaviour. To make everything even more confusing, the whole issue is wrapped up two or three chapters after Charlotte’s fear is first revealed, when she has a discussion with her father and coincidentally just happens to come across a letter from her grandfather that explains everything. Then, of course, her fear is gone and she can stop being so harsh to Alex. Maybe if Charlotte’s misconceptions about marriage and the mystery surrounding her father’s first wife had been incorporated better into the story as a whole I wouldn’t have minded this part of the novel so much, but as it is I really felt that this part of the plot needed to be expanded in order for it to feel credible and not so rushed. On the whole, I think that the second section of the book needed to be at least fifty pages longer as all of the events felt a bit rushed and quite detached from the first part of the book. At times, it actually felt like I was reading an entirely different book.

While The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck began with a promising start, the section of the novel that focused on the actual marriage between Charlotte and Alex was a letdown. The chemistry between the characters petered out due to Charlotte’s change in personality, and events were rushed to their conclusion by the introduction of a mysterious and previously non-existent plot device that was over and done with far too conveniently. I’m afraid that I was a bit disappointed by this book, although more the second section than the book as a whole. Charlotte and Alex were originally wonderful characters, but their personalities seem to have got a bit lost along the way. Although I didn’t love this book, I would consider reading others by Kathleen Y’Barbo in the future as she creates great characters and families. Perhaps the difficulties I had with this book were not due to her writing but the four year gap between the two parts, in which much goes unexplained.

Review title provided courtesy of Waterbrook Press.

Too Rich for a Bride - Mona Hodgson

Ida Sinclair has no intention to find a husband when she moves to Cripple Creek, the town where her sisters, Nell and Kat, discovered true love and settled down to start their families. Instead, Ida is keen to make a name for herself in the business world, working for the infamous Mollie O'Bryan. Mollie might have some practices that Ida's family disapproves of, but Ida is impressed by her achievements in a profession dominated by men. But despite her attempts to immerse herself in the world of business and to ignore the matchmaking efforts of her sisters and her landlady, Ida finds herself torn between the affections of two men. Colin Wagner, a successful lawyer, and Tucker Raines, a preacher who has returned to Cripple Creek to help out with his ailing father's business, find themselves drawn to the feisty, independent Ida. But will Ida tear herself away from her new job long enough to notice the attentions of these two men? And if she does, how will she know which man is right for her?

Although I've not yet had the chance to read the first book in the Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek series, I can honestly say that this is a series you can jump right into and feel at home with. Mona has an excellent way of creating a family unit around her main character, not only with Ida's sisters and their husbands, but also the wonderful matchmaking landlady, Miss Hattie, who became a second mother to the girls when they moved to Cripple Creek, and eventually Tucker Raines. At the end of the book we briefly meet the youngest Sinclair sister, Vivian, and Tucker's sister, Willow, who I hope will feature in the next book in the series. These are definitely characters that you don't want to leave after one book, and I may even go back and read Two Brides Too Many.

While I loved the cast of characters in this book, I have to say that the plot wasn't the strongest one I'd encountered in a historical romance. Ida's desire to be a businesswoman was definitely unique, and I loved that Mona showed her readers that you can have both a career and a family. I have to admit that I really have no idea how stocks work, so I was slightly lost during the sections where Ida and Mollie discussed their work. There was a sense of mystery surrounding Mollie and her work and her relationship with Colin Wagner, and although I was happy with the outcome of this little mystery the climax came very suddenly and almost out of nowhere, and left me feeling that there hadn't been enough of a build up to it. Although I realise that the mystery was essential in Ida choosing between her two beaus, it seemed to get side-lined slightly in order to focus on the romance.

Like most romance readers, I could figure out who Ida was going to choose from very early on in the book, but this didn't spoil my enjoyment of the story. I loved seeing the relationship between Ida and Tucker developing, and their difficulties in overcoming the boundaries that they were certain were between them. I actually feel that I related to Tucker a lot more than Ida, and maybe this is because I'm not so confident and career-driven as Ida is. Tucker also had an interesting back-story, which gently unfolded as the plot developed. I did find the conclusion of Tucker's problems with his family to be a bit sudden and perhaps a bit too convenient, but otherwise I'd have to say that he was my favourite character in the whole book.

Too Rich for a Bride isn't one of my favourites out of the historical romances I've read so far this year, but it's definitely a sweet, enjoyable read. As this is only Mona's second addition to the world of historical romances, I can definitely see her writing improving in the future and maybe even coming to rival some of the stars of the genre. If you're a fan of historical novels set in the era of westward expansion, but wish your heroines were a bit more self-sufficient and interested in more than just romance and babies, then Too Rich for a Bride is definitely one to check out. 7/10

Review title provided courtesy of Waterbrook Press.

Mine is the Night (Kerr #2) - Liz Curtis Higgs

Elisabeth and Marjory Kerr arrive in Selkirk stripped of their titles and riches, in desperate hope that a distant relative will take pity on them and offer them her home. Entering Annie’s one-room lodging, the former Ladies Kerr find themselves building a new life that could not be further from the one they lived in Edinburgh, before their men were taken from them in the Jacobite Rebellion. While Marjory learns to be a housekeeper, a job she once employed another woman to do for her, Elisabeth picks up her needle and is determined to provide for her mother-in-law and cousin with the skill that God has blessed her with. Soon, her quick needle propels her into Lord Jack Buchanan’s home, where she finds herself outfitting his new maids for a very handsome income. Unable to shake off the remnants of her noble life, her stature and speech quickly bring her to the attention of Jack, in whom she finds a kindred spirit and new friend. But Elisabeth knows that she could never pursue a relationship with a man of such standing, for fear that he might bring her family back to the attention of King George and Lord Mark Kerr, who are determined to wipe out anyone who aided the Jacobite cause. Have she and her mother-in-law truly escaped the worst of their troubles? Can Elisabeth trust the Lord enough to believe that he can bring joy back into her life after all of her losses?

Having read Here Burns My Candle not that long ago, I found myself surprised by the much lighter, happier tone to its sequel. That’s not to say that the characters didn’t have their trials and struggles; after all, this is eighteenth century Scotland and no one exactly breezed through life, least not noble women who had lost their titles to the Jacobite cause. But if you’re expecting something akin to the heartbreaking events that occurred in Here Burns My Candle, you’ll be relieved to hear that the Kerr women finally receive their much awaited happy endings. While I did occasionally feel that life was drifting along a bit too smoothly for these women, especially in light of so much suffering in the previous book, on the whole I felt that Mine is the Night was a perfect example of how God can take a life that’s been near destroyed and make it whole again.

As with her previous novel, Liz has clearly done her research, and I honestly believe that I got an authentic feel of eighteenth century Selkirk and what it was like to be a single woman in this period. Although I would class this novel as a historical romance, the historical detail is essential to the novel and not merely an added extra. From Elisabeth’s occupation as a seamstress to trips to the market to the dilapidated state of the church to the inner workings of Jack’s home, Liz has got every detail perfect. Even if you’re not an avid reader of romances, this novel is worth reading in order to understand the trails of eighteenth century life and the difficulties met by women who had to support themselves and their families. There are some fascinating sections at the back of the novel on Liz’s research on Selkirk, which I’m now determined to visit – after all, I’m one of the fortunate readers who actually lives in Scotland!

While the prequel focused mainly on the relationship between Elisabeth and her mother-in-law, Marjory, I would consider Mine is the Night to be more of a conventional historical romance. Although we witness the women interacting, the majority of the novel focuses on the development of romantic relationships: between Elisabeth and Jack, Annie and a local man, and Marjory – whose relationship I will keep secret as it’s too sweet to spoil! Jack’s wooing of our heroine is just as it should be in a romance novel and I adored reading the development of their relationship. Jack isn’t usually the type of hero that appeals to me, but he and Elisabeth were clearly perfect for each other and Jack fits his role just right. Those of you who bemoaned Elisabeth’s troubled relationship with Donald in the previous book will find this one a refreshing, pleasant change.

In a way, amongst all the blossoming relationships and luscious landscapes of Scotland, I did miss the action and drama of Here Burns My Candle. I’d have to say that I didn’t love Mine is the Night quite as much as its predecessor, but I still fell in love with it for entirely different reasons. I was so pleased to see all of the characters recovering from their devastations and finally receiving their much deserved happy endings. On the whole, this is a wonderful story and the perfect example of how God can bring something brilliant out of a bleak and hopeless looking situation. Even days after I’d finished the novel, I found myself dwelling on the times that God has brought me out of dark times and blessed me abundantly. I hope that other women find themselves similarly uplifted by the lives of the Kerr women. 9/10

This book was generously provided by Waterbrook in return for an honest review.

Look out for a contest to win this book next week at The Christian Manifesto!

Here Burns My Candle - Liz Curtis Higgs

Life in Scotland during the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 was not easy for anyone, least not the noble Kerr family in the capital city of Edinburgh. Elisabeth Kerr cannot hide her Jacobite sympathies from her family, and slowly her husband begins to share her sentiments. But when her beloved Donald and his younger brother Andrew decide to fight for the royal pretender, denouncing their loyalties to King George, Elisabeth can’t help but question whether she should have kept her feelings to herself.

Her emotions are torn even further when she discovers that the rumours about her husband’s infidelity were more than just idle gossip. This news comes at the worst possible time, and Elisabeth resigns herself to waiting until her husband’s homecoming to work on restoring her marriage. But will the Kerr men ever return from battle?

As she waits for news of her husband, Elisabeth finds herself drawing closer to Marjory, the mother-in-law who had previously scorned her for being a Lowlander. Outlawed for their allegiance to the bonny prince and lost without their men, these two women learn to find trust in each other as their position in society and their beloved country begin to crumble around them.

No review I write of this book will ever be able to do it justice. There are some books that I find myself so enamoured with that I cannot even begin to think of any flaws in them, and Here Burns My Candle is one of these. Having considered it, I could understand that those of a sensitive nature may be upset by the discussions of adultery and mistresses. And non-Christians may find Elisabeth’s conversion to Christianity uninteresting and feel the need to skip over these sections.

And I must confess, I am of a bit of an advantage when it comes to understanding the Scottish dialect in this novel, having grown up in area of Scotland where most of the residents speak with a rather broad Scots accent. (Although I will admit that my own accent is incredibly neutral, causing all of my foreign friends to complain that I don’t sound “Scottish enough”. So while I can decipher old Scots, I couldn’t pronounce it to save my life. Please don’t ask me to read this book out loud!) Fortunately, the author has included a wonderful glossary at the back of this book. If you have not yet discovered this, I’d recommend searching for it now! Even I had to use it a couple of times. The idea of having to look up a glossary in a novel might seem strange at first, but I know that most Amish novels now include these so the idea is not entirely new. But I can sympathise with those who are put off this novel due to the dialect.

That said, I honestly cannot think of one aspect of this novel that I did not love. I was cautious at the idea of reading a book set in my own country, as my one previous experience with a Scottish historical romance wasn’t particularly inspiring. Eighteenth-century Scottish history isn’t a period that I’m overly educated in, and I’m fairly certain that the Jacobite Rebellion was covered in a one-hour lecture in my first year of university. Thus, I’m certain that there are American readers who came to this book more read on this subject than myself! Like many, I started this book rather blind, and was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

I was immediately taken in by the strong, yet somehow vulnerable character of Elisabeth, who was treated like an equal by her husband yet looked down on by his family. While she stood up to her mother- and sister-in-law, she was scared at confronting her husband about the rumours she’d heard whispered about him. As would any woman, Elisabeth tried to deny any thoughts of her husband’s infidelity, yet on another level she believed them enough that she didn’t want to risk confronting him for an answer. It was truly heartbreaking to witness Elisabeth’s internal turmoil and to wait for the moment when she would learn the truth. And while you wouldn’t think that Donald could be a terribly endearing character, I did wish that he would get the chance to reform himself and cut the ties to his mistresses.

But this is Edinburgh during the Jacobite Rebellion, and I knew that the outcome of Elisabeth and Donald’s story wouldn’t be a pleasant one. Those who recall the Biblical story of Ruth will also know how this plot will pan out, since both Here Burns My Candle and its sequel, Mine is the Night, are based upon the Book of Ruth.

Unlike a lot of the historical novels I read, the premise of this one was not a boy-girl romance, but the growth of a relationship between mother- and daughter-in-law. Marjory was originally a rather unlikable character, the typical matriarch who cared more about the appearance of her family than her relationships within it. But when her sons left to fight in battle, she found herself alone with her two daughters-in-law, and it was Highlander Elisabeth, not the more respectable Janet, in whom she found comfort. It was wonderful to watch the growing relationship between these two women, despite the bleakness of their situation, and the reformation of Marjory’s personality. Their friendship also helps Elisabeth to draw closer to God, a figure who had been entirely absent in her upbringing but in whom she finds comfort after her husband’s departure. Mother- and daughter-in-law relations are not often the subject of novels, but they are a topic that most women will be able to relate to.

While I felt that the conclusion to this novel was largely optimistic, I’m also very glad that I have the sequel sitting in front of me! The Kerr saga is captivating, and I’m now a convert to the works of Liz Curtis Higgs and historical fiction of my homeland. It was so refreshing to read a novel not focused on romance, but the relationships between women in an extended family. If you’re a historical fiction fan and have not yet discovered Liz Curtis Higgs, I highly recommend starting with Here Burns My Candle.

Review title provided courtesy of Waterbrook Press.

This review is also posted at The Christian Manifesto, who will be featuring a giveaway of this book in the near future. Keep checking back for more information!