Reader’s Log 067: Reading in Those Dreary Moments

Posted on March 18, 2026 by layeredpages

This past Monday, the weather outside was dreary and cold in the south. One’s mood could turn down the melancholy road, and I was heading in that direction by the afternoon. Before that feeling rooted itself, I told myself it was a good day to settle down with a book and a cup of tea. I started reading, “Out of Time” by Irene Hannon this past Sunday night, and I was trying my hardest to keep my eyes open to continue reading. I couldn’t wait to pick it up back. One would think by reading the book description, this story would not be a cozy read. The weather is hot and concerning incidents that set the mood, occurred immediately and continued. Perhaps, those details distracted me from the weather outside. Whatever the case, I couldn’t put this book down. I was completely immersed.

I love a good suspense story that entails a small town, an old mystery, treasure, isolated estate, and journals with cultural, historical elements. Irene Hannon’s story is just the ticket.

Don’t you just love it when you find an author whose stories you haven’t read before and then you get excited about searching other books by them? I do!

Most likely by the time you see this post, I will have finished this story and I look forward to sharing my thoughts more on the book and what other stories I’ve chosen to read by this author.

Stephanie

About the Book:

Book #3 in the Undaunted Courage Series

For historical anthropologist Cara Tucker, the chance to spend a sabbatical semester on a remote country estate–with full access to its vast library and centuries-old journals–is a dream come true . . . until a series of strange incidents begin to turn her dream into a nightmare. Someone, it seems, does not want anyone diving into the past and unearthing old ghosts.

Sheriff Brad Adams has seen his share of suspicious activities during his law enforcement career, but what’s happening at the isolated estate is out-of-pattern in his quiet, rural Missouri county. Beset by danger, Cara and Brad work together to try to untangle the clues. But when the peril turns lethal, the situation takes on a new urgency, and their mission is Find out who is behind the string of menacing incidents before the perpetrator strikes another deadly blow. 

About the Author:

Irene Hannon, who writes both contemporary romance and romantic suspense, is the author of more than 65 novels. Her books have been honored with three coveted RITA awards from Romance Writers of America (the “Oscar” of romance fiction) and she is a member of that organization’s elite Hall of Fame. She has also received a Career Achievement award from RT Book Reviews for her entire body of work. Other awards for individual books include National Readers’ Choice, HOLT Medallion, Daphne du Maurier, Retailers Choice, Booksellers’ Best, and Reviewers’ Choice from RT Book Reviews. She is also a two-time Christy award finalist.

Millions of her books have been sold worldwide, and her novels have been translated into multiple languages.

A former corporate communications executive with a Fortune 500 company, Irene now writes full time. To learn more about Irene and her books, visit www.irenehannon.com.

Book Review: When the Day Comes by Gabrielle Meyer

Posted on February 17, 2026 by layeredpages

Published May 3, 2022 by Bethany House

Libby has been given a powerful gift: to live one life in 1774 Colonial Williamsburg and the other in 1914 Gilded Age New York City. When she falls asleep in one life, she wakes up in the other. While she’s the same person at her core in both times, she’s leading two vastly different lives.

In Colonial Williamsburg, Libby is a public printer for the House of Burgesses and the Royal Governor, trying to provide for her family and support the Patriot cause. The man she loves, Henry Montgomery, has his own secrets. As the revolution draws near, both their lives–and any hope of love–are put in jeopardy.

Libby’s life in 1914 New York is filled with wealth, drawing room conversations, and bachelors. But the only work she cares about–women’s suffrage–is discouraged, and her mother is intent on marrying her off to an English marquess. The growing talk of war in Europe only complicates matters.

But Libby knows she’s not destined to live two lives forever. On her twenty-first birthday, she must choose one path and forfeit the other–but how can she choose when she has so much to lose in each life?

My thoughts:

Imagine living two different lives but living them in two different periods and waking up each morning to the other. What a concept! I love time travel stories and I’m always on the lookout for something fresh and unique. Gabrielle Meyer has certainly achieved that in this story.

The methodology or the mechanics-if you will-of how Libby wakes up in the other time period each morning is certainly one I mulled over a bit when beginning this story. I wasn’t sure how it would work but it did and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough.

There are emotional stakes at work in this story and Libby’s choices would have a trickle effect that could change the course of history and her families lives in more ways than one. There were a few things I didn’t see coming! What an ending!

The beginning pages set the tone and as I got to about the 100-page mark, there was a shift in the story and that is where the story really picked up for me. From that point on, I was completely immersed.

Libby’s faith in God, and the struggles at times in trusting in His perfect timing, and plan was beautifully told. We humans at one time or another in our lowest moments, often question God’s plans for our lives. How can it possibly work for the better? Without going into too much detail about Libby’s struggles-because they are truly heart breaking- Meyer’s handled it Biblically and I was truly moved by Libby’s faith, healing and growth because of her trust in God.

Meyers is a gifted story-teller and she truly places her readers in time and place with this beautifully historical story. I can’t wait to read the next book in this series and it will be very soon!

I rated this book five stars!

I must caution my readers that there are two instances of SA. The author doesn’t go into great detail of it happening and it is brief but nonetheless, it may upset those who are sensitive to reading such abuse.

Stephanie

“We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.” – Romans 5:3-5 NLT

Book Review: Every Precious and Fragile Thing by Barbara Davis

Posted on January 16, 2025 by layeredpages

Pub Date Feb 18 2025 by Lake Union Publishing

Every Precious and Fragile Thing begins with Mallory Ward a social worker who loses a client due to a tragic death. The reader experiences heartache and shock right along with her and reader discovers this isn’t the only time she has been faced with lose of life in more ways than one. Not only that, Mallory and her mother Helen’s relationship is tattered and Mallory holds on to resentment beginning from her childhood into adulthood. She refuses to see that she is spiraling and her boss (who is also a friend) forces her to take the summer off work to deal with her unresolved issues and healing. With no where else to go, Mallory returns to childhood home on the Rhode Island coast and she is immediately is confronted with her fragile relationship with her mother and an unexpected person from her past that drove her away long ago.

Helen Ward has devoted decades of her life caring for the terminally ill and helping people prepare for their last moments on this earth. Her home is filled with keepsakes from her clients and she has always put her clients and work first leaving her daughter to feeling neglected and unloved. Unexpectedly Mallory appears and Helene has a chance to mend their relationship.

This story is told in multiple point of views with dual timelines that reveals secrets, horrible assumptions, loss, and heartache that threatens the healing of two families. Will they be able to forgive each other and come together to heal what is broken before it is too late?

I felt every thread of the character’s emotion at the very core of my being. There were moments in the story that my vision was blinded by tears and as I write this now, I’m tearing up.

There are layers of themes in this story and one in particular is a something that has been on my mind for a long time: mortality. Over the years I’ve been studying many time periods in our world’s history and how approaching death or how one’s last moments in this life varies over time. Our relationship with death and how we approach those last moments shapes the very fabric of civilizations. This story put me front and center of this theme was superbly weaved though it’s pages.

I can not praise this story enough and find myself still playing the scenes in my mind that impacted me so. You know a story is worthy and unforgettable when it has moved you so much, you hold the characters in your heart.

Stephanie

I’ve rated this book five stars even though I would rate higher if I could.

My thanks to the publishers for an ARC through NetGalley for an honest review.

Cover Crush: Glory Road by Lauren K. Denton

Posted on August 7, 2020 by layeredpages

Glory Road The Cover: Such a beautiful cover! Makes one want to walk down that dirt road amongst the flowers and trees over hanging.

The Story: What a great title and fitting to the cover design. I do love reading southern stories and about generations of people’s lives. I’m not really into heavy romance so I hope this one fits the bill for me as far as my reading taste goes. The story sounds great and I am adding this one to my to-read pile! -Stephanie Hopkins

Glory Road by Lauren K. Denton

Paperback, 368 pages

Published March 19th 2019 by Thomas Nelson

Written in Lauren Denton’s signature Southern style, Glory Road tells the story of three generations of women navigating the uncertain pathways of their hearts during a summer that promises to bring change–whether they’re ready for it or not.

At thirty-eight, garden shop owner Jessie McBride thinks her chances for romance are years behind her and, after her failed marriage, she’s fine with that. She lives contentedly with her fiery mother and her quiet, headstrong daughter. But the unexpected arrival of two men on Glory Road make her question if she’s really happy with the status quo. Handsome, wealthy Sumner Tate asks her to arrange flowers for his daughter’s wedding, and Jessie finds herself drawn to his continued attention. And Ben Bradley, her lingering what-could-have-been from high school days who’s known her better than anyone and whom she hasn’t seen in years, moves back to the red dirt road. Jessie finds her heart being pulled in directions she never expected.

Meanwhile, Jessie’s fourteen-year-old daughter, Evan, is approaching the start of high school and trying to navigate a new world of identity and emotions–particularly as they relate to the cute new guy who’s moved in just down the road. At the same time, Jessie’s mother, Gus, increasingly finds herself forgetful and faces a potentially frightening future.

As all three women navigate the uncertain paths of their hearts and futures, one summer promises to bring change–whether they’re ready for it or not.

Previous Cover Crush

Cover Crush: Summer Island by Natalie Normann

Posted on March 6, 2020 by layeredpages

My thoughts on the cover and my overall impression about my first glimpse of the story description:

Summer Island My Thoughts:

I absolutely love everything about this cover! The colors, composition of the images, the images itself, the title. EVERYTHING! Now, I’m not a romance reader except for classic romance stories. You know, the oldies…the ones without all the descriptive-ahem-love scenes in them. Yep, I’m rated G when it comes to those books. Or has the ratings changed? Though I’m not saying this book has love scenes in it because I have no idea. Hmm…Anyhow, I regress.

The Cover: Five star rating from me!

The Premise: Hmm…the location and the premise sounds interesting. I will definitely be keeping track of what readers are saying about this book when its published. -Stephanie

Summer Island by Natalie Normann|HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter| Romance|Pub Date 24 Jun 2020

Description

He never meant to stay.
He certainly never meant to fall in love…

Summer Island off the coast of Norway was the place London chef Jack Greene should have been from. He’s an outsider in the community that should have been his family, and now he’s setting foot on the strange land he has inherited for the first time.

The welcome is a mix of distrust and strange gifts of food, especially from enigmatic Ninni Toft, his nearest neighbor, who has arrived for the season to get over a broken heart. Her wild spirit and irrepressible enthusiasm for the quirky locals are a heady brew for city-boy Jack, who is discovering the simple pleasures of island life – and what it means to belong. To a place. To a people. To one person in particular…

Home is where the heart is, but is Jack’s heart with the career he left behind in London, or on the wind-swept shores of Summer Island, with Ninni?

The Previous week Cover Crush

Cover Crush is a weekly series that originated by Erin at Historical Fiction Reader

Book Sale: The Secret Life of Mrs. London by Rebecca Rosenberg

Posted on May 9, 2018 by layeredpages

The Secret Life of Mrs. London

Rebecca Rosenberg, author of the new historical novel, The Secret Life of Mrs. London, revealing the love triangle between Houdini, Charmian and Jack London.

Only One Woman Could Beguile Two Legends!

Join Rebecca in a visual romp back to San Francisco, 1915, when famed author Jack London and his wife, Charmian London, attend the Great Houdini’s Chinese Water Torture Escape in San Francisco. What happened next was almost lost to history!

In paperback at Amazon for $7.99 for the entire month of May!

THE SECRET LIFE OF MRS. LONDON

San Francisco, 1915. As America teeters on the brink of world war, Charmian and her husband, famed novelist Jack London, wrestle with genius and desire, politics and marital competitiveness. Charmian longs to be viewed as an equal partner who put her own career on hold to support her husband, but Jack doesn’t see it that way…until Charmian is pulled from the audience during a magic show by escape artist Harry Houdini, a man enmeshed in his own complicated marriage. Suddenly, charmed by the attention Houdini pays her and entranced by his sexual magnetism, Charmian’s eyes open to a world of possibilities that could be her escape.

As Charmian grapples with her urge to explore the forbidden, Jack’s increasingly reckless behavior threatens her dedication. Now torn between two of history’s most mysterious and charismatic figures, she must find the courage to forge her own path, even as she fears the loss of everything she holds dear.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The Secret Life of Mrs. London is a heart-wrenching portrait of a marriage between two people who utterly depend on one another, but ultimately aren’t enough for each other. With skillful precision of language, Rosenberg weaves a narrative that defines the complexities of love, passion, and art. This is a perceptive, deeply moving novel by a great new talent about a couple who has gone unnoticed in historical fiction until now. Anyone who has ever loved another person will want to read this book.” —Victoria Kelly, author of Mrs. Houdini: A Novel

“One of Houdini’s best kept secrets was his affair with Charmian London in 1918. Now Rebecca Rosenberg tells the story using an elegant blend of fact and fiction, creating a Houdini book like no other. The Secret Life of Mrs. London is a true peek behind the curtain and a page-turner.” —John Cox, Wild about Harry

About the Author:

Rebecca at carriage

California native Rebecca Rosenberg lives on a lavender farm with her family in Sonoma, the Valley of the Moon, where she and her husband founded the largest lavender product company in America, Sonoma Lavender. A long-time student of Jack London’s work and an avid fan of his daring wife, Charmian, Rosenberg is a graduate of the Stanford Writing Certificate Program. THE SECRET LIFE OF MRS. LONDON is her first novel, following her non-fiction, LAVENDER FIELDS OF AMERICA.

Rebecca Rosenberg’s next historical novel is GOLD DIGGER the story of BABY DOE TABOR.

Buy the Book: