The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck by Kathleen Y’Barbo

The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck by Kathleen Y’Barbo is a novel set in 1887 about a young girl who has high aspirations of one day following in her father’s footsteps and join the family business. She wants a college education and will do about anything to get it, including making a deal with her father that would end up changing her perspective on life.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was predictable, but a fun read. Charlotte was a very interesting and very likable character. At the end of the book, reading the author’s note, I found out that this book was the third in a series of books about Charlotte’s life. This book was a good stand alone book, but I think I would have understood some of the nuances in the novel better if I had read the other books. One of the main issues with Charlotte and marriage was a back story about her mother that must have been explained in one of the other books as it was only briefly mentioned in this book. If I had read the other books first, I am sure that I would have understood Charlotte better and would have been able to relate to her more.

Overall, this was a nice read. It wasn’t a very deep book, but it made for some nice light reading. If you have a day that you want to spend curled up with an ice tea and some light reading, this is the book for you.

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

DragonSpell by Donita K. Paul

DragonSpell by Donita K. Paul is a fantasy story about a girl who used to be a slave and is now on a magical quest of great importance. Kale’s life was once about following orders and doing as she was told, but then at the age of 14, her life drastically changed. She suddenly had a purpose and was thrust into a quest that would change her life forever.

I really enjoyed this book. In recent years I have been getting really into different fantasy books and I was really impressed with how Paul was able to write a fantasy book and have all the values that I are important to me.

One reason I really liked this book was that the magic in it paralleled Christianity. There was a God figure and a Jesus figure that were essential to the book. It was a classic good against evil book in which good triumphs over evil and you feel uplifted after you read it. It was about one girl’s journey to understanding that she was important and she had a purpose and that God loves everyone no matter who they are and He has a plan for their life.  

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