Bygone Christmas Brides

Ah with Christmas just around the corner, time seems to slip away from us with simply too much to do. We all want to get into that perfect mood, to sit by the fire, on a cold night, sip our favorite beverages and just relax and find ourselves perhaps some place else for just a little while. Novella's or short stories that feel like novels are the perfect way to take that virtual vacation and escape into the historical past and visit different time periods and places all set during the Christmas season with romance at the heart of each of them. Bygone Christmas Brides offers readers six short novellas from six wonderfully talented authors. Not only do these feel like more than short stories, it also gives readers a look at each authors unique and heartwarming writing styles.

In Lost and Found by Ginny Aiken, takes us to Wales in the year 1870, where we meet Rhiannon Wylie who is taking care of her aging father and questions the faith she has despite the fear of the mines both her father and Trefor Davies works at. Will she be able to find the faith she needs to trust God when there is no other choice in order to find true love and a chance at happiness?

In Tis the Season by Carla Gade, introduces readers to Schooley's Mountain Springs of New Jersey in 1820's where Annaliese Braun finds herself in need of someone to repair her broken wagon after the accident where the wheel comes off. Enter our hero, carpenter, Stephen Yost, who is just in town to make a living repairing some businesses and homes, but may have met his match that fateful day.

I Saw Three Ships by Pamela Griffin takes readers back to 19th century Scotland where a long lost love between Malcolm Sinclair and Rachel McIvor might just be rekindled. But can Rachel forgive the man who left her once to find his fortune, in order to try and win back her heart or will she be willing to walk away as he once did?

In Colleen of Erin by Tamela Hancock Murray, can Donohue's Mercantile owner Finn Donohue find a way into Collin Sullivan's heart? After all whenever she visits him, he will always order whatever she fancies, but what will it take for her to notice him? Will the hardness he experienced in his own past keep him from ever opening his heart up to someone like Colleen's gentleness?

A Right and Proper Christmas by Jill Stengl, finds a soldier returning home to England from the war and happens upon a small church, believing that God has called him to preach. He finds something in common with the class of people he came from, those of a lower class, but it seems he can't find someone willing to teach him how. As he stumbles into the church, he finds something he never expected, a willingness to give him a second chance at life, and possibly a chance at love with a woman who sets her heart on marrying a local man. Will she see something in him that no one else possesses?

Mercy Mild by Gina Welborn is the final novella that takes readers into the brokeness of one young woman who has faced abuse at the hands of her own parents. She refuses to ever have children believing that she will do the same to a child of her own. But will a man with a love for war orphans teach her that she can change so she doesn't have to fear she will be like her parents. Will the love a child be able to break her hardened heart?

I received Bygone Christmas Brides compliments of Barbour Publishing and Net Galley. Just looking at the cover of this collection, brings a much wanted anticipation to what each of these six novellas contains. A trip back into the historical past, in various time periods and find true love in this heartwarming collection of wonderful Christmas themed stories. While I have read others novels from some of the authors in this collection, I also got the chance to meet new ones like Tamela Hancock Murray and Pamela Griffin. They each keep the stories authentic to both the country they are set in as well as the language and traditions of those historical time periods. I give this collection a 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion and makes it easy to just take time to read one each night.

For more information about Bygone Christmas Brides, any of the authors or where you can pick up this book today to add it to your Christmas collection, please click on the links below:

Bygone Christmas Brides by Barbour Publishers

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To read more reviews on Bygone Christmas Brides, please visit Barbour Publishing. 

Remember Me When

Out of the frying pan and into the fire! That is just what seems to be happening to Faith Nolan after marrying Roger when she lost everything in a fire and had no place to go. First she lost her parents and thinking there were only a couple of single men left to marry, she opted for Roger. Only in hindsight years later, she wished she would have taken up the charitable offers of the town's resident's to stay with them. She just didn't want people to feel sorry for her and she certainly didn't want to be considered a charitable case simply because she had no where else to go.

Helping to run the General Store seemed to give her an outlet of feeling helpful to others, as well as caring for the three mules they owned to get supplies from the town of Bountiful up to where the store was in Hope County, Oregon. Their main customer was the logging company owned by Nathan Bartlett as well as some of the men serving at the Army Fort just outside the town's limits. Now if only she could find a way out of Roger's violent outbursts towards her whenever he and his brother Theo got drunk, which seemed to happen every single night. Thank goodness for long sleeve shirts to hide what bruises he left on her. She only prayed God would hear her prayers for something to change, she just never expected He would answer the way He did.

When faced with another of Roger's lies about missing supplies for Nathan's company, Faith did what she felt God had placed on her heart, and that was waiting for the next shipment of supplies and fulfill Nathan's order before they went missing again. She knew that by defying Roger, she would be faced with another beating but she had to do what was right and hope God would come through in the end. Sure enough Roger and Theo were waiting for her when she arrived back to the store and they were drunk yet again. Only Roger would never take his anger out on Faith, when anyone was around, she knew he would wait for Theo to leave and then have his "discussion" with Faith.

Sure enough like clock work that is just what happened but something snapped inside of Faith this time, and she wasn't going to let Roger take his anger out on her once again. Grabbing a fireplace poker, she attempted to fight him off, but when he pushed her away from him, taking the poker from him, the last thing she remembered before she hit the ground was pain and darkness. What she didn't expect when she came to, was to see Roger's body on the ground with the fireplace poker in the back of his head and their store on fire. Fleeing for her life, she ran, but never in her mind did she think she would be arrested for Roger's murder. But things are about to get a whole lot worse for Faith. Is this God's answer to her prayers?

I received Remember Me When by Ginny Aiken compliments of Faith Words, a division of Hachette Book Groups for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation and the opinions contained here are strictly my own. This is the second book in the Women of Hope series and one that I fully enjoyed being a huge fan of westerns. I always thought I would have run a general store if I lived back in that time frame but loved where Ginny Aiken took this one. Faith is about to have her faith tested when one circumstance after another seems to stack the deck against her innocence and one by one, the people she hoped she could count on are shaking their own heads in disbelief. It will take an act of God to free Faith from the hangman's noose and to find a way to turn the hearts of the town's people back to believing she is innocent. Truly an unforgettable novel and one that I can proudly add to my personal library and well deserving of a 5 out of 5 stars. This novel also contains a Reading Group Discussion guide at the conclusion.

For more information about Remember Me When, Ginny Aiken, or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Remember Me When by Ginny Aiken

You can also find Ginny Aiken on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Remember Me When, please visit Faith Word's website. 

• Series: Women of Hope
• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: FaithWords (June 18, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892968478
• ISBN-13: 978-0892968473
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 1.1 inches

She Shall Be Praised

All Emma Cromwell hoped for when she set out on her journey to Portland, Oregon was to learn to rely on herself and not the men in her life. After spending time in the social circles in Denver and finding little in the way of friendships with women and nothing but the attention of suitable gentlemen, Emma wanted to see if she could handle life without someone making all the decisions for her. So when her father agreed to send her by coach along with the pastor and his wife, he felt he had done the right thing. After all he finally got Emma to agree to marry Joshua Hamilton, a suitable match in both business and for making sure he could provide for his daughter. Now she only has to get from Denver to Oregon in one piece.

But like all great novels, there is a twist of fate when Emma has to stop the coach to allow the dog she was gifted from Mr. Hamilton as an engagement present to do her constitutionals. Little did she imagine that the coach would be held up and the driver leave her behind in an effort to avoid being robbed. Now she is left in the care of two bumbling thieves who know they can't abandon her in the middle of the forest. One of the men, Ned, wants to be the true gentleman while Sawyer sees her like an object of desire and one that she can't trust. When she is taken back to their camp, she learns that they are more than just thieves, they have also stolen sheep from the local rancher and they are hoping to stay long enough to make some money off them.

Peter Lowery knows that the size of his sheep herd is dwindling and believes that someone is stealing from him. Instead of getting the sheriff involved since he lives so far from town, he opts to do the investigation on his own. He soon stumbles upon Ned and Sawyer in a hidden canyon, and with his ranch foreman, Colley, they are able to capture them. What he didn't expect was to find a beautiful woman being held hostage along with a dog. Knowing he can't leave her behind, he takes Emma back to the ranch with the thieves. Unfortunately for all of them, he can't risk taking Emma back to town until the fall. Being short-handed on the ranch at a critical time for his sheep herd, he can't spare anyone to take Emma to town even though he knows her father must be concerned to know if she is OK. Will a socialite be able to earn her keep living on a sheep ranch even though none of the skills she possesses will help out? Will Emma find a way to return home to her father on her own?

I received She Shall Be Praised by Ginny Aiken compliments of Faith Words, a division of Hachette Book Group for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed here are strictly my own. This is the third book in the Women of Hope Series and I have LOVED this novel. Set in the late 1800's this is a story of how Emma learns to dig deep and find the knowledge and determination to fit in despite what Peter thinks of her. She also learns that Peter has lost his wife has also left behind a young son who finds much more in Emma than a friend. This one is worth every single one of the 5 out of 5 stars and I can't wait for more from Ginny Aiken in the future.

For more information about She Shall Be Praised, Ginny Aiken, or where to pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

She Shall Be Praised by Ginny Aiken

You can find Ginny Aiken on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on She Shall Be Praised, please visit Faith Word's website.

• Series: Women of Hope
• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: FaithWords (January 7, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089296846X
• ISBN-13: 978-0892968466
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches

For Such A Time As This

Times have always been tough out west, especially in the 1800's for families looking to make a living and a new start, especially along the Oregon Trail. Hope County, Oregon is definitely no exception, but after years of no rain and now grasshoppers eating whatever farmers can grow, most families are barely able to put enough food on the table for them to eat and have been forced to sell off their livestock.

The Moore family is no exception and it doesn't help Olivia, the oldest daughter, to overhear the anxieties that are facing her family, during the late night talks between her parents. They have already mortgaged as much of the farm as they can and if things don't change soon, they may have to sell everything. It's through a chance encounter on the streets of Bountiful that Olivia feels God's calling to help her family. When a group of wild boys chase and tease a group of girls with a stolen pig, Olivia handles the situation with grace, patience and manners of a lady well beyond her years. Mr. Elijah Whitman, president of the bank, witnesses the entire display and soon learns that his son, Luke is part of the group of boys.

It seems that once again, Mr. Whitman wishes he had someone to help him raise his son, Luke and daughter, Miranda, but he can't seem to find a nanny that will stay and put forth the effort to teach them some manners. Being president of the bank, calls him out of town quite a bit and unless something changes, he has no other choice but to send them both off to boarding schools. Luke suggests that Ms. Olivia Moore would make the perfect nanny for them and soon Olivia believes that God is pointing her toward hope in helping her family out in the process by getting a job.

In the novel, For Such A Time As This by Ginny Aiken, the storyline gets interesting when Ms. Moore takes the position as a child companion, she dislikes the title of nanny and the children believe they don't need one since nanny's are for babies, especially Miranda. At first the children resort to their old tried and true favorite pranks they have used to "rid" themselves of having someone to care for them including "Cooky" the household cook who is used to being ignored. Yet none of them were prepared for the fact that Olivia has had experience dealing with her younger brothers and sisters and therefore, can see a teaching moment in everything. She knows she has to do something they aren't expecting in order for the children to see her as their ally and someone who is there to help them grow. Along the way, the children begin to fully appreciate what Ms. Moore brings to the household but not before the town can begin to gossip and it causes her reputation to be called into question.

I received For Such A Time As This compliments of Faith Words Publishers, a division of Hachette Book Groups for my honest opinion. I completely feel in love with the character of Olivia Moore. She wants to do whatever she can to aid her family and along the way finds her true calling in helping to raise the Whitman children where none had succeeded before. She relies on God to help her through difficult times when she feels like throwing in the towel and simply going home and that shows the true character of strength and perseverance in trouble times. I rate this one hands down a 5 out of 5 stars as the first book in the Women of Hope series and can't wait to read the next one! Ginny Aiken has answered the called of my heart's genre!

For more information on For Such A Time As This, Ginny Aiken or where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the link below:

For Such A Time As This by Ginny Aiken

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: FaithWords (August 14, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892968486
• ISBN-13: 978-0892968480
• Product Dimensions: 5.3 x 1 x 8.5 inches