Sunday, June 12, 2011

The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck by Kathleen Y'Barbo

Beginning in 1887 London, this  is a humorous story of the planned marriage between Charlotte Beck and Alex Hambly. Charlotte wants to remain single, attend the university to study mathematics and eventually join her father in Beck Enterprises as vice president. Viscount Alex Hambly has his sights set on astronomy and moving ahead in that field.  Neither is prepared for the proposition that Charlotte’s father offers them. Charlotte is to marry Alex and then go she may go to the university. Alex will receive the funds to pay off family debts and move ahead in the field of astronomy. All seems like it should work, except no one has taken into account unpredictable Charlotte as she looks for ways to prevent a marriage and obtain her goals. A series of laughable mishaps surround this couple from the very first time they meet until the day they both accept their married state and decide they really do love each other. Kathleen Y’Barbo keeps the reader laughing as she involves the reader in the situations and dangers that Charlotte manages to find herself in, though most of them are of her own making. An enjoyable book that I will read again and again.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Spring for Susannah by Catherine Richmond

Taking place shortly after the Civil War, Spring for Susannah tells the story of a young woman who traveled to the Dakota Territory to join a husband she had never met. Not exactly a mail order bride because she did not respond to a newspaper ad, Susannah’s experience is very similar. She married Jesse Mason by proxy after being introduced to him through letters and by her pastor who is Jesse’s brother.

What has caused Susannah to make this move? And what of the man she is married to, what secrets does he hold within himself? Catherine Richmond has spun a story that will take the reader back to an earlier time before the Dakota Territory became a state, when settlers lived in sod houses and battled wind, cold, fire and grasshoppers. A time when ex-soldiers dealt with war memories and ladies, gently raised, did not speak out of turn or express any opinions. The reader will meet a variety of people who settled this cold and lonely land and who out of necessity bonded to form a community of people who stood by each other in laughter and tears. After Jesse leaves home to find work, Susannah learns to fend for herself, make decisions and become the person God had intended her to be. The twists and turns of life that they experience eventually sets them free from their pasts and brings them to the realization of the depth of their love for each other. Thus spring, a time of renewal and freshness, comes to Susanna and Jesse after a time of winter in their lives.  

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”