The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck by Kathleen Y'Barbo - A Review

The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck is the third and last book in Kathleen Y'Barbo's "The Women of the West" series. Since these are stand-alone companion volumes I didn't feel I missed too much by not reading the first two books. The Inconvenient Marriage of Charlotte Beck, like the others, is a Christian historical novel set in the old west.

Have you ever heard the phrase: "damned with faint praise"? Unfortunately that's what I'm about to do here. While I don't feel the novel was a complete waste of my time I just couldn't get attached to the characters. I found Charlotte Beck annoying and immature, although the author at one point hinted that her immaturity was just "for show" she never brought that plot point to fruition. The hero of the story was noble and self-sacrificing and didn't annoy me as much as Charlotte and quite possibly under different circumstances could have been a decent hero.

I also disliked the father constantly protesting that he loved Charlotte while continuing to force her into a marriage she didn't want. He assured her, and us, over and over that it was in her best interests since she was too immature and impulsive to be trusted otherwise. Me thinks he doth protesteth too much! An underlying theme throughout the book is the mystery surrounding Charlotte's mother and this mystery has much to do with Charlotte's behavior. I found it frustrating that the author didn't clue at least the stepmother in to this fact. I can understand that her father would be blind to it because of his own issues with the past but Charlotte's supposedly "on the ball" stepmother not once mentioned to anyone that maybe that was the root of everything.

Then in the last two chapters everything is rushed to the inevitably happy conclusion and all is well and everything is forgiven. I felt that after the prolonged buildup about Charlotte's immaturity and her dislike for the marriage and the man the book could have done with a couple more chapters allowing for more development of her mature character and her self-awareness of what her real issue was.

In conclusion, not a bad book, just not one that I found myself connecting with or wanting to add to my library.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group does not require a positive review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

DRAGONSPELL by Donita K. Paul - A Review

DragonSpell is the first novel in a 5 book series by Donita K. Paul called the "Dragonkeeper Chronicles".  It is a Christian allegorical fantasy in the tradition of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien and introduces you to a world rich with characters that will soon feel like old-friends. In a timeless tale of good vs. evil, adventure, self-discovery and eternal truths DragonSpell is destined to be a classic read and beloved by the whole family.

DragonSpell is the story of Kale, a young o'rant slave girl, who orphaned at an early age has lived among a village of mariones where the only things expected of her are obedience and hard work. Her life is changed drastically when she is drawn by forces beyond her control to a dragon egg. Kale is sent to deliver the egg to The Hall in Vendela and there she is also to be trained for service to Paladin.

"Are ye sure ye won't ride all the way into the city?"

That one question is the pivot point upon which Kale's new life in Vendela is diverted into a quest to rescue a precious meech dragon egg from the evil Wizard Risto. Afraid and with feelings of inadequacy and unworthiness Kale embarks on a journey to self-discovery, faith, and acceptance. A journey filled with untold danger, fainting dragons, teasing doneels, and an absentminded old wizard, Kale discovers she is not just a slave and that being in service to Paladin is more than being a servant.

I was surprised and delighted by DragonSpell. The story is rich in detail, full of subtle humor, adversity to overcome, lessons to learn and characters I didn't want to leave behind when the book was finished. I will definitely be putting DragonSpell on my "to keep" list and will be adding the rest of the series to my library as soon as I can.

DragonSpell by Donita K. Paul (Chapter 1)

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group does not require a positive review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Why This Theme

I recently discovered that I like the steampunk genre. For those of you who do not know what steampunk is if you will click on the handy dandy link in the first sentence you will be taken to a Wikipedia article with which you can enlighten yourself on this delightful sub-genre of fiction, fantasy, and culture.

Pah! You say you are too lazy to click that little linky? Fine then, I shall summarize for you: Steampunk is a sub-genre of fiction, fantasy, and alternate history. The setting is typically Victorian era England and steam power is still widely used. Airships are a mode of transportation, and steam powers everything from your winged backpack to your computer.

You can find examples of steampunk machinery in works by H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. Movies such as "Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow", "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", "Wild Wild West" (1999) and television shows such as "Warehouse 13" and "Wild Wild West" (1965) also epitomize the genre.

What I like about the steampunk world is that it combines the romanticism of Victorian England with  speculative technology. Frills and furbelows with clocks, cogs, and gears. It engages my imagination with the "what if's" and thrills me with the seeming dichotomy of the surreal to the possible.