The Tutor's Daughter Review

I just completed reading The Tutor's Daughter written by Julie Klassen and published by BethanyHouse.

This historical fiction is about Emma Smallwood, the young adult daughter of widowed John Smallwood, a tutor for young men, and Henry and Phillip Weston, older sons of Sir Giles Weston who attended Mr. Smallwood's boarding school in their younger years.

Emma and her father go live in the home of Sir Giles and Lady Weston at Ebbington Manor to tutor the Weston's younger sons, Rowan and Julian. Phillip is away at university and Henry is in charge of his father's books. Apparently Emma and John arrive at an inconvenient time and feel the tension and see the people whispering.

The Weston family has a secret and don't want anyone outside of their immediate family to know about it. Unfortunately for them, Emma discovers their secret.

This book has mystery, suspense, interesting historical data, and romance all in one. I really enjoyed reading this book including the excerpts at the beginning of each chapter.



I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion. All comments are my own and no other compensation was received.

Courting Cate Review

Courting Cate is a book written by Leslie Gould and published by BethanyHouse. This book is about Cate Miller, an Amish young woman in Paradise, Pennsylvania, and Pete Treger, a newcomer to Paradise.

Cate's mother passed away shortly after her sister, Betsy, was born. She took over the job of raising her and basically let her childhood slip away. Their father passed an edict that stated Betsy couldn't court or marry until Cate had done so. This put a ton of pressure on Cate because she was content to remain unmarried. However, once Betsy received some disturbing news, Cate went into action and married quickly to help her precious sister. Pete happens to be the guy who gets to wed Cate and the story continues with some life lessons Cate has to learn.

I liked this book and encourage you to pick it up if you are given the opportunity.


I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was received. All opinions are my own.

A Home in Drayton Valley Review

I love historical fiction and Kim Vogel Sawyer filled this book, A Home in Drayton Valley, with lots of detail from the late 1800's. The main characters, Tarsie Raines and Joss Brubacher, along with Simon and Ruth, pull you in to their lives and you can't help but feel their pain, sorrow, and joy. The sweetness between Simon and Ruth will make you smile too.

Joss's wife, Mary, is very sick. Her friend, Tarsie, helps convince Joss that Mary needs to leave New York and go to Kansas and raise their children there. Mary knows she is dying and wants to hook Joss up with Tarsie. Joss isn't a Christian but Mary and Tarsie are. Mary's dying request is that Tarsie be God's love to Joss & Mary's kids and Joss himself. Now loving the kids isn't a problem, but loving Joss? That's another thing entirely. If Joss wasn't gruff and rough, maybe it wouldn't be too difficult, but he's not the most loving man to encounter.

I did not want to put this book down. The details about how life was like for both black and white people was both interesting and sad to read. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and sweet love stories.

I received this book for free from BethanyHouse in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was received or expected.

Over The Edge Review

I just finished reading The Kincaid Brides Book 3 Over The Edge by Mary Connealy. I have previously read Book 1 and you can read my review here. I know I read Book 2 but I can't seem to find the review. Oh well, it was good too. haha

Over The Edge takes place in 1866. This story is all about Seth Kincaid and his WIFE! Who knew he was married?!?! Obviously he didn't. :) Anyway, Seth's wife comes to find him after her father has died and poor Seth didn't remember being married much less being a daddy.

Callie is Seth's wife and she is NOT happy being abandoned by her husband, especially when she needed him the most. Thankfully she is skilled with a gun and is able to protect herself, her son, and others on the stage coach from bandits. She has to travel quite a distance to try to find Seth's family (she assumed he was dead...if he wasn't already he was going to be when she found him!) so hopefully they'd help her out. She finds out a lot more than she bargained for.

I highly recommend this series. Sometimes you can read just one book out of the series and get the idea, however, this set was so good, I recommend all three books.

I received this book for free from BethanyHouse in exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was received or expected. 

Short-Straw Bride Review

I just read another Christian historical fiction book and loved it! Karen Witemeyer drew me in on Chapter 1 and kept me wanting to know more.

Short-Straw Bride has two main characters: Meredith Hayes and Travis Archer. Meredith ends up on Archer land twice in her lifetime. The Archer brothers don't particularly want company and they will shoot trespassers. Thankfully she escaped the bullets but she was physically injured at one point.

Due to Meredith overhearing a plot to destroy the Archer family, she ends up on Archer land for the second time in order to warn them. Because of the inappropriateness of her being the only female with four men in a home, she ends up being the "short-straw bride". Lots of excitement, love, honor, and forgiveness in this book.

I hope there is a sequel. :) Thank  you Bethany House for this book to review!


I received this book for free in exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was received or expected.

Love on the Line Book Review

Deeanne Gist is a wonderful author and her latest book, Love on the Line, is about an unmarried woman, Georgie Gail. It was virtually unheard of  for a woman to have a job, much less a single woman, but Georgie Gail is no ordinary woman. She is to be the new telephone operator for a small town in Texas. The story begins as she is on her way to the small town for her new job and the train she is riding in happens to get robbed by the famous Frank Comer. Frank is loved by the people because they view him as a type of "Robin Hood" but the lawmen want to catch him because he is stealing from others.

Lucious Landrum, the Texas Ranger, is perceived as arrogant and cocky. Plus he has a funny name. He has one goal: to catch Frank and put him in jail. Since Frank has evaded being caught, Lucious changes his name to Luke Palmer and goes undercover to try to catch this criminal. He ends up in the same small town as Georgie because his undercover job is to repair downed lines, sell more phone services, and do the accounts and as I said before, she's the new telephone operator. The end up working in the same office in close proximity to each other.

Georgie and Luke end up falling in love and realizing the true identity of Frank Comer. But, will Georgie still love Luke when she finds out he is really Lucious Landrum, the obnoxious Texas Ranger who cares more about his appearance and his two guns than he cares for others? You'll have to read to find out.

This is a good historical fiction book.

I received this book for free from BethanyHouse in exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was received or expected. 

The Mercy by Beverly Lewis

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The Mercy is another Amish fiction novel by Beverly Lewis. This is Book 3 in The Rose Trilogy.

Rose & Hannah ("Hen") are sisters. Rose is unmarried. Hen is separated from her husband and is living back in her Amish town. Her husband is seeking a divorce when he is in an accident that leaves him blind. Due to this, Brandon has to depend on Hen. The hurdles they face are huge, but with God's grace, they can overcome.

Rose loves Nick but Nick left and went "Englisch". She is courted by an unbaptized Amish man (Isaac) and is even asked if she will marry him. Since she is already baptized she has to make sure he will follow through with his baptism as well. But will he?

Although this was not my favorite book to read because I like a little more "romance" as opposed to "details", I was very pleased to read the information concerning Amish baptisms. I had always pictured this event a certain way and with Beverly's detailed description, I can now visualize this correctly. And of course I recommend this book. I love all Amish fiction.


I received this book for free from BethanyHouse in order to review. I was not required to write a positive review. No other compensation was received or expected.