Courting Cate (The Courtships of Lancaster Country) by Leslie Gould

The character of Cate is based very loosely on Shakespeare's [The Taming of the Shrew]. Cate has many of the characteristics of Katherine from the Taming of the Shrew. Like Katherine she is stubborn, independent and very headstrong. She would rather work for her father in the office of his woodworking business than do the typical women's duties like cooking and sewing. Some of the reasons she is like this is because she has had to be a mother to her younger sister. Her mother died in childbirth so Cate had to grow up fast even though she was still a child herself. Another reason is that she has experienced ridicule by men in the community and was hurt by one potential suitor. As a result she does not trust men at all that is until she meets Pete Tregor and some of her rough exterior starts to get smoothed out. She and Pete share a love of books.

I like this book. There is humor in the book. Can't go into too much detail here without giving away the plot. A couple of characters I did not really like. One of Pete's mother but by the end of the book I understood her and liked her a little better. The other character I did not care for was Betsy, Cate's little sister. She was a spoiled little brat who thought the world revolved around her. She did not change much by the end of the book. At the end of the book she was still a self-centered little brat. This book is the first in a series called The courtships of Lancaster County. I can't wait to read the rest of the series.

Thanks to LibraryThings's Early Review Program and Bethany House for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Real Life, Real Miracles: True Stories That Will Help You Believe by James L. Garlow, Keith Wall

Real Life Real Miracles will lift your spirits!  Depressed? Down in the Dumps? Want to be uplifted? Think that God does not intervene in our lives today? Read this book and all negative thinking will be eliminated from your mind. You will be inspired, uplifted and encouraged when you read countless stories of how God intervened and changed people's lives.

Unbreakable by Nancy Mehl

Hope is torn between two men who both love her. She has feelings she doesn't understand  for one man and is engaged to the other man. Which man does she finally wind up with? The author kept me guessing until the LAST page. I'm not kidding. You don't know who she decides to spend the rest of her life with until the last page.

There's a mystery going on. Hope was nearly attacked while on the road to a neighboring town in her buggy. All she knows that it was a man in a red pickup truck. One of the local beloved Mennonite men was murdered. Their nice little town is under attack and nobody is going to feel safe until the person is caught. This storyline also kept me guessing. I did not even begin to guess who the bad guy was until the end. I love a novel that keeps me guessing and this book fit the bill.  This book will be released in February 2013 with the third in the series to be released later in 2013.

Band of Sisters by Cathy Gohlke

Maureen and Katie Rose are two sisters who are immigrants from Ireland. Maureen wants to start anew. She does not want her sister to suffer the same fate as she did. Maureen was working as a parlor maid for her landlord and violated. Her landlord forced himself on her several times tarnishing her reputation in the village. Now the landlord's son is cut from the same cloth and is eying Katie Rose who is starting to mature as a young lady. Little does Maureen know that life in New York City has men who are just as evil as the people in Ireland. Upon entering the US Maureen suffers still more hardships. She thought she could depend on an old friend that her father had but very soon learns that Mr. Wakefield has died. She find rejection from Mr. Wakefield's family. And then there is Olivia Wakefield and her friends. Olivia is the daughter of the man who died who had been the friend of Maureen's father. After reading her father's journals she realizes her family should have never turned Maureen away. She wants to honor her father's wishes but runs into trouble when Maureen rejects her. I really enjoyed this story but the O'Reilly sisters annoyed me. I don't know which sister annoyed me more. Maureen was stubborn and did not trust anybody. She also took matters into her own hands. She made decision which made things worse for her. In the second half of the book Katie Rose acted bratty and intitled. She also trusted the lies told about her sister and she gossiped about her own sister to her new circle of friends. She keep throwing in Maureen's face about her past. It really took too long for Katie Rose to come around. The character of Olivia was almost without flaws. She had a servant's heart and wanted to do Jesus would do. She formed a group of women dedicated to helping immigrant women. There was also a mystery storyline in this book. Women are disappearing after working the "upstairs" room of a department store. What is involved is white slavery. I'll stop here. I don't want to give too much of the story away to spoil it for the next reader. This book is well-written and deals with social issues. Not really heavy on the romance but there is romance. It just doesn't consume the novel like a lot of novels do. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me an e-book download to review.)

To Whisper Her Name by Tamera Alexander

I enjoyed reading this novel because it takes place in Nashville, Tennessee where I was born and raised and only moved there after I married. I had the privilege of visiting the beautiful historic Belle Meade estate a few years ago. Since I have previously visited Belle Meade I was able to picture all the sites in my head when the descriptions of the property and buildings were described. Growing up in Tennessee I could smell the air in my head.

With the exception of the first few pages the story takes place just after the Civil War. Olivia Aberdeen's husband has just been hung for being a traitor to the see but she sheds no tears over the loss of a husband who was extremely cruel to her. Riley Cooper comes to Belle Meade intending to only stay a short time to learn everything he can from Bob Green, Mr. Harding head horse trainer. Bob Green is former slave at Belle Meade and well respected by William Giles Harding for his knowledge of horses. Riley has plans on relocating to Colorado. He did not intend to stay a long time at Belle Meade but falling in love with Olivia was not in his plans. He is also harboring a secret from Olivia and the Hardings that he indeed did fight in the Civil War but he fought on the opposite side. Olivia has her own secrets and that she is deathly afraid of horses.

I do not want to give too much of the story away. What little I have told is revealed in the first chapter. You will have to read this story for yourself to see how Olivia and Riley overcome their problems.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a e-book of this book to review.

No Safe Harbor by Elizabeth Ludwig

This story is about a young Irish girl coming to the United States in search of her twin brother. Her parents are dead and for a while she believed her brother to be dead also. A letter from him tells her to TRUST nobody. The longer she is in the New York City the more she lets down her guard which puts not only her brother who is in hiding in danger but her life as well. Can she trust Rourke a man after she arrived in the States? Will she ever be reunited with her brother? Why do people want him dead? You will have to read to find out the answers. This was a good story but at times I had a hard time following the story and the book still left a mystery which I hope will be solved in sequels. I cannot give away what the mystery is because that would spoil it for those who want to read this book.