"Beyond the Tides," by Liz Johnson

"Beyond the Tides," by Liz Johnson

"When Meg Whitaker's father decides to sell the family's lobster fishing business to her high school nemesis, she sets out to prove she should take it over instead. Though she's never had any interest in running the small fleet--or even getting on a boat due to her persistent seasickness--she can't stand to see Oliver Ross in charge. Not when he ruined her dreams for a science scholarship and an Ivy League education ten years ago.

Oliver isn't proud of what he did back then. Angry and broken by his father walking out on his family, he lashed out at Meg--an innocent bystander. But owning a respected fishing fleet on Prince Edward Island is the opportunity of a lifetime, as well as a way to provide for his mother, and he's not about to walk away just because Meg wants him to.

Meg's father has the perfect solution: Oliver and Meg will work the business together, and at the end of the season, he'll decide who gets it. Along the way, they may discover that their stories are more similar than they thought . . . and their dreams aren't what they expected."

I really enjoyed this book.  The story kept moving along at a decent pace.  The main characters Oliver and Meg were very realistic and I was cheering them along throughout the story.  I know nothing about lobster fishing, so that was interesting learning about that.

Prince Edward Island is somewhere I would love to visit, and this story just made me want to visit more. There was a great deal of thought and love written into this story.

Stars out of 5 : 5 I loved it and I can't wait to read the second in the "Prince Edward Island Shores," series which is due out in the Summer of 2022

 "Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.

Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell , a division of Baker Publishing Group".

"The Lines Between Us," by Amy Lynn Green

 "The Lines Between Us," by Amy Lynn Green

"A WWII novel of courage and conviction, based on the true experience of the men who fought fires as conscientious objectors and the women who fought prejudice to serve in the Women's Army Corps.

Since the attack on Pearl Harbor, Gordon Hooper and his buddy Jack Armitage have stuck to their values as conscientious objectors. Much to their families' and country's chagrin, they volunteer as smokejumpers rather than enlisting, parachuting into and extinguishing raging wildfires in Oregon. But the number of winter blazes they're called to seems suspiciously high, and when an accident leaves Jack badly injured, Gordon realizes the facts don't add up.

A member of the Women's Army Corps, Dorie Armitage has long been ashamed of her brother's pacifism, but she's shocked by news of his accident. Determined to find out why he was harmed, she arrives at the national forest under the guise of conducting an army report . . . and finds herself forced to work with Gordon. He believes it's wrong to lie; she's willing to do whatever it takes for justice to be done. As they search for clues, Gordon and Dorie must wrestle with their convictions about war and peace and decide what to do with the troubling secrets they discover."

This book was pretty interesting, story aside.  I learned a lot about conscientious objectors, about smokejumpers, and even about the WOC.  The author's research really paid off and she wove true historical information into a very well written book.

Dorie was a bit over the top for me, but you couldn't help but like her.  What Gordon, Jack and his fellow conscientious objectors went through fighting fires they deserved praise for what they did.  The story was fast paced and it kept you interested throughout.

The mystery about Jack's accident does keep things interesting.  However, DO NOT read the author's notes until after you have read the book!!  I made the mistake of reading the author's notes around three quarters of the way through and I figured out the "mystery!"

Stars out of 5 : 4.5 It lost half a star, because the story seemed to drag at certain points.  The author's notes are really worth reading at the end, they contain a lot of information.  WWII stories are not my usual genre of books I read, so this made a lovely change for me.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. 

Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

"A Warrior's Heart," by Misty M. Beller

 "A Warrior's Heart," by Misty M. Beller

"Brielle Durand is still haunted by the massacre that killed her mother a dozen years before. Vowing to never let it happen again, she's risen to be the key defender for her people's peace-loving French settlement living in hidden caves in the Canadian Rockies. When a foreigner wanders too near to their secret home, she has no choice but to disarm and capture him. But now, what to do with this man who insists he can be trusted?

Hoping to escape past regrets, Evan MacManus ventured into the unknown, assigned to discover if the northern mountains contain an explosive mineral that might help America win the War of 1812. Despite being taken prisoner, Evan is determined to complete his mission. But when that assignment becomes at odds with his growing appreciation of the villagers and Brielle, does he follow through on his promise to his government or take a risk on where his heart is leading him? Either choice will cause harm to someone.

Brielle and Evan must reconcile the warring in their hearts to have any hope of finding peace for their peoples."

I had high hopes for this book, but I am afraid it didn't live up to it.  I am not sure if it was the slow pace of this story or just the lack of depth in the story, but it didn't capture my imagination.  The way this story ended just didn't make sense to me, there was a lot of loose ends that needed to be tied up.  

This is the first book in the "Brides of Laurent" series; and normally you get a complete ending with the main characters, so when you read the next in the series, you move onto another main set of characters, with the characters from the first book taking second stage.  There is still a lot of story to be told regarding Brielle and Evan.

I wished there had been some author's notes about how she came to write this book and more about Pitchblende.

Stars out of 5 : 3 I didn't hate this book, I read it through to the end, but I know I will totally forget about it soon.  It just didn't live up to my expectations.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. 

Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".