From the Gates of Heaven series comes The Land of Darkness, a fairy tale.

I didn't realize until this moment as I was looking at the credits in the beginning of the book that this was Book 3 in the Gates of Heaven series. Now I'm wondering what all I missed because I didn't really feel as though I were missing anything when I read the story.

The Land of Darkness's cover said it was a fairy tale and the story read like a fairy tale right down to some gruesome deaths (the toad, Azar, etc.) and the moving from one episode to the next. The journey seemed a bit slow at times as they gathered clues, but the spiritual theme was fun and worth the wait.

Jadiel was a jewel of a character, loveable, empathetic, a joy. Callen managed to grow as the story progressed, but he fought it every step of the way. (I've written characters like that so I'm not complaining, just commenting.) Lakin created an interesting story world, and I now see I need to head back and find out what happens in Book 1 & 2.

No Safe Haven is another Christian suspense. Written by a mother/daughter team who have lived the medical condition they wrote about, the story was easy to believe and I embraced the new information that came to me about Kayla's nerve disorder in an enticing, fictional read.

The set up of this book is interesting.  Kimberley writes the mother/heroine's point of voice in third person.  Kayla writes the daughter/heroine's point of view in first person. Both views are engaging and keep the story moving forward.

No Safe Haven starts with a murder, moves into a airplane crash in the Alaskan mountains, is followed by an attack to kill the survivors, and the attacks continue until the end of the novel.

The descriptions pulled me into the story. The likable characters kept me there. I believed everything — the crash, the avalanche, the snow tunnels, the disease, the AMI program, the character emotions — everything — right up until Jenna accepted the word of a new secret service agent when her body guards weren't present. The ending suspended my disbelief. That didn't make it any less tense in the reading, just less enjoyable in the reflection.

Still recommend this novel for all its positive points and because it is an exciting, intense story.

The Baker's Wife by Erin Healy is contemporary Christian suspense. And yes, it is suspenseful. Even when I figured out what was going on, it didn't detract from the suspense of wondering how it was all going to conclude.

This was an intense story. Great, mature characters and empathetic, immature characters.  And some serious spiritual depth.  I loved the theme of suffering and understanding God's grace. I think every North American church-goer would benefit from reading this book and realizing that we can respond to horrible life injustices — without running, without hitting out in anger — but actually in Christ's strength with love, trusting God's word that the righteous will prevail.

I loved the great images of fog and bread (le pain) that played out in so many ways throughout the novel.

I don't want to go into too much of the plot, but the gist is that Audrey's husband is falsely accused and unjustly forced from his pastorial position. They open a bakery. One morning Audrey's car strikes something — or someone — at a fog-shrouded intersection in front of the bakery. Add in a newly released ex-con (who grew up in the apartment above the bakery), the scooter Audrey has hit and the blood surrounding it belong to the wife of Audrey's husband's biggest dissenter, and that Audrey has the supernatural ability to feel other people's pain, and Moseley has plenty of ingredients for a suspenseful tale. She doesn't disappoint.

Oh, it has pretty writing, too.

When Sparrows Fall by Meg Moseley is contemporary Christian fiction.  And that means it's a bit hard to categorize.  Some romantic elements.  Some suspense elements. Some just tug at your heart elements.

The gist of the plot is that widow and mother of six, Miranda Hanford has been installed in a toxic church since her marriage right out of college. It's been so long since she's known freedom that when it comes within reach, she's afraid to grab it and afraid to lose it. The book opens with her taking a nasty fall of the edge of a cliff near her home. Her brother-in-law is called in as legal guardian to care for her children.

Jack Hanford has wanted family all his life and has never really gotten over the rejection his brother had given him when he'd finally found him some ten years before. Now he has a chance to make a difference.

All the children in this novel are a delight and well-defined. I loved the phrase that Jack took on for the middle boys, Michael and Gabriel — the archangels, and how even Miranda picked it up as the story progressed.

Toxic churches are intriguing to me, and Meg Moseley did a great job of showing how a family could get caught up in one and how difficult it was to get out of one.  Even the leader of the church was portrayed as making one bad decision after another that led him to the place where he believed himself god-like.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, the hurts, the scares, the striving to change, but not change too much. The struggles of the main characters to understand and forgive, but not yield to fear and evil any longer.  Excellent story.

Freezing Point by Elizabeth Goddard, a Love Inspired Suspense romance, was an enjoyable read.  It's about a reporter on the run for her life because of a human interest story that uncovered some criminal elements and an undercover Homeland security agent posing as an ice sculptor.  (Yes, I typed ice sculpture first by mistake and realize that would be an entirely different book.)  But the new-to-me vocation of ice sculpting made the book even more interesting.

Goddard provides characters with depth and conflict and some good suspense throughout the plot of discovering the bad guys and keeping the main characters alive.  I found the main character's thoughts of their inner conflicts a tad repetitious because I'm not a reader to forget what is going on in the story while I'm reading it. But overall, great Love Inspired Suspense.

Always like a book with symbolism, tying together the title, hero's profession, a near-death experience in the freezer, and the heroine's internal conflicts — Freezing Point.

Short-Straw Bride, historical romance, Texas, 1882, by Karen Witemeyer, my online critique partner and friend.

Of course, I like this book. If I hadn't liked it, Karen would have heard about it long before now.  What surprised me about how engaging it is is this:  some weeks ago (that's how behind in doing book reviews I am), I picked it up just as a refresher. We were discussing it on ACFW book club and I wanted to remind myself of the details from when I'd read it a year ago — chapter by chapter, week by week.

I was going to skim. Instead, I reread every word. In a day. Doing nothing else on my to-do list. Karen's writing is smooth and engaging. Her characters are broken but still mature, easy to like and relate to, easy to root for, and not so easy to put down.

Yes, this is straight-forward boy meets girl, boy gets stuck in an awkward situation and chooses to be honorable, marriage of convenience, or rather not so convenient marriage that teaches both characters a few things about love. Meri learns about yielding her wants to God and trusting Him to care for her.  Travis learns about surrendering and trusting God to protect his loved ones.  And in true fashion, God comes through and both are blessed beyond their expectations.

Interesting trivia:  Short-Straw Bride is the first proposed title of Karen's that Bethany House has accepted as the actual book title. The title is quite visual for the cover with Travis holding four straws, one for himself and each of his brothers, with Meri peeking over his shoulder. One of the most touching scenes in the book is near the end when Travis explains those straws to Meri.

Also a great part of this story is seeing the juxtaposition between a disfunctional family that loves and a disfunctional family that doesn't.  Again scripture is proved true:  Love covers over a multitude of sins.

I highly recommend all Karen Whitemeyer books.

Translucent Facts isn't fiction. It could be fiction, but it isn't. I had the wonderful opportunity to meet the man this book is about. So this book gets a review on my "Seek Truth. Read fiction" blog for the "Seek Truth" part of my tagline. This book is a memoir and a memorial.  It expresses truth about the power of our God and the love of a man who lives in Christ's Spirit. It encourages the reader not to give up on the ideal of true love no matter your age while it breaks down the sentimentality of romance being all about roses instead of cutting boards.

Oh, and it's funny. Funny.  I mean smile on your face while you are reading, occasionally snort out loud funny.  That is, of course, if you like dry wit, clever turns of phrase, understated humor, and an author who isn't afraid to make fun of her own foibles and idiosyncrasies.

But, this story will catch your other emotions as well. I know not everyone is a waterworks like me, but you might want to find some tissues as you progress through the story.

Now, here's a cool thing you might want to know. Barbara Sutryn never uses a single name in the entire book, and I promise you, you will never be confused about who she is talking about. If you're an author, that might be enough to entice you to buy the book for study of craft as well as enjoyment.

Oh, did I forget to tell you what the book is about? The author in the 80th year of her life meets a man of equal age who so impacts her existence that their story needs to be told.

Told, not just for her or him. Not just for family to remember. Not just for people who know them. It needs to be told for seniors who no longer believe they have importance in this world. It needs to be told for the twenty-somethings who no longer believe love has value. It needs to be told for the rest of us somewhere in between who need reminded that God writes the best story for each of us, one day at a time.

BLOG CONTEST

Here's my last bit of motivation on why you should read Translucent Facts. As many of you know, I hang out in the world of writers so I often know the people who write the books I review.  I write books, so if you know me well, you have probably been on the receiving end of "Look! Here's my latest book."  Well, this is the first time I get to pitch a book that I'm in.  On the page — interacting with the characters.  Of course, remember there are no names in this book, so here's my challenge.  If after reading this blog, you buy Translucent Facts, and post a comment here telling me the page number of the scene you believe to be about me, (we'll verify in some fashion) and then I'll send you a gift, probably one of my books. We'll see.

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.