Good Books!

If you know me, or if you have followed this blog for any length of time, you know I love books! I love the look of them and the feel of them and the smell of them. And I love to read them! Lately I’ve read a number of really good books, along with a couple that were disappointing. Let me tell you about a couple of my recent favorites.

Liz Tolsma is a gifted story teller, and A Promise Engraved is no exception. Rich in history, this dual time line gives us the stories of Josie in the 1830s and Kayleigh in the present day. These women are connected by an engraved ring.

Meticulous research, great characters, and seamless transitions between the story lines make this a great read. A Promise Engraved is history, mystery, themes of forgiveness and redemption, and a gentle love story, all woven together in one package.

A Promise Engraved is an excellent addition to Barbour’s Doors to the Past collection. In fact, if you enjoy historical fiction, I recommend the entire collection to you.

Another recent favorite is Carved in Stone. Here Elizabeth Camden transports us to the Gilded Age. She seamlessly weaves together a story of advances in science in the early 20th century, the wealth of the banking industry, and the abject poverty of the slums and tenements of New York City.

This is the story of two people from opposite sides of the economic spectrum. Patrick is an almost-priest, now turned lawyer. Grace is heiress. They meet on the opposite side of a dispute between her family’s bank and Patrick’s client.

Camden has done a masterful job of ticking all the boxes - flawless writing against a great historical backdrop, impeccable research, deeply layered characters, some suspense, a tender romance, and a gentle thread of faith woven throughout.

I’m looking forward to the next installment in The Blackstone Legacy series.

Currently I’m reading Fatal Code by Natalie Walters, a real page-turner that is history combined with romantic suspense. I also am in the middle of a non-fiction work by Nancy DeMoss Holgemuth titled Adorned - Living Out the Beauty of The Gospel Together. More about those when I finish.

What are you reading?