Noah Drake And The Return Of The Dragon Hunters by Ben Russell

Noah Drake And The Return Of The Dragon Hunters by Ben Russell ISBN: 198129080X ebook: 169 pages Publisher: Creation Tales Released: March 1, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the author.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
What if you discovered a real, living dinosaur? Noah Drake, and his annoying brother Nathan, return to Lake Champlain and hope to see the legendary lake monster named Champ. The two boys soon realize the sea dragon is in danger when an escaped convict takes their family hostage. Will the criminals catch and kill a legend? Not if Noah and Nathan can put aside their differences to work together.


My Review:
Noah Drake And The Return Of The Dragon Hunters is a Christian middle grade adventure novel. This is the second book in a series, but it can be read as a standalone. However, you will better understand who the characters are if you've read the previous book.

Noah and Nathan are two boys who really like dinosaurs, so they were thrilled to see the local sea monster (Champ) in the last book and to help save her and her babies from dragon hunters. They're now returning to the lake, and they hope to see the sea monster again. Only, the bad guys are also back in another attempt to kill the sea monster. The two boys argued a lot in this book. They must learn to work together to save themselves and the sea monster.

Noah's family was likable while the "bad guy" characters were comical (though still convincing as potentially dangerous). Several characters were Christians who believed that God created dinosaurs about 6,000 years ago and that we knew them by the name "dragons" until the 1800s. There was also some discussion about what the world was like before the worldwide flood and about how dinosaurs might still be alive in modern times. There was no sex, gore, or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this fun, exciting story.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

In the Shadow of Croft Towers by Abigail Wilson

In the Shadow of Croft Towers by Abigail Wilson ISBN-13: 9780785223665 Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Thomas Nelson Released: Jan. 15, 2019

Source: ARC review copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Sybil Delafield jumps at the opportunity for a position at Croft Towers because she believes someone there knows who her parents are. She's hired to act as companion to a dying woman, but a highway robbery and her errands to secretly deliver letters at a nearby town cause her to wonder if she was actually hired to help someone spy for France.

An unsolved murder adds mystery to this already secretive family, and Sybil recognizes Mrs. Chalcroft’s handsome godson as one of the infamous highwaymen who robbed her. Sybil must determine if this man's earnest eyes speak the truth or if he is simply using her like others in the house. Everyone seems to have something to hide, and Sybil must decide who to trust while also coming to terms with the truth about her own past.


My Review:
In the Shadow of Croft Towers is a romance set in 1813 in England. Sybil is not the brightest bulb in the pack. It takes her a while to realize that anything suspicious is going on, and even then she obediently does as she's told rather than investigate. Her employer's dashing godson is a highwayman who robbed her, but she agrees to keep his secret. He has wonderful timing when it comes to rescuing her as she gets into all sorts of scrapes. She does help rescue him once or twice, but she really needs his constant watch to stay alive. He sees all these wonderful qualities in her before she has ever demonstrated them, but she did start to live up to his ideal of her as time passed.

The mystery had so many twists and turns that even when it was completely explained at the end, it only worked because Mrs. Chalcroft wasn't really in her right mind and so wasn't making rational decisions. The author also used some very odd word choices which slowed the reading as I tried to figure out what she really meant to say. Still, I enjoyed the characters and guessing what was going on despite the many twists. The historical details were mostly about the war with Napoleon and his spies in England.

Though from a Christian publisher, there was no noticeable Christian content. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable novel, but I hope the final copy has those odd word choices fixed.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Belting Inheritance by Julian Symons

The Belting Inheritance by Julian Symons ISBN-13: 9781464210877 Paperback Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press Released: Jan. 8, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description from Goodreads:
Lady Wainwright presides over the gothic gloom at Belting, in mourning for her two sons lost in the Second World War. Long afterwards a stranger arrives at Belting, claiming to be the missing David Wainwright - who was not killed after all, but held captive for years in a Russian prison camp. With Lady Wainwright's health fading, her inheritance is at stake, and the family is torn apart by doubts over its mysterious long-lost son. Belting is shadowed by suspicion and intrigue - and then the first body is found.

This atmospheric novel of family secrets, first published in 1964, is by a winner of the CWA Diamond Dagger.


My Review:
The Belting Inheritance is a romantic mystery originally written in 1964. The viewpoint character is a young man who gets stuck in the middle of the debate when a stranger arrives claiming to be a dead son who stands to inherit. The other heirs don't think he's actually their brother and bring others in to confirm that he is a fraud. When someone who could identify him turns up dead, the police get involved.

The main characters asked the stranger questions to determine if he was genuine or a fraud. The main character and his girlfriend end up going to France in pursuit of proof of who he really is and almost by accident uncover what really happened in the past and present. Two couples end up married by the end of the story. There was no sex. There was a fair amount of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting crime story, though it's not a typical mystery.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Truth About Miss Ashbourne by Joanna Barker

The Truth About Miss Ashbourne by Joanna Barker ISBN-13: 9781524406646 Paperback: 272 pages Publisher: Covenant Communications Released: Nov. 1, 2018

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Governess Juliana Ashbourne has dreams reaching far beyond the confines of her current position, hoping to someday establish her own school for girls. Then she inherits a fortune from her late grandfather, but there is one condition: she must spend a month at the estate of Havenfield—with the very family who disowned her mother. Juliana finally accepts the invitation even though resenting those who shunned her all her life. But Havenfield is far from what she expects. She discovers a grandmother seeking forgiveness, a cold and disapproving aunt, and a painfully shy cousin. And then there is Mr. William Rowley. Though the heir to the estate is a merciless tease, Juliana finds in him a friend and confidant—and perhaps something more. As she struggles to make sense of her new place in the world, her stubborn independence clashes with a yearning to belong and the even more confusing desires of her heart.


My Review:
The Truth About Miss Ashbourne is a romance set in 1820 in England. I think I would have enjoyed the story more if it'd started with her arriving at the empty house. I ended up really enjoying the story, but I didn't particularly like or understand Juliana at first. She defied her employers' wishes as to how their children should be educated and taught the children feminist principles and to resent their parents. She had so much resentment against her relatives because of how her grandfather treated her parents that she refused to spend a month with them. Even in order to receive a fortune that would allow her to open a progressive school for girls. She's in the wrong when she runs into the hero, then she's rude to him when he tries to be kind. Helping her required a lot of negotiation.

Then she's fired and has no choice except to visit her relatives. All but one are surprisingly kind. She starts to thaw, accept family and love, and become much more likable. We learn why she's had to be independent even as she works with the hero to bring about her dream of a school for girls. And, of course, they fall in love as they spend time together. But she still feels powerless, like she's "just the governess," so she makes a hurtful (though kindly meant) decision at the end that has to be overcome before she finds happiness. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable romance.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

With This Pledge by Tamera Alexander

With This Pledge by Tamera Alexander ISBN-13: 978-0718081836 Paperback: 448 pages Publisher: Thomas Nelson Released: Jan. 8, 2019

Source: ARC review copy from the publisher through Amazon Vine.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
On the night of November 30, 1864, a brutal battle in Franklin, Tennessee, all but decimates the Confederacy and nearly kills Captain Roland Ward Jones. A decorated Mississippi sharpshooter, Jones has a vision on the battlefield and, despite the severity of his wounds, believes his life will be spared. He compels Elizabeth "Lizzie" Clouston—governess to the McGavock family at the Carnton mansion—to intervene should the surgeon decide to amputate. True to her word, Lizzie speaks on his behalf and saves not only the captain's leg but also his life. As he coalesces at Carnton, romance has blossomed between him and Lizzie—a woman already betrothed to a man she does not love.

But a fourteen-year-old soldier dies in Lizzie's arms that night, and the boy's final words, whispered with urgency, demand that Lizzie deliver them to their intended recipient. All she has is the boy's first name, and there's no record of him ever having enlisted. How can she find his family and deliver the message?

From the pages of history and the personal accounts of those who endured the Battle of Franklin, Tamera Alexander weaves the real-life love letters between Captain Roland Ward Jones and Elizabeth Clouston into a story of unlikely romance first kindled amid the shadows of war


My Review:
With This Pledge is a romance set mostly in December of 1864 in Franklin, Tennessee. Apparently, the story is based off of the real-life letters between Captain Roland Ward Jones and Elizabeth Clouston as well as other personal accounts of the battle of Franklin. Note that the descriptions of the aftermath of the battle and the details about the amputations were somewhat gory and graphic, though not as graphic as they could have been. The characters were interesting, acted realistically, and I cared about what happened to them. The historical details were woven into the story and brought the setting to life in my imagination.

Elizabeth lives in the South but doesn't believe that slavery is moral. Her fiancé has joined the Confederate army even though he doesn't own slaves. Elizabeth agreed to marry him because they are best friends and she wants children, but she doesn't romantically love him. So she doesn't know what to do when she starts to fall in love with a wounded soldier who may die and who does own slaves. She courageously and compassionately does her best to help during the battle and afterward, when critically ill soldiers are left in the care of those at Carnton.

The captain is initially rebellious against God because he lost his wife and child while he was off fighting. However, he comes to realize his attitude is based on his own guilty feelings and frustration and reaches out to God. There is no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this interesting novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

The Hanging Psalm by Chris Nickson

The Hanging Psalm by Chris Nickson ISBN-13: 9780727888310 Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Severn House Publishers Released: Jan. 1, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Leeds, 1820. Thief-taker Simon Westow knows all about lost property. A boy from the workhouse, he now has a comfortable business finding and returning his clients' stolen possessions. But when John Milner, a successful Leeds businessman, seeks out Simon's services to find his kidnapped daughter, Hannah, it's clear he faces a challenge like no other.

Accompanied by his enigmatic and capable young assistant, Jane, Simon takes to the dark, shadowy streets of Leeds for information - streets he knows like the back of his hand. But his enquiries lead Simon and Jane into great danger. Could the answers lie in Simon's own past, and an old enemy seeking revenge?


My Review:
The Hanging Psalm is a dark suspense set in 1820 in Leeds, England. Details about the time period and the city were woven into the story and brought it alive in my imagination. We follow a team--the husband finds and returns stolen goods for a reward and he is assisted by his wife and a street girl with a traumatic past and habit of cutting.

We start with a rich man who wants his kidnapped daughter found and returned so he doesn't have to pay a ransom for her safe return. There's a time limit and the kidnapping is to remain a secret, so they rush around asking questions and following leads. Things don't go as expected, and soon they learn that a murderer from their past with friends in high places is out to get his revenge by killing them. He's very clever, so they must find and defeat him before his assassins kill them.

There was some bad language. Simon interrupts a man having sex with a whore, so there was a brief mention of how they were positioned and his sending her away (only vaguely described). Overall, I'd recommend this suspenseful story to those who don't mind darker, damaged main characters.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Code of Valor by Lynette Eason

Code of Valor by Lynette Eason ISBN-13: 9780800727048 Paperback: 336 pages Publisher: Revell Released: Jan. 1, 2019

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
What Detective Brady St. John really needs is a relaxing vacation. Unfortunately, just as the sun is setting on his second day at a friend's cabin on Lake Henley, he hears a scream and races to rescue a woman from her would-be killer. When the killer escapes only to return to finish the job, Brady vows to utilize all of his many resources to keep her safe--and catch those who would see her dead.

Financial crimes investigator Emily Chastain doesn't trust many people. And even though she let the detective who saved her life in on a few pertinent facts about why she was being attacked, there are some things you just don't share with a stranger. Little does she suspect that the secret she is keeping just might get them both killed.


My Review:
Code of Valor is a Christian romantic suspense. Emily is repeatedly kidnapped and shot at, but she keeps her wits about her and leaves clues about where she is so that it's easier to find and rescue her. Several people have been hired to come after her, and some seem intent on killing her while the others want information from her. Unfortunately, she doesn't know the information that they want. In addition to surviving, she needs to uncover the information that her friend risked her life to obtain.

The main characters acted realistically and were kind people that I cared about. Emily's past includes an abusive father, running away, and an addiction to pain medication that she has overcome. Emily believes in God even though she's had a hard past, and her faith draws Brady closer to God. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this exciting story.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt using Google Preview.