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Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post

Mar 9, 2021  
On my blog today, I have great little deleted scene from the Christian historical romance novel DREAMS REKINDLED by Amanda Cabot. Be sure to enter the giveaway to win both books in the Mesquite Springs series, a bluebonnet ornament, and a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card!

https://alltheupsandowns.blogspot.com/2021/03/book-blog-tour-and-giveaway-dreams.html

**BOOK SYNOPSIS**
He's bound and determined to find peace . . . but she's about to stir things up.

Dorothy Clark dreams of writing something that will challenge people as much as Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin seems to have. But in 1850s Mesquite Springs, there are few opportunities for writers--until newspaperman Brandon Holloway arrives, that is.

Brandon Holloway has seen firsthand the disastrous effects of challenging others. He has no intention of repeating that mistake. Instead of following his dreams, he's committed to making a new--and completely uncontroversial--start in the Hill Country.

As Dorothy's involvement in the fledgling newspaper grows from convenient to essential, the same change seems to be happening in Brandon's heart. But before romance can bloom, Dorothy and Brandon must work together to discover who's determined to divide the town and destroy Brandon's livelihood.
     
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Merissa (12069 KP) rated A Lightness in My Soul in Books

Jan 18, 2021 (Updated Aug 7, 2023)  
A Lightness in My Soul
A Lightness in My Soul
Annette Oppenlander | 2020 | Biography, History & Politics
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
A LIGHTNESS IN MY SOUL is a fictional novella based on a true story, one that happened in Germany many years ago.

Just like the British evacuated their children, so did the Germans, although not everyone was put into homes, but camps instead. This is a heartbreaking and harrowing tale, told in the first person, as Arthur goes to a KLV camp. You stay with him as he begins to question just what is going on, then the Americans arrive, and you stay with him in the aftermath of that.

The conditions Arthur has to face are very well-written, managing to give the reader the horror and hopelessness of the situation without making it gruesome or unnecessarily violent.

For anyone with an interest in the history of WWII, especially if you are interested in the German perspective, then this is definitely one for your bookshelves. A one-sitting, engrossing read highly recommended by me.

* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *

Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Jan 18, 2021
  
B(
Blackout (All Clear, #1)
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Oh, Ms. Willis! I cannot believe you did this to me! A cliffhanger? After 512 many pages? And I hung in there SO long in the beginning, when the book was so slow to get going!

Seriously--during all that nattering about over changed schedules and finding drop sites I nearly screamed to just <b>get on with it already</b>! So it is absolutely ridiculous to find that after more than 500 pages, I am not a nice resolution to any of the various plot lines, but rather am referred to the next boook, [b:All Clear|7519231|All Clear (All Clear, #2)|Connie Willis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267552735s/7519231.jpg|9735628]!

It's a bloody good thing that I 1) really, really like Ms. Willis' work; and 2) already have <i>All Clear</i> on hand and ready to go, or I would have been sorely tempted, <b>sorely</b>, I say, to throw the book across the room. That isn't nearly so satisfying with ebooks, and tends to do absolutely nothing but damage one's hardware, so I imagine I would have refrained.

But I absolutely would not suggest this work to a first-time Willis reader. [b:To Say Nothing of the Dog|77773|To Say Nothing of the Dog|Connie Willis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1298434745s/77773.jpg|696], certainly. [b:Bellwether|24985|Bellwether|Connie Willis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544946s/24985.jpg|1194887], even more so. But not this one, and not [b:Doomsday Book|24983|Doomsday Book|Connie Willis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1287032661s/24983.jpg|2439628] or [b:Lincoln's Dreams|24980|Lincoln's Dreams|Connie Willis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1167544943s/24980.jpg|25743] or, honestly, even [b:Fire Watch|10301442|Fire Watch|Connie Willis|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51JNKi8g3aL._SL75_.jpg|2324159] (the story on which the <i>All Clear</i> duology is based).

Willis doesn't write simplistic stories, or I probably wouldn't enjoy her work so much, but she has a way of making the complex clear that's beautiful. It's just that these require a bit more desire to get there on the part of the reader, to my way of thinking, than the other two. And once one is seduced by those, it is clear that the effort is wholly worthwhile.

In any case, there's no doubt but that I'm going right on ahead to read [b:All Clear|7519231|All Clear (All Clear, #2)|Connie Willis|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1267552735s/7519231.jpg|9735628]. I'm just a bit put out with the author at the moment--and very, very glad, considering the heft of these tomes, that I've switched to ebooks!

I still think that readers deserve some small reward for the sheer aggravation meted out thus far. Surely resolving some small plot issues would not have caused trouble? For instance, authors who are accustomed to working with multi-book series regularly wrap up some issues in each book, while leaving other, larger plot threads to carry over into future volumes to provide continuity.