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Rediscovering Christmas–finding joy after tragedy
Rediscovering Christmas
by Mindy Obenhaus
What does it take to weaken a Christian’s faith in God? In the case of Tori Stallings it was the death of her husband and her mother and the complete destruction of her home by fire. These sequential catastrophes in just a few years time left Tori devastated despite the support she had from friends, family and co-workers.
Tori had learned to be independent over the years as her confident and dashing husband Joel devoted more time to his country than to his family. His quiet brother Micah quit the military when his brother died to try to pick up the pieces for Tori and her son Aiden. His secret is that his friendship with Tori was more than that when they hit their teenage years, but he kept his crush hidden when she was obviously attracted to Joel.
Tori and Micah are thrown together when she loses her home and she and Aiden move into the family home Micah shares with his mom. Aiden, an adorable six year old, never really knew much of his dad, and Uncle Micah became the father substitute in his life, a relationship Micah and Aiden both enjoyed.
Although there is a growing attraction, Tori and Micah need to get over the feeling they are doing something wrong since Tori is his brother’s widow. Also, Tori is angry with God, and Micah knows that he can’t pursue a relationship with her until she works through her anger and realizes she needs to put her trust for the future in God’s hands.
There are multiple obstacles to be overcome and lots of good people to help them as they face the issues that come when disasters strike and faith is tested.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance
Notes: 1. It was only when I reached the notes at the end of the book that I realized that this book (#6) is the last of the Hope Crossing series, so it certainly could be read as a stand alone.
2. This was my last Christmasy book for 2024 and it made a fitting ending. Faith and having the heart of a servant were threads all through the book. In the process of righting her relationship with God, Tori also rediscovered the joy of the Christmas season with help from Micah. Christmas decorations and traditions reestablished for their first Christmas after the fire helped Tori rediscover Christmas as well.
Publication: November 26, 2024—Harlequin
Memorable Lines:
None of them spoke because there’d been nothing to say. There was no room for platitudes at a time like this. He was certain Tori would hear her fair share of those over the coming days, weeks and months. But he and his mom cared about her too much for that. Sometimes the best thing you could do was to let someone cry.
“…you’ve faced more than your fair share of loss in recent years. It stands to reason that you’d be hurting and angry. But be aware, my friend, while you might try to run from God, you can’t outrun Him. And I know this for a fact because He loved me enough to pursue me even when I chose not to trust Him.”
“We’re not called to understand everything that happens in our lives. We’re called to trust Him with our lives, come what may.”
A Daughter for the Mountain Firefighter–past collides with future
A Daughter for the Mountain Firefighter
by Melinda Curtis
If you’ve been following the tales of the Silver Bend Hot Shot crew from Idaho, you know what a difficult and dangerous job mountain firefighters have. A Daughter for the Mountain Firefighter is the fourth book in this series written by Melinda Curtis. Itfocuses on Cole, also known as Chainsaw because his responsibility is to cut paths through the forest for fire barriers and roadways.
As this fire season draws to a close, Cole is preparing to attend medical school in the Bahamas. To his surprise, his path crosses with an old friend, Rachel, whose sister Cole dated. Rachel has become a mechanic and pilot employed to fly her tanker in support of the firefighters.
Cole and Rachel have complications and issues that go back to their birth families. Cole carries guilt and sorrow. Rachel suffers from PTSD and feels responsible for the well-being of her dad, her niece, Jenna, who has had to grow up too quickly, and her nephew, Matt, who never really knew his mother.
The discovery of the identity of Jenna’s biological dad causes tremors in family relationships. A nearly fatal airplane crash sends Rachel to the hospital and jeopardizes the family’s financial stability. Meanwhile, romance is brewing as Cole begins to wonder if he ever really loved Rachel’s sister, Missy. Rachel, on the other hand, has only ever loved one man. As they stumble through their current, seemingly insurmountable problems, will Cole and Rachel manage to overcome their pasts to find happiness?
I would like to extend my thanks to Melinda Curtis for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4/5
Category: Romance
Notes: #4 in the Mountain Firefighter Series, but works well as a standalone.
Publication: June 26, 2020—Purple Papaya
Memorable Lines:
She understood that the callouses on hearts were’t reliable, that they sometimes softened and let the ache of loss back in.
“Every pilot knows they’re defying the laws of nature by taking to the skies. We weren’t born with wings. But every pilot loves to fly more than they fear the risk of falling.”
Rachel had boarded the denial train.
A Son for the Mountain Firefighter–a firefighter’s struggles
A Son for the Mountain Firefighter
by Melinda Curtis
Honesty first! I know very little about firefighting. I had read one novel about a wildfire prior to reading A Son for the Mountain Firefighter. In traveling, I have seen groups of enthusiastic firefighters stopping for lunch on their way to fire camps. Of course, there is the occasional TV show with burning buildings, but they are pretty far removed from mountain firefighting. Melinda Curtis’ Mountain Firefighter Series contains an interesting blend of romance and firefighter procedural.
Handsome Jackson Garrett, nicknamed “Golden” because of his luck, has demons to face: his status as a husband and father and his fear of fire after losing a rookie firefighter on his crew. Curtis takes us behind the scenes to see how hard the firefighting life is on the family back home and the difficulties of fighting fires fueled by dry foliage and fickle winds. We experience the firefighters’ camaraderie as well as the isolating necessity to show no weakness.
Although I was at times uncomfortable reading about fires, I learned a lot about the subject, which I consider a real plus. I enjoyed the characters who were realistically portrayed as simultaneously weak and strong. It was a fairly quick read and so interesting that I didn’t want to put it down. Now I’m looking forward to reading Twins for the Mountain Firefighter that focuses on Jackson’s best friend Logan, AKA Tin Man, a name given him by a “particularly disappointed woman” who “publicly proclaimed Logan to be lacking a heart.”
I would like to extend my thanks to Melinda Curtis for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Romance, Action
Notes: #1 in the Mountain Firefighter Series—clean and heartwarming
Publication: February 24, 2020—Purple Papaya Press
Memorable Lines:
“Love is about feeling closer to your partner than to anyone else on the planet. Feeling so close that you know what it is they need. And needing to be with them more than you need to breathe air.”
Oh, his anger. It tested her strength like a gust of cold, winter wind.
Not the honest sweat from clearing brush, but the cowardly sweat that clung to the body as tightly as the fingers of death.
Burning Meredith–police procedural
Burning Meredith
by Elizabeth Gunn
With the interruptions common in daily life, I never finish a book in one sitting, and I rarely complete a book the same day I start it. Burning Meredith was an exception. I did stay up late to finish reading it because it was such a good mystery. Due to its focus on police investigative techniques, it is considered a police procedural by those who like to subdivide the genre.
Burning Meredith centers around a huge forest fire in the south-central Montana mountains, destroying many acres and threatening little Clark’s Fort. If it is possible for a bad thing to be good, then this forest fire was it. The disaster breathed new life into the little weekly Clark’s Fort Guardian and provided opportunities for young, local photo-journalist Stuart Campbell to shine. Not afraid of hard work and familiar with the mountains, he manages to put the Meredith Mountain area on the map nationally.
I like the journalist character, but I truly associate with retired teacher Alice Adams who works for the paper as an editor, initially only a few days a week. As she says, “After thirty-two years of catching kids passing crib notes, you didn’t just stop on a dime. Shouldn’t there be a twelve-step plan for this transition?” She is a respected fixture in the community, as she has taught English and social studies to several generations of Clark’s Fort middle schoolers. She encourages her nephew Stuart in his journalistic efforts, and she provides invaluable assistance in solving the mystery of an unidentified man whose body is found after the fire has been controlled.
There are two major threads to this plot; the author initially shares these in separate chapters as unrelated storylines. The reader gets caught up in the reporting of the fire, and then suddenly there is this other direction that appears like an itch waiting to be scratched. Author Elizabeth Gunn’s writing is excellent in terms of the general plot and how it plays out and also in her turn of phrase. Some of Gunn’s prose is so good that I found myself rereading parts just to enjoy her choice of words, her descriptive excellence, or her metaphors. Many mysteries do not allow for much in the way of character development or they expend too much energy on the characters at the expense of the plot. Gunn hits the mark with her writing style. Her main characters are developed and interesting; her minor characters provide a nice backdrop.
Elizabeth Gunn has two series of police procedurals. Will Burning Meredith begin a new series? I could find no indication that it would or wouldn’t, but my opinion is that this book is a good basis for one.
I would like to extend my thanks to netgalley.com and to Severn House for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 5/5
Category: Mystery, Police Procedural
Publication: June 1, 2018—Severn House
Memorable Lines:
Like a bonus for a job well done, Clark’s Fort got a second freaky dose of luck. A surprise deflection in the polar vortex brought cold, moist air and a drastic dip in air pressure down across Canada and pouring into Montana.
“As you well know, Clark’s Fort doesn’t generate much news.” “For sure. My street gets so quiet on August afternoons, I swear I can hear the bluebirds planning their trip south.”
She gave him the English teacher look that had brought silence to rooms full of eighth-grade miscreants for a generation.
…when the weather warmed up the country roads became mud-holes even more impassable than the snow-drifts had been. People still had to get around, so they chained up and churned out, making ruts you could lose a spring calf in.
education pathways 