Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Book Review - When Tides Turn by Sarah Sundin

Book Synopsis
In a time of war, sometimes battles take place in the heart.

Tess Beaumont is tired of being thought of as just a pretty face. Eager to do her part for the war effort, she joins the Navy's newly established WAVES program for women. Perhaps there she can convince people that there is more to her than meets the eye.

Lt. Dan Avery has been using his skills in the fight against German U-boats and hoping to make admiral. The last thing he wants to see on his radar is a girl like Tess. Convinced that romance will interfere with his goals, Dan is determined to stay the course, no matter how intriguing a distraction Tess is.

But love, like war, is unpredictable. When Dan is shipped out at the peak of the Battle of the Atlantic, he finds himself torn between his lifelong career goals and his desire to help the beguiling Tess root out a possible spy on shore. Could this fun-loving glamour girl really be the one?


My Review
When Tides Turn is the third book in Sarah Sundin's Waves of Freedom series.  I have enjoyed reading and reviewing the first two books in this series, Through Waters Deep and Anchor in the Storm.

When Tides Turn is set in 1940's Boston.  As the book opens, Tess Beaumont is working at Filene's, and hoping to use her business degree to get ahead in retail management.  Unfortunately, she finds she is judged just as a pretty face.  In frustration, and longing to do something meaningful, she joins the WAVES.  Tess finds her work with the WAVES both challenging and exciting.  She becomes involved in a mystery involving a possible spy in Boston.

Tess also spends time with a handsome Navy man named Dan Avery.  Tess and Dan are opposites.  She is warm, fun loving, and gregarious, while he is serious minded and so strongly career driven that he has a hard time taking time off and socializing.

I loved these characters.  They were both admirable but very human.  I was really pulling for them in this book to work things out so they could have a future together. 

Sarah Sundin is one of my favorite historical fiction writers.  The 1940's details of her books, including When Tides Turn, are exceptional.  I love the 1940's, and really feel like I am immersed in the time and place when I read her books.

The characters are all very well drawn.  It was wonderful seeing favorites from the other books in this series in When Tides Turn, including Mary, Jim, Lillian, Arch, and Yvette.  I love the way faith is addressed in this book, as a source of strength in times of trouble and a source of joy in times of happiness.

I highly recommend When Tides Turn, and the whole Waves of Freedom series, to other fans of historical fiction, and especially to anyone who loves a World War II setting.  The only thing I didn't like about this book is that it ended!  I loved the setting and the characters that much, and wish the series could go on and on.



Author Bio
Sarah Sundin is the author of Through Waters Deep and Anchor in the Storm, as well as the Wings of the Nightingale and the Wings of Glory series. A graduate of UC San Francisco School of Pharmacy, she works on-call as a hospital pharmacist. During WWII, her grandfather served as a pharmacist's mate (medic) in the Navy, and her great-uncle flew with the US Eighth Air Force. Sarah lives in California. Visit www.sarahsundin.com for more information.

I received a copy of this book from Revell Reads.

Book Spotlight and Giveaway - Elementary She Read by Vicki Delany

Book Synopsis
Gemma Doyle, a transplanted Englishwoman, has returned to the quaint town of West London on Cape Cod to manage her Great Uncle Arthur’s Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium. The shop – located at 222 Baker Street – specializes in the Holmes canon and pastiche, and is also the home of Moriarty the cat. When Gemma finds a rare and potentially valuable magazine containing the first Sherlock Homes story hidden in the bookshop, she and her friend Jayne (who runs the adjoining Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room) set off to find the owner, only to stumble upon a dead body.

The highly perceptive Gemma is the police’s first suspect, so she puts her consummate powers of deduction to work to clear her name, investigating a handsome rare books expert, the dead woman’s suspiciously unmoved son, and a whole family of greedy characters desperate to cash in on their inheritance. But when Gemma and Jayne accidentally place themselves at a second murder scene, it’s a race to uncover the truth before the detectives lock them up for good.

Author Bio
Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers. She is the author of twenty-three published crime novels, including standalone Gothic thrillers, the Constable Molly Smith series, and the Year Round Christmas Mysteries.  Under the pen name of Eva Gates she is the national bestselling author of the Lighthouse Library cozy series.

The first in Vicki’s Sherlock Holmes bookshop series, Elementary She Read, will be released in March 2017 from Crooked Lane Books.

Vicki lives and writes in Prince Edward County, Ontario. She is the past president of the Crime Writers of Canada. 

www.vickidelany.com   

Facebook:  Vicki Delany & Eva Gates  and Twitter: @vickidelany and @evagatesauthor 

Purchase Links
Amazon  B&N

Giveaway
(1) Print Copy of Elementary She Read by Vicki Delany (U.S. Only)
a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

Friday, March 17, 2017

Dear Abby - Celebrating Special Pets: Miguel Luis

Dear Friends,

My good friend Dianne is visiting again today from Mexico.  Today she has is sharing the story of her wonderful 14 year old dachshund, Miguel Luis.  I have known Miguel for years online through a dachshund group, and I think you will enjoy getting to know him better here today too.  Dianne has visited before, to remember her dachshund Lili Marie and to share the story of Miguel and Lili's life together.  


Abby:  Thanks for stopping by!  What pet would you like to introduce at my blog today?  

Dianne:  Miguel Luis is a standard (22 pound) black and tan dachshund who is a native Mexican – born in Ensenada where we live on January 13, 2003.  Naturally he’s bilingual!  Actually the day I picked him up at 8 weeks old I went with a friend and as we were driving home I could feel he was frightened  Then it occurred to me we were speaking English and all he’d heard in his little life was Spanish.  So I put on a Spanish language radio station and he calmed down 

Abby:  What are some happy memories of Miguel?

Dianne:  He has been the best dog I’ve ever had…ever.  He is sweet, loves people, goes along with whatever I want him to do.  He is by far the perfect dog!  Everybody loves him and loves his name (He was named for my favorite Mexican singer, Luis Miguel!) 

Abby:  Do you have any funny anecdotes?

Dianne:  One evening we were having an incredible sunset so I grabbed my camera and walked outside to get a picture, not knowing that he walked out behind me.  I took my picture, went inside and locked the door.  About ½ hour later, I realized I hadn’t seen him in awhile and it finally occurred to me that he may have followed me out.  I opened the door and there he was, sitting right in front of the door, waiting for his dumb mama to come for him.

Abby:  I enjoyed visiting with you today.  Is there anything else about Miguel Luis you would like to share? 

Dianne:  Miguel’s 14 years old and I know he won’t be with me forever so I’m treasuring the time I get to have this great guy around.

Abby:   Dianne, thank you so much for visiting!  I'm so glad you have Miguel, and I am delighted to know him too.  I love it that he is bilingual!  And I'm so glad he followed you home after you went out to photograph the sunset!

Friends, you can leave comments for Dianne and Miguel in the comment section below.  If you want to feature a beloved pet here, please let me know with your email.  Thanks!

Love,

Abby xoxoxo

Book Review - The Orphan's Tale by Pam Jenoff

Book Synopsis
A powerful novel of friendship set in a traveling circus during World War II, The Orphan’s Tale introduces two extraordinary women and their harrowing stories of sacrifice and survival.

Sixteen-year-old Noa has been cast out in disgrace after becoming pregnant by a Nazi soldier and being forced to give up her baby. She lives above a small rail station, which she cleans in order to earn her keep… When Noa discovers a boxcar containing dozens of Jewish infants bound for a concentration camp, she is reminded of the child that was taken from her. And in a moment that will change the course of her life, she snatches one of the babies and flees into the snowy night.

Noa finds refuge with a German circus, but she must learn the flying trapeze act so she can blend in undetected, spurning the resentment of the lead aerialist, Astrid. At first rivals, Noa and Astrid soon forge a powerful bond. But as the facade that protects them proves increasingly tenuous, Noa and Astrid must decide whether their friendship is enough to save one another—or if the secrets that burn between them will destroy everything.

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Purchase Links


Amazon | Books-A-Million | Barnes & Noble


My Review
The Orphan's Tale is a historical novel set in 1940's Germany and France.  It is the story of two women.  One of them is a young woman named Noa.  Her parents pushed her out of her home after she became pregnant, at the age of 16, by a Nazi officer.  She is forced to give up her baby, and works long hours at a railway station.  The other woman is an aerialist named Astrid who works in a traveling circus.   

Noa finds a railway car of Jewish babies being transported to a concentration camp.  Missing her own baby, she takes one of the babies from the railway car and runs away into the cold and snowy woods.  Her travels take her to the winter home of a circus where Astrid works.   The kind owner of the circus takes Noa and the baby in with the understanding that she will learn to work on the trapeze in order to earn her keep.

Noa and Astrid move from an antagonistic start to a reluctant friendship.  Their bond deepens as they share secrets when the circus goes on the road from Germany to France.

The circus is struggling in a time of sadness and unrest.  It is comprised of an eclectic mix of workers and performers.  As Astrid says, "The circus has no borders" (p. 106).

This is such an exceptionally moving novel about the surprising strengths and courage of everyday people in the darkest times.  I really cared about Noa, Astrid, and baby Theo and I stayed up into the wee hours transported to another time and place as I read their story.

The book is told in alternating chapters by Noa and Astrid.  The author moves skillfully in this transition, and these characters are strongly written.

The historical details about circus life are also fascinating.  Pam Jenoff vividly captures day to day life in a small traveling circus.

The Orphan's Tale is a book with many twists and surprises, from the beginning through the epilogue.  I found it very engrossing and recommend it highly for other fans of historical fiction.

Author Bio
Pam Jenoff is the author of several novels, including the international bestseller The Kommandant’s Girl, which also earned her a Quill Award nomination. Pam lives with her husband and three children near Philadelphia where, in addition to writing, she teaches law school.

 

Connect with Pam


Website | Facebook | Twitter


I received a copy of this book from TLC Book Tours. 

Vintage Easter Card Giveaway from Birdhouse Books


I love Easter!  It is one of my favorite holidays.  So of course I love finding and listing vintage Easter cards in my shop, Birdhouse Books.



I have a wide variety of cards listed.  They make a sweet gift, tucked into an Easter basket or inside an envelope, and they are beautiful framed!

Whether you prefer bunnies ...

or chicks ...

or ducks ...

and whether you like vintage cards ...

or postcards ...

there is something for everyone at Birdhouse Books!

You'll find all these cards at:

Birdhouse Books on eBay 
Birdhouse Books on Etsy
Birdhouse Books on Bonanza

I am hosting a vintage Easter card giveaway.  You can win one Easter card or postcard of your choice under $10.  I will be glad to ship it to you or the recipient of your choice.  You will find all my Easter cards under $10 on eBay:  click here to see Easter cards.  

I will draw a winner on Tuesday, 3/28/17.   The winner will be notified by email and needs to respond within 48 hours. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for visiting and good luck!