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book reviews

Book Review – “The Oak Leaves” by Maureen Lang

February 4, 2008 By kelly Leave a Comment

313450: The Oak Leaves The Oak Leaves
By Maureen Lang / Tyndale House

A beautiful young son, a devoted husband, a successful life; Talie Ingram has it all. When Talie comes across the journal of a nineteenth century ancestor, though, it seems as though the perfect life her family has lead may come to an end.

Written in the journal are tales of the family being cursed with feebleminded offspring. Talie decides to ignore the journal, burying it back to the recesses of the past. However, when her son begins showing sign of developmental delay, Talie must reexamine the legacy that she has passed onto her son, and make peace with the unborn child that she is carrying. Maureen Lang, softcover, 401 pages.

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Kelly’s Review:

I really REALLY enjoyed this book. From start to finish, I was completely taken by it and didn’t want to put it down. It’s the first in a new series and I am already anxious for the second book which is due out later this year.

The Oak Leaves is basically two stories in one book. It starts with Talie Ingram and her current family which includes her husband Luke and young son Ben. That part is set in modern day. The other part of the story comes into play when Talie finds and reads a journal that was kept by a distant grandmother in the 1850s in Ireland and England. That character is Cosima and her story involves her family, the “curse” associated with her family in Ireland, her faith and her plight to true love. In modern day, Talie and Luke are noticing trends in young Ben that concern them – he is not reaching developmental milestones on time, etc. Through reading Cosima’s journal, Talie comes to find that this happened in Cosima’s family in Ireland and was known as a curse because of those in her family that were “feeble-minded.” Talie and Luke seek to find answers and want to uncover the truth about Ben’s condition. In the meantime, they discover that Talie is pregnant again and share concerns about the future of their unborn child. They draw strength and determination from their faith (although, this book deals so beautifully with the questions they have even with faith firmly in place) and from reading Cosima’s journal. I don’t want to give away too much, so I won’t say anymore about the two plots.

Both stories were beautifully told. Both were captivating and I grew to care about the characters immediately. When I read the description of the book initially, I’ll admit that I wasn’t sure that I’d like a story that went back and forth between two time periods. However, the way Maureen Lang wrote this book, the two stories blend together beautifully. I found myself eager to find out what would happen next in both of the stories as both captivated my interest.

This book is an excellent piece of Christian fiction. It doesn’t shy away from topics like questioning God and it doesn’t sugar coat the tough issues that faced by Christians. I appreciated the raw emotion the book allowed the characters to have and how tests of faith do come along in our lives. I also appreciated how those issues were handled.

The Oak Leaves was one of the best books I have read in a long time. I’d recommend it to readers of Christian fiction. I am already anxious for the second installment of this series to be released. In the meantime, the next time I buy books I am going to look for more by Maureen Lang.

Filed Under: book reviews Tagged With: book reviews, Maureen Lang, Oak Leaves Series, The Oak Leaves Leave a Comment

Book Review – “Happily Ever After” by Susan May Warren

January 7, 2008 By kelly Leave a Comment

313832: Happily Ever After, Deep Haven Series #1 Happily Ever After, Deep Haven Series #1

By Susan May Warren / Tyndale House

Mona Reynolds has no time for love! She’s busy renovating an old Victorian house that’s the answer to her prayers—her own bookstore/coffeeshop. Besides, there’s no better hero for her than Reese Clark’s fictional character Jonah. Or is there? What about the mysterious handyman she just hired? Will Mona’s story have a fairy tale ending? 350 pages, softcover from Tyndale.

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I got this book from Paperback Swap after I read Reclaiming Nick, Noble Legacy Series #1 by Susan May Warren and really enjoyed it.

Happily Ever After is the first book in the Deep Haven series. In this book we meet Mona who has just quit her job and moved to Deep Haven with her best friend Liza to restore a Victorian home that she will open as a bookstore and coffee house. In order to restore the old home, she hires “Joe” who seems to be a drifter in town who has handyman skills that she needs in remodeling the home. Mona has just six weeks to restore the dilapidated home and get ready for the grand opening of her store. Along the way, Joe works to help her and they have to overcome obstacles that are the work of a sabatoer who is out to stop Mona from opening the store. We also meet Joe’s brother who he has been reunited with after many years of being away. During this process Mona and Joe start to fall for one another and slowly reveal their secrets and lives to one another. Mona reveals to Joe that her ideal man is a book character by the name of Jonah from a series by her favorite author, Reese Clark. Joe seems withdrawn and reserved – he seems to lead the life of an aimless drifter, but there is, of course, more to him that meets the eye. I won’t give any more of the plot away. 😉

I enjoyed this book. I felt that it’s plot was a tad predictable, but still a very good read. I found the characters endearing and felt connected to them through the course of the book. And, of course, I found myself cheering for Mona and Joe to find a way to be together AND for Mona’s bookstore to succeed. I also appreciated the Biblical references and lessons that were laced in perfect context throughout the story.

If you’re into Christian fiction, I’d recommend this one. I’ll be reading the next two books in this series, without a doubt. And, I can’t wait to read the next Noble Legacy story too.

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