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Buttermilk Sky - Jan Watson (Revisited)

Thursday, July 13, 2017

My Rating
★★★★★ - You have bewitched me, body and soul. (More Info)

About the Book

Weary of the expectations imposed on her by her strict upbringing, eighteen-year-old Mazy Pelfrey prepares to leave her home in the Kentucky mountains for the genteel city of Lexington, where she'll attend secretarial school. She knows her life is about to change--and only for the better. Everything will be blue skies from now on.But business school is harder than she thought it would be and the big city not as friendly, until she meets a charming young man from a wealthy family, Loyal Chambers. When Loyal sets his sights on her, Mazy begins to see that everything she'd ever wished to have is right before her eyes. The only hindrance to her budding romance is a former beau, Chanis Clay, the young sheriff she thought she'd left firmly behind.Danger rumbles like thunder on a high mountain ridge when Mazy's cosseted past collides with her clouded future and forces her to come to terms with what she really wants. (from Goodreads)

My Thoughts

Looking back on this book I really want to re-read it! I can still remember the sensations that filled my soul as I journeyed with Mazy and Chanis through this story. The fireworks display, the dusty dirt roads, and encountering Cinnamon Spicer. If you haven't read this one yet, you should give it a try. I regret to say that I have yet to read any more books by Jan Watson, although a couple of them do grace my bookshelf. 

(Original review published October 2014)
From the moment I opened the pages of Buttermilk Sky I was transported back to 1913, and I didn't want to come back.

We follow the story of Mazy Pelfrey and her journey of discovering not only who she is, but what is truly important in life. Mazy is from a small town in the mountains of Kentucky. We begin the book with her attending secretarial school in Lexington. She is swept off her feet by wealthy Loyal Chambers who expresses interest in her. Chanis Clay is the local sheriff back home in Skip Rock and even though they are not formally engaged, he is preparing a home for Mazy. She is unsure of the direction that she wants her life to lead. Mazy encounters many people. From high strung, snobby Eva who is jealous of Mazy and determined to always have her own way; to Cinnamon Spicer, a girl with next to nothing that works day in and day out to support her father who is ill. The choices Mazy makes will determine the rest of her life. Sometimes our path in life is not always obvious at first. Even through prayer and relying on wisdom from the Lord, there are times that we need to step out in faith even if we can't see where the road leads. Trusting that the Lord will cover and protect us, even if it means having to turn around and start again.

Jan Watson did a fabulous job of making me feel like I was experiencing life in Kentucky in the year 1913. The entire book encompasses the feel and effect of the era. The title is mentioned more than once in the book, and the description was warm and homey feeling to me. Envisioning a "buttermilk sky", breathing the clean mountain air, walking the streets of Lexington, I feel like I was there every step of the way in Mazy's journey. The book has good Biblical principles without being "overly spiritual". I am looking forward to reading more from Jan Watson.

I received a complimentary copy of Buttermilk Sky from Tyndale Publishers Inc. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.



About the Author
Former registered nurse and peri-natal loss counselor, Jan Watson won the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild First Novel Contest in 2004 with Troublesome Creek. Written with a dollop of romance and a smidgen of suspense, Jan’s award winning historical novels, are uniquely set in the Appalachian Mountains. Jan was voted 2012 Best Kentucky Author by the readers of Kentucky Living Magazine. Jan lives in beautiful Lexington, Kentucky near her three sons and her daughter-in-law. Jan also enjoys two grand-cats, Buddy and Lily B. Website

Many thanks to Canva for providing an AMAZING program for me to design all these beautiful graphics. Book covers, publisher/tour logos, and author pictures not owned by me. All other graphics created by Bookworm Mama with public domain photos on Canva unless stated otherwise. 




Making Waves: A Novel (Lake Manawa Summers Book #1) - Lorna Seilstad

Thursday, June 22, 2017


7685281My Rating
 - You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. (More Info)

About the Book

Lake Manawa may mean peace, but a witty debutante finds only turmoil when Mr. Boring presses for an engagement, and she meets a intriguing sailing instructor who is everything her humdrum suitor is not.

When spunky Marguerite Westing discovers that her family will summer at Lake Manawa in 1895, she couldn't be more thrilled. It is the perfect way to escape her agonizingly boring suitor, Roger Gordon. It's also where she stumbles upon two new loves: sailing, and sailing instructor Trip Andrews. But this summer of fun turns to turmoil as her father's 
gambling problems threaten to ruin the family forever. Will free-spirited Marguerite marry Roger to save her father's name and fortune? Or will she follow her heart--even if it means abandoning the family she loves?

Author Lorna Seilstad's fresh and entertaining voice will whisk readers away to a breezy lakeside summer holiday. Full of sharp wit and blossoming romance, Making Waves is the first book in the Lake Manawa Summers series.


My Thoughts
Set in 1895 on the shores of Lake Manawa, Marguerite Westing has a summer she will never forget.


Her beau, Roger Gordon, is not just the boring, uninteresting man she thought he was. And her loving and caring father has a secret as well that could destroy his family. In a time when women were practically forbidden to sail...Marguerite falls in love with sailing...and the sailing instructor Trip Andrews. Her fiery spirit gets her into trouble on more than one occasion. And she has a tendency for making waves wherever she goes.

A difficult choice lays before her, will she give up all of her hopes and dreams to save her family? Or will she follow her heart and put her trust in the Lord to work things out.

This book is a very easy quick read. Has some surprises and twists. I enjoy the use of scripture, as well as the lessons of trusting the Lord. I enjoy the time period and the fact that Marguerite tends to go against the flow of what is normal and expected for women in this era.

I found Making Waves at my library. I was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.




About the Author

Award-winning author Lorna Seilstad has called Iowa home her whole life. She received her B.S. in Education from Lubbock Christian University. After her first child was born, she quit teaching and became a professional wiper. “I wiped noses, tears, skinned knees, baby's bottoms, and counter tops every day. But at nap time, I wrote." Today, she writes historical fiction with a generous dash of humor. She is the author of the Lake Manawa Summers Series and the Gregory Sisters series, a wife, and a mother of three.





More Books by Lorna Seilstad on Bookworm Mama




Many thanks to Canva for providing an AMAZING program for me to design all these beautiful graphics. Book covers, publisher/tour logos, and author pictures not owned by me. All other graphics created by Bookworm Mama with public domain photos on Canva

The Dancing Master - Julie Klassen

Thursday, June 15, 2017



Welcome to Throwback Thursday!
This summer, I have quite the lineup of books to read for judging. As such, I won't be able to post reviews of those books until after the winners are announced. So, thanks to some wonderful inspiration from Faithfully Bookish, I will be sharing with you some reviews from back when I first started blogging almost 3 years ago...(you know, back when I had no idea what I was doing and MAYBE 10 people read these reviews)...The first book on the #TBT list is The Dancing Master by Julie Klassen. This is literally the VERY first book that I EVER wrote a review for! Eeeeep! I am terrified to read the review now. Have you read The Dancing Master? What did you think of it?



My Rating
 - You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. (More Info)

About the Book

Finding himself the man of the family, London dancing master Alec Valcourt moves his mother and sister to remote Devonshire, hoping to start over. But he is stunned to learn the village matriarch has prohibited all dancing, for reasons buried deep in her past.

Alec finds an unlikely ally in the matriarch's daughter. Though he's initially wary of Julia Midwinter's reckless flirtation, he comes to realize her bold exterior disguises a vulnerable soul--and hidden sorrows of her own.

Julia is quickly attracted to the handsome dancing master--a man her mother would never approve of--but she cannot imagine why Mr. Valcourt would leave London, or why he evades questions about his past. With Alec's help, can Julia uncover old secrets and restore life to her somber village. . .and to her mother's tattered heart?

Filled with mystery and romance, The Dancing Master brings to life the intriguing profession of those who taught essential social graces for ladies and gentlemen hoping to make a "good match" in Regency England.


My Thoughts

The Dancing Master is the first book I have read by Julie Klassen. This story is not only intriguing and suspenseful, but it is also full of romance and God's love and grace. Set in Regency England, I found this to be an excellent book. If you like Jane Austen's settings, you will most definitely like Julie Klassen's books.

Written in a more modern American voice, the language flows well and is easy to understand. I really love the characters in this story. Everyone seems to have secrets they are trying to hide and the past comes back to haunt more than one person in the story. However, all will be revealed in due course. Will our characters be able to overcome their differences? Or will the past come between them and drive them apart for good?

I found Alec and Julia's story to be fun, a bit suspenseful, and romantic. While romance isn't as prevalent in this book, it is still there.

I borrowed The Dancing Master from my local library. I was not required to write a review. All opinions expressed are mine alone. Originally published 8/7/14. Republished 6/15/17.



About the Author
Julie Klassen
Photo Credit: © Farrow Media

JULIE KLASSEN loves all things Jane--Jane Eyre and Jane Austen. A graduate of the University of Illinois, Julie worked in publishing for sixteen years and now writes full-time. Three of her books, The Silent Governess, The Girl in the Gatehouse, and The Maid of Fairbourne Hall, have won the Christy Award for Historical Romance. The Secret of Pembrooke Park was honored with the Minnesota Book Award for genre fiction. Julie has also won the Midwest Book Award and Christian Retailing's BEST Award, and has been a finalist in the Romance Writers of America's RITA Awards and ACFW's Carol Awards. Julie and her husband have two sons and live in a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota.
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More Books by Julie Klassen on Bookworm Mama
I will be featuring a few more of Julie's books in the weeks to come, but you can check out my reviews HERE.

Many thanks to Canva for providing an AMAZING program for me to design all these beautiful graphics. Book covers, publisher/tour logos, and author pictures not owned by me. All other graphics created by Bookworm Mama with public domain photos on Canva


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