The Fairest Beauty (2013)

The Fairest Beauty. Melanie Dickerson. 2013. Zondervan. 352 pages.

I have loved Melanie Dickerson's novels in the past. I really enjoyed Merchant's Daughter and Healer's Apprentice. I was not disappointed with her third novel, third retelling. In The Fairest Beauty we have a LOVELY retelling of Snow White.

Sophie is a scullery maid tormented daily by the evil Duchess. But Sophie was born for higher things, she's the daughter of a Duke. The Duchess is truly her stepmother. Sophie doesn't remember, of course, her parents have always been dead. She's accepted the Duchess' story of her life. She's a peasant child--an orphan--taken in by charity; she should be grateful she's been allowed to serve the Duchess all these years. One woman who knows the truth about Sophie managed (at last) to escape...and news of Sophie's survival has (at last) been told... But Sophie's betrothed has a broken leg. Gabe, the brother, feels strongly that Sophie's situation is desperate. The Duchess is unpredictable, wicked, cruel. Every day Sophie spends there her life is in danger...so Gabe decides to go against advice and rescue her himself. It's dramatic, romantic, and lovely.

Read The Fairest Beauty

• If you enjoy fairy tale retellings
• If you enjoy the Snow White fairy tale
• If you enjoy YA romance

© 2013 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

A Girl Named Mister (YA)

A Girl Named Mister. Nikki Grimes. 2010. Zondervan. 232 pages.

Her mom may call her Mary Rudine, but everyone else calls her Mister. Mister's a good girl--a Christian girl--sings in the church choir, loves volleyball. She has a best friend, Sethany, she tells all her secrets to. But things change when she meets Trey.

Things start off safe--and pure. Trey and Mister go on group dates--often at the church, or with the church youth group. But soon that isn't enough for Trey. And well, Mister, has to admit being alone with Trey feels right. Yes, she knows that being alone with him might lead her to temptation. Might lead her to have second thoughts about her commitment for purity. But. She does it anyway.

One time. Mister has sex with Trey just one time. But that was all it took for a new life to form, and for one teen's life to change forever.

Mister struggles with the guilt and shame of being a pregnant teen. She struggles with the truth. She tries to deny the pregnancy--for a time. But she is relieved to find comfort and support not only from her mom but from others in her church as well. She also takes great comfort in reading a book of poetry--a book she borrowed from her mom. A book of poems about Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Readers read not only the contemporary story of Mister but Mary's story as well. It imaginatively examines what it might have been like for Mary. Yes, readers may be familiar with the Christmas story. But have you really, really thought about what it might have been like for Mary and Joseph?

A Girl Named Mister is a verse novel. I enjoyed both Mary's narrative and Mister's narrative. I loved how Mister finds grace and peace in the gospel, in the church. I loved how she was able to turn this experience into a growing one--growing closer to her mother, growing closer to God.

Soft
Soft as fleece,
God's forgiveness
falls over me
like a quilt,
and this time,
I let it smother
my guilt.  (145)

The book trailer:



© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

A Matter of Character

A Matter of Character. Robin Lee Hatcher. 2010. May 2010. Zondervan. 352 pages.

Maybe it was time to kill Rawhide Rick. He'd served his purpose, the old rascal. He'd hunted buffalo and fought Indians and stolen gold from hardworking miners and sent men to the gallows. Now might be the time for him to meet his Maker. The trick was deciding how to kill him.

Should Daphne McKinley kill Rawhide Rick? Can Joshua Crawford save him?

The year is 1918. And Daphne is a dime novelist. Of course, at the beginning, when readers first meet her, no one knows she's a published writer. Dime novels aren't necessarily books to be proud of having written, or of having read, after all, whether written by a man or a woman. Her pen name is D.B. Morgan.

Joshua Crawford is an out of work reporter with an agenda. He is the grandson of "Rawhide Rick." His grandfather, Richard Terrell, went by that nickname and Joshua is so not happy with this "D.B. Morgan" for making his grandfather the villain in the McFarland Chronicles. The grandfather he knew was loving, compassionate, generous, kind, good. He's angry, and he's searching for the truth. But first he has to find this D.B. Morgan and have a few choice words.

A Matter of Character is the third (and final) book in the Sisters of Bethlehem series by Robin Lee Hatcher. However, each one can be read on its own. I have not read the previous two books, and I did just fine. The three books have overlapping characters, but each is narrated by a different character. It is a romance novel.

I liked this one. I did. It was interesting to see this hero and heroine clash with one another. To see their relationship slowly develop through the weeks and months. I liked the way these two challenged one another.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

Heart of Stone

Heart of Stone. Jill Marie Landis. 2010. [February 2010] Zondervan. 320 pages.

Eleven-year-old Lovie Lane would never be certain what actually woke her the night she learned her life was to become a living hell.

After losing both parents, Lovie and her younger sister, Megan, meet the harshest of fates. A fate far worse than being sent to an orphanage. Their aunt and uncle, seeing a money-making opportunity, decide to sell the girls into prostitution, sell the girls into a brothel house. Lovie being just eleven, and Megan, even younger than that. After that first night, when Megan was actually sold to the highest bidder, the two sisters have not seen one another.

No doubt about it, Lovie's life was a living hell. But it was a hell she was determined to escape from.

Years later, Lovie, now living as Laura Foster, hopes that her past stays just that her past. She's moved to a small town in Texas. She's hoping that the folks in Glory, Texas, will never hear about her past. Because how can any woman overcome the prejudice, the hate, the shame if the truth were to become known?

No, living as Mrs. Laura Foster, a wealthy widow, is her only way to cling to respectability. She has rules for how to live her life. Rules that keep her safe. Her boardinghouse only accepts families, women, and children. No single men, ever. NO exceptions to the rule. She doesn't want any person to get the wrong idea about her.

Laura doesn't have room for love in her life. So she won't let any gentlemen come calling. Even if they're respectable. Because she knows that no man would ever want her if the truth was known.

Brand McCormick is the preacher in town. And he finds himself falling fast for this beautiful widow woman. Can he find a way to woo Laura? Find a way to win her heart?

Both Brand and Laura have things in their past that they're keeping hidden. Not only from each other, but from everyone in their lives. When these secrets come to light, will anything ever be the same again?

Historical fiction set in Texas in the 1870s.

I found this to be a quick and compelling read. A book about grace and forgiveness and unconditional love.

© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews