Someday Home

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SNELLING, LAURAINE
SOMEDAY HOME

The sprawling lake home Lynn Lundberg built with her husband has been an epicenter of joyful family life, from summer holidays spent around the water, to cookies baked in the kitchen with grandchildren in the fall. But since her husband's sudden passing two years ago, Lynn has been lost in the grief and solitude she feels without him at home. She doesn't want to sell the big family place, but she can't exist there on her own much longer.

After hearing of a new way of living--where single women share responsibilities as housemates--Lynn thinks she's found the answer to her prayers. Soon she meets two ladies with whom she could begin this journey. Angela Bishop, a successful real estate agent accustomed to the finer things in life, has just been jilted by her husband of twenty-five-years. Judith Rutherford, who has devoted her adulthood to caring for her ailing father, must leave the only home she's known now that he has passed.

These three women seek a place to grieve, to laugh, and to be renewed. But coming from such differing circumstances, will the new challenges they face undo their plans? Or will they begin a friendship to see them through the years to come in this SOMEDAY HOME?

My Review:

I read out of my comfort zone when I picked up Someday Home and I'm so glad I did. This is a book about relationship -- both with the Lord and the people you let into your life. There's a special strength that comes from leaning on the Lord and that's just what each of these women discover when life throws a major detour into their chosen paths.

Midlife heroines aren't plentiful in fiction as a rule but I really enjoyed the fresh perspective. Have to say Lynn is my favourite. A widow struggling to find balance after the untimely loss of her husband. Her grown kids are worried about her and aren't shy of sharing their opinions. Love the dynamics in that family. They're a hundred per cent behind her when she decides on giving this new-fangled house sharing idea a try. Lynn feels God's nudge as she goes about looking for the right housemates.

Point of view shifts between Lynn, Judith and Angela as they grapple with their new found reality. Loved witnessing the bond of friendship that grows between them. And the growth they make as their lives intermingle and they learn to draw support from one another. Truly a soul satisfying read.

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of  Someday Home please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in the address to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email please remember to put the title in the subject line so that it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday November 29 2015. Offer open to international readers. Good luck!

An Untamed Heart

GIVEAWAY

SNELLING, LAURAINE
AN UNTAMED HEART

The Long-Awaited Prequel to the Red River of the North Series

Twenty-year-old Ingeborg Strand is certain she is destined to be an old maid. It's not that she's lacked suitors, but now she no longer can have the one she loved.

With the future looking bleak, her mother suggests that she leave Norway and start afresh in America, as so many others have done before her. But how will she accomplish that with little money and no one to accompany her?

Roald Bjorklund is a widower who has been planning to go to America, lured by the promise of free land. He's a good man, a hard-working man--with a young son who desperately needs a mother. Ingeborg can tell Roald is interested in her, but what about love? This isn't how she's always imagined it.

Ingeborg Strand has a heartrending decision to make...

My Review:

This is the kind of prequel you want to read after you have read the series. I haven't read the Red River of the North series, but Snelling fans will enjoy this book. I just think that a familiarity with the Bjorklund family is needed to really appreciate Ingeborg's story.

An Untamed Heart sets the stage for Nils and Ingeborg's love story to begin in America in the first novel so my romantical heart was left somewhat deflated since their romance wasn't fully developed. I think I'll have to get my hands on An Untamed Land to continue their story.

I loved the day to day details of life on a summer farm in Norway. It reminded me of Laura Ingalls Wilder's descriptions of farm life on the prairies. This book has that same kind of feel -- the mixture of joy and hard work and family. Definitely an interesting and captivating read about a strong willed woman who dares to dream.

Giveaway Opportunity:

If you would like an opportunity to win a copy of An Untamed Heart please leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoreadATyahooDOTca. If you post a comment and add your email address, please use AT and DOT instead of @ and . in the address to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the draw via email please remember to put the title in the subject line so that it's easy for me to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Sunday October 27 2013. Offer open to international readers. Good luck! 

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".

Valley of Dreams

SNELLING, LAURAINE
VALLEY OF DREAMS

When Cassie Lockwood's mother died, Cassie began traveling with her father's Wild West Show. Along the way, she became an amazingly skillful trick rider and sharpshooter, likened by some to the famous Annie Oakley. When her father passed away, she continued to work with the show, having nowhere else to go.

Now Cassie has discovered that "Uncle" Jason, the shows manager, has driven the show into debt, and he's absconded with what little money was left. Devastated, Cassie decides to try to find the hidden valley in the Black Hills of South Dakota where her father had dreamed of setting down roots. She has only one clue. She needs to find three huge stones that look like fingers on a giant hand. With Chief, a Sioux Indian who's been with the act for twenty years, and Micah, the head wrangler, she leaves the show and a bundle of heartache behind and begins a wild and daring adventure.

My Review:

A sweeping Western saga fraught with adventure. Loved the mix of unlikely characters who make the treacherous journey, and Cassie's background as a Wild West performer. Her struggle to marry the skills she learned for the show with the skills needed to survive in the wilderness brought depth to her character and an edge to the story. And who can resist an impish dog, magnificent horse and a buffalo named George? I do love a good animal-centered plot.

As the first of the Wild West Wind series, Valley of Dreams reads as a prelude and ends rather abruptly with a cliffhanger. I had the feeling that I was just about to start the real story when it ended. I'm not a fan of series that are totally dependent on each book -- the kind that read like a very long novel in three or four sections -- so the ending disappointed me since I was left with more questions than answers.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc. Available at your favourite bookseller from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group".