I just finished Abigail, book 2 in the Wives of King David series, by Jill Eileen Smith. I cried.  At least three times … in the portion I read today. It's biblical fiction so it isn't that I didn't know the story, or parts of it. I always liked the biblical Abigail — wise, beautiful, godly.  What's not to like?

That she married David when he already had a wife or two.

But, hey, a different time period, right? Women had less options, less hope, placed more of their worth on having children. Jill Eileen Smith brought all that out, but no matter how an author tries, it's impossible to convince me that sharing a husband is romantic.  Impossible for Abigail, too.  I imagine for Jill as well.  So just as with Michal, Book 1 in the series, the underlying message is that women need to find their hope and contentment in God, not a man, not even a king.

One of the scenes I found interesting in this presentation of Abigail's story was the "guess" of why Abigail's son Daniel was never in the running for the Kingdom. Amnon mentioned.  Absolom has his fifteen verses of fame in the Bible.  But no Daniel beyond the mention of him being born while David was King at Hebron.  I always guessed he died in childhood. Jill presented a different, equally acceptable reason why he wasn't considered David's heir to the throne.

Jill Smith writes an engaging story.  Lots of description to pull you into the time period. Obviously characters that appeal and the angst of life to draw my tears. Clean writing. Not a lot of dialogue, but the story still moved forward, covering many years. Beautiful cover. And a memorable story to show the truth of our unfailing, ever-faithful God.

Mind over Madi by Lynda Lee Schab is categorized as Women's Fiction from OakTara Publishers.  Six to ten years ago it would have been called Mom Lit because it is written in first person point of view of a thirty something mom with a unique voice in the middle of issues.  Of course, Women's Fiction is also about women with issues.  Because, what's fiction after all without some conflict?

Madi's conflict comes in the overexposed form of Fawn Witchburn, a single mom with no seemingly ingrained modesty. Fawn's daughter is in Madi's husband's class, but the interest doesn't seem to stop there.  Lipstick in Fawn's shade turns up on Rich's collar.  Which doesn't have to be an issue, except…

…Madi has bigger conflicts than a cheating husband.  She has trust issues with God, with man, with parents, with friends, and even her children.  She has eating issues.  She has communication issues.  She has phobias. She has a critical spirit.

But I liked her. I had empathy and compassion for her situation, for her brokenness, for her need for God to be in charge of her life, but how she kept running and running and running.  I understood that she believed a lie "All men cheat" fed to her from her own mother from the time Madi was a young child. And I like a book that explores finding freedom in Christ by understanding who we are in Christ.

I wouldn't have minded a deeper exploration. Madi's counselor could have put some more truth to her statement "You are a princess," by explaining what that means in Christ. Of course, Madi's hunt for which princess she most resembled — Sleeping Beauty, Airel, or Fiona — was cute. And the scene where Madi quits running and finds God present displays truth of God's mercy and pursuit of us.

Neat twist on Fawn Witchburn.

Good writing.  Cute internal dialogue.  Lots of fun, zinger lines.  And a spiritual truth worth exploring:  what happens in our minds plays out in our actions and speech. What we think determines how we behave.  Definitely Mind Over Madi.

Ainsley Davis had it all, a job she loved with Park Ranger service at the Grand Canyon, a husband she adored, and a baby on the way. Then her husband is killed and she moves into her parents' basement to cope.

Love Is Grand takes place two years later, as Ainsley heals and begins to desire to be herself, or at least her new self, once again. She moves back to the Grand Canyon and her job with the national park. An overprotective mom to her young daughter, Ainsley finds she isn't as fearless as she was before her husband died, before her child was born. Which wouldn't necessarily be an unusually thing, except she finds that she has illogical fears such as terror of the canyon rim and crazy thoughts about all of her loved ones falling into it.

Ainsley's eighteen-year-old niece spends the summer to watch the baby and make some money before college in the fall. Her parents insisted on it to get her away from a bad relationship at home.  But the bad boy doesn't stay away.

Toss into the mix two different men who find Ainsley attractive — one who wants to protect her from her fears, and one who wants her to face them in the strength of her faith. But her faith needs rebuilt on the goodness she knows about God in spite of the circumstances of her life.

More emotional though just as cute as the first two novels in the series, Love Is Grand does a good job of making me believe that love can be as sweet the second time around.

Love is Monumental, contemporary Christian romance, is book 2 in the A Walk in the Park series from Barbour Books.  This time I'm not reading out of order.  I read book 1, Love is a Battlefield, a few years ago and just recently bought the rest of the series.

As the series name hints, these romance are centered at our national parks, and Love is Monumental is set in Washington, D.C. with all the wonderful sites there.  Park ranger Vickie Harris' favorite site to work at is the Washington Monument.  Vickie's friends have dubbed her the queen of first dates, because Vickie always finds something in her men to dissuade her from having a second date. The girl isn't picky, just selective.

As the book begins, she feels that she fallen into a rut. Facing her thirtieth birthday, she is ready to try something different to get some serious romance in her life.  Then she meets clueless bachelor Professor Thatcher Torrey. This can't be love, can it? The man needs a research assistant, and Vickie has the time to help, but often it seems that is all he wants — her help.

Thatcher has his own issues of which he is quite aware, but mostly he just doesn't know what to do to please Vickie.

Love Is Monumental is a cute read. No stress. No emotional angst — though I do believe I teared up in a mom/daughter scene. Vickie does learn how to realign her priorities and expectations. Thatcher learns how to step up and be proactive. The joint theme of learning not to run from problems is a good lesson for all of us.

If you like straight, contemporary Christian romance, I think you will enjoy this series. I didn't see anything not to like.