What Once Was Lost--Book Review

Through Blogging for Books, I had the opportunity to read What Once Was Lost by Kim Vogel Sawyer. It was just released Sept. 17!

I think I've established before that I do enjoy historical fiction. Now 1890 is not as far back in time as I usually like to go, but since the story occurs in my home state of Kansas (Go Wildcats and Jayhawks!), I thought I'd give it a try.

I was really please by the story line. There were twists and turns. There were disappointments and challenges. There was growth in the characters.

Poor farms. Fires. Unplanned pregnancy. A blind boy. A reclusive miller. A mission board. Counterfeit money. These things and more work together to grow Christina Willems on greater dependency on God, heal Levi Johnson's past hurt, and eventually grow them together in marriage and ministry. Thankfully like real life, it takes take a hard journey to get to that point.

I appreciate the fairly accurate sample the story gives of the culture and mores of this time AND how they agree or disagree with living true Christianity.

Click HERE if you would like to download and read chapter 1 of the book.

And go HERE if you would like to purchase you copy!

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

In the spirit of full disclosure, this is an affiliate link, which means that I may get a commissions if you decide to purchase anything from Christianbook.com. I only recommend products & systems that I use and love myself, so I know you’ll be in good hands.

Ripple Along the Shore---Review for Summer Reading!

I just read Ripples Along the Shore: The Quilted Heart Novella Three.


So, yes, I read the last book first. 

Now, onto my review.

First, it is a e-novella which means short. It was a very quick, easy read available on Kindle.

Second, the story line occurs after the Civil War in the city of Saint Charles, MO which now is basically a suburb of Saint Louis but when the story takes place, it was a day trip up the Missouri River. This book focuses on Caroline Milburn and the others in the quilting circle. The city and the individuals are in the process of rebuilding and restarting their lives after the war.

As a standalone story...well, I figured things out but it would have been better to read the others first. I figured out who was who and the back story but it would have been easier to know because while the story features Caroline the others play major roles. 

The story itself was nice but not deep. The Bible and God were mentioned occasionally but not enough for me to consider this book of any spiritual benefit or interest. I would consider it mostly just a romance novel without s*x. 

It was pretty obvious where the story was going, but it still just ended kind of abruptly and unresolved in my opinion. The characters where stereotypical and not very deep.

Nothing terribly bad about the story but nothing terribly good either.


This book was given to me through Waterbook Multnomah's Blogging for Books for free in exchange for my honest opinion.