Tag: covenant communications

Book Review: I’m Not Charlotte Lucas by Kasey Stockton

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Contemporary Romance
Length: 240 pages
Author: Kasey Stockton
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Release Date: February 7th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Northern California girl Charlotte “Charlie” Lucas has two great loves: Diet Coke and Pride and Prejudice. But her passion for Regency classics is tempered by a very real fear: Charlie is terrified of having to endure the fate of her namesake—spinsterhood. Despite her best attempts to maintain a modern sensibility, she can’t say no when an elderly neighbor asks Charlie to attend a charity ball with her grandson. Blind date or not, Charlie is powerless to resist the allure of a real-life ball. Soon it’s clear that she will struggle to resist the charms of her blind date too.

Liam Connell is every bit the swoon-worthy leading man, straight out of Charlie’s daydreams. But he’s completely unattainable—his last girlfriend was a gorgeous actress and a far cry from Charlie’s world. So after a magical evening with Liam, Charlie is ready to get back to reality, even if her best option right now is a former boyfriend who wants to give it another shot. Unfortunately, despite imagining she’ll never see Liam again, he seems to be everywhere. How is a lady to move past a fantasy when life suddenly seems to be imitating fiction to an alarming degree?

WELL.

I wanted to love this. But I had the hardest time finding common ground with the FMC. She spent so much time comparing herself to everyone, knocking herself down and not listening to anyone around her. By the time things started to change it was really late in the story and I was already ready for it to be over.

Liam and Charlie did have a lot of cute moments. I liked the quiet scenes they had together and some sweet kisses too. Liam was swoony and was clearly enamored with Charlie and I wish Charlie would have seen that sooner.

I did like the audiobook and secondary characters too. It’s not a bad story by any means, I just didn’t connect with some aspects. I’ll still be reading Kasey Stockton books.

Overall audience notes:

  • Contemporary Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses

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Book Review: Before the Fortress Falls by A.L. Sowards

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Rating: ★★★★★
Audience: Historical Fiction + Romance
Length: 320 pages
Author: A.L. Sowards
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Release Date: April 1st, 2022
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Their fight for survival would change the course of history.

When rumors reach Vienna that an attack by the Ottoman army is imminent, Wilhelm von Schor, one of the emperor’s courtiers, prepares to evacuate his family—including his sister, Katja. But Katja’s reluctance to leave the city and the people she loves so well grows the farther the family carriage gets from her childhood home. When she learns that another brother, Xavier, is returning to Vienna with his musketeers, she decides to remain behind and face the shadow of war.

Katja soon reunites with Xavier and also with Toby, a dear friend from childhood. As Katja and Toby renew their friendship, an element of attraction builds on the comradery of their youth, and they quickly realize they have found something worth fighting for: love. But all too soon, the Ottomans encircle the city, blanketing its inhabitants in fear. Katja, Toby, and Xavier must each fulfill their new roles if they are to survive. In the overcrowded hospitals, below ground in the countermines, and on the ramparts defending the city walls, the three must fight for love, family, faith, and the survival of their city and everyone inside.

WOW.

This was so good!! I picked this up in a backlist reading moment and I was enraptured by this story. This is my second book by Sowards and I am becoming very committed to everything she writes. I love her multiple POV style and how you get a bit of every angle of the unique historical settings her stories are about.

I loved the complexity of emotions and decisions. I felt like the whole cast was trying their best in an impossible situation. The ups and downs all felt true to the nature of the time and setting. It’s intense and hard and brought out a lot of emotions. I did not want to stop listening because I needed to know where things were going.

The bravery and resilience of everyone who defended their land was soul inspiring. As thousands of enemy soldiers drew closer the group inside found ways to work together and save what they could. It showcased heroes on every level and that even if you’re only stitching sand bags together, IT MATTERS. This was clearly intricately researched and I appreciated the effort and love that went into crafting this story.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Fiction + Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: war themes, loss of life, near death experiences, blood/gore depiction, murder

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Book Review: Secrets and Suitors by Joanna Barker

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Regency Romance
Length: 256 pages
Author: Joanna Barker
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Release Date: October 1st, 2019
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

Reluctantly returning to London for yet another Season, shy Nora Hamilton has nearly given up hope that she will ever find the love match she longs for. After all, the one man she does harbor feelings for—her closest friend, James—has made it perfectly clear he views her as just that: a friend. With James traveling half a world away and Nora’s father pressuring her to marry for wealth and status, Nora is forced to set aside her desire for love and accept the future she has always dreaded.
Until James returns unexpectedly and Nora’s feelings once again rush unbearably close to the surface. Determined to save what is left of their friendship, Nora ignores her own heart and allows herself to be swept up in the London Season, soon finding herself the object of two very different gentlemen’s affections. Though she should be thrilled, both men come with a glaring fault: neither is the one man who holds her heart.

But there is much more at stake than heartbreak. When long-kept secrets are laid bare, Nora must face the fears that have plagued her all her life and decide what true love is worth.

THIS WAS SWEET.

I’ve made myself a mission to read Joanna Barker’s backlist and was happy to check this one off recently! I adored this friends to lovers romance. It’s just sweet. And I love sweet so dang much.

I do wish there would have been less suitors and more James, but that was my only small tidbit. I loved the character growth in Nora and learning how to be shy and strong and that those are not mutually exclusive traits. Seeing her Father and family fight to find peace and common ground again was wonderful. I love a tight family that may struggle, but you know the love is there.

A short and tender heartfelt romance and one that I really liked on audio!

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: low
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: brief gun violence, loss of a sibling

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ARC Book Review: Codes of Courage (Falcon Point Historicals #1) by A.L. Sowards

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: Historical Romance
Length: 373 pages
Author: A.L. Sowards
Publisher: Covenant Communications
Release Date: October 10th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

In a battle of torpedoes, depth charges, and secret codes, nothing is as vulnerable as the human heart.

1940: Austrian refugee Karl Lang has lost everything―his country, his home, and his family. All that is left to him is a burning ambition to see the Nazis defeated. Desperate for work and a way to help the war effort, he finds the one place that will take a refugee like him: a supply steamer traversing a deadly path past enemy U-boats.

Since their first meeting, Millie Stevens has felt an undeniable connection to Karl. As the war rages, she shares his determination to oppose the Nazis and finds work at the British codebreaking center at Bletchley Park. There she uses all her intellect and determination to break German codes and read U-boat transmissions―or risk losing the man she loves.

Rolf Denhart will do anything to defend the Fatherland, including long patrols in a cramped U-boat. But rumors from Germany leave him uneasy, forcing a choice between loyalty to his homeland, the safety of his family, and his peace of conscience.

In the midst of war, three lives are woven together to create an epic tapestry of love and loss, joy and pain, sacrifice and courage.

Thank you to the author and publisher for a gifted ARC.

I AM IN MY FEELS.

I was warned before going in what kind of ending I was heading towards so I feel like I’ll mention that here, it is in the bittersweet vein. My rating was not changed by this, a lot because I knew going into it, which I VERY much appreciate. My four star is centered around that I thought the first half was a bit slower and took me awhile to get fully involved.

Anyways, I loved these characters. I loved the themes. The subtle woven in faith elements that played a role in how the three POV’s lives connected, crossed, and ultimately found common ground. It’s a got a really sweet and tender romance. There’s great introspection and realizations. I loved seeing the characters stumble, learn and make the best decisions in rough situations.

And I loved that this was focused out at sea and on codebreakers. It was a different scene of the war I haven’t read much in the historical fiction genre and it was a well researched take on what was happening on the ocean fronts.

I felt ALL THE THINGS throughout. I love the way A.L. Sowards writes her books. I’m happy that I took the chance on reading this, even in my heart is in utter chaos at present. It was such a good book and I loved seeing everything come full circle.

Overall audience notes:

  • Historical Romance
  • Language: none
  • Romance: closed door between a married couple
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: active WW2, loss of loved ones, shipwrecks, grief depiction

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