Welcome! Premeditated Peppermint by Amanda Flower will be available on September 25 along with Assault and Beadery by Mollie Cox Bryan and A Simple Christmas by Charlotte Hubbard. Glitter Bomb by Laura Childs comes out on October 2 (I will be sharing my review with you on October 1).
Secret at Pebble Creek by Lisa Jones Baker is the fourth novel in Hope Chest of Dreams series. Jessica Beachy has come to Arthur, Illinois to
fix-up the house she has inherited from her great-uncle, Sam Beachy. Jessica was surprised by the inheritance
since she had never met Sam. She has
managed to take four weeks off from work to fix up the house and get is listed for
sale. Jessica needs a carpenter to work
on the house and Eli Miller was recommended.
Eli is surprised to learn that Jessica is going to sell the property
because it has special meaning for his family.
Eli shares the story of how his parents fell in love on the property and
the special place on the hill where they talked for hours. While working on the home, Eli shares stories
of Sam and his strong faith in God. Jessica
had not had a relationship with God and asks Eli questions. Eli is drawn is to
Jessica, but, as an Englisher, she is off limits to him. While cleaning the cottage, Jessica finds a
hidden envelope. Inside is a letter from
Sam to his wife along with a key. It
seems he had made a special gift for their sixtieth wedding anniversary, but
Esther passed away before the occasion.
Jessica sets out on a quest to find the handmade gift and learns so much
more along the way.
Secret at Pebble Creek can be
read alone. The other characters from
the series are mentioned along with Sam Beachy, the hope chest maker. The author provided their backstories, so
readers will not be lost. Jessica learns about God while fixing up the cottage. The stories from Eli about Sam helped to
teach Jessica about God and being a Christian.
Eli’s strong faith and that of those in the community played a big
part. Lisa Jones Baker has a nice
writing style that makes Secret at Pebble Creek easy to read. I did feel the
pace was too slow. But part of it was a
lack of solid content. The story is very
light. The attraction between Jessica
and Eli was instantaneous (of course).
The romance portion of the story was predictable. It was obvious how this pair’s tale would
play out. The Christian element was
abundant with numerous scripture passages (too many) along with discussions about
God, faith, love, hope, importance of family and good friends. I wish the author had taken the time to establish
the characters (give us more background on them). Jessica was a hard character to like. She has trouble handling stress, frequent
panic attacks and has yet to address the issue of growing up with an alcoholic
father. I did like how Jessica came to
know God and develop a relationship with Him.
My rating for Secret at Pebble Creek is 3 out of 5 stars (sorry, but I found it to be ho hum). Secret at Pebble Creek is a simple yet sweet
romance novel that will appeal to a younger audience or those looking for a
nice escape novel.
The other books in the Hope Chest of Dreams series are Rebecca's Bouquet, Annie's Recipe, and Rachel's Dream. Thank you for visiting today. If you find my reviews helpful, please consider following my blog (upper right). I will be sharing my review of A Wedding at Mulberry Lane by Rosie Clarke tomorrow. I hope you have a joyful day. Take care and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
No comments:
Post a Comment