Rhonda's Doings !

Review of Where Treetops Glisten by Sarah Sundin, Cara Putnam, and Tricia Goyer The crunch of newly fallen snow, the weight of wartime Three siblings forging new paths and finding love in three stories, filled with the wonder of Christmas Turn back the clock to a different time, listen to Bing Crosby sing of sleigh bells in the snow, as the realities of America’s involvement in the Second World War change the lives of the Turner family in Lafayette, Indiana.  In  White Christmas   by Cara Putman ,  Abigail Turner is holding down the Home Front as a college student and a part-time employee at a one-of-a-kind candy shop. Loss of a beau to the war has Abigail skittish about romantic entanglements—until a hard-working young man with a serious problem needs her help.  Abigail’s brother Pete is a fighter pilot hero returned from the European Theatre in Sarah Sundin’s   I’ll Be Home for Christmas , trying to recapture the hope and peace his time a...

Review of Handcarved Christmas by Cynthia Hickey Laura Worth answers an advertisement for a bride and leaves Missouri to meet her groom in Montana. When she gets there, she realizes her husband-to-be, Ben Cooper, has no knowledge of having sent for her. She is devastated, even more so when she breaks a precious heirloom. Ben's heart goes out to the beautiful woman and he marries her in answer to his mother's dying wish. As Christmas approaches, the two wonder whether their marriage will hold the love and intimacy God intended it to have. Will Ben win the heart of his unexpected gift? MY REVIEW:   Handcarved Christmas is a truly endearing Christmas novella.  I read it in one sitting on a long drive back from visiting my daughters.  I love snow and the fact that there is snow and a precious romance makes it even better.   Ben and Laura are two extremely likable characters.  I love historical romances and this one addresses a time when "mail-order brid...

Review of A Matchmaker in Middlebury by Anita Higman Meredith Steinberg takes the stage again in A Matchmaker in Middlebury and is given another chance to dance with destiny and meddle in the romantic affairs of two lovelorn singles. But Meredith’s skills as a yenta are stretched to the limit as she discovers that her golden egg-of-a-plan has a perilous crack. In the end, however, heartstrings are indeed knotted together as two singles find tender love—they’re just not the two people Meredith paired for marital bliss…  MY REVIEW:   Anita Higman's novelette is a sweet romance.  This is a quick and easy read.  It is one that is sure to leave readers with a smile on their faces.  I was actually thinking that I know of several people who need the services of a matchmaker like Meredith as I read the story.   I rate this novelette 5 stars and highly recommend it to readers. I received a copy of this novelette from the author in exchange for my hone...

Review of Humble Pie Mattie and Mark Miller--Double Trouble series for children by Wanda E.  Brunstetter  Welcome to Holmes County, Ohio, where twins Mattie and Mark Miller get a taste of  Humble Pie . When their out-of-control boasting begins to stir up trouble at every turn, will these energetic almost ten-year-olds learn the value of humility before it’s too late? You’ll fall in love with the fourth release in the Double Trouble series from bestselling author, Wanda E. Brunstetter. Double Trouble Series: Book 1 - What a Pair! Book 2 - Bumpy Ride Ahead Book 3 - Bubble Troubles Book 4 - Green Fever Book 5 - Humble Pie MY REVIEW:  Mattie and Mark Miller are once again learning new lessons in life as they run and play on their Amish farm.   This is another delightful book written for children about ten-year-old twins.   Readers will get a view of the Amish lifestyle, farm life, and learn a lesson as they read.  Even though this book is wr...

Review of When Mercy Rains  by Kim Vogel  Sawyer  She left, heavily weighted with secrets. But God reveals all things, in His timing.  And He redeems them.  Suzanne Zimmerman was only seventeen and pregnant when her shamed mother quietly sent her away from their Old Order Mennonite community in Kansas. With her old home, family, and first love firmly behind her, Suzanne moved to Indiana, became a nurse, and raised a daughter, Alexa, on her own.  Now, nearly twenty years later, an unexpected letter arrives from Kansas. Her brother asks her to bring her nursing abilities home and care for their ailing mother. His request requires that Suzanne face a family that may not have forgiven her and a strict faith community. It also means seeing Paul Aldrich, her first love.  Paul, widowed with an eight-year-old son, is relieved to see Suzanne again, giving him the chance to beg her forgiveness for his past indiscretion. But when he meets Alexa, his...

Review of  The Discovery Saga Collection by Wanda E. Brunstetter E Originally released in a 6-part serial, now you can have The Discovery:  A Lancaster County Saga all in one book. Meredith and Luke Stoltzfus, an Amish couple who are faced with the greatest challenge of their young lives. Financial struggles. Arguments. A suspected pregnancy. A last-minute trip to Middlebury,  Indiana. A drug addict on the run. A deadly encounter at a Philadelphia bus station. Will their love and faith be enough to bring them back together again, against all odds? MY REVIEW:  I originally read this collection as it was published in 6 parts. I enjoyed it even more as I read the first 5 parts of the collection again and was able to finally read the conclusion in part 6.   I know many readers expressed a desire to wait until the entire 6-part series was published as a collection and you can now enjoy The Discovery:  A Lancaster County Saga without waiting for a shor...

Review of An Amish Second Christmas by Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, Ruth Reid, & Tricia Goyer When Christmas Comes Again by Beth Wiseman Katherine Zook and her four children are facing their first Christmas without a loved one, and the future seems dim.But when a mysterious "Englisch" man begins to show up in the most unlikely of places, Katherine can t help but be suspicious . . . and a bit curious. MY Review of When Christmas Comes Again:   This book speaks of second chances, forgiveness, and love.  I was truly touched by Katherine Zook and her children and when the identity of the mysterious Englischer is revealed, hearts will be moved.  I know a great deal about learning to forgive myself and others.  It is not always easy to do, but it opens our hearts to freedom.   This novella had me in tears, happy tears, but tears none-the-less.  It is a special 5 star Christmas novella and one that I believe readers will find special.   Her ...

Review and Giveaway of The Fruitcake Challenge by Carrie Fancett Pagels When new lumberjack, Tom Jeffries, tells the camp cook, Jo Christy, that he’ll marry her if she can make a fruitcake, “as good as the one my mother makes,” she rises to the occasion. After all, he’s the handsomest, smartest, and strongest axman her camp-boss father has ever had in his camp—and the cockiest. And she intends to bring this lumberjack down a notch or three by refusing his proposal. The fruitcake wars are on! All the shanty boys and Jo’s cooking helpers chip in with their recipes but Jo finds she’ll have to enlist more help—and begins corresponding with Tom’s mother.  Step back in time to 1890, in beautiful Northern Michigan, near the sapphire straits of Mackinac, when the white pines were “white gold” and lumber camps were a way of life. Jo is ready to find another life outside of the camps and plans that don’t include any shanty boys. But will a lumberjack keep her in the very place she...

Review of The Amish Bride of Ice Mountain by Kelly Long Like most Mountain Amish girls, Mary King has always dreamed of her wedding day. But she never imagined that a sudden, irresistible kiss would result in marriage to the handsome Englischer professor studying her unique community. Or that doing the truly honorable thing means keeping their relationship chaste so both she and Dr. Jude Lyons can someday go their separate ways. But when Mary accompanies her husband-in-name-only to Atlanta to meet his wealthy, overbearing family, she's tempted more than ever by Jude's kindness, humor--and vulnerability. And when a wrenching misunderstanding causes her to return heartbroken to her remote Appalachian home, she's certain she's lost the real love they have found...and the shared future she's come to want so much. But a crisis of more than faith will work surprising miracles--and show Mary that love is strong enough to make the impossible come true. MY REVIEW: ...