Dandelions on the Wind

Dandelions on the Wind is the first novella of The Quilted Heart series, by Mona Hodgson. Maren Jenson came to America as a mail order bride from Denmark but her future husband decided he didn’t want to marry her after finding out about an ailment that she has. She moves in with Ms. Brantenberg and works for her for room and board. Ms. Brantenberg’s widowed son-in-law returns from the war and begins to fall for Maren. The question is can she overcome her fears to allow herself to fall for him.

This book is a very quick read being a novella and quite short but the author does a wonderful job letting us get to know the characters. I love her ability to be able to pull me in and keep me interested. I’ve read other novellas from other authors and haven’t enjoyed them because many times I felt cheated by the ending. Not this book, yes it left me wanting to read the next one but it didn’t make me feel like I was missing anything. If you love historical, romance, and easy reading books you will like this one. If you are looking for a full blown novel with complex subject matter this may not be a book for you. I personally loved it and can’t wait to read more.

You can purchase this book here

 

I received this book from Waterbrook/Multenomah at no charge in exchange for an honest review.

Please rank my review

The Point: The Redemption of Oban Ironbout

The Point: The Redemption of Oban Ironbout by William E. Jefferson is a book about  “Searching for peace and inspiration, Hollie and Goodwin Macbreeze travel to the Isle of Estillyen-a distant harbor known or bringing ancients words of worth to the present.”

I was really looking forward to reading The Point. I had read an excerpt before I got the chance to review it and it really seemed very interesting. I tried and tried to get through this book and just couldn’t finish it. There were two aspects to this book. Hollie and Goodwin travelled to this island for answers.  There were monks on the island and the couple would go to readings for enlightenment I guess would be a good way to put it. Then there was the mystery of Goodwin and the house that he had drawn when he was young. He wanted to learn more about that house and of the stories his grandfather had told him. I really couldn’t get into the “readings” this is the part of the book that I didn’t like for some reason.  I just found them strange I guess. I did however like the “Goodwin” portion of the story I will continue to skim through the book to see what happens on the point and find out what the story is behind the house on the point. I have had this book for more than a month and have had to put it down several times and read something that I enjoy. I always try to finish a book in order to review it but I found that I really didn’t want to read this one and it was a chore just to pick it up and start it again. Maybe one day I will get completely through it and will revisit this review but I’ve read half and came to the conclusion that it wasn’t for me.

I’m sure there are others who will find this type of book enjoyable but unfortunately I was one of them. I received this book at no charge from Handlebar Publishers in exchange for an honest review