Archive | October 2019

Snowflakes At The Little Christmas Tree Farm by Jaimie Admans

Oct5

Recreating The Magic

Snowflakes At The Little Christmas Tree Farm by Jaimie Admans is the most delightful heart-warming contemporary novel. It will leave you smiling and feeling loved.

The novel is about community. A small Scottish village works together against not only larger corporations but also the elements. Success is not me-shaped but us-shaped. Together we can achieve more than I can alone.

Delicious descriptions enable the reader to have a complete assault on our senses. We can almost ‘smell’ the pine cones and hot chocolate, and ‘see’ the market, Christmas trees and snow.

There is the theme of restoration. Not only do a house and farm need brining back to life, but characters do too. Past hurts need to build trust and heal hearts. Lives need to be restored by love, care and belonging.

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Wyatt by Susan May Warren

Oct4

All This And Jesus Too

  Wyatt by Susan May Warren is a gripping contemporary Christian romantic suspense that I just could not put down and read in just one sitting. It is the fourth book in the Montana Marshalls series and could be read as a stand-alone. I however recommend reading all the books in order so you can join all the dots.

Wow, this Montana Marshalls series is completely enthralling, my heart racing with all the action. There are locations of America and Russia, traditional Cold War enemies. Agents from both sides pit their wits. Chase scenes, terrorists and homemade bombs all add to the suspense, as well as cyber hacking. The reader is in for a thrilling ride. I cannot wait to continue the action in book five.

Add to all this, the heart and hand of God, and Wyatt really does have it all. Too often we try to work our way to be ‘good enough’ for God when we are already loved and cherished. There is nothing more to be done as Jesus did it all on the cross. God says trust Me in all situations and let Me love you. “You’re enough and you’re loved because God says so.”

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Tractorman by Michael James Wiggins

Oct3

Man With Beard, Dog And Blue Snail

Tractor Man by Michael Wiggins is a true account of one man’s journey from the South of Spain to Bradford on a 1963 tractor – a distance of 1400 miles. As if that wasn’t amazing enough, he did it pulling a caravan with just his dog Luna for company.

I really enjoyed the interactions with Luna – her referring to Michael Wiggins as ‘master’ immediately put me in mind of Dobbie from Harry Potter! Dogs are always guaranteed to be crowd pullers and pleasers and Luna was no exception.

Along the way Michael Wiggins met strangers who opened their hearts. “Strangers prepared to give simply out of kindness reinforces all sense of humanity.” There was a real warmth that leapt from the pages. People on the continent saw Michael Wiggins and his tractor as a novelty, in contrast with England where it was accepted as the norm!

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Being Lena Levi by Bobbie Ann Cole

Oct2

Coming Home

Being Lena Levi by Bobbie Ann Cole is a powerful story of identity and discovery. It is set in 1950 but has its roots in the kindertransport of 1939.

Torn between Jewish foundations and a Christian upbringing Lena Levi sets out on her own personal journey of discovery. She needs to know who she is in order to work out where she is going. There is both the internal exploration and a physical exploration as she travels from Germany as a three year old to England and then later to Israel.

The reader witnesses the internal conflicts as Lena Levi tries to work out where she belongs. She always feels like a stranger in a foreign land.

Memory is a weird thing, as snippets of the past wing their way into Lena Levi’s mind.

Torn between two mothers – is Lena Levi a product of nature? Or nurture? Which is her ‘real’ mother? Her birth one? Or the one who has brought her up? Where is her true home?

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