Picture
This Scarlet Cord: The Love Story of Rahab
By
Joan Wolf

This Scarlet Cord is a story telling the tale of Rahab, known as
a prostitute of Jericho. Joan Wolf has built her story based on the brief mention in the Old Testament giving her a more honorable life. As Rahab grows from girlhood to womanhood, she meets Sala, the boy then the man who will be her husband. Their religious differences are immense, yet their love is graced by God. 

Rahab is favored by the king and is summoned for use in a paganistic ritual. She is appalled by the thought, and turns to the Christian God for deliverance from this fate. That simple act, one so small yet so mighty, brings her to a place in Christian history that in very important. She is able to fulfill her love and destiny by then helping two of Joshua’s spies by letting down a scarlet cord. This cord tells the army which house is to be untouched. It saves her family from certain death.

An old tale for certain, but one told with such feeling and giving a dimension to the thoughts, hopes, and desires of the little-known woman that plays an important role to Christianity.


I give this book a 4.5 out of five stars.


DISCLAIMER: I received this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.


 
Picture
Charlene Ann Baumbich is an inspirational author with over 20
years’ experience in writing and speaking. She uses humor to make points and inspiration to touch her reader. Here is my view of her Finding Our Way Home novel.

 The first couple of pages grabbed my attention and empathy for this woman who was obviously injured. The injuries were not only physical, but spiritual. Sasha Davis was a premier ballerina who had been injured while she was dancing. The injury was permanent to her career. Moving back to her childhood home, she realizes she must have help, live-in help. She hires Evelyn Burt, her polar opposite.

Evelyn Burt is large, where Sasha is small. She is capable of, it seems, anything and everything, unlike Sasha. Evelyn enjoys life, even when facing her own personal problems. She happily moves in with Sasha when her parents are opposed to her fiancé, giving them all space to breathe. She takes something broken, such as the fry pan, and turns it into a thing of beauty and life. 

The relationship between these two women, and the path to their own individual needs and happiness, is ridden with sadness, discovery, happiness, enlightenment, and a spiritual healing that gave this reader a sense of well-being. These two unlikely companions find a place where they can find the grace they’re seeking. That path, however, is not always an easy path.

I give this a 5 of 5 stars, and look forward to the next book by Charlene Ann Baumbich.

DISCLAIMER:   I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for an honest review.


 
Ann Gabhart is a writer of inspirational novels. She doesn’t sugar coat, nor is she “in your face,” with situations her characters experience. She was born and raised in the Outer Bluegrass region of Kentucky, so grew up on a farm. She has been writing since she was just 10 years old. She first published a historical romance in 1978 and continues to give us fodder for our eyes, spirits, and hearts.



Angel Sister is a touching novel set between World War I and World War II. The depression era brings Lorena Birdsong to a poor family where she adopts Kate as her Sister Angel. The family isn’t one that is stable, except in its love. They are poor, dad is an functioning alcoholic, Kate has two sisters (one older, one younger), and mom loves them all. They survive by growing their own vegetables, milking a cow, and running a tab at the general store which happens to be owned and run by Kate’s paternal grandfather.


Speaking of grandfathers, the family is blessed with two, yet neither are loving. Grandfather Merritt is stiff, stern, and unbending in his disappointment of Victor (Kate’s father). He has a heart bent on self-destruction and if it destroys Victor in the process, so much the better. Grandfather Reece is a strict Southern Baptist pastor. He is determined that Kate is belligerent and going to the devil. Together, although the two grandfathers can barely stand each other, they work to remove Lorena from Kate’s home.



Lorena is 5 years old and sees Kate as her angel. The one person that God sent to save her from being lonely and starving after her parents left her at the pastor’s front steps because they were unable to care for her during this horrible depression. Kate was swept away by the love and trust that Lorena gave and was determined to save and keep her until her natural parents could return.



In the meantime, grandfathers are trying to take Lorena away, there are emotional upheavals for the family with man-made problems. They re-find their faith and it grows stronger as this little family work so hard with the help of Aunt Hattie to find their way.




As a plus, Ms. Gabhart is working on a sequel to this novel so that her readers can find out what happens to Rosey Corner after Sister Angel ends.



I give this a 5 of 5 stars. The book is interesting, entertaining, and you fall in love with her very real characters, warts and all.