Short-Straw Bride Book Review

Title: Short-Straw Bride.

Author: Karen Witemeyer.

Genre: Christian, Historical Fiction, Romance, Humorous, Western, Adventure.

Plot: When Meredith Hayes first heard about the mysterious Archers - more particularly the fearsome firstborn Travis Archer - she was just a little girl of ten being bullied by Hiram Ellis. When the bigger boy throws her lunch pail into the woods and dares her to go get it, Meredith takes hold of her courage and stomps into the woods, her ears ringing with stories of the Archers and their man-eating hounds. However, she quickly discovers that the hound dogs are not as fearsome as she was led to believe, and that Travis Archer isn't nearly as big and mean as she'd thought.

Twelve years later, now an orphan and living with her beloved cousin Cassie, her mellow uncle, and sharp-tongued aunt, Meredith finds herself on the brink of an arranged marriage with no love in it. All these years she's treasured the secret thought and hope of one day marrying Travis. But since the four Archers never leave their land and anyone who steps on it is shot at or scared off, it seems her girlhood dream will remain in her past as just a dream. And then she overhears her intended husband making some very dangerous plans to steal the Archer land, and Meredith decides it's time to cash in a long-standing debt. When a late-night ride to Archer territory and a fight with a barn fire leave her injured, Meredith finds herself with a shattered reputation and thrust upon the Archers' permanently. Not entirely perturbed by this latest development, Meredith soon begins to wonder if Travis will ever fall in love with her or if she's just another added responsibility to him.

But when danger threatens their combined families, will Meredith learn to trust her husband with her protection and will Travis learn to trust God with his family's safety?

Likes/Dislikes: This was a wonderful sweet story and definitely a fun way to pass time and take a break from some of the heavier reads I've been indulging in lately. I've always found these type of historical romances to be engaging and fun; they do have the tendency to dance close to the line of appropriateness so I don't always feel comfortable recommending them to everyone. The characters were wonderfully well defined and unique in their own way. I liked that they were flawed characters too, something that is tricky for authors to pull off. I did find Meredith to be annoying after awhile; the way she went on and on whining about whether Travis loved her or not when it was so obvious that he did. Also, she didn't trust him enough to protect her or everyone else, though he'd obviously been doing so successfully for over ten years now. I ended up just shaking my head when she purposefully deceived him and went off to "help" rescue the endangered family member. She ended up making things worse. Oh well. Due to content {some violence and suggested marriage-related feelings and conversations, but nothing graphic, thankfully}, I wouldn't recommend this to younger readers, but anyone fifteen and up would enjoy it.

Rating: PG -15 and up.

Date Report Written: March 26th, 2013.

Excerpt from Short-Straw Bride

Could she read his thoughts? Was he frightening her? 'Cause he was sure as shootin' scaring himself.

"I didn't mean to make you angry, Travis," Meredith said, her expression more stubborn than fearful, thank the Lord. "But I can't promise to do something that may violate my conscience."

Angry? What was she talking about? "I'm not mad at you, Meri."

Her brow furrowed. "You're not? I could have sworn you were counting to ten or something, trying to keep your temper in check."

Travis nearly laughed aloud. His sweet, innocent wife had no idea what he'd been trying to keep in check. And he wanted to keep it that way. At least until he learned how to control it a little better.

"I promise I'm not m-"

Meredith's gasp cut him off.

"Oh my stars!" Her panicked eyes darted past him to the house and had him reaching for his rifle to confront the threat. "My cornbread!" She grabbed a fistful of skirt and sprinted down the path and across the yard.

                                    ~ Excerpt from Short-Straw Bride by Karen Witemeyer.

Note: For those readers who've read this book, you might be wondering why I picked this scene to share on my blog. While I chopped off the beginning paragraphs, this scene had me laughing out loud which rarely happens when I read books.

Random Pinterest

These are some random but interesting pictures I found on Pinterest one day when bored. And I thought I'd share them with you. :)

The Kraken. Such a cute depiction! 

Hmm, which would be the more dangerous I wonder?

So random! This picture cracks me up every time I see!

This is true; my husband will never admit it though. *winks*

I feel bad for my daughters already. *grins*

Breath-taking! Especially for such a long picture.

Sherlock is the best!

Murder at the Vicarage Book Review.

Title: Murder at the Vicarage.

Author: Agatha Christie.

Genre: Classic, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Miss Marple.

Plot: Lenard Clement, vicar to the little village of St. Mary Mead, has his hands full with vicar duties, visiting his parishioners, soothing over hurt feelings and miscommunications about pound notes, writing out his sermons, raising his sixteen year old nephew Dennis, and dealing with the housekeeping of his young wife Griselda. He doesn't need Colonel Protheroe's complaints to add to his burdens, and he certainly doesn't need a murder either. But when the Colonel comes to pay a call on the vicar when he is out, murder is exactly what the vicar ends up with. For the Colonel is found dead in Mr. Clement's own study.

Considering that nobody liked the deaf interfering old Colonel, finding a suspect to link the murder to is a hard task for energetic Inspector Slack and Chief Inspector Melchett. And then people start accusing themselves of the crime, beginning with artist Lawrence Redding who had had a rather uproarious disagreement with the Colonel before his unfortunate death. But how could he have possibly killed the Colonel when the Colonel's own wife is likewise confessing to the crime?

In Miss Marple's debut novel, Agatha Christie spins an intriguing web of misdirection, red-herrings and mysterious phone calls for her famous amateur sleuth to test the waters and unravel.

Likes/Dislikes: I really quite liked this particular Agatha Christie novel. I guessed one character's true identity early on in the story {it was quite obvious to me}, but I hadn't bothered to form any suspicions around who could have killed the Colonel and was wonderfully surprised when Miss Marple revealed the answer. This is the first novel in which Miss Marple is introduced and there are at least fourteen to sixteen sequels featuring the little old lady-sleuth. I personally didn't care for the vicar, the narrator of the story, as he seemed around a dull man. I also don't usually like first-person stories, although some authors pull them off very well. Note: two characters are having an affair in the story and one is married, but there is nothing graphic at all. Just hints and mild suggestions in a very delicate fashion. All in all, a very good mystery.

Rating: PG-14 and up for reading level and content. It's a murder mystery after all. Recommended.

Date Report Written: March 16th, 2013.

The Spring Poem

Now that the winter's gone, the earth hath lost

Her snow-white robes, and now no more the frost

Candies the grass, or casts an icy cream

Upon the silver lake or crystal stream;

But the warm sun thaws the benumbed earth,

And makes it tender; gives a sacred birth

To the dead swallow; wakes in hollow tree

The drowsy cuckoo, and the humble-bee.

Now do a choir of chirping minstrels bring

In triumph to the world the youthful Spring.

The valleys, hills, and woods in rich array

Welcome the coming of the long'd-for May.

Now all things smile, only my love doth lour;

Nor hath the scalding noonday sun the power

To melt that marble ice, which still doth hold

Her heart congeal'd, and makes her pity cold.

The ox, which lately did for shelter fly

Into the stall, doth now securely lie

In open fields; and love no more is made

By the fireside, but in the cooler shade

Amyntas now doth with his Chloris sleep

Under a sycamore, and all things keep

Time with the season; only she doth carry

June in her eyes, in her heart January.

~ The Spring by Thomas Carew.

A Little Help

Hiya! I've lately been trying to think of ways to improve this blog, and to come up with ideas for more posts since I don't always do the book reviews that I should be doing when I'm supposed to be doing them. So, in addition to the poll to the right side of this post, could you all please take a minute and tell me what you guys would like to see more of on this blog? And in the comments, could you please add some ideas that I probably didn't include in the poll? Like, do you want more book related posts or would my attempts at trying out different recipes be more up your alley? Please help me out and give me your feedback on this. I would appreciate it so much. Thank you!

A Pocket Full of Rye Book Review

Title: A Pocket Full of Rye.

Author: Agatha Christie.

Genre: Mystery, Classic, Historical Fiction, Miss Marple.

Plot: Rex Fortescue, a king in his own right of his financial empire, drinks his last cup of tea at his office one brisk morning. Inspector Neele, his inner musings on the case propelling most of the story, begins investigating at once and discovers plenty of clues. Now, if only he could string them together into something coherent and solve this puzzling case!

Fortescue, it seems, was on the brink of insanity and left behind not only a crumbling empire, but a dysfunctional rather nasty family. His second wife, much younger than himself, married for money and has an on going affair with her "golf partner," Vivian Dubois. His two sons by his first marriage, Percy and Lancelot  are complete opposites. Percy, -self-righteous and uptight, has always been billed as the good boy. Yet, he has his own motives and agendas. Lance, the adventure-loving reckless black sheep of the family, hasn't seen his father in years - or has he? And then there are the daughters of the family. Percy and Lance have a sister, sweet and innocent in so many ways and yet deep in her own troubles; Elaine is the only one to show genuine grief for her father. Yet his death means she can finally marry Gerald - the suitor her father heartily disapproved of. Percy's wife, Jennifer, was a nurse before her marriage and now finds herself bored out of her mind with all the luxury surrounding her. Patricia, Lance's wife, is more at home with horses and dogs than in the world of her husband's relatives.

When everyone has a motive, figuring out who the villain is becomes increasingly difficult for Inspector Neele. And then two more people are found dead. Enter the tiny but brilliant Miss Marple, bent on avenging one of the deaths. With her crucial insight into human nature and her non-threatening appearance, Miss Marple supplies Neele with the missing clues he needs to solve this baffling case once and for all.

Likes/Dislikes: I quite enjoyed this novel. It is the seventh Miss Marple mystery and really was very interesting and baffling. I wish Miss Marple had been in it more than she actually was, but Inspector Neele was a wonderful lead character. The secondary character I liked, however, turned out to be the villain. Pity. Oh well, it was definitely a twist I didn't see coming!

Rating: PG - 14 and up, for reading level and content. I mean, it's a murder mystery ya all. It's not graphic though so no worries on that score.

Date Report Written: March 9, 2013.

OMG! ZITS!

Considering that I haven't posted in awhile {my bad}, I need to think up new post ideas. While I do have several book reviews I'm supposed to write and post but which I'm procrastinating on, I don't really have any good post ideas that are more-or-less related to this blog and interesting enough to get me to sit down and, well, write them. And then it dawned on me; why not share my favorite comic strip? I will probably turn out three or four posts on this and save them for ammunition for posting days when I just don't know what to post. Anyway, here are the ones that I shared on Facebook last week, with my very valuable commentary. *winks*

I liked this particular scene because I can relate, and I get "love and Gravel" all the time. *winks* It's a play on my new last name. 

I feel bad for my husband and future children sometimes. Muhahaha!

This just made my husband and I laugh so hard.

Sometimes my future children and husband can relate. *giggles*

I used to have to do that all the time for my parents. Except that I would lock it and block all the bad channels, and then my mom would come by and unlock everything then not know how to fix it again.

Exactly, right?

Oh the horror, a suit and tie! *grins*

I know, right? My brothers usually just leave. At least my husband is sweet enough to take an interest in most movies I put on. Since haven't gotten him to sit through the "six hour really good version of Pride and Prejudice."

This is how my husband feels sometimes. *winks*

My husband can also relate to this, though he usually admits that he didn't finish the book.

Poor guys. *evil grin* I have to go make a quiz, be back later.

My mom is like that. But I don't understand abbreviations anyway so I don't use most of them.

Guys don't listen or remember, do they? *winks*