"The Kill Fee" by Fiona Veitch Smith

Intrepid journalist Poppy Denby is back, this time investigating the theft of a Fabergé egg and, eventually, murder.

"Lucifer's Harvest" by Mel Starr

I always look forward to the next installment in Mel Starr's Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton, Surgeon. These books are unlike any others I've read, and I love them!

"The Name I Call Myself" by Beth Moran

Just over two years ago, I read Beth Moran's Making Marion. Then last January, I read I Hope You Dance. Both times, I was completely charmed by Moran's British chick lit. I knew then that she was an author watch, and I'm pleased to say that each of her novels just gets better!

"i hope you dance" by beth moran

Just over a year ago, I was introduced to British author Beth Moran through her novel Making Marion. While I didn't understand everything in the book due to cultural differences, I found the characters and plot to be simply charming. I was eager to go back for round two with Moran's latest release, I Hope You Dance. (And isn't that cover just so whimsical? I love it!)

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Can dancing mend Ruth's broken heart? 

Ruth Henderson has moved back in with her parents--something she swore she would never do, especially not at the age of thirty-three. But in the face of the mountain of debt left by her late partner, and the fact that her teenage daughter, Maggie, is expressing her grief through acts of delinquency, there was really only one option. 

Returning to a house Ruth swore never to set foot in again is bad enough. Add to this an estranged father, whirlwind mother, and David--the boy next door who broke her heart--and it is little wonder Ruth can barely make it out of bed. 

But then, reunited with her old friend Lois, Ruth is persuaded to go along to a monthly girls' night. Here she meets a bunch of incredible women and for the first time since leaving home at eighteen, Ruth begins to make some genuine friends. 

She also has her first ever date--with the charming Dr. Carl Barker. However, after a disastrous dinner, and an upset Maggie still struggling with her father's death, Ruth promises her daughter she won’t go out with any other men. A promise she quickly regrets when David, the boy next door, asks her to dance. . . 

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I Hope You Dance is, in a word, delightful. While Ruth deals with serious issues like debt, stalking, teenage rebellion, and family drama, the story never feels heavy. I think much of this is due to the supporting characters--colorful women who stand by Ruth's side through thick and thin and whose personalities bring joy and humor amidst the drama. These characters are so vividly drawn that I felt as though I knew them.

While I Hope You Dance contains romance (some from rather unexpected places), and of course the reader wants to know if Ruth and David will find their way back to one another, I found myself caring far more about Ruth's friendships than I did about her love life. In fact, I was more concerned about Ruth's friend Ana Luisa's romance than I was about Ruth's. I would love to revisit Ruth's world in the future to check back in with her friends!

I Hope You Dance is not inspirational fiction in the way we perceive it in the United States. A few characters swear, and while church plays a major role in the story, a relationship with Christ is not emphasized. I'm not saying either of those things means you shouldn't read the book (in fact, I hope you do read it!); I just think readers should know what they're getting and not getting when they buy this book.

I loved I Hope You Dance, and I look forward to Moran's next book. 4-1/2 stars.

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Read my review of Moran's Making Marion (4 stars).

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Beth Moran has a background as a research scientist and adult educator. She now concentrates on church work and is part of the national leadership team of the UK women's network Free Range Chicks. She is married with three children and lives in Nottingham, England.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free for review from Kregel Publications. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

"only with blood" by therese down

Set in Ireland during World War II, Only with Blood is a story of family, greed, and redemption.

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When dying Jack Flynn decides he needs a bride so that he can father a son, his young wife Caitlin proves far more than he intended to buy 

Jack Flynn, strong and aggressive but slowly dying of tuberculosis on his farm in Tipperary in the Republic of Ireland, decides to acquire--purchase--a young wife who can bear him sons to inherit his family's land. His choice, Caitlin Spillane, is less than half his age, attractive and intelligent, and resents bitterly the obedience that is forced upon her. 

When a young firebrand, a supporter of the IRA, arrives in the village, he and Caitlin are drawn together in their detestation of Flynn. Flynn, traumatized by his own insurgent IRA experiences twenty years earlier, is secretly convinced that Eamonn de Valera's more diplomatic, peaceful approach to Ireland's problems is the only sane one. 

Could Caitlin be won for the cause, and leave her unloved husband? 

A novel set against the struggle for the heart of Ireland in the Second World War, when the IRA notoriously sought assistance from the Nazis, Only with Blood explores flawed characters placed in extraordinary situations. 

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Honestly, it's hard to really know what to say about Only with Blood. For the first 3/4 of the novel, I struggled to get through it. I think part of this is because I know virtually no Irish history, so the names and events, which I'm sure would have been significant to readers in Ireland or the United Kingdom, meant nothing to me. So much of the story surrounding Donal, the man who falls for Caitlin, centers on the IRA, and this plot line in particular didn't keep my attention.

While no one in Only with Blood is particularly likeable, I was drawn to Jack Flynn. Though he certainly had issues, he had a good heart, something I could sense from the beginning, even when his actions seemed to make him a villain. I especially appreciated the gestures he made toward Caitlin, despite her loathing toward him. There is a moment near the end of the novel when he explains to Caitlin why he married her, and that explanation gave me goosebumps and confirmed everything I thought I understood about Jack. The novel does end rather abruptly—as in, it doesn't really end—but I found that I didn't really mind. Jack and Caitlin's story wrapped up well, and that's the story I cared about.

If Only with Blood had simply been about Jack and Caitlin and the drama surrounding their marriage, I think I would have really enjoyed it. However, the politics—something I'm sure many readers will enjoy—kept me from fully connecting with and enjoying this novel. 2-1/2 stars.

Content note: Only with Blood contains a handful of swear words. It's not excessive, and the Lord's name is never taken in vain.

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Therese Down is currently working as the Head of English at a High School in England and has been teaching English Literature and Language for over twenty years in a range of schools and colleges. She holds a MA in Employment Law and is experienced in personnel management.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free for review from Kregel Publications. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

"the abbot's agreement" by mel starr

Master Hugh is back in the next delightful installment of Mel Starr's Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton series.

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A new and disturbing puzzle for the medieval surgeon-turned-sleuth

Master Hugh de Singleton is making his way toward Oxford when he discovers the corpse of a young Benedictine not half a mile from the nearby abbey.

The abbey's novice master confirms the boy's identity; it is John, one of three novices. He had gone missing four days previous, and yet his corpse is fresh. There has been plague in the area, but this was not the cause of death—the lad has been stabbed in the back. To Hugh’s sinking heart, the abbot has a commission for him.

With realistic medical procedures of the period, droll medieval wit, and a consistent underlying sense of Christian compassion, the seventh in the chronicles of Hugh de Singleton will delight medieval history and crime fiction fans alike.

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Mel Starr's books are unlike anything else I've ever read. If you'd told me several years ago that one of my most anticipated reads each year would be about a bailiff/surgeon in 14th century England, I'd have laughed in your face. Yet here I am, each January, devouring the next Hugh de Singleton novel.

The Abbot's Agreement is just as enjoyable as the previous books in the series. When Hugh discovers a dead body on the way to Oxford, he is soon swept into a murder mystery ... and the investigation takes him in a direction he doesn't expect.

This novel takes place largely in an abbey, and I found this glimpse into 14th century Christianity fascinating. I've noticed in previous novels that Hugh doesn't always hold to the teachings of the church, and this disregard comes to a head in The Abbot's Agreement, landing Hugh in a tough spot. Watching Hugh get out of that scrape (because of course he must) is quite enjoyable.

As in the previous novels, The Abbot's Agreement is written as if it's Hugh's journal, complete with foreshadowing and asides, which makes the reading incredibly engaging. I loved The Abbot's Agreement, and I'm already looking forward to next January when I can read Ashes to Ashes. 5 stars.

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Read my reviews of the other Chronicles of Hugh de Singleton novels.

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Mel Starr was born and grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduating with a MA in history from Western Michigan University in 1970, he taught history in Michigan public schools for thirty-nine years, thirty-five of those in Portage, MI, where he retired in 2003 as chairman of the social studies department of Portage Northern High School. Mel and his wife, Susan, have two daughters and seven grandchildren. 

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free for review from Kregel Publications. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

"death be not proud" by c.f. dunn

About the book (from the publisher): Following the vicious attack by a psychotic colleague, and reeling from the suspicion that Matthew Lynes is not all that he seems, Professor Emma D’Eresby flees her college teaching position in Maine to her hometown in England— taking the mysterious seventeenth-century journal she stole from the college’s archives with her.

Broken physically and emotionally, Emma drifts until, fearing for their daughter’s sanity, her parents invite a family friend to assess her. In the course of their conversation, Emma discovers that he spoke to Matthew over thirty years before.

This finally spurs her into action and soon, when she finds what certainly must be a reference to Matthew in the journal, she begins to understand Matthew’s profound secret.

But when Matthew arrives to confess his love for her, she must decide if she can trust him—and he must decide if he can share his extraordinary secret with her. Drawn by a deep connection that both feel but don’t quite understand they find they must set aside their doubts and trust each other.

Readers will be thrilled by the second installment in The Secret of the Journal from British author C. F. Dunn. Mixing suspense, romance, and the supernatural, Death Be Not Proud explores the profound moral implications of a life seemingly invulnerable to time.

My take: Death Be Not Proud picks up right where book one in the series, Mortal Fire, leaves off. Emma has left Matthew in the States and returned to England with her parents to recover from her attack. The majority of the book focuses on Emma's quest to learn the truth about Matthew—who he is and how he is connected to the journal she had been searching for. The story moves at a rather slow pace, but it's enjoyable. Basically, this book serves as a bridge between the first book and the third; not much happens, but it both answers questions from the first book and sets up what is sure to be an intense ride in the third book.

I would recommend reading Mortal Fire prior to this book, as many things wouldn't make sense without the background from book one. Death Be Not Proud is a great follow-up to Mortal Fire, and I look forward to reading what comes next in Rope of Sand.

My rating: 4 stars.

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Buy the book.
Read my review of book one, Mortal Fire.

About the author: C. F. Dunn runs a school in North Kent for children with developmental disabilities, dyslexia, autism, and other difficulties.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free for review from Kregel Publications.  I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also some of the links on this page are "affiliate links." This means if you click on the link and purchase a product, I will receive a commission.I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”