Yep, another one....all hail my effective use of under 100 pages novellas to pad the challenge numbers! As usual, no star rating due to the nature of the work being based on a real life charity.

First up, about the charity:

Rhonda Clemons became a widow in her late thirties due to the death of her husband from cancer. Luckily, she had the support of family and friends as well as a good paying job and a life insurance payout to help her support herself and her four kids (her last child was born three weeks after the dad died). However, in her mourning and recovery, she realized that many single mothers did not have that luxury of family support or economic independence. Hence she started the Zoe Institute (zoe meaning "life" in Greek) in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. It is a resource center and support group to help single mothers regain their lives. For more information, click http://www.zoeinstitute.com/.

The novella has been the weakest so far. I thought about DNFing this, but the story itself is less that 75 pages, so I soldiered on. Not impressed with the heroine, but the hero is decent and deserved better than insta-love. I get that Dory (our heroine, who I cannot read the name without picturing the blue fish in Finding Nemo...) has a background that includes domestic violence at the hands of her husband and father of her two children; I get that she left his ass and took control of her life and gave her children a chance to grow up in peace. But her incessant cheerleading about how wonderful, awesome, praiseworthiness-just-getting-out-of-bed-each-day  of single mothers are got old real quick; ditto for the over use of exclamation! points! whenever! Dory spoke! about the shelter.

Look, I know a lot of single mothers, and they are awesome to me for their work towards thriving for themselves and their kids. My mom was a single parent with two teens when she divorced my birth father, who was emotionally and mentally abusive. My sister is a single mom and  my sister-n-law is a single mom to my nephew who has special needs. One of my dearest friends from the military was a single mom after leaving her abusive ex-husband (she remarried to a wonderful fellow military member). I get the struggles (especially when you have full custody and get deployment orders - family courts do not look kindly on single parents in the military) and I get the awards from achieving success all on your own. But damn, the ham-fisted way this author wrote the story made me want to shake the heroine and tell her to just stfu already about the shelter or her struggles.

And the villain (if you want to call the grocery store owner that) was straight up one dimensional; stereotypes of old white guys is fun! (not). Ageism is not cute, dear author.

However, I would be remiss in writing this review if I did not credit the author with writing characters that dealt with domestic violence realistically. Dory's early interactions with Clay (the hero) showed that she could not handle the kindness of male strangers not because she hated men, but that she still (four years after divorcing the abusive husband and throwing his ass in prison) doesn't trust her own instincts about men, and is overly cautious so she doesn't end up making the same mistakes again. Also, the writer took pains to address how exposure to domestic violence early in their life made the kids wary ("sometimes the kids were a little too good, as if they were walking on eggshells") of inviting attention on themselves.

I am tagging this story as faith-based, but the only churches in the story were used as meeting places for the support group. Rhonda Clemons did credit her church group and her personal faith in moving her to create the charity in the first place, and the author tried to add that to the story.

If you haven't noticed the trend, I like to celebrate different holidays/opening days/seasons, etc with stories with that theme. Well, I picked up this ebook for 99 cents and figured this would be great to read this weekend while I hung out with family and friends down at the river. I finished this book early yesterday morning, so it didn't last most of the holiday (NOOK page count was 145).

Noelle Adams is a new to me author; I had previously downloaded her other story in the series (Married for Christmas, the first book in the series), but had not gotten around to reading it yet. This was not a problem at all; Ms. Adams wrote all the stories to be read as  stand-alones, and there was not any scene used for sequel bait. There is a third book due sometime this year.

As for the story itself, I was really rooting for this couple. Micah and Alice grew up together and were friends, but one summer both realized they were more than friends. Then Micah went off to college and strayed from his faith and moral standards. Alice compared her boyfriends to Micah and tried to make those relationships work. All she had to show for her efforts were two broken engagements; she returned home to Willow Park, NC due to a job loss. Micah's wild ways caught up with him in the form of a five month old daughter he didn't knew existed (hence the title). Cara was placed in his care due to her mother (Micah's one night stand) dying in a car accident a few months ago and her grandparents could not care for her due to advanced age and chronic illness. About the time Alice came home was the time Micah decided to change his ways and clean up his act. Alice and Micah were damaged, but there were good, normal people underneath the brokenness. The angst was there, but not the big black cloud that hangs over everything. Their journey to healing, love, and parenting was great.

I wish more contemporary romance authors would write female MCs like Alice; if they did, I would be more willing to read contemporaries. Alice was not perfect, but she was introspective about her part in her past failed relationships and how she learned from those. She did not know instinctively about babies, but she had the heart and hands willingly to help Micah take care of Cara. She also had her own life and was searching for a job that met her career aspirations (university librarian) while working two jobs to pay her bills now. She was mature, smart, and someone you could have a coffee date with and be comfortable. The best part of Alice was what the author avoided -- Alice never slut-shammed, insulted or blame Cara's mother for how her daughter was conceived. Nor does she shame Micah for his past ways -- she was more interested in his comeback and helping him deal with parenthood. Alice was a strong character without women/slut shaming any other female character.

Although the story centers around the characters' Christian faith, this is not a Christian romance. Micah swears (although he tried to break the habit for Cara's sake). Alice notices Micah's nicely toned muscle and great butt. There is a steamy kiss, and Micah wanted more, but Alice held back due to her personal morals -- yet she acknowledged she was very interested in moving forward in the physical form of their relationship. It is a "clean" story if you compare it to most contemporary romances today, but does not meet the standards for "clean" in the Christian romance subgenre. The author wrote a note at the beginning of the book that speaks to this distinction.

Why I took one star off: there were a handful of editing errors (nothing to major, but did stop the flow when noticed), Alice's heart repeatedly jumped and she got shaky whenever she was emotional (which occurred more towards the end of the book), and was repetitive regarding Micah's crisis of faith that was the climax of the story. Otherwise, this is a better than solid book and I now look forward to the other two books in the series. 4/5 stars.

I read these books back-to-back and decided to do one big review, starting with the first book. The series is from the Harlequin's Love Inspired line, so here is my quick scale of faith-based fiction preachiness:

1 - vague mentions of faith

2 - general faith

3 - prayers written, Bible verses mentioned

4 - Bible verses written into story

5 - just go read the Bible already

The Wedding Journey by Cheryl St. John

The book was well executed typical Harlequin formula. Maeve Murphy is a decent character in and of herself and was a heroine that I rooted for. There was moments early on that went into Mary Sue turf, but the author made her more human as the book went on. The romance was realistic (no insta-love), if a bit rushed, as the couple weds before the ship docks into Boston harbor; considering the length of the trip, they knew each other all of two, maybe three weeks tops. Maeve and Flynn worked together, and their work was intense at times, mundane at others. For this being the first book in the series, I expected more info-dumping than what the book offered - definitely a positive. The book also sets up secondary characters with enough back story to make them interesting without taking away from the main characters. Flynn's angst is sincere and realistic. Preachiness scale: 3. Overall a solid and serviceable effort. 3.5/5 stars.

Mistaken Bride by Renee Ryan

Worst book out of the trilogy - straight out of the gate. Insta-love abounds--too bad I can't stand that trope--before Bridget Murphy even got off the boat! She (on a boat that just docked into harbor) feels a pull toward Will, the mystery man on the docks and his beautiful eyes--best damn pair of eyes does Bridget have to see that far! But the author, in another case of inconsistency, changes Will's eye color halfway through the book.

Also there was the insta-love, maternal-child style, between Bridget and Will's kids. Caleb and Olivia are cute and realistic, so they did not disrupt the story - and at many times throughout the book they were the best part of the story. Will's angst from his past was done really well; Bridget's angst was based on a stupid reason that I rolled my eyes at every time it was mentioned.

The story dragged, Bridget was a complete Mary Sue, and I just wanted to get through this book to ensure I didn't miss any storyline that begins in the book and continues into the last book. A sub-plot that was not much of a sub-plot from book one was finished in this book, but I really didn't care for it--the resolution was too easily wrapped up. I think the author put in this conclusion to the not needed sub plot to ensure she made the word count. The faith of Bridget and Will felt very tacked on, as though the author remembered to put something churchy in the story after she wrote it. Preachiness: 1. Overall, I would skip this book and just read book one and two - there wasn't much in here to read/know for the last book. 1.5/5 stars - because of the kids.

A Baby Between Them by Winnie Griggs

So book one was solid and book two was a skip it, yet I am so glad to start at the beginning of the series so that book three could shine. And hell yeah it shone -- like a diamond! First, consistency returned to the story. Second, the FEELS I got reading this story were amazing. I loved Nora and Cameron - I wish more historical romance writers would draw characters like these two. I rooted for these two since chapter one. There was a major sub-plot that was started in book one--well executed and so important for the romance to progress. I can't recommend this book enough - the payoff was so worth reading books one and two. Nora is my kind of heroine - real enough to avoid the Mary Sue affliction that caught the other two heroines, but good hearted and hard working with an independence streak that reminded me of ....me, lol. Nora saw her two younger sisters married off, but she didn't sulk about being the only maid left in the family - she decided to start her own business instead! Preachiness: 3. I will probably turn to this book for comfort reading, so 5/5 stars. So looking forward to reading more by this author!

Overall I give these trilogy 3.5 stars due to the weak second story. Page counts are based on the story and the questions for book club discussions, so the stories are really 190-200 pages in length.

Book 1 (The Wedding Journey) in the Irish Brides trilogy finished and it was an okay read. I figured it would be better to review all three books at once, so I am holding off on a full review for now.

Book 2 (Mistaken Bride) has insta-love before she debarked the ship. Oy vey. Think it may be rated less stars than Book 1 if it doesn't change soon.

Just going to point out this gem: Authors & editors- consistency matters! I don't care if one writes all three books or if three writers write one book (as in this case) - read each to ensure little details don't get mixed-up or forgotten in the storytelling. Yes that includes names of secondary characters!

Free on B&N, but forewarn: you should really read the first two books in the series before reading this one. The reviews didn't give me that heads-up. I'm enjoying the book, but feeling like I don't have a grasp on all the characters' back stories.

Update: The book is no longer free on B&N (I downloaded it last week), and each book in the series is $4.49. I picked up the other two because I am now interested in the back stories. I am holding off reading anymore of A Baby Between Them until I read  the other two books. For the record, the series is Irish Brides (Harlequin's Love Inspired Historical) in order as they were published:

The Wedding Journey by Cheryl St John (April 2012)

Mistaken Bride by Renee Ryan (May 2012)

A Baby Between Them by Winnie Griggs (June 2012)