Christian Bookworm

Daylight Comes by Judith Miller is the third and final book in the Freedom’s Path series. Truth and Moses have married and are awaiting the birth of their first child when Moses is given a wonderful opportunity. However, it means that they must relocate to Topeka and leave family behind. Truth must decide if she is going to follow her husband and help him achieve his dream of making a difference or stay behind with everything that is familiar. Jarena meanwhile, is still waiting to hear if Thomas is alive or dead, and Lilly shows up again. Will she try to cause trouble again for the residents of Nicodemus?
In Hill City, a new family has moved to town and set up an apothecary shop, and Harvey, Dr. Boyles son, has set his cap for Camille Faraday, daughter of the new pharmacist. The Faraday family has a secret though, and things must be straightened out before Harvey and Camille can have a future together.  Macia herself is having difficulties with the housekeeper, who has decided that she will marry Jeb, Macia’s former beau, and is doing everything in her power to make Macia’s life miserable. Will Fern’s true personality come to light or will she continue to fool Jeb?
As much as I loved this series, I hated to see it end. While it was a fictionalized version of the history of the towns of Nicodemus and Hill City, it gave a good view of what life on the Kansas prairie was like. I’d love to know your thoughts on the series, so please feel free to let me know.

Morning Sky by Judith Miller is the second book in the Freedom’s Path series. In this book we meet Lilly Verdue, Aunt to the Harban girls, who has come to Nicodemus to hide out. She brings with her a secret that Ezekiel Harban doesn’t want told, and causes trouble wherever she goes. She gets involved in messing up the lives of others in order to change the outcome to what she wants it to be. Ezekiel’s daughter Truth, who is engaged to Moses, is determined by Lilly to be a bad match for the man and she schemes and plots to end the engagement and match Moses to Truth’s sister Jarena. Meanwhile, Jarena waits to hear word from Thomas, the man she loves who is off fighting in the Army against the Indians. Samuel’s daughter Macia is sent away to Finishing School in New York City but soon finds herself extremely ill and unable to get out of bed. After some sporadic communication between Dr. Boyle and the school, Truth decides to go to New York City to accompany Macia home but discovers a plot of the owners to get life insurance for the girls in the school. With the help of Silas, who works at the school, she gets Macia away from the school and back home to Hill City. Will Macia be able to recover from the devasting illness she has suffered? Will Lilly learn her lesson about manipulating and interfering in the lives of others? 
Morning Sky did not disappoint and I was again drawn into the lives and the plight of these brave pioneers, both in Nicodemus and Hill City. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the books so far.

In this book, we meet the Harban and the Boyle family. The setting for this book is after the end of the Civil War and the Harban family are former slaves who are making the move to Nicodemus, KS, to an all black town established there. The two men who planned the town and traveled to the South to convince people to move there weren’t quite as honest as they should have been, and when the poorly equipped travelers arrived at what was to be Nicodemus, they discovered there was nothing there but prairie. The settlers had no choice but to pool their resources and managed to make it through the first winter, but not without difficulty and death.
The Boyle family is a Southern family with the exception of Samuel Boyle, who was raised in the North and has different views on slavery than those from the South. He decides to move his family to Hill City, KS which was a city located near Nicodemus. The Boyle family is not that happy about moving and face difficulties of their own in moving to their new home.
Two families from two different backgrounds struggling to make it in their new homes. Will they be successful? Will the views of the Boyle family be changed to see that the former slaves are people too, or will they be set in their ways and unwilling to change? Will their faith sustain them in these rough times?
I had never heard of Nicodemus or of an all black town and was fascinated to read about the first inhabitants and their struggle and determination, when logically they shouldn’t have survived that first winter.
I really enjoyed this book and couldn’t wait to read book two, Morning Sky. What did you think?

Candy Coated Secrets by Cynthia Hickey is the page turning sequel to Fudge Laced Felonies. We meet Summer again when a carnival train crashes in front of her house, which in turn leads her into another mystery and danger. After the crash, Summer finds herself leading an elephant to the carnival grounds where after delivering Ginger to her temporary home, she discovers a dead body and thus starts her new adventure. Her fiancee Ethan would love for her to stay out of trouble, and her police officer cousin Joe ends up arresting her to keep her out of his investigation (do you think it works?).

 When you add in people running around in gorilla costumes, another murder, missing money and chocolate you have a recipe for a great read. I really enjoyed this book and hope that Summer has more adventures in the future. 

Whirlwind by Cathy Marie Hake. In Whirlwind we meet Millicent Fairweather, a governess whose small charges are being sent to boarding school and whose services are no longer needed. She agrees to join her sister and brother in law on their journey to America to begin a new life but while on the ship in steerage (a horrible way to travel), her is engaged as a governess for the child of widower Daniel Clark for the duration of the voyage. However, once on Ellis Island tragedy strikes and her plans change and she agrees to continue to care for the child and travel to Gooding, Texas.

Whirlwind was an entertaining read that gives an interesting look through the eyes of a woman immigrating to America and being processed through Ellis Island. There are a few unexpected twists and turns that made the book even better, but I won’t spoil the story. Read it for yourself and let me know your thoughts.