Between Two Shores by Jocelyn Green
Stephanie's Rating: 4 out of 5 bookmarks

Well, this is a challenging review to write. Instead of being "Between Two Shores", I am between two minds!

A lot of historical research was obviously done in preparation for the writing of this novel. As a historical novel, it is an excellent specimen! The placement of rivers, cities, and battles, movements of porters, trappers, and troops, and the intertwining of alliances, hostilities, and nations is breathtaking in its magnitude. The reader can certainly feel the mood of the era, that is, if you take the time to read all the detail. As a self-confessed speed reader, I found myself often skimming large passages of explanation of trade routes and names of rivers and their intersections. If you are a history buff, you would enjoy the description immensely as it is very well written, just not in my interest range.

The plot line is very intricate and makes use of going backward in time to recount events and then jumping back to present time to build on those events. Again, for me, this is no problem, but I do know readers who do not care for this style and get confused with who did what when!

Book Synopsis, courtesy of Baker Publishing:

The daughter of a Mohawk mother and French father in 1759 Montreal, Catherine Duval would rather remain neutral in a world tearing itself apart. Content to trade with both the French and the British, Catherine is pulled into the Seven Years' War against her wishes when her British ex-fiancé, Samuel Crane, is taken prisoner by her father. Samuel claims he has information that could help end the war, and he asks Catherine to help him escape.
Peace appeals to Catherine, even if helping the man who broke her heart does not. But New France is starving, and she and her loved ones may not survive another winter of conflict-induced famine. When the dangers of war arrive on her doorstep, Catherine and Samuel flee by river toward the epicenter of the battle between England and France. She and Samuel may impact history, but she fears the ultimate cost will be higher than she can bear.

Between Two Shores is not a light read and is much more realistic in its presentation of life than I have found many novels to be. The main character, Catherine, faces a life filled with hardships, decisions, and consequences of decisions. The first half of the book has a deep undercurrent of anger, bitterness, and a struggle to be loved. I feel deeply when reading, so I was bothered by the continual grating pain that influenced every conversation, remembrance, and choice. I began to feel Catherine's struggles and wonder if she would ever see the light of day in her spirit. The book had a bogged down, sluggish feeling at this point. The second half of the book gets going again and provides the context for Catherine's deliverance from her inner pain, and I was glad to find that she finally came to a calm acceptance of all life had been. The book certainly does not have the tidy happy endings that I have come to expect from most novels, but it did portray a realistic ending that should resonate with many.

Jocelyn Green © Double-Wide Design

In summation, this is a deep book. There are no easy answers or clear paths laid out, but there is an eventual peace that does come. Read with the knowledge that you will be challenged and may not particularly "like" every part when it doesn't go the way you may wish!

I would recommend that those under the age of 18 not try to digest this novel for the familial strife, drunken violence, descriptions of battlefields, and torture practiced by Indian tribes. Though well written and never intentionally crude, these topics can never be made pretty.

Between Two Shores is an excellent and thought-provoking historical fiction novel. Just to be clear, I would not call this a romance novel at all. I give it 4 out of 5 bookmarks merely because I didn't particularly relish the detailed geographic descriptions and because it drug through so much back story before really getting going.





Stephanie Garrett is a busy homeschooling mom of three who somehow always finds time to read. She has been a voracious reader since childhood and even won a bicycle in elementary school for having read the most books! She enjoys learning and growing and never turns down an opportunity to try something new. Her first love is the Lord and service to Him, second is family, and third...is reading. She believes that anyone who learns to read with comprehension can go anywhere and do anything! She also enjoys music, theatre, sewing, and mathematics.




Disclosure: The publisher provided us with a free copy of this book for promotional purposes. This post contains affiliate links.

Convergence by Ginny L. Yttrup
Sarah Grace's Rating: 5 out of 5 bookmarks

Ginny Yttrup is the award-winning author of several women’s fiction novels, but her newest release, Convergence, published in March of 2019, marks her debut into the suspense genre. I had never even heard of this author until I found Convergence, but wow, I think I’ve been missing out. I was completely floored by this book. This is one of the most complex stories I've read in a really long time.

Book Synopsis:

A psychologist paralyzed by fear.

A mother propelled by love.

A stalker bent on destruction.

Psychology professor Dr. Denilyn Rossi contends that the past is either a shadow that haunts us or a force that propels us. The choice is ours, she tells her students. What she doesn’t tell them is that her own past is a shadow she can’t seem to shake. Fear has immobilized her and is taking a costly toll.
Adelia Sanchez, however, has embraced Dr. Rossi’s teaching. She is ready to confront fear and render it powerless—using the trauma of her past to propel her to entrap the man who stalked and brutally attacked her.
As Denilyn’s past and Adelia’s present converge at the Kaweah River, a dangerous man bent on destruction threatens them both. Will he uncover the secret Deni and Adelia have fought so hard to protect?

Dr. Denilyn Rossi is a psychology professor, but she still deals with debilitating fear and PTSD over events that happened eight years ago. This character is so incredibly multi-faceted, it takes the length of the entire book to unravel all her complexities. And there are loads of plot twists along the way. Despite how intricate her character was, I was still able to relate and empathize with her on many levels throughout the book. I feel that in suspense novels, characters and their development can tend to get lost in the plot and action of the story—which is always disappointing for this character-driven reader—but not so in Convergence.

Regarding the plot, I don't even know where to start, or what I can say without giving too much away because, as I mentioned above, this novel is so complex. However you think this story is going to go, you’ll probably be wrong. There will be a multitude of twists and turns before you reach the end, and the suspense keeps you turning pages. From page one, it grabbed my attention and I did not want to put it down until the end.

As I mentioned, I have not read any of Yttrup's previous books, but I greatly enjoyed her writing style and will definitely be checking out more of her work. The themes of fear and faith she weaves throughout this story were masterfully done, touched my heart in so many ways, and really makes the reader think.

Overall, Yttrup pens a complex and unique novel of suspense and faith and knocks it out of the ballpark. I highly recommend Convergence to lovers of suspense novels filled with faith and solid characters.




Sarah Grace is a voracious reader, and if it weren’t for this crazy thing called “Life”, she’d be tempted to spend all her days in front of a woodstove, book in one hand, coffee mug in the other. A lover of learning, she finds enjoyment in many things, and has more hobbies than she knows what to do with. When not reading, spending time with her ever-growing family, or buried in a textbook, she can be found painting, playing the piano, producing music and audio dramas, web designing, fangirling with her sisters and friends, or discussing technology with her brothers. Sarah Grace inhabits the State of Great Lakes and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.


Disclosure: The publisher provided us with a free copy of this book for promotional purposes. This post contains affiliate links.

A Tender Hope by Amanda Cabot

Far Side of the Sea by Kate Breslin
Hannah's Rating: 5 out of 5 bookmarks

Who's with me on loving a good spy story? How about a mystery that keeps you guessing until the last page? Kate Breslin's books always tick both boxes for me, along with giving me deep suspense and sweeping (but clean) romance. The only thing I dislike about her is that she doesn't publish books every other week!

The Plot

In this book, Colin is our hero. He is perhaps an unlikely one; he has come back from the trenches minus a hand and is still learning how to live with a prosthesis while working through a case of shell shock (now known as PTSD). He has been assigned to a post on the English shore working with carrier pigeons and is handling and decoding messages they bring. He's working through the sadness of being within hearing of the shelling of Paris, the challenge of being determined to remain strictly independent despite having just one hand, and feeling sidelined because he isn't carrying a gun into the trenches anymore. When he receives a carrier-pigeon message from Jewel Reyer, the woman who saved his life the first time he was wounded, asking him to meet her in Paris, he drops everything and begs his handler, Lord Weatherford (who we met in another of Breslin's books, Not By Sight), to allow him to go to the meeting despite that danger. Weatherford agrees, giving him a contact name in Paris to check in with.

Johanna Reyer, daughter of an artist and a free-spirited woman who recently died in the Irish Easter Rising, is desperate to find the sister she never knew about. She went to France in hopes of finding her long-lost father, disdaining the dangers of war, only to find him long gone and her sister Jewel recently disappeared. She takes over her sister's place caring for the carrier pigeons, but worry for Jewel forces her to take the desperate step of trying to contact the man whose name is prominent in her sister's journal.

Kate Breslin Photo Credit: ©Samantha Panzera Photography

In a cloak-and-dagger thriller, Colin and Johanna are in for a game of cat and mouse with an enemy willing to do anything to get to the finish line first--even to the point of separating Colin and Johanna and making them distrust each other. Who's the real traitor?

The Characters

Colin is a determined fellow, and I really admired his determination and his "fight"; whatever he sets out to do, he's bound and determined not to leave unfinished. Tenacity is a great quality in a hero and one of my favorite qualities to read, especially since attention to detail is really what "makes" the character quality and less detail can make the character seem controlling or stubborn instead. Breslin delves into his motivations and his internal questions, making his character show clearly which fully engages the reader from his first attempts to dress, shave, and eat with one hand to the final showdown.

My favorite qualities in Johanna are her loyalty and her soft but staunch heart. She doesn't hold grudges and pout; she picks herself up and goes forward. She's not abrasive, but she is determined, and nothing is going to keep her from doing her level best to find and help her sister. Even contacting an English stranger in the middle of a war to help her find Jewel isn't something that would stop her. I loved her for it, too. Don't we all hope our own sisters will go to the ends of the earth for us?

Final Thoughts

While there are recurring characters from other books (more from Not By Sight than High as the Heavens) the plot does not carry over at all and this book stands alone.

There is very little spiritual content, but it's obvious that the characters rely on God. There is not a spiritual lesson to learn, but they are believers. As for other content: there are a couple of kisses, a bit of wartime violence, and Colin's favorite swear is "Titan's Teeth!" which he uses fairly frequently.

All in all, this fourth novel only solidifies Kate Breslin's place as one of my top favorite authors. I'm still hoping the mysterious Marcus, a spy who's made brief appearances in all three of her WWI novels, is going to get his own book soon!

I recommend Far Side of the Sea to both male and female readers who enjoy a solid suspense/mystery story. This book does have a romance element, but the action angle is more prominent.




Hannah Gridley has been a dedicated bookworm since the age of 4. By day she works for a local nonprofit; in her spare time she works in a bookstore, teaches music, plays violin in two local orchestra groups and in her church, and enjoys hiking. Favorite reading genres include Christian, historical fiction, suspense, and vintage/classic novels. When she isn't working, writing, or reading, she spends money adding books to her home library or collecting fountain pens and fancy inks.




Disclosure: The publisher provided us with a free copy of this book for promotional purposes. This post contains affiliate links.

Nicole is out on assignment so JD is joined on the show by author and Bookworm Banquet blog contributor, Victoria Lynn. Victoria brings a review of one of her favorite fantasy novels and JD reviews a spiritual thriller by a new-to-him author. Also in this episode is JD's Tip about an online tool to help you discover your next great book and Victoria steps into Nicole's shoes and brings a Bookworm Fact about a great bookish family tradition.


Download Episode 25

The Appetizer

Gladstone's Library
Sleepover at a 130-Year-Old Library

Tidbits

Review: Live Without You by Sarah Grace Grzy
Forgotten Treasures // Mildred D. Taylor
Review: The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielson
Review: Courting Mr. Emerson by Melody Carlson

The Reviews

Victoria's Book

Resistance by Jaye L. Knight
523 Pages
Living Sword Publishing
Publication Year: 2014
Purchase Resistance on Amazon

Victoria's Rating: 5 out of 5






JD's Book

The Chair by James L. Rubart
388 Pages
B&H
Publication Year: 2011
Purchase The Chair on Amazon

Updated Cover

JD's Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Nicole’s Victoria's Bookworm Fact

...is about a book-related Christmas tradition.
Full Story

JD's Bookworm Tip

...is a great tool to help you find your next great read called Which Book.


Today’s episode is brought to you by Adagio Teas. Adagio is the premier source for loose leaf teas on the internet.

Get in touch with us!
Email: feedback@bookwormbanquet.com
Feedback Line (text or voice): 623-688-2770

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

Driftwood Bay by Irene Hannon
Sarah Grace's Rating: 4.5 out of 5 bookmarks

Editor's Note: Driftwood Bay is part of the Hope harbor series. Click here to see more books in this series.

Irene Hannon is an incredibly talented author and knows how to weave together a cohesive plot with realistic and loveable characters. It is no wonder she is a seven-time RITA Award finalist and three-time winner. But I will be honest and say that I tend to be skeptical of her works—particularly her romances—as they just aren’t always my cup of tea. But when I saw Driftwood Bay, the synopsis really grabbed my attention, so I thought I’d give another a try. And I am very glad I did!

Book Synopsis, courtesy of Revell:

After tragedy upends her world, Jeannette Mason retreats to the tiny Oregon seaside town of Hope Harbor to create a new life. Vowing to avoid emotional attachments, she focuses on running her lavender farm and tea-room--until a new neighbor with a destructive dog and a forlorn little girl invades her turf. But she needn't worry. Dr. Logan West is too busy coping with an unexpected family, a radical lifestyle change, and an unruly pup to have any interest in his aloof and disagreeable neighbor.
Yet when both Jeanette and Logan find themselves pulled into the life of a tattered Christian family fleeing persecution in war-torn Syria, might they discover that love sometimes comes calling when it's least expected?

From chapter one, I fell in love with Logan West’s character. He’s kind and caring and doing his level best to connect with his grieving five-year-old niece, of whom he now has custody. But he’s also insecure and very real in his struggles to care for a little girl, and that just makes him such a relatable character. His niece, Molly, is also a very sweet character, and while the reader only enters her point of view once or twice, you nonetheless quickly fall in love with her as well. Jeannette Mason is also a very solid character, and very relatable, but I didn’t click with her as much as I did the other characters.

While Logan and Jeannette are our main characters, we also enter the point of view of a Christian Syrian family fleeing persecution. I think that subject is a very relevant one right now, and Hannon did a fabulous job weaving that topic into the story. I loved getting into Mariam’s and Thomma’s heads and seeing firsthand some of the tragedies they went through.

The plot maintains a nice pace that keeps you engaged from beginning to end, and these characters will quickly find a place in your heart. As I mentioned briefly above, I didn’t particularly care for the romance, and that’s the reason I docked half a star from my rating, but that is only my personal preference. I did appreciate how the romantic thread played a more backseat role compared to the other storylines.

All in all, I greatly enjoyed this release from Irene Hannon! If you are looking for a romantic, cozy, beachy read, definitely check out Driftwood Bay!




Sarah Grace is a voracious reader, and if it weren’t for this crazy thing called “Life”, she’d be tempted to spend all her days in front of a woodstove, book in one hand, coffee mug in the other. A lover of learning, she finds enjoyment in many things, and has more hobbies than she knows what to do with. When not reading, spending time with her ever-growing family, or buried in a textbook, she can be found painting, playing the piano, producing music and audio dramas, web designing, fangirling with her sisters and friends, or discussing technology with her brothers. Sarah Grace inhabits the State of Great Lakes and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.


Disclosure: The publisher provided us with a free copy of this book for promotional purposes. This post contains affiliate links.

The Lady of Tarpon Springs by Judith Miller
Hannah's Rating: 4 out of 5 bookmarks

This book was my first story by Judith Miller. I'd avoided her work for a long time under a nebulous idea that her books might be underwhelming or saccharine. However, I grabbed a copy on impulse after my friend kept telling me how much she was loving the book.

I was wowed by a colorful story of Florida life and Greek culture that is sure to stick with me for a good long while. Zanna Krykos could easily be the stereotypical modern heroine: a historical woman discontented at home, hesitant to marry, following a mostly-male career, and very sure of her own opinion and perceptions. But Miller takes all that and goes beyond stereotype by plopping her right in over her head: her dear friend Lucy inherits a fledgling sponging business and needs some help. Zanna to the rescue! She is a lawyer and most importantly she speaks Greek. Lucy's new employees are arriving from Greece (which was apparently the sponging center of the universe) to try to start up a company to harvest the numerous sponges in the Bay. Lucy doesn't speak a word of Greek, the workers don't speak a word of English, and Zanna's her only hope.

Single master diver Nico Kalos is leading his men to a new land to ply their trade and send money back home to loved ones. He can hardly believe it when he finds the promises made to him about the job are false and the man who promised them newly dead. Two women who haven't the slightest clue about the job or the essential safety requirements are the leaders now, and Nico's stuck: there's no money for fare to return to Greece. The last thing he'll do is let these headstrong women endanger his men or refuse to live up to the promises that drew his group away from the families and homes they loved. He can't speak enough English to communicate with his new boss, Lucy, but he can sure speak to fiery and pretty Zanna. Sparks fly fast between these two.

Wow, I learned so much about sponging and diving! I was fascinated by all that went into it and amazed by the dangers that the divers faced. This part of the book was really well done and interesting.

What held it back from a five-bookmark rating for me was just a couple of things. Zanna is a lawyer, but we aren't told much about her job or what made her want to go into it. Not much about how she learned it or anything about her other clients. She has some kind of office but I kept waiting to really see her helping people there. Also, we get lots about Greek culture but very little about historical Tarpon Springs itself. I'd have like a more detailed city setting and a bit more about the job/calling that drove Zanna.

In terms of a content advisory, there isn't much to say. There are a few kisses, a death, and an attempted drowning. I'll definitely be seeking out more by Miller now!




Hannah Gridley has been a dedicated bookworm since the age of 4. By day she works for a local nonprofit; in her spare time she works in a bookstore, teaches music, plays violin in two local orchestra groups and in her church, and enjoys hiking. Favorite reading genres include Christian, historical fiction, suspense, and vintage/classic novels. When she isn't working, writing, or reading, she spends money adding books to her home library or collecting fountain pens and fancy inks.





Disclosure: The publisher provided us with a free copy of this book for promotional purposes. This post contains affiliate links.

Never Let Go by Elizabeth Goddard
Sarah Grace's Rating: 3 out of 5 bookmarks

Elizabeth Goddard is the author of numerous titles for Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense line, as well as several titles for Barbour Books, including the 2011 Carol Award-winning The Camera Never Lies. Never Let Go is the first in her new Uncommon Justice series, published by Revell.

Book Synopsis, courtesy of Revell:

Forensic genealogist Willow Anderson is following in her late grandfather's footsteps in her quest for answers about a baby abducted from a hospital more than twenty years ago. When someone makes an attempt on Willow's life to keep her from discovering the truth, help will come from an unexpected source.
Ex-FBI agent--and Willow's ex-flame--Austin McKade readily offers to protect the woman he never should have let get away. Together they'll follow where the clues lead them, even if it means Austin must face the past he's spent much of his life trying to forget--and put Willow's tender heart at risk.

Both the description and the cover immediately grabbed me when I first saw this book. Forensic genealogy and a cold case? I’m in. Our main characters, Willow Anderson and Austin McKade, both have emotion-packed backgrounds, and when they find themselves thrown together once again, they are forced to face their pasts. While I personally struggled to relate to the characters and understand their decisions, they are nonetheless soundly developed characters. Frankly, I enjoyed the secondary cast of characters more than the main ones. Heath McKade, Charlie Clemmons, and even John Houser are incredibly complex characters that I greatly enjoyed reading about.

Alternate Cover for Large Print Edition

Goddard certainly knows how to develop a plot that keeps you on your toes! With numerous twists and turns, and loads of action and suspense, Never Let Go will keep you reading late into the night to reach the final outcome. Just when I thought things were starting to resolve, they only got worse. I lost count of the number of plot twists.

Goddard’s writing style is very laid back and casual, and while I can’t say I enjoyed it overmuch, I think others would. I was also somewhat confused as to the villain's motive. I feel like that was revealed too quickly at the end, and therefore wasn't thoroughly fleshed out. My other main complaint would be the romance and the amount of romantic tension. Unfortunately, I found myself more annoyed with it instead of rooting for the characters, but that’s just based on my personal preference for romance.

Overall, if you are looking for a book with loads of action, suspense, and romance, this is definitely one to check out! I am looking forward to reading Heath’s story in Always Look Twice come October 2019!

The Sky Above Us by Sarah Sundin
Victoria's Rating: 4 out of 5 bookmarks

Editor's Note: The Sky Above Us is Book #2 in the Sunrise at Normandy series. You can read Victoria's review of Book #1, The Sea Before Us, here.

Sarah Sundin has a knack for writing historical fiction. There is no doubt about it. Not that I should be surprised. She has, after all, written many WWII novels, but this one is something special indeed.

Book Synopsis, courtesy of Revell:

Numbed by grief and harboring shameful secrets, Lt. Adler Paxton ships to England with the US 357th Fighter Group in 1943. Determined to become an ace pilot, Adler battles the German Luftwaffe in treacherous dogfights in the skies over France as the Allies struggle for control of the air before the D-day invasion.
Violet Lindstrom wants to be a missionary, but for now she serves in the American Red Cross, arranging entertainment for the men of the 357th and setting up programs for local children. Drawn to the mysterious Adler, she enlists his help with her work and urges him to reconnect with his family after a long estrangement.
Despite himself, Adler finds his defenses crumbling when it comes to Violet. But D-day draws near...and secrets can't stay buried forever.

The main character, Violet, was one that I could relate to, in ways that I wish I didn’t. I almost felt a little vulnerable as I saw a lot of my old thinking reflected in her beliefs and the subtle ways that she was believing the right thing for the wrong reasons. Violet's male counterpart main character, Adler was a bit of a surprise and refreshing in the sense that his backstory and character were so against the norm for your typical historical romance hero. Instead of being a perfect, gorgeously handsome and downright swoon-able man, he was instead a swaggering, prideful, broken mess with a past that would make most of us cringe.

But the beauty of the story were the themes. Heartbreaking and heartwarming messages of God’s forgiveness, his mercy, repentance, God’s true mission field and more made this book one that I really enjoyed.

Sarah Sundin

Let us not forget the awesome play-by-play of the in-air firefights. The descriptions and action were amazing and very detailed; I could clearly picture it. The intensity of the battles really struck home with the realization of what they actually went through and it gave me a new perspective and appreciation for those who currently fight and have fought for our country. Sundin does her readers a service in the way that she honors those who serve as well as their families. A consideration which I find beautiful as well as eye-opening.

Violet’s struggle to find her true calling and listen to the Lord’s voice as well as her realization that each person's mission field is as unique as they are themselves, was a message that I found truly inspiring. The reminder that sometimes God calls us to mundane tasks and things that might not be grandiose or might not seem very important was a theme that I found greatly refreshing.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction. While applicable to the story, I would warn against some content as there are mentions of a character's actions (i.e. sleeping with his brother’s girlfriend while drunk) which he greatly regrets, but nonetheless, it is still mentioned in the book. So I would definitely recommend this to older readers.




Victoria Lynn is a “Jane of all trades” who seeks to master them. She runs several small businesses and is the girl behind the blog, Ruffles and Grace. She is an Indie Author with a passion for literature and the written word. She lives in the glorious state of many lakes, Michigan, with her parents and eight siblings. She devours books and likes to say that if she could get paid for every book she has read, she would be a millionaire. Some of her favorite things to do include writing fiction, learning new things, acting, creating something with her hands and playing the piano or singing. She also is one of the founders of Ichthus Family Productions and seeks to honor the Lord in all that she does.


Disclosure: The publisher provided us with a free copy of this book for promotional purposes. This post contains affiliate links.

In this special bonus episode, we invite you to come along with JD and Nicole to the VNSA Book Sale on February 9, 2019. We recorded on location audio on our way to the sale, while at the venue, and a recap after the event. The VNSA Used Book Sale is an annual event at the Arizona State Fairgrounds and we thought it would be fun to share our bookworm adventures with our podcast family.


Download Episode 24

The VNSA Book Sale

Official Event Website

Pictures from the Event

Click any image to enlarge.

JD and Nicole waiting in line on Friday night.

Some of the folks in line ahead of our group. Those are people sleeping on the ground wrapped in blankets.

A view of part of the interior of the building that held the sale. And yes, that is the top of JD's head. Why was he using the front-facing camera? Who knows. Give him a break; he'd been awake all night long.

A couple more shots of the inside of the book sale building.

Get in touch with us!
Email: feedback@bookwormbanquet.com
Feedback Line (text or voice): 623-688-2770

Don't forget to subscribe to the show!

Live Without You by Sarah Grace Grzy
JD's Rating: 4 out of 5 bookmarks

I was quite impressed by this debut novella. This is a wonderfully written, heartfelt story centered around well-rounded and very realistic characters. The main characters of Piper and Ezra are colorful and engaging.

Here is the synopsis of this heartstring-tugging story:

Piper Redding is a loner, but lonely. Everyone she loves has abandoned her and opening her heart to others is just asking for more pain. She can’t help but blame herself for her brother’s tragic death six years ago, and in her guilt, she shuts herself off from the world. No one could love her—not even the God who promised to be there for her but wasn’t.
For paramedic Ezra Bryant, failure is not an option. He’s had enough of it, and only by God’s grace is he able to put it behind him. But when a traumatic event brings Piper’s greatest fear and Ezra’s failures to light, can they use that event to allow God to mend their broken pieces? Can love triumph over fear, and grace over guilt?

The writing is graceful and straightforward and the story progresses at a nice clip. This is not a thriller that takes off at breakneck speed and keeps you on the edge of your seat in anticipation. Rather it is a story that moves along as just quickly as needed to pull the reader into the lives of the characters. As things progress we learn more and more about Piper and Ezra and the challenges that each one is dealing with and I thought the pacing was just about right. That's not to say there's no excitement; on the contrary, the book starts off with it and there are more moments of suspense throughout, but it's not the main focus.

Sarah Grace Grzy

I appreciated some of the themes that were addressed in the story, such as learning to overcome the burden of guilt, trusting God in spite of troubling circumstances, and dealing with the death of loved ones. There are several heart-tugging moments that were poignantly and beautifully depicted. I also liked that even though both main characters are adults they still reached out to wise elders who had more life experience for advice on multiple occasions. And I particularly liked the positive father-son relationship that was portrayed. While the Christian themes are overt, they were neither forced or preachy, but were a very natural part of the story.

There were a few small niggling things; one that I had to question the plausibility of, and a couple of stylistic choices, but other than that, I thought that Live Without You was a beautifully written book that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. A nice balance of a sweet romance and some very real and tough life challenges melded together into a tale that is bound to warm your heart. I am excited to see what Sarah Grace Grzy comes up with next.

Live Without You is appropriate for all ages but would probably appeal most to female readers aged mid-teen and up.



My Favorite Line from the Book:
“My momma said there ain’t nothin’ coffee and a lil ’ bit o’ Jesus can’t fix.”

Author Bio:
Sarah Grace Grzy is a voracious reader, and if it weren’t for this crazy thing called 'Life,' she’d be tempted to spend all her days in front of a wood stove, book in one hand, coffee mug in the other. A lover of learning, she finds enjoyment in many things and has more hobbies than she knows what to do with. Sarah Grace is a freelance web and graphic designer, and when not working, spending time with her ever-growing family, or reading, she can be found painting, playing the piano, or fangirling with her sisters and friends. She inhabits the State of Great Lakes, and wouldn’t want to live anywhere else—unless it meant she could have a baby penguin, in which case, she’d gladly move to the South Pole.



J.D. Sutter is the producer and host of the Bookworm Banquet podcast and editor of the blog. He is the founder of Porchlight Family Media.









Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Sarah Grace is one of the writers for this blog and she provided a pre-release copy of this book for review. Neither of those facts impacted the opinions expressed herein.

The False Prince by Jennifer A. Nielson

Courting Mr. Emerson by Melody Carlson
Stephanie's Rating: 5 out of 5 bookmarks

In an interview with the author, Melody Carlson, concerning this book, she states that she hopes it will "simply offer an enjoyable break".  "Courting Mr. Emerson" did just that for me!

While many romance novels acquaint us with the first-flings and broken hearts of untried young people, Courting Mr. Emerson takes us down the road of life a few years. Mistakes have been made and many life-lessons have been learned. Our main characters are older and wiser and are reaping the fruits of the decisions made in their youth.

Ms. Carlson makes sure we catch glimpses of the past that have brought about specific circumstances in the present, but doesn't bog down on always looking backward. She keeps this book fast-paced and continually moving forward toward a brighter, better, more fruitful future! She reminds us that life isn't over when the young adult years are gone. There are still experiences to be had, goals to be reached, mistakes to be cleaned up, and a continual questing to be closer to God. Also, the journey can be made sweeter if a close friend comes along!

I really enjoyed the zest for life exhibited by the main female character, Willow West. She loves life and lives it to the fullest while leaning on God and looking for opportunities to make life better for someone else. George Emerson, the main male character, is an endearing, staid bachelor who is about to find out that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks. What a pleasant journey to watch these two lives intersect and challenge each other.

This is a remarkable, clean book and able to be read by anyone aged 12 and up, but young persons may or may not enjoy reading about people whom they might consider to be very old. This novel may be best enjoyed by seasoned minds aged 30 and above.




Stephanie Garrett is a busy homeschooling mom of three who somehow always finds time to read. She has been a voracious reader since childhood and even won a bicycle in elementary school for having read the most books! She enjoys learning and growing and never turns down an opportunity to try something new. Her first love is the Lord and service to Him, second is family, and third...is reading. She believes that anyone who learns to read with comprehension can go anywhere and do anything! She also enjoys music, theatre, sewing, and mathematics.



Disclosure: The publisher provided us with a free copy of this book for promotional purposes. This post contains affiliate links.

Today’s forgotten treasure isn’t nearly as old as the other authors or books that I have mentioned in previous posts.

Mildred D. Taylor was a racial activist and I had the pleasure of reading one of her books when I was in high school. After that one foray into her work, I was hooked. Her writing was like a sucker punch to the gut of my emotions and I couldn’t shake the realness and incredible insight with which her novels were written. Without any prodding on the part of my teacher, I took it upon myself to look up the rest of her works and proceeded to read several of them.

A little about Taylor, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Mildred DeLois Taylor is an African-American writer known for her works exploring the struggle faced by African-American families in the Deep South. She received the 1977 Newbery Medal for her novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.

Mildred D. Taylor

Miss Taylor writes with a purpose, and the passion and message behind her books is so strong, it is hard for one to miss. The social injustices of the deep south after the Civil War, during the reconstruction, and even after, were ingrained into the culture as surely as thread holds every article of clothing together. Her style of writing takes a bright yellow highlighter across this forgotten (or for me) little known about time period and struggle, illuminating it and making it shine for all of its ugliness. . . and its beauty.

As it turns out, the first book I read by her was actually the fourth book in the Logans series chronologically, but it was actually only her second book written. It will still be my favorite of her works. I believe that is partly because of the impact it created in my life the first time that I read it.

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Published in 1976

If that title weren’t enough to make your heart jump, this book takes you on a wild ride. With beautiful themes of family, friendship and the innocence of childhood, it makes the dark injustices of historical racism all the more poignant. This book is and always will be my favorite. Even though chronologically, this one isn’t first, I would highly recommend reading it that way. It made all of the other stories in the Logan family saga more beautiful for having read this first.

Song of the Trees - Published in 1975

This book was her first published work. Definitely written for a slightly younger audience. It's less of a violent story, but it is beautiful and amazing in its own right.

Let the Circle Be Unbroken - Published in 1981

A sequel to the universally acclaimed Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, continuing the story of the Logan family in Mississippi during the Depression. The children, especially Cassie, are happy in their warm, stable family but outside is a climate of fear and tension. Their friend T.J. goes on trial for murder and stands before an all-white jury. Cousin Suzella tries to pass for white, with humiliating consequences. And when Cassie's neighbor stands up for her right to vote she and her cousin are driven from their home. Cassie is realizing what it means to grow up black and powerless, but her family stands together, proving that courage, love, and understanding can defy even the deepest prejudices.

The Friendship - Published in 1987

This story of the Logan children broke my heart in so many ways. The realities of what one small, simple act could create in the way of consequences and the ripple effect a perceived disrespect could create blew my mind. . . and my heart.

The Road to Memphis - Published in 1990

Fast forward some years down the road to when Cassie is in her late teens and embarks on a journey with her brothers to take a friend who is in trouble out of the state to save him from the consequences of his actions. Dreaming of college and law school for a young woman in her position is something that most in the south know to be foolhardy. But Cassie’s dreams are strong, even if she is a bit naive. Follow their journey across state lines as these teens and young adults are thrown together on a much more dangerous path than they had expected.



There are several more books written by Mildred D. Taylor. If you enjoy learning about or are curious about this particularly rocky period in our nation's history, I would highly encourage you to read at least one of the books. I think it is very important to realize where our nation was, in order to get a better understanding of where it is now. And doing it through the eyes of the very poignant characters and writing from these books is an eye-opening and incredible way to do just that.

Subscribe to the Bookworm Banquet so that you don’t miss out on the next installment of Forgotten Treasures!

~Victoria Lynn


Victoria Lynn is a “Jane of all trades” who seeks to master them. She runs several small businesses and is the girl behind the blog, Ruffles and Grace. She is an Indie Author with a passion for literature and the written word. She lives in the glorious state of many lakes, Michigan, with her parents and eight siblings. She devours books and likes to say that if she could get paid for every book she has read, she would be a millionaire. Some of her favorite things to do include writing fiction, learning new things, acting, creating something with her hands and playing the piano or singing. She also is one of the founders of Ichthus Family Productions and seeks to honor the Lord in all that she does.



Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.