Rutabaga's Reads 2025: Part 18

Where there’s a YA fiction compilation, so there will be a Christian/inspirational fiction compilation close behind. Here is the third Christian/inspirational fiction post of 2025.

An Honorable Deception (Nov. 19, 2024) by Roseanna M. White.

<This is the third novel in a series.>

The leader of the Imposters (a private investigative firm that caters to the aristocracy), Lord Yates Fairfax, risks being recognized when his newest client, the beautiful Lady Alethia Barremore, is shot in the church they’ve met in. Lady Alethia is looking for her former nanny (or ayah), Samira, who’s gone missing. Their investigation digs up a truth far more sinister and dangerous than any of them imagined. But maybe Alethia isn’t truly surprised, given the terrifying truth that’s haunted her since she was a little girl being hidden in a locked wardrobe for her safety by her ayah.

            She may have spent years incredibly ill (scarlet fever), but Lady Lavinia Hemming highly suspects that her longtime friends and neighbors, siblings Yates and Lady Marigold Livingstone (née Fairfax), have more going on than meets the eye. When she discovers that they are the esteemed Imposters, she invites herself into the firm. Her own family’s secret continues to weigh on her, and she needs the distraction of an investigation. She wants to be useful and maybe, just maybe, she wants to let herself love Yates. But has Yates moved on from his childhood crush on Lavinia?

            In this final novel in The Imposters series, the Imposters dive into the dark side of society, where it’s obvious that titles don’t equate to noble thoughts and actions. Investigating those that they see in society is a balancing act, and despite the Edwardian-era setting, the struggle with finances is real in any timeline with characters that would be awesome to have as friends and neighbors in real life. The plot matter is not an easy topic, but it makes for a compelling story with a propulsive plot. White writes with the ease of a talented, seasoned writer, and I look forward to reading more of her stories.

            P.S. I was thrilled with the connections to the Shadows Over England and The Codebreakers series, along with allusion to “The Lost Heiress.” I love story crossovers!

            Book 1: A Beautiful Disguise

            Book 2: A Noble Scheme

Serial Burn (Jan. 21, 2025) by Lynette Eason.

<This is the third novel in a series.>

Almost 20 years have passed since Jesslyn McCormick was robbed of her family in a fire when she was only seven years old. As a fire marshal in Lake City, North Carolina (fictional), she’s dedicated her career to investigating fires. Now she’s examining one at her own church. Old feelings are dredged up and planted evidence on-scene provides new clues. There’s been an attempted abduction and attempts on her life. She recently made a passionate and public statement about never giving up on finding her family’s killer. It could be that the killer has been in the area this entire time. FBI Special Agent Nathan Carlisle is called in to work with local law enforcement. He also has a past that involves a fatal fire, which he has no interest in rehashing. Searching for the arsonist is a great distraction, but protecting Jesslyn is likewise a distraction. The spark between them is strong enough to set their lives ablaze, but someone else is setting things alight in real time.

            The penultimate story in the Lake City Heroes series is an inferno of action, danger, investigation and quick-thinking soothed by faith, found family and camaraderie. It’s a Christian romantic suspense novel that grabs hold of you in a vice-like grip, snatching your attention as you race the characters to figure out who the arsonist is before they do. Guilt is a supporting theme of one of the supporting characters and his shining scene is gripping and emotional. From start to finish, Eason takes readers on a thrill ride. One aims for a reckoning; the other’s goal is retribution.

            Book One: Double Take

            Book Two: Target Acquired

Two Seconds Too Late (Apr. 29, 2025) by Dani Pettrey.

<This is the second novel in a series.>

A woman has vanished from a couples’ retreat at a swanky, luxury resort in northern New Mexico. Skip tracer Riley MacLeod and private investigator Greyson Chadwick pose as a couple to seek out clues to the missing woman’s location. Expressive Wellness Retreat and Spa is luxurious and comes with a luxurious price tag. The woman, Kelly Frazier, is on the run and being hunted. What should be a cut-and-dried tracking case takes a sharp turn when Riley becomes the hunted, too. Her home is ransacked, she finds herself stalked, and she and Greyson are somehow tracked to the retreat. The Kelly that Riley thought she knew isn’t the only side of Kelly. Kelly’s desperate for justice, but taking it into her own hands may end her life if Riley and Greyson can’t find her. As the pair work together, their mutual attraction ignites, but Greyson’s deep secrets prevent him from admitting his attraction. From a missing woman to hit men to a questionable retreat, survival is a fight. But so is love, when one’s found one’s soulmate.

            It’s hard to put Pettrey’s books down once I start them, but I do, because I’m one of those who reads multiple novels simultaneously (normally not more than three, but it’s been as many as seven). The second in Pettrey’s Jeopardy Falls series is high-octane and action-packed. The Christian romantic suspense novel barely lets readers get a breath in as the characters get their danger-filled spying on in this wholesome story. The writing is tight, and it gets the pulse pounding, even though you know the outcome will be good for the protagonists. It’s another victory for the author and her faithful characters and a victory; therefore, for her readers.

            Book One: One Wrong Move

Rutabaga's Reads 2025: Part 11

I aim to make this a regular compilation post annually, but its nickname all these months has been Christmas in July. None of these books were published in July, but as you can see from the titles, they all have a Christmas theme. Happy Christmas in July! (^-^)

Christmas at Sugar Plum Manor (Sept. 3, 2024) by Roseanna M. White.

<This is a standalone novella.>

In Edwardian-era England, 19-year-old Lady Mariah Lyons is the beloved stepdaughter of Lord Geoffrey Lightbourne, the Earl of Castleton. Her mother married the earl when Mariah was only two years old. Lady Mariah has grown up in the idyllic Plumford Manor, a home and village she cherishes, and it’s rechristened Sugar Plum Manor every Christmas holiday. Her childhood friend, whom she hasn’t seen in 12 years, 22-year-old Cyril Lightbourne, is set to return to Plumford as its heir. Lady Mariah once dreamed her friendship with Cyril would spark into something more, but she’s learned that he’s courting the cruel Lady Pearl Kingeland. She vows to accept him as a friend and prays he’ll be the heir her stepfather and Plumford need.

            A youthful misunderstanding kept Cyril away from Plumford Manor, and he no longer has an attachment to Lady Pearl. He hopes Mariah is still a friend, but winning her heart may pose tricky, as a Danish lord, Søren Gyldenkrone, is determined to win her hand and whisk her back to Denmark. Will the magic of the holiday season usher in true love like sugar plums, cinnamon and gingerbread usher holiday merriment into a festive home?

            This short tale is layered with friendship, love, sugar plums, gingerbread and an E.T.A. Hoffman-inspired Nutcracker play. The main characters are easy to root for, and it’s even easy to root for Lord Gyldenkrone and hope for a happy outcome for Lady Louise, Lady Mariah’s 26-year-old widowed sister. There are Scrooge-y hearts that need thawing. The whimsical backdrop of this novella, with its holiday descriptions and Christmassy foods, makes for a charming historical romance. While outside the realm of her usual novels, White remains a powerhouse in Christian, historical fiction. What a treat that it’s Christmas-themed this time!

The Christmas Tree Farm (Sept. 3, 2024) by Melody Carlson.

<This is a standalone novella.>

After several years of teaching in Mongolia, Madison McDowell has returned to her family’s Christmas tree farm in Oregon. There’s damage after a recent wildfire, and it’s also been neglected due to her younger sister’s unwillingness to invest her time and money into the farm. Addie wants to sell, claiming there wasn’t much to inherit after their other grandparent passed away, but Madison is prepared to invest in the farm, and she does. Her time, her money, her sweat. She isn’t thrilled that their property-adjoining neighbors want to create a dusty, noisy, dirt bike track, but maybe dirt bikes aren’t so bad? The neighbor is a widower and her first love, Gavin Thompson, whose younger daughter, Lily, wants the track. The older daughter, Lucy, is away at college. Now all she wants is for them to be good neighbors and friends. Just friends. (Maybe.) Her focus is the Christmas tree farm and restoring the one place that ever felt like home to Madison. It’ll take grit, hard work and great effort to restore the farm, but that may prove easier than reconciling with her sister. Will unexpected help spell a second chance at love or will it just dredge up painful memories right before Christmas?

            This Hallmark moviesque novella is a Christian, contemporary romance with drops of faith that will have readers wanting a custom wreath, the fresh scent of a real Christmas tree and plenty of hot cocoa. Readers know the story will be tied up with a neat bow by the story’s end, but that’s not a bad thing when you know going in that you’re in for a swift, sweet, charming story that encourages holiday spirit.

Santa’s Secret (Sept. 24, 2024) by Fern Michaels.

<This is the third book in a series.>

With Christmas fast-approaching, ‘tis the season for high school friends Frankie (Francesca) Cappella, Amy Blanchard, Rachael Newmark and Nina Hunter to go on a Girls’ Trip. Their trip finds three-quarters of them traveling with partners, and Frankie’s parents are going, too. They’re traveling to Salerno, Italy, where Giovanni Lombardi’s family lives. Giovanni is Frankie’s boyfriend. Giovanni and his older brother, Marco, run an Italian restaurant in Manhattan, and the traditional family recipes delight tourists and locals alike. But one recipe eludes them, and it’s their mother’s coveted panettone. She claims it’s “Santas’ secret.” Amy, Rachael and Nina have their own side quests planned before converging on the Lombardi family. From lost luggage to the wrong tour group to jet lag and Vespas, there’s never a dull getaway with this crew of high school friends and company.

            The third in the Santa’s Crew series (I’ve not read the previous two) likely finds strong readership with viewers who enjoy their Hallmark holiday movies era. There’s amazing food, mischief-making, holiday merriment and wholesome romance in this contemporary romance, Christmas story. It’s a story of beloved traditions and making new memories. My one struggle is how she writes her interactions with her friends. The friends are in my generational age group, but none of my various friends with their varied backgrounds and current stations interact like that, not even those friends who are huggers. Those interactions are cringey to me. Still, for readers looking for a little merry mayhem during the holiday season and copious amounts of delectable Italian food, this may be the Christmas story for them.

Rutabaga's Reads 2025: Part 9

Having just published my second YA compilation post, if you know my blog and me at all, you already expect that a second Christian/inspirational fiction post is not far behind. Here is the second Christian/inspirational fiction post of 2025.

Meeting Her Match (July 16, 2024) by Jen Turano.

<This is the third and final novel in a series.>

Renowned matchmaker, influential member of the New York Four Hundred and an Incomparable during her Season, Miss Camilla Pierpont has vowed to never marry after a devastating heartbreak years ago. After she’s nearly abducted along the Hudson River as she’s with Lottie McBriar, her recently hired paid companion, she’s rescued by a broad, outspoken man who annoys her when he calls her a “little lady,” and she assumes he’s working with the would-be abductors. When it turns out he isn’t, looking the worse for wear after a tussle with an angry mama raccoon (a very exciting morning), Camilla learns that he knows Mr. Walter Townsend and has a note to prove it. This gentleman is Mr. Owen Chesterfield, and he’s there to convince Camilla to sponsor his sister, Miss Luella, and take her in hand. Owen, a businessman, owns Chesterfield Nail Manufacturing, which supplies almost the entire country with nails, but Camilla doubts she’ll be able to help his sister. When she receives a telegram that someone from her past is heading toward New York, and considering the unknown abductors, Camilla decides to travel in Owen’s Pullman car to Wheeling, West Virginia. She goes with stereotypical expectations, but acclimates well to the informal attitude of Owen’s hometown. She even whitewashes a fence and almost gets trampled by Esmerelda, Meemaw’s pig. As it were, danger follows her to West Virginia, and it could disrupt the most spectacular match of all: her own.

            Every time I read a Jen Turano story, I am filled with bubbly delight. The women in her stories are independent, the lead males sometimes bumbling but well-meaning (like Owen), and the antagonists are dastardly but always get their comeuppance. Camilla’s avoidance of a specific recipe is entertaining, as is Meemaw, and the humor throughout accentuates the propulsive narrative, its twists, the budding romance and the local vernacular of this area of the Ohio Valley. Like its predecessors in the series, this Gilded-Age period, Christian historical romance is wholesome, witty, spunky and fun.

            The Matchmakers Book One: A Match in the Making

            The Matchmakers Book Two: To Spark a Match

A Noble Scheme (Mar. 19, 2024) by Roseanna M. White.

<This is the second novel in a series.>

The Imposters have taken on a pro bono case. A young boy has been kidnapped, mistaken for his aristocratic cousin. Sidney Hart’s parents appealed to Mrs. Hart’s late sister’s husband, Lord Philmore Wilfred, but as it wasn’t his son who was kidnapped, he refused to help. Lord Wilfred is a coldhearted, cutthroat, querulous man who tends to see only dollar signs. As it stands, Horace Wilfred is determined to find a way to save his cousin, with or without his father’s help. This case brings Gemma Parks (known to London’s elite as renowned columnist G.M. Parker) and Graham Wharton in close working quarters. The first awful anniversary of a tragedy is approaching, and Gemma has spent that year avoiding Graham and casting vitriolic blame. He admits to his arrogance and his part in the tragedy. It’s pushed him away from God, from believing, but Graham is determined to win Gemma back. He’s only ever loved her. Together with the rest of the Imposters team, they’ll have to devise a noble scheme to rescue the boy, and hopefully, in the process, find the healing they both need.

            Despite the personal turmoil between Gemma and Graham, they have good hearts, just as all of the Imposters do. Money is tight, yet Yates doesn’t hesitate to take the case for free. Glamour resides alongside those in the aristocracy, but glamour is also used as a clever distraction. The second in The Imposters series is a Christian historical romance where not one, but both main characters need faith healing alongside forgiveness. Their emotions are still raw, making the story all the more realistic despite its Edwardian England setting. White’s stories are always quick to draw me in with their shrewd-but-imperfect characters, independent women and forward-moving plots. Immersive and compelling!

            Favorite lines: “Words were wily things – but they were miraculous too. They created, they shaped, they breathed life. God used them to form the universe, and Christ had come as a living Word to write Himself onto the hearts of humankind.” (p. 78)

            Book 1: A Beautiful Disguise

Target Acquired (Aug. 20, 2024) by Lynette Eason.

<This is the second novel in a series.>

Growing up the youngest with three brothers, Kenzie King had to be tough in a household where their mom died when she was a young teen, and their father made everything a competition. Now in her 30s, she’s worked harder than any of the men to prove she belongs on the SWAT team as a tactical medic and the only woman. SWAT team leader Cole Garrison has known Kenzie since she was a kid, as he’s good friends with her brother, Logan. He knows she’s the better qualified candidate; she even carries M.D. behind her name, but not everyone agrees that she’s the best choice. In fact, someone is trying to kill her, going so far as to demand that she quit the team. And if one of her teammates is injured in the crossfire, so be it. Does someone on the team want her off of it so badly that he’ll keep trying to kill her and ambush the team? As if the stress of that isn’t enough, her dad has laid a bombshell on her, and the truth of that past and a further past may have a surprising connection to the here and now.

            A Christian romantic suspense novel, the next in the Lake City Heroes series teems with grit, secrets, past hurts and present-day turmoil. The necessity for the characters to think on their feet aids in the quick pacing of the story. It’s suspenseful and zippy, sometimes biting and emotional, but it’s steered by steadfast faith, lighthearted moments and the support of strong friendships. Eason effortlessly manages to write a contemporary novel with flashback snippets to 1947, weaving a past that has implications in the present.

            Book One: Double Take

Rutabaga's Reads 2024: Part 9

Welcome to my only Christian/inspirational fiction post of 2024. For those who do read Christian fiction, who are your favorite authors and why?

A Beautiful Disguise (Aug. 22, 2023) by Roseanna M. White.

<This is the first novel in a series.>

With a flair for the bold, Lady Marigold Fairfax’s wardrobe isn’t fashion-forward because she’s style-obsessed. Instead, her eye-catching choices as Lady Marigold disguise her alter ego as Lady M and also one of the founding members of The Imposters, Ltd., with her brother, Yates, and two friends, Gemma Parks (a.k.a. G.M. Parker, a columnist renowned for her high society stories) and Graham Wharton. Left with an estate (and an earldom for Yates) on the brink of bankruptcy after their father’s death, the brother-sister duo opened a private investigation firm for the elite to spy on the elite. They have collected many secrets and are shocked when Lieutenant Colonel Sir Merritt Livingstone finds their card and hires the anonymous group to investigate Lord Thomas Hemming, their late father’s good friend. He might be a traitor, as someone is leaking information to Germany as tensions mount (it’s England in 1909). Sir Merritt has been a dedicated man of the Crown with exemplary service, having recently spent a decade serving the reigning monarch in the Coldstream Guards, but pneumonia lands him a desk job in the War Office Intelligence Division where Lord Hemming also works. The Imposters, Ltd.’s investigative services are beyond compare, but will they find innocence in their father’s friend? Or something nefarious?

            From bejeweled ballrooms to covert intelligence offices in London to an acrobatic Tower in Northumberland, the first in The Imposters series is engaging from the first page until the last. It’s a story showcasing hard work, up to and including manual labor, in an aristocratic society where money isn’t oft seen as an issue, but for the Fairfax siblings, the burden to keep afloat and maintain appearances is a weighted one. White crafts a series starter replete with great characters and a forward-moving plot set in Edwardian England that is interspersed with romance and investigation and fueled by faith. It’s a delightful, inspirational fiction, sleuthing adventure!

            Favorite line: “She simply preferred not to sit like a letter of the alphabet and pretend a ruler was jammed into her corset.” (p. 211)

The Heirloom (Sept. 12, 2023) by Beverly Lewis.

<This is a standalone novel that’s a prequel to The Shunning.>

With grief over her mother’s passing still feeling fresh with her father already remarried and reeling after a breakup with someone she thought was the one, 19-year-old Clara Bender doesn’t feel like she fits in in her more progressive Amish community in First Light, Indiana. With a new stepmom, Clara isn’t needed to manage her dad’s household, and there are few available young men in her small community. When she comes across letters from her mother’s dear aunt Ella Mae Zook, and reaches out to this great aunt whom she’s never met, she soon finds herself invited to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania’s, Hickory Hollow and the Old Order Amish community where Ella Mae, the Wise Woman, resides. Clara’s arrival for a week turns into a summer, and it’s an answer to prayer, because Ella Mae isn’t ready to move from the home she made with her late, beloved husband. The two women form a close bond quickly over their love of Clara’s mother and quilting. Together, the two of them set to restoring an heirloom wedding quilt from 1911 that once belonged to Ella Mae’s mother. Clara finally opens up about the relationship that fell apart, and Ella Mae shares the “unspeakable” tragedy from her courting years. Clara makes quick friends, including Katie Lapp (features in The Shunning), Lettie Zook (granddaughter to Ella Mae) and Rosanna Ebersol (a shy 16-year-old). She also meets some eligible young men from Hickory Hollow. Will she become flirtatious Tom Glick’s sweetheart girl? Or might thoughtful Aaron Ebersol catch her heart?

            Lewis’ prequel to The Shunning is an intergenerational novel of healing, love, new beginnings and moving forward. If Clara follows her heart, she’ll stay in Hickory Hollow amongst the strict Old Order Amish with their straitlaced bishop, but her father’s been adamant that she’ll return to First Light at summer’s end, where their Amish community focuses more on grace than excessive rules. Lewis graces readers with another tender, heartstrings-tugging, clean romance. Make a sweet, minty batch of meadow tea, find your favorite lap quilt and settle cozily in for this gladdening tale.

To Spark a Match (Nov. 14, 2023) by Jen Turano.

<This is the second novel in a series.>

Even though she’s a member of the New York Four Hundred, with multiple unsuccessful Seasons and a penchant for catastrophe, Miss Adelaide Duveen has long since resigned herself to the wallflowers section at parties and accepts that she’s destined to remain a spinster forever at her overripe age of 23. She doesn’t view this dismally, for it allows her to concentrate on her favorites: cats and books. She delights in spy novels, and when she inadvertently stumbles upon Mr. Gideon Abbott engaged in a clandestine activity during a dinner party, Adelaide is all but convinced that she must help Gideon solve the case. This is the last thing that former naval intelligence agent Gideon wants. A well-known gentleman amongst the Four Hundred membership, he doesn’t want others to know the “accounting firm” he works for is a front for an investigation service. He also doesn’t want to risk others getting hurt. Considering he’s prevented Adelaide from pitching over a steep edge and put her out when she caught on fire, there’s no way Adelaide can be involved. He asks Miss Camilla Pierpont, a good friend of his, to take Adelaide in hand. Camilla, another member of the New York Four Hundred and an Incomparable when she debuted, has her work cut out for her. Adelaide’s putting up with it, because her mother’s overjoyed at Camilla’s involvement. Gideon, meanwhile, wonders aloud how Adelaide’s still alive, doing things like taking the El alone and shopping at Bainswright Books, which is in a seedier area of the city, and wandering down shady alleys unaccompanied. When Adelaide’s books are stolen right out of her hands, the potential for danger becomes real, and reinforces Adelaide’s drive to be part of the investigation. There’s clearly a spark between Adelaide and Gideon, but is it a spark of love or disaster?

            As someone who also loves cats (though I only have two, not 20+) and books, I definitely felt a kinship with Adelaide’s character. Turano’s stories are always charming, suffused with engaging characters, including forward-thinking, independent women, humorous dialogue and a fast-paced, energetic plot. Turano’s fans will sail through this fun, lighthearted romp amidst another matchmaking season. There is elegance and refinement mixed with sleuthing and adventure -- oh, and plenty of misadventure, too.

            Book One: A Match in the Making

Rutabaga's Reads 2023: Part 15

If you’re familiar with my blog, you’ll know that where a YA compilation post has cropped up, you’ll soon see an inspirational fiction (IF) compilation post. Presenting the second IF post.

A Match in the Making (Feb. 21, 2023) by Jen Turano.

<This is the first novel in a series.>

It’s the summer of 1888, and 25-year-old Miss Gwendolyn Brinley has accepted a paid companion position for the Newport summer season, which turns into an assistant matchmaker position, of which Gwendolyn has no experience whatsoever. Her thoughts of a relaxing summer away from being a paid companion to her dramatic cousin, Catriona Zimmerman, fly away after she’s tasked with the daunting prospect of finding advantageous matches for Mrs. Parker’s rich clientele (who pay Mrs. Parker in sparkly baubles, especially those from Tiffany & Co.). Traditionally, only the feminine set were aware of matchmakers, but after Gwendolyn overshares with Mr. Walter Townsend, she suddenly finds herself with Walter as the first male client. Walter is wealthy, handsome and annoying. An undeniably successful businessman, he’s looking for a new mother for his three unruly children (nine-year-old Oscar and five-year-old twins Priscilla and Samuel). Love doesn’t seem to be a factor in Walter’s pursuit of a new wife, only that he “rubs along nicely with her.” Gwendolyn encourages him to value love and get involved in his children’s lives, for he really doesn’t know them at all. Walter is struck by Gwendolyn – by her beauty, yes, but also by her confidence and her way with his children. As Ethel, Walter’s mother, puts it, Gwendolyn “certainly is uncommonly competent.” That is high praise from Mrs. Ethel Townsend, a Knickerbocker as well as a Townsend. As Gwendolyn’s Newport Season is besieged by society ladies, society matrons and the male set to boot, how will she find the love match she’s so determined to find for Walter? Will it come out that Gwendolyn is a woman of means, complete with an estranged grandmother in Boston society, and not a woman of low social status?

            As expected from a Turano novel, Gwendolyn is a dynamic character in a delightful historical fiction tale. The first in The Matchmakers series brims with a fun plot as Gwendolyn simultaneously wanders through society misadventures and puts critical thinking to play. Generously sprinkled with humor, self-assurance and tenderness, this novel is buoyant and the characters distinct. I always find Turano’s stories to read quickly, as she makes the adventures of the upper crust far more than poise, proper decorum and perfect comportment. She paints word pictures, dropping us into a time we wish we could visit (but I refuse to wear a corset).

The Secret to Happiness (May 2, 2023) by Suzanne Woods Fisher.

<This is the second novel in a series.>

Her world is upside-down, her life is topsy-turvy. Callie Dixon (age 28) has recently been fired from her dream job as an executive chef after making a colossal mistake, and she fears that the symptoms she’s been experiencing (also recently) are signs of a chronic disease. She is floundering, though she struggles to admit it. She escapes to Cape Cod and her Aunt Marnie Dixon’s Main Street Creamery. The living space above the Creamery – small for Marnie and her daughter, Dawn (also 28) – is now like a shoebox with Callie there for an indeterminate amount of time. She doesn’t want to share her fear and is existing like an empty shell of the cheery, chatty person she’s always previously been, so Dawn drags her to a community class about the secret to happiness. The class is led by Bruno Bianco, a curiously gloomy fellow, and he gives her his book. They have some tough conversations, but Bruno is relentless and makes her face what she’s been avoiding. An unexpected bright spot in Callie’s life comes in the form of Leo the Cowboy. He’s a six-year-old who loves all ice cream. He’s got an important job at the Creamery; he’s their taste-tester! She does wonder who his single, mystery father is. She pictures a “round-faced, chubby computer geek,” and she’s impressed by Mystery Dad’s ability to give his son “all that he needed to make his life feel complete, his value and worth intact, with none of the pressure that Callie had felt from her own father.” What does Callie want in life? Has she been living for herself? Is there a secret to happiness?

            Emotional depth is ablaze in this second novel in the Cape Cod Creamery series. Callie’s steeply feeling the loss of her amazing career, fear of the future of her health and the nagging pressure of her dad, who seems to think life-altering events are as easily fixable as putting a bandage on a paper cut. Meanwhile, Dawn is stressing over a wedding venue and entrusting her mom to handle the ice cream making when Dawn and Kevin (Collins, 28) are on their African safari honeymoon. Dawn also wishes Callie wasn’t staying with them, as they’ve only ever been competitive with each other thanks to their dads, highly competitive brothers. There is faith and dawning realizations, emotional turmoil and happiness in unexpected places. It’s a sweet romance, though it’s not overly saccharine, with a hopeful tone sprinkled with new friendships and, progressively, optimism for the future.

            Favorite line: “Nothing is impopsicle.” – Dawn Dixon

            Book One: The Sweet Life

Yesterday’s Tides (Jan. 24, 2023) by Roseanna M. White.

<This is a standalone novel with familiar characters from previous series.>

Today is 1942. Yesterday is 1914. Two world wars. Two generations. In 1942, Evie Farrow is as familiar with England as she is Ocracoke Island in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Each day is much like the last one except for the Germans’ underwater missiles. When intelligence officer Sterling Bertrand washes ashore near her family’s inn, she determines that he will pull through despite his significant injuries, burns included. Inn-bound for weeks, Sterling is anxious to track a certain SS officer, but he’s also deeply intrigued by Evie, who holds secrets of her own. Why does a civilian receive hand-delivered correspondence from the Coast Guard (a.k.a. Coasties)? Why does the route of the SS officer he’s tracking trace a similar route that Evie’s traversed?

            In 1914, Louisa Adair is much more than the innkeeper’s daughter. She doesn’t only greet guests staying at the inn, including Englishman Remington Culbreth and Edgar Grenshaw, Rem’s cousin, she’s also the inn’s primary handywoman. There isn’t a cistern or a motor or a pipe that Louisa can’t manage. What’s not so easy to manage is Remington’s family. She isn’t good/sophisticated enough for Edith Culbreth. When Rem and Louisa are separated by an ocean, it doesn’t appear that their relationship will survive. Yesterday’s tides have ripple effects on the next generation. What will the outcome be?

            I can always count on Roseanna M. White to craft novels that make history interesting, contain clean romance and a detailed plot. This one holds the weight of family drama across generations, and it was initially confusing trying to piece together which of Evie’s nicknames for her family (not only by blood) matched which loved one. But putting those together was part of the puzzle, and I love puzzles. I love the incorporation of so many other familiar names from Louisa and Rem’s time, like Barclay Pearce and the Duke of Stafford. This Christian fiction, historical romance novel is smart and sweet with emotion that is raw and real, the prejudice and color issues of the time frustrating no matter the era. In this novel, the legacy of yesterday provides a good foundation for tomorrow. “Yesterday, today, tomorrow. Forever.”

Rutabaga's Reads 2023: Part 7

Welcome to this year’s “Hodgepodge” compilation post. Do you, too, read a variety of books? If so, what have you read this year and what’s on your TBR shelf?

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore - The Complete Screenplay (July 19, 2022) by J.K. Rowling & Steve Kloves.

Screenplay

Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald is activating his plan to seize control of the wizarding world, and Professor Albus Dumbledore knows this. Because of a blood troth, he cannot stop him by his own hand, which is where Newt Scamander comes in. “So this is the team that’s going to stop the most dangerous wizard we’ve faced in over a century? A Magizoologist, his indispensable assistant, a schoolteacher, a wizard descended from a very old French family ... and a Muggle, a baker, with his fake wand” (--Theseus, p. 74). Sure is! An eclectic group, but an intrepid one. They’ll encounter fantastical beasts both familiar and new (including a rare Qilin, a legendary creature from Chinese mythology) and clash with Grindelwald’s increasing legion of followers. Can Newt, Dumbledore and the rest of the team put a stop to Grindelwald? Is it too late for Queenie? For Credence?

            Because I’m terrible at watching movies in a timely manner, I read the screenplay before watching the film (even though I’ve had it since the week it was released on Blu-Ray). Reading the screenplay gives readers insight into what a screenplay looks like and is a prompt for readers to more fully immerse themselves in every scene. The commentary from actors like Eddie Redmayne and Jude Law, Oscar-award-winning costume designer Colleen Atwood, Director David Yates and more provide an illuminating layer of behind-the-scenes information not readily available otherwise. For fans of J.K. Rowling’s wizarding world, it’s an excellent companion to the film, though I continue to wish she’d return to the wizarding world by writing more full-length novels.

Hard-Boiled Bugs for Breakfast (Jan. 19, 2021) by Jack Prelutsky.

   Ruth Chan, illustrator.

Children’s poetry.

From the inaugural Young People’s Poet Laureate is another collection of children’s poems. The poems are all Jack Prelutsky originals. It is meant to be a silly poetry feast from the opening poem to the last.

            Prelutsky’s knack for rollicking rhymes and wily wordplay is showcased in “Hard-Boiled Bugs for Breakfast.” All of the poems read with quick wit and most, but not all, contain his signature silliness and glad goofiness, a perfectly playful book of poems for kids and kids-at-heart. The black-and-white illustrations by Chan are simple but lively. The poems trend as easy-to-read with some of the poems including a phonetic pronunciation when there’s a new creature about. The anthology is outlandish and amusing, absurd and entertaining. It’s the sort of compendium that could create idea sparks in young poets and general readers alike. I don’t know about you, but I’ll definitely be passing on eating hard-boiled bugs for any meal. Ick!

The Labyrinth of Doom (Nov. 1, 2022) by Stuart Gibbs.

   Stacy Curtis, illustrator.

Middle-grade illustrated fantasy fiction.

*This is the second novel in a series.*

The cowardly Prince Ruprecht of the Kingdom of Wyld is very upset with Tim and Belinda (a.k.a. Bull, because only Tim knows she’s a girl) after they rescued Princess Grace (she didn’t really need saving). Prince Ruprecht assumed Princess Grace would fall in love with him, which didn’t happen. Instead, she asked Tim and Belinda to become knights for her in Merryland. Ferkle opted to remain in their village and continue his role of the village idiot, even though he’s quite intelligent. Prince Ruprecht and his wizard, Nerlim, kidnap the princess, hiding her in the Labyrinth of Extravagancia, “the biggest, twistiest, most confounding, most dangerous labyrinth in the world!” They also kidnap Tim, Belinda, Ferkle and Rover, Rover being Tim’s fr-dog (a dog that was once a dog but is now a giant frog thanks to a mean witch). It’s up to them to fend off menacing beasts – like the minotaur, cave snakes and chrubble** – and rescue their friend, the princess. And if they survive all that, then all they need to do is find their way back out of the labyrinth.

            The second story in the Once Upon a Tim illustrated middle-grade series, I originally read the first story as an ARC. It is zany and delightful, Gibbs’ depiction of a minotaur making me chuckle. The IQ Boosters remain, as in the first installment, perhaps providing a healthy challenge for newer middle-grade readers. It’s a story that’s a little bit wacky, but a lot a bit goofy. It’s fun reading, but may not spark interest in readers who prefer real-life fare versus unusual imaginative fare (again, thinking of the minotaur). Although I’m not a graphic novel reader, I think these stories would work well as graphic novels. They’re adventurous and humorous, the author’s prose witty and the illustrator’s pictures brilliant complements.

** “...imps, harpies, blugworts, snorklebarkers, crimson whingers, golden whizzbangs, off-white piddlebangers, grotesquerrels, gimmyjaws, stickypigs, wibblejibbles, velociraptors, chucklemucks, cave sharks, macksnatchers, smackwhackers, whackstackers, crackflackers, exploding numwraths, very large gerbils with horrible attitudes” and “assorted other things-that-go-bump-in-the-night.”

Logan’s Greenhouse (Nov. 8, 2022) by JaNay Brown-Wood.

   Samara Hardy, illustrator.

Children’s picture book.

*This is the third book in a series.*

Curly, red-headed Logan searches his family’s wheelchair-accessible greenhouse for carrots. Sweet potatoes can grow from a seed, but it isn’t a carrot. Radishes have leaves that fan outward, but they’re not carrots. He searches and searches, but isn’t finding the carrots. The pet playdate – Logan has a chameleon – won’t be ready without his carrots. Where in the greenhouse are they?

            Brown-Wood and Hardy present the third title in the Where in the Garden? picture book series. The text is simple but playful, the illustrations colorful and cheery. The author prompts young readers to seek out the carrots with Logan by providing compare and contrast clues. For example, a part of the greenhouse garden shows something with leaves on top, and a carrot has bushy leaves on top. But no, “Those are garlic bulbs. Garlic does have leaves on its top, but they are straggly and not bushy.” Her descriptions are straightforward, and the background characters at the story’s end are racially diverse. It is an engaging story to encourage a new generation of green thumbs.

Worthy of Legend (Sept. 13, 2022) by Roseanna M. White.

Adult Christian fiction.

*This is the final novel in a series.*

Betrayed by her own family, Lady Emily Scofield has always felt unloved. By her greedy father, by her vile brother (Nigel) and by her mother, who staunchly supports the men and advises that Emily maintain a “perfectly placid expression.” No frowning! It’s the summer of 1906 and Emily’s friends have discovered pirate treasure, which they’re keeping hidden from the Scofield men and the American they’re working alongside, Donald Vandermeer. With diary entries of Elizabeth Mucknell’s, they’re all in search of a secret artifact with clues pointing to King Arthur’s and Sir Tristan’s time. What it is remains anyone’s guess. Nigel has also seen the diary entries, but only because he stole Emily’s copy. Bram Sinclair, Earl of Telford, has been fascinated by tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table since he was a boy. He still is, but he is hesitant to tell even his closest friends. Bram may be the best one to piece the legends together if he’ll admit it. Circumstances and their friends find Emily and Bram in each other’s company frequently. Bram is happy to be chivalrous like in tales of yore, so it will surprise and confound him to discover that he loves Emily. She returns his feelings, but she lacks a confident voice. Can she admit it to herself? They will learn that big hero deeds like slaying dragons, vanquishing dark knights and defeating wicked sorcerers aren’t the only ones worthy of legend. Selfless love is worthy, too.

            Another graceful and charming Christian fiction tale, this last one in The Secrets of the Isles trilogy crackles with chemistry between Emily and Bram, but also Emily’s lady’s maid, Thomasina (Tommie) Briggs and Scillonian Enyon (Enny) Thorne. Tommie has a secret weighing on her very soul, and it’s a turning point for her when she lets that secret slip to some others. It’s certainly not easy, but it helps her release her unwarranted guilt. The love blooming is innocent and sweet. The search for the artifact seems to take a backseat to new love and a struggle with family relationships when it seems like it’s supposed to be a bigger part of the plot. Although it doesn’t interconnect seamlessly, it remains a lush, vivid tale and inspires me to want to visit the Isles of Scilly.

            Lines to consider: “How did mercy and justice meet? With pain and sacrifice. And beauty beyond anything he’d ever seen.” --Bram’s thoughts, p. 285

            Book One: The Nature of a Lady

            Book Two: To Treasure an Heiress

Rutabaga's Reads 2023: Part 6

To balance the amount of YA novels that I read, here is a compilation of inspirational fiction novels. All authors included here are familiar-to-me authors.

The Orchard (Sept. 6, 2022) by Beverly Lewis.

*This is a standalone novel.*

The Hostetler family are orchardists in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and have been for generations. For Ellie, the orchard must be as beautiful as the Garden of Eden, such is her love of God’s beauty at work amongst the fruit trees. Her twin, Evan, as the youngest son, will one day manage the orchard that their Dat currently manages and their Dawdi before him. Once close siblings, Evan’s been continuing his Rumschpringe as Ellie’s about to be baptized. It’s 1970 and when Evan’s draft number is called up in the lottery for the Vietnam War, the family is shocked to learn that he never sought conscientious objector status, as would support the Old Order Amish belief in non-resistance and non-violence. The community reacts to this development with some community members and even some of their own relatives giving them the cold shoulder for Evan’s wayward ways. Though she’s seemed to catch the attention of another young Amishman, Ellie finds easy conversation with Sol Bontrager. Not only is he the brother of her best friend, Leah, he’s a conscientious objector and is already baptized. Sol’s steady presence is a balm in Ellie’s shifting world. With Evan serving in the Army, who will take over the orchard? Will Evan return home alive?

            With her peaceful, heartwarming, cleanly romantic, faith-based novels, it’s easy to see how Beverly Lewis continues as best of the best in Amish fiction. This novel explores ground I’ve not seen from her by adding a Vietnam War-era backdrop to the familiar Lancaster County setting. Her plot includes twists in Ellie’s relationships and the tumult that the Amish community endured because of their pacifism. The Hostetler family’s orchard is a gentle place of solitude, perfect for reflection or even falling in love, the story a soothing escape from the contemporary, despite characters facing uncertainty in a nation fractured by war. Another star story from my favorite author of Amish fiction.

To Disguise the Truth (Jan. 18, 2022) by Jen Turano.

*This is the final novel in a trilogy.*

The past is catching up to her. When Mr. Arthur Livingston arrives at the Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency in September of 1887 determined to hire them to locate missing heiress Miss Eugenia Howland, Eunice Holbrooke knows her gig might be up. Despite the widow’s weeds she’s worn for seven years and the veils over her face, secrets are going to come to light. She is Eugenia. Arthur’s goal is to be known as a leading mining industrialist, even though his family name precedes him as a member of the New York Four Hundred. Mason Mines has been successful with Arthur in the picture, but that picture changed somewhat seven years ago when Eunice’s patriarch grandfather, who was a tyrant, even to his relatives, was murdered. James Mason had not a compassionate bone in his body, so the list of suspects isn’t short. Eunice refuses to return to Butte, Montana, but she isn’t quick to share why. Arthur, an annoyingly handsome yet irksome man, may not be the “scourge of the earth” that Eunice describes him as. In fact, both of them may be more sensitive and romantic than the other thinks. It won’t be easy to discover with Eunice prepared to avoid him; she even takes an out-in-the-field assignment that lands her in Blackwell’s Island Insane Asylum, but Arthur is no ordinary gentleman. Confronting her past may set Eunice free, but it’ll be dangerous, as there’s still a murderer or murderess out there. Good thing Eunice is skilled with a gun and has boxing skills to boot.

            Turano’s stories are always a delight to read and this closing novel in The Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency trilogy is no exception. Turano has a flair for writing historical fiction that is true to the times as far as setting/fashions/etc., while giving readers captivating characters, especially strong, independent women, witty dialogue, chaste romance and potentially dangerous situations that you know the main characters will make it through to a satisfying ending. The women of the Bleecker Street Inquiry Agency are definitely women I’d want on my case if I needed their assistance. The story moves fluidly with its clever writing, bustling plot and the banter of the characters. I’ve been reading Turano’s books for years now, and I don’t plan to quit!

            Book One: To Steal a Heart

            Book Two: To Write a Wrong

To Treasure an Heiress (Jan. 4, 2022) by Roseanna M. White.

*This is the second novel in a series.*

Adventure can be found amongst the Isles of Scilly, and Elizabeth “Beth” Tremayne has always felt the pull of adventure. Adventure pulls at her now as she seeks more of a pirate (Mucknell) or pirate prince’s treasure (Prince Rupert), long thought to be tall tales and Tas-gwyn Gibson’s storied blustering. Turns out there is truth to all of those tales, evidenced by the old collection of letters and a map Beth has found (letters from 1650, and it’s now 1906) and the silverware recently found. She’d been searching on her own, but after mistaken identity pulls others into the fray, there are now too many hands in the cookie jar. One of those involved includes the 26-year-old Marquess of Sheridan, Theodore (Theo) Howe, a man that Beth finds insufferable. Beth’s big chip on her shoulder is that the beloved, inherited trinket box she entrusted to Lord Scofield – who’s a vile man – got sold to Sheridan instead of returned to her, and Sheridan refuses to return it to Beth. Sheridan loves a good archaeological adventure and inserts himself into Beth’s adventure. He’s enamored with her, and Beth doesn’t despise him quite so much as she’d like to think she does. With the villainous Scofields (father and son, Nigel) and their dastardly ways a real threat, will Beth’s impulsive choices and the call for adventure find her in a dangerous trap?

            The second installment in The Secrets of the Isles is as fresh as I imagine the air was in 1906. Crisp and refreshing, fitting for an adventure. Beth is headstrong and impulsive where her brother is calm and grounded and Sheridan is good-hearted and patient (and a bit incorrigible, too!). Sometimes Beth’s strong will had me picturing a petulant child and not a young woman, but it’s part of what makes Beth Beth. I love the humor, laughing aloud at Sheridan turning whatever Beth says into a proposal (“That’s brilliant.” “I do.” “You do what?” “Weren’t those your marriage vows?” p. 147). White is adept at creating historical fiction characters that are of the time, but the lead female characters are filled with spunk, independence and assertiveness. The plot isn’t mired in extra tangents, the story of  tragic love and piratical adventure melding with newfound love and island adventures mixing with a secondary character’s struggle to forgive herself and release her internal shame, which may then open her heart to accepting someone who truly loves her. It’s not a sappy story, though it does have moments that make the reader say, “Awww!” Another strong inspirational, historical fiction novel from White.

            Book One: The Nature of a Lady