Bethany House; 384 pages; $15.99; Amazon

I meant to have this review posted yesterday, but I'm under the weather with the flu, so my plan is to write this post and a couple of other posts (that were meant to posted today) tonight.

Anyway, I'm reviewing The Promise of Dawn, book one in the Under Northern Skies series, by Lauraine Snelling. The novel centers on Rune and Signe Carlson, a poor married couple living in Norway who receive a loan from a relative, Einar Strand, for passage to the United States. Upon arriving in Minnesota with their three sons, they quickly learn that Uncle Einar and his wife, Gird, are difficult to get along with. To pay back the cost of their voyage, they have to help clear the family's land.

Rune and Signe both dream of owning their own land and building their own home, but as long as their in debt to the Strands, their dreams will never come true.

Now available from Copperfield Press is the historical-paranormal romance Her Dear & Loving Husband by Meredith Allard.





When did you become interested in storytelling?

I started writing stories in college. I read David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, and I decided I wanted to write stories that were entire worlds unto themselves.

What was your first book/story published?

My first story published was called “Keats House” in a journal called Moondance in 2003. Her Dear and Loving Husband was my first novel published in 2011.

What inspired you to write Her Dear and Loving Husband?

I had read the Twilight books and watched True Blood and I began wondering what it might be like for a vampire who loses the only woman he’s ever loved.

What character in Her Dear and Loving Husband is the most/least like you, and in what ways?

James is most like me because he’s very bookish and very loyal. The character least like me would be Kenneth Hempel, the reporter out to prove that James is a vampire. Kenneth isn’t very generous or understanding.

What is your favorite part in Her Dear and Loving Husband?

Bethany House; 336 pages; $15.99; Amazon

Bethany House; 384 pages; $14.99; Amazon

Collecting dust on top of my needs-to-be-reviewed pile  is the historical-romance Undaunted Hope (book three in the Beacons of Hope series) by author Jody Hedlund. I had read the book as soon as I received it in the mail from Bethany House (a division of Baker Publishing Group) last year, but I went ahead and reread it yesterday, so I would have the story fresh in my mind for this review.

Set in 1871, the novel centers on Tessa Taylor, a young woman who accepts a job as a teacher to a group of children of miners in Eagle Harbor, Michigan. Upon arriving, she learns that the town requested a male teacher, so her arrival is a shock to everyone. Luckily, Percival Updegraff, the superintendent and chief mine clerk, says she can stay through the winter months, because it's too late to send for a replacement teacher.

Now Tessa has a plan, which involves being the best teacher she can be for her students, so the town will see she is irreplaceable. The last thing on her mind is love, but out of nowhere she has two love interests. One is the father of two of her students, who are trying to play matchmaker, and the other is Alex Bjorklund, the assistant lightkeeper.

Bethany House; 352 pages; $15.99; Amazon

Now available from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, is the Amish-fiction drama A Plain Leaving, book one in The Sister's of Lancaster County series, by Leslie Gould.

The novel centers on Jessica Bachmann, an Amish woman who had left her family and Amish community after clashing with her brother, Arden, and the bishop over the future of their family's farm. Three years later, she returns to Lancaster County after learning of her father's death.

They say that you can never go home again, and well, that's exactly what Jessica is thinking, as she returns home. While she grieves her father's passing, she must deal with the past, which includes her brother's decision to allow fracking on the family's land.

With all the emotional trauma, Jessica has to deal with, she must always come face to face with Silas Kemp, a man she once thought she had a future with.