Books with Dienece-October

Dienece Darling
Oct 30
8 min read

Updated: Nov 1

Ever heard of stress eating? Well, I stress read, and since I released my own historical romance this month, I read A LOT! Why don't we start talking about books?

Historical Romance

The Lawyer and the Laundress by Christine Hill Suntz

A fun historical, Canadian romance. I liked the mystery about the girl which slowly unfolds through the story. The way we get to know her as a laundress until she becomes the unlikely governess. I especially like learning about Canada and some of their political history through the eyes of a fictional story.

The Duke's Last Word by Sophie Leigh Fox

A fun bit of Christian Regency romance. They are both actually religious even though her father has gambled her away to a duke who needs a wife but wants a faithful one. He's been burned in the past, and she mistakenly thinks everything going on is the Duke's fault. I liked how the Duke insisted that the girl had to be agreeable to the match, and he wasn't even the one who took part in the gambling. It wasn't a forced marriage, and yet they both have something at stake if they back out. The only bit I didn't like was the girl's trip to London, but otherwise, it was a nice diverting read. :)

Vying for the Groom by Sophie Leigh Fox

Christian Regency Romance. This is a love triangle romance, and I got a little confused at times over who was supposed to be the hero, especially with the title of the book. But I came to realize that the title was part of the fun of figuring out what was going to happen. :)

The Steadfast Heart by Arlem Hawks

Clean Regency Romance. This is based off a fairytale I hadn't heard of, a tin soldiers who falls in love with a princess. I really like the tin heart in the story, and this was a bit of distracting fun. Not Christian, but I liked how the book is resolved at the end with both the guy and the girl getting their moment to fight for each other. While I struggled to like the girl in the beginning, I ended up liking her.

The Lightkeeper's Wife by Jennifer Mistmorgan

A Post War Married Couple romance/mystery/suspense. The couple used to be spies, and they've got to adjust to retired life after the war. Or is the war over after all?? :) You'll have to read the book to find out!

I enjoyed the mystery/suspense element to this historical. It was like reading a Love Inspired Suspense but set post-World War 2. Fun and unique!

Content warning: as the couple is married, there are several fade to black scenes between them. There is also mention of violence (not much more than a normal suspense or mystery), and two references to an enemy taking advantage of a woman.

A Lady Divided by Sandra Ardoin

Christian Western Romance post-civil war. I liked how this book didn't gloss over how hard it would have been for a southern lady to learn how to accept and love a northern man. There is a lot of tension and underlining story plots in this book which kept me turning pages to figure out how it ends. I really enjoyed it.

Heart of Hope by Kimberley Keagan

Christian Western Romance with second chances, interclass romance, reverse rages to riches and more! I enjoyed how this story has a socialite who loses everything and must travel west to the last place she owns in the hopes of making it profitable. And there she runs into the man who used to be the son of her family's carriage driver. The man she loved, but he'd never come back for her. I love a good second chance story!

I loved how this story slowly develops to show what went wrong and when, but it does it gradually. Neither too quick nor too slow. It was well written, and I enjoyed the journey.

Secrets of a Baron's Daughter by Teah Leah Weight

This was a fun Regency read with mild faith themes. I will say it was nice to read characters who pray when things go wrong and who weren't grappling with deep faith issues. Which may seem odd to say since I write the latter. But reading this reminded me of what my Christian life can look like, that some people do get it right. And that made it refreshing, uplifting, and inspiring.

There is drama of course, just outside the characters faith. Her father is dead, but nobody is supposed to know that. So, she's been lying because her father made her promise to lie, and that's driving her crazy. She hates it.

An injured man ends up at her door, and suddenly her quiet house is full of people. Really hard to keep a secret when that happens... LOL

It took me a few chapters to get into this book, and when the dude first wakes up there was a TMI moment, but overall, I really enjoyed this. Once I really got into the story, it's all I wanted to read. :)

Beneath the Bonnet by Kristi Ann Hunter (eBook)

I got these Regency short stories by signing up to Kristi's newsletter. They are delightful and quick. The first and longest is about the boy next door, best friend's older brother, and her secret crush for years.

The next is about a painter and a clumsy lady, and it was my absolute favourite. I'd have signed up to her newsletter just to read this one even though it's only 3 or 4 pages long. It's awesome.

The last one is a Regency Sabrina story. Sabrina's never really been my cup of tea, but I did like the retelling twist.

Please note that this eBook version DOES NOT have A Search for Refuge, which was fine with me because I'd already that one anyway.

Contemporary romances

The Runaway's Redemption by Allyson Koekhoven

A traumatized South African paramedic goes to England to recuperate--if only people would leave her alone! LOL

I got a little turned around in the first few pages until I realized that the character is both on a plane and having flashbacks to the traumatic moment which led her to flee SA. But I got the hang of figuring those out quickly and enjoyed this book. The little boy in the story, totally steals the show. :)

Small Town Symphony by Milla Holt

I LOVED this contemporary romance set in England. I finished it in less than 24 hours.

The heroine is a contestant in a singing competition, and the hero is a judge. Makes for interesting possible conflict. This is a slow burn, but I loved the moments they interacted together. It was so explosive and then tender. I really enjoyed this story, and in particular how much the heroine needs to protect her voice because I lost my voice last month. Still waiting for it to come back, so that part really connected with me!

Some of my favourite takeaways included the theme that some people in your family will never give you what you're looking for, and you have to learn to love them anyway for who they are not what you wish they were. That God didn't give us our gift to waste it on people who will never appreciate it, and that love is sacrificial. I highlighted a lot of parts. It really is a special story with so much detail and intrigue. It felt so real.

AND FYI, there is a link at the end to listen to the songs mentioned in the book. You should totally click on that and listen to them! I really liked the guy's songs and kept listening to them. So well done, and I'm a little bit of a music snob. So, I don't like music unless it lives up to the expectations listed in the book, and it totally does.

Pigtails and a Tool Belt by Janetta Fudge-Messmer

The title of this Christian romance was why I bought it. It sounded fun. :)

It's written entirely from the girl's POV, and it's another love triangle. But you know immediately the guy she's dating isn't the best.

Content warning: I'm not sure if this is Latter Day Saints or not. The character mentions going to church, but it's a Saturday afternoon. And part of the spiritual revelation at the end, I don't think matches what the verse was actually saying. So, the religious side of this book, I'm not sure about. That's only a small part at the end, so most of it is just a clean romance.

Non-Fiction

Defiance: the life and choices of Lady Anne Bernard by Stephen Taylor

I thoroughly enjoyed the start and end of this book. Learning about growing up in Scotland and how that was different from growing up in England. One such point is that in England everyone went to church no matter what, and in Scotland it was optional.

I will note that a Victorian writer (Anthony Trollope) write that everyone went to church in the country, but it was optional in London. Not sure when that came into being. Lady Anne was Georgian, so there is about 100 years between her life and Anthony Trollope's books.

The middle part of the book covers a Scot in London. I disliked this part because the author becomes obsessed with whether or not Lady Anne was still a virgin, and his obsession really ruined the middle part for me.

The latter half of the book, she goes to South Africa with her husband in the mid to late 1790s. That part was really cool, and I wrote all kinds of notes about what she saw, political environment, popular concepts and prejudices of the day. The latter half was just so rich with detail!

And lastly, no kid's books because I lost my voice, and I haven't been able to read to the kids for a month. :( I really miss it.

But my eyes are fine, so I read to myself. Which isn't quite the same thing, but I did enjoy my reading splurge this month! :) Well, that's a wrap from me. What have you been reading?

Do you have KU or ever wondered if you should try it?

Here's a collection of books to temp you, and I'll even tell you which ones I've read myself! :)

Books in this collection I've read:

A Lady Divided (yes, the book I literally just read!) by Sandra Ardoin

A Hero's Nature by Sandra Ardoin

The Baby's Christmas Blessing by Meghann Whistler (FYI, this one had a bit more meat than I'm used to for a Love Inspired book and I liked that)

Authors I've heard good things about:

Penny Zeller (I've got friends who love her. She's still on my TBR pile at present)

Stephanie McRae, American revolution author. She's going to be on my TBR pile as soon as I get KU back. I read the prequel to this series.

Lynn U Watson, I've heard a lot of chatter about her books. Just haven't read her yet myself. Have you?

Check out the books here!

Don't care if they are in KU or not? Why not check out these books!

I don't normally do two book collections in one month, but I loved books in both of these collections. I just couldn't choose which one. So, I'm recommending this one too.