A Parchment of Leaves

A Parchment of Leaves by Silas House
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"There is so much writ upon the parchment of leaves, So much of beauty blown upon the winds,
I can but fold my hands and sink my knees
In the leaf pages." James Still, "I Was Born Humble"

Vine is a dark haired Cherokee woman living in the mountains who falls in love with a tall, quiet, freckled, redheaded man named Saul. She moves from her home in Redbud Camp to the home of Saul's mother, Esme, and brother, Aaron, in God's Creek, Kentucky until their own home can be built. Aaron, younger than Saul, and a bit spoiled, also falls in love with Vine and his crush turns into more when Saul takes a logging job away from home.

A lovely, deep book, with dreamy descriptions of the mountains...this novel will touch your heart as well as mine...

A quote to think on: "I walked out to the tree and put my finger to a leaf, smooth like it was coated with wax. I could feel its veins, wet and round. I had always found comfort in the leaves, in their silence. They were like a parchment that holds words of wisdom. Simply holding them in my hand gave me some of the peace a tree possesses. To be like that - to just be - that's the most noble thing of all." p. 218



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Hearts Aglow & Hope Rekindled

Hearts Aglow by Tracie Peterson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


For book lovers of historical and inspirational romance…

I recently reviewed the first book in this series, Embers of Love, set in the 1880s. The story of the main character, Deborah Vandermark continues with a brutal attack on Sissy - once a slave and now friend of the Vandermark family - and her husband and son. Tension still run deep in this small logging Texan town, not so many years after the War Between the States. With that, hurricanes, arsonists, family responsibilities, and old adversaries threatening to ruin the Vandermarks, Deborah questions her once unwavering faith and her desire to become a physician and wife to Dr. Clayton.

Although the series drags in a few places, and you wonder if Deborah and the Dr. will ever be together, the descriptions of a “genteel” era amidst violence are well written.

Hearts Aglow, Book 2
Hope Rekindled, Book 3
Striking a Match series by Tracie Peterson





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Embers of Love

Embers of Love by Tracie Peterson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The book begins with Deborah Vandermark helping her best friend, Lizzie, ditch her betrothed at the altar in Philadelphia, hop a train and flee to the Vandermark home in the backwoods of Texas. Back home, she begins to help with the family logging business by cleaning up the bookwork and assisting the new doctor in town. When Lizzie's suffragette mother and ex-fiance appear out of the blue to take her home, Deborah's entire family, especially her brother, G.W, work together to keep Lizzie in Texas. Deborah finds out that bookkeeping isn't as interesting as doctoring.


Book 1 in the Striking a Match series.
Historical fiction mixed with romance and inspiration.



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