A Worthy Pursuit

A Worthy Pursuit by Karen Witemeyer, 2015 Bethany House

     Little Lily's mother was Charlotte Atherton's best friend after the nine-year-old enrolled at the exclusive school where Charlotte taught. Upon Mrs. Dorchester's death, she granted guardianship to Charlotte away from Lily's wealthy and overbearing grandfather. 

     When the school is shut down Charlotte knows Lily is in danger and - along with two of the school's boys who have nowhere to go - escapes to property left to her by her parents and far from Austin and the Dorchesters's grasping. She doesn't know why exactly Mrs. Dorchester wanted to keep Lily from her grandfather, but Charlotte isn't willing to give up the girl she's come to love. 

     It's no surprise that Dorchester sends a tracker after them, but Stone Hammond is not what Charlotte expects--under his handsome, but overwhelming exterior. Stone isn't willing to allow an abductress to run Lily's life or those of the two boys who escaped the school's closure. But he's surprised by the little family he finds in Charlotte's care. 

     He is likewise surprised by Charlotte herself. She very clearly cares for Lily, Stephen, and John; and she is intelligent enough to recognize the threat he poses to their life together. Yet, Charlotte cares for him when he is injured and trusts him with the truth of Lily's guardianship. 

     Dorchester and his somewhat illegal actions toward Charlotte are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to his reasoning for bringing his granddaughter back. Stone and his conscience cannot allow the man to use his granddaughter's photographic memory to his advantage. 

     Somewhere between helping Dorchester, finding the truth, and scheming with Charlotte to allow Lily a proper childhood, stone finds a home with the pretty teacher and her rag-tag family. But Charlotte has demons of her own and trusting Stone will not come easily. The two bond over caring for and protecting the children from the minions Dorchester sends after them and their camaraderie turns into something more. 

     A Worthy Pursuit blends the action of dime-novels Lily Dorchester is so fond of with a romance rooted in faith and trust suitable for readers of all ages. Charlotte and Stone face challenges and must accept that life doesn't always go as planned, sometimes it does better. 

That's Amore

That's Amore by Janice Thompson, 2014 Revell Publishing

     Several years after her wedding to DJ Neely, Bella is in her husband's hometown to set up a second Club Wed. Shortly before the two relocate with their children Bella discovers that her family will be growing and plans to continue her work in Splendora as long as she can. 

     In Galveston, Bella's sister and her husband have taken the lead in her absence. DJ's business is booming and they turn their eyes back toward Splendora, Texas, and the renovation of Club Wed no. 2. Bubba Neely, DJ's younger brother, and his wife, Bella's best friend, have moved back to his hometown to open a Bar-B-Que joint but face opposition from some town influencers. 

     Neither DJ nor Bubby knows why the mayor opposes both of their enterprises--they'll bring commerce to the small town. As they battle to make a life, even temporarily, in Splendora Bella and her friends struggle with the temptation to give in to wants rather than behaving as her faith prescribes. 

     Halfway through her pregnancy DJ suggests renewing their vows when the chapel at Club Wed is complete. Bella finds the challenges of pregnancy--with twins no less--the frustration caused by Splendora's mayor, the distance from her family, and the minor dramas of small-town life combine to be more than she can handle alone. 

     Bella repeatedly learns she cannot do it all, especially not on her own. This final installment in Bella and DJ's story focuses on faith and family to get through difficult and unexpected times. 

It Had to Be You

It Had to Be You by Janice Thompson, 2010 Fleming H Revell

    On the heels of her second themed wedding, Bella is overjoyed to be planning her aunt and uncle's wedding, quickly followed by her own ceremony. That is until her little sister decides to marry within weeks of Bella's big day. 

     Rosa and Lazarro's forties-themed bash is a joy to plan and the Rossi family reunites across the ocean. Even Lazarro's old mobster friend Sal shows up. The Rossi clan of Galveston Texas believes they can help the old man find salvation. Laz hopes Sal's parrot Guido can help lead him to faith. 

     Sal finds more than Guido and the Rossis helping him toward the Christian faith. The Splendora trio is always willing to lead a man to water. When Sal seems to find a little more than friendship with one of the ladies it seems he may be drawn fully into the light. 

     The family drama pulls Bella and her family from their roots. Old and new rivalries and jealousies challenge each member of the family but draw them back together and to their faith. 

     In planning her own nuptials, maintaining a happy front while her parents remodel as a surprise for Rosa and Laz, and spreading her time thin enough to help Sophia plan her own wedding Bella forgets to take time for herself. Bella is forced to learn to rely on others and her faith to make her dreams a reality. 

     The Rossi family is grounded in their faith and their connection to each other. Bella and DJ get their happily ever after among family and friends, just as they've helped arrange for many couples before them. 

Swinging on a Star

Swinging on a Star by Janice Thompson, 2010 Baker Publishing

     After Bella's first themed wedding is a success she is challenged by a new theme. Rob and Marian want a Medieval theme and Bella Rossi is more than happy to oblige: she even had a castle built to house the ceremony.
     Rob and Marian have a surprise for their wedding planner. Bella is stunned at the news Rob's best friend is a Hollywood movie star, Brock Benson. They ask if Bella and the Rossi clan can help keep Brock from the paparazzi. Anything to make her bride's day perfect: Bella agrees.
     The young man who deejayed Bella's first wedding, D.J. Neely, has stayed around and the two have been dating. Bella is serious about her beau and enjoys his family and their quirks. When Brock seems to take too much of a shine to the elder Miss Rossi, Bella must figure out how to break it to him that she's taken.
     Her sister has no such claim and enjoys the charming movie star's attention while he hides from paparazzi in the Rossi household. Brock finds family with the Rossis and their flamboyant insistence that on being the very best they could be drives him to seek his own family. The Rossis are happy to be adopted. 

     Despite setbacks Bella and her family band together to make Rob and Marian's wedding an event to remember. Even with a celebrity best man, the focus is on the bride and groom. The challenges help Bella and DJ on their journey closer to each other and forward in their faith. 

     Readers who enjoyed Bella's first themed wedding and meeting DJ will enjoy following their blooming relationship. 

Made to Last

Made to Last by Melissa Tagg, 2013 Bethany House Publishing

    Miranda Woodruff has been running a home improvement show for three seasons, but the network has mentioned there are no guarantees of a fourth - despite being halfway through filming. Randi's manager and her show's producer suggest they solve a mystery the show has been hinting at since its beginning. Randi is reluctant to provide a face to the husband she mentions because there is no husband.
     She had met the man she nearly married on a mission trip to Brazil. Robbie was a leader in the team working to build houses for locals and the relationship between Randi and Robbie progressed until Robbie proposed as they prepared to return to the United States. Miranda struggles to reconcile their relationship with her faith and eventually her fiancee leaves and Randi throws herself into the show. Randi's manager and the show's producer convince her that a replacement husband to show her fans will be the perfect stunt to convince the network to keep the production running. They find Blaze Hunziker to play her husband.
     Blaze has his own demons but agrees to help the woman and, hopefully, her show. Randi is blind-sided when a national gossip magazine reporter is scheduled to follow her every moment through this tumultuous time. While Miranda can handle the over-the-top personality Blaze brings, it is Matthew's calm and quiet observations which get under her skin.
     Trying to maintain the facade she's built on her show for the last three seasons, Randi allows Matthew to see her commitment to her community and a struggling faith. At pressure from the show's producer and her manager, Randi continues to pretend a relationship with Blaze while getting to know Matthew and show him her high-mountain life. The two develop a friendship which threatens to become something more despite her supposed marriage.
     When the real Robbie reappears and threatens the whole charade, just as everything seems set. The tension of having the real man who inspired so much feeling back is compounded when the reporter is brought in on the secret. Though the relationship between Blaze and Randi was revealed as fiction turned to real friendship, Robbie's return jeopardizes even the possibility of something between Matthew and Randi.
     The facade crumbles around her and the media discovers Miranda's secret. But she is worried about what her fans will think and how her friends and family will deal with the years of lies. In a romance which centers around the myth of Randi's marriage and keeping her secret, her Christian faith and hopes for the future drive her decisions. Followed by Blaze's quest for forever, Made to Last is a story of forbidden love, which may not be so ruinous when the dust settles.

Short-Straw Bride

Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer, 2012 Bethany House Publishing

     The Archer brothers are some of the most terrifying men in the county, but that doesn't stop Meredith Hayes from accepting the dare of her classmates. She ventures onto Archer land only to be saved by the oldest Archer brother, Travis.
     Twelve years later when she overhears a plot against the Archer brothers and their land, Meredith rushes to repay her debt. But Travis Archer and his two brothers have been vigilant against the outside world for much longer than they had allowed anyone in. When a young woman who reminds him strangely of the girl he saved years ago, appears on his land Travis Archer is unwilling to allow invaders into his lands.
     Meredith's reunion with the man who saved her doesn't go as she expected. His suspicions, and those of his brothers, do not incline the men to accept this woman and the warning she brings. But when Meredith's life hangs in the balance and she again risks her life on Archer land Travis finds he likes the interloper a sight more than he thought.
     With her courage and wit, Meredith worms her way into the eldest Archer's heart and convinces the three men the world beyond their gate isn't the world they've feared for years. She brings the men more than just a warning, and finds more than just a husband in handsome Travis Archer and his brothers. Readers will enjoy the passion which drives Meredith Hayes to revisit the Archers and the misunderstandings that shape their futures.

A Promise to Believe In

A Promise to Believe In by Tracie Peterson, 2008 Bethany House Publishers

     When the Gallatin Girls' father is accidentally killed while some of the local ranch hands are celebrating their weekend the three young women are left to run their Boarding House along the stage's path without a man's guidance or protection. In rural Montana that could spell disaster, but the Gwen, Beth, and Lacy Gallatin are headstrong ladies and women of strong character. They continue to operate their father's business while they struggle to deal with their grief.
     The situation is only compounded when Gwen's dead husband's brother shows up on their doorstep demanding to see the hussy who married his brother then let him die in a measles outbreak. Hank Bishop stays with the girls hoping to find the property his brother had stolen, but the longer he lives and watches them, the more he understands Gwen isn't the gold-digging minx he imagined. He comes to admire the women: Gwen mothering her two sisters and holding the family together covering up the belief that she is destined to kill those she loves, Beth's saucy side hidden beneath the innocence of a lady, and Lacy's forthright attitude and stubborn quest to find their father's killer.
     When he finds his family's property and returns it to Mrs. Bishop, Hank must leave the women and land he's come to love. During his absence the greedy neighbor slowly tries to push the Gallatin women and their respectable values out of their home and the growing town. The wilds of Montana grow less wild in leaps and bounds while Gwen Gallatin and her sisters cling to what is theirs.
     With their Christian values and frontier grit, the Gallatin girls are compassionate and persistent. They care for their community, even when the community doesn't care for them. They stick together and stick to their beliefs. Gwen, Beth and Lacy Gallatin are women ahead of their time yet also women of their time seeking love and family through the plans of their Heavenly Father. Readers of all ages will enjoy A Promise to Believe In.

A Lady of High Regard

A Lady of High Regard by Tracie Peterson, 2007 Bethany House Publishing

     Mia Stanley is a well-bred young Christian woman in mid-nineteenth century Philadelphia. Her life seems charmed: she plays matchmaker for her sisters and friends, and enjoys the company of the admirable Garrett Wilson, while choosing to work for the Godey's magazine. When Mia discovers the plight of Philadelphia's women, her sympathies are engaged and the simple mission for Godey's Ladies Book becomes a passion that ultimately threatens everything she holds dear.
     In an era where women and children's working conditions are being challenged the wives and widows of Philadelphia's seamen are forced to pay exorbitant amounts and non-existent debts. The women cannot afford to feed their families and maintain the roof over their heads with their menfolk gone for years at a time and the debt collectors turn to other forms of payment: kidnapping children into indentured servitude, or coercing liberties from mothers with nowhere else to go. The sheltered Miss Stanley is introduced to this downtrodden world when her editor asks her to try and help the women.
     At first, working for the magazine and helping the women is just another adventure, one becoming more and more difficult for society to accept. But when Mia's closest friend, Garrett, looks into the situation he quickly discovers the difficulties are more than just the cycle of poverty. Though Mia discounts the danger, believing God will protect and bless her for the work she does among the less fortunate, Garrett finds the main perpetrator is more dangerous than Mia will accept.
     While committed to her activism and the surrounding events, Mia begins to discover that her feelings for Garrett aren't always what she assumed them to be. Finding a match for him brings her more anxiety and jealousy than the pleasure of finding love for her friends has. Garrett realizes the love he has always had for Mia is not that of a sister as he always assumed. Neither is willing to speak of their desires for fear of rejection until the matter is taken from their hands.
     While mainly a story of romance, A Lady of High Regard deals with the changing social climate of the mid-nineteenth century: young women from the heights of society begin to venture outside the home into activism and the worksphere, women and children's labor conditions become a major issue in politics. But the changes cannot make up for the corruption throughout all levels of society. Mia is a passionate woman living the values her Christian upbringing has instilled in her, fighting the dictates of society even while trying to live within them. It is a story of persistence and caring for fellow humans, despite differences of class and wealth.
     Once the reader gets into the story, it is a fairly quick read. Mia's story is inspiring with characters one can relate to, familiar language, and an easily adopted cause. A Lady of High Regard is a read for fluent readers: high school or older will get more from the story than younger children who may not be able to connect to the main conflicts.