On Magnolia Lane by Denise Hunter
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the third and final book in the Blue Ridge series. Pastor Jack McReady is attrached to Daisy but is painfully shy to ask her. After all she thinks of him as a friend and her pastor. One of his friends signs him up for a dating site and starts communicating with Daisy. Jack and Daisy go on some friend dates. Daisy finds herself growing fond of Jack and the man she is texting not realizing that they are one and the same. This book was quite enjoyable. I found myself laughing many times.


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A Silken Thread by Kim Vogel Sawyer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Set in 1895 during the Atlanta Exposition A Silken Thread is a wonderful story. Laurel Millard is the youngest of 7 children. Most of her siblings were quite selfish and expected her to give up her life and take care of her mother even though the mother was in excellent health. They expected her to not have a chance at happiness to take care of her mother. She takes a job at the Atlanta Exposition as a silk weaver. She meets the wealthy and spoiled Langdon Rochester and starts seeing him. I got frustrated at her at times for not seeing him for what he was. It bothered her the way he treated people but she was so wrapped up in that he would be the answer to her prayers that she ignored things for too long. She thought he would be the one to take care of her and her mother. If you are expecting a lot of romance in this book this is not the one. The romance at the end is low key but satisfying.


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The Patient One by Shelley Shepard Gray
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Patient One is the first full book in the Walnut Creek series. There was a novella before this one where we got a brief introduction to the "Eight". The eight were a group of friends who were a mixture of Amish, English and Mennonite. In this book the eight are reeling from the suicide of Andy who was one of the eight. This book focuses the romance of John and Marie, two of the eight. They grow closes but things are complicated because Marie is English and John is Amish, although not baptized yet. I loved that way John's family was supportive of him. John struggled with joining the Amish church or "jumping the fence". I especially liked his little sister Molly who was in a wheelchair due to falling from a horse at age 9. She has such a wonderful outlook on life. She did not feel sorry for herself but got frustrated that her family was over protective of her. I look forward to reading the rest of the series. I'm hoping Katie's story is next.


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The Memory House by Rachel Hauck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Memory House is a beautiful story with dual timelines. Everleigh and Don's story is set in the 50s and early 60s and Beck and Bruno's story is in the present. I usually like one timeline better than the other but in this book I like them equally well. It was hard to tell which was a favorite. Both women have suffered losses which have affected them deeply. Everleigh lost loved ones in a tragic tornado and Beck lost her father in the 911 tragedy. Both must learn to deal with what happened to them and move on. This book deals with flawed people and the way the story unfolds and how the people find healing is just beautiful. I highly recommend this book.


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The Last Year of the War by Susan Meissner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Keep your hankies nearby. This book brought tears to my eyes on several times. The book starts out with Elise Sontage Dove as an elderly woman. She knows she has Alzheimer's disease. She knows this dreadful disease will eventually claim all her memories but she wants to see her childhood friend Mariko before the disease robs her of everything. Most of the story is told of her memories of her family living in an internment camp. Even though her German family had been living in the states for many years they were still looked on with suspicion by the US government during the World War 2 era. While at the internment camp she meets her best friend Mariko. Mariko's family is Japanese. This book was well written and even though it is not classified as Christian fiction, this book was clean with no offensive language or sex scenes. People who enjoy historical fiction will enjoy reading this book.


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Sweet on You by Becky Wade

Sweet on You is the third book in the Bradford Sister series. I have been wanting to read Brit's story since the first book. Each of the sisters have different talents. Brit's talent is candy making.  Brit's best childhood friend is Zander. Zander has been in love with Brit since they were young teens. Everyone knows Zander is crazy in love with her even though he has not admitted it. Everyone sees it except Brit. I loved Zander from the get go. He was so protective of her. He's been gone for a few months promoting his book overseas but really he just wanted to get away from the pain of seeing the girl he loved date other people.  He only returns to the states because of the death of his uncle. I loved this stories of best friends falling in love and this one fits the bill. Another reason I liked this story was the mystery surrounding his uncle. His uncle has a hidden past that even his wife was not aware of.  I loved the conclusion of this story and the series. It was also good to catch up on the other sisters and their significant others.  Sweet on You is due to be released on April 30, 2019.  I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Summer by the Tides by Denise Hunter

Summer by the Tides is a standalone book and I'm a little sad that it is not part of a series. I have grown attached to these characters and would love to see what they are doing in future books if it were a series.  Gram has somehow manipulated all three of her daughters to come to her beach home. They show up at the home because Gran's next door neighbor called all of them that Gran was missing. The three daughters are estranged from each other due to something that happened 20 years earlier.  As you read the story you learn that everyone in the story is keeping secrets. Every the grandmother has secrets. I loved the friendship and eventually love that developed between Maddie and Connor. At first she got the wrong impression of him but I like it that she was so open and willing to admit she was wrong directly to him.  The ending of this story just made me smile. 


I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.