Once Upon a Prince

Once Upon a Prince by Rachel Hauck
4/5 stars
Zondervan, 2013
343 pages
Adult Christian Contemporary Romance

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The premise for this book was right up my alley: ordinary young woman falls unwittingly for a prince mixed in with some inspirational words. Overall I was pretty pleased with how this romance unfolded.

Susanna has spent twelve years clinging to her relationship with a military man who eventually breaks up with her saying he found the right ring but not the right girl. Living on a small island, the news quickly spreads and Susanna is the object of pity. Except for the dashingly charming Nate Kenneth whose humble attitude speaks to her soul. As it turns out, Nate is Prince Nathaniel soon to be crowned king upon the death of his father and caught up in a complicated web of politics. Can these two go the distance?

Right off the bat, I am impressed with Susanna's caution. If I discovered I was seeing a prince, I think I'd end up jumping in feet first before looking. But due to coming off her previous relationship, she is much more caution and leans on God instead, waiting to get to know Nate inside and out. Meanwhile Nate is so mature and honorable as he struggles against seemingly insurmountable odds that would prevent a marriage between the two.

For me, the part I didn't really like was the political angle. I'm not going to get into all the details but I found it on the dull side and kind of tuned out, waiting to get back to the heart of the story. Lest you think it's all about romance, you should know that family plays an important role too as both Susanna and Nate have interfering but well-meaning family members with a lot of opinions.

Overall: A bit on the fantastical side with Nate coming from the kingdom of Brighton but it does hit that sweet spot of romance that I was anticipating.

The Irresistible Revolution

The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical by Shane Claiborne
5/5 stars
Zondervan, 2006
367 pages
Adult Christian Non-fiction

Source: B-day present :)

This is going to be a shorter review since it's Saturday, it's non-fiction, and it was just amazing so I don't have any nits to pick. My very good friend gifted this to me for my birthday since she knows what a reader I am but that I don't really read a lot of non-fiction. Claiborne is one of her favorite authors and I'm excited to have been introduced to him.

Favorite Quote: "I have pledged allegiance to a King who loved evildoers so much he died for them...teaching us that there is something worth dying for but nothing worth killing for." (pg 365)

Trying to decide where exactly to start is quite difficult as the book covers a lot of ground following Claiborne's life as a Christian, from his inauthentic conversion as a youth, accepting something he didn't fully understand and tracing his adult life searching for that authentic faith and disturbing his comfortable lifestyle for something Christlike. It's a history but it's also a calling to work and an inspiration for where to go. The overwhelming impression I have is of the fire in Shane as he reaches out to us, very personally, trying to shake us up especially good for me as I had become somewhat complacent in the waning days of 2012. Additionally I found his writing style just very smooth and engaging even when it made me uncomfortable, either because I knew he was calling me out in a way I needed to be challenged or because I didn't entirely agree with him.

The other theme I would like to touch on is the seeming contradiction in the subtitle "an ordinary radical." How do those seemingly opposite words fit together in Claiborne's vision? Well he traces the word "radical" back to its origins in "root" and sees it as utterly fitting that his lifestyle is now more in line with that of those in the early church. If it seems odd to contemporary Western Christians, then that's more a reflection of the culture in which we immerse ourselves; it would seem typical to disciples in the early church. There are lots of other educational passages in this book and all together it was an excellent read and very jolting.

Thank you very much Kim :)

The Merchant's Daughter #Review @Netgalley

The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson
Zondervan, 2011
270 pages
YA; Fairy-Tale; Historical; Christian
4/5 stars

Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read Dickerson's previous novel, The Healer's Apprentice, and came out of it with mixed feelings. Still I'm a sucker for retold fairy tales so I requested this one from Netgalley.

At some point, I decided it was a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin (no idea) but it is actually Beauty and the Beast in medieval England. The choice of England for the setting is an interesting one to me as B&B is traditionally French; however I didn't feel very immersed in England. For the little I know about that time period, it might as well have been set in France.

While I deem the setting less important, the characters were very well done. The "beauty" is Annabel, whose merchant father was lost at sea and whose proud mother has led the family to crumble under their debts. As punishment, Annabel will become a servant to the new lord, the beastly (in appearance and temperament) Lord Ranulf. Although a fall in social status, it is certainly preferable to marriage to the loathsome bailiff who does not understand the word "no."

Through their time together, Ranulf and Annabel begin to learn each other's character and fall in love. Annabel has a heart for God and dreams of entering a nunnery. Her pure heart helps to heal Ranulf's pain from the rejection by his beautiful wife, who found his appearance horrifying. Meanwhile Ranulf provides Annabel with a Bible (that she can read...because she can read Latin!) and encourages her spirituality as well as her independence.

Like the other Dickerson novel I've read, the Christianity aspect is very strong; I thought it was handled much better here although non-Christians might find it overwhelming. As a Christian, I appreciated Annabel having the chance to read the Bible herself (although I do think she was far too educated for her position) and the weaving of Christianity into the story.

Overall: A sweet romance, not based on just knowing, but based on getting to know each other and a shared love of Christ.

The Healer's Apprentice

The Healer's Apprentice by Melanie Dickerson
Zondervan, 2010
243 pages
Fairy Tale; YA; Historical; Romance; Christian
3.5/5 stars
Read for ebook challenge

Source: Free ebook from Barnes & Noble

I did not realize that this was a retelling of Sleeping Beauty so that was a pleasant discovery for me.  I also did not realize how much Christian content there was, a not unpleasant discovery but the way it was deployed was less pleasing to me, more on that later.

Rose is the daughter of a poor woodcutter but has been fortunate to be taken in by Frau Geruscha as her apprentice in the healing arts.  She has also caught the eyes of Lord Hamlin and his younger brother Lord Rupert.  Sadly Lord Hamlin is already betrothed to a duke's daughter who is under threat from an evil magician but he struggles with his feelings toward Rose, knowing they are inappropriate as he is unavailable. I approved of his efforts to forget Rose but far too much time was spent on that struggle.  Instead Rupert pursues her, attempting to overcome his womanizing ways.  Rupert's wooing did not appeal to me, especially in light of the strong character of his brother.

The Christian content comes in to play as the characters pray to God and rely on His providence for the future.  The climax of the story is that Rose ends up afflicted by demons and the solution is found in God; that answer paled in epicness to, for example, Disney's "Sleeping Beauty."

Overall: An interesting retelling of Sleeping Beauty but not my favorite.

Cover: I picked this book solely because of the cover (I especially love the font for "Healer's" and the dress) so obviously I think it's pretty solid.

Threads of Silk

Threads of Silk by Linda Lee Chaikin

Zondervan, 2008

316 pages

Historical Fiction; Inspirational

3rd in Trilogy

Source: Library

Summary: Rachelle and Fabien continue their romance in the face of Catherine Medici's plots and amidst impending religious civil war. Their families are in danger and they are in deep danger due to their beliefs and positions relative to the throne. With their deep faith, they must try to make it through alive.

Thoughts: This book starts rather thrillingly with suspense as Rachelle and Fabien try to stay ahead of Catherine Medici and her plots.

I guess my biggest problem with the book is that the protagonists sucked while the villains didn't seem that bad. Rachelle is a drip to me and I kept imagining Fabien as speaking English in an exaggerated French accent rather than speaking French which has been translated for my benefit in to English. This makes him seem skeevy. Andelot just seems like a total loser. In contrast Catherine Medici is portrayed in a relentlessly bad light while I find her travails interesting. I mean, she's a foreign queen with a dead husband who was always more devoted to his mistress than to her and children who probably wouldn't look after her and are weak anyway. What would she do if she wasn't Queen Regent? Probably be stuck to wither away in the country or be sent back to Italy, which was no longer home. I'm very sympathetic to her and that weakens the book for me. In fact every time, the main characters talk about how awful she is, I like her more. Maurice is also positioned as a villain but I usually found him rather hapless and more of a stock character than a person with real motives and feelings so he was neutralized. Luckily the Guises are quite villainous; they're probably one of the few sets of characters where I agreed with the author's writing.

I really liked that they included the glossary of terms at the end instead of the beginning like in the other books because I find it easier to access that way. I also found the language even more flowery than in the previous books but it's probably at about the same level as them.

Note: At the end, it says there is a fourth book coming in 2008. As far as I can tell, that never happened which makes the ending of this book very unsatisfactory for those who like closure. Luckily I can share that Catherine Medici lived another 29 years (to 1589) meaning that she had plenty of time for scheming.

Overall: 3.5/5 Overall I'm glad I read this because I've been wanting to read the trilogy for a while but it wasn't fantastic; I'm not sure I would have read all of them if I hadn't checked them out of the library at the same time.

Cover: I love the blue-I think this was my favorite and was the book that first caught my eye.

Written on Silk

Written on Silk by Linda Lee Chaikin

Zondervan, 2007

347 pages

Historical Fiction; Inspirational

2nd in Trilogy

Source: Library

Summary: Rachelle experiences firsthand the terror against Huguenots and joins with the other members of her family to stop the persecution while seeking romance and standing strong through the grace of God.

Thoughts: I was so confused when I started this. It picks up in a different place and doesn't immediately address any of the questions I had when I finished the first book. It also has a shift in that it is more explicitly religious with many prayers to God in the first sixty pages than in the whole of the first book, in my opinion (I didn't actually count). Chaikin also spends a lot of time stressing the revelations when one actually reads scripture and pressing the corruptions of the Roman Church and how they had disfigured those texts. One problem I had was the emphasis on justification by faith although I think the issue is more faith in salvation solely through Jesus Christ rather than through paying indulgences to corrupt church officials. I consider myself Protestant but I believe faith without works is useless and I did not like that element.

The influence of Spain in persecuting Huguenots is more emphasized in this book and the importance of the colonies is brought out more too. It could have been emphasized more instead of the angst.

I was sad that there was less about the royalty; Catherine Medici is one of the few we follow and even then it is not very much. Because there is less about the royalty, there is more about the other characters such as Andelot and Sebastian who were less prominent in the first book. There also didn't seem to be very much Rachelle although she is ostensibly the main character because it jumps around a lot to follow all of the other characters.

Overall: 3.5/5. Not as good as the first but setting up some interesting threads for the third.

Cover: I love the pink of the fan but I think the style is really ugly even if it's historically accurate.

Daughter of Silk

Daughter of Silk by Linda Lee Chaikin

Zondervan, 2006

315 pages

Historical Fiction; Inspirational

1st in Trilogy

Source: Library

Summary: Rachelle is a "daughter of silk," part of a famous couturiere family, who has been assigned to dress Princess Marguerite. While ensnared in court life, she flirts with the dashing Marquis Fabien and struggles to maintain her Huguenot faith in the face of court corruption and Catholic fanatics.

Likes: I may be confused but I thought Rachelle was the main character and she hardly makes an appearance in the last pages. I'm not complaining because they were really gripping and were my favorite part.

The history is fascinating to me. The political struggles of Bourbon, Valois, and Guise, and Protestant vs Catholic are super interesting although not the most clearly delineated in this story. I'm not familiar with this time period so I don't know about the accuracy of everything although it's very interesting so that's good. It's also interesting because Chaikin seems to be Protestant and would thus support the Huguenots but has to walk a tightrope between the extremists of the sides.

Dislikes: I didn't understand the appeal of Fabien who is apparently one of the most sought after men at court; I prefer a man whose appeal isn't so blatant.

I'm not a fan of the portrayal of Catherine de Medici. I feel like it fits in to the history of demonizing powerful women who worked the patriarchal system. I would prefer a more sympathetic depiction.

I didn't like that this did not have the year in which it occurs prominently displayed. It must be about 1558/59. I also don't like the sprinkling of French words: either use all French or all English, please! For example, oncles is consistently used throughout the text instead uncles. This is not necessary and it doesn't add anything to my enjoyment or ease of reading.

And why do they all have to have the same names?! Louis this, Louis that; the relationships and roles of the minor characters were confusing.

Overall: 4/5. I'm excited for the rest of the trilogy, reviews of which are coming.

Cover: I like the cover; that is what first attracted me to the series.