The Sheriff's Surrender by Susan Page Davis

While I enjoy an excellent mystery and most excellent character developments which make we care deeply what happens to them, this novel didn't quite hit that mark. Don't get me wrong. This was a rather fun read, but was not up to par. It wasn't exactly gripping. While reading it, it really does keep your interest. However, after you've put it down, you are not really motivated to pick it back up again because there are parts which could have been really funny or sweetly tear-jerking, but didn't quite make it.

On the other hand, when the saloon owner and local Madame made friends with the members of the ladies shooting club, I did sit up and cheer a bit. That did leave open the question of a person's lifestyle and belief in Jesus and how it meshes with Biblical teaching. It is GREAT that a church opens its arms to the sinner, but what is the church doing about helping the sinner make that 180 degree turn of repentence into the lifestyle that Jesus would have us live for Him?

I am not saying that Christian Fiction should be the preaching tool of the 21st century. I am saying that as Christians no matter what we do, we should keep our eyes on the goal Jesus set for us in the Great Commission. That is one of our purposes here on earth, and it is one way we bring glory to God which is our ultimate purpose. It pushed a lot of my reading buttons, but not all of them, therefore this is only about two stars.

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

The Sheriff’s Surrender

Barbour Books (December 1, 2009)

by

Susan Page Davis


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


I've always loved reading, history, and horses. These things come together in several of my historical books. My young adult novel, Sarah's Long Ride, also spotlights horses and the rugged sport of endurance riding, as does the contemporary romance Trail to Justice. I took a vocational course in horseshoeing after earning a bachelor's degree in history. I don't shoe horses anymore, but the experience has come in handy in writing my books.

Another longtime hobby of mine is genealogy, which has led me down many fascinating paths. I'm proud to be a DAR member! Some of Jim's and my quirkier ancestors have inspired fictional characters

For many years I worked for the Central Maine Morning Sentinel as a freelancer, covering local government, school board meetings, business news, fires, auto accidents, and other local events, including a murder trial. I've also written many profiles and features for the newspaper and its special sections. This experience was a great help in developing fictional characters and writing realistic scenes. I also published nonfiction articles in several magazines and had several short stories appear in Woman's World, Grit, and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine.

My husband, Jim, and I moved to his birth state, Oregon, for a while after we were married, but decided to move back to Maine and be near my family. We're so glad we did. It allowed our six children to grow up feeling close to their cousins and grandparents, and some of Jim's family have even moved to Maine!



ABOUT THE BOOK


Gert Dooley can shoot the tail feathers off a jay at a hundred yards, but she wants Ethan Chapman to see she's more than a crack shot with a firearm. When the sheriff of Fergus, Idaho, is murdered and Ethan is named his replacement, Gert decides she has to do whatever she can to help him protect the citizenry. So she starts the Ladies Shooting Club. But when one of their numbers is murdered, these ladies are called on for more than target shooting and praying. Can Gert and the ladies of Fergus find the murderer before he strikes again?

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Sheriff’s Surrender , go HERE

The Rose Legacy by Kristen Heitzmann

From Bethany House a division of Baker Publishing

Enter Carina Maria DeGratia and her trusty mule on the side of a mountain with a broken wheel. Along comes a handsome but decidedly crusty man. Is he a knight in shinning armor? No. He just tells her to get whatever she treasures out of the wagon, then over the side the wagon goes. I completely sympathize with Carina when she gets angry.

The story opens very well, with quite an exciting trip down into the ravine to retrieve at least a change of clothes and her silver. However, the excitement dies down into an intriguing mystery. Carina is befriended by a sleezy lawyer with questionable practices in selling a house which Carina has the rightful deed... or does she?

As she tries to settle into this ribald town, she whines about her lost love Flavio. This man she pines for was unfaithful. (I'm not giving away a plot line here, in fact it should have been introduced much sooner, but too much was happening all at once, I guess.)

The problem is that this young woman is painted as a firebrand with much spirit and life, yet she whines at least twice a day about this Flavio. She dreams about him, too. I got disgusted with it about half way through the novel. I know what I'm talking about because I have lived through this kind of disaster. When a man is unfaithful, then the emotion at the forefront is anger. That takes a long time to work through. Ah, well, different strokes and all that.

The historical aspect is very interesting. You can tell that Kristen did her homework. I have spent some time in gold rush towns (both ghost town and quite lively) and this historical account rings true. The characters have been very well developed. There is nothing two-dimensional about them. They are all quite unique and colorful. They all have their warts, they all have good qualities. It is a good read if you can get past the constant reminder about Flavio.

Kristen Heitzmann is the bestselling author of over a dozen novels, including Freefall, Halos, A Rush of Wings, and the Christy Award winner Secrets. She and her husband, Jim, and their family live in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she serves as worship leader in their church. Visit Kristen's Web site at http://www.kristenheitzmann.com/

 Price: $13.99


ISBN: 978-0-7642-0713-6

ISBN-10: 0-7642-0713-X

Christmas Glass by Marci Alborghetti

Anything from Guideposts has always had the highest quality and this year's Christmas story is no exception. It has a marvelous cover with beautiful artwork and all of that is before you even open the book.

Once you start reading this intricately woven story from the viewpoint of all the family members, you can see why communication is a crucial key for family relationships (not to mention all other relationships both personal and business). We do not have the ability to read each other's minds. While the Holy Spirit does a most excellent job of helping us to understand our loved ones and their motives, we must make sure that we put God first above all others, no exceptions.

I have read stories before that were written from different perspectives and got very bored before finishing the novels because you are reading the same thing, just different angles. But this one is well done, and each perspective moves the story along. It was only slightly tiresome reading all the background story, too, but that did lend a greater insight to motives and beliefs.

The last page is a bit ambiguous, and I hate ambiguous endings... but then I think, how else could it end? This is a saga told succinctly and poignantly beginning with WWII up to present day. We slowly find out what happens to this set of treasured Christmas glass ornaments, and there is a beautiful testament of friendship.

Excellent read, well worth the money. It is a keeper

This week, the

Christian Fiction Blog Alliance

is introducing

The Christmas Glass

GuidepostsBooks (October 1, 2009)

by

Marci Alborghetti


ABOUT THE AUTHOR:


Marci Alborghetti has been writing only slightly longer than she's been reading. In seventh grade she received her first writing prize for a zany Halloween story. The prize? A five dollar gift certificate to a local bookstore. She was hooked. The Christmas Glass is her fourteenth book, and she is currently at work on a sequel as well as a non-fiction book about service. Some of her other books include: Prayer Power: How to Pray When You Think You Can’t, A Season in the South and Twelve Strong Women of God.

She and her husband, Charlie Duffy, live in New London, Connecticut and the San Francisco Bay area. While in New London she facilitates the Saint James Literary Club.



ABOUT THE BOOK

In the tradition of The Christmas Shoes and A Christmas on Jane Street, the heartwarming story of The Christmas Glass shows how, today as always, the Christmas miracle works its wonders in the human heart.

In the early days of World War II in Italy, Anna, a young widow who runs a small orphanage, carefully wraps her most cherished possessions -- a dozen hand-blown, German-made, Christmas ornaments, handed down by her mother -- and sends them to a cousin she hasn't seen in years.

Anna is distressed to part with her only tangible reminder of her mother, but she worries that the ornaments will be lost or destroyed in the war, especially now that her orphanage has begun to secretly shelter Jewish children. Anna's young cousin Filomena is married with two-year-old twins when she receives the box of precious Christmas glass.

After the war, Filomena emigrates to America, where the precious ornaments are passed down through the generations. After more than forty years, twelve people come to possess a piece of Christmas glass, some intimately connected by family bonds, some connected only through the history of the ornaments.

As Christmas Day approaches, readers join each character in a journey of laughter and tears, fractures and healings, as Filomena, now an eighty-four-year-old great-grandmother, brings them all to what will be either a wondrous reunion or a disaster that may shatter them all like the precious glass they cherish.

If you would like to read the first chapter of The Christmas Glass, go HERE