Review: The Rogue

The Rogue by Lee W. Brainard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love science. When sci-fi is packed with good science, I'm in reading heaven. This is a great premise and much better executed and believable than most end-of-world story plots. Quite frighteningly believable. All the science fits together very well. Very interesting that the Rogue is coming from the Seven Sisters (Pleiades) in Taurus. Everything seems to happen in Orion these days, so I was pleased to see Taurus pop up.

But this book proves the norm of real-science/fictional stories however. Most science-based novels are top-heavy with science and very weak on character development, and have a rather disjointed story flow with zero transitions from one point of view to the next. That kind of writing makes it very hard to get caught up in the story and really care about what happens to the characters.

Brainard does a pretty good job with helping you to care about the characters. The most likable one is Woody, although it was tough to figure out who he was at first. Introducing Ariele first and then switching to Irina would have been okay except the two characters that were supposed to be so opposite (Ariele = free spirit, hippy-like, Irina = conservative Christian) actually acted so similar I couldn't tell them apart until well into the story. Also, beyond them being athletic, they had very few physical features and no speech patterns that were different so they blended together.

The flip-flop in time and characters at the beginning is very confusing. I guess I was just supposed to know that the description of the two women at the beginning was giving me clues at how different the characters were so I could tell them apart. Good plot point that didn't come off at all. Another bit of confusion is the lack of transitions from one POV to another. The itallics helps to differentiate between characters' thoughts, but then head-hopping drives me crazy anyway, so I might be prejudiced in that regard.

Brainard throws in news about happenings in the Middle East that could literally be taken from this morning's paper. These things did not move the story along at all, had no effect on the characters, and did not provide any tension, story line, or flashpoints in the story. I know they were to provide a set up for conflict later in the story. It would be much better for the story flow if Brainard had just left that out and introduced all that when it actually matters for the story.

This is a really good story premise. With a bit of old-fashioned developmental editing and character development, this will be a terrific series.

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Review: Beneath Copper Falls

Beneath Copper Falls by Colleen Coble
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thought I had reviewed this book. But then I get a notification... ACK! I'm sorry Colleen, I mishandled this!

I loved this story. It was captivating, and held my interest all the way to the last page. Colleen has a great knack for keeping the pages turning. Suspenseful, some places humorous, and believable/lovable characters. All round good writing!

Five of five stars. Thank you Colleen and Netgalley for giving me this book to review in return for my honest opinion.

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Review: My Heart Belongs in Niagara Falls, New York: Adele's Journey

My Heart Belongs in Niagara Falls, New York: Adele's Journey by Amanda Barratt
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This was okay. I did enjoy the history of Niagara Falls, I've always wanted to go there.

This story brought me to the every edge of suspension of belief. You have to suspend belief in a lot of books that are supernatural or fantasy or sci-fi, but you'd think you wouldn't have to do that with historical romance.

A young woman saddled with the cares of holding an estate together while the brother spends it away, it's just unbelievable to me that this woman who apparently has a great head on her shoulders would traipse off to America leaving her spendthrift brother behind to ruin the estate. She couldn't depend upon her mother because apparently she didn't have a brain or any gumption. How dumb is that?

While this chit is in America, I'm worrying about the estate back home. The story didn't mesh with me.

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Review: Judah's Wife: A Novel of the Maccabees

Judah's Wife: A Novel of the Maccabees by Angela Elwell Hunt
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another great historical novel from Angela Hunt.

This novel is a great stand alone (I never knew there was a 1st book until I started writing this review!) Angela weaves this story with history, romance, family and Jewish traditions with tremendous skill. There is intrigue, humor, 2nd-century BC daily living as well as war tactics. She also gives great insight into how Antiochus Epiphenes terrorized the people of Judah.

Just plain great writing. If you like historical accuracy blended into family saga well, then this series is for you.

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Review: Ricochet Joe

Ricochet Joe by Dean Koontz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't know if others had this same problem because I haven't read any other reviews, but the "in-motion" feature didn't work well with my android Kindle app. It was a distraction.

The story, on the other hand was really good. Typical Dean Koontz. Loved the premise and the way he whips me around with all the twists and turns. Just a good, rainy afternoon read!

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Review: The Lacemaker

The Lacemaker by Laura Frantz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Very good historical romance.

I love historicals and this one is no exception. There is a pathos in this story that hits the heart. When a beautiful daughter is so disregarded by her father that he literally forgets to take her with him in his escape... that is really cold.

Very good writing, very good story premise, perhaps there could have been greater attention to absolute correctness in etiquette of the colonial period, ways of addressing loved ones and others. And perhaps a little more attention to descriptions of dress, etc. Otherwise this is an interesting and worthy read.

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Review: Oath of Honor

Oath of Honor by Lynette Eason
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I really liked this book even though the story flow dragged a bit in the middle.

I can appreciate how difficult it would be for a sibling to discover something about another sibling and be torn apart between love and duty. But here's the thing that seemed a bit implausible to me--and I might be wrong about this--but if your brother is a Christian, and you've known him your whole life and you trust him implicitly, why struggle with what he asks you to do?

Believability isn't a word, but it should be when it comes to novels. Setting aside belief in the implausible, this book and the writing is very good. There are a LOT of characters that I'm sure will be developed in later books of the series, and these characters will be very interesting.

The romance is a bit on the light side, and the character development of the two main characters suffers because of the huge amount of other characters. I think Lynette should take a tip from Law & Order -- go light on trying to develop characters that don't move the story along quickly. Otherwise, it's a good story.

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Review: A Soldier's Song

A Soldier's Song by Irene Onorato
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A really good inspirational romance. It has a bit of humor, a bit of suspense, and a lot of heart.

The story is woven around two people who have some issues to deal with (who doesn't?), and I think this is probably a good male POV character. Not all romances have a good male POV. Irene does a good job by giving each main character a reason to fall in love with the other. There's real meat to the story.

The story flow is a bit slow in places, and there is a bit of rehashing of motives. Just because we humans in real life think about our problems every day and sometimes to excess, we readers don't need that particular kind of realism. The rehashing didn't become a story dam, but came close for me.

Good story premise, and good writing.

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Review: Burgundy Gloves

Burgundy Gloves by Julia David
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a jewel.

The characters are very well developed, and there is a lovely romance that develops nicely, too.

The story line has a good flow to it so that the pages keep turning. I like that kind of novel. The faith that runs through the story is just right, and a bit different coming from the male point of view. There was a bit of overkill on the angst part, and a bit of rehashing--but that goes with the kind of story this is dealing with amnesia. You'll have that.

There's a touch of humor that brings the story to life. Description is very light. You don't get a good feel for the dense woods, nor can you "smell" the wood smoke, nor do you "feel" just how cold the river water is. Some flowers noted are blooming in the wrong season... but, if you don't care about that stuff like I do, you'll get engrossed in the story and forget about it.

Worthy read, and worth the money.

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Review: The Veil

The Veil by Blake K. Healy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I do not doubt a bit that God gives us gifts solely for us to use for His glory, some of the things depicted in this book are not quite biblical. However, Blake makes sure on every page that the reader understands this is all for God's glory. He takes no accolades for himself. That's good.

I also know for a fact that angels and demons are all around us. I also know that the way Blade sees some demons working in this physical world are testified to from others (not me personally, because I've only seen one demon/Satan in a vision).

However, if you really want to see how angels and demons work, this is the book for you not for any other reason but that Blake gives God all the glory. That is the mark of a true believer.

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Review: Coffin Scarcely Used

Coffin Scarcely Used by Colin Watson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Colin Watson was a British, stiff-upper-lip kind of writer of detective novels. I was introduced to him several years ago when trying to find more Agatha Christie novels. If you do not understand extremely dry humor or if you do not understand British humor beyond Mr. Bean or Monty Python, you won't get the humor in these books. It is slightly similar to P.G. Woldhouse, but not as blatant. Very subtle, but very fun and sometimes surprising. I will be reading many more of this series, which I did not discover earlier.

Something to remember, in 1958 the writing was a lot more description because people back then had no Internet, video games, cell phones, computers, and went to the library for more reading material. Life back then was much slower, so the pace of the book is slower. If you enjoy Agatha Christie, you'll enjoy Colin Watson -- two different styles, but both with great story plots and twists that draw you into their world of fiction.

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Review: Harp on the Willow

Harp on the Willow by B.J. Hoff
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've always loved B.J. Hoff's writing. Poignant and down to earth come to mind. Also, faith is embedded in the whole story that naturally seeps to the surface rather than in-your-face. Wholesome reading!

Dr. Daniel, a bachelor doctor in a small town in the late 1800s, is a wonderful character fully developed. I would have thought, though, that more mommas would have been pushing their daughters at him, except for a certain dainty woman who has captured his attention. There's a scruffy mining town across the bridge that needs Dr. Daniel's attention, where he meets Addie Rose. So there you've got a good mix for a really good story--don't forget the dog :)

Well-developed story line, great premise, well-developed characters, and an explosion. Can't beat it for a great, rainy day read.

Five of five stars.

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