Forsaking All Others by Allison Pittman

From the Publisher

Camilla Fox is alive. The last thing she remembers is being lost in the snow after leaving her home to escape the Mormon faith she no longer calls her own. She’s been taken in by the 5th Infantry Regiment of the US Army and given over to the personal care of Captain Charles Brandon. As she regains her strength, memories of her two children she had to leave behind come flooding back, threatening to break her heart. Camilla is determined to reunite with her daughters. But when news of her father’s grave illness reaches her, she knows she must return to the family farm to reconcile with her father. As spring arrives, Camilla returns to Salt Lake City a changed woman, but nothing could prepare her for the changes to the city, to the Mormon church, and to the family she left behind.

My Take

When I picked Forsaking All Others, I didn’t realize it was #2 in the Sister Wives series.  Thankfully, the way Ms. Pittman started out her book covered what I needed to know. I’d like to go back and read the first book, For Time and Eternity, when I get the time.

I enjoy watching the TLC show “Sister Wives” because it’s such a different lifestyle than what I know so when I saw Forsaking All Others—The Sister Wives Series, I knew I needed to read it. I didn’t know much about the Mormon doctrine back in the mid-1800’s but the introductory “letter” at the beginning explained it quite well. Ms. Pittman evidently did her researched historical Mormonism and did a great job of communicating it to the reader. She was able to explain without sounding like a school lecture. 

The first couple chapters seemed a little slow to me and I just couldn’t get into the book. However, after I got a few chapters under my belt and became invested in the characters, I couldn’t put it down! I enjoyed the comparison between being a Mormon and being a Christian and their relationships with God. Ms. Pittman’s perspectives and comparisons were very well written and easily understood.

Overall, I would give Forsaking All Others 3.5 stars. I hope the next book in the Sister Wives series comes soon!

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of  Forsaking All Others in exchange for my personal, honest review.

About the Author

Allison Pittman is the author of For Time and Eternity, Stealing Home, the Crossroads of Grace series, and her nonfiction debut, Saturdays With Stella. A high-school English teacher, she serves as director of the theater arts group at her church. She is also the co-president of a dynamic Christian writers group in the San Antonio, Texas area, where she makes her home with her husband and their three boys.

Spring for Susannah by Catherine Richmond

 

A story of emerging faith, love and renewal

From the Publisher

When Susannah goes to Dakota territory as a mail-order bride, she finds something she never dreamed she would-true love. 

With no prospects for marriage and her parents recently deceased, Susannah Underhill agrees to go west to the Dakota territory to marry her minister's homesteading brother, Jesse. But Susannah is painfully shy, doesn't see herself as worthy of love from either a husband or from God, and lives in constant fear that Jesse is going to ship her back to Detroit.

In spite of her petite size and the fact that Susannah doesn't look like she could survive on the prairie, Jesse quickly discovers that his new wife is a greater blessing than he even hoped for. The years she spent as her father's veterinary assistant allow her to save Jesse's ox and twin calves and to help neighboring farmers with their animals.

But Susannah's feelings of unworthiness are deeply rooted, and she can't believe that Jesse's praise-or the tenderness and love he shows-could possibly last. The thawing of her heart seems almost as distant as Spring in the midst of the winter blanketing the Dakota prairie.

My Take

Normally I’m not a fan of the historical romance novel but the description on Spring for Susannah intrigued me with the mail-order bride scenario.  It’s not your typical mail-order setting but more of a “last choice” option for Susannah.  She knew this was her last alternative to even hope for a husband and home.

Susannah had no idea what she was getting herself into when she got on that train going west. She assumed her new husband would have a home like she was accustomed to and she would take care of it and her husband as her mother taught her. What she did get, however, was nowhere near what she anticipated. 

Put yourself in her place—leaving everything & everyone you have known your entire life and going into a wilderness where there is limited access to food, farming materials, and even other human contact. Her mother’s teachings of the way a lady should act and project herself had no place in this new world and Susannah felt lost. I loved how patient and kind Jesse was with Susannah—having just met her, he tolerated her ineptitude around the house, her social constraints, and her lack of trust, with a faith that God will provide in time. 

Susannah’s lack of trust and faith slowly turns around with Jesse’s intervention and the way he lives his own life. Over time, their love grows and we even learn a little about their lives “behind closed doors” which is unusual for the typical Christian novel---don’t get me wrong, there are no sordid details but this time we actually know they share a physical relationship.

There were a few slow spots in the middle, almost as if repetition would fill the pages, but once I got past those the story picked back up and got back in the groove. Then at the end, I felt the book ended kind of abruptly as if it was getting too long or something.

For a introductory novel, Ms Richmond has done a fabulous job of getting the reader emotionally involved with the characters. I felt as if I was looking through a window actually watching the story—not just reading about it. I look forward to her next release. Overall, I’d give this a 4 out of 5 for the depth of characters and a new approach to the mail-order bride/historical fiction category.

This Book was provided by Litfuse Publicity and Thomas Nelson in exchange for an unbiased review. The opinions expressed were my own.

The Band that Played On by Steve Turner

From the Publisher

The never-before told, inspiring stories of the 8 brave musicians who played as the Titanic sank.
When Titanic collided with an iceberg on April 14, the eight members of the band had already retired for the evening. Still, they put on overcoats and came out to play in the lounge.

When most of the First Class passengers had taken to their lifeboats, the musicians moved to the deck and continued to play as the ship sank. One passenger said: “Many brave things were done that night, but none were more brave than those done by men playing minute after minute as the ship settled quietly lower and lower in the sea.

The music they played served alike as their own immortal requiem and their right to be recalled on the scrolls of undying fame.” But who were they? What journeys brought them to this deck on this icy ocean? Who did they leave behind? Historian and biographer Steve Turner delves into the lives of these brave men, revealing eight unique portraits of bravery.

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My take

For some reason, I have always been enamored with The Titanic---shows on The History Channel, the movie, and anything else I can find. So when this book became available for review, I thought it would be another bit of information for my fixation. Never has there been a book all about the musicians. This should be interesting!

Starting the book, there was a lot of foundational information interspersed with the last hours of The Titanic's voyage. It was fascinating to learn how the cruise ship industry obtained musicians and crew in the early 1900's. It's quite a bit different that what we know now. Once the foundation was set, there was so much detailed historical information, I kind of thought I was back in school again. I found myself skipping over sentences to get to the "meat" of the chapter.

Each of the musicians' lives are chronicled in their own chapters. From a young age to the time of their deaths, the author detailed their lives. Sometimes a little too much. None of the musicians lead extraordinary lives so the fascinating story I was anticipating didn't pan out.

In my opinion, the best part of the book came at the end during the ship's sinking. Most of the information was speculation from witnesses and because of the traumatic situation, their versions were varied. The only semi-consistent theme was the final song heard while the ship went down. Most of the witnesses heard Nearer My God to Thee but that still wasn't agreed upon. Unfortunately it became somewhat tedious reading the descriptions over and over.

While Steve Turner definitely did his research, I felt the book was dry in places. It was not meant to be sensationalic or romanticized, it was meant to be factual. Regrettably, because of that, I had a hard time reading it. I have to give it a 2 1/2 out of 5---more than a 2 because of the information presented but less than a 3 because of the monotony.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze®.com <http://BookSneeze®.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.