Whispers on the Dock

The mystery of what happened to Hannah Montague is still in the minds of Sam Carter, Caroline Marris and Gracie Gold, three sisters who are all co-owners of the Misty Harbor Inn. They are still no closer to finding out any more clues than they had hoped and lately everything has been coming to a dead end. With the issue that this happened in the late 1800's before most records were being stored, their only clues have been trying to trace handwritten post cards that Hannah left with encrypted codes. Rumor has it that Hannah went missing and may have stolen money from a church at the time. However the three sisters have a feeling that there is more to the story than what they have heard. When an elderly resident comes to stay at the Inn could she be the one to put all the missing pieces to rest once and for all?

Secret passages and rooms are still being discovered along with boxes and crates of items that belonged to each of the Inn's former owners. Will they be able to uncover the one thing that will link all the missing pieces together or will they find out that poor Hannah Montague met with a fate she wasn't expecting?

In the latest and final novel in the Postcards from Misty Harbor Inn by Evangeline Kelley, Whispers in the Dock ties up all the lingering answers in this heartwarming romance/mystery novel. Evangeline Kelley is the pen name for the writing team of Patti Berg, Pam Hanson, Barbara Andrews and Camy Tang and was one I was waiting for the put an perfect end to my summer reading series of novels. I got this one just in time to head to the beach for a perfect blend of sun, ocean waves and the romance that the ocean always brings.

While the three sisters continue searching for the solution to the mystery of Hannah Montague, each of them also has their own personal issues to deal with. For Caroline Marris is in the midst of making plans for her upcoming wedding to George and is finding things a bit challenging since she isn't feeling like your typical bride should be in looking forward to her wedding as well as searching for a home that they both will share once they are married. She's beginning to wonder if marriage is the right path for her after all.

Sam Carter, the Inn's resident baker extraordinaire is being challenged to enter her latest dessert creation in the town's baking contest, her blackberry cobbler using her mother's recipe with a little tweaking added. However she learns that the contest may be rigged when it seems that Betsy Carlisle has been the winner in the previous four years and then her mother five years before that. Will Sam be able to put the winning streak for Betsy Carlisle to an end or will her dessert wind up on the losing side?

Gracie Gold is still trying to find a buyer for her home since putting in all her inheritance money into the purchase of the Inn. It seems that her thirty five year old home needs more money in renovations than she is willing to spend and she struggles with making a decision to sell the only home that's been in her family for ages or cut her loss and sell it for whatever she can. Will she make the right decision that she can live with?

I received Whispers on the Dock by Evangeline Kelley compliments of Guideposts Publishing and Litfuse Publicity for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation for a favorable review. I will be missing the three sisters that I've gotten to know this summer during my journey and stay at Misty Harbor Inn. It is bittersweet knowing that at least for now, this is where it all ends. I think the authors did an exceptional job at keeping the cliff hanger mystery going throughout all three of these charming novels and love all the little personal stories that have come along with them and in renovating a childhood Inn that their own mother used to talk about owning one day. I easily rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars and will be adding this one to the rest of the novels in this series to my summer beach bag to read again next year to spark those old familiar feelings of romance and intrigue once again.

For more information about Whispers on the Dock, Evangeline Kelley or where you can purchase a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Whispers on the Dock by Evangeline Kelley

You can also find more reviews for Whispers on the Dock on the Litfuse Book Tours by clicking here. 


Book three in the Postcards from Misty Harbor Inn series, Whispers on the Dock(Guideposts Books) is now available. Come back to Nantucket and be enthralled by the final installment of the cozy intrigue of Misty Harbor Inn.

Enter to win the entire set of Postcards from Misty Harbor Inn.

Three winners will receive:

• Seaside Summer, Sunflower Summer and Whispers on the Dock by Evangeline Kelley

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on August 31st. All winners will be announced September 2nd at the Litfuse blog.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to visit the Litfuse blog on the 2nd to see if you won one set! (Or better yet, subscribe to our blog (via the box in the top right sidebar) and have the winner announcement delivered to your inbox!)

The Tutor's Daughter

Who would have ever guessed that some of the best books out on the shelves today are the ones that blend the best of two or more genre's together to create a recipe for something that is guaranteed to grab you and never let go? Well that's just what you'll find when you pick up a copy of Julie Klassen's latest novel, The Tutor's Daughter. It's a perfect blend of mystery, suspense, romance and historical fiction set in Cornwall in the early 1800's. If you love any of those types of genre's, you'll want to pick up this novel as soon as you can. But be forewarned, you won't be able to put this one down and you'll be sad when it ends. Not because of a tearful ending, but because it's so good, it's over too soon.

The story begins at the Smallwood Academy, a boarding school for boys and gives us a brief history into the lives of Emma Smallwood and her father, John. As a young girl she was often the victim of the childish pranks of Henry Weston, and spent a great deal of time trying to avoid him whenever possible. It was his younger brother, Phillip that captured Emma's heart. She envisioned what a romance with him might be like, even though the possibility of that ever happening was probable. The Weston's came from a well-to-do family in Cornwall, and her family was just barely making ends meet running the Academy.

Five years later, the academy is falling on hard times and it seems that few families are sending their boys to schools such as the Smallwood Academy opting for more renown ones like Eton. As hard as Emma tried to find ways to bring more students into the academy it seemed like her father had truly given up. Acting in her father's behalf, she sent a letter to the Weston family to inquire to the possibility of the younger brothers Julian and Rowan to see if they might be interested in coming to the boarding school. Yet when a reply returned from Sir Giles Weston asking if her father would be interested in private tutoring in their family home for a year along with Emma for support, her taste for adventure was about to get interesting.

Wondering just what Phillip was like after all these years apart kept Emma's anxious to see just what the future would be like and living at the Weston estate was like a dream come true. However when Emma and her father arrive, they are more than surprise at their welcome reception and soon are made to feel just like the hired help in the Weston home. What's even more surprising is that Phillip is away at Oxford and only Henry is still living at the family home. Things are about to get interesting at the Weston estate when someone or something starts coming into Emma's room and soon she fears her life is at stake. Has Henry's childhood pranks taken on a darker side?

I received The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen compliments of Bethany House and Litfuse for my honest review and have to say that a seaside Estate in Cornwall, romantic tension and an apparent ghost are just the perfect elements in this exciting novel. The signs of a great book are when it feels so real when you are reading it, you can picture the house, the stormy seas below the estate, even the school room where John and Emma teach the boys. There are such rich and vivid details to keep the reader engaged and even the tension that happened late at night is enough to keep you turning pages while attempting to figure out just what is really going on! Truly a winner in my opinion and worth every single one of the 5 out of 5 stars! For reading groups, there are some amazing questions at the conclusion of this novel!

For more information about The Tutor's Daughter, Julie Klassen, or where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

The Tutor's Daughter by Julie Klassen

You can also find Julie Klassen on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest books.

To read more reviews on The Tutor's Daughter from the Litfuse Publicity Book Tour, please click here. 

Shadows on the Sand

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Shadows on the Sand Multnomah Books (July 19, 2011) by Gayle Roper





ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Gayle is the award winning author of more than forty books. She has been a Christy finalist three times for her novels Spring Rain, Summer Shadows, and Winter Winds. Her novel Autumn Dreams won the prestigious Romance Writers of America's RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance. Summer Shadows was voted the Inspirational Readers Choice Contest Book of the Year (tied with fellow author Brandilyn Collins).



Gayle has won the Holt Medallion three times for The Decision, Caught in a Bind, and Autumn Dreams. The Decision won the Reviewers Choice Award, and Gayle has also won the Award of Excellence for Spring Rain and the Golden Quill for Summer Shadows and Winter Winds. Romantic Times Book Report gave Gayle the Lifetime Achievement Award.



Her Amhearst mystery series, Caught in the Middle, Caught in the Act, and Caught in a Bind, originally published by Zondervan, was reprinted in 2007 by Love Inspired Suspense with a fourth original title added, Caught Redhanded. Another original single title, See No Evil, was also released. Caught in the Middle has been optioned for film.



For her work in training Christian writers Gayle has won special recognition from Mount Hermon CWC, St. Davids CWC, Florida CWC, and Greater Philadelphia CWC. She directed St. Davids for five years and Sandy Cove CWC for six. She has taught with Christian Leaders, Authors and Speakers Services (CLASS), serving for several years as their writer in residence. She enjoys speaking at women's events across the nation and loves sharing the powerful truths of Scripture with humor and practicality.



Gayle lives in southeastern Pennsylvania where she enjoys her family of two great sons, two lovely daughters-in-law, and the world's five most wonderful grandchildren. When she's not writing, or teaching at conferences, Gayle enjoys reading, gardening, and eating out.





ABOUT THE BOOK

Carrie Carter’s small café in Seaside, New Jersey, is populated with a motley crew of locals although Carrie only has eyes for Greg Barnes. He’s recovering from a vicious crime that three years ago took the lives of his wife and children—and from the year he tried to drink his reality away. While her heart does a happy Snoopy dance at the sight of him, he never seems to notice her, to Carrie’s chagrin.



When Carrie’s dishwasher is killed and her young waitress disappears, Greg finds himself drawn into helping Carrie solve the mysteries … and into her life. But Carrie has a painful past, too, and when the reason she once ran away shows up in town, the fragile relationship she’s built with Greg threatens to implode from the weight of the baggage they both carry. Two wounded hearts struggle to find a way to make one romance work. Failure seems guaranteed when Carrie locates her waitress but is taken hostage...



If you would like to read the first chapter of Shadows on the Sand, go HERE.

My Review:

I loved this story because it told two different stories of being lost and then found again, both in scriptural references with the Bible and through the unveiling of the characters pasts. In the story of Carrie, we learn how difficult her childhood has been caring for not only herself and her sister Lindsay at 16. She struggles with keeping up strength in dealing with any circumstance that she comes into contact with even though on the inside she's extremely fragile and broken on the inside.

Then there is the story of Andi and the parallel life she leads working under Carrie at the diner. Little do they know how similar their stories are and how they will work together in the end to resolve the issues they have been running from however not at all in the way either of them would expect.

I received this book compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and even though this was a romance in the making, it also had some action adventure and mystery-suspense thrown in for good measure. I can't wait to get my hands on my books by Gayle Roper. This one rates a 5 out of 5 stars.