by admin | Jun 1, 2009 | Books
MY REVIEW:
As a life-long southerner, I find that River Jordan’s books speak to my soul. Her lyrical style is pure magic and her characters could have stepped right out of my own childhood. Somehow she manages to convey through her words that elusive sensation that occurs when reality and the spiritual realm collide. I know that Saints in Limbo is only a fantasy but how real it seems!
I would like to tell you about Saints in Limbo but that is best done by the author in the story itself. There is no way that I could do it justice without totally giving away the things that are best discovered on your own. It is a tale of several people, each with their own struggles, whose very lives become entwined in a way that changes each of them forever. It is a story about overcoming apathy and fear and truly living life.
I will say that Saints in Limbo has given me an appreciation for the people in my life, both the living and those who have left this world. It makes me want to live every moment without regret and to move ahead in my relationships because there are no do-overs in this life.
I highly recommend Saints in Limbo and suggest that you pick up a copy for yourself. You can find more information on the Random House website.
I also recommend that you immediately check out River Jordan’s website because her blog is also very good reading.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Ever since her husband Joe died, Velma True’s world has been limited to what she can see while clinging to one of the multicolored threads tied to the porch railing of her home outside Echo, Florida.
When a mysterious stranger appears at her door on her birthday and presents Velma with a special gift, she is rattled by the object’s ability to take her into her memories–a place where Joe still lives, her son Rudy is still young, unaffected by the world’s hardness, and the beginning is closer than the end. As secrets old and new come to light, Velma wonders if it’s possible to be unmoored from the past’s deep roots and find a reason to hope again.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
River Jordan is a critically acclaimed novelist and playwright whose unique mixture of southern and mystic writing has drawn comparisons to Sarah Addison Allen, Leif Enger, and Flannery O’Connor. Her previous works include The Messenger of Magnolia Street, lauded by Kirkus Reviews as “a beautifully written, atmospheric tale.” She speaks around the country and makes her home in Nashville.
by admin | Jun 1, 2009 | Books
This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Breathe
(David C. Cook; New edition June 1, 2009)
by
Lisa T. Bergren
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Lisa T. Bergren is the best-selling, award winning author of over thirty books, with more than 1.5 million copies sold. A former publishing executive, she now splits her time between writing and freelance editing and parenting her three young children with her husband Tim. She lives in Colorado Springs.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
To make a new life, she’ll have to learn how to breathe again…
By the time Dominic and Moira St. Clair get their ailing sister, Odessa, to Colorado Springs in the winter of 1883, she is nearly dead. Odessa has been seriously ailing for the past year from consumption, an illness that claimed the lives of four of her younger brothers, prompting her father, to send his only surviving children west to chase the cure.
Moira is beautiful and dangerously headstrong; and pugnacious Dominic is charged with establishing a new arm of the family business–a business he doesn’t want.
Several days after her arrival, Odessa witnesses what she fears is the murder of miner Sam O’Toole, friend and neighbor to the charming Bryce McAllan. What’s more, Sam leaves her a poem containing clues that seem to direct her to his mine, which is purported to carry a fantastic vein of silver. But if she is ever to rise from her bed again, she must first concentrate on conquering the giant that threatens her – consumption. Indeed, she must learn to breathe again – daring to embrace her life, her future, and hope in her God.
If you would like to read the first chapter of Breathe, go HERE
MY REVIEW:
I found Breathe to be a refreshing change of pace to the usual historical romance novel. Rather than primary characters who are strong and perfect, the hero and heroine of Breathe both suffer with consumption and their weakness and struggles are well portrayed.
Breathe is also less a romance novel than it is a suspense novel. There was never the build up of romantic tension between Odessa and Bryce that is usually seen in a romance. On the other hand, there are enough suspicious circumstances and murder attempts to flesh out a good mystery. Bergren also portrays the bad guy so well that you know he is up to no good from the beginning. You just don’t have any idea who is co-conspirators might be until near the end.
The historical details about Colorado history and consumption added depth to an enjoyable story. I enjoyed Breathe and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys good historical fiction.
