Saturday, January 30, 2021

*** SNOW DAY ***



 I was delighted to wake up Thursday morning and see a blanket of snow covering everything! It was just enough to cover the yard and bushes but not affect travel. In my estimation, that is the perfect amount.




Hearts can be found in a myriad of places, even on the end of a branch. 



As the sun began to shine, it gave a lovely hue to the backyard. The snow melted quickly off the branches of our Willow but it still made a pretty picture. The juxtaposition of white and gold tones fascinates me. 

I've meant to post more often this year but blogging has taken a back seat. Hopefully I'll pick up speed in February. I'll be sharing a couple of books I've read recently, one in particular next week.

I sincerely hope you're all well and getting much accomplished in 2021. 
Hold fast to your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ!!

~Anne




Saturday, January 16, 2021

Rebecca Reviews ~ Tidewater Bride by Laura Frantz



Paperback, 416 pages; Published January 5, 2021 by Revell

Selah Hopewell, Virginia Colony's most eligible woman, is busy matchmaking for a ship of brides, though she has no wish to wed.

Xander Renick is perhaps the most eligible tobacco lord in the settlement, but he is already wedded to his business and still grieves the loss of his wife, daughter of the Powhatan chief.

Can two fiercely independent people find happiness and fulfillment on their own? Or will they discover that what they've been missing in life has been right in front of them all along?



"Time will tell I love thee well."

As the daughter of a successful town merchant, Selah Hopewell's days were full, even before she was tasked with overseeing a ship load of tobacco brides. Everyone was hopeful that bringing in an abundance of purported genteel ladies would help tame the often raucous nature of the James Towne port community. Selah had no clear intentions of marrying anytime soon herself, if at all, for there was only one man who had managed to capture her attention; the widower Xander Renick, and his attention, as the most successful planter in the entire region, was almost always on fields of liquid gold; his prized tobacco. But perhaps she had judged him too severely, because there were those rare moments when his gaze would linger, or amusement would flare up briefly in the corner of his eyes . . . just long enough to give Selah cause to pause and perhaps wonder.

Attraction aside, there were many things that Selah didn't know or pretend to understand about the elusive Master Renick, who had hurriedly married an Indian princess, only to grieve deeply following her death, leaving their young son behind in Scotland after a trip they had taken there. Xander's friendly relations with the local Indians increasingly put him in the middle of heated political discussions among those who wished to push the indomitable Powhatans further out of the region. When Selah begins to avoid unwanted advances from a man that Xander loathes, their relationship takes a sudden turn towards friendly, and then yet again towards something more precious, for once Xander makes his intentions crystal clear, Selah is incapable of denying her heart.

The Tidewater Bride is the quintessential embodiment of inspiring historical romance. Vividly describing life in colonial James Towne, the author adds her own aura of elegant enchantment to the colonists' daily struggles to fight the elements while managing vast fields of valuable crops, endeavoring to treat those indentured into employment with fairness and grace, continually diffusing political squalls, and yet carving out enough time to bare one's heart and soul before another . . such were the circumstances that surrounded Xander and Selah's tender beginnings. . . until things took a turn for the unimaginable worse.

In her end notes, Frantz credits the words of well known historical figure John Rolfe, penning his eloquent words from the mouth of Xander Renick; "It is she to whom my heart and best thoughts are and have been a long time so entangled, and enthralled in so intricate a labyrinth that I could not unwind myself thereout."

It's no wonder that this is one of the author's favorite stories. "Truly joy cometh in the morning. And the evening too."

I received a copy of this book from the author and publisher. I also purchased a copy. The opinions stated above are entirely my own.

Senior Reviewer, Rebecca Maney

Rebecca is a graduate of Bryan College with a degree in Christian Education, and is currently serving at the First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Gastonia, North Carolina as the Director of Children's Ministry. With over 30 years of experience in her field, she has had many opportunities to use her love of reading and writing in creative ways across the generations. A wife, mother of four "nearly" grown children, and grandmother to four beautiful grandchildren, Rebecca has been able to return to her love of reading and more recently reviewing, with a renewed passion for the "beauty of story".

Friday, January 15, 2021

First Line Friday ~ Hope Between the Pages

Award-winning author Pepper Basham is dipping her pen into dual-time with Hope Between the Pages.


About the Book 

Uncover the Story Behind a One-Hundred-Year-Old Love Letter

Walk through Doors to the Past via a new series of historical stories of romance and adventure.

Clara Blackwell helps her mother manage a struggling one-hundred-year old family bookshop in Asheville, North Carolina, but the discovery of a forgotten letter opens a mystery of a long-lost romance and undiscovered inheritance which could save its future. Forced to step outside of her predictable world, Clara embarks on an adventure with only the name Oliver as a hint of the man’s identity in her great-great-grandmother’s letter. From the nearby grand estate of the Vanderbilts, to a hamlet in Derbyshire, England, Clara seeks to uncover truth about family and love that may lead to her own unexpected romance.


Expected publication date is April 1.
Preorder @ Christian Book 

Follow Stuff & Nonsense to see our reviews of this highly anticipated read!

To see more fun First Lines, hop over to...


Tuesday, January 5, 2021

Rebecca Reviews ~ A Cowboy for Keeps (Colorado Cowboys, #1) by Jody Hedlund


Paperback, 384 pages

Published January 5th 2021 by Bethany House Publishers

Greta Nilsson's trip west to save her ailing little sister, Astrid, could not have gone more wrong. First, bandits hold up her stagecoach, stealing all her money. Then, upon arriving in Fairplay, Colorado, she learns the man she was betrothed to as a mail-order bride has died. Homeless, penniless, and jobless, Greta and her sister are worse off than when they started.

Wyatt McQuaid is struggling to get his new ranch up and running and is in town to purchase cattle when the mayor proposes the most unlikely of bargains. He'll invest in a herd of cattle for Wyatt's ranch if Wyatt agrees to help the town become more respectable by marrying and starting a family. And the mayor, who has promised to try to help Greta, has just the candidate in mind for Wyatt to marry.


Rebecca's Review ~ 3.5 stars

"You can walk away every time the flies start bitin'. Or you can swat 'em until they're gone."

Wyatt McQuaid felt like he'd been swatting flies for years, echoes of past discouragements and reoccurring failures tainting his optimism about the future . . . . including his hasty marriage to a beautiful young woman who was in dire straits, for what prompted him to make that dratted business arrangement with the mayor without thinking it through more carefully?

Greta Nilsson is most grateful for her marriage of convenience, Wyatt McQuaid is not only handsome and kind, but he's willing to give her three months time to determine if living on his Colorado ranch will improve her little sister's health. Greta isn't afraid of hard work and sincerely enjoys seeing Wyatt's property begin to thrive, but the clock is ticking and she is beginning to feel more like a burden that Wyatt must bear, rather than a member of his family.

This story was a bit hypnotizing at first, somewhat predictable and yet quite enjoyable when all of a sudden . . . . "boom, goes the dynamite", and the story line dove deeper, pulsating with an energy that readers will appreciate and respect, for who can argue the fact that "the more you pile on the manure, the harder it'll be to come clean"; Wyatt and Greta suddenly find themselves knee deep in multiple conundrums and it's going to take more than a few toe tingling kisses to dig themselves out.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. I also purchased a copy. The opinions stated above are entirely my own.

              Senior Reviewer, Rebecca Maney

Rebecca is a graduate of Bryan College with a degree in Christian Education, and is currently serving at the First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Gastonia, North Carolina as the Director of Children's Ministry. With over 30 years of experience in her field, she has had many opportunities to use her love of reading and writing in creative ways across the generations. A wife, mother of four "nearly" grown children, and grandmother to four beautiful grandchildren, Rebecca has been able to return to her love of reading and more recently reviewing, with a renewed passion for the "beauty of story".