The Hawaiian Discovery by Wanda E. Brunstetter & Jean Brunstetter

Book Description:  Ellen Lambright mourned when her best friend, Mandy, moved from Indiana to Hawaii. But now Ellen has received the Amish church’s permission to go to Hawaii and help Mandy through challenging times. Rob Smith works on the Williams family’s organic farm, far from his past mistakes and burning regrets. When Ellen befriends Rob, the attraction is mutual, but her commitment to the Amish faith stands between them. Could a heartfelt discovery lead to forgiveness, reunion, and love? Or is Ellen’s destiny waiting for her in Indiana?

My Thoughts:  I loved The Hawaiian Quilt so I was anxiously awaiting this sequel.

~back story~Remember that Mandy Frey and her three friends worked and saved enough money to take a cruise and ended up in Hawaii.  But when it was time for the ship to return one of her friends was missing and so Mandy and Ellen miss the ship looking for their friend.  They are taken in by a sweet christian couple who are Hawaiian. Mandy loves it but Ellen misses everything Amish.

Now Mandy is living in Hawaii and Ellen misses her. So when the church allows Ellen to go to Hawaii to help Mandy things develop that neither young woman sees coming.

Can these young Amish ladies learn to live in the place they love and with people that they have come to cherish.

Such a grandastic story!  Of course, I love Wanda & Jean Brunstetter's storytelling!  So I am a bit biased. 😊  

This is a great sequel.  Makes a wonderful gift too.

Paperback: 256 pages

• Publisher: Shiloh Run Press (June 1, 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1683224477
• ISBN-13: 978-1683224471

Lulu's Cafe: A Novel by T.I. Lowe

Book Description:  “Some scars are too deep to ever heal,” Leah Gabriella Allen whispered in hushed anguish.The orphaned young woman knows all too well about scars…a thick burn spanning her left palm…a deep rigid scar adorning her right hip…a scar etched across her bottom lip…There were countless more, exposed as well as hidden deep within. After years of foster and group home instability, Gabriella naively falls in the thorny arms of the abusive Brent Sadler. The constant bruise of cruelty is ever present in their ten years of marriage – beatings that riddle her body and then being locked away in a closet when Brent grows weary of looking at the damage.One last momentous beating ends with two deaths and changes Gabriella’s life forever. She stumbles away within an inch of her own life and begins a journey to an unexpected southern home which is none other than Lulu’s Café, where she tries to mend her severed spirit. Lulu is the petite charismatic southern belle with a strong unshakable faith.

My Thoughts:  T.I. Lowe is a new.to.me.author but I love to read stories by authors that I've never heard of or known.  

As I began reading this story my heart hurt for Gabriella Allen.  I've never been in her position but, yet, it brought tears to my eyes.  I simply can't imagine someone beating or hurting another human who is close to them.  WHY?  

As I read this story I began to see why Mrs. Lowe wrote about this topic.  God's amazing grace...it can and will bring us through the most difficult times in our lives.  It's not that Gabriella knows God intimately but God knows her and her situation.  And He leads her to Lulu's Cafe.  I love Lulu!  

The best thing about this story is the romance.  It isn't a love at first sight, gotta-get-hitched-now type of romance but more of a true life kind of romance.  The kind where the man likes the lady but wants to take his time and make sure she's the right one for him.

Oh and back to Ms. Lulu...she's my kind of gal.  She's not preachy but she cares and her faith makes up for her lack of height.  She's strong but kind, she's lovable but not push over.  And she makes great food for the body with a bit of food for the souls thrown in for good measure.
And there are recipes!  I always love a story that includes great recipes.

A fantastic read!

*I bought this book and chose to do a review*

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition (February 28, 2014)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1495974758
• ISBN-13: 978-1495974755

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The Book of Comforts: Genuine Encouragement for Hard Times by Kaitlin Wernet, Rebecca Faires, Cymone Wilder and Angie Smith

Book Description:  When someone is grieving, what should we say? How can we help? How do we comfort without offering shallow platitudes? In times of sorrow Scripture beckons us to look up and out, because our help comes from the Lord. The Book of Comforts stands in the gap between suffering and hope, offering readers the abiding comfort found in Scripture.

My Thoughts:  I wanted this book because, frankly, it's quite difficult for me to verbalize a comforting thought when someone is going through a rough time.  

This is a beautiful hardback book.  So much lovelier than the picture.  And quite a bit bigger than I expected.  It's not a small book but it's not overly large either.  

It's not colorful but on one side of the page is a dark grayish colored page or plain white page with gold lettering or plain white with dark gray print that has an encouraging statement.

I found that this book makes for a great devotional book especially for someone going through a difficult time.

The book is chock full of scripture and experiences that may help and encourage a fellow believer.

We all go through difficult/hard times and this book is a wonderful to help us and others.  It is also great for giving comfort from you to someone else.

*This book was provided for review by BookLook*

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (March 26, 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310452066
• ISBN-13: 978-0310452065

A Table by the Window {Two Blue Doors Series} by Hilary Manton Lodge

Book Description:  Heirloom recipes, family secrets…and a chance for love 

The youngest heir to a French-Italian restaurant dynasty, food writer Juliette D’Alisa has spent her life negotiating her skill with words and her restaurant aspirations. When her brother Nico offers her a chance to open a restaurant together, she feels torn—does she really have what it takes? Should she risk leaving her journalism career?

After the death of her grandmother, Juliette discovers an antique photograph of a man who looks strikingly like her brother. As the truth behind the picture reveals romance and dark secrets, Juliette struggles to keep the mystery away from her nosy family until she can uncover the whole story. 

Inspired by her grandmother’s evolving story, Juliette resolves to explore the world of online dating. To her surprise, she finds a kindred spirit in Neil McLaren, a handsome immunologist based in Memphis, Tennessee. With a long-distance relationship simmering, Juliette faces life-shifting decisions. How can she possibly choose between a promising culinary life and Neil, a man a world away in more ways than one? And is it possible her Grandmother’s story can help show the way?

My Thoughts: I love books that Hilary M. Lodge writes.  I've read Plain Jayne and Simply Sara {her Amish books}.  I've waited for a long time for Ms. Lodge to write a new book.  

Ms. Lodge has an easy way with words that take a reader into another time and another place makes for one excellent story.

A Table By the Window isn't just an ordinary read but a special something read about a noisy, nosey family and a photograph from a different place and a different time.  What could this antique photo mean?  Secrets and mystery!

I love the cover with a girl by a window! I'm wondering if the window has some significance, like seeing into another life or living in a world of sunshine?  Or maybe, just loving life!

And then there's the romance. A great guy who is funny and charming but whom Juliette has met online.   Ah! Poor Juliette can't keep a secret like her long ago grand mere.  Somethings, I guess, just aren't hereditary.  He comes to Portland to meet her family...secret out!  

But the pastries...ahh! the pastries!  Makes the reader wish for her own pastry chef!  Great recipes abound in this read!

I loved this absolutely delightful read!  And, yes, waiting for the next book! 

*This book was provided for review by Waterbrook/Multnomah*

• Series: Two Blue Doors
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: WaterBrook Press
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307731758
• ISBN-13: 978-0307731753

The Edge of Over There by Shawn Smucker

Book Description:  Before the Tree of Life, everything in Abra Miller's life had been predictable. But after the Tree and the lightning and the angels, everything felt tenuous, like holding a soap bubble in the palm of her hand. She spent years looking for signs of that other world, waiting for it to break through. When it didn't, her friendship with Sam Chambers grew cold and distant, and they both wondered how any of it could actually have happened.

Four years later, 16-year-old Abra's long-delayed quest to find the next manifestation of the Tree of Life is renewed when she sees a woman walking up the road--a woman who looks exactly like Sam's dead mother. The woman directs her to New Orleans where she will find the grave of Marie Laveau, one of seven gateways between this world and Over There. As Abra enters The Edge of Over There and begins her pursuit of the Tree once more, she doesn't know whom to fear or whom to trust. But she's starting to think that some doorways should never be opened.

My Thoughts:  This is not my usual genre of reading material.  But the title caught my attention.

First of all I didn't realize that this was a sequel to The Day the Angels Fell.  Secondly, this is a YA read but I would say that anyone 12 and up could read it.  There may questions about death.

And lastly, since I didn't read the first book which I think is a must with this read, I was slightly behind in understanding all that was going on.

This story also dabbles in dystopian and fantasy with spiritual undertones.

It's an interesting read.  

The main character Abra Miller reminded me a bit of Eve in the Bible.  And this story seemed to me to be a bit of Genesis with a twist.  

Sometimes we can't go to the edge over there.  Sometimes there is no turning back when we make a decision.  We just make the best of it and travel on.

This is a fantastic story for those who love fantasy.

*This book was provided for review by Revell*

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Revell; Reprint edition (April 2, 2019)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800735412
• ISBN-13: 978-0800735418

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}