Beguiled by Deeanne Gist and J. Mark Bertrand

Rylee Monroe is a dog walker in the historic district of Charleston. When a string of burglaries begins to target some of the wealthy families of Charleston, the only thing the victims have in common is Rylee as their dog walker. Rylee, now a suspect, tries to clear her name. She teams up with Logan Woods, a reporter following the case who hopes to get it published as a true-crime book. As they try to discover who is stealing from her clients, it become obvious that Rylee seems to be at the center of everything. So, is Rylee the thief or a victim like her clients? You'll have to read the book to find out!!

It didn't take long to get pulled into this mystery and make me not want to put the book down. While I began to piece together who did it, the book definitely offered many surprises that I wasn't expecting. The story is full of lots of twists and turns and definitely a good read.



This book was sent to me by Bethany House Publishers as part of their book review blogger program. I received a free copy of this book to review.

Plain Paradise by Beth Wiseman

Linda is a 17 year old Amish girl growing up in Lancaster County. When a strange "English" woman shows up and upsets her parents, Linda is curious who this woman is. Linda receives the most shocking news when she finds out that she was adopted and the "English" woman, Josephine, is her biological mother. Josie was 17 when she gave up her baby for adoption to an Amish family. She returns to Lancaster County to hopefully have a relationship with her daughter.

Plain Paradise covers the sensitive subject of adoption and the effect on both families. Linda's parents, Abe and Mary Ellen, struggle with the fear that a relationship with Josie could effect their relationship with Linda. They are also concerned that Josie could influence Linda to leave the Amish community. As Linda's "mom", Mary Ellen struggles with having to share her daughter. This has to be tough on an adopted mother and the author really goes into the inner struggle that Mary Ellen faces.

Josie is dealing with all the feelings of giving a baby up for adoption, reconnecting with her daughter, and also fighting a terminal illness. Linda is having to balance having a relationship with her parents and now with Josie. She is also having to deal with the possibility of losing Josie now that Josie is a part of her life.

While this is a book #4 in the Daughters of Promise series, it can be read without having read the previous books. I really like this about the author. I haven't read the other books, but was able to really enjoy this book and not feel like I was missing anything. I actually would not have known this was a book in a series had I not fully read the title. Because this book was really good, I will probably get the previous books in this series. I really enjoyed reading about the Amish way of life.

Never Say Never by Lisa Wingate

Sixty-nine year old Donetta Bradford is ready for the trip of her life. She and her two best friends, Imajene and Lucy were going on a cruise. This was the most excitement they've ever had in their lives. Or so they thought. Hurricaine Glorietta was headed for the Mexican coastline until it quickly changes course headed directly for where Donetta and the girls are headed to meet their cruise ship. This gets them caught in the evacuation traffic and begins their unexpected, but thrilling adventure. They meet twenty-seven year old Kai Miller when they fill up for gas who later on rescues them when their van runs out of gas. This is the beginning of a suspenseful and entertaining story.

This book was a very entertaining read. Once I got into the story, I did not want to put the book down. It was also interesting in the fact that the story is told by Donetta and Kai. Each chapter switches back and forth between the two main characters. This took a little getting used to, but really allowed more character development for Donetta and Kai. They both had a lot of background information that really effects who they are now as a person and it was interesting to get a full picture of who they are.



This book was sent to me by Bethany House Publishers as part of their book review blogger program. I received a free copy of this book to review.