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A Love Letter to Paris–lost art of correspondence
A Love Letter to Paris
by Rebecca Raisin
Lilou has been through several devastating romantic relationships as have some of her friends. Looking for a better way to connect, she anonymously founds Paris Cupid which matches people and enables correspondence which could result in a friendship and possibly a slow burn romance. Her day job is her own shop selling antique diaries and love letters in the Paris Market.
There are, of course, complications with both of her jobs. Through social media there is an outcry for transparency for Paris Cupid when a movie star sings its praises. Lilou has three handsome men at the Paris Market whom she suspects of secretly liking her. She visits with one of her antique dealers in a cemetery where some homeless cats hang out; their affection for the cats turns into a plot thread. Lilou is fluent in both English and French so the author throws in some French phrases that require no translation; the meaning comes from the context.
A Love Letter to Paris had no appeal for me through the first half. Then my interest picked up and was maintained throughout the second half of the book. The characters never came to life for me, however, and I didn’t like any of them. The resolution was apparent early on in the book, but the journey to the conclusion did not contain events that could have made it a page turner. Other books by Rebecca Raisin, especially those in the Travelling Shops series, have been delightful, but this one missed the mark for me despite my personal love of Paris and the French language.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 3/5
Category: Fiction, Romance
Notes: Clean language except for the occasional use of “merde,” the most common French swear word. No inclusion of intimacies.
Publication: July 8, 2024—Boldwood Books
Memorable Lines:
The market is like a petri-dish when it comes to gossip, and left unattended it grows, multiplying until everyone hears an exaggerated version of the story that just isn’t true.
They’ve taken information directly from the Paris Cupid website, saying it’s a small affair dedicated to matching the lost, the weary, the broken hearted, or the just plain romantic, using the medium of love letters.
The perfume of old books: earthy, musty nuttiness with hints of vanilla and sweet almond is like a drug.
Letters of Wisdom–forgiveness
Letters of Wisdom
By Wanda E. Brunstetter
Long known as a writer of Amish themed novels, Wanda E. Brunstetter has recently turned her hand to writing some books with very serious themes. Although they still focus on the Amish and how characters face situations, the problems are consequential with multi-generational results. Sadly, the stories such as this one originate in Brunstetter’s personal experiences.
Irma Miller suffered traumatic physical and emotional abuse inflicted by her stepfather on her only, not on his biological children. She is reluctant to share these experiences until she sees herself morph into the monster her stepfather was. Her surprised husband insists she get help in the form of therapy with a Christian counselor. Her mother-in-law and the bishop’s wife also provide childcare for her children. Healing is not an instant process. Letters from her friends helped. She had not been able to deal with her three children rationally and a fourth is on the way. Irma finds she has to confront the trauma head-on, granting and accepting forgiveness. Her mother and step brothers and sisters needed to be a part of that process too.
The characters, other than the stepfather, are likable. They are all caught up in a web of pain. The extent of the abuse is not evident in the first part of Letters of Wisdom, but becomes apparent later. Prayer and forgiveness are essential parts of the healing process, but Irma’s path is a difficult one and hard to witness.
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: Christian, Romance, Women’s Fiction
Notes: 1. #3 in the Friendship Letters Series, but can be read as a standalone.
2. This book has a frank and realistic view of abuse in the family. If that is a trigger for you, you might want to give it a pass.
Publication: March 1, 2024—Barbour
Memorable Lines:
She sensed the real emotions that remained in this house from Homer’s cruel treatment of Irma while she’d lived here, but none of the other children had ever talked about it.
She’d grown to hate him over the years. And even now, knowing he was dead, her soul filled with animosity thinking about all the terrible things he’d done to her.
“…it’s in the past and we must live in the now and do better in the future. We have all made mistakes that we can not erase. So, in order to live a happy, fulfilled life, we must confess our sins, turn our fears over to God, forgive our own shortcomings, and make every effort to behave in such a way that others will see Christ living in us. Only then will our hearts be filled with peace.”
Letters of Trust–guarding secrets
Letters of Trust
by Wanda E. Brunstetter
When Eleanor and Vic get married, they move to Paradise, Pennsylvania, where, given the name of the town, they should expect a happily ever after. Eleanor is a very sweet Amish young lady with a strong faith. Despite her mother’s hesitation about Vic based on reports of his rumspringe experiences before he joined the church, Eleanor is in love with Vic, a carpenter, and is determined to be a good wife to him. For the most part, their first year of marriage is a happy one. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes Vic’s family, and Vic is overcome with guilt over what happened. Unable to handle his feelings and unwilling to ask for help, Vic seeks survival through an addiction which threatens his marriage, his job, his future child, and his relationship with family, friends, and church. Most importantly, the addiction stands between Vic and God. Eleanor learns that Vic will need to hit rock bottom before he stops denying his need for help.
I have read several Amish themed books by Wanda E. Brunstetter. Letters of Trust has a more serious focus than the others I have read. My heart went out to the fictional Eleanor as she tries to be a good wife and hold her marriage together. She shares her trouble first with her long time friend Doretta in letters, knowing she can trust her not to discuss her problem with others as gossip. The two young ladies pray for and encourage each other. Eleanor sees the dangers in Vic’s addiction and shows her own strength when she stands up to and for Vic as he struggles in his own personal mire of guilt and depression.
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: Christian, Romance
Notes: 1. #1 in The Friendship Letters Series
2. At the end of the book, the reader will find Discussion Questions and notes from the author about why she chose to write about such a sensitive subject.
3. Also included is a recipe for Chocolate Chip Pie, a favorite of one of the characters.
Publication: March 1, 2023—Barbour Publishing
Memorable Lines:
Evening light poured into the room, but no one wanted to eat a thing. Their world had stopped, and they’d been left hanging over a cliff filled with the darkness of grief.
When Vic entered the house behind Eleanor, a wave of exhaustion settled over him like a dark cloud about to dump rain.
People should realize that we’re all human, and sometimes we do things we shouldn’t, Vic thought. Just because we get baptized, join the church, and go to worship services regularly doesn’t mean we’re perfect, by any stretch of the imagination.
The Post Box at the North Pole–falling in love with Christmas
The Post Box at the North Pole
by Jaimie Admans
With less than a month until Christmas, Sasha is replaced in her job as an assistant to a dog groomer and gets a phone call from her adventurer father Percy informing her that he is recuperating from a heart attack. When her mother died, her father became an absentee parent traveling the world and never able to make it home for Christmas.
Sasha jumps at the chance to be with her father, to be needed by him. He says he is running a reindeer sanctuary in Norway. When she arrives, she discovers Percy is “Santa” at the North Pole Forest two hundred miles north of the actual North Pole. He and the mysterious, tall, quite independent and capable Tav are trying to bring the decaying Christmas attraction back to life.
Sasha resists all things Christmas because of her many disappointments over the years. Percy and Tav (also a part of the North Pole Forest enterprise) want to engage her again in the magic of Christmas.
It would be impossible to imagine a tale with more of the Santa Christmas spirit. The setting is an incredibly cold land with lots of snow. The North Pole Forest is decorated with white lights, and Santa’s house is the perfect cozy refuge where you can always find a mug of hot chocolate. Santa greets children in a grotto, and the onsite post office is overwhelmed with 500,000 letters to Santa each year. There are Christmas themed cabins and glass igloos for viewing the Northern Lights.
Unfortunately, the center is in disrepair because tourists are not flocking in. Percy had to let go his workers which continued the downward spiral. Tav is a reindeer whisperer with skills at managing and healing reindeer, but he has emotional wounds of his own and physical scarring that is usually covered in layers of clothes.
We don’t get to know Percy as well as Sasha and Tav, but all three are important to the story and will speak to your heart as you learn their motivations. If you are looking for some Christmas magic, you will find it in The Post Box at the North Pole.
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: General Fiction, Romance, Women’s Fiction
Notes: I love Christmas decorations, music, and celebrations as much as anyone, and I do find the season magical, full of wonder. This book, which I highly recommend, emphasizes the “true meaning of Christmas” as the belief that anything is possible at Christmas. With all the focus on Santa, elves, and presents, the book skirts over the real “reason for the season:” to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Jesus was born as a human to be like one of us. One of His names, Emmanuel, means God with us. He taught love of God and others, died an unjust and painful death, and was resurrected—all to take on himself our sins so that we can live forever. All we have to do is believe in Him. (John 3:16). Regardless of your beliefs about the season, I wish you a very Merry Christmas!
Publication: October 18, 2021—HQ
Memorable Lines:
The excitement of sitting down to compose a letter, maybe drawing a picture with it, decorating the envelope, and then posting it…That’s magic to a child. The whole world has gone digital, but Santa is one person who should always uphold tradition.
Every star in the universe must be out tonight, twinkling down on us, the movement of the curtains of green gives the illusion that the stars are dancing in time with the lights. Shades of pink creep into each green splash and turn yellow before fading away completely, only to be replaced with more flowing streaks of light, and just watching them makes me emotional.
“If you can’t be a big kid at Christmas, when can you?” “I’m glad you’re coming round to my way of thinking.” He tilts his head to the side. “Too many people absorbed the lie that when you grow up you have to stop liking fun things and start liking adult things but the happiest people are those who embrace things they love without shame.”
Pride and Prejudice–courtship in the early 1800’s
Pride and Prejudice
by Jane Austen
In preparation for reading Pride, a modern day version of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, with my book club, I decided to reread the original. I knew I could watch a video of the story, but I decided to aim for authenticity and read the actual book. I was glad I did as there is so much to be appreciated in Austen’s words, style, and depiction of characters. In retrospect, I believe my younger self had seen one of the several videos, but had never actually read the novel. I would still like to view one of the movies for an opportunity to better envision the costumes and settings of this period piece, but there is much value to be gained from the reading experience.
Pride and Prejudice is a romance particularly focusing on Jane and Elizabeth Bennet as they navigate the difficult waters of courtship in the early 1800’s in England. Their courses are made more murky by the family’s financial and social status. They are not part of the old monied class that is full of prejudice, but they have standards and they and their suitors are driven at least in part by pride. From a twenty-first century viewpoint, the courtship and rules of engagement seem stilted, but the reader can see in a younger sister’s impetuous disregard for the rules and assumptions of the time, that there are real societal and personal consequences for ignoring the standards of any time period.
I enjoyed the book which is as much about social issues as it is a romance. Pride and prejudice are, of course, themes throughout the book. Most of the characters of the novel grow and develop through the events of the story. Some remain stuck in their ways of thinking, and those continue to be persons the reader won’t like. You may find yourself rereading Pride and Prejudice for love of the characters, the joy of the language, or the journey towards a known ending—happy for some, less so for others.
Rating: 5/5
Notes: Edited by R. W. Chapman. Distributed by Gutenberg Press
Category: General Fiction, Romance
Publication: 1813—T. Egerton Military Library, Whitehall
Memorable Lines:
“Affectation of candor is common enough;—one meets it every where. But to be candid without ostentation or design—to take the good of every body’s character and make it still better, and say nothing of the bad—belongs to you alone.”
Without thinking highly either of men or of matrimony, marriage had always been her object; it was the only honorable provision for well-educated young women of small fortune, and however uncertain of giving happiness, must be their pleasantest preservative from want. This preservative she had now obtained; and at the age of twenty-seven, without having ever been handsome, she felt all the good luck of it.
“You mean to frighten me, Mr. Darcy, by coming in all this state to hear me? But I will not be alarmed though your sister does play so well. There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me.”
Green Leaf in Drought–a missionary story
Green Leaf in Drought
by Isobel Kuhn
Arthur and Wilda Mathews and their baby spent a frustrating two years trying to discern and follow God’s will as missionaries for the China Inland Mission, a group spread widely over mainland China. Under the Communist regime, they were not allowed to witness to people about Jesus or to help people in need. They were eventually confined to their meager and uncomfortable quarters and socially isolated. Their living situation was desperate as the authorities tried to starve them and forced them to live in unhealthy conditions. Why had God brought them to this place? Why wouldn’t the authorities allow them to leave? Having arrived with enthusiasm, they eventually suffered through round after round of seeking God’s will in the midst of despair. Their little girl was a bright note as she absorbed and repeated the songs and Scriptures that sustained her parents during the difficult times.
If you are inspired by missionary stories or want to read about God working in the hearts of His children when times are hard, then you would probably find Green Leaf in Drought to your liking. The content is very interesting. Stylistically speaking, this book is not in the excellent category. Author Isobel Kuhn had very difficult resource materials to work with, mainly the writings of Arthur and Wilda Mathews. Their compositions were letters intended for family and recordings on paper of their thoughts, prayers, and poetry, which we would refer to today as journaling, often written in tiny script on thin airmail paper. Others were involved in deciphering and organizing the events which Kuhn then transformed into a readable narrative. As Kuhn tries to translate the couple’s thoughts into dialogue, the result is somewhat stilted. The descriptions, however, are well executed. Kuhn maintains the integrity of a biography. She does not veer off into historical fiction and is to be commended for that. Readers who want a more in depth character study will not find that because it was not provided in the source materials.
Rating: 4/5 (3/5 for writing style, 4/5 for interest and historical veracity)
Category: Christian, Biography
Publication: January 1, 2007—OMF International (first published in 1957)
Memorable Lines:
The bamboo curtain shouts and bellows as it descends, boasts and preens itself. The Feather Curtain of God falls silently. It is soft and comforting to the sheltered one; but intangible, mysterious and baffling to the outsider.
Amazing how we plan everything so carefully and then God walks sovereignly right across the lot with something far better.
The slow wearing down of the human spirit is a species of torture which the communists delight to use and have found very productive for their purposes.
education pathways 