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Saturday, April 06, 2019

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WWI Spy Story: Far Side of the Sea by Kate Breslin

Friday, March 29, 2019

Genre: Historical Fiction

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ Five out of five hearts= excellent!

About

In spring of 1918, Lieutenant Colin Mabry, a British soldier working with MI8 after suffering injuries at the front, receives an unexpected message by carrier pigeon: it is an urgent summons from Jewel Reyer, the woman he once loved and who saved his life—a woman he believed to be dead. Leaving Britain’s shores to return into war-torn France, he hopes his reunion with her will ease his guilt and this mission restore the courage he lost on the battlefield.

Colin is stunned when he arrives in Paris to discover the message came not from Jewel, but from a stranger who claims to be her half sister, Johanna. Johanna works at a dovecote for French Army Intelligence; having found Jewel's diary, she believes her sister is alive and in the custody of a German agent. With spies everywhere, Colin is at first skeptical of Johanna, but as they travel across France and Spain, a tentative trust begins to grow between them.

When their pursuit leads them straight into the midst of a treacherous plot, however, that trust is at stake, as danger and deception turn their search for answers into a battle for their lives.

Back cover copy from www.katebreslin.com

My Review

Kate Breslin's latest novel, Far Side of the Sea, takes you on a journey through many places you've probably never seen before. Describing France and the other locations Colin and Johanna visit in riveting World War I detail, you'll hear the sound of the waves, feel the sand between your toes, taste the salt in the air- and hear the bombs as they wreak destruction on the world.

Colin's wounds have left him scarred- in body and soul. Throughout all that, he's still not lost his strong faith in God. Through all his hard times, he knows God has been with him, helping him- Johanna, however, is the opposite. Bodily and mentally, she's fine; it's her heart that's in trouble. Growing up with a tough but caring mother, Johanna was never taught to trust a loving heavenly Father. Throughout their long quest, Colin and Johanna will find what they thought they knew challenged and tested- and they'll have to learn to trust each other.

Colin and Johanna are, yet again, a couple for the ages. I'd been looking forward to reading and learning more about Colin ever since I first met him in Not by Sight (reading it isn't necessary before enjoying this novel, but would be helpful in understanding some parts of the book), and I was really glad his story turned out like it did. He needed someone like Johanna in his life, and she needed him.

I loved reading about this time period and learning more about the use of carrier pigeons, codes and other secret spy stuff with regards to the war. Kate Breslin writes with interest and adventure, hooking you with mystery and questions. Namely, what happened to Jewel? And who is truly loyal to the Allied cause? As Colin says, "A good spy never trusts another spy."
Another thorough, riveting historical romance from Kate Breslin!

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

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Historical

Never Past Hope by Janine Mendenhall

Thursday, February 28, 2019

Genre: Historical Romance

Rating: ♥♥ Two out of five hearts= okay

Book two in the Triangular Trade Trilogy

Miss Mary Hope Adsley always considered herself to be the sensible one. But now, her sensibilities are unraveling around a man she thought she knew. After he attempted to marry her best friend—for money, no less—authorities charge Sir Steven Likebridge with masquerading as a gentleman and abduction. With his execution days away, Mary Hope desperately seeks to learn the truth about the man she loves.

Will the truth turn out to be worse than his lies?

Description from publisher.

Review:

Never Past Hope continues right where Starving Hearts (book one) left off, throwing you right into the emotions of the last one.We get to know more about Mary Hope, Peter's sister in this one, as she's the heroine, and I enjoyed learning more about her and getting inside her head. Steven, whom she has secretly admired for some time, turned out to be one of my favorite characters.

The fine writing style is still there, as is the story weaving. The details have you imagining the 1795 settings and predicaments as you read. A bit of advice, though- don't read Never Past Hope until you've read Starving Hearts. The multiple characters and settings may confuse you and you won't be as invested in the storyline.

Now the cons. Starving Hearts, while it had a lot of inward thoughts and prayer, had enough tension (plus the bad guy's point of view. It was maddening when he began closing in, and I just had to keep reading) and interest to drive me to read more. Never Past Hope, while well-written, felt slow and tended to lag a bit. There was a lot of emphasis on spiritual things and prayer, which I'm not going to say is wrong- I love Mrs. Mendenhall's heart for spreading the Gospel and encouraging others! However, all the inward thoughts took up a lot of pages and took my interest away from what was going on in the story. There were also a few sentences that confused me, and even when I reread them I wasn't sure what was trying to be said.

Also, I felt one character had too quick of a turn-around. The badness of their heart, thoughts and actions seemed to change just too quickly and completely for me. In my thoughts, if you're a new believer, you're going to still think and say different things than what a long-time Christian would, because you're still learning. You haven't had time to read the Bible and find out all that God would like for you to think and say, you've just started and a lot of what your previously said and did is going to be slowly changed and molded. This character just didn't do that- he tended to go from bad to amazing.

I was also a bit startled on first seeing Never Past Hope's cover. The guy on the front didn't fit in- he's obviously not wearing a shirt, making it look a bit more sensual than I would have liked (not trying to be nitpicky, this was my first reaction).

To bring it all together, Janine Mendenhall is a promising author with a gift and heart for encouraging others through storytelling. I just wasn't as big of a fan of Never Past Hope, as compared with Starving Hearts. While the plot had merit, I also found it a bit lagging. Nevertheless, if you're a fan of historical romance, keep an eye out for this new author. She definitely has a gift.

I received this book from the publisher through Prism Book Tours in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.