Saturday, December 24, 2011

Trust cats to find the perfecting hiding spots. Here's Crayton, whom we adopted from the local shelter 3 years ago. He's a cream-point mix with beautiful powder blue eyes.

Funny, I haven't had a cat in any of my stories lately. Must make a note to include one...

Here's wishing all our Love Inspired readers a blessed and joyous Christmas season, and a good things in the new year!

Ruth

Ruth Axtell Morren
Hometown Cinderella, 
Love Inspired Historical, February 2012



Friday, November 25, 2011

Reconstruction Romance


A Lasting Impression, another strong romance by Tamera Alexander, takes the reader from her Western settings to the war-torn state of Tennessee a year after the Civil War.
Plenty of conflict abounds in this absorbing novel, from the young lawyer who has lost everything from fighting on the wrong side to the young heroine who dreams of painting masterpieces, but who must hide her sordid past of painting forgeries once she begins a new life.
Claire Laurent, the heroine is saved from penury and worse when she gets the job of personal assistant to the wealthy owner of Belmont, where she seems to be given a new chance at life.
Sutton Munroe, the hero, fighting to regain his family's lands and his father's good name, cannot begin rebuilding his life as long as he carries around the guilt of having prevented his father from signing the Oath of Allegiance (to the Union). He is haunted by the knowledge that he caused his father's death and sentence of treason.
As the two hide their growing attraction, Claire knows time is against her. The past finally catches up with her and it is only by coming to the knowledge that God is on her side and cares for her that she is able to own up to it and face the consequences. The spiritual thread is deftly woven into the love story.
I would have enjoyed seeing Claire come clean sooner and read about the developing relationship between Sutton and Claire once he knew the truth than have a relationship built on her hiding so much of her past from him. That said, Alexander writes a powerful story about a young woman whose self-esteem has been badly destroyed by her father and who gradually comes to the knowledge of the Savior's love for her and that her talent is God-given.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Wonderful Fairytale Romance


I have a feeling Melanie Dickerson will become a new favorite author of mine. I loved this story; it had a wonderful fairytale quality to it, while at the same time sounding up-to-date enough for the contemporary reader. While technically a Young Adult book, it's the kind of romance that will appeal to any age. Dickerson has a heroine who appeals to the reader because she is a mixture of quiet/shy yet feisty. It's that underlying feistiness that catches the prince's eye. It's a medieval tale loosely based on Sleeping Beauty, and has an authentic feel to it. I especially enjoyed the hero and heroine's spiritual journey as each one is forced to grow in their faith. Wonderful ending. Some great *sigh* moments. Can't wait to read the next fairytale! And hope there are many more to come.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Run, don't walk, to get this historical!


Shadowed in Silk will keep you up long past your bedtime—each time you want to put it down, you tell yourself, just one more page, just one more page…

Lindsay has written of two characters, Major Geoff Richards and Abby Fraser, who grab you from the beginning and don’t let go until the last page. They are in an impossible situation which only gets more difficult, but the reader roots for them from the moment they meet on board a ship bound for India, he to take up his old post after surviving the horrors of World War I and she to return to her childhood home.

You’ll fall in love with Geoff—the strong, silent hero with a tragic past, who proves to be a wonderful surrogate father to Abby’s young son, and a quiet protector to Abby when she is faced by more danger than she knows.

And you’ll feel for Abby, trying to do what’s right when her life seems to have ended before it has a chance to begin and coming finally to that place of acknowledging that she can’t do it on her own.

There’s a wonderful set of secondary characters, especially those Indian Christians who endure the loss of everything for their newfound faith.

The Indian backdrop with its sights, smells and sounds and the increasing turmoil under the British raj only add to the allure of this story. For those who love The Far Pavilions and The Jewel in the Crown, with the addition of a strong Christian theme and a wonderful romance, this book is for you!

Thursday, March 24, 2011


Wonderful story set on the mid-coast of America right before the War of 1812. Eakes knows her historical period as well as sailing. You can just imagine yourself in that time period, feel the spray on your cheeks as you skim the waves on a fishing sailboat.
You also get a good view of what led up to the war from the American side. I'm so used to studying it from the British and French perspectives.
But most of all, you get to read about a wonderfully charming British hero and his growing fascination with a tart, no-nonsense midwife, who, nevertheless, is enough of a free spirit that he finds himself falling in love before he knows it.
But it's a hopeless love as they see it, since he is not from her world, and she can never fit in his. Throw in a mystery plot, which the two join forces to solve, and you have the ingredients of a great suspenseful romance.

Monday, March 7, 2011

New Book


My fourth Love Inspired Historical is out this month. A Gentleman's Homecoming is set in one of my favorite periods, Victorian England. I delved into the field of engineering for this one. I was interested in all the great projects being built in the second half of the 19th century: railroad bridges, tunnels, the first subways, skyscrapers, etc.
So, what if you have a prominent male engineer and a female who's always dreamed of being an engineer, an old crush, a child...
Mix it all up and you have A Gentleman's Homecoming.