The Ladies of Ivy Cottage by Julie Klassen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult, Christian
Genre: Historical Fiction, Historical Romance
Content: Clean

 
Living with the two Miss Groves in Ivy Cottage, impoverished gentlewoman Rachel Ashford is determined to earn her own livelihood . . . somehow.

Rachel's friend and hostess, Mercy Grove, has given up thoughts of suitors and fills her days managing her girls' school. So when several men take an interest in Ivy Cottage, she assumes pretty Miss Ashford is the cause. Exactly what--or who--has captured each man's attention? The truth may surprise them all.

Return to Ivy Hill in The Ladies of Ivy Cottage as friendships deepen, romances blossom, and mysteries unfold.

The Ladies of Ivy Cottage is the second book in Julie Klassen's Ivy Hill series. I enjoyed the first book, but this one was even better. I loved reading about the different characters in the village of Ivy Hill. This time around the main focus is on Rachel and Mercy and I found their stories pretty compelling. The way Rachel ends up supporting herself was brilliant and I enjoyed reading about her as she started this endeavor and eventually gained more confidence in herself. Mercy was also an interesting character to read about. I loved how she cared so much for the girls in her school, and felt for her as she struggled with wanting a family of her own.

There is more romance in this book and quite a bit more focus on religion, both of which were woven into the story really well without being overly romantic or preachy. As for the romance, I loved the way Rachel's love interest ends up declaring his love for her, even though I wanted to hit him over the head few times along the way. Also Jane, who was the focus of book one finds love as well, and I'm just going to say that I love him, and one scene in particular was very romantic.

There are some plot threads that have not been resolved, Mercy's story being one of them, so I am eagerly looking forward to the next book. This book felt a bit like reading a classic at times. If you like books like Cranford, or Jane Austen's books you might like this series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Bethany House for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

Here's a photo of a cottage I took in Lacock. It reminds me a lot of the one on the cover.

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The Innkeeper of Ivy Hill by Julie Klassen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Historical Fiction
Content: Clean


On a rise overlooking the Wiltshire countryside stands the village of Ivy Hill. Its coaching inn, The Bell, is its lifeblood--along with the coach lines that stop there daily, bringing news, mail, travelers, and much-needed trade.

Jane Bell lives on the edge of the inn property. She had been a genteel lady until she married the charming innkeeper who promised she would never have to work in his family's inn. But when he dies, Jane finds herself The Bell's owner, and worse, she has three months to pay a large loan or lose the place.

The innkeeper of Ivy Hill is the first series Julie Klassen has written and so far I like it. I was expecting this to have more romance in it since Klassen is known for writing historical Christian romances, but the focus here is more on other types of relationships, with the main focus being on telling Jane's story, while touching on other characters in the town of Ivy Hill as well. There is also very little focus on religion in the book, making this a straight up historical fiction. The author mentioned classics like Cranford as inspiration for the series. The author also said she used the cute historic town of Lacock as the layout for the town of Ivy Hill. That was helpful to me when it came to picturing the town since I've actually been there.

Except for a few details that I would have liked to have been included in the book, one being why and how Jane fell in love with John - an innkeeper - to begin with, I think the author has done a good job. I look forward to reading more.


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Written in Red by Anne Bishop

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Content: Strong Language


As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others.

I was looking for something fresh and new to read in the urban fantasy genre for a while and considered several, but just couldn't get interested in any of them enough to pick them up. I finally came across this one when a friend read and liked it enough to give it 5 stars. I'm happy to say I got what I was looking for. Right from the beginning I could not put Written in Red down. The world and the characters are all interesting and it felt like something no one else has written even though it has several similar elements to other urban fantasies.

The shape shifters seem a lot less human in this than most other fantasies, and I liked that. I loved the elemental ponies. I loved the crows and their shiny objects and the way they referred to Meg as "The Meg". There was enough humor in the book to balance out the darker parts, which I always appreciate. Ponies and crows with shiny objects aside, this is a pretty brutal world that includes shape shifters, vampires, elementals, and apparently a few unknowns. Most of them consider humans meat, and will not hesitate to eat a human if they are crossed.

I like the way potential romantic relationship is evolving slowly, I haven't seen that in any of the books I've read in a while. By the end of the book we are in on the way they feel about each other and they haven't even realized it yet. Shape shifters don't fall in love with humans in this world as far as I can tell - the whole food thing I suppose - so this will be interesting.

If this book has a weakness I would say it is the Asia Crane part of the plot. I just had a hard time buying that she would be taking all of those chances just to become an actress on a TV show and didn't really get how it tied together. She was mostly annoying and I felt like the author could have come up with something better to advance the plot.



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Flesh by Laura Bickle

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Category: Young Adult
Genre: Supernatural Horror
Content: Strong Language


Charlie Sulliven thinks she knows all the secrets of the dead. Raised in a funeral home, she’s the reluctant “Ghoul Girl,” her reputation tied to a disastrous Halloween party.

Chewed human bodies are appearing in her parents’ morgue…and disappearing in the middle of the night. When one of Charlie’s classmates, Amanda, awakens in the cooler as a flesh-eating ghoul, Charlie must protect her newfound friend and step up to unravel the mystery…and try to avoid becoming lunch meat for the dead.

Flesh is what I would call YA horror, although it's mild. There are some gross out scenes in the morgue, but nothing is really all that scary. I felt like the end wrapped everything up a little too quickly, and it was missing the creepy aspect that I was hoping for, and that made it just an ok read instead of a good read.

I've read and liked other books by Laura Bickle, but this one was not one of my favorites. I'm glad it's a stand-alone since the story is all wrapped up in this one book. I probably wouldn't have been interested enough to read a sequel.



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Never Forgotten by Terri Reid

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Paranormal, Mystery
Content: Clean 


The curse had killed another law enforcement officer in Stephenson County – this time it struck on Christmas Eve. Nearly a dozen good men had died in the past four years and they all had the same unexplained symptoms. And Mary knew Bradley was next.

***There are some minor spoilers in this review, but just small things, and nothing that should ruin the reading experience plot wise.

Never Forgotten is the third book in the Mary O'Reilly series and so far the worst. I liked the first book despite its flaws, but with each book this series has gotten weaker and weaker. Yet again we are told who the killer is. I really am frustrated with the lack of mystery for the reader to solve. Why not keep us guessing? It would make the stories so much more interesting if we had to figure everything out along with Mary and Bradley. However, I know good and well I would have figured it out long before they did, which is another problem with this series. Bradley needs to turn in his badge and Mary needs to give up being a P.I. because it was so obvious who did it and how they did it that these two have lost all credibility as a police chief and an ex-cop, not that they had a lot to begin with, especially Mary. And I'm not just saying that because I was privy to information they didn't have. There was so much staring them in the face that they were too dumb to see.

We also get a little more info on Bradley's missing wife Jeannine, but I am completely frustrated with this aspect of the book. There are several questions that come to mind like why all of a sudden are there the ghost rules that Jeannine says she has to follow? None of the other ghosts have had rules. And why after his wife has been missing for 8 years, and he has clearly moved on wouldn't Bradley be able to accept that his wife may be dead? It seems like that would be an easier thing to accept than that she walked out on him while pregnant and completely disappeared. Why didn't Bradley realize he had a near death experience and not just a dream when he saw Jeanine while near death? Why didn't he ask about their daughter? And why wouldn't Mary drop bigger hints about Jeanine to help Bradley come to the right conclusion about her, even if she couldn't just come out and tell him she was dead herself? None of it really makes any sense and it all just seems contrived to draw out the mystery - the only real mystery in this series so far - out for several books.

I'm glad I listened to most of this one on Audible while working around the house, so I didn't really feel like I wasted a huge amount of time on it since I was doing other things too. I feel so frustrated with this series that I've decided not to keep reading it, even to find out exactly what happened to Jeanine.



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