The Weavers Daughter, by Sarah Ladd

Henry's loyalty is to his family and to the family business. But after going to war and seeing death and destruction he comes back a changed man. He isn't interested in making money for the sake of making money. He is more interested in helping people make a living.

Kate's loyalty is to her family and to the weavers whom she lives and works among. But being a woman she is relegated to the task of the dye house and working with the material. She is not allowed to participate in the discussions and business end of things that the men are.

In a twist of fate Henry and Kate are thrown together by chance in a way that speaks of Romeo and Juliet, or Darcy and Elizabeth. They come from two different worlds. They come from opposite sides of an age old rivalry. Throw in the fact that this is in a time in England when women are not allowed to have opinions and you face some real tension.

But Henry falls in love with Kate, but how will he win her heart. Kate's father is in turmoil with Henry and his father and pretty much demands his daughter remain loyal to him and the weavers and thus stay away from Henry and the millers.

The story is very well developed. The historical and cultural aspects of the story are well researched and written in a way to help you see both sides of the issue and actually appreciate both sides, even while seeing the tensions.

Will love win out? Will weavers and millers learn to work with each other to further each vocations livelihood?

Will the beginnings of the industrial revolution cause a community to flounder into poverty?

I trust you will enjoy this book as much as I did.

Confronting Christianity, by Rebecca McLaughlin

Rebecca McLaughlin gives us a good look at 12 hard questions that people are asking about Christianity. As with any good apologetics book the author wrestles with questions that are not just obscure, but with questions that are being asked everyday by normal people who are just curious about the claims of religion.

What happens when people ask their questions? Most of the time Christians have a tendency to get protective, or nervous, or frightened that their faith does not really answer the questions that are being asked. So when you are asked, “Doesn’t Christianity Crush Diversity?” You become defensive. You want to protect what you believe, so you make excuses or talk around the issue or try to dismiss the claim. What you really need to do is go deep and answer the question lovingly and gently with educated information that gives a clear, concise, logical answer that will help the question asker to be able to then wrestle more with their question and come up with a better grasp of what Christians truly believe and can defend.

When you are asked, “Doesn’t Christianity denigrate women?” You can give a loving response about how Christianity truly honors women, truly builds them up and places them on an equal level with every other human being. How Christianity shows that women are loved, cared for, and given empowerment to walk in todays culture with their heads held high and have confidence that they matter to God.

How do you respond when you are asked, “Why does a loving God allow so much suffering?” You can come back with an educated, thoughtful response of how in humility and strength a person is able to bear up under suffering and express a true “HOPE” in the love of God who walks alongside of us in our suffering, because in His Son, Jesus Christ, He has experienced human suffering and understands the pain and hurt and also the triumph that we can experience when faced with suffering. A Loving God allows us to grow and mature and learn how to deal with the pains of this world.

All that to say that Rebecca gives us 12 well thought out and articulated responses to the major questions that people will ask each day about our faith in Christ.

This is an apologetic book that will help each of us to be confident in how to help others learn more of the truth of Scripture

The Unexpected Champion, By Mary Connealy

Penny Scott and her siblings and friends are working hard to settle their new land in the high sierra's. They are needing to build homes so that they can maintain their legal homestead. But in the middle of this work they have a problem. An outlaw named Raddo has struck at their family, but they have struck back. Raddo is now dead at the hands of Penny, Trace Riley a close friend and an outsider, John McCall. But just who is this John McCall.

Before Penny can truly find this out she and McCall are kidnapped. They are attacked, bound and hauled out of town by friends of Raddo. They want what he had. But unfortunately Penny and John don't know what that is.

But this propels them into a drawn out mystery and fight for survival that will draw them together as nothing else could. Penny the perfect frontiers woman and John the city slicker, big city detective, are paired together to solve this mystery and keep each other alive as well as Penny's family.

They will come to grips with the staggering evils of a man who struck it rich in the Gold Rush and is doing his best to crush everyone around him that dares to disagree with him.

Connealy does a great job of research into the time period of the Gold Rush of California. The homesteading aspects of frontiersmen in the High Sierra's and well romance. The story is well written and riveting. You want to find out what the outcome will be and thus you won't put the novel down until you finish. This is a perfect addition to the High Sierra series and I can't wait for the 4th novel.

Enjoy!

The Artful Match, by Jennifer Delamere

Lord Henry Morestowe is in for quite a surprise. His taking over the family title and business has been rather difficult. Loosing his father has thrust him into responsibility that he didn't particularly want. The family finances are floundering a bit because farming is no longer as lucrative as it has been. Thus he may have to start working the family copper mine, if he can find investors.

But there is also his brother, Langham, who is not exactly helping things out with the family. He is an aspiring artist and thus like most Victorian artists, he is a starving artist. But he really isn't starving, because he spends the families money as if there is no end to it.

Add to this mix Miss Cara Bernay, an orphan, a recently fired goveunness, and also an aspiring artist. She will enter the picture with Langham, but eventually cause all kinds of angst for Lord Morestowe, who happens to fall in love with her, only he doesn't know it for the longest time.

The story is well researched. The Regency Romance aspect is perfect. The Aesthetic Movement of the time period is well developed in the novel and well, the aspect of aristocracy not mixing with the common laborer is also well documented and woven into the story.

Along the lines of a Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen novel we find that Jennifer Delamere writes a beautiful novel with plenty of wit, wisdom, romance and intrigue. This is the first of Jennifer's novels that I have read, but I see that it is book #3 so now I must go back and read books 1 and 2.

Enjoy!

The Hummingbird Dagger, by Cindy Anstey

Lord Ellerby and his family are drawn into a tale of mystery and intrigue when young Walter Ellerby causes an accident of two carriages near their estate. Soon after the accident Walter's brother, Lord Ellerby, comes upon the accident to help the victims. The only person who appears injured is a young woman who is lying unconscious in the creek. She is attended to by other passengers of her coach, but Lord Ellberby takes her to his home and fetches a doctor.

The unusual thing is that the people of the London Coach don't know who she is nor do they want to accompany her to Lord Ellerby's home. When the young woman awakens she has no memory. The only thing she has is a recurring nightmare that she doesn't understand. It involves a dagger shaped as a Hummingbird.

Who is she and where did she come from. Is she a commoner or is she from the Aristocracy? How will they find out more about her if she doesn't remember anything?

Then terrible things start to happen, why? What is the secret of this woman and why does someone want to harm her. In the mean time Lord Ellerby is falling in love. His only question is, Why?

The writing is superb. The story is compelling. The mystery is well conceived and wrapped in a way that it take times to unravel. The historical setting is well researched and thus the writing properly reflects 1830's England.

If you love Regency Romance and mystery you will love this novel.