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Book Review: The Gentleman Spy

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The Gentleman Spy
Serendipity & Secrets #2
by Erica Vetsch

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Christian historical romance

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain spoilers for the first book in the series, The Lost Lieutenant.

Marcus Haverly much preferred his life as a “spare,” the second son of the Duke of Haverly, which allowed him to stay in the background of society and do his work as a secret agent for the Crown without fear of discovery. But when his father and older brother both die, the mantle of duke is thrust upon him, bringing many duties that clash with his clandestine work. One of those duties is to marry an eligible young woman, and he’ll be under much scrutiny by the rest of society until he does so. When he meets Lady Charlotte, who has been chastised by her parents for not conforming to society standards, thus leaving her in danger of becoming a spinster, Marcus makes a snap decision to marry her, expecting to use her as a cover for his secret life. But Charlotte has other ideas of what she wants out of a marriage, throwing a wrench in his plans.

I enjoyed the 2nd book in this series as much as I enjoyed the first. I already liked Marcus going into this book, since he was my favorite side character in the previous book. And while I wanted to throttle him a few times during the story, I still loved the book. Charlotte was a much bigger part of the story than the synopsis—both the official one and the one I wrote above—make her seem. Her arc was definitely a captivating part of the story.

This series so far has been all about my favorite type of romance—a marriage thrown together hastily between two people who don’t really know each other, and the development of the relationship between husband and wife. The only thing that really bothered me in this story is that Marcus, an otherwise intelligent and capable man, was so stupid when it came to his marriage, even after getting brilliant advice from a very wise woman. I’m not saying it’s completely unrealistic, but he got right up to that point of starting to annoy me. Thankfully, the rest of the book was so good, my frustrations with Marcus were overall very minor.

Charlotte’s plight to help the working girls of London really endeared her to me. It was also reminiscent of the first book, and I love that connection between the two. I also loved seeing the Whitelocks so much, which makes even more sense than it might in other series of “stand-alones,” because Marcus and Evan were such close friends in the previous book. Reading the previous book isn’t really necessary before reading this one, but I’d still recommend starting there, because it will make the experience of the 2nd book richer. I’m also very excited about the next book in the series, which won’t release until next March, especially since one of the main characters is Marcus’s sister. We meet her in this book, and though her time in the story was brief, I really liked her!

As with the previous book (though for a different reason), I don’t think the official synopsis for this book is good, especially since it depicts Marcus as unhappy with some of Charlotte’s endeavors. So take it with a grain of salt. But the book itself is great, and I definitely recommend it to fans of Christian romance, historical or otherwise, and fans of Regency romance.

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Book Review: A Christmas Star

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A Christmas Star
Cape Light #9
by Thomas Kinkade & Katherine Spencer

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Christmas drama, romance

Spoiler notice: The following review may contain some spoilers for the previous books in the series, starting with Cape Light.

Jack Sawyer, recent hermit after the loss of his wife 2 years past, awkwardly takes in a single mother and her young daughter when their car breaks down near his house in the country. Before long, he’s as much in need of Julie’s help as she is of his. At the same time, Sam & Jessica Morgan lose their beloved house to a devastating fire. Their marriage is tested in this difficult time, as rebuilding won’t be as easy as they hope.

Of the books in the Cape Light series I’ve read, this was my favorite. The story of Jack and Julie was much more interesting to me than the saga of Sam and Jessica Morgan’s tragedy. I don’t think that’s necessarily because I didn’t like the plot arc about the fire, but because I really liked the arc with Jack and Julie. Even moreso, I liked the arc with Jack and Julie’s daughter, Kate.

What I found most endearing was that this was not just the development of a relationship between a widower and a single mom, but also the development of a relationship between a father whose son has been estranged for two years and a little girl who steals the not-so-old man’s heart. Jack could get a second chance at being both a husband and a father, and it’s very sweet. The culmination of that storyline made the entire book worth it.

As for Sam and Jessica, they almost killed my interest in the series in the first book. Fortunately, we’re past most of the drama I disliked with them, but I will say some of their annoying quirks reared their heads again. Still, I found the difficulties they go through in this book sadly all too realistic. And while the end of their story might bother some, I think it makes sense within the context of this series.

After reading the first 4 books in the series and averaging 3.5 stars, I decided not to continue with it (which becomes a series of Christmas novels after the first 4 non-holiday books). But I already owned this one, so figured I’d give it a try. I’m glad I did, as I liked it more than the first 4. I’m not sure if I’ll read more or not, though. Maybe I’ll go back to book #5 if I have time left in the holiday season after I’ve read all of the Christmas-themed books I have planned. We’ll see.

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Book Review: Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library

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Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library
Mr. Lemoncello’s Library book #1
by Chris Grabenstein

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Children’s adventure, mystery

Game-lover Kyle Keeley is desperate to win a spot in the overnight sleepover at the new, state-of-the-art local library. The library was designed by his hero, Mr. Lemoncello, who created pretty much every board game and video game Kyle loves. When the overnighter turns into a lock-in (literally), Kyle and his fellow 12-year-olds have to figure out how to escape.

My 10-year-old daughter convinced me to read this book, and by convinced I mean pushed, cajoled, and pestered me until I got to it. She loved it and was sure I would too. She was right! It’s a quick, mostly simple read, and once the lock-in part started up, it was the most just pure fun I’ve ever had reading a book.

Once morning comes, the kids have to find clues and solve puzzles in order to try to escape and win the big prize. The story is basically Willy Wonka meets escape rooms, which is right up my alley. But even better, it’s an escape room played in the entire 3-story (plus the basement) library! I was seriously jealous. Mr. Lemoncello is a really entertaining character, and the kids have distinct personalities, for the most part. I will say that the knowledge base for some of these kids was pretty unrealistic, but it didn’t really bother me. It was just too fun!

I think something else that is important, since the book is written for kids, is that my daughter is a huge fan. She’s read the first 4 books in the series and was ridiculously excited to find out that a 5th one came out a few months ago. I’ll really enjoy continuing this series and being able to talk to her about the books as I go. I think this is a great book for kids around 8-12, and for parents too, especially those who like games.

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Book Review: The Tombs of Anak

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The Tombs of Anak
The Cooper Kids Adventure Series book #3
by Frank Peretti

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian adventure

Archaeologist Dr. Cooper and his kids, Jay and Lila, search for a lost co-worker in a tunnel under an unearthed temple of the Philistine god Dagon. They find themselves on the wrong side of Ha-Raphah, the Fearsome One, whom the locals revere and fear. What will it take to discover the true identity of this evil power?

Though I thought the premise for this book sounded too similar to the previous book in the series, it turned out to be quite a different story with quite a different outcome. The story was engaging all throughout, and so far, it’s my favorite of the series.

I found the mystery behind Ha-Raphah really interesting, and even after light is shed on the mysterious being, he remained very sinister, as opposed to becoming less scary once his identity was known, which is what I expected. I read the last 1/3 or so of the book at night, and frankly, I went to bed feeling a little creeped out. This again reminded me of some of my favorite Peretti books, which is a big reason that I liked the book a lot in the end. As for kids that are the age the book is meant for, some might be a little scared, so it’s a good thing to keep in mind if you’re thinking of this book for your kid(s). Maybe read it first and gauge that aspect on an individual basis.

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Book Review: An Ivy Hill Christmas

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An Ivy Hill Christmas
by Julie Klassen

My rating: 5 / 5
Genre: Christian historical romance, Christmas fiction

Coerced home from London during the Christmas season by his mother, Richard Brockwell is focused on staying away from any marriageable young ladies and returning to London as soon as he can. But his time at home brings up a lot of regrets and bad memories from his past, places a needy orphan in his path, and taunts him with a young woman who wants to be paired with him even less than he wants to be paired with her. That woman is Arabella Awdry, who is determined to forgo romance for a life of helping the less fortunate. Besides that, she knows all too well what sort of man Richard Brockwell is, and it isn’t the sort of man she wants anything to do with.

I saw this book here and there over the last month or so, passing it by for various reasons. Then I read another book by Julie Klassen recently and loved it, so as soon as I realized this was by the same author, I immediately added it to my Christmas-season reading list. I’m so glad I did! Though I haven’t read any of the other Ivy Hill books, and I could see that some characters were part of a larger story, I didn’t have any issues reading this. And it hit so many sweet spots for me. I loved the characters, that the romance was just one part of the story, that some common tropes of the genre were avoided.

I really liked Arabella early in the story; she endeared herself to me as soon as she put Richard in his place for his rudeness regarding her family. Richard was flawed in such a real way, and I think the author did a great job with his backstory. I’ll admit that Arabella’s stubbornness wore on me a bit by the end, but not as a flaw in the book, because it didn’t feel forced or unrealistic.

A Christmas romance is even more likely to feel contrived than any other romance story, at least in my experience, but I loved the fact that it wasn’t the only purpose of the story at all. There was a lot going on, especially for Richard, and the ending didn’t feel too easy or frivolous. Everything had to really be worked for. Though when I reached the end of the book with only the epilogue left, my heart almost stopped. I am not sure that was the best pacing idea. But it’s a minor complaint, really (not saying more to avoid spoilers).

Overall, I found this short novel to be refreshing and liked how, though some of the same types of silly parlor games were played as I’ve started to get used to in other novels of the same genre, they weren’t so groan-inducing in this story as I’ve come to expect. I loved it, and if you’ve seen many of my reviews, you might know that I don’t give 5 stars very often, so let that tell you something. I definitely recommend this book for any fans of Christian historical romance, especially if you’re looking for a warm Christmas read. I’m definitely adding the Tales from Ivy Hill books to my reading list now!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bethany House for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: A Tale of Two Hearts

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A Tale of Two Hearts
Once Upon a Dickens Christmas #2
by Michelle Griep
read by Nan McNamara

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Christian historical romance, Christmas fiction

When William Barlow, the man Mina Scott has a huge crush on, asks her to pretend to be his wife so that he can remain in the running to be chosen as his uncle’s heir, she jumps at the chance. But things get complicated when Uncle Barlow puts off the decision, William’s rival and cousin starts to play dirty, and Mina begins to regret deceiving the kind uncle.

I really liked the previous book in this series, 12 Days at Bleakly Manor, so I was excited to start off my Christmas-season reading by continuing the series. Unfortunately, I didn’t like this one nearly as much. There were some tropes and cliches that I’m a little tired of, I don’t think I liked any of the bigger characters, and the plot was pure contrivance. Obviously any plot is going to be full of contrivances–they are made up by the author, after all. But it felt so much more like it was only a vehicle for the romance this time, and a lot of it seemed unrealistic.

One of the things that bugged me most while reading this book was the amount of times that William and Mina decided to tell Uncle Barlow the truth, and even started to, but couldn’t follow through for some reason. Frankly…they didn’t try very hard. Especially one moment in particular, when the uncle was up late and having a conversation with a woman who knew about the lie and knew they were looking to tell him the truth…rather than say he needed to have a moment alone with his uncle, at which point the woman in question would likely have agreed to leave, William just left. And on it went, dragging the plot on. And it turned out there were other secrets that were even worse for the uncle to have dropped on him.

Overall, I think what I really saw is that the story lacked much heart. Characters paid lip service to their morals and values, but didn’t follow through very well. And Mina’s dad was really hard to get a handle on. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator’s voice took me some time to get used to, but in the end, I think it was the characters themselves, along with the plot, that made this book a bust for me. I plan to listen to the third book in the series later this month, and I have high hopes that it recaptures the charm of the first book in the series.

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November in Review

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I read 13 books last month, which is a startling amount for me, considering that it was the month of NaNoWriMo. Though not so surprising when you factor in how many of those were audiobooks, which I read at different times than my normal reading time that tends to suffer during NaNo.

Here are the books I read in November:

monster
new leaf
to steal
DC
29080789
Obsessed
unclaimed-1
Castaway
TCW 1-3
Dad
Prophet
Cooper2
2 Hearts
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The Monster in the Hollows by Andrew Peterson (5 / 5)
A New Leaf by Thomas Kinkade & Katherine Spencer (3.5 / 5)
To Steal a Heart by Jen Turano (3 / 5)
The Death Cure by James Dashner (3 / 5)
The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien (5 / 5)
Obsessed by Ted Dekker (4 / 5)
Unclaimed Legacy by Deborah Heal (2.5 / 5)
A Castaway in Cornwall by Julie Klassen (4.5 / 5)
The Cat Who Turned on and Off by Lilian Jackson Braun (5 / 5)
Dad Is Fat by Jim Gaffigan (4 / 5)
Prophet by Frank E. Peretti (4 / 5)
Escape from the Island of Aquarius by Frank E. Peretti (4 / 5)
A Tale of Two Hearts by Michelle Griep (review pending)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 2 re-reads*. My favorite book from November was A Castaway in Cornwall (yes, I know it wasn’t my highest-rated for the month; I’m complicated). I finished 3 series**, continued 4 series, and started 0 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

*One of the re-reads involved listening to the author read a few chapters of his book every night live on Facebook/YouTube to beat the quarantine blues. I count it the same as listening to an audiobook.

**This includes 2 series that I did not reach the end of but decided not to continue reading, after being at least 2 books into the series.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: Escape from the Island of Aquarius

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Escape from the Island of Aquarius
The Cooper Kids Adventure Series book #2
by Frank Peretti

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian adventure

Archaeologist Dr. Cooper and his kids, Jay and Lila, travel to an island in the South Pacific to find a man thought dead, after a recent letter in the man’s handwriting was found floating in the ocean, on the dead body of a man whose cause of death was not completely clear.

I liked this book a lot more than the first one. While the first one had supernatural elements that require a lot of suspension of disbelief, the things that happened in this one were a lot more believable. The danger felt more real. And it had shades of two of my favorite Peretti books, The Oath and Hangman’s Curse.

I love the way Dr. Cooper stands up to everything with his faith and trust in God. I’ve gotten to a point while reading these books that when someone tries to warn his family away because the evil spirit or god in the area is dangerous or scary, I just smile as I wait for Dr. Cooper to tell them how much greater his God is. It’s a great lesson for the kids these books are written for. While they’re not likely to face anything close to what the Cooper family faces, their trust in God really can combat any fear.

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Book Review: Prophet

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Prophet
by Frank E. Peretti
read by Cameron Beierle

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Christian suspense

News anchor John Barrett just wants to live his life in peace, without his over-zealous Christian dad causing problems. Or his estranged son making him feel guilty for how he does his job. Or his co-workers skewing the news to promote their worldviews. But all of these things come to a head when his dad dies under mysterious circumstances. With the help of a fellow reporter, his own son, and a number of other people along the way, John is determined to get to the truth.

This is a classic Peretti book that I had never read before. I was a little hesitant going into it, because as much as I love Peretti, I know that some of his theology in the past has been a bit questionable to me as I’ve gotten older. And while I’m not sure that modern prophets exist, it was still a very interesting take on what it might be like if they did. I really liked the way that the different threads came together, in true Peretti fashion, but to be honest, in the end, I’m not sure the prophet angle was necessary. 

A lot of behind-the-scenes views were shown of the news station, as well as political ads for the state’s governor who was running for re-election. I thought I might find some of that tedious, but for me, they really added to the feel of the story. I did listen to the audiobook, though, so I don’t know what it would have been like if I’d been reading (maybe no different). I also appreciated the way that John often saw real life through the lens of making the news show, because it’s his whole life and how he relates even to his own son.

Though the book was published in 1992, it was very timely to what’s going on in our world, proving that the question of truth in politics and in the media is nothing new. Some of it was a little disturbing, to be honest, because I fully believe that this kind of thing does happen in real life. I’m really glad I took the time to read this book and didn’t just pass it off as old and outdated, like I thought about doing.

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Outcast Released!

/ Kristi / 3 Comments

My second full-length novel, book #2 in a series of futuristic speculative fiction with a Christian worldview, is now available to purchase as both an e-book and a paperback! I’m so excited to see this series continue! See synopsis below and go here to buy the book.

Outcast on Goodreads

OUTCAST

Deep in the desert of Pithea lives an order of mercenaries. Assassins, thieves—they’ll do anything for a price. They are known in whispers and rumors as the Class of Morano. To this unconventional family belongs one Natos Morano, a member since birth. When a woman he’s never met kidnaps him in order to convince him to leave the order, he will be forced to choose between the only family he’s ever known and his true family that is long gone.

Remiel Azrael thinks his choice is easy when he discovers a woman in desperate need. But sometimes the noblest intentions result in the most unfavorable repercussions. And when the woman’s situation turns out to be more dangerous than he realized, Remiel comes face to face with a demon he thought he’d buried.

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