PERFECT SUMMER READING - BOOK REVIEWS

I was blessed to have the opportunity to read several books in exchange for reviews. Here they all are-the perfect summer reading!

Hawaiian Masquerade Rachelle J. Christensen
Hawaiian Masquerade was a wonderful book! I greatly enjoyed it. Between the amazing descriptions and the interesting, engaging characters in the book, I wanted to hop a plane for Kauai! Hopefully we get to hear more from the secondary characters in other Destination Billionaire Romances. Lexi and Derek (as well as their friends & family) are people that pull you right into their lives. I found myself smiling, wondering how Lexi would... Oops! No spoilers! You will just have to read & enjoy the book yourself. =)*


The Rebellious One  Jeanette Lewis
This just might be my favorite book in the Billionaire Bride Pact Series. It was also the last one that I read! I LOVE this series!!! Each book is well written, with down to earth characters who have struggles and difficulties that they learn to give to God. Holly is such a sympathetic heroine, you can’t help falling in love with the character and rooting for her. The book has a beautiful message of forgiveness, and love winning over bitterness. It was a pleasure to read!*


The Passionate One  Jeanette Lewis
With a ‘Billionaire Romance’ you just aren’t expecting a ‘too be taken seriously’ storyline. This wasn’t your typical Cinderella story. It was more about finding your treasure right in your own back yard-seeing and appreciating the gifts that God has given you. I greatly enjoyed the characters (I didn’t expect to like Erin!) and their personal growth and development through the book. The Passionate One is an enjoyable, well-written book. I can’t wait to finish the series!*



The Snow Valley Anthologies are thoroughly enjoyable stories. Don’t ask me to pick a favorite. My favorite tends to be the one that I am reading! They were lovely, engaging stories with characters that I would love to befriend.

Love Coming Late
LOVED, LOVED, LOVED Love Coming Late. I appreciated the romance between two people who AREN’T twenty-somethings just starting out in life. This was a sweet love story about two people who are in different stages of their lives, her children are nearly grown and moving on to college, and he has a young daughter. It also wasn’t a ‘hurry-up and have a wedding 2 weeks after they meet’ love story. It is a well-developed novella, with engaging characters who have real struggles. I can’t wait to read more of the Spring in Snow Valley novellas!*


Tin Foil Tiaras is a fun story about a small town beauty pageant. The characters were well developed and pulled you into their story. I actually liked that the novella didn’t end with a rushed romantic wedding. The romance was much more believable not rushing the relationship. It was a sweet and enjoyable read!*


Feels Like Love is a cute story and a fun read. The whole city slicker meets country family AND everything else associated with the country...HILARIOUS! It’s one of those books where you get sucked into the story. I enjoyed the storyline and the characters immensely! The characters were not always likeable, but you felt for them as you watched the characters grow into themselves as the book progressed. You see how our choices affect not only us, but those around us-especially when we are willfully outside of God’s will in our lives.

* I received a review copy of these book in exchange for my honest review.

CHAUTONA HAVIG on 1901 HISTORY...More about Sweet on You

I was privileged to ask the very gracious author of Sweet on You, the first book in the Meddlin' Madeline series, Chautona Havig a question about her latest book. History has alway fascinated me, so I was curious about her exceptional research in this historical novel.

What was the most fascinating or surprising historical fact that you found in your research of the 1901 time period? And did it find it's way into Sweet on You, or is it something that might show up in a later book in the Meddlin' Madeline series? 


CHAUTONA HAVIG:
That's a toss up between how inexpensive the Brownie camera was (and it's TINY picture size) and the fact that the Pinkerton Detective Agency worked more like "Secret Service" agents for strikebreakers than actual detectives. They did do detective work, but the bulk of their stuff was much less investigative.

Thanks, Ms. Havig!

Now available on Amazon.
Purchase by May 1 and receive the bonus short story, Essie's Endeavor.

Review of Sweet on You, Book 1 of the Meddlin' Madeline Series by Chautona Havig

Sleep is highly over-rated. Truly it is! Once I started Sweet on You, I was immediately immersed in 1901 Rockland. I am familiar with modern day Rockland - the fictional town... I have to keep reminding myself that these places and people ARE NOT REAL! Chautona Havig writes in such a way, that you feel that the characters, places, situations ARE real and that you are right there. =)

The Meddlin' Madeline series is totally different as far as time period and being more of a cosy mystery than Chautona Havigs' other books. However, like the other books, she is historically-BELIEVABLY-correct (her characters act in character with the time period-one of my pet peeves!). The story line draws you right in, so when you look up at the end of a chapter, it is a bit of a shock to see that you are sitting in your own chair, in your own MODERN house.

I was privileged to read an advanced copy as part of the launch team. I was asked to give an honest review. I'm not going to give any spoilers, just that I LOVED Sweet on You and can't wait to read the next Meddlin' Madeline mystery. Warning: it is not only a bit of a cliff-hanger, but the characters are addicting! ;-)