Friday, April 29, 2016

The Midwife’s Dilemma (At Home in Trinity #3) By Delia Parr






This book is the 3rd in a series about a midwife in a town called Trinity. It takes place in the early 1800s. Martha Cade is the midwife in question, and she is a widow with a grown son and daughter. She is following in the footsteps of her grandmother who was also a midwife. She is also keeping company with Thomas Dillon, a local businessman who was her childhood sweetheart. This books ties up some loose ends from the previous books and details a few midwifing situations, but mostly deals with Martha’s indecision on if and when to marry Thomas. I found it quite tedious and it was difficult to understand her line of reasoning in all these meandering indecisions. While I enjoyed reading it, I would have enjoyed it more without all the soul searching and silly excuses. Probably Thomas would have as well.
I received this book from Bethany House in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Friday, April 1, 2016

Faith (Book 3 in the Quaker Brides Series by Lyn Cote)



This book is last in the Quaker Brides trilogy by Lyn Cote. I have read the two previous : Honor (about Faith’s parents) and Blessing (about Faith’s sister). These books all explore the Quakers’ strong stance as abolitionists in the North and in this last book the Civil War is in full swing and Faith is a nurse that is helping as General Grant’s troops move through the South. She meets Colonel Devlin Knight who is a Northern officer but also a slave owner. Together they work through their thoughts and feelings while serving in the war and searching for Faith’s friend Shiloh, a free black that was kidnapped in the North and sold into slavery in New Orleans before the war.


The author did a lot of research to make this authentic and it shows. The characters are well thought out and the conflict between is real and insightful. I really enjoyed this series. I received my copy of Faith from Tyndale in exchange for a fair and honest review.




Author bio from Tyndale:


Lyn Cote, known for her "Strong Women, Brave Stories," is the award-winning, critically-acclaimed author of more than 35 novels. Her books have been RITA Award finalists and Holt Medallion and Carol Award winners. Lyn received her bachelor's degree in education and her master's degree in American history from Western Illinois University. She and her husband have two grown children and live on a small but beautiful lake in northern Wisconsin. Visit her online at Author's website


Book Synopsis from Tyndale:


The Civil War battlefield is the last place Quakeress Faith Cathwell thought she’d find herself. But with a gift for nursing, Faith seizes this opportunity to join the fight for abolition—and to search for Shiloh, a freeborn childhood friend who was kidnapped and sold south by unscrupulous slave catchers.


Knowing it’s much too dangerous for her to search enemy territory alone, Faith enlists the help of Colonel Devlin Knight, who is indebted to her for saving his cousin’s life. A career soldier, Dev is committed to the preservation of the Union but conflicted about freeing his own slave and confidant, who plans to enlist as soon as Dev gives him manumission papers.


Blazing a trail east with the rest of Grant’s army, Dev and Faith fight their personal battles—and a growing attraction to each other. When beliefs clash and passions flare, they quickly find that the only thing more dangerous than the war surrounding them is the battle within their hearts.