Until the Harvest by Sarah Loudin Thomas + A Linkup

Take this journey of broken souls restored and tentative hearts brought fully to life.

When family tragedy derails Henry Phillips’s college studies, he’s left unmoored and feeling abandoned. The only things that can tamp down his grief are the family farm, his fiddle, and an unexpected friendship with sweet but unusual preteen Mayfair Hoffman.

Unfortunately, Mayfair’s older sister, Margaret, despite her spray of freckles and cute, turned-up nose, has a completely different effect. His grandmother’s helper, she’s always around, ready to push his buttons, and it seems at first the she doesn’t care about his troubles.

Henry soon realizes, though, that Margaret’s facing her own struggles. Mayfair’s health and unique gift sit at the heart of those worries. Henry and Margaret soon find themselves relying on each other as potential tragedy collides with growing hope in a warm story of family bonds and the surprising ways healing finds us all.

Miracle in a Dry Season by Sarah Loudin Thomas

In a drought, it’s the darkest cloud that brings hope.

It’s 1954 and Perla Long’s arrival in the sleepy town of Wise, West Virginia, was supposed to go unnoticed. She just wants a quiet, safe place for her and her daughter, Sadie, where the mistakes of her past can stay hidden. But then drought comes to Wise, and Perla is pulled into the turmoil of a town desperately in need of a miracle.

Casewell Phillips has resigned himself to life as a bachelor…until he meets Perla. She’s everything he’s sought in a woman, but he can’t get past the sense that she’s hiding something. As the drought worsens, Perla’s unique gift divides the town in two, bringing both gratitude and condemnation, and placing the pair in the middle of a storm of anger and forgiveness, fear and faith.

Currently—July

How is it already July? I know, I know, I say that every month, but I’m serious, this summer is flying by! I remember back in May when no one else was out of school yet and it felt like the summer would never end, and now I’m wishing it would just slow down! I know that I’m going to enjoy every second of this last full month before I go back to school, that’s for sure! So here’s what I’m currently up to this July!

My Bookshelf: No Other Will Do by Karen Witemeyer

She trusts him for the job, but can she trust him with her heart?

        Men are optional. That was the credo Emma Chandler’s suffragette aunts taught her and why she established Harper’s Station, a women’s colony that offers a fresh start to females in need. But when a dangerous and shadowy assailant tries repeatedly to drive the women out, Emma is forced to admit they might need a man after all. One who can fight. And there is only one man she trusts enough to ask.

        Malachi Shaw has finally earned the respect he’s always craved by becoming an explosives expert for the railroad. Yet when Emma’s telegram arrives, he rushes back to Texas to repay the girl who once saved his life. Only she’s not a girl any longer. She’s a woman with a mind of her own and a smile that makes a man imagine a future he doesn’t deserve.

        As the danger intensifies, Emma, Mal, and the ladies of Harper’s Station must choose safety or whether to risk everything to fight for their future.

So Underrated

Today’s Top Ten Tuesday is all about our favorite books that have under 2000 ratings on Goodreads. I was actually really surprised to find that a lot of books I love fit into this category, so I tried to add some of the older ones that I maybe haven’t mentioned as much to this list. I will say, I really enjoyed how different this topic is! It’s quite unlike any topic I’ve done before, so it really made for an adventure! And you can be sure, just because these books aren’t the highest rated books on Goodreads, doesn’t mean they aren’t fantastic reads!

My Bookshelf: Amish Sweethearts by Leslie Gould

Their two worlds couldn’t be further apart.

Can anything bridge the divide between them?

        For years Zane Beck and his Amish neighbor Lila Lehman were the best of friends. But just as Zane gathered the courage to discover if their friendship could develop into something more, her controlling father arranged for her to be courted by their bishop’s son. Zane, heartbroken and frustrated, joined the Army, running away from his shattered dreams.

        The passing of time and the distance between Zane and Lila haven’t been enough to halt their—now completely hidden—feelings for each other. Any hope for their love grows even more impossible though as Zane’s service takes a dangerous turn when he’s deployed to Afghanistan. Being on the frontline, confronted with the hard choices of war, has him questioning everything, including whether he can continue to serve or not. But all choices have consequences, and with Lila preparing to marry another, will these one-time sweethearts ever find the life together that they both still long for?

April-June Round-Up

        It’s the end of another quarter! It’s been another three months full of reading and blogging and reviewing, and that means it’s time for a round-up post of all the books I’ve read in the last three months. I’ve always loved keeping track of all the books I read, so this is one of my favorite posts to write. It helps me to see all the things I’ve read, those I’ve loved and those that have fallen flat, and it’s so fun to look back on it all! So, here are the books I’ve read this past April, May, and June! Oh, and click on any of the colored titles in my descriptions to see my full reviews of each book!