Butterfly Palace by Colleen Coble - a review

As a huge fan of Colleen Coble, I always jump at the chance to review one of her books. I have to say that when I first began reading Butterfly Palace it seemed to move slower than most novels by Ms. Coble. In fact, I wasn't so sure I was going to like it and almost gave up on it. But, I told myself I couldn't give up because after all it was written by Colleen Coble and it was worth the read. I was so glad I continued reading as once it grabbed me and pulled me into the story I was in for a wonderful suspenseful and somewhat dark ride.

The story begins in Larson, Texas in 1900 when Lily Donaldson and Andy Hawkins are in love and find they have to sneak around in order to spend time together. One fateful night they are together while their fathers are doing business in the livery stable which is connected to Lily's house. When they smell smoke they run out to see that the livery stable is on fire and there is nothing they can do to save the lives of their fathers. Andy leaves that day never to return and without telling Lily goodbye. 

Four years later, after Lily's mother passes away, she finds herself in need of work and journeys to Austin, Texas where she was hired in as a servant at the Butterfly Palace. During her first night, while serving dinner, she sees Andy dining with the guests as if he were of their stature. When he spies Lily he knows he owes her answers so he looks for the chance to take her aside to talk with her. He tells her he goes by Drew Hawkes now and begs her to keep his secret. What he eventually tells her is that he is working undercover as part of the Secret Service.

There are several suspenseful threads woven within Butterfly Palace. There is a serial killer on the loose killing blond servant girls within the city, there is a counterfeit ring that Drew it working on bringing down and there is a conspiracy to assassinate the new Senator Elect and possibly the President of the United States. Ms. Coble does an outstanding job of creating twists and turns and then tying everything up quite nicely. I must admit she had me guessing until the very end.

I have always found that Ms. Coble creates such believable characters that they stay with you long after you finish reading the last page. I will admit that one character grabbed me from the first moment we met on the page, that would be Belle Castle.  I loved seeing this 'somewhat of a brat' grow within the covers of the book. Watching her transformation was like watching a butterfly emerge from a caterpillar's cocoon. Simply beautiful.

I would highly recommend Butterfly Palace to mature readers who love a great suspense novel.

On a 5-Star Scale = 5 Stars!!!!!

I would like to thank Thomas Nelson and BookLook Bloggers (formerly BookSneeze) for my review copy of Butterfly Palace. I received my copy for free in order to read it and give my honest review, which I have done.

Smiles & Blessings,

Sisters of Mercy Flats by Lori Copeland - my review

It has been quite some time since I read a book by Lori Copeland. One thing I have always appreciated about her books is that they not only have romance but humor is always part of the mix.  I wasn't disappointed with her newest release Sisters of Mercy Flats.  I would like to say that this book is a revision of Ms. Copeland's Promise Me Today for Christian readers.  Promise Me Today was originally published in October 1992.  When I began reading Sisters of Mercy Flats I realized that I had started reading Promise Me Today back when it first came out but I don't recall ever reading it all the way through.

Sisters of Mercy Flats is the first book of a three book series which tells the story of each McDougal sister, Abilgail, Amelia and Anne-Marie.  These young women were orphaned when they were young and raised in the orphanage in Mercy Flats, Texas. When the story begins the women are grown and we find them conniving but beautiful women that would swindle a man out of his last dollar just for the money to get buy and to send some back to the orphanage to help support the place they called home.

The story takes place in Texas in 1864, the three women, dressed as nuns, have been arrested and are being hauled into town to be dealt with when a warring party of young Comanche braves attacks the jail wagon. They simply want the horses but they kill the drivers in order to secure their desired prize.  Three men see the event unfold before their eyes and they realize they need to act in haste to save the nuns before the warring party returns.  In rides Hershall Digman, a dapper-Dan shoe salesman who rescues Abigail, Morgan Kane who rescues Amelia and a Crow Indian who rescues Anne-Marie. The three men decide it is best if they split up and so as they part ways, Amelia yells to her sisters to remember Church Rock.  So begins the wonderful series of Sisters of Mercy Flats.

The first book is the story of Abigail and Hershall.  But is Hershall his real name and is he really a shoe salesman? Just as Abigail is pretending to be a nun, Hershall has secrets of his own that could mean life or death for the Confederacy.  As the story unfolds we observe these two living a lie. As the story moves forward, Abigail begins to realize she needs to stop her conniving ways and turn back to God.  There isn't a real strong Christian theme beating the reader over the head, but it is strong enough that the story is relayed quite nicely that how we act reflects who we are in the Lord.  There is also some humor salted between the pages that is just enough.

I would highly recommend Sisters of Mercy Flats to anyone who wants a good clean historical read set against the backdrop of the Civil War.

On a 5-Star scale - 5 Stars!!!!!

I would like to thank Harvest House for my copy of Sisters of Mercy Flats. I received my copy for free in order to read and give my honest review, which I have done.

Smiles & Blessings,