"The Home for Unwanted Girls" by Joanna Goodman is inspired by true events

The Home for Unwanted Girls by Joanna Goodman is inspired by true events and is told by Maggie and Elodie.  Maggie loves working at her father's sled store.  She loves her dad.  She gets pregnant at an early age and named her daughter Elodie.  Maggie's dad tells her to give her daughter to an orphanage run by nuns, so she does.  Elodie is mistreated and escapes.  Years later, Maggie wants to find her daughter.

I thought this book was really good!  Maggie was a great character and so was Elodie.  Loved it!  (Gerard's review, 5++ stars)

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"Finding Chika" by Mitch Albom

Finding Chika by Mitch Albom is a true story about a little girl, an earthquake, and the making of a family.  Chika was born in Haiti.  At age 5, she is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.  Mitch and his wife, Janine, bring her to America in hope of finding a cure.  I thought this book was pretty good.  I fell in love with Chika quickly.  The story flowed well.  This book will tug at your heart strings.
(Gerard's review, 4 stars)

 Teaser from page 21:  To be honest, Chika, for my first few years, I didn't understand a great deal about Haiti, or the orphanage, or how I was supposed to make the place work.  The power would go off every day, the water would run out, deliveries of rice and bulgur would start and stop, and we never had enough medicine.

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"Christmas in Clover Springs" by Rachel Wesson (Book 8)

Christmas in Clover Springs by Rachel Wesson is Book 8 of the Clover Springs Mail Order Brides series. This one is about Alecia and how she realized what she had been taught to believe about people was not right. She came from Boston to Clover Springs by a chance meeting with Father Malloy on the train. One kind deed changed her life completely for the better.

I read this in one morning! I liked how Alecia and Father Malloy brought 30 more orphans to Clover Springs. This was predictable, but I still enjoyed it very much. I liked seeing how Alecia’s prejudice fell away once she got to know people and re-evaluated her beliefs. I also liked the surprise twist at the end.
(Karen’s review, 5 stars)

Teaser from Kindle location 1001-2: She smiled slightly. Her mama would have swooned if she knew her only daughter stood in the middle of a school yard covered in mud from head to toe conversing with an Indian.


Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Clover Springs Mail Order Brides Box Set" by Rachel Wesson

There are five books by Rachel Wesson in the Clover Springs Mail Order Brides Box Set:  Katie, Mary, Sorcha, Emer, and Laura. All are set in the 1880s.  If you are a fan of the TV show, "When Calls the Heart," I think you would like all of these!

The first, Katie, is about Katie and her sister heading west to get away from their mean uncle and aunt in Boston. Katie agrees to marry Montes Cassidy but on the way, the train is robbed and the engineer killed. She is stuck in a town called Clover Springs and meets lives at a boarding house owned by Daniel’s mother. She met Daniel on the train and sparks fly between them, but Montes agrees to come to Clover Springs to marry her. Katie wants to get of the wedding, but feels strongly about keeping her word.

The second in this series is Mary. She was Katie’s friend who came over from Ireland with her younger sister and her parents, but her parents died on the ship. Katie’s Uncle did not want to take in Mary and her sister, so they lived at the orphanage. Mary’s sister was adopted, and Katie set her up as a mail order bride for Davey, her brother-in-law. In this book, Katie has a child and Mary and Davey hit it off once Davey shares his past with Mary.

The third in this series is Sorcha. She was a friend of Mary’s from the orphanage and agreed to be a mail order bride to join Mary in Clover Springs. She came to be a wife to an older man with two little girls who had lost his wife and son and is still grieving and very overprotective, understandably. He was only interested in providing a mother for his girls but found himself falling in love with Sorcha.

The fourth in this series is Emer, Sorcha’s sister who was raised by their mother, a member of an outlaw gang. When her mother planned to sell her to sell and give her to Bill, the leader of the gang, Emer at 14 years old, took off to find her sister who she thought was still in Boston. Father Malloy arranged for a well-to-do family, the Shipley’s to take her to Denver with them so she could get to Clover Springs.

The fifth in this series is Laura who also used to room with Mary and Sorcha at the orphanage. She has a photographic memory and a birthmark which caused people to believe she was a witch. She married Johnny, a saloon owner who turned out to be very bad. He forced her to use her memory to help him cheat and win at cards. She finally went to Clover Springs when her husband got shot and found happiness with some old and new friends. There is some interesting action in this book and Little Bear helps save Laura’s life.

I thoroughly enjoyed this entire series because each book kept my interest all the way through Every book is very balanced between adventure, romance and humor. They are all clean and reminded me of the TV show “When Calls the Heart.” I loved them all! I found out there is a next one named Ellen and hope to read that one as well. I highly recommend all these if you like historical fiction and/or western romance.
 (Karen's review, 5 stars)


Have you read any of these--you should! What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Day-Day" by L.N. Cronk is About a Couple Who Works at an Orphanage in Mexico

Day-Day (Chop Chop Series Book 2) by L.N. Cronk is a Christian fiction love story about a couple who go to Mexico to work at an orphanage and supervise youth groups who come to help as a short-term mission trip.  The wife, Lacy, has a miscarriage and discover she has Cancer.  After several miscarriages, they plan to adopt from the orphanage they work at in Mexico, but then God takes them on a little detour.

This book was narrated from the husband's point of view and was pretty interesting.  For the type of story it is, it was good.  It was a break from the type of action-packed fun reads that I have read lately.  For Christian fiction, it was not as predictable as most and it moved along pretty well.
(Karen's review, 4 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Before We Were Yours" by Lisa Wingate (Historical Fiction)

In Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, Avery Stafford has it all.  She was born into a wealthy family, a very good career and soon to be married to a handsome man.  A chance encounter with a member of her family cast light on a hidden secret that if gets out, her family name could be ruined!

I thought this book was very good.  I was into it from page 1 and loved the characters.  It is based on a true story.  If you get a chance, read this one--so far it is my book of the month!
(Gerard's review, 6/24/17, 5++ stars)

Karen's review, 7/8/17 (4 stars):
In Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, there is a mystery connection between two old ladies who are in a nursing home and the granddaughter of one of them who stirs up an old family secret.  The part of this book about the Tennessee Children's Home Society run by Georgia Tann and its evil practices between the 1930s and 1950s was interesting, captivating, and very disturbing.  I really liked Rill, one of the main characters who told that part of the story from her point of view.

This is a sad story with a happy ending that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys reading about families.  The story is told from two different points of view and jumped back and forth between two story lines which eventually came together.  I think people with rough childhoods would find this book encouraging.  This was a complex book that dragged for me in parts during the one story line so that is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.      

Karen also read The Prayer Box by Lisa Wingate and liked that one as well.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

Sharing a book review is one of the options for Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop today.  Go link yours up or maybe respond to one of the other prompts.

"Dark Eyes" by William Richter

Dark Eyes by William Richter is about a Russian girl who is adopted by an American couple and moves to New York.  Years later, she goes by Wally and lives on the street.  She knows her way around and nobody messes with her.  She still wants to find her birth mom and her dad, who was in a Russian prison, breaks out and wants to find his wife too.  But what he has in mind is not very nice!  Wally needs all her street smarts to find her first.  It took a while for the action to start, but when it does, this book heats up!  It is well worth reading.
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"To Sing Frogs" by John M. Simmons (UPDATED)

A Happy Memoir

Updated 10/25/13:

To Sing Frogs by John M. Simmons is an interesting read on so many levels.  First of all, it is a true story of a Mormon couple who had three boys of their own, but who adopt a special needs boy (Jack) and later three girls and one boy from Russia.  It was amazing at how many hoops they had to jump through and all the delays.  In spite of the author being a cynic who really doesn't believe God cares or is involved in our lives, the answered prayers of the three little orphans from Russia seems to at least make him wonder.

I'm glad I took the time to read To Sing Frogs in spite of the dumb title.  This book is so well written that I felt the father's frustrations and the joy of the girls who were adopted.  I loved the author's sarcasm throughout the book and how the orphans' prayers were answered in spite of the odds.  I think anyone considering an international adoption or interested in orphanages or Russia would enjoy this book.  It's different from any other book I've read.     
(Karen's review)

To Sing Frogs by John M. Simmons is a memoir about family, friends, life, and other things that don't make sense.   It is about a couple who adopt four children from Russia.  The best parts of the book were: 

(1)  all the red tape and the various hurdles the couple had to go through to get the children to be part of their family;

(2)  the kids, the joy they felt that somebody wanted them and then the trials of coming to America and not knowing the language and the customs; and

(3)  how the couple wished that they were able to take a lot more kids in.

This is a feel good book that I think you would enjoy reading!  There is no big "wow" factor, but a happy, heartwarming ending.  I liked the pictures in the book too!
(Gerard's review, rating 5 stars)

Note:  We received an advance review copy of this book but that did not affect our reviews.
All proceeds from the sale of To Sing Frogs will benefit the Ele Lembra Foundation charity and with your assistance, we'll be raising awareness on the benefits of adoption.

Happy Reading!

"Iron House" by John Hart

Iron House by John Hart is a well-written novel that is a combination of suspense, mystery, drama and love.  It is about two brothers who lived at an orphanage called “Iron House” until one was adopted by a senator and his wife (Julian), and the other took off on his own to protect his brother (Michael).  Michael grew up tough and got into organized crime, but when he fell in love with Elena and wanted to leave to go straight.  Giving up killing though wasn’t easy, especially when they didn’t want to let him go. 

This psychological thriller just kept getting better and better as the plot thickened.  The author did an amazing job getting the reader to actually like Michael and pull for him even though he killed seven people before lunch!  Iron House is riveting and definitely a page-turner.  I loved the insight into the mob and the depth of the characters.  Iron House deals with issues of family, love, betrayal, mental illness, crime, abuse and secrets.  I think this book would be an excellent choice for a book club and highly recommend it if you like a good thriller! 

(Karen’s Review)

 

What a GREAT book to start August with!  The plot in this book is so good that what I thought I knew I wasn't even close, and the last chapters have some major twists and turns!  Has a really happy ending too!  For sure to make my top ten books of the year!!  It goes without saying that this book is a double WOW!  I highly recommend it

(Gerard’s Review)

We both think this is John Hart's best book yet and would like to see it made into a movie.

Check out our teaser from this book.

 

We got a free copy from the publisher to review this book but it in no way influenced our reviews.  We both LOVED IT and think you would too! 

Have you read this one? What did you think of it?

Check out our other book reviews of books by John Hart.

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