Bees in the Butterfly Garden - A Review

Summary -
Meg Davenport has lived a sheltered life in one of the finest girls' schools in the country. When she receives word that her father has died, she sees her chance to break free from the rules that bind her and to learn more about the father she never really knew. She finds out that he wasn't the honest business man she thought him to be, instead he's one of the most talented thieves of the Gilded Age. Ian Maguire has always been treated as a son by Meg's father. He's now seeking the loyalty of the men who worked with John Davenport. Meg manages to convince him to allow her to accept the invitation of spending the summer with one of Fith Avenue's wealthiest families as it will put her in a position to help him pull of his largest heist yet. Meg didn't expect to actually develop a genuine friendship with the family she's staying with. Nor did she expect to be influenced by their faith. Ian's recalling the messages of his own father - a preacher, and he's not liking how it makes him feel. Will this pair be successful in the con they're pulling, or will they lose everything that they've come to hold dear, including each other's love?

My Review -
This book started off a little slow for me, but by the time I about 50 pages into it, I was hooked. I wanted to know what would happen. There's a touch of mystery involved in how will Meg and Ian pull off their con. Both Meg and Ian learn about justice, grace, and mercy from their interactions with the family Meg's staying with. But they also learn about God's justice, grace, and mercy as well. I loved they way that each of them is drawn to the Savior. I hope to see some of these characters again as I'd love to see the youngest child, Evie, learn from her actions. Plus I'd like to see what is in store next for Ian, Meg, and the Pembertons. I don't know if this book is the first in a series or if it will stand alone. If it's a series, I will certainly be on the lookout for the next!

I received this book for free from the publisher, Tyndale, for the purpose of reviewing. My thoughts and opinions are my own.

Recommended to fans of Lisa Tawn Bergern, Lynn Austin, Laura Frantz

Rating - 4 stars

Springtime of the Spirit - A Review

After the end of the Great War, Christophe Brecht returns to his home in Braedon, Germany in hopes of peace. What he finds there is that the home that he longed for no longer exists. When family friends ask him to travel to Munich to look for their daughter, Annaliese Duray, he agrees. Arriving in Munich, he finds the city in the midst of a political upheaval and Annaliese in the thick of it all. She's not the girl he remembers. He's not the man that she once had a crush on. The years of the war have changed them both. But as the situation in Munich grows more and more violate, they each find themselves drawn to the other. Will love prevail or will these two let the politics drive them apart?

This is the third book in the Great War Series, and thankfully I didn't need to read the others to make sense of this one. This is also the first book I've read of Maureen Lang's. While the book did start off slow, as the story moved along, I found myself drawn into it. I don't think I've ever read a book that was set in Germany after WWI. To see the political upheaval following the war brought to light, made me wish I knew my history a bit better. Christophe is a very strong character and I love the way that though the War changed him, he held fast to his faith and didn't let circumstances take that from him. Annaliese's character is one that shows just how frequently we as humans can question why bad things happen to good people. She grows a lot in the course of the book, and is even able to figure out what she exactly believes.

Fans of historical fiction will enjoy this book. Especially people who want to read a book set in a setting that most authors don't write about.

Rating - 4 stars