In this reverse Cinderella story, a poor farmer’s son, who dreams of using his talent as a woodcarver to make a better life for himself, falls in love with a duke’s daughter and must fight for a chance to win her heart.

Adela is the youngest daughter of Duke Wilhelm of Hagenheim and is never allowed outside of the castle walls. She loves her family, but she sneaks away one day to the market in the town center. There she meets a handsome young man and wonders what it might be like to fall in love with a poor farmer with a kind heart instead of marrying the man her family is suggesting for her.

Frederick earns the income for his family and defends his mother from his father’s drunken rages. He also uses his talent and creativity to carve figures, animals, and scenes into wood, and he’s asked to carve these scenes into cathedral doors when his talent is noticed. Frederick is inspired by the sweet and beautiful Adela, but he has no knowledge of her true identity. When he gets swept up into a plan to kidnap the duke’s daughter, both are shaken by what they learn about the other.

With the heartbroken Adela resigned to an arranged marriage with her noble suitor, Frederick must decide what he’s willing to risk for love.

Melanie Dickerson is a New York Times bestselling author, a two-time Christy Award finalist, two-time Maggie Award winner, Carol Award winner, two-time winner of the Christian Retailing’s Best award, and her book, The Healer’s Apprentice, won the National Readers Choice Award for Best First Book. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) and Romance Writers of America (RWA). Melanie earned a bachelors degree in special education of the hearing impaired from The University of Alabama and has worked as a teacher in Georgia, Tennessee, and Ukraine.

‘Frederick, God is your Father, and in His yes, you are legitimate.’

I love fairy tales. I loved them as a child and love them still as an adult. Melanie Dickerson takes fairy tales and changes them up a bit into wonderful inspirational stories. This one is a reverse Cinderella and is beautifully told. Recommended.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson Publishers through Net Galley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishing
Publication Date: July 7,2020
Genre: Young Adult
Length: 320 pages

In 1933 Louisville, Kentucky, even the ongoing economic depression cannot keep Piper Danson’s parents from insisting on a debut party. After all, their fortune came through the market crash intact, and they’ve picked out the perfect suitor for their daughter. Braxton Crandall can give her the kind of life she’s used to. The only problem? This is not the man–or the life–she really wants.

When Piper gets the opportunity to volunteer as a horseback Frontier Nursing courier in the Appalachian Mountains for the summer, she jumps at the chance to be something other than a dutiful daughter or a kept wife in a loveless marriage. The work is taxing, the scenery jaw-droppingly gorgeous, and the people she meets along the way open up a whole new world to her. The longer she stays, the more an advantageous marriage slips from her grasp. But something much more precious–true love–is drawing ever closer.

Bestselling author Ann H. Gabhart invites you into the storied hills of Eastern Kentucky to discover what happens when one intrepid young woman steps away from the restrictive past into a beautiful, wide-open future.

About Ann H. Gabhart

Ann H. Gabhart caught the writing bug at the age of ten and has been writing ever since. An award winning author, she’s published many books for both adults and young adults. Her books cover several genres from historical to small town family stories to cozy mysteries (mysteries published with author name A.H. Gabhart). Her ideas are sparked by events in Kentucky history and by experiences in her own family. Her first Shaker novel, The Outsider, was a finalist for the ECPA Christian Fiction Book of the Year. Love Comes Home won the Selah Book of the Year award, and These Healing Hills was the Faith, Hope & Love Readers’ Choice Women’s Fiction Book of the Year.

Ann lives on a Kentucky farm not far from where she was born. She and her husband have three children and nine grandchildren. Ann enjoys hiking on her farm with her grandkids and her dogs, Frankie and Marley. See more about her books at http://www.annhgabhart.com or join the conversation on her Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/anngabhart.

I fell in love with this book! Ann Gabhart takes us to the Appalachian area of Kentucky as she tells us about Mary Breckenridge and the Frontier Nursing Service. I was so captivated that I did some research of my own. I thoroughly enjoyed everything about it, how the nurses lived, the people they treated, and especially how they respected those residents of the Appalachian area. A compelling story indeed. She sets a fictionalized set of characters in the midst of this story and it is absolutely completely interesting! Endearing and totally worth the read. Recommended.

*My thanks to Revell Publishing for a copy of this book via Net Galley. The opinions in this review are my own.

Investigative reporter Rae Burke will do anything to find her missing sister-in-law, even if it means facing Liam McKade, a man who almost lost his life saving hers. A former DEA agent, Liam thought he could find peace at his Wyoming ranch, but he just doesn’t feel at home anywhere anymore. When the reporter who blew his cover on an important investigation inserts herself back into his life, he’s less than thrilled. But Rae’s keen investigative skills have led her down the right path–and directly into the dragon’s mouth–leaving Liam no choice but to protect her. As the danger increases, the past they both tried to flee catches up to them, along with the feelings they once had for each other.

Bestselling and award-winning author Elizabeth Goddard plunges you into a fast-paced, high-stakes story of honor, forgiveness, and justice.

‘If no one ever held his heart, then he’d never have his chest ripped open and his heart pulled out and cut to pieces.’

Elizabeth Goddard brings her Uncommon Justice series to a close with the last McKade brother’s story. Liam McKade is a former DEA agent who nearly lost his life keeping investigative reporter Rae Burke safe and alive. Now he is back at his family’s ranch and she shows up in town trying to find her missing sister in law.

I have been looking forward to this book and Goddard’s suspense doesn’t let up for a minute. The suspense continues throughout and I absolutely could not put it down nor discover the culprit! Goddard throws a few surprises in to keep the reader on tender hooks, too. Well written, great characters and unrelenting suspense make for a great reading time. Don’t Keep Silent is the perfect finale to this great series.

‘God, what path do I take?’

*My thanks to Revell Publishers for a copy of this book. The opinions here are entirely my own.