Historical Fiction

The Girl From The Train by Irma Joubert

Winter Book Review

The Girl From The Train by Irma Joubert was a book I knew I was going to like because it takes place during WWII and I love almost all books that take place during that time period.  I loved this book  because I really loved Gretl from the start of the book.  I was amazed at how she was able to go through what she did and still keep going.  I don’t think I could do the same if I were in her shoes.  I also enjoyed Jakob because of how he treated Gretl and how he was willing to take care of her when he could have just as easily ignored her and let her figure it out on her own.  I can’t say enough good things about this book and I know if you love historical fiction books then you will love this book like I do.

The Girl From The Train by Irma Joubert

About The Book

A sweeping international love story that celebrates the triumph of the human spirit over the inhumanities of war and prejudice.

Six-year-old Gretl and her sister jump from a train bound for Auschwitz, her mother and grandmother unable to squeeze between the bars covering the windows. The daughter of a German soldier, Gretl understands very little about how her grandmother’s Jewishness brought her first to the ghetto, then to the train, and now, to the Polish countryside where she wanders, searching for food and water for her dying sister.

Soon, Gretl finds refuge with Jakob, a Polish freedom fighter, and his family, where she is sheltered until the end of the war. Gretl is then sent away to a new life, a new name, and a new faith in Apartheid-era South Africa. As she comes of age in this strange place, she confronts its prejudices as she hides the truth of her past from her new family.

When Jakob makes his way to South Africa many years later, Gretl and Jakob are reunited in a love story that transcends time and distance and survives the ravages of hatred and war.

About The Author

International bestselling author Irma Joubert was a history teacher for 35 years before she began writing. Her stories are known for their deep insight into personal relationships and rich historical detail. She’s the author of eight novels and a regular fixture on bestseller lists in The Netherlands and in her native South Africa. She is the winner of the 2010 ATKV Prize for Romance Novels. Facebook: irmajoubertpage

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Whispers In The Reading Room by Shelley Gray

Winter Book Review

Whispers In The Reading Room by Shelley Gray was a great book.  I have read several Amish fiction by Shelley so I wondered if I would like this book as much as I liked her other series.  I have started to wonder if there will ever be a book by Shelley that I won’t like because so far I have loved every book that she has written.  I loved this book because I really liked Sebastian because I loved that he was a bookworm like me and that he tried to hide what he did from Lydia because he really liked her.  I also loved that he tried to help her when she got hurt by the man she was engaged to.  If you love historical fiction books I know you will love this book as much as I did.

Whispers In The Reading Room by Shelley Gray

About The Book

Whispers in the Reading Room (Zondervan, November 2015)

Lydia’s job at the library is her world—until a mysterious patron catches her eye . . . and perhaps her heart.

Just months after the closure of the Chicago World’s Fair, librarian Lydia Bancroft finds herself fascinated by a mysterious dark-haired and dark-eyed patron. He has never given her his name; he actually never speaks to a single person. All she knows about him is that he loves books as much as she does.

Only when he rescues her in the lobby of the Hartman Hotel does she discover that his name is Sebastian Marks. She also discovers that he lives at the top of the prestigious hotel and that most everyone in Chicago is intrigued by him.

Lydia and Sebastian form a fragile friendship, but when she discovers that Mr. Marks isn’t merely a very wealthy gentleman, but also the proprietor of an infamous saloon and gambling club, she is shocked.

Lydia insists on visiting the club one fateful night and suddenly is a suspect to a murder. She must determine who she can trust, who is innocent, and if Sebastian Marks-the man so many people fear-is actually everything her heart believes him to be.

Shelley Gray

About The Author

Shelley Gray is the author of The Heart of a Hero series. Her Amish novel (written as Shelley Shepard Gray), The Protector, recently made the New York Times best seller list. A native of Texas, she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Colorado and taught school for ten years. She and her husband have two children and live in Southern Ohio.

 

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The Golden Braid by Melanie Dickerson

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The Golden Braid by Melanie Dickerson was a good book.  This is a retelling of the fairy tale “Rapunzel” and if I am being honest I vaguely remember the story so I can’t really say much at it in that sense but I can talk about the writing and the things I liked about it and the things I didn’t like about it.  I really enjoyed the author’s writing and this entire story.  This was a quick read and even though it was about 225 pages the reading of it was super easy and light hearted.  I loved watching as Rapunzel goes through adapting to a new city along with learning how to read.  This story brought the fairy tale to life and made it even more relatable to younger generations.  If you love fantasy books than I would for sure recommend this book to you.

The Golden Braid by Melanie Dickerson

About The Book

The Golden Braid (Thomas Nelson, November 2015)

The one who needs rescuing isn’t always the one in the tower…

Rapunzel can throw a knife better than any man. She paints beautiful flowering vines on the walls of her plaster houses. She sings so sweetly she can coax even a beast to sleep. But there are two things she is afraid her mother might never allow her to do: learn to read and marry.

Fiercely devoted to Rapunzel, her mother is suspicious of every man who so much as looks at her daughter and warns her that no man can be trusted. After a young village farmer asks for Rapunzel’s hand in marriage, Mother decides to move them once again—this time, to the large city of Hagenheim.

The journey proves treacherous, and after being rescued by a knight—Sir Gerek—Rapunzel, in turn, rescues him farther down the road. As a result, Sir Gerek agrees to repay his debt to Rapunzel by teaching her to read. Could there be more to him than his arrogance and desire to marry for riches and position?

As Rapunzel acclimates to life in a new city, she uncovers a mystery that will forever change her life. In this Rapunzel story unlike any other, a world of secrets and treachery are about to be revealed after seventeen years. How will Rapunzel finally take control of her own destiny? And who will prove faithful to a lowly peasant girl with no one to turn to?

Melanie Dickerson

About The Author

Melanie Dickerson is the author of The Healer’s Apprentice, a Christy Award finalist and winner of the National Reader’s Choice Award for Best First Book. Melanie earned a bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of Alabama and has been a teacher and a missionary. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Huntsville, Alabama.

 

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A Thousand Shall Fall by Andrea Boeshaar

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A Thousand Shall Fall by Andrea Boeshaar was a good book.  I have been a huge fan of historical fiction books lately so I really enjoyed this story.  This is the first book I have read by this author and I can’t wait to check out other books by her and also reading the next books in this series.  At first I wasn’t a huge fan of Carrie.  I thought she was crazy for putting herself in danger in order to find and bring back her sister who ran off with a peddler.  After  few chapters she did grow on me but I still thought she was crazy.  I really like Peyton throughout the entire book and I loved that he kept Carrie safe and I love that he seemed like a stand up guy that all women want to meet and marry.  If you love historical fiction that takes place during the civil war I know you will love this book as much as I did.

A Thousand Shall Fall by Andrea Boeshaar

About The Book

A story of love, hope, and healing set in the midst of the Civil War Nineteen-year-old Carrie Ann Bell is independent and spirited. The only thing she really fears are the Union soldiers fighting against her Confederate friends. When her youngest sister runs away from home, brave Carrie Ann is determined to find her and bring her back. Disguised as a soldier, she sets off–only to find she’s fallen into the hands of the enemy.

Her childhood friend Confederate Major Joshua Blevins has warned her against these Yankees: they’re all devils, ready to inflict evil on unsuspecting young women. When Colonel Peyton Collier arrests her for her impersonation of an officer, it seems to confirm all her fears.

Soon, though, she finds herself drawn to the handsome, gallant colonel. He rescued her, protected her, and has been every inch the gentleman. Carrie Ann discovers that her foe has become her ally–and more than that, someone she could love. But the arrival of Joshua in the Union camp as a spy will test her loyalties. Will she protect someone who has been like family or be loyal to this stranger to whom she wants to offer her heart? When her world is being torn apart around her, whom should she trust?

Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, A Thousand Shall Fall is framed around compelling characters and a very romantic setting in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. Andrea Boeshaar’s extensive research guarantees historical accuracy and romance genre enthusiasts and Civil War buffs alike will enjoy the Christian perspectives on actual historical events.

Andrea Boeshaar

About The Author

Andrea Kuhn Boeshaar has been married for more than 30 years. She and her husband, Daniel, have three adult sons, daughters-in-law, and two precious grandchildren. Andrea’s educational background includes the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, where she studied in English, and Alverno College where she studied in Professional Communications and Business Management.

Andrea has been writing stories and poems since she was a little girl; however, it wasn’t until 1984 that she started submitting her work for publication. Eight years after that, she was convicted about writing for the Christian market. She read books in her genre (Inspirational Romance & Women’s Fiction), studied the market, and worked hard to hone her craft.

 

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Crimson Path Of Honor by M.B. Tosi

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Crimson Path Of Honor by M.B. Tosi was so different  from anything that I have read before.  I have read a ton of historical fiction books but none that dealt with Native Americans like this book does.  This is the third book in “The Indian Path Series” but you don’t have to read the other two books to know what is going on in this book.  It is the third book but all books can stand alone because they all focus on a different Indian tribe.  I love watching and Luci turn into Morning Star after she is captured and taken with them instead of being killed when the other people in her party were killed.  This was an amazing book and I am so glad that I chose to review.  I can’t wait to read the other books in this series in the future.

Crimson Path Of Honor by M.B. Tosi

About The Book

Each of the three books in The Indian Path Series focuses on a different Native American tribe during the Indian Wars in the late 1800s, and the lives of fictional characters are woven into the true events. The books can be read in any order as each book stands alone with different characters, tribes, settings, and events in the Indian Wars.

In the newest book, The Crimson Path of Honor (Book Three), the Civil War is over, and a violent period known as the Indian Wars is erupting. Ignoring the danger, a feisty young woman from Boston rebels against her tyrannical father’s plans to marry her off to a family friend, and she seizes an opportunity to go west to teach. On the way to the Oregon Territory, her stagecoach is attacked, and she is captured by a marauding band of Lakota (Sioux) Indians who call the Rocky Mountains home.

Accepting her perilous situation, the young woman courageously confronts the daily hardships inherent in early Native American life. At first treated like an outcast, she eventually adapts to her circumstances and comes to respect the camaraderie of the Indians, even falling in love with her captor. Over time, she begins to challenge her abductor’s traditional views on bloodletting and violence as the path of honor. Torn by her inability to justify her growing feelings for her captor in a culture of violence,she continually wonders why God has abandoned her in such a desolate place.

The theme of The Indian Path Series is how to find life’s purpose and a path of peace, love, courage, and faith in times of trouble. As American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said, “If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.”

Other books in The Indian Path Series include The Sacred Path of Tears (Book One) and The Secret Path of Destiny (Book Two). In The Sacred Path of Tears, a young Cheyenne woman in Kansas is torn between two worlds at war and the two men she loves after the Sand Creek Massacre. The Secret Path of Destiny is about the Comanche in Texas and a young German-American girl who seeks refuge with the Comanche when her wicked stepfather pursues her.

MB Tosi

About The Author

M.B. TOSI is the bestselling author of The Indian Path Series, which includes Book One The Sacred Path of Tears, Book Two The Secret Path of Destiny, Book Three The Crimson Path of Honor. Book Four, The Thundering Path of Spirit, and Book Five, The Solitary Path of Courage. She also has been an editor of non-fiction books and a weekly newspaper. She teaches piano and has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s degree in education. Born in Pierre, South Dakota, she has lived in Alexandria, Virginia; Bucks County, Pennsylvania; and Toledo, Ohio. She has three children and five grandchildren.

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The Courtship of Utopia Miner by Linda Gilman

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The Courtship of Utopia Miner by Linda Gilman was such a cute book to read.  The entire time I was reading this book the only thing I thought was how great this story was.  I couldn’t help but laugh and love Utopia because of what she wanted to do with her life and the fact that she had 3 dads.  I loved this author’s style of writing.  There were times when I laughed out loud because the entire situation was crazy but the author wrote about in a way that makes you laugh. If you are looking for a great historical fiction novel than I know you won’t want to miss this one.

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About The Book

Title: The Courtship of Utopia Miner

Author: Linda Gilman

Series: Gold Rush

Genre: Historical Romance

Release Date: November 9th 2015

Publisher: Indie Published

Print Length: 289 pages

Format: Paperback and Digital

Print ISBN: 9781517538941

Digital ISBN: 1517538947

 

Utopia Miner is tired of hunting gold and caring for her three adopted fathers. Living in a Rocky Mountain mining camp is holding up her dream of becoming a saloon girl. If only she could learn the essential skills of singing, dancing and kissing, she’d be on her way to a glamorous life. When Utopia discovers she’s the prize in her three fathers’ marrying scheme, she sees benefits in going along with the courting contest. She now has a kissing teacher. And wow, what a teacher. One starter kiss from Lance and her body’s sweating in places it never had before.

Lancelot Jones wants to turn in his life-risking marshal’s badge for a much safer job as a reporter, but the newspaper wants articles as proof of his qualifications. When his editor sends him to a mining camp to get the scoop on a courtship contest, Lance discovers the privilege of covering the story hinges upon chaperoning the bride-to-be. He soon finds himself ensconced in Utopia’s innocent charms and demanding saloon girl lessons. In short order, chaperoning the bride-to-be becomes risky business.

Linda Gilman bio pic

About The Author

Linda Gilman is known for writing humorous western romance novels. Her stories are centered on independent, strong-willed women, and courageous heroes who always protect the innocent without violating their personal code of conduct. It’s the cowboy west readers are so enamored with and a twist of zany plot. From first page to last, her books are loaded with pain-in-your-side laughable moments.

She has a deep love of the American gold rush era and often uses this as an excuse to do book research and travel to ghost towns in the western states.

Born into a city girl life, her parents raised her in St. Louis County. However, Linda has always felt her country girl roots calling her to move west young woman. She currently lives in rural Missouri with her hubby and the oldest of her three sons.

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