The Fairest Beauty

By Melanie Dickerson

Genre: YA, Christian, historical, fairy tale retelling

My rating: 4 stars

Summary: "Sophie desperately wants to get away from her stepmother's jealousy, and believes escape is her only chance to be happy. Then a young man named Gabe arrives from Hagenheim Castle, claiming she is betrothed to his older brother, and everything twists upside down. This could be Sophie's one chance at freedom—but can she trust another person to keep her safe? 

Gabe defied his parents Rose and Wilhelm by going to find Sophie, and now he believes they had a right to worry: the girl's inner and outer beauty has enchanted him. Though romance is impossible—she is his brother's future wife, and Gabe himself is betrothed to someone else—he promises himself he will see the mission through, no matter what. 

When the pair flee to the Cottage of the Seven, they find help—but also find their feelings for each other have grown. Now both must not only protect each other from the dangers around them—they must also protect their hearts." (Summary taken from goodreads.com)

I have LOVED Melanie Dickerson's previous books, The Healer's Apprentice (a retelling of Sleeping Beauty) and The Merchant's Daughter (think Beauty and the Beast.)  So I was very excited about her newest book, a retelling of Snow White with a Christian twist.  I enjoyed it, but not as much as the first two.  I loved Sophie's character, the story was cute, the themes amazing, but it just seemed too predictable, no real twists, so that I found it hard to stay glued to the pages like I was with the first two.

What I did enjoy, however, was how Dickerson intertwined the story with Christian themes.  The evil stepmother was so much like Satan, planting lies in the heads and hearts of Sophie and Gabe that these two had to overcome the lies with God's truth and accept healing from God alone.  Beautifully done.

Overall, an enjoyable read. :)

I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires

Civil War Series, Book Two

By Cathy Goelke

Genre: Christian historical fiction

My Rating: 4 1/2 stars

Summary: "The bonds linking family and the lines separating enemies have become very blurry for 17 year old Robert. With his father away fighting for the Union, Robert must decide to act alone in order to help his ailing mother, extricate his injured Confederate Uncle, and bring relief to his cousin, Emily.When he unwittingly gets entangled in a Confederate escape plot, Robert must forge his anger and shame into a new determination to save his family. And, perhaps, he must also realize that the saving might not be entirely up to him.Honor and duty to God and country aren't as clear-cut as he hoped them to be."


Although I definitely liked the first book, William Henry is a Fine Name, in the Civil War Series better, this one was still as poignant and still a page-turner. I learned a lot about the Civil War in a captivating way and was pleased to see that Cathy Goelke's stunning writing style had only improved in this book.

This book was wonderful to read after learning about a lot of the characters in the first book, but could definitely be a great stand-alone book as well.

My biggest disappointment with this book was the end--first of all, that it ended, and secondly, that it ended so perfectly. Granted, these characters went through A LOT to get to the end, but then everything tidied itself into a perfect little bow. Still, an enjoyable read and highly recommended.


Oh, and P.S. Both of these books are currently paperback Bargain Books on Amazon. William Henry is a Fine Name is currently available on Amazon for only $2.77 and I Have Seen Him in the Watchfires for $5.60.

William Henry is a Fine Name

Civil War Series, Book One

By Cathy Gohlke

Genre: Christian historical fiction

My Rating: 5 stars!

Summary taken from the back of the book:
"The shadow of a face in the window.

The quilt on the line.
Howling dogs. Threatening intruders.
And a railroad that runs underground.

Thirteen-year-old Robert had known little of these things growing up. His southern adolescence consisted of his mother, who viewed slavery as a natural part of life, and his father, whose late night disappearances were becoming more frequent and disruptive.
Then there is William Henry, Robert’s best friend. They did everything together—until the summer of 1859. That’s when Robert realizes William Henry knows more about these late night mysteries than he does. It’s also when Robert is told that William Henry is less than human . . . because he is black.
Now Robert must decide for himself where he stands on slavery. With his loved ones pitted against each other, he struggles to understand justice and wonders how high a price he is willing to pay for it.
And then he gets the chance to find out."


This was a stunning, heart-wrenching story that I hated to put down. In fact, I read it in a day. I just HAD to know what would happen to Robert and the people he cared the most about. The Christian themes are beautifully interwoven among the compelling story, character development, interesting time period, and the list goes on. Goelke made this time period and the characters come alive for me. The story stayed with me hours after I turned the last page--a true testament to the power of this book and its message. And I'm so glad there's a sequel, because I WILL be reading it!