Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Beyond All Measure - Dorothy Love

Beyond All Measure

Beyond All Measure is wonderful historical romance novel which takes place in Tennessee in the time after the civil war.  It is a Hickory Ridge Romance.  Dorothy Love has done a wonderful  job of making her characters complex and believable, though this is not immediately obvious.

Although i did not find Ada to be an easy character to love, she was interesting  and as the story progressed, i was drawn into her life. Wyatt, the misplaced Texan,  was not a typical character either, and it took awhile to be drawn to him, as well. The aunt, Lillian Willis,  who Ada arrives to take care of was a hard to please old lady, but by the middle of the story i was enthralled with her.  The prejudices, hurts and jealousies are portrayed in a credible manner, however i did feel that the novel lacked a certain  depth that could have been explored. The novel began a little clumsily but does flow better as it carries on. I will look for more of Ada and Wyatt and the secondary characters in this book in future books in the series. I will recommend this book to those who enjoy historical romances, and i will read other books by Dorothy!

I received this book for review from Booksneeze a division of Thomas Nelson Books for the express purpose of writing a review. A positive review was not required. Thanks f.or the opportunity

Friday, May 27, 2011

May 27 diary

I'm blogging from my jD tractor. seeding is coming along fine! p this 600 acre field I've got 438 acres done! Peter's working on another field.also with canola. Yesterday we had a small shower go throigh in the morning. Mom & I took the chance  & went to Zgrande Prairie. She needed her hearing aids & wanted my computer back. it's been fixed for awhile, but in my loifen farming comes first. will try to sit down & blog more on sunday. I have some reviews to sharen too. Happy Spring

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Too Rich for a Bride - Mona Hodgson

Mona Hodgson does an excellent job of portraying the difficulty women had in pursuing and receiving acceptance and respect in business at the turn of the century 1900. The reader is drawn into Ida’s dream for big business…the prejudices she faces from her friends, family , even acquaintances – both male and female.  But Ida’s time is not only taken up with convincing her loved ones that she is learning business, and doing a good job, but also making a name for herself. Is it the fact that she is a successful business woman or how she acquired it that has people talking? Or whom she is associating with?
The story and characters are well formed, in depth and the reader is drawn into the lives of 1896. Struggle with Ida as she (and you) determine what the priorities should be. Look to those you love around you for the help that is only as far away as you make them.
A great book – although a bit of an ‘escape’ type of book (no deep suspense) it made me re-examine what I thought was important.
Although Too Rich For a Bride is the second book in the Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek series, it can also stand alone. I will want to read the first book in the series, and since there is another sister Vivian,  I think we can look forward to a third book!

Too Rich for a Bride was given to me free in exchange for a reviewfrom WaterbrookMultnomah Publishers through Bloggimg for Books. A positive review was not requested.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

New Blog i found

If you want to see the blog i just found - it's Paperback Treasures, and it's neat

Book giveaways

Hi there! i found a great book giveaway this morning. But you have to hurry because it runs from today to May 8th! i found it at Edgy Inpsirational Romance - (i subscribe to the blog) but you can get it by googling Edgy Inspirational Romance as well.

May 1st, 2011 - the long version

What an awesome May day morning! 35 degrees (F) with a bright sun shining! Yes, i am back in the Peace River Country of Alberta.
We left PEM, El Mirage last Monday (April 25th) at about 11 oclock. We had hoped to leave earlier, but we were waiting for a parcel Peter & Karen had sent over 3 weeks ago, but it still didn't come. We started the day out with picking up Aunt Agnes Loewen and going to IHOP on Bell Road for breakfast. i fueled up at Costco, dropped Aunt Agnes off at her home and headed to PEM. There we said our last goodbyes for the season and went north to Arizona 60. We went the new road by Hoover Dam, but you can't see anything over the bridge walls! Was a lovely road, but then it should be as it is new. i took the smaller road going through LV. i've done it before, and it is less stressful, the speed limits are lower and there are more places to pull off than the main road through. it is also neat that we go past the raceway on the east side and come out by Ritchie Brothers Auction site.
The Virgin River gorge was beautiful - and the river was running at high capacity. Not as high as last fall, but still impressive. We made it to Beaver, Utah for our first night.

We were definitely getting into cooler weather by now. Still hadn't dug out my shoes or heavier jacket, but ran into snow and slush before we got to Salt Lake City, Utah. Traveled through with just stops for fuel, bathroom breaks and snacks, and made it to Helena, Montana for the next night. This day saw less traffic when we finally got north of SLC, but we did have rain and snow for some of the day. Clear weather to go the bottom route through Dillon, Twin Bridges, etc. to Boulder, Montana. Always a lovely drive through the farming country. Not many fields being worked yet.
The third day meant Sweetgrass/Coutts crossing and that went off without a hitch. Lots of other snowbirds (at least rvers) going through, too, so we had a 20 minute wait, not bad for the line up. (Did i get into trouble in the U.S.? maybe some of you could answer that one better than i did!) We got to Linden around 3, meeting Mom's brother Bert and Aunt Vina for coffee. We visited around going to see Dad's sister Anna at the nursing home, and Mom's aunt Helen (who turned 99 yo. in February) at her home on the acreage. We met Heather and her mom Jo at the Chinese restaurant for supper, and took a room in the condos. for night.
We met Heather for breakfast Thursday morning...and were priviledged that Karen's mom and sisters came too. We watched humongous snow flakes drifting down while we ate and visited. The snow lasted about 50 miles, and though we had rain on and off the rest of the travels, we didn't see slush after that! and it hadn't snowed or rained at home. Peter & Karen had business in Valleyview, so we met them and had a light supper. They went on home and we stopped to see Mom's sister Laverna at Crooked Creek.
We got home around 7 that night. No snow or rain here. i unloaded the pickup (we didn't have much) and soon after Peter & Karen stopped in to welcome us home officially. Sadie and Shadow (our non-descript stray dogs) were happy to see us, and a few of the faithful cats showed up as well. It felt so good to be home again. Thanks for listening...and have a great day. i will continue the script later!