Book Recommendation - Loyally, Luke

 

Though I would never claim contemporary romance as my genre of choice, there are a few authors who make it an enjoyable genre to delve into. Pepper Basham is quickly becoming one of my favorites in this genre and I have absolutely adored her Skymar series. This series follows a set of siblings (with 1 cousin thrown in for good measure) from the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina and pairs them with someone in the fictional island world of Skymar - a country that is ruled by a King, has Scottish roots and has lovely mountain scenery. If Skymar was a real place, I would totally want to go visit! This is book 3 in the Skymar series, and though the other 2 books are not essential reading to appreciate this book, they do help to get the fuller picture of the Edgewood family. And in reading the other 2 first, you get a better enjoyment of the ending of all of the stories at the end of this one. Here's a bit about the book:

Luke Edgewood isn’t a romantic.

Or, at least, he’s always felt certain Hallmark movies and romcoms were invented more as punishment for average guys than adding any real value to cinema. He’s a behind-the-scenes, flannel-wearing guy who lives a quiet life of obscurity and places value on working hard and being a good friend, neighbor, and brother. So when he travels to the island of Skymar to work on a few building projects, he never expects to find himself directly in the middle of a romantic trope-filled story of Hallmark proportions. From a Meet Cute that was anything but cute and an aging orphanage in need of as much tender care as the children it houses, Luke begins to wonder if he and his heart may be victims of some sort of hidden camera movie moment.

Elianna St. Claire, youngest daughter of King Aleksander and Queen Gabriella of the Skymarian Islands, is trying to earn her way back into the status of working royal after botching her public and private life with some ill-timed choices which ruined her reputation and damaged the family. Now, older and wiser, she’s determined to prove worthy of her title. Taking on a renovation of her beloved orphanage, Cambric Hall, (of which she is patron) shouldn’t be such a difficult job. Happy to escape her mother’s strong encouragement of matrimony, she finds pseudo-anonymity in the secluded mountains to oversee the orphanages renovations until her parents announce her official return as a working royal at the Wild Hyacinth Ball.

When Ellie learns the man she’d literally ran into at the coffee shop is the one who has been hired to help with the orphanage’s repairs, she’s determined to keep her royal status as secret as possible. From fundraisers to fake dates to sleigh rides and snowball fights, Ellie and Luke begin to discover that the wrong first impressions may lead to a romantic possibility with romcom flavored magic included.

But when Ellie’s true identity is revealed and royal expectations bring Luke out of his preferred anonymity into the spotlight of the royal life, will their budding relationship fall prey to a very unhappily-ever-after ending?

So. Much. Fun!! 

Luke Edgewood reminds me a great deal of my husband, which is maybe why he's the only book hero to have the title of "book boyfriend" in my world. Though my man is not handy in a carpentry sense, he has the same introverted stoicism, with the same soft heart beneath the gruff demeanor. And the same appreciation for all of the boy movies - Star Wars, Indiana Jones and the like. I'm aware the author has based Luke's character loosely on her dad, who recently passed away, and that endears me to him all the more! This book releases May 14, 2024 wherever books are sold. For additional information, check out the following links:

Pepper Basham's website: https://pepperdbasham.com/

Pepper Basham's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pepperdbasham

My full 5-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6343605634

Book Recommendation - Darkness Calls the Tiger

 

Janyre Tromp is a new name in the world of Christian fiction authors, though she's been in the writing business for some time, doing editing and the like. This is her sophomore novel and focuses on the CBI (China Burma India) theater in the war, giving it a unique WWII story. This read was a bit heavy and a bit dark, so I wouldn't recommend to younger audiences, but for those who enjoy the depth of a good light from darkness story will easily enjoy this tale. Here's a bit about the book:

"My adopted people have a story, a legend, that speaks of a time so dark, the sun will turn his back on the mountains and swallow the moon. It is then that the sharaw—the tiger-man—will come prowling, exacting revenge on the darkness. But there is no great darkness in me or my world. It isn’t always comfortable, but it has always been predictable . . . until the soldiers came."

A handful of months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, missionaries Kailyn Moran and Ryan James, face a brutal Japanese attack on their village high in the mountains of Burma.

After the Land of the Rising Sun devours almost everything she loves, Kai vows to hunt down those responsible, even if it means she must become the legendary sharaw. When the Japanese put a price on her head, Ryan fights to protect Kai from the path of revenge. But only she can choose to turn away from the call of the darkness.

Wrapped in real history and mountain legends, Darkness Calls the Tiger will appeal to fans of Susan Meissner and William Kent Kreuger.

Following the author on social media has given me some additional behind the scenes looks at the book itself. Here are a couple of tidbits she has shared from her research on social media:

1. Known as the Forgotten War, the China-Burma-India Theater of WWII is widely recognized as the genesis for modern US Special Forces tactics.

The OSS (precursor to the CIA) parachuted officers into the mountains to recruit the local people to fight against Imperial Japan. These fighting groups became known as Detachment 101.

My upcoming book, Darkness Calls the Tiger, references one of the many guerrilla fighting forces in the CBI—The Kachin Rangers. They were known as spirit men (derived from mountain lore) and the Japanese were terrified of fighting in the Kachin state because of how the Kachin's would rain down destruction and simply vanish into the jungle.

When she sees her adopted village destroyed, my main character, Kailyn Moran, sinks into one of the deadliest legends of the mountains--that of the tiger people.

Want to know more about the CBI? There's an awesome FB Group, RememberingTheCbi (https://www.facebook.com/RememberingTheCbi)

2. This man saved hundreds of lives in WWII Burma.

His name is Father James Stuart and he was an Irish missionary who, with only his words, convinced Imperial Japanese soldiers to not decimate multiple Kachin villages in the mountains of North Burma. He regularly hid refugees (many of them children) and then led them through the mountainous jungles to safety in India.

He was brave, kind, funny, and one of the reasons many of the mountain people signed up to become a Kachin Ranger--run by officers of the OSS Detachment 101 in Burma.
We could use more of these kind of men in the world. Yes?

The good news is that there's more than a little of Father Stuart in Ryan, the male protagonist of Darkness Calls the Tiger.

I absolutely adored Ryan and love that he's based on a real person! Also.....

 

This book releases May 14, 2024 wherever books are sold. For additional information, check out the following links:

Janyre Tromp's website: https://beautifuluglyme.com/

Janyre Tromp's Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JanyreTromp

My full 4-star review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5585967418