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Is there an escape for Lizzie?

Lizzie Engel is being forced to return to her Mennonite hometown of Kingdom, Kansas in order to protect her daughter. A stranger she does not know has been mailing her threatening letters and a man has been following her around. The new life she has set for herself and her daughter is threatened and the only place she knows to go is back home since that is the only place the stranger won’t be able to find her.

Kingdom is an isolated town that has been governed by a strict board of elders. Outside interference is simply not tolerated. She left five years earlier when her father would not accept her pregnancy. Seduced by a man she believed loved her, the town turned against her and she had to leave. Now she has returned and is finding that the new pastor and some of the  people she had known are changing the town. Buildings are painted, people are beginning to smile and help each other. Her own mother is taking a stand in opposition to her father’s. An accident and the death of the driver leads Lizzie to realize the stranger has found her. Who is this person and what do they want? An old friend, Noah Housler, works with her to unravel the mystery. In the end, of course, all is well and Lizzie finally finds the acceptance and love she had looked for all of her life.

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I received this book to review for free from Bethany House.

A Christmas story of love, forgiveness and redemption

When I read the back cover of this book, I failed to understand how the title had been chosen. A Wreath of Snow? A novella that covers a short period of time, Liz Curtis Higgs has given us a story that does not seem to be happening in a short time frame. Set in Scotland during a snowstorm, Meg Campbell is leaving Stirling and returning to Edinburgh after spending a disappointing Christmas with her family. Things at home have not been the same since her brother, Alan, had been injured in a curling stone incident. Gordon Shaw is leaving Stirling after completing a newspaper assignment. When their train is stranded in a snowstorm, this unlikely pair finds themselves walking back to Stirling. Neither wants to return for their own reasons.

Gordon is invited to the Campbell home for a meal and to warm himself when they make it back to town. From this point on the reader becomes immersed in the lives of the Campbell family and Gordon Shaw. There is more to these individuals than meets the eye. Meg feels guilty and angry because Alan is disabled and has become adept at making their parents feel sorry for him, catering to his every whim. Gordon is also feeling guilty because it was his actions that caused the injury. He knows he needs to make his true identity known and ask for Alan’s forgiveness. When the family realizes who he is at a curling match, the lifestyle that Alan has set up for himself begins to rapidly untangle and the secret that Alan had been hiding is now revealed.

A story of secrets, unforgiveness and guilt in the lives of Meg, Gordon and Alan we find the mercy and grace of God at work as everyone faces the truth in their lives and reconciliation becomes a reality.

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

Can a person be made for The River?

I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I began The River. It is a story about a river and its place in the life of Gabriel Clarke. How could someone be made for the river? Yet, Gabriel was. Losing his father at a young age to The River, Gabriel moves from Colorado to Kansas to live with his mother. He fears the water now and wants nothing to do with any river. As the years go by, he begins to see that a river is not something to be feared. Then comes the day when friends invite him to go to Colorado with them to camp, go river rafting and to explore the river. Gabriel starts to remember things from those early years and begins to accuse The River of taking his father from him. 

The more I got into this book, the more I began to see and understand the struggles Gabriel was facing. He was trapped by the chains of fear and resentment, trapped by circumstances that would affect his life unless he could gain his freedom. Returning to Kansas after the trip, Gabriel felt the pull of The River and so returned to Colorado to the river rafting camps. He goes to work at one of the river camps and meets people who help him to better understand The River and the affect it has on the lives of those who love it. He also starts to understand that The River did not take his father from him. As a seasoned rafter, his father lost his life while saving the life of someone else. With this knowledge, he realized that his destiny, his home is here with The River. He was made for The River.

I recommend this book, giving it five stars. It is a story of the freedom that awaits all of us when we face our fears and no longer give them control over our lives.

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.”