Tea & Read January Fiction Review: The Swiss Courier

Last year was a drought year for my reading. I’m trying to right that and get back into the swing of things. I’ve seen so many good books that I wanted to read that it’s a little hard to pick. I’ve decided to review two books a month, one fiction and one non-fiction.

Here us my January fiction review:

Title: The Swiss Courier

Author(s): Tricia Goyer & Mike Yorkey

Rating: Two cups of Tea (3 star)

Blurb:

She's risking her life to save a man she doesn't know. But whom can she trust along the way?

It is August 1944 and the Gestapo is mercilessly rounding up suspected enemies of the Third Reich after an attempt on Hitler's life. Gabi Mueller is a young woman working for the newly formed American Office of Strategic Services (the forerunner to the CIA) in Switzerland. When she is asked to put herself in harm's way to safely "courier" a German scientist who is working on the atomic bomb out of enemy territory, the fate of the world hangs in the balance.

Terri’s Review:

I seem to be on a serious WWI/WWII streak with my reading. This book takes a different angle than the other books that I’ve read. It is framed by the failed assassination attempt against Hitler and the subsequent retaliation. The book tells the story of spy operations in Switzerland. I loved this approach to a oft-told story set in WWII. I’ve read other books by Tricia Goyer and loved them. This book was on par with her writing ability and Mike Yorkey’s only added to what I loved about Goyer’s writing. My only complaint against this book is I kept forgetting who was who. This might work because it is a novel about spies, but going back to the character index broke the flow of the story. Overall, it was a good read to start the year off.

Tea and Read: Love in Disguise

Title: Love in Disguise

Author: Carol Cox

Genre: Christian fiction, romance

Rating: One cup of tea (★★★)

My first book by Carol Cox. 

Blurb: 

When costume-maker Ellie Moore suddenly finds herself out of a job in the middle of a bleak Chicago winter, she uses her knowledge of theatrical disguise to secure a position as an undercover operative with the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Her assignment: find the culprit behind the theft of silver shipped from the mines near Pickford, Arizona.

Disguised as Lavinia Stewart, a middle-aged widow, Ellie begins her investigation. Soon she finds she must also pose as the dazzling young Jessie Monroe, whose vivacious personality encourages people to talk.

Mine owner Steven Pierce is about to lose his business after the theft of several bullion shipments--until hope arrives in the unlikely form of Lavinia Stewart, who offers to invest in Steven's mine. In his wildest dreams, Steven never expected to be rescued by an inquisitive gray-haired widow...or to fall head over heels for Lavinia's captivating niece, Jessie.

But then the thieves come after both Lavinia and Jessie. Ellie isn't safe no matter which character she plays! Will she be forced to reveal her true identity before the criminals are caught? What will Steven do when he discovers the woman he loves doesn't exist?

This book started with an interesting premise, a female Pinkerton agent investigating a crime, which I found very intriguing. Unfortunately, I don’t think I fell in love with any of the characters. They were okay, but they didn’t grasp my attention enough to hook me. It took me a very long time to read this and I must admit that I read more out of obligation than enjoyment.

The pacing doesn’t help much, either. It seemed like there were very long passages of Ellie’s internal thoughts and not much progression with the plot. I found myself skimming a few times. I know Ellie was an amateur detective and the book was a romance, but I wished the mystery crime-fighting element in the book was a little stronger. As the for the romance element, the progression of Ellie and Steven’s relationship seemed a little shallow and cliché.

Will someone else enjoy this book more than me? Yes. It just wasn’t enough to hold my interest. 

Tea and Read: My Stubborn Heart

Title: My Stubborn Heart

Author: Becky Wade

Genre: Christian fiction, women's fiction

Rating: Two cups of tea (★★★★)

This is the first book from Becky Wade I’ve read, so I went into it without any real expectations. I wanted to be entertained, at least, and this book turned out to be quite delightful.

Blurb:

Kate Donovan is burned out on work, worn down by her dating relationships, and in need of an adventure. When her grandmother asks her to accompany her to Redbud, Pennsylvania, to restore the grand old house she grew up in, Kate jumps at the chance.

Upon her arrival in Redbud, Kate meets Matt Jarreau, the man hired to renovate the house. Kate can't help being attracted to him, drawn by both his good looks and something else she can't quite put her finger on. He's clearly wounded--hiding from people, from God, and from his past. Yet Kate sets her stubborn heart on bringing him out of the dark and back into the light...whether he likes it or not.

When the stilted, uncomfortable interactions between Kate and Matt slowly shift into something more, is God finally answering the longing of her heart? Or will Kate be required to give up more than she ever dreamed?

Wade pulls off a feat in this book that I really enjoy: she took a common plot (at least common to Christian fiction nowadays) of a widower finding love again, and infused it with freshness. I love the tone of this book, which the setting lends itself to well. I also loved the writing, almost poetic.

In addition setting and tone, Kate and Matt made this book sing. Their struggle with their feeling about their lives and each other help earn the book the title. They are stubborn, but it’s not an annoying kind of stubborn. I also liked the development of the characters. The progression of their relationship was believable and enjoyable. I also quite enjoyed the secondary characters, especially Velma and Morty. 

This is a very cute enjoyable read. Looking forward to the next book from Wade. 

Indie Life: Meaningful

I have good news and bad news. Being the optimist I am, I’ll start with the good news.

This month, I got two four star reviews of my novel on Christian Manifesto. I also got good reviews on Amazon and Goodreads. The biggest piece of good news of all? My novel is a quarterfinalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. Yes, I screamed when I found out.

The bad news…I haven’t sold one copy of my book this month. Not a single one.

So there is my stark honesty. My sales haven’t been great before this month, but I must admit, I haven’t been promoting my novel as I should. My marketing has been sidetracked by a series of bad migraines. I’ve had to stay away from my computer quite a bit. This month, however, the few sales I was getting dried up.

Now you may be thinking, good reviews and promising contest results should mean something. I was thinking the same thing. I thought they would mean more sales, but they don’t. That’s one of the challenges of indie life. You find yourself wondering what it all means. How do you interpret the ups and downs?

I think the best way to deal with all this is to remember that this is a journey and in every journey there is good and bad. The bad does cancel out the good. Nor does the good cancel out the bad. They co-exist in indie life and every other part of life.

It’s also helpful to remember that bad occurrences don’t make the journey bad and good occurrences don’t make the journey perfect. A balanced perspective is the key. This journey will have good and bad in it. We want it that way. When good and bad co-exist, we can use a better word for our indie publishing journey: meaningful.

Despite my lack of sales, my journey is meaningful. I had courage to believe in my writing. That’s meaningful. I’ve dealt with the myth that sales and good reviews validate my writing career. That’s meaningful. I’ve celebrated that my writing connects with my fans. All meaningful.

Regardless what my sales end up being, I’ve had a meaningful month. 

Tweet Me: When good and bad co-exist, we can use a better word for our indie publishing journey: meaningful. Click here

Writing Wednesday: How Love Simplified Came To Be

A reader recently asked me how I came up with the idea for Love Simplified. A good question except…I am not a linear person when it comes to my ideas. Sometimes a scene pops into my head and then I plot the novel around that scene. Other times, my ideas form in a more classic way, the writer’s best friend. The “what if…” question. However, Love Simplified didn’t start with a “what if…”, but it was a question in my mind. 

What kind of person goes on a reality TV show?

Now I must admit, I haven’t watched most of the popular reality TV shows, the Real Housewives or Survivor, or Idol, but I’ve watched a few. My favs are What Not to Wear, My Fair Wedding, The Locater (that show always makes me cry), and Ultimate Bake-Off.  I’ve watched an episode or two of other shows (watched Millionaire Matchmaker, research for Love Simplified), but I found myself wondering who would agree to a reality TV show and why would they do it. It seems so easy to be humiliated for life on these shows.

That wondering soon twisted into thinking about semi-legitimate reasons someone would do a reality TV show. After all, they’re not all bad. At the time I was watching a reality TV show about a life coach (can't remember the name of the show right now, but it was a late night TLC deal). One night as I watched, the idea flipped and I started pondering what would it be like if the so called expert was on the other side of the show. If the expert was the one getting advice and help. And thus, Tempest Day was born.

What would motivate you to do a reality TV show?