Amish Mayhem by Samantha Price

When Cherish went searching through her mothers personal things in order to determine if Wilma had given her husband Levi ownership of the apple orchard, she never expected to find her father's will. So far as the Baker children knew, her father had not left one. Now it seems that he did, but that Wilma had chosen to ignore his wishes by keeping the orchard rather than it becoming Florence's as he had intended.

Not knowing what to do about it, Cherish takes the will to show it to Florence and Carter. But what will Florence decide to do now that she knows that her father had intended for the orchard to be hers? Will she seek to own it or let it go to Levi & Wilma?

I enjoyed reading this book. As with the previous books in this series, it is a very quick read and can be easily finished within about a day or two. It did contain more family drama than many of the previous books in the series, but that also makes it even more interesting than if it hadn't had the emotional turmoil that accompanies any family drama. It definitely has me wanting to keep reading this series to see what happens next, especially after the very large shock at the end of this book.

I believe that anyone who has read the previous books in the series or who enjoys Amish romance books as well as of the other books by Samantha Price will enjoy this book.

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A Vampire Named Allison by Nick Savage

Allison has been having a rough time. Many of her friends and family have been murdered, and her boyfriend Connor is being framed for the most recent murder. Connor has gone into hiding while he seeks to find a way to prove that he wasn’t guilty. It doesn’t help that Allison’s best friend Scarlet was among those killed, though in her case, it’s a bit more complicated than just her having been murdered And that is only some of what is happening in this book.

I read a review copy of this book and really enjoyed it. This is a complex fantasy series with what I feel is a rather unique approach to paranormal entities such as werewolves, vampires, and fairies. This book does deal with quite a few serious subjects, such as murder, loneliness, feelings of abandonment, depression, alcohol abuse, and suicide. So please be aware of them should such subjects be triggering for you.

There is a lot going on in this book, and while many of these themes are on the dark side, there are happy moments as well. Overall, I found the story to be entertaining, happy at some times, depressing at others, but there were good reasons behind everything that happens in this story, and I am very much looking forward to reading the next book in this series to see what will happen next.

This book did end on a rather upsetting cliffhanger, and we’ll unfortunately have to wait on the release of the next book before we learn the aftereffects and fallout from that character’s actions. Looking back, the signs for what takes place were there but it was so unexpected that I didn’t truly see the signs until the event took place. Unfortunately, I can’t go into any further detail about it without including some major spoilers. And as much as I want to talk about it, I do not want to give away anything important. I will say that if you are at all invested in these characters, the ending of this book is going to hit you where it hurts.

If you like complex fantasy novels that are loosely based on real world issues, stories about supernatural creatures, and books that are highly emotionally charged then you will want to read this book, especially if you have read the previous books in this series. If you have not yet read the previous books, I would strongly suggest that you read the previous books in this series first as you are likely to feel a bit lost and confused on a number of things if you haven't. Recommended.

Amazon requires me to state that I have an Amazon Associates account that I use to generate the links to the books on their website. Purchasing something after following those links will earn a few pennies for me off the sale, though as of yet I have not earned anything from my Amazon Associate links.

An Indian Mail Order Bride by Florence Livington

Wicapawakan’s father promised her as a wife to another indian on their reservation. Unfortunately, her father doesn’t believe the stories told about the man’s violent nature and believes he would never harm his daughter. But he’s wrong. Wicapawakan chooses to escape this arranged marriage and runs away in the middle of the night, keeping moving from one place to another, never staying anywhere for too long. She places an advertisement in the Matrimonial Times hoping to find a safe haven where even if her would-be husband finds her, she will already be married to someone else and will be safe.

Harve, the man who responds to her letter and offers to marry her, doesn’t realize that he was writing to an Indian woman, and while he wants to help protect her, he knows that his extended family are unlikely to accept a marriage to a native american woman. They were expecting him to choose a woman of high social standing to be his wife. And a native american woman does not, in his mother’s eyes, meet that standard.

I read a review copy of this interesting mail order bride novel. I enjoyed the story, as I have all of Ms. Linnington’s other books. This one had some interesting twists and turns, most of them I expected, though there were some surprises. One of the themes in this book seems to be how if someone looks different than you, then you shouldn’t be with that person. And though this seems to be how the two main characters were raised to believe, as they get to know each other, they come to realize that while there are differences between them, as there are between any two people, those differences did not make either of them better or worse than the other. And of course, another theme seems to be that in the end, love conquers all.

And as always, you can expect that no matter the difficulties the characters face, there will be a happy ending for the characters. If you enjoy sweet romances with some inherent difficulties, mail order bride stories, any of Ms. Linnington’s other books, then you will likely enjoy this book as well.

Amazon requires me to state that I have an Amazon Associates account that I use to generate the links to the books on their website. Purchasing something after following those links will earn a few pennies for me off the sale, though as of yet I have not earned anything from my Amazon Associate links.

Midnight in Istanbul by Kathryn Gauci

During WWII, resistance operatives were working in Turkey, Greece, and in other locations in the world in an effort to defeat the Nazis and end the horrific deaths happening in the concentration camps. In Turkey, an OSS agent, Caldwell Bey, receives a message to meet a man in secret. The identity of the other party isn’t known, but clearly the man knows that Caldwell is working with the resistance. But when he arrives, no one is there to meet him, and a man has been murdered. But the question remains, who was murdered and which side was the murderer on. Was Caldwell the intended victim? Has the resistance been compromised?

I received a review copy of this book, and while I did enjoy the story, I do have to admit that it was not one of my favorites by this author. To me, it felt too disconnected from the rest of the war, and I kept wondering who had committed the murder and why. And while we do learn the identity of the dead man, I’m not entirely certain how it all tied in together.

There is a great deal of the local culture and the wartime atmosphere shown in this book. We see the relationship of Caldwell and another member of the resistance while he is on assignment. A fair amount of the story does involve the relationship between the two of them and their differing assignments while in Turkey.

I kept waiting for something that tied the whole thing together in my mind, and while I did truly enjoy the story, when it ended I felt like I must have missed something important. Perhaps the point of this one was to focus on the daily lives of those in the resistance, but the fact that I’m still not certain if I missed something important or not has left me confused. I normally truly enjoy the books by this author, but honestly, this one left me wanting something more. I’m just not entirely certain what.

But as always, one of the most interesting parts of Ms. Gauci’s books for me involves what we learn after the end of the story. It is the part of the book where she fills us in on the historical research that she completed in order to write this story. We get to learn about what life was like in Turkey during the war. It was a country that claimed neutrality during the war, but in which members of both sides of the war played a part. So when you read this book, be sure to read the information at the end of the story. As always, I think it is one of the best parts of Ms. Gauci’s stories.

Amazon requires me to state that I have an Amazon Associates account that I use to generate the links to the books on their website. Purchasing something after following those links will earn a few pennies for me off the sale, though as of yet I have not earned anything from my Amazon Associate links.