Love in the Details by Becky Wade

Love in the Details: A November Wedding Story  is book 12 in the Year of Wedding Stories 2. I haven't read any of the other stories but when I saw that this one by Becky Wade was available on Netgalley I jumped at the opportunity to read it. Becky Wade is one of my favorite authors. I recently started reading her works a couple of  months ago. I read the first of her Porter series books and was hooked and then after that read everything she wrote. This book is a novela so it can be read in a couple of hours. It starts off with Holly writing a "Dear John" letter to her high school sweetheart breaking off with him. She still loves him dearly but breaks off with him at the urging of his mother so he can pursue a scholarship at MIT. The rest of the book is about them reconnecting eight years later when his best man is getting married. In the eight years that have passed Josh has become filthy rich. Holly is a successful author but far from rich. In a few of Becky Wade's novels she incorporates a little bit of humor and this one is no different. Holly's elderly neighbor was quite funny and there was a incidence at a wedding with something being spilled on flower girl dresses.  I think this book would have been better had it been a full-length novel instead of a novela. It would have been better had there been some conflict but it was basically free of conflict.

Thanks to Netgalley and Zondervan for allowing me to read and review this book which is due to be released October 27, 2015.

My Brother's Crown by Mindy Starns Clark and Leslie Gould

My Brother's Crown is first in the series of the Cousins of the Dove series.

Catherine Gillet's story takes place in France during 1665. I enjoyed learning about the Hugenots . The Hugenots were a Christian group in France influenced by the teachings of John Calvin. It was interesting to read about the persecution of these people in France. It makes you appreciate the system of separation of church and state we have in the United States. The people in France at that time were under the rule of Louis XV. In this story the dragoons were police the city to try to force the Hugenots to convert to Catholicism. In this story the dragoons made life very hard for Elizabeth and her family. I will not reveal too much of the story since I do not want to spoil it for the reader. I admired the character of Elizabeth. She was a brave and gutsy trying to protect her family while still maintaining her faith.  She did not know who to trust. At one point she thought the only persons she could truly trust was herself and her beloved grandmere. 

The secondary story involved Rene Talbot, an ancestor of Elizabeth living in the present day in the United States. She is a scientist trying to decode an pamphlet that is centuries old. It is not until the end of Elizabeth's story that we learn the significance of that document. Like many other reviewers I did not feel that Rene's story was developed as well as Elizabeth's story. I felt the romance was a little rushed. There is also a mystery of a body in the woods that she and her cousins experienced as children but that storyline was not resolved in this books. Perhaps it will be in future books in this series. There are three other modern-day cousins where a book could be developed. I'm hoping in future books in this series we also get to hear from more stories of the other members of the Talbot and Gillett family.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harvest House publishers for allowing me to review an e-copy of this novel. This book is due to be released October 1, 2015. I look forward to reading the other novels in this series.

Rodeo Rescuer by Lynette Eason

Usually I find that plots of Love Inspired Suspense novels are not well developed and the characters are not either. Not so with this book.  The storyline grabs you from the first chapter. You never have a chance to get bored. You could not doze off. You would miss something. The characters have to be on their toes too. Tonya was in hiding from a stalker. She knows who the stalker is. It Hank and she only had three dates with him. He didn't take rejection too well when she said she no longer wanted to date him. He reacted by trying to kill her.  She now thinks that he has found her.  From the get go I knew Hank had found her but I also knew that he had help finding her. I had my suspicions of several people but did not know what the motive was.  I liked Tonya. She was no wallflower just waiting for someone to rescue her. She stood up for herself. Not a wimpy damsel in distress character.   I loved how she and Seth worked together to find the people who wanted to do her harm.

This book is the second novel in the Wranger's Corner series.  If you have not read the first book in the series which is "The Lawman Returns" I suggest you read it first because the bad guy in the first book is mentioned in this book. I did not realize this was a second book in a series and now I know who the villain will be in the first book which sort of spoils it for me.

Rodeo Rescuer will be released on September 1, 2015. Thanks to Netgalley and Love Inspired for allowing me to review this book.

The Wedding Chapel by Rachel Hauck

The story of "The Wedding Chapel" is told from six points of view. There is the modern Collette and Jimmy, two star crossed lovers. They had once been in love but circumstances beyond their control separated them. The circumstance were like orchestrated by a vicious jealous person who could not stand to see them happy. There is the Collette and Jimmy from the late 40s and 50, young and in love.  In the current day there is Taylor Branson and Jack Forrester/Gillingham. They married in a whirlwind and after six months are struggling. Jack loves his wife but does not know how to communicate to his wife. Part of his problems stems from his tumultuous childhood being shifted from one foster home to another. To have the story told from so many points of view may be confusing to some readers but the author did an excellent job of blending it all together so you did not get confused one bit.
First half of story started out slow but the pace picked up in the middle of the book. There were elements of mystery in the book that kept me reading like the mention of a box left to her by her granny. Taylor must find the box to discover the contents.  From reading the story you get an idea of where it is going and it does go there but there are some unexpected surprises in the novel that you do not expect. Good surprises that make you smile. When you think that this is it on the surprises the author drops another bombshell on the reader. I don't give many books a five star rating but this one certainly deserves it. The only other book I have read by this author is "The Wedding Dress" but I certainly do plan on reading more.

The Wedding Chapel is due to be released on November 17, 2015. Thanks to Netgalley and Zondervan for allowing me to preview this book.

Handbag Workshop by Anna Mazur

If you are a beginner in sewing this book is not for you. It is for the more complicated bags like leather. Although the designs in this book are lovely I'll probably never make any of these because I really don't want to get into leather construction. If I did want to get into leather construction I think the instructions are excellent. Detailed instructions and instructions on tools needed to construct leather bags.  I like to make bags but mine are more on the line of the cotton and canvass type bags.

Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to preview this book.