A Book Review: “Love in Disguise” by Carol Cox

 

From the publisher’s website:

Can she solve the crime before they uncover her true identity?

Jobless and down to her last dime, Ellie Moore hears about a position with the Pinkerton Detective Agency and believes it's the perfect chance to put her acting skills and costumes to use. Reluctantly, the agency agrees to give her one assignment, one chance to prove herself. Disguised as Lavinia Stewart, a middle-aged widow, Ellie travels to Arizona to begin her investigation. When the need arises, she also transforms into the dazzling Jessie Monroe, whose vivacious personality encourages people to talk.

Mine owner Steven Pierce is going to lose his business if he can't figure out who's stealing his silver shipments. In his wildest dreams, he never expected to receive help from a gray-haired widow... or to fall in love with her beautiful niece.

Then the thieves come after Lavinia and Jessie. Ellie isn't safe no matter which character she plays! Should she give up and reveal her true identity? What will Steven do when he realizes the woman he's falling in love with doesn't really exist?

Set in 1880s Arizona, Love in Disguise blends romance, humor, and mystery for a can't-put-down read.

I received this book for free as a part of the Bethany House Book Review club. Unfortunately, I am a little on the slow side as a reader and this was a 348 page read! Add in an unexpected move at the end of this summer, I just finished reading this a few weeks ago :-)

I figured it would be easiest to give you 5 things I thought about this book and let you decide if it sounds like something you would pick up and read yourself:

1.     I thought that this Historical Fiction book got off to a bit of a slow start and didn’t really get exciting until around halfway through when Ellie’s first clues start rolling in.

2.     I thought that as a book touted as a Christian Historical Fiction piece, it could have dropped the Christian label as the story was not built around God and the Church. Although there were references and woven in, as Ellie is trying to find her true identity in the Wild West be it through her career or God, it was not the main theme in my opinion and it seemed a bit cheesy at times.

3.     I liked the romance that developed between Steven and Ellie, and would have liked to have seen more story involving it. If you are looking for a Historical Romance book, this is not it. I think a sequel to this book would be fun to read to see how Ellie’s life unfolds after this big win for her, and a new romance developing.

4.     The story got a bit confusing at times with a lot of names being given. If you do read this, take notes so you can refer to it throughout ;-)

5.     It took me a long time to get through in part because I am a slow reader, but also because it was not a book that I just couldn’t put down.

Conclusion, “Love in Disguise” is a nice read, but I would probably only give it a 3/5 star rating.

Food, Faith & (in)Fertility....and Friday!!

{food}

I haven't made any new recipes this week, but when I was looking through some pictures this evening, I remembered that I forgot to post about the Girl's Lunch I recently was a part of :) Grandma treated us to lunch a few Saturday's back, at an Italian restaurant she loves and we had a great time laughing and eating good food:

Mom and Me

 Grandma and My Sister

 My awesome Chicken Penne Gorgonzola Pasta and Smoked Turkey & Bacon Panini (turkey, applewood smoked bacon, gorgonzola, mozzarella and roma tomatoes)!

Baked Potato Soup

Hungary anyone??? :-)-

{faith}

An awesome article I read this week about the "caves" of our lives and how they prepare us to fulfill God's purposes for our lives....click to read "Caves".

{(in)Fertility}

I am very excited to read this book this summer. I will post a review of it when I finish the current book that I am reading for a book review program I'm in. This book is motivation for finishing my current one.

But in just skimming through this book, I am very much looking forward to it.

"Falling for Eli: How I Lost Heart, Then Gained Hope Through the Love of a Singular Horse"

A true story (categorized as "memoir/pets") written by Nancy Shulins about her healing journey that began with a special horse named Eli.

 

Happy Friday!!! Have a blessed weekend!

Food, Faith & (in)Fertility....and Friday!

I just realized that I haven't blogged in over 2 weeks! It's been busy with various family gatherings on the weekends, getting a small garden planted late (I'll have a report soon!), and work during the week, plus all the other things that life entails.


{food}

I haven't cooked with it yet but I bought some of this (tofu) at the store this past week:


source


Any recipe suggestions are greatly appreciated! Please leave a comment or email me (food faith and infertility at yahoo dot com). It is something I have seen for years in cooking magazines but never been brave enough to buy! Well I have a chunk and I am ready to try it!


{faith} & {(in)Fertility}

I am currently doing this book in a summer small group and have really enjoyed it so far. The first week was on extraordinary hope and the examples given were of Hannah and the woman at the well. I was sort of dreading going to group this week because I knew we would be discussing it and I was tired and just didn't feel like going over our IF story, but I knew if I went I couldn't sit there silent because I have learned so much. So I went. And I wasn't silent. I felt blessed for going and sharing how God has worked in our lives while dealing with IF.

So anyways, if you are looking for a study to do over the summer months, even on your own, so far, so good:


                          source




Happy Friday! I hope everyone has a restful weekend :)

....Another Butterfly Day

Last Sunday I took my camera to my parent's house and went for a walk around their property, capturing some of the beautiful images that can be found within their 2 acres (where I grew up). I was lucky to get to add to my butterfly photo collection with a couple shots...

“I tell of hearts and souls and dances...
Butterflies and second chances;
Desperate ones and dreamers bound,
Seeking life from barren ground,
Who suffer on in earthly fate
The bitter pain of agony hate,
Might but they stop and here forgive
Would break the bonds to breathe and live
And find that God in goodness brings
A chance for change, the hope of wings
To rest in Him, and self to die
And so become a butterfly.”

Karen Kingsbury

(from Ocean's Apart)

Butterfly Days

I love butterflies. To me they symbolize so many things.

Second chances.
New life.
Hope.

They are such beautiful creatures with intricate designs. God's handiwork.

Given that I love butterflies so much, when I read Karen Kinsbury's book "Oceans Apart"  a while back, I fell in love with the scene in the book where a little boy names Max is sitting with his (unknown to him at the time) father, and they are fishing. Max has lost his mother in a tragic accident and is coming to terms with his loss as best a young child can when faced with such tragedy. A butterfly lands on his fishing pole and he shares with Mr. Evans (his father) the special meaning that butterflies had to him and his mom. They would often have "butterfly days" where he and his mom would sit and watch butterflies:

"She said that they prove that God gives second chances"

"Butterflies prove that?"

"Yeah, because a butterfly spends all those days as a callipillar, scooting on the ground. Did you know that?"

"I did." Mr. Evans eyes were serious. Max figured it was because he liked this story.

"Then one day"- Max stared at the butterfly- "one day he gets tired of scooting around, so he builds a little room and takes a nap there." Max made his voice quiet again because sometimes it would get loud when he told a good story. And the story of his special butterfly days was a very good one. "But know what the bestest part is, Mr. Evans?"

"What?" His face was closer now, because they both had shushed their words so the butterfly wouldn't leave.

"One day the callipillar wakes up and God has done an amazing thing. The callipillar shakes his shoulders a little, and what do you know? There's something on his back!" Max shook his back a very little to show Mr. Evans what he meant. The butterfly gave a big flap of his wings, but still he stayed on the fishing pole. "That thing is wings, Mr. Evans. And now the callipillar doesn't have to scoot around on the ground because-"

"Because he can fly." A smile came on Mr. Evans face. "And that's his second chance, right?"

"Yes." He blinked so he could see the butterfly better. "She said that one day soon we'd be together again and we'd never scoot around on the ground. Instead we would fly. Forever and ever we would fly."

I have had a couple "butterfly days" this week (my Joy Journal updated....check!). A flowering Crabapple tree at my work is home to a host of Red Admirals (and Bumble Bees!) right now, and I have seen many around our yard as well (but those ones seem to be faster fliers so no pics yet!). I also saw a Swallowtail butterfly on our house today, but that too alluded me just as I was about to snap a picture!! It was a beautiful day though as I just watched the butterflies and birds and thought how awesome is God to create such living things for our enjoyment!

I also read today that a warm winter like we had means more butterflies. Finally a silver-lining to not getting any snow (barely)!