Lady of a Thousand Treasures ~ Sandra Byrd ~ Reviewed

Lady of a Thousand Treasures (The Victorian Ladies Series) Paperback
by Sandra Byrd

• Series: The Victorian Ladies Series (Book 1)
• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (October 9, 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 9781496426833

Description:
Miss Eleanor Sheffield is a talented evaluator of antiquities, trained to know the difference between a genuine artifact and a fraud. But with her father’s passing and her uncle’s decline into dementia, the family business is at risk. In the Victorian era, unmarried Eleanor cannot run Sheffield Brothers alone.

The death of a longtime client, Baron Lydney, offers an unexpected complication when Eleanor is appointed the temporary trustee of the baron’s legendary collection. She must choose whether to donate the priceless treasures to a museum or allow them to pass to the baron’s only living son, Harry—the man who broke Eleanor’s heart.

Eleanor distrusts the baron’s motives and her own ability to be unbiased regarding Harry’s future. Harry claims to still love her and Eleanor yearns to believe him, but his mysterious comments and actions fuel her doubts. When she learns an Italian beauty accompanied him on his return to England, her lingering hope for a future with Harry dims.

With the threat of debtor’s prison closing in, Eleanor knows that donating the baron’s collection would win her favor among potential clients, saving Sheffield Brothers. But the more time she spends with Harry, the more her faith in him grows. Might Harry be worthy of his inheritance, and her heart, after all? As pressures mount and time runs out, Eleanor must decide whom she can trust—who in her life is false or true, brass or gold—and what is meant to be treasured.

Review: 

Sandra Byrd creates stories that are full of fascinating history and mysterious details. If a cover has her name on it I'm certain I'm going to find that I'm cancelling plans or leaving chores undone so I can spend free time reading. 

She doesn't disappoint in Lady of a Thousand Treasures. Characters who are or are not whom they seem to be. Situations are twisted and mysteries unravel as the heroine finds herself between cliffs and jagged valleys. Eleanor Sheffield is gifted with a skill set best suited for men, or rarely, a married woman, valuing and finding antiquities for clients. Unfortunately, her father has passed leaving her with an uncle who seems to be losing his skill and mind. The male clerk/assistant sends mixed and confusing signals, and his behavior feels anything but safe. Eleanor is tasked with evaluating a treasure trove and deciding the fate of the wealth and antiquities of the estate. Will her work shows the treasure belongs to the son of the deceased? Or in the museum? One minor complication is that the son of the deceased is her childhood best friend and the very man who recently crushed her heart. 

If the plot sounds intriguing you owe it to yourself to get a copy. And don't make any social plans around delivery because you won't want to do much more than curl up with a warm beverage and the Lady of a Thousand Treasures for the next couple of days.

*An advanced reader copy was provided by the publisher for an honest review. The provided copy did not require a positive review. 

Reviewed by: Kelly Klepfer

An Uncommon Courtship by Kristi Ann Hunter ~ Reviewed

An Uncommon Courtship (Hawthorne House)
by Kristi Ann Hunter
Series: Hawthorne House
Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (January 3, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0764218263

Description: 

"Engaging Regency romance to sweep you away."--USA Today Happy Ever After Blog
Life for Lady Adelaide Bell was easier if she hid in her older sister's shadow--which worked until her sister got married. Even with thepressure of her socially ambitious mother, the last thing she expected was a marriage of convenience to save her previously spotless reputation.

Lord Trent Hawthorne couldn't be happier that he is not the duke in the family. He's free to manage his small estate and take his time discovering the life he wants to lead, which includes grand plans of wooing and falling in love with the woman of his choice. When he finds himself honor bound to marry a woman he doesn't know, his dream of a marriage like his parents' seems lost forever. 

Already starting their marriage on shaky ground, can Adelaide and Trent's relationship survive the pressures of London society?

Review: 

An Uncommon Courtship follows Lord Trent Hawthorne. He is definitely happy not to be the eldest son in the family, as he in no way wants to be a duke, however, he is still having trouble finding out where he fits in society and what he should be doing. When he finds himself forced into a marriage with Lady Adelaide Bell, a woman he hardly knows, he tries to find the positive in the situation, knowing the Lord is in control, yet he can't help wishing the circumstances were different. Adelaide, on the other hand, is caught off guard just as much as him. Being the second daughter, and always overlooked, she has no idea how to be a wife and take care of a home, especially to someone she barely knows.

I love the books in this series, and this one is no exception. I love both Trent and Adelaide's characters. They are forced into a difficult situation, and while they have ups and downs, they are also open to letting the Lord work in their marriage so that, hopefully, love will grow. I highly recommend this book!

Reviewed by: Sarah Meyers

Jolina Petersheim's The Alliance ~ Reviewed

The Alliance

Molina Petersheim

Series: The Alliance
Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.; Author Signed edition (June 1, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1496402219

Description: 

When Leora Ebersole sees the small plane crash in her Old Order Mennonite community, she has no idea it's a foreshadowing of things to come. Soon after the young pilot, Moses Hughes, regains consciousness, they realize his instruments were destroyed by the same power outage that killed the electricity at the community store, where Englischers are stranded with dead cell phones and cars that won't start.

Moses offers a sobering theory, but no one can know how drastically life is about to change. With the only self-sustaining food supply in the region, the Pacifist community is forced to forge an alliance with the handful of stranded Englischers in an effort to protect not only the food but their very lives.

In the weeks that follow, Leora, Moses, and the community will be tested as never before, requiring them to make decisions they never thought possible. Whom will they help and whom will they turn away? When the community receives news of a new threat, everyone must decide how far they're willing to go to protect their beliefs and way of life.

Review: 

The Alliance takes place in an Old Order Mennonite Community. Leora Ebersole is taken aback when a small plane crashes in her community. The pilot, Moses Hughes, regains concsiousness, and realizes his plane crashed because his instruments were destroyed by a strange power outage the took out the electricity and power in all of the local stores. Not only that, the cars and cell phones of the Englishers in town were not working either. Moses, theory is that there was an EMP attack, causing the loss of all power and electricity, and that it will not come back. This results in the town and the Englischers coming together to ration food and protect their families and belongings from anyone who might come along from the cities. This ordeal tests both Leora and Moses, not only in their faith, but the struggle they have with the growing attraction they feel towards each other.

This was a very interesting storyline that I did not expect when I started the story. I guess the thing that hits home is that this is something that could realistically happen today, and it makes you wonder what will happen, how the world will react, and how we as believers are to conduct ourselves. Of course, God is sovereign over all, and we can trust him if something like this happens. However, it is a bit scary to think about. I'm hoping there is a sequel to this book as I felt like the ending was abrupt.

Reviewed by: Sarah Meyers

BONUS REVIEW: 

Nora St Laurent shares her thoughts here: http://psalm516.blogspot.com/2016/06/the-alliance-by-jolina-petersheim.html

Eva Marie Everson's Five Brides ~ Reviewed

Five Brides

Eva Marie Everson

Paperback, 453 pages

Tyndale Fiction

May, 2015

ISBN: 978-1414397443

Description:

One dress, five women, a lifetime of memories.

Five single, fiercely independent women live together in a Chicago apartment in the early 1950s but rarely see one another. One Saturday afternoon, as they are serendipitously together downtown, they spy a wedding dress in a storefront window at the famous Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co. After trying it on―much to the dismay of the salesclerk and without a single boyfriend or date between the five of them―they decide to pool their money to purchase it. Can one dress forever connect five women who live together only a short time before taking their own journeys to love and whatever comes happily ever after?

Review:

This novel captivated me and created a deep sense of nostalgia—for a time period I’ve never lived in.  I’ve always enjoyed stories that capture a sense of relational connectedness and community, and to me, that’s what made this novel so heart-warming. It takes a gifted writer to craft a novel with five key and distinct characters. Ms. Everson drew me deeply to each character and the time period in which they lived. 

The story begins in a hotel room in London, England in 2015, with a bride waiting for a special wedding dress—a wedding dress with a rather enchanting history. In the following chapter, the story behind this dress begins to unfold. But the greatest stories are not about the dress but instead, the women who purchased it, the growth they experienced, the challenges they overcame, and the bond they shared. 

The novel quickly time-shifts to 1951, Chicago. In this historically rich city, five women roommates, living at a time when women were still fighting for the right to work and receive equal pay, pushed against societal expectations to find independence. I loved experiencing old Chicago, and the author did a great job of fully immersing me in setting. 

As I said previously, all the characters captured my heart, and I’ve been trying to determine which female I enjoyed most. Though they were all memorable, I greatly admired Betty and feel she was the unifying thread of these special female relationships. A strong and confident socialite raised in luxury, she valued her independence so much, she was willing to lose everything in order to be true to herself. She became the voice of reason to the other women in the story and continually, but gently, pointed them toward strength, self-respect, and self-discovery. 

The other women had similar stories of finding themselves, and, of course, true love. Some had to learn the hard way, and it was painful watching them travel down a road of self-destruction. But in the end, their relationship to one another, symbolized by a beautiful and shared wedding gown, remained intact and carried them through, ultimately bringing out the best in each of them. 

I really loved this story, much more than this review indicates because I find myself struggling to explain just what it was that captivated me so.  But I think it was the special bond these women shared. In our fast-paced, technologically driven culture, relationships can be so fleeting and surface level. It was refreshing and endearing to read about relationships that withstood the test of time and distance. And perhaps that’s why this story created such a sense of nostalgia, carrying with it the reminder that relationships matter. 

I’d definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves women’s fiction, historical fiction, and romance.    

Reviewed by: Jennifer Slattery