The Bridegrooms

This book was provided for review by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group

Book:  The Bride Grooms

Author:  Allison Pittman

Tragedy hit the Allenhouse family on a hot summer night in Ohio when a mother of four vanished.  8 yr old Vada virtually grew up overnight & raised her 3 younger sisters while her father lost himself in his medical practice in the basement of their home.

Now Vada is a grown woman, still making her home with her father & sisters.  Her days are spent serving as an errang girl for Cleveland's fledgling amateur orchestra; her evenings with Garrison Walker, her devoted, if seeminly passionless, beau.

Dizzying change occurs the day the Brooklyn Bridgegrooms come to town to play the Cleveland Spiders & a line drive wallops the head of a spectator.  The fan is whisked to the Allenhouse parlor & questions swirl around the ananymous, unconscious man.

Suddenly, the subdued house is filled with visitors, from a flirtatious would be sports writer, to the Bridgegrooms' handsome star hitter to the guilt-ridden ball player who should have caught the stray shot.  Vada's life is awakened amid the super-charged atmosphere of romantic opportunity....
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I  adored this book!  I love the story of the sisters & just felt like it was a sorta "Little Women" kind of book.  With each sister having such a different personality, I enjoyed learning more about all of them...

Vada - the oldest who took care of her sisters & virtually became their mother, when their mother left for another man.  Vada then struggles with a new French baseball player that put some passion in her life... & it was so interesting to see how she so badly hated her mother for leaving for another man, but when she was faced with the choice herself with this new ball player, or her predictable, "boring" Garrison, the decision wasnt as easy as she thought.    I loved Vada... I could understand the choices she was having to make & why she was questioning things... I just felt like I was back in time with this girl & watching her life develop.

Hazel - the "heavier" sister who so desperately wanted love & sent letters to men, afraid of what they would think once they saw her.

Althea - the sister who would never speak... she was so damaged by her mother leaving, she kept to herself & only communicated through pen & paper... what the stranger who got hit on the head does for her life!

Lisette - the baby... the beautiful one that knew she had all the men in the town wrapped around her finger.

It was an era when women's honor was big, horse & carriage were ways of transportation, when a man courted a future wife... it all seems to real in this book...

I loved the book did have a love story in it that was not "fake" - you know, the ending you KNOW is going to happen. I think I was so intrigued with this book because I DIDNT know what Vada would do... I didnt know which way her heart would lead her... didnt know the reactions of how the men in her life would go.  I really enjoyed this book... hated to let the sisters go on the last page...

If you want to see more or interested, visit this site right here:
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781601421371

My rating: 4 skeins

Forget Me Not

This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group

Book:  Forget Me Not

Author:  Vicki Hinze

Crossroads Crisis Center owner Benjamin Brandt was a content man—in his faith, his work, and his family. Then in a flash, everything he loved was snatched away. His wife and son were murdered, and grief-stricken Ben lost faith. Determination to find their killers keeps him going, but after three years of dead ends and torment, his hope is dying too. Why had he survived? He’d failed to protect his family.


Now, a mysterious woman appears at Crossroads seeking answers and help—a victim who eerily resembles Ben’s deceased wife, Susan. A woman robbed of her identity, her life, of everything except her faith—and Susan’s necklace.

The connections between the two women mount, exceeding coincidence, and to keep the truth hidden, someone is willing to kill. Finding out who and why turns Ben and the mystery woman’s situation from dangerous to deadly. Their only hope for survival is to work together, trust each other, and face whatever they discover head on, no matter how painful. But will that be enough to save their lives and heal their tattered hearts?
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I've kinda been looking at others reviews on this book & it seems like everyone loves this book.  I guess I am just the odd man out.  Not saying I didnt love the book, I just struggled with it.  I think because I came out of my last few books of Amish, calm living - another story of living in an old era - & then right from the first page of this, it was like a "Die Hard" movie - with people chasing people, shooting others, blowing up things, running for your life...it was action packed.

And the story IS an interesting story & one I enjoyed, but for me, I think I may have just read through the beginning too fast because I was getting WAY confused with all the "bad guys" & who was who & leading who & what the plans were.  Definately a lot of characters in this book.... & its my own fault.  I usually make my own "cheat card" with characters names & who's who to stay on top of things.  That would have been really helpful with this book, for me anyways.

I will give this book another chance - but this time, I WILL do the cheat card thing so I can thoroughly enjoy it to the most.  Because again, it does seem like a good story line... I think it was just bad timing for me to get into a story that had that much intensity....

If you are interested in checking this book out, you can visit the publishers website, right here:
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/catalog.php?isbn=9781601422057

My rating:  0 skeins - FOR NOW.. I will reread & update the rating later when I can give it a fair rating.  Check out the other reviews though... I'm seeing nothing but raves!  So it makes me even more excited to give this one another chance.