I just finished two really different but equally great books!

First, let me tell you about Ann Gabhart’s Along a Storied Trail. I think I’ve read all the packhorse librarian stories out there. I’m a Kentucky girl and I love to read stories set in my state. Ann Gabhart’s retelling of this time in our state’s history stood out to me as the most authentic.

I loved that her characters were complex and not just poor, ignorant mountain people. I loved that she allowed her heroine Tansy to reject the affections of the “man of aplomb” from out of town in favor of her hometown boy. I loved that she threw in a reference to Mrs. Roosevelt’s visit to Morgan County- my own home county. Of course, I wasn’t alive to have experienced it, but it did make a lasting impact on those who were. There was even a huge spread in my middle school yearbook that honored the history of the building when we closed the school that Mrs. Roosevelt opened.

But I digress.

Despite a slow start, this book won me over with a rich story full of God’s grace and redemption. Four and a half stars!

Thanks to Netgalley and Revell for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Next up is Bethany Turner’s Plot Twist. Bethany Turner is my new favorite author. I adore the sweet, slightly off-beat characters she creates. They feel like friends. I was so excited to get a copy of Plot Twist and it did not disappoint!

The structure of the book was just mind-blowingly creative. I’m jealous that I didn’t think of it. On February 4, 2003, greeting card writer/wannabe screenwriter Olivia Ross has a meet-cute with an unidentified “sexy Irish guy” in a coffee shop in LA. They vow to meet back up in ten years in the same spot, but fail to exchange names. What follows is an annual check-in on Olivia and her best friend Fiona, as well as her on-again, off-again love, Liam.

Bethany Turner gets pretty deep as she explores the perceived impacts of fate and freedom through a series of rom-com worthy bungles. I could not put this book down because I had to know how things turned out on February 4, 2013. I won’t spoil the ending but I will tell you,

I wasn’t disappointed!! Five big stars from me!!!!

Thanks to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson for providing a free copy in exchange for my honest review.

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