Reading Challenge Book Reviews Week Ending April 17, 2010

Shades of Blue, by Karen Kingsbury
100+ Books, Support Your Local Library, Color Challenge

A wonderful stand alone book in true Karen Kingsbury fashion.

A book about lost love, lost innocence, and the struggle to forgive.

Emma and Brad USED to be the hottest thing, til one day they made a big mistake. They made bad choices to go along with it, and then Brad walked away from Emma. Nine years later, only 6 weeks before his wedding to Laura, he suddenly cannot get it out of his mind. He finally talks to his dad who tells him what he needs to do.

So, risking his future with Laura, he goes in search of Emma to talk to her, tell her he's sorry, and hope for forgiveness.

I absolutely LOVED this book. I cried, I laughed, I felt like I was LIVING it at times. I read through it quite quickly and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys Christian Fiction.

A Company of Swans, by Eva Ibbotson
100+ Books, Support Your Local Library

A HUGE departure from my 7 book run of Karen Kingsbury books!! A Company of Swans is actually listed as Young Adult Fiction, but I found it to be just as challenging to read at times as many of my adult books!

Set in the early 1900's, it is about a young dancer who has been almost held captive by a domineering father and overly frugal aunt. She is invited to join a Russian ballet company on a tour in Brazil. But her father and aunt will not hear of it. In a desperate attempt to live a life of her own, she runs away to join the company. It is weeks before they figure it out and she is halfway across the Atlantic Ocean.

She grows as both a person and a dancer while crossing the Atlantic and while in Brazil. She meets Rom and gradually falls in love. Unfortunately, her family has figured out where she is, and send the man they wanted her to marry to "rescue" her and return her to England. When he first arrives he is prepared to take her, but then through some careful manipulation, believes her to actually be more carefully guarded and chaperoned than she was in England. Then through ONE minor mistake, he changes his mind, and attempts to abduct her. He fails, and abducts another dancer on accident, but he is unaware until he is too far away to stop.

Meanwhile she was rescued at the same time by Rom, who has decided he wishes to marry her. He guards her carefully, and ensures she is safe. But when the company is preparing to leave for Europe, she goes to say good bye, when she returns, she finds an old flame of Rom's there. Without waiting for further word from him, she disappears, and returns to England with the company, intending to go on to Russia with them. But the old flame cables her family and tells them when and where to find her, and she is taken away into THEIR captivity.

After weeks of captivity, Rom finally has found her and poses as the doctor who is supposed to come and see her and determine if she needs to be institutionalized. She is carried out by him, still posing as the doctor. He barges in on her father while he is lecturing at the university. Rom demands that her father sign the papers allowing Rom to marry her. In the end, she is rescued, loved, and happy.

It was an absolutely beautiful book, and as I said earlier, quite a challenge at times to read. I'd recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading!