Lydia’s Charm
Wanda E. Brunstetter
Barbour Publishing, Inc
P.o. Box 719
Uhrichsville, OH 44683
www.barbourbooks.com
978-1-60260-063-8
376 Pages
$9.96 at Amazon

I have always enjoyed reading books by this author. What has made this one so different is the subject matter. This is the first of any Christian fiction books that I know of, that has mentioned “little people.”

Lydia’s husband dies in an accident and then she loses her job. She returns to Charm, OH to help her mom take care of her grandfather and to find some type of work to support herself and her young son.

Lydia is able to find a job fairly fast, but she also learns her mother has not changed her attitude toward Lydia. Nor is she the grandmother Lydia had hoped for.

Then she finds two good men who are interested in her. One man who really only wants a mom for his four sons. His heart still belongs to his late wife. What he really needs is someone to help as a wife would. The other man, who Lydia is most attracted to, is afraid of Lydia’s rejection because of his family who are all little people, except him. Plus, the fear that if they did get married, they may have a child that is a little person and how Lydia may react if that happened.

It is also in Charm, OH that Lydia will feel more pain than she has ever felt before. Will Lydia be able to find happiness again? You will just have to read this book for yourself and see.

Sandra Heptinstall
Rated G

Danger Diva, by Stan Stamper

This book has cross generational appeal that comes along very seldom. It has intriguing twist and turns and you can never anticipate what will happen next. There is not a boring moment in this book.

The characters are well thought out and interesting. All that this reviewer can say is “grab some popcorn and a coke before you start reading this book. If you are like me then you won’t just be reading but seeing a movie in action."

Mr. Stamper is one heck of a story teller. This is one of the best reads of 2010.

What a way to end the year.

Five star rating.

Sandra Heptinstall
Rated PG, for violence and some sexual content.

Grace, by Shelly Shepard Gray

I found this book to be moving, tender and a well crafted story. When two strangers meet at an Inn, just days before Christmas, each have a story of great sadness.

A young Amish woman who is pregnant and has no husband, and a young Amish man who looks haunted and lost. Neither one is prepared to share their thoughts with others. Both are looking for peace and rest that they can’t find at home.

The Inn is ran by a Amish family that had planed to close and have a family gathering with no guest. But then they find a reservation that had got mixed up in the mail. And when the young woman shows up and passes out and falls in the snow they know things will not be what they had planned. Yet they could not see the many blessings that they were to encounter.

It is by the healing power of God, that the strangers wind up sharing their story's with each other, and then the family at the Inn. There they will find peace and love by doing so. This book is truly a MUST read at Christmas even if it is to remind us what the season is for.

This book is a great reminder that we should all take the time to really listen to what God has to say to us.

Sandra Heptinstall

Rated G with love from God

A Port in the Storm

A Port in the Storm
Author Judy Genandt
Five Star Publishing/Cengage
295 Kennedy Memorial Drive,
Waterville Me 04901
207-859-1000
http://www.gale.cengage.con/fivestar/
97781594149511
$25.95
410 pages

In 1885, Margaret Ward, a socialite finds herself involved in a scandal in Boston's society. Even though it is not her fault, her father sends her to Wyoming to live with his friend and family on their working cattle ranch. She is also assigned to work as the village schoolmarm.

From the first day when she falls down a flight of stairs, to the time she falls in a yard that is nothing but mud, it is obvious that Margaret is not the most graceful woman. If it is not one thing for her then it is another. Yet it is always Tee, the ranch foreman who always finds her in one predicament or another.

It is up to Margaret to find the best road she should travel. To fit into a live style that is so different than she has ever known. To find out what true love is all about.

I love the characters in this book. I find the story to be refreshing and different than your normal genre of this type. This book is 410 pages, but it holds your attention from page one. I was tempted to read the last few pages of this book after I had read the second chapter. I wanted to see ahead of time how it would end.

But I am so glad that I did not. The biggest surprise is in the ending. In this book you will find laughter, sadness, suspense, love, a very determined young schoolmare, and best of all a happy ending. One filled with love that flows in many directions.

I have laughed so much reading this book, and at times felt great sadness also. This book is a great read that I have enjoyed so much.

Sandra Heptinstall

Rated G

(do not post until March)