Where Trust Lies - A Review

Published - February 2015, Bethany House Publishers
Series - Return to the Canadian West Book 2
Author - Janette Oke & Laurel Oke Logan
Title - Where Trust Lies
Format - ebook, paper
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Beth Thatcher is home for the summer after teaching in the small mining town of Coal Valley out in Canada's West. She isn't the same girl who left home the year before. As Beth looks forward to a summer of catching up with her mother and sisters, she soon realizes that perhaps she no longer belongs in the world she grew up in. A surprise cruise along Canada's east coast & the Northeastern United States has Beth wishing for the simple summer she'd planned. Yet Beth realizes that the trip is a chance to bond with her mother and sisters and perhaps bridge the gap that grown between them. When one of her family members trusts the wrong person, Beth has draw on the strength she found out West. Will her family ever be able to move forward?


I think I've outgrown Janette Oke. And that makes me rather sad. I mean I can still enjoy her books, but not like I did twenty something years ago. You see, I was between the ages of 10 and 14 when I first picked up one of Janette Oke's books. And I loved the Love Comes Softly Series and the Canadian West Series. But something happened. I grew up. I discovered authors whose stories grabbed me and wouldn't let me go. While I will always have a soft spot and fond memories of the Janette Oke books, I think that I'd be better off not requesting to review her new releases. Oh, I'll probably still read them. I can easily rent them from the library. But I seem to hold reviewing books to a different standard than the ones I read for pure pleasure. Anyway, all that is to say that my thoughts on this one may seem a little more harsh or critical than I mean to.

I enjoyed this book much more than the first in this series. I did find that it was a very slow moving book. I literally went for days without picking it up. Beth has grown up since I first met her in the first book. And her character has developed more too. But I still found her rather shallow. Though no where near as shallow as one of her sisters or a family friend.

The romance I was hoping for in this book between Beth and Jarrick, Jack from the first book, is almost nonexistent. I get the fact that they are on different sides of the continent, but I still wanted more. Sure there are a couple of phone calls and letters exchanged, but not at all what I was hoping for. I also had hoped for more of Coal Valley. I'd grown to like that little town by the end of the first book. I would have liked to revisit that community.

I really felt that this book was too long. I felt that there chapters that did nothing to move the story along. And once the climax of Beth's family member trusting the wrong person occurs, there was too much time spent describing everything.

Still fans of the Hallmark series will enjoy this book. I'm not saying that it wasn't a good book, because it was good. But like I said earlier, I think I've outgrown Janette Oke.

I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers for the purpose of reviewing. I was not required to like the book, only give my honest opinion. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of Janette Oke, Beverly Lewis, Little House on the Prairie, Hallmark's Love Come Softly movie series, Hallmark's When Calls the Heart movie & series

Rating - 3.5 stars - It was better than the first, which I struggled through, but not stellar. Goodreads/Amazon Rating will be 3 stars.

Where Courage Calls - A Review

Publisher - Bethany House, January 2014

Author - Janette Oke & Laurel Oke Logan

Title - Where Courage Calls

Format - ebook, hardcover, paper, audio

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Beth Thatcher follows in the footsteps of her aunt Elizabeth Thatcher Delaney and accepts a teaching position in Canada's far West. For a spoiled, pampered, daughter of a wealthy family, Beth finds Coal Valley to be a shock. A mining accident has caused the town to suffer a great loss. The children have had very little exposure to a formal education. Yet as she begins to teach the children of the town, she finds herself loving the townspeople's simple ways. She soon finds herself gathering the attention of two young Mounties - one a childhood friend and the other a new acquaintance. When her sister visits, Beth is reminded of the luxurious life she left behind. Will Beth return home where it's safe or will she find her wings to soar?

Written as a companion novel to bridge the gap between the Hallmark movie of When Calls the Heart and the TV series with the same name, this novel returns Janette Oke to the prairie fiction that she has been known for.

I have long loved Janette Oke's books. Some of my earliest memories of reading Christian Fiction around 4th, 5th, or 6th grade include reading both the Love Comes Softly Series and the Canadian West series. I remember thinking that these were like a Little House on the Prairie book that wasn't a children's book. At one point, I believe I even owned every one of her books. And I still classify among my all-time book favorites these books of hers: Roses for Mama, A Bride for Donnigan, A Woman Named Damaris, the Love Comes Softly Series, and the Canadian West Series. So I was thrilled when I discovered that she had a new book coming out.

After a very slow start, I found that once Beth arrived in Coal Valley things began to pick up. I thought that Beth tried too hard to find out what God wanted her to accomplish. Still I did enjoy how she grew from the spoiled debutante into a pioneer woman. She didn't even realize she was changing until her sister arrived and Beth saw her through fresh eyes. As far as romance goes, there was very little. There were the two potential suitors, but neither of them played a major part. This was a story about Beth growing up.

While it was a sweet book in classic Janette Oke fashion, to be perfectly honest, I found that I could have easily put it down and not returned to it. It wasn't that I found it boring, because it really wasn't. It was more that I found my attention wandering. And I can't blame that on watching the Hallmark series. Because I don't have cable/satellite and have not seen a single episode of it. I will admit to having watched the When Calls the Heart movie, but I've not seen the series.

Overall, this book didn't enthrall me. I really found it to be mediocre. Still for someone who is looking for a sweet story, this would be for them.

I received this book for free from Bethany House Publishers for the purpose of reviewing. I was not required to like the book or to give a positive review. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of Janette Oke, Little House on the Prairie, Lynn Austin, Tracie Peterson, Lauraine Snelling

Rating - 3 stars

Be Still My Soul - A Review

Lonnie Sawyer is the oldest child in her family. When she walks home from a community event one evening with handsome neighbor Gideon O'Reilly, she doesn't realize her life will change. Gideon is a bit of a ladies man and the man mothers warn their daughters to stay away from. He doesn't think one kiss will change his life either. When her father learns of Gideon's kissing Lonnie, he's outraged and insists that the two marry immediately. Soon after they're married, Gideon packs up Lonnie and they leave their small community. He's sullen about having to be married, and she's scared of this man she barely knows and doesn't love. Yet through it all, Lonnie clings to the fact that God is watching over her. Will Gideon ever truly love her and they find happiness together or will he forever resent her for forcing him to settle down?

This is the debut novel by Joanne Bischof. Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains in the early 1900's, I was quickly drawn into the lives of Lonnie and Gideon. What I found the most fascinating was the fact that Gideon struggled to do what was right. Even with the love shown him by an older couple, he's still reluctant to admit that there was a God who loved him enough to care for him. His breaking point was his turning point. I loved how the author showed Gideon as flawed and was still redeemable. Lonnie's sweetness was touching as well. I look forward to reading the second book in this series sometime next year as I want to see what else will happen in the lives of Gideon and Lonnie.

I received this book for free from Waterbrook/Multnomah's Blogging for Books program for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of Catherine Marshall's Christy, Janette Oke's Love Comes Softly series

Rating - 4 stars

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