A Land to Call Her Own by Julie Pollitt

On what was supposed to be her wedding day Tess Porter left town for Colorado City to live with her estranged father. The man she was to marry was a good man but she really was not in love with him. She arrived in Colorado City by way of the stage coach and her sister and her family was to be her a few days later. As soon as she arrived one bad thing after another happened to her. She did meet Ian Birwell who offered her help and friendship but she did not trust him despite the fact that he was a Christian man. She did not trust him because he used to work for a man that was her father's enemy. I had a hard time liking her a lot of the time because she was so unforgiving, distrustful of everyone and slightly sanctimonious. By the end of the book she did come around after learning some secrets about her past.

I liked the storyline. It kept me engaged wondering if certain people would survive or not. The author did exceptionally well in describing the characters. Tess would come upon unsavory characters and the person would reek of body odor or have yellow or missing teeth. A lady of the night was scantily clad.

I enjoyed some of the background characters and would love to see a sequel with them included. Would love to see some of Tess Porter's family members have their own story or even some of the colorful characters in the town.

Amish Sweethearts by Leslie Gould

We first meet Zene Beck and Lila Lehman in Amish Promises, the first book in the Neighbors of Lancaster County series. They were childhood friends and neighbors on Juneberry Lane. Fast forward eight years and their childhood friendship has deepened into something more.  This presents a problem because they come from two different backgrounds. Lila is Amish and vows that she will never leave the Amish like her aunt did.  Zane is not Amish, growing up in the modern world. Lila tries to move on with her life dating a nice Amish boy but it never really clicks with her.  Zane tries to forget Lila by joining the military. This book kept me in suspense on where their relationships were headed. Would she find love with the nice Amish boy? Would Zane find love with the girl he met in the military?  

Timothy, her grouchy father is back but a little more mellow. There are some nice characters added in and the return of some old favorites. Also, a couple of the younger Lehmans are going through their rumspringa.  It will be interesting to read in the next book what will happen to these people and the new relationships that can potentially develop.

Thanks to Bethany House and Netgalley for providing me a preview ARC digital copy to review. Amish Sweethearts is due to be released on February 2, 2016,

The Isaac Project by Sarah Monzon

The Isaac Project is the author's debut novel and I can't wait to read more by this talented author. I thoroughly enjoyed this story and had a hard time putting it down. Rebecca caught her boyfriend in the arms of another woman and wisely broke off the relationship. She dearly loves the grandfather who raised her but he is gravely ill and would love to see her married. She gets an idea after reading the biblical story of Isaac and Rebecca and enlists her best friend Lisa to be her Elizer. She does find someone for Rebecca! I loved the character of Luke from the get go. I liked it that like Joseph he fled from his modern day version of Potifer's wife. Luke was a fine example of what God's love is for us. God loves us even when we are resistant to him. I got a little aggravated at Rebecca a couple of times when she held back things she should have told Luke.

With This Ring by Karent Witemeyer, Regina Jennings, Mary Connealy, and Melissa Jaegears

I don't usually enjoy novela collections but when I saw that Karen Witemeyer, one of my favorite authors had a contribution I knew I had to check it out of the library.

The Husband Maneuver by Karen Witemeyer - was a cute little story. If you have read "A Worthy Pursuit" you will enjoy the story of Marietta Hawkins and Daniel Barrett.

Her Dearly Unintended by Regina Jennings - this one will make you laugh with the bickering between the two. They are trying to pretend they are married in front of a stranger but are they fooling him?

Runaway Bride by Mary Connealy - My least favorite of the four. I probably would have enjoyed it more had I read any of the Kincaid series.

Engaging the Competition by Melissa Jaegears - When I first started reading the first few pages I didn't think I would like it and thought it would be my least favorite but by the end I was hooked on the story and it was my favorite of the four stories.

The Made-From-Scratch Life: Simple Ways to Create a Natural Home

The Made-From-Scratch Life: Simple Ways to Create a Natural Home is chocked full of tips on the homestead life including gardening, raising livestock, preserving foods and cooking. I have followed Melissa's blog for a couple of years and always learn something from what she posts on her blog. She also does podcasts and persiscopes and those have been enjoyable also.

If you enjoy the homestead life you will definitely learn from this book; however if you are not a believer in Christ you may be put off reading how her faith works in her everyday homestead life. I am a believer in Christ so this was a great inspiration to me.

Thanks to Harvest House and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book to review. This book is due to be released on February 1, 2016.

Mermaid Moon by Colleen Coble

Mermaid Moon is the second in the series Sunset Cove. When you pick up and read a Colleen Coble novel you come to expect that it will be suspenseful and full of twists and this book did not disappoint. The book caught my interest from the first few pages when Mallory's father is found murdered on his boat. Mallory returns to the town and immediately her life and those she loves is in danger. She reconnects with a Kevin, a former boyfriend from her past. They have a painful history that they have to work through. He helps her in her quest to find out the truth and in the meantime old hurts are healed. I loved that part of the story and how it unfolded.

The theme of this book is second chances. I loved how Mallory and Kevin were able to work out their problem and got the opportunity for a second chance. There is some other characters who had second chances but to mention them would be giving away too much of the story line.

I loved the suspense and mystery in the story. I did not know who to suspect was behind all this until near the end. Sometimes you suspect one person and it turns out not to be the case. I like it when the author writes the story so well that you don't know who to suspect.

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for providing me a copy of the novel to preview. Mermaid Moon is due to be released January 12, 2016.

Pure Soapmaking by Anne-Marie Faiola

I have several books on soapmaking in my collection of books and this one seems to be the best so far. I have always wanted to learn to make soap and despite my collection of soapmaking I have never attempted to make soap. This book gives clear instructions on making various kinds of soaps. The illustrations are the best I've seen in any of the soap books. This book may be the one to get me over my fear of making soap.

I'm thinking about getting rid of all my other soap books and get this one in a hard copy when it is released February 9, 2016.

Thanks to Netgalley and Storey Publishing for allowing me  to preview an e-copy of this book.