My Top 12 Reads of 2012

Well, I did it.  

My goal was to read 48 books this year, and I have. There were a few in there I might have given up on before ACTUALLY finishing, but I did try. Here is a list of my Top Twelve  Reads for the year 2012.  

(They are listed in the order I read them with a link to my review)

 

The Accidental Bride by Denise Hunter

(Contemporary Romance, Thomas Nelson) 

I loved the love-hate tension Denise Hunter created between the two main characters of this book. I really didn't know which side I was on concerning the hurts they both caused one another in the past.

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The Maid of Fairbourne Hall by Julie Klassen
(Regency Historical Romance, Bethany House)

Julie Klassen always amazes me with her fleshed out characters and flawless plots.
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My Stubborn Heart by Becky Wade
(Contemporary Romance, Bethany House)

This book came out of nowhere and totally blew me (and all of my friends!) away. I'd never heard of Becky Wade before last spring, but I sure am going to keep my eye on her books in the future!

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Short Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer
(Historical Romance, Bethany House)

Karen Witemeyer is another author I can always count on for true-to-life characters and plots that make me sigh all the way to her satisfying endings.
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The Messenger by Siri Mitchell
(Revolutionary Historical Romance, First Person, Bethany House)

Hannah Sunderland and Jeremiah Jones were, quite possibly, my favorite couple of the year. Which is funny, because the story is about so much more than them falling in love. I blame the fact that it was written from both of their perspectives in first person.
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Love Finds You in Mackinac Island, Michigan 
by Melanie Dobson
(Historical Romance, Summerside Press

Melanie Dobson was another new author for me. I loved the suspense in this book, even if part of it was not having the hero and heroine meet until close to the middle of the book.   

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The Rose of Winslow Street by Elizabeth Camden
(Historical Romance, Bethany House)

Atmosphere. Dark and gothic. And real.

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Unending Devotion by Jody Hedlund
(Historical Romance, Bethany House)

I blazed through this book so fast, I wished it was twice as long! Actually, I wish any of Jody Hedlund's books were twice as long.

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A Love Surrendered by Julie Lessman
(1920's Historical Romance, Revell)

AMAZING wrap up for the O'Connor Family. I think Steven was my favorite of them all... but that might only because his was the last book. I think that every time I read any of Julie's books. 

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Wonderland Creek by Lynn Austin
(1920's Historical Romance, First Person, Bethany House)

This was such a touching story written from first person perspective about a young woman finding her true place in the world.   

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Against The Tide by Elizabeth Camden
(Historical Romance, Bethany House)

Translating foreign codes for the Navy, bringing down drug rings, and going undercover at a secluded, palatial mansion. Oh, and Alexander Banebridge. Lydia Pallas's heart never had a chance. 
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The Tutor’s Daughter by Julie Klassen
(Regency Historical Romance, Bethany House)

Oh, how I love a good, sigh-worthy Regency! And this one had it all! A Country House, masters and servants--and everyone in between, the sea-weathered cliffs and bluffs off of the coast of Cornwall, and a brooding hero who saves the heroine from certain death! (yes, I love the melodramatic...)
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I hope you enjoyed my list and will look these titles up in the coming months! I'd love to hear what you thought of them!
  

A Writer's Review of “A Love Surrendered" by Julie Lessman

I hardly know what to write... where to start... except to say I am so in love with the words in this book. No, scratch that—I think I’m in love with all of the words in all of Julie Lessman’s books.

I spent a long time reading A Love Surrendered—longer than usual because, first of all, my preparing for the ACFW conference got in the way, then attending the conference took up about a week, and then I felt the need to go through my own 88,000 word manuscript (in three days) one last time before sending it off... but mostly, because I just plain didn’t want it to end!

Ah, yes—all the while I was thinking about Steven O’Connor and Annie Kennedy—trapped in the midst of their intense, angst-filled relationship. When will he see how double-minded he is? Why won’t he admit he’s in love with her? When would she tell her sister? And HOW ON EARTH ARE THESE TWO EVER TRULY GOING TO BE TOGETHER? 

Yes, well. You get the gist. 

And then there’s the whole entire rest of the 400+ page book filled with sub-plots involving the parents and the other five siblings (and their spouses) of the O’Connor clan... and oh, how they’re all still so intriguing!

At the end of Chapter 14... I’m pretty sure I was in love the most right there. It still gives me chills just thinking about it. I took a picture of the words on my kindle so I can see them anytime I want. These potent, soul-stirring words have nothing to do with the romance between the two star-crossed lovers, but between the God of the universe and one stubborn, hard-headed man—and that man’s heart being won over by the best Lover of all. 

Oh... and he was.

Thankfully there is still one more book—a prequel, actually—about the O’Connor clan that comes out next month in eBook form. A Light in the Window is the (ever-complicated, I’m sure) love story between the O’Connor parents, Patrick and Marcy... and I JUST downloaded it to my kindle in preps for a blog tour next month (Yippee!). You can just bet you know what book I’ll be reading next. It’s true, I wish I could have Julie’s words pumped into my veins. 

I received a complimentary and unedited (it hasn’t quite been through the complete editing process yet) eBook version of A Love Surrendered by Revell Books (through NetGalley.com) in order to give a review containing my complete and utterly honest opinion. 

I give Julie Lessman’s A Love Surrendered 5 GLOWING Stars.

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READ THESE BOOKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“The Daughter’s of Boston” Series

     

The “Winds of Change” Series
         
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And One Last Thing!
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Love At Any Cost, book one in Julie’s new series “The Heart of San Francisco” comes out in April!
 

 Fooled by a pretty boy once,

shame on him.

Fooled by a pretty boy twice,

shame on me.

Jilted by a fortune hunter, cowgirl Cassady McClare is a spunky Texas oil heiress without a fortune who would just as soon hogtie a man as look at him … until Jamie MacKenna, a handsome pauper looking to marry well lassos her heart. But when Jamie discovers the woman he loves is poorer than him, Cassie finds herself bucked by love a second time, sending her back to Texas to lick her wounds and heal her heart. In her absence, Jamie discovers money can’t buy love, but love built on faith can set a heart free, a truth he discovers a little too late … or is it?

A Writer's Review of “The Messenger" by Siri Mitchell

{My Review}

I spent every spare moment of the last few days reading this book until it was finished. This was such a good book! At first I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but the two characters quickly changed my mind and just kept drawing me in further and further. They were both so... different.

Hannah Sunderland was so quaint saying her "thee's" instead of "you's" and so darn unabashedly straight-forward! I could really tell at the beginning of the book she was a little lost, caught right smack dab in the middle-ground of "having no side" in the Revolutionary War since she was raised as a Quaker. I could also tell when she went from just being what any Quaker maiden was "supposed" be... to living with her her own convictions, but all the while staying just as true to herself as she did to everyone else. 

And the hero, Jeremiah Jones... wow. He really had a ways to grow on me... which he did. Just as he slowly grew on Hannah. The love that slowly grew between them was just plain adorable. There weren't a ton of physical descriptions, or even much description at all since the book was written from first person point of view and the reader is really only able to see what a particular character would be noticing.

And not a single (real) kiss in the whole thing!?! There were lots of "displays of affection" that only went as far as hugging (with one arm... so sweet!) and kisses on hair... And all this coming from a writer/reader (me, that is) who is madly obsessed with the romantic passion portrayed in all of Julie Lessman's books! But oh, did this book have passion! It was tied up in their love and in their beliefs and their duty to do what they could... no matter the cost. And it was just so subtle and reserved... so like Hannah and Jeremiah themselves. Which, as it turns out, was a very interesting twist, since Hannah and Jeremiah were polar opposite in every way possible besides this very important aspect.    

Siri Mitchell is an amazing writer. She does first person so well! But so differently than others may write it. Since I also write from first person point of view, I have a particular love-affair with it... especially when I see it so well done... the way Siri Mitchell always writes it. The Messenger was even half written from the hero's perspective... which I don't see often done. And I ended up loving it... a lot.

This, put quite plainly, is one of the best books I've read in a very long time.

My FAVORITE part of the book was one sentence in the second to last scene, on the second to last page. I'm not going to tell you what it is because I want it to perhaps hit you as it did me. Square in the chest. All I will tell you is that I think I'll probably be carrying around that one moment from this book for the rest of my life.      

Bethany House Publishers provided me with a paperback copy of this book to review in exchange for my honest opinion. I give Siri Mitchell's The Messenger 5 (bright and shining) stars.

A Writer's Review of “The Daughters of Boston" series by Julie Lessman

A PASSION MOST PURE 
by Julie Lessman


I'm not one to usually pick up a book by an author I've never heard about, but a few years ago I did just that, and ended up finding my all-time favorite Christian fiction author! I've since learned that it probably had something to do with some sort of special connection both Julie Lessman and have regarding Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind. This was the first Christian fiction novel that actually made me cry -- and there it was. The bar was set. This was an AMAZING first novel... and Julie Lessman hasn't stopped being amazing since. With every book, they just seem to get better and better!!!!

A PASSION REDEEMED 
by Julie Lessman

I particularly looked forward to reading this book, mostly because the heroine was such a firecracker in Book #1... and the fact that I felt as if I already knew the entire O'Connor family and their friends so well. It was like I was going back to read more about my very own friends. And then, of course, there was hero. Now, passion is a pretty strong word in and of itself... but perhaps, just maybe there is some other word out there that could go even deeper into the amazing story between these two characters... and whatever that word is, it all begins with one character--Mitch Dennehy. I swear, I still cannot look at the cover of that book without having the sudden urge to swoon.      

 A PASSION DENIED 
by Julie Lessman

I adore how completely flawed Julie Lessman can write her characters. Each one of them has so many real issues they're trying to work out, and most of the time, as the reader, you actually get the point where you aren't able to see HOW they're going to get over them--and then on with their lives. It's simply amazing how well Julie can get inside such differing high emotions, deep desires and wounded hearts of each and every one of her characters, male and female. Like I said, she sets the bar--and sets it high. There is no other author I enjoy reading more than Julie Lessman.