Beneath A Prairie Moon Audiobook by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Beneath a Prairie Moon by Kim Vogel Sawyer, Recorded Books, Image from Audible.com

Beneath a Prairie Moon 
by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Fantastic Story -- Compelling Listen!

Review by Carrie Fancett Pagels

I downloaded my listen from Audible.com. I loved this story! It was a great story and beautiful characterization. I recently reviewed another Kim Vogel Sawyer title, so I'm on a roll! I had my first cataract surgery last week and another next week. 

You will definitely find the heroine, Abigail, very difficult to take at first. She's a handful! Opinionated, high strung, and with "rules, rules, rules" her leading guide. Whew! But she has suffered much and she has a good heart beneath all that prissiness. I love that we got a second romance in this story, with Abigail's boss.  Or is it a romance? Hmm. Seems like one. But I might have been wrong. Maybe that's a strong friendship, due to their age difference. Maybe the author is leading up to something else...

Hero Mack is wonderful. You'll love him from the start. And he'd never be satisfied by a passive sweet wife. Wait -- he is one of the only ones not wanting a mail-order bride. But this guy needs a wife. Trust me, I know the type! With all the head-butting he and Abigail do, it would be a wonder if they could overcome their differences and be friends much less sweethearts. Will Kim Vogel Sawyer work her magic on these two?

Highly Recommend! This novel is available in multiple formats. Check out CBD's options.

Publisher's summary: Abigail Brantley grew up in affluence and knows exactly how to behave in high society. But when she is cast from the social registers due to her father's illegal dealings, she finds herself forced into a role she never imagined: tutoring rough Kansas ranchers in the subjects of manners and morals so they can "marry up" with their mail-order brides. Mack Cleveland, whose father was swindled by a mail-order bride, wants no part of the scheme to bring Eastern women to Spiveyville, Kansas, and he's put off by the snooty airs and fastidious behavior of the "little city gal" in their midst. But as time goes by, his heart goes out.

Grace & the Preacher by Kim Vogel Sawyer -- Audiobook Review

Grace and the Preacher
by Kim Vogel Sawyer
(Recorded Books, 2017)

I purchased my audiobook as a download from Audible.com. This novel is also available in other formats. I'm not sure how I missed this book when it released but I know another reviewer has also posted a review this week, over a year after release. This was the perfect time for me to listen, though, and I enjoyed every bit of it!

You'll Enjoy This Story!!!

FIVE STARS *****

Master novelist, Kim Vogel Sawyer, creates another beautiful story. This is a smooth story with multiple layers of storytelling and characterization. Grace has been expecting the arrival of a new preacher, who will take her uncle's place at their church. Meanwhile, Theo Garrison is facing calamity. Decisions must be made.  Difficult decisions.

You'll love Grace and Theo. There's another character in the story, Theo's cousin, who gets a really wide story arc. I'm hoping he has his own story. He's someone you'll surprise yourself in rooting for at some point.

I was going to include the Publisher's summary but I felt there were too many spoilers in there. I'd advise you do not read the summary but get this book and read it ASAP! This is really a great listen. Highly Recommend!

I'm having cataract surgery on my right eye today, May 3rd. I've still got seven Audible.com credits to use. What other audiobooks would you highly recommend to me? Thanks!

Audiobook Review of Kim Vogel Sawyer's Guide Me Home

Guide Me Home by Kim Vogel Sawyer
Narration by Kate Forbes
Audibook by Recorded Books

Skillfully & Beautifully Guided Home!
Review by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Since my great-grandmother was from Olive Hill, Kentucky, which is right by Carter Caves, I had to listen to this book. We've been to Carter Caves once, and it was fascinating. The references Ms. Sawyer makes to that total darkness are so true. There's nothing liking being in the pitch and total black of a cave where even the person standing right next to you is not at all visible.

Kim Vogel Sawyer's novel gives multiple points of view for this fascinating novel. I'm pretty sure there were five but it might have only been four. Her rendering of local accents struck me as fairly accurate. Like Rebekah, the heroine, my own mother was the only sibling who didn't have an Eastern Kentucky Appalachian accent. I think Mom must have worked on that whereas Rebekah credits her book-reading for the absence of her accent.  

Because of the dangers of cave exploration, I found I kept waiting -- like a "wait for it. . . wait for it. . ." moment and when it arrives it is such a twist that I was totally taken by surprise. Well done! Didn't see that coming.

I am not a fan of Kate Forbes as a narrator. When I realized she was doing the narration I almost returned the audiobook. I'm glad I didn't. She ended up for this title doing a fine job.

Bibliotherapy: Class differences, educational differences, poverty, disobedience, consequences of sin, and the power of love to overcome.

Available from Barnes & Noble 
Also at Audible.com
Christian Book Distributors
Amazon

Rails to Love Review & Giveaway

This is an outstanding collection of novellas. I enjoyed each and every one. Highly recommend. Consistent quality throughout by many of CBA's most beloved authors! I received a free download from NetGalley and was glad to read the collection before it released from Barbour Publishing.




"Outlaw on the Pueblo Excursion" by Diana Lesire Brandmeyer. Misadventure puts a missionary-wannabe at risk. But a heroic journalist comes to her aid. Cute premise.



"The Depot Bride" by Amanda Cabot. Female photographer accepts a position documenting changes. Solid story.

"Last Stop, Cordelia" by Lisa Carter. Lady journalist on the transcontinental railroad line runs straight into danger. Fantastic romance!  Lisa hit a home run with this story!

"Train to Eden" by Ramona Cecil.  After a railroad accident, amnesia strikes the heroine. A compelling story.

"Love on the Rails" by Lynn Coleman. This is a really cool and unique story. I’ve not seen another novella quite like it. Set in Savannah, in the 1880s, a desperate young woman comes South as a mail order bride. While the hero is a nice man, his obsessive trails, including working all the time, may derail this marriage before it ever gets started.  A great story about how love requires work. We're featuring Lynn this week on the Overcoming with God blog.

"The Honeymoon Express" by Susanne Dietze. Female telegraph operator heads out west but ends up on a train with newlyweds. Cute story! I love Susie Dietze's writing and tell her I'm one of her "fan girls" of her lovely writing.

"Just for Lucy" by Kim Vogel Sawyer. Orphan train transporter learns the little girl with her has no home, once she arrives. She carries the child on to her resistant and single uncle. Very sweet romance. 

"My Soul Waits" by Connie Stevens. Stuck in a small town, when she fails to board the train, the heroine must find a new course to take. Solid story.

"World's Greatest Love" by Liz Tolsma. Very compelling and unique story. The characters in this story really came to life as a seamstress with a traveling circus train is set up by her antagonist to lose the job she must keep.  This story will remain with the reader long after it ends.

GIVEAWAY: A paperback copy of The Rails to Love Collection. Answer this question -- What are your favorite types of novellas?

Room for Hope by Kim Vogel Sawyer -- Reviewed by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Blurb
In a desperate time, can Neva find forgiveness for a grievous wrong—and make room for hope?

Neva Shilling has a heavy load of responsibility while her husband travels to neighboring communities and sells items from his wagon. In his absence, she faithfully runs the Shilling Mercantile, working to keep their business strong as the Depression takes its toll, and caring for their twins.

When a wagon pulls up after supper, Neva and her children rush out—and into the presence of the deputy driving a wagon carrying three young children. The deputy shocks her with the news that Warren and his wife have died, insisting it was their last request that the three children go live with “Aunt Neva.”

Neva’s heart is shattered as she realizes that Warren’s month-long travels were excuses for visits with his secret family. She wants nothing more than to forget Warren, but can she abandon these innocent children to an orphanage? Yet if she takes them in, will she ever be able to see them as more than evidence of her husband’s betrayal and love them the way God does?

Carrie's Review

Five Stars *****

I listened to this novel as an audible.com download. I have a yearly membership. This story is set in the 1930's, a hard time all across America.  Imagine believing you have a loving husband whose travels for your business turn out to be time spent with another family -- then having the offspring from that other union brought to you to raise during the Great Depression? 

This novel has multiple points of view, which I found distracting at first but I think give the story a broader perspective. We have Neva's, her son Bud's, the sheriff's, and a neighbor/suitor's perspectives throughout the book.  Having two adult males, both hero prospects, is something I'm not sure I've seen in other CBA novels. 

The narrator has a rather depressed-sounding voice. At the beginning of the book this somewhat works for the story. She does lighten up some as the book goes forward. But I don't hear the hope in her voice that I imagine the author intended, hence the title. Still, if you prefer audiobooks or require them, this is a good listen and you can get past the narration because the story is compelling.

Room for Hope is a great read by Kim Vogel Sawyer, with many unique elements. I highly recommend it.

Bibliotherapy elements: Death of a spouse, bigamy, illegitimate children, raising someone else's children, financial struggles, hope in Christ, and being shunned by "friends." I think this story is also good for bibliotherapy for someone who is feeling a little down as the tone of the book won't grate on you like it might if you were in a really chipper mood. 

Question: Have you read any of Kim Vogel Sawyer's other books? Which ones?

What Once Was Lost by Kim Vogel Sawyer - Audiobook Review by Carrie Fancett Pagels

What Once Was Lost by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Triple Power--Bibliotherapy, Audiobook, and Overall Novel (Kim's book will be included on my 2014 Best of List in December for ALL three components)

Amazing Story and Characters!  Kim Vogel Sawyer has hit a home run with this story. Continues to have her no nonsense but sweet voice, this has a solid believable story, and all the characters, even the minor ones, are well developed.

Heroine, Christina Willems, is left with a legacy of caring for others. But her shoulders cannot bear the weight all alone, despite her efforts to do so.  The author beautifully shows how God has to be trusted to provide. She's been running a poor farm with her father but now he has passed away.  But she is determined to continue caring for those in her charge. After the home is damaged she is able to place all the residents elsewhere except for a blind boy.

Levi Johnson has hidden off by himself for so long that his connections with others are almost nil. But when the mill owner is forced to take in a blind boy, he finds a part of himself that had gone missing. And as his heart softens, he makes room for Christina, too.

I listened to this book through Audible.com, as an audio download. I have a Platinum membership and will offer a credit for this book to one commenter who enjoys audiobooks if they would prefer this option for reading. Narration was excellent.

Bibliotherapy elements: Father's pocket watch is somewhat of a talisman for Christina and becomes an important item in the plot. Having one's faith tested. Fellowship with others. Coming back to the Lord.  All kinds of bibliotherapy elements. Also coping with unexpected pregnancy--one of the secondary characters, Cora, is dealing with the shame of unwed pregnancy. Hypocrisy in the church. Levi has the elements of not fully using his God-given talents. He also has to reconcile his feelings about his depressed father, who died a broken man. And the sweet blind boy at the core of the story becomes so competent under the tutelage of Levi that one begins to forget he was blind.


Skillfully told tale. Highly recommend! This book will be up for my 2014 Books of the Year for three categories: Book, audiobook, and bibliotherapy book.

Giveaway:We are giving away 2 copies of choice of Kim's books this week - Reader's choice of book and format including audiobook choice, as mentioned. (International winners ebook only or paperback if book is available through the Book Depository.) And a Starbuck's $10 gift card! "Like" Kim's Amazon Author page and put "AA" and answer this question to enter: Have you ever read a book about a poor house set in America? 

Here are a couple of other of Kim's new books:

                                                          

Kim's May 6th Release

Kim's January Release

WHAT ONCE WAS LOST by Kim Vogel Sawyer and Reviewed by Noela Nancarrow

What Once was Lost

What Once Was Lost

by Kim Vogel Sawyer

WaterBrook Press (September 17, 2013)

Reviewed by Noela Nancarrow

5 Stars *****

Heart Warming and Gripping

Set in Kansas in the late 1800’s, this thoroughly captivating story with its skilfully-crafted charming characters, and unique story-line, completely grabbed my attention and my heart from the very beginning!

Christina Willems faithfully runs the Brambleville Asylum for the Poor, having taken over after the passing of her father. The poor and displaced individuals that live in this beautiful old 3-story Victorian house have in a sense become Christina’s family. She has opened her heart fully to them all and sees to their every need, even to the detriment of her own. She had become their provider, protector, and friend. So how will Christina cope when there is a mysterious fire that makes the house uninhabitable for her and the poor residents to dwell in? Can she find suitable places for all on such short notice, and will she cope having her ‘family’ scattered about until the damaged house can be repaired?

Mill owner Levi Jonnson is a loner and likes it that way… or so he thinks. That was until the lovely Christina came begging him to look after little Tommy, the blind boy that everyone else rejected. Levi’s painful past has caused him to place a barrier around his heart against people and God alike, but will young Tommy be the one to break down some of the confines that Levi has erected? Or will Levi conclude that it’s not worth the pain and forsake Tommy also?

Another prominent character of this story is the aforementioned 11 year old Tommy Kilgore, who was abandoned by his father and dumped at the Poor house after Tommy became blind. Mentally abused before he was finally discarded, Tommy also bears many imprinted scars invisible to the naked eye, but glaring in his personality. Reading Tommy’s viewpoint in the story gave me an opportunity to see through his unseeing eyes into his world and his needs. I adored this character and silently cheered for Tommy for every small accomplishment he mastered. However, Tommy has a fear-driven secret which results in some very dire consequences for him and all those he loves!

‘What Once Was Lost’ is an immensely stirring tale of people who have allowed their past to deeply impact their present lives. And it expressively illustrates how God can be busy directing new paths when all seems lost to us, while highlighting the importance of sharing our burdens with God and others. I loved the unpredictability, the heart-rending moments regarding Tommy, and the sweet charisma that hovered between Christina and Levi. Suspense, drama, and a fulfilling conclusion complete this wonderful novel. Highly recommended!!

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This book may be purchased at Amazon, CBD, Barnes & Noble, Deeper Shopping, and The Book Depository (free Worldwide delivery)

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GIVEAWAY: Answer this Question to Enter: Do you know of someone who has impaired vision or is blind and what do you think is their greatest strength? 

We are giving away 2 copies of Kim's book this week - Reader's choice of book and format (International winners ebook only or paperback if book is available through the Book Depository). And a Starbuck's $10 gift card!

*Follow Kim on Twitter (put"T") or 'Like' her page on FB (put "FB") in your comments. 

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OVERCOMING: The Unknown, by Kim Vogel Sawyer

Author Kim Vogel Sawyer

From the time I was a little girl, I’ve been a question-asker. My poor dad patiently answered my deluges of questions (although I’m sure at times he wished I wasn’t so inquisitive). Now, as an adult, I find myself aiming my endless questions at my Father God. After all, He knows everything, right?

Most recently I’ve been questioning why my littlest granddaughter, Kendall Grace, has to face such a difficult start to life. Kendall has a host of physical medical problems, the combination of which is very puzzling to doctors. As Kendall Grace’s gramma, I want to know WHY this baby girl’s muscles are weak, WHY her digestive system doesn’t work right, WHY her bones aren’t growing normally, and HOW these issues will affect her socially and emotionally as she grows into little girlhood, enters her teenage years, and eventually becomes a grown-up. While I pray healing for this darling baby with the big blue eyes and a smile that could melt the abominable snowman, I try to look ahead and see what the future holds for her.

Apparently my “crystal ball” is broken, because things are cloudy. But you know what? I’m discovering that maybe it’s okay for me not to know. When we don’t KNOW, we’re forced into a place of trust. 2 Corinthians 5:7 says “For we live by faith, not by sight.” If we could see/know everything in advance, then what would be the purpose of faith? A dear friend who walked the cancer journey with her son told me, very wisely, that she gave up the right to know and simply trusted God knew...and that was enough.

So that’s what I’m trying to do--simply trust that God knows...and that is enough. It isn’t easy, I confess. That little girl who trailed her daddy and asked, “Why, Daddy? Why?” is still very much a part of me. ‘Cause I’m human. But just as Daddy did oh so long ago, I know my Father is smiling down at me, perhaps with a hint of indulgence glimmering in His eyes, and answering patiently, “All in good time, Kim. Trust Me.”

Unknown times are growing times. Not a bad place to be, after all.

Social media links:
Kim's Facebook page

Kim's website

Kim's Twitter page

Bio: 

In 1966, Kim Vogel Sawyer told her kindergarten teacher that someday people would check out her book in libraries. That little-girl dream came true in 2006 with the release of Waiting for Summer's Return. Since then, Kim has watched God expand her dream beyond her childhood imaginings. With over 30 titles on library shelves and more than a million copies of her books in print, she enjoys a full-time writing and speaking ministry. Empty-nesters, Kim and her retired military husband, Don, operate a bed-and-breakfast inn in small-town Kansas with the help of their four feline companions. When she isn't writing, Kim stays active serving in her church's women's and music ministries, traveling with "The Hubs," and spoiling her quiverful of granddarlings. 

Purchase links:

AMAZON: Through Deep Waters

BARNES & NOBLE: 

CBD:
Book Depository Kim Vogel Sawyer Books (available for international shipping.)
Deeper Shopping Kim's books

Giveaway: We are giving away two copies of Kim's books this week, winning reader's choice of book and format (international winners ebook only or paperback if the book is available through Book Depository.) Starbucks $10 gift card.  Follow Kim on Twitter (put "T") or like her FB page (put "FB") and leave an encouraging comment or prayer for Kim and her granddaughter to enter.  Beginning this week, winners will be posted in the upper right corner of the blog, so you do not have to leave your email address but you must contact us at OWGblog@aol.com if your name is listed.

Marian Baay reviews Central Park Rendezvous

Central Park Rendezvous

Central Park Rendezvous 
Four-in-one-collection
by Ronie Kendig, Dineen Miller, Kim Vogel Sawyer & MaryLu Tyndall
Barbour Publishing, 2012

Review by Marian Baay

5 stars *****

Dream a Little Dream by Ronie Kendig
Afghanistan War, present day

Jamie Rosso's uncle Alan is a collector of war memorabilia. He reseaches medals and other pieces and tries to find out who they belonged to. He's a Vietnam veteran and when he returned the woman he was supposed to marry was gone. He always kept hoping he would find her. Now after almost 40 years he's ready to move on with life and he's closing his shop. Jamie can't believe uncle Alan is giving up and she decides not to give up. When Alan is not looking she's snatching away a box with letters from the Wolfe Estate. The Wolfe family is very dear to Uncle Alan and Jamie can't believe he wants to get rid of this box with letters. Jamie decides to dig through the box and tries to find the living Wolfe relatives.

Sean Wolfe got injured by an IED in the Afghanistan War. He's suffering from Traumatic Brain Injury and has scars on his neck and jaw. His fiancée broke up with him. He is hurt and swears he is done with women.
Sean comes from a family of warriors. His father served in Vietnam and came back a different man. He killed himself when Sean was just 4 years old. 

Jamie found Sean and gave him the letters from his grandfather. First he didn't want to read them, because of the bad memories they would give. But Jamie told him: "We all need the bad memories to recognize the good ones." (I love that quote!)
Sean starts reading the letters and finds out that his dad was a better man than what his mom let him to believe. When he is reading the letters he finds out about a coin that has passed through the Wolfe family for centuries. He asked Jamie if she also found that coin in the box with letters.

Jamie wonders if Sean knows a woman called Gail. She is the woman her Uncle Alan was supposed to marry. Jamie is convinced there must be a connection to the Wolfe family.

Together Jamie and Sean are reading the Wolfe letters and learn the history of the Wolfe family. 


A Love Meant to Be by Dineen Miller
Vietnam War, 1973
Alan is at his friend's (Sean's father) house and there he meets Gail. He's struck by her beauty and disappointed to find out she's engaged to another man. Gail is in New York City for the Summer. Alan offers to show her around and finds himself falling in love with her. Gail is attracted to him, too, but she's engaged. Can their love ever happen?
When Alan is called for duty to Vietnam. Gail promised him to wait for him and they agreed to meet each other on the Bow Bridge. Alan gave the Civil War coin to Gail as a promise of his love for her. But when he came back there was no sign of Gail. What ever happened that she wasn't there and couldn't be found?

To Sing Another Day by Kim Vogel Sawyer
WWII, 1941
Helen Wolfe is the oldest of her siblings. Their parents died and Helen tries to run the family. But when her sister gets sick for a long time, she must stop working to care for her and they ran out of money. Her brother Henry has the Civil War coin and it's the only thing of worth they possess. Helen went to the pawn shop in hopes to get good money for the coin. There she met shop owner Bernie O'Day. He felt sorry for Helen and gave her more money for the coin than its worth. Some time later Henry Wolfe came to Bernie's shop asking for a job. Bernie decided to hire him although he didn't need an extra hand. He just wanted to help the Wolfe family. He starts to care for the family and hopes it might grow to something more with Helen.
When Japan attacks the US, Bernie signs up for duty. Will the coin return to the Wolfe family?


Beauty from Ashes by MaryLu Tyndall
Civil War, 1865
Permelia and Annie Shaw are sisters who live on the Shaw Plantation. Their parents died during the Civil War and their brother is serving in the Army. Annie is engaged to Wiliam Wolfe, colonel in the Army. When he left he gave Annie the coin with the inscription 'Love Never Fails W W'. He's been gone for years and Annie gave up on William and found a new boyfriend. She stopped writing to William and tossed the coin out of the window. Her sister Permelia found the coin and started writing letters to William. William thought Annie was writing the letters and he discovered that she has more depth than he thought. He started to fall in love with this new Annie. 
When the war is over he rushes over to the Shaw Plantation and wonders what Annie will think of his injury--burn marks on the right side of his face. When Annie sees them she is shocked and she cannot make herself look at him. Permelia is shocked too, but she is not afraid to look at him or his scars. What he sees in her eyes is confusing him.
Annie is hiding in her room for two days and Permelia is trying to encourage Annie to come out and meet William. When she finally meets him she can't look him in the eyes or to his injured face. William finds out that she sounds so much different than she did in her letters. He also finds out that he is no longer attracted to her, but Permelia makes his heart race. 
A Wolfe is man of his word and he promised to marry Annie, so he still intends to do so.
When Annie's other lover comes calling, she must make a decision, but she doesn't. Who will she finally choose? What will William do when he finds out who wrote the letters? Who will meet William on New Year's day on the Bow Bridge?

This was a tremendous read! I loved to see all the novellas get connected to each other. Ronie Kendig's Dream a Little Dream is split up in four parts and is told between the other three novellas. Jamie and Sean's story each time develops further after they have learned more about the Wolfe family (after another novella). Will they also find love?

All novellas center around the Bow Bridge in Central Park - William Wolfe's coin with inscription 'Love Never Fails' - in each story someone is struggling to trust God and in each story a man goes or went to war.

*Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my review copy.*

GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week's contest. Drawing will be late Saturday. Your choice of Dineen's books, choice of format*. Void where prohibited by law. *International winners only receive the book in ebook format, not as a paperback.

Teresa Mathews Reviews Central Park Rendezvous

Central Park Rendezvous

Central Park Rendezvous
Four-in-one collection

By Ronie Kendig, Dineen Miller, Kim Vogel Sawyer and MaryLu Tyndall
Barbour Publishing, 2012

Reviewed by Teresa Mathews

4.5 Stars

In this novella we are introduced to various members of the Wolfe family through four generations, each family tied together by three common threads, one of war, one of a coin passed down from the Civil War Era., and the  romantic Bow Bridge in Central Park.

Dream a Little Dream by Ronie Kendig

Afghanistan War, Present Day

Jamie Russo was raised by her uncle, Alan James, since a young girl when her parents were killed. Alan never married and when Jamie tries to talk to him about the reason why, Alan doesn’t want to talk about. Now that he has gotten older he has come to the conclusion that part of his life is better left alone and forgotten. So he packs up some boxes of old letters from his past and is going to throw them away. Without his knowing Jamie retrieves them and sets out to find out the mystery behind her uncle’s sorrow.

The more Jamie reads, the more she decides she must find this Sean Wolfe that is mentioned in the letters.

 When Jamie finally gets in touch with him and sets a date to met, they are both surprised by the other one. Jamie surprised that she is so drawn to this handsome man, physically scarred by an IED explosion in Afghanistan and mentally scarred by things in his past he endured from an abusive mother. And Sean is surprised because he was expecting a guy and not a beautiful sweet spirited girl that seems to see beyond his flaws to the person he wants to become. As they begin to read the letters and unravel the mystery of Sean’s family will they find out more about the long lost love Jamie’s uncle has been mourning all these years and will they find that same type of love for themselves?

A Love Meant to Be by Dineen Miller

Vietnam War 1973

In this second book in the Central Park Rendezvous Novella Dineen Miller picks up the story of Sean’s dad Patrick Wolfe and his best friend Alan James. Both men are preparing to head to Vietnam, Patrick for another tour and Alan for his first tour.

Alan James is going to a party at the Wolfe home to visit one more time with his best friend, Patrick before he has to go back to Vietnam. When he gets there Alan is greeted by Patrick’s wife, Marcia, who has let her feelings for Alan be known to him. Rumors have it she is enjoying the new “free love” movement while her husband is out fighting in the jungles of Vietnam. Before Patrick leaves he gets Alan to find the prefect ring for Marcia in hopes it will transform her back into the sweet girl she used to be.

Henry Wolfe loves Alan like a second son and he is proud of the way Alan has taken the antique shop and made it into a prosperous business. While at the party Henry hands Alan a gold coin that has been in their family for years, he wants Alan to look into the manufacturer and polish it, so he can give it to Patrick before he ships out.

While at the party Alan meets Marcia’s sister, Gail Gibson who is in town for the summer. He is immediately attracted to her beauty. Alan offers to show Gail around New York while she is in town. When Alan finds out Gail is engaged he is disappointed but determined to still spend time with her as friends. But the more time they spend together, the more Alan is convinced they belong together.

After finding her fiancé in a compromising position with his secretary, Gail calls off their engagement, she is relieved she can now be with Alan without feeling any guilt. When she meets with Alan before he leaves for Vietnam; he gives Gail the gold coin that Henry Wolfe gave him when Patrick refused it. Gail promises Alan she will meet him at Bow Bridge when he returns from the war. But will their lives really have the happily ever after ending they desire?

Dineen did a wonderful job continuing the story of the Wolfe family. I liked how she effortlessly was able to pick right up where the previous story left off. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it made me want to read more by Dineen!

To Sing Another Day by Kim Vogel Sawyer

WWII 1941

Helen Wolfe’s mother and father were killed in a trolley accident and she was left to care for her 3 much younger siblings. Because of this new responsibility she had to sacrifice her dream to be a singer. With no money left, in desperation Helen asks her brother Henry if she can have the gold coin he was given by their father. Helen takes it to the local pawnshop to see how much she can get for it, there she meets Bernie O’Day. Even though Bernie knows the coin is worthless he hears God tell him to give Helen money anyway, so he gives her forty dollars for something he will never be able to sell. After a series of events, including Henry showing up by chance to his door looking for a job, Bernie and the Wolfe family draw close. Bernie gives the coin back to Helen but when he has to leave to join the war, they give the coin back to Bernie with the promise they all will be waiting for him at Bow Bridge when he returns.

Beauty From Ashes by MaryLu Tyndall

The Civil War 1865

Permelia and Annie Shaw are sisters that have endured much sorrow because of the war, they have lost both parents and now their brother is presumed dead. Before the war Annie was engaged to William Wolfe, a colonel in the Union Army, and to show his love before he leaves he gives her a twenty dollar gold piece with the words “Love Never Fails W. W.”, which Annie throws out her window in anger because William has been gone too long. Thankfully Permelia sees it and keeps it safe, and that’s not the only thing Permelia has done. When Annie refused to write William anymore letters, Permelia kept sending letters to him signing Annie’s name. Those letters were filled with the love Permelia has for William, but he doesn’t know they are written by Permelia. William is in love with the Annie that wrote  the beautiful letters.

What will happen when William returns? Will Annie still have the same love for William or will she be so appalled by his disfigured face that she will refuse his proposal and stay with the man she met while William was away fighting? Who will be the one to meet him at Bow Bridge?

　

This was a great story written by marvelous writers, although it was a bit unconventional in the way the first story was divided up between the other three stories. I was thrown off at first when Sean and Jamie’s story stopped abruptly and A Love Meant to Be picked up. By the time I got to the end of A Love Meant to Be, and Sean and Jamie‘s story once again picked up, I had it figured out… there’s a pattern here! J Well done ladies for giving me something that warmed my heart and challenged my mind!

*I was given a copy of this from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.* 

GIVEAWAY:  Leave a comment and your email to be entered in this week’s contest.  Drawing will be late Saturday.  Your choice of  Dineen Miller’s books, choice of format*. Void where prohibited by law. *International winners will only receive the book in ebook format not as a paperback.