MURDER AT THE COURTHOUSE, by A. H. Gabhart

    Hidden Springs, Kentucky, was supposed to be a peaceful little town where nothing serious ever happened. That’s the reason Michael Keane left a big-city police department to become a deputy in his hometown.
    Then one morning a dead body is discovered on the courthouse steps, and as a result the community is in an uproar. Everyone has a theory as to why a stranger would end up murdered in Hidden Springs, of all places. When the mystery spreads from a truant young man to long-ago deaths, Michael is forced to question everything he ever believed about his hometown.   
    Gabhart has done a masterful job with Murder at the Courthouse, her first venture into writing a mystery. Fans of Ann H. Gabhart's previous books will recognize her warm touch with small town characters, along with her skill at providing readers with a page-turner of a story. I loved Murder at the Courthouse, and look forward to reading the next book in the Hidden Springs Mysteries series.
Two thumbs up!

    My thanks to the author and Revell for providing a copy of this book for review purposes.

LOVE COMES HOME, by Ann Gabhart

 Love Comes Home drew me in right from the beginning. It was a joy to catch up on the lives of the Merritt sisters of Rosey Corner at the end of World War II. Ann Gabhart has done a masterful job of showing the reader how residents of a typical small town reacted when their servicemen returned.  
 On the other side of the issue, the reader also experiences the feelings of those same servicemen when they attempt to integrate what they've experienced overseas with the expectations of those who've waited at home.
    Kate, Evangeline, and Victoria Merritt each have their place in the story, as does Lorena Birdsong. How these sisters learn to trust the Lord's leading over their own plans makes for a heart-warming novel. Even though these characters were introduced in Angel Sister, the first book in the series, Love Comes Home can be read as a stand-alone.
    However, after reading this one I’m sure you'll want to go back and read Angel Sister and Small Town Girl as well. Personally, I'm hoping there will be more Rosey Corner stories to follow Love Comes Home.
    I give Love Comes Home two enthusiastic thumbs up.

    My thanks to the author and Revell for providing my review copy.

FINALLY A BRIDE, by Vickie McDonough

Finally a Bride is a story brimming with romance. Jacqueline "Jack" Davis harbors ambitions to leave tiny Lookout, Texas, for a career as a reporter in Dallas. When a new pastor arrives in town, she believes if she can get the scoop on his past, the resulting story will propel her straight to the big city. What she hadn't counted on was her growing attraction to the handsome preacher.

Finally a Bride is the third book in the Texas Boardinghouse Brides series, but McDonough gives readers enough background information to keep them from getting lost.

This story is filled with Texas charm and enough original similes to keep readers smiling. Finally a Bride is a fun read. I recommend it for everyone who enjoys romance, Texas-style.

Thanks to Barbour Publishing for providing my review copy.

Dewey--The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World

I picked up Dewey because I'd noticed that a number of my reading friends on Shelfari had it on their shelves. I love dog stories, being a confirmed "dog person." But we have a cat, too, so I thought I'd give him equal time.

The title, Dewey, The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, intrigued me. How could a small-town library cat, or any cat, touch the world?

Then I remembered "fup" (his name was never capitalized), the bookstore cat at Powell's City of Books in Portland, Oregon. For years, a "fup story" was featured at the close of every issue of Powell's Books News. A couple of years ago, when the sad announcement came that fup had died of old age in his basket at Powell's Technical Books, I cried. I emailed my daughter, who lives in Portland, and she cried, too. I posted a tribute to fup on Powell's blog, as did hundreds of other mourners from all corners of the globe.

So, remembering fup I can understand how his predecessor, Dewey, touched the world. When still a tiny kitten, Dewey was found shoved into a book return box on a freezing morning in Spencer, Iowa. Dewey's story is told by his "Mom," Vicki Myron, assisted by Bret Witter.

The reader sees Dewey grow and blossom from a kitten to king of the Spencer Library. Myron intersperses Dewey's story with the recovery and growth of Spencer after the depressed farm market of the early 1980's. (Remember Willie Nelson's "Farm Aid" concerts?) She also shares her own life experiences through the Dewey years, giving the reader a true sense of how Dewey touched the world, and, most especially, Vicki Myron.

Dewey, The Small-Town Library Cat is a touching story of the impact animals have on our lives.

I think I'll go pet my cat now.