Love Comes Calling by Siri Mitchell

Something about this book did not work for me. I had a hard time reading it and had to force myself to finish it. I just felt I should. The characters were boring and the plot was predictable. I didn't feel as if there was any climax. No excitement or great ending. Sorry, Siri, I usually enjoy your books. I was really disappointed. This book was a free copy given to me from the publisher.

A Beauty So Rare by Tamera Alexander

I love reading Tamera Alexander. She does an amazing job of creating such a beautiful scenes that you want to go and visit the places she is writing about. A Beauty So Rare is about a young woman named Eleanor Braddock who has never married and has decided that she never will. Her father is ill so she has to make permanent living arrangements for him and temporarily live with her rich aunt, Adelicia Acklen. Eleanor has plans for what she would like to do for her future but her aunt's plans are much different and her aunt is not a force to be reckoned with. Eleanor hires a poor widow to help her with a project and decides to use her love of cooking to feed the poor widow and her child. What starts out as a simple meal being shared becomes much more and Eleanor begins to see her future changing rapidly. The other main character in the book is Marcus Gottfried. He is from Austria and has come to America to hide from his past and his future, but must return shortly. He has great aspirations to build something amazing while in Nashville and to use his love and knowledge of plants to create the perfect colored flower for Mrs. Acklen. Eleanor and Marcus meet while he is working on the flower for Mrs. Acklen and their relationship grows into something more, but their families plans for them doesn't allow the relationship to go further than just friendship. As time inches closer to Marcus's return to Austria, Eleanor realizes her feels for him are strong but has resigned to that fact that her future does not include a happy married life. She knows he has to leave soon and that he has a surprise for her, but what could it be? Will it be something to help her remember him when he is gone? Thank you to the publisher for the free copy of this book. It was a wonderful read.

Where Courage Calls by Janette Oke and Laurel Oke Logan

I have been a Janette Oke fan for many years. Her books never disappoint. This story is about a young lady who comes from a wealthy family whose mother would prefer for her to become a part of society but Beth Thatcher wants to do more with her life so she sets out for a small mining town to fill a request for a teacher for one year. She has some challenges along the way traveling far from home for the first time and once she gets there, she struggles starting up her one room school house in an inconvenient place with children who come with their own personal challenges. The small mining town has it's own share of problems and Beth struggles to help the people of this town without hurting their pride and without upsetting the rules of the town. A book written by Janette Oke wouldn't be complete without a love story and this book doesn't disappoint. On Beth's train trip she was greeted by a family friend, Edward, who is a Canadian Mountie heading to his new post. She is not too happy about him being there and struggles with their relationship whenever he comes around the mining town. There are also a couple of other male characters in the story who cross Beth's path. I really enjoyed how Oke weaved romance in the story as a side story to the main. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. This book was given to me by the publisher.