Daughters of the Northern Shore by Joanne Bischof

Daughters of the Northern Shore by Joanne Bischof

This is book two in the Blackbird Mountain series. I loved book one. Read my review here. 

Let’s begin with the summary:

Aven Norgaard understands courage. Orphaned within an Irish workhouse, then widowed at just nineteen, she voyaged to America where she was wooed and wed by Thor Norgaard, a Deaf man in rural Appalachia. That the Lord saw her along the winding journey and that Aven now carries Thor’s child are blessings beyond measure. Yet while Thor holds her heart, it is his younger brother and rival who haunts her memories. Haakon—whose selfish choices shattered her trust in him.

Having fled the Norgaard orchard after trying to take Aven as his own, Haakon sails on the North Atlantic ice trade, where his soul is plagued with regrets that distance cannot heal. Not even the beautiful Norwegian woman he’s pursued can ease the torment. When the winds bear him home after four years away, Haakon finds the family on the brink of tragedy. A decades-old feud with the neighboring farm has wrenched them into the fiercest confrontation on Blackbird Mountain since the Civil War. Haakon’s cunning and strength hold the power to seal many fates, including Thor’s—which is already imperiled due to a grave illness brought to him at the first prick of warfare.

Now Haakon faces the hardest choice of his life. One that shapes a battlefield where pride must be broken enough to be restored, and where a prodigal son may finally know the healing peace of surrender and the boundless gift of forgiveness. And when it comes to the woman he left behind in Norway, he just might discover that while his heart belongs to a daughter of the north, she’s been awaiting him on shores more distant than the land he’s fighting for.

And now, my review:

This book picks up close to where book one, Sons of Blackbird Mountain, left off. I recommend you read book one first, though there is a lot of recap. (This slowed the plot of book two down. That’s a tough balance, and it’s difficult to know if readers will be confused or bored.) We get to catch up with Thor and his brothers. Once again, the author does a great job of bringing us into a Deaf (her capitalization preference) person’s world. I really enjoy reading about this element in a main character’s life. It’s rare in CBA fiction.

I like Joanne’s writing voice. Her historicals are rich with research and strong prose. She’s a wordsmith. One element I noticed this time that I didn’t in book one is the POV is distant. With all that lovely prose, I didn’t feel the characters’ emotions, most of the time. Their emotions are described, but not presented in a way that helps readers feel. I also found redundancies and stalled ruminations that didn’t advance the plot. 

This story is Aven’s, definitely, but it’s also Haaken’s. We follow this youngest brother throughout the book. He’s a wounded soul and therefore we’re engaged in his story, but at the same time there were believability issues. Without a redemption moment near the beginning of the story, we see him changing. The arc wasn’t believable without that element, and I always felt like something was missing for his characterization. Without a God-encounter near the story’s opening, it’s hard to believe he can be a deeply changed man—from lustful to redeemed and made new, walking in ongoing repentance (i.e. not returning to lust) though he’s back in his target’s life.

I was a little lost at times when characters made plans without letting the reader in on them. Without deep POV, we had the disadvantage of distance. Keeping some secrets is fine. That may keep us reading. But leaving us in the dark for whole chapters can be frustrating.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, which kept me returning to read more. Once finished, I missed the setting and the characters. At the end of the story, the author sets up book three. I can’t wait!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Thomas Nelson through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Memory House by Rachel Hauck

The Memory House

I enjoy Rachel’s original approach to her novels. Let’s take a look at her latest one. 

The summary: 

Embracing the future means remembering the past . . . 

When Beck Holiday lost her father in the North Tower on 9/11, she also lost her memories of him. Eighteen years later, she’s a tough New York City cop burdened with a damaging secret, suspended for misconduct, and struggling to get her life in order. Meanwhile a mysterious letter arrives informing her she’s inherited a house along Florida’s northern coast, and what she discovers there will change her life forever. Matters of the heart only become more complicated when she runs into handsome Bruno Endicott, a driven sports agent who fondly recalls the connection they shared as teenagers. But Beck doesn’t remember that either. 

Decades earlier, widow Everleigh Applegate lives a steady, uneventful life with her widowed mother after a tornado ripped through Waco, Texas, and destroyed her new, young married life. When she runs into old high school friend Don Callahan, she begins to yearn for change. Yet no matter how much she longs to love again, she is hindered by a secret she can never share. 

Fifty years separate the women but through the power of love and miracle of faith, they each find healing in a beautiful Victorian known affectionately as the Memory House. 

And now, my review: 

The hero’s world is all about football, and the author knew the ins and outs of sports agenting activities and lingo. Great research. 

The heroine is a cop with a complication. Sometimes she came across like an officer, sometimes she didn’t. 

As usual with Rachel’s novels, we have the time slip element, which I love. And it’s always fun to find Jesus in the story. Her descriptions of prayer and God’s presence are delicious and so relatable. I’m glad she includes them! It’s rare to see that element in fiction. 

One of the themes that captured my attention was that of enjoying gifts we feel unworthy of. Such a humbling activity—receiving. Another theme was the advice to “stop believing in the words of broken, wounded” people. The main theme, though, is memory. Memories lost. Memories desired. Making them. Living with them. Righting them. Readers will look at their own memories in a new way. 

I recommend this out-of-the-box story.