Book Recommendation - A Perfect Weakness

I recently had the pleasure of being a part of a launch team for a work of romantic historical fiction, which is a genre that is slowly growing on me (as long as the romance isn't super gushy). Jennifer Davids is a "new to me" author, so I was a bit hesitant. But I didn't need to be. The book was very well written and the characters were delightful. I was immediately drawn into the time of 1860s England, where we meet our heroine, Penelope Howard, at the grave of her uncle who had recently passed. He was the lord of Ashford hall in the village of Woodley. His heir is an American doctor who must be convinced to come to England and become a lord. Here we meet John Turner, who has given up medicine for a reason unknown to us at this time. He appreciates the opportunity to escape his troubles and find his way to England. He plans to settle the estate, hand the reigns to another, and hide away in England. The story focuses on the lives of these 2 main characters, John and Penelope. Both of them have committed grievous sins in their past that they attempt to keep hidden. John struggles with the possibility of God's grace and believes he has fallen too far. While Penelope has accepted God's grace, she still struggles with the repercussions of her past mistakes and believes that her sins will keep her from finding true happiness and seeks contentment in her current circumstances. Throughout the story, various circumstances come to light and they seek to help each other come to terms with their pasts. 

While parts of the story felt predictable and I was fully convinced I could see the ending coming a mile away, the author brought along a few surprises throughout and the ending was so sweet! This was a lovely romance story, but it was made more so because of the resounding theme of grace. The theme verse of the book is 2 Corinthians 12:9 where God says to Paul "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness" (hence the title), and that theme came through loud and clear. God used both of their weaknesses to bring about a great result in the end. 

I was able to have a little Q&A with the author of this one as well. Here's how it went:

1. Where did you get the inspiration for the book? Is there any specific inspiration for the setting, the characters, the overall theme?

The inspiration for the book came from my second Heartsong book, Wounded Heart. A Perfect Weakness was originally intended to be a Heartsong length novel but the line shut down before I could get it finished. And it had become too long at that point anyway. The character from Wounded Heart I drew from was a secondary character who is a doctor and a victim of unrequited love. I had always wondered what happened to him after the close of the book and that is the seed from which A Perfect Weakness was born.

2. Do you relate to any of the characters in particular? Why?

I do relate to John Turner, my hero. We both have a tendency to be too hard on ourselves. Plus we also both need our peace and quiet and we enjoy the same woks of fiction. 

3. Is there anything interesting that happened during the writing process that altered the course of anything in the book?

I had an opening scene derailment of sorts. In it, the heroine, Penelope Howard, is standing over a recently deceased relative’s gravestone. I had it all set and worded exactly how I wanted when I re-watched the first episode of Season 4 of Downton Abbey. I got to the part where the Dowager Countess is speaking about Matthew’s gravestone and how they don’t set it in place for six months to allow the ground to settle. I realized that since Penelope’s relative had not been deceased that long the gravestone she was standing over would not be there yet. So I had to rewrite that scene and briefly explain the lack of a gravestone. Ah, the trails of historical writers! Lol!

4. Any other fun facts that would be fun to share with readers?

I did spend some time researching various contagious diseases in the Victorian age. And for the record, no, I’m not going to say why – read the book and you’ll understand. ;). Anyway, I would expound on the symptoms of said diseases to my husband and kids. Eventually, we latched on to one disease in particular – cholera – and whenever one of us would come down with a cold or something we would joke that ‘it must be cholera’. Yeah. My family and I have a strange sense of humor. Lol!

Jennifer's next book will be in the WWII era. Nothing like skipping around timeframes! She's currently working on that while moving her family from one home to another (she's a fellow Ohioan as well!). You can learn more about Jennifer and her works on her website: https://www.jenniferadavids.com/

Book Recommendation - The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond

I was first introduced to author Jaime Jo Wright last fall when her debut novel "The House on Foster Hill" was released. Her name showed up in several author newsletters and her book was lauded by no fewer than 3 authors that I follow and trust. And so, I did something that was rather rare for me. I BOUGHT a book by an author I'd never heard of before. Typically with new authors, I download a freebie or check them out at the library. I will very seldom spend money on a book where I don't already know the author. But because of the recommendations by other authors, I gave this one a try, and was very glad I did. Her debut novel was nothing short of spectacular. So, when she sent out applications to help launch her sophomore novel, I jumped at the chance.

The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond takes place in the small town of Gossamer Grove, WI,  during 2 timelines a century apart. We start out meeting Libby Sheffield in 1907 as she comes across a dead body. She had received his obituary at the newspaper office and had stopped to check in. The obituary referenced (and altered) some lines from Edgar Allen Poe, which only added to the mystery of the death of the Deacon. Other strange happenings occur in the 1907 timeline that seemed to coincide with the arrival of twin revivalists who seem set on flushing out the hidden sins of the small town and raise a good bit of controversy.

In the other timeline, Annalise Forsythe, in modern times, finds herself approached by police after the body of Eugene Hayes (one of the poor and broken down of Gossamer Grove) is found dead, with a picture of Annalise clutched in his hand. As she attempts to connect the dots, her home is broken into and her deepest secret is brought to light. As she seeks answers, she finds her past is connected to the happenings of Gossamer Grove in 1907.

Ms. Wright has an immense talent for these dual timeline novels that take two times in one place and bring them together. After I was through reading this book, I wanted to look into my own past and see what mysteries might reside in my own family tree. I love seeing how both stories intertwine into one and find the redemption that comes to both timelines' characters. I love dual timelines because they encompass a lot of different genres in one. There is always an element of mystery (how the 2 timelines will come together, if nothing else), historical fiction, contemporary fiction, and often an element of romance. While this book did not have the "edge of your seat" intensity that "The House on Foster Hill" did, it still kept me fully engaged and wondering what was going to happen next!

A few extras about this book and author:

1. Jaime Jo Wright is enamored with Edgar Allen Poe. That is why she included his writing in this book.
2. The twin evangelists Jacobus and Jedidiah Corbin were loosely based off the real ministry of a set of twins who evangelized the Midwest region. They were controversial in their approaches and not timid in their response to death threats, attacks, and even skunk attacks. See pictures of them here: https://www.findagrave.com/…/52311114/horace-b-morrill/photo
3. The real-life twin evangelists that the Corbins of the book were based off of, visited the author's hometown in the early 20th century. The baptist church that Ms. Wright calls home today had dwindling attendance at the time. But, after the Morrill twins came to town with their controversial revival methods, attendance surged and the church has never been the same since.
4. Obituaries in the Victorian era were often quite wordy and elaborate. Into the turn-of-the-century, they continued the habit, but grew progressively less detailed until they became what we see more often today, a simple declaration of one’s passing. It wasn’t uncommon for the obituary to go into detail about the cause of death, the person’s last moments, etc. Jaime read one that described a young woman in the chicken coop feeding her chickens when lightning struck from the sky and hit her in the head, having been attracted to the metal in her hairpin. Unfortunate and odd circumstances such as these, were almost sensationalized for news. (Or so it feels today when one reads them.)

5. While writing The Reckoning at Gossamer Pond, Jaime consumed approximately 4 pounds of coffee beans, ground and turned into liquid form. Some was eventually poured down the drain, as she can only consume so much, but her cupboard definitely decreased the stock of beans.

Coming up next from this author is "The Curse of Misty Wayfair" - another dual timeline novel that I can't wait to read! Release date for that is set for January 2019!