parklandmom's reviews
769 reviews

Read: November 2024
Series: The Supper Club, #1
Format: audiobook borrow from Everand 
Narrator: Teri Schnaubelt — excellent in both the telling of the story and all the characters. I’m glad she is the narrator for the remainder of the series. 

Book #116 of 2024: I’ve had this series on my radar for a while. I was reminded of it recently and dove in. This is a new-to-me author and I’m looking forward to the rest of the series. 

This is a clean fiction book that takes on learning dependence and direction from God toward the end. I enjoyed the foodie/restaurant aspect, as well as the writing aspect, with both of the main characters. They each showed personal growth as they worked together. They challenged and balanced one another. The minor characters were interesting and I look forward to learning more about some of them in the remaining books. 

Read: October 2024 
Format: paperback 

Book #115 of 2024: This is a novella I won from Kav’s Best Reads. It’s a cute, clean fiction book with a sweet story. 

Kaitlyn is a single mom with a young son on the autism spectrum. While each autistic child is different, this book gave some good info to educate the reader. 

Beckett and Kaitlyn meet at an airport and there is an energy between them. He engages her son, who is enamoured with meeting his favourite YouTube star. Unbeknownst to either of them, they meet again for the wedding preparations between Kaitlyn’s sister and Beckett’s good friend. The sparks fly and Kaitlyn is unsure how to process feeling seen by a man against her fear of having a relationship. 

Kaitlyn is hesitant toward romance because of her husband leaving her and their son. Not only that, she feels she doesn’t have room to have a relationship or can risk her son being disappointed and possibly rejected again. Beckett is smitten and vows to prove to her how much he wants them to see each other romantically. Over the prepping and planning, they draw closer. 

This book is better in the second half in my opinion. The information about autism, ADHD, and anxiety is so relevant and important. The mother-daughter relationship and the Christmas gift Liam (Kaitlyn’s son) and Beckett give Kaitlyn are the other highlights of this book, in my opinion. BONUS: the mention of the song that I walked down the aisle to on my wedding day.

Read: October 2024 
Series: Back Inn Time, #2
Format: audiobook borrow from Everand
Narrator: Bryn Austin (too over-the-top for me)

I previously read The Hope of Christmas Past last year and really enjoyed it. I didn’t enjoy this book to the same degree. Perhaps a better narrator would have helped but I am trying to only rate the story. The narrator sounded way over-dramatized and amateur-ish for my liking. 

Nonetheless, there were parts I enjoyed and found fun. My mind wandered quite a bit though so it didn’t hold my attention consistently. I guess it just wasn’t for me but others have enjoyed it. I don’t see myself listening to any others in this series. Maybe I’d try an e-book? I do look forward to reading her novel, The Cedar Key.  

Read: October 2024 
Series: In the Castle Library, #1
Format: Kindle e-Book 
Challenge Prompt: CNL's #10 of 50 - "Published in 2024"

Book #113 of 2024:
THIS. BOOK. 🥰 Sighhhhhhh…….

I saw this debut novel a week ago and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. So I bought it two days ago and finished at 1:13am CDST. Ironically, it’s my 113th book for 2024. 

This has the wonderment of Cinderella but with so much more depth, growth, meaning, and spiritual reflection. It’s a contemporary romance and mystery but most of it takes place in a castle in Europe. It has an old world charm to it. I’m not even one to follow or be interested in royalty at all but these Christlike servants redefine royalty. 

The Ingredients:
-  a European castle
-  a library
-  a royal mystery
-  gowns, a ball, Christmas & royal  finery
- a budding romance between a self-history doctoral scholar and a handsome history lover
- lots of Scripture and a focus on spiritual growth

Mix the above ingredients. Proceed with finding a recliner or a comfy couch, some hot tea, and a throw blanket. Notify everyone that you’ve gone off the grid until further notice 🤣

🎺 Let me just call it now: 
This novel will be loved by many and posted about numerous times  in the months to come amongst Christian fiction readers. Go and buy it, borrow it, or read over a shoulder! (You’re welcome!) 😉

I found myself strolling through this book, re-reading parts, highlighting many times, and just reflecting on it. I took my time and just let myself be in a Christmas-y state of hygge over a novel. I didn’t want it to end so I’m so thankful that this is a series and more bookish bliss is coming. 

I loved it start to finish and knew it was 5 stars early on. Sometimes you just KNOW❣️

Read: October 2024 
Type: Non-fiction 

Format: Audible audiobook 
Narrator: Anne Gobel (author)

Book #112 of 2024: This is a fun book to read that an avid reader can enjoy. It contained many relatable moments that fellow readers understand. I personally enjoyed the first 2/3 better than the end. 

I will note that the narration by the author is a little fast. I don’t know if I’ve ever ever had to slow down a narration before but it was needed. I felt rushed and I wanted to listen without that distraction. I put it at .90 and I found that just right. Her reading voice is pleasant and expressive. 

Something that stuck out to me is the worthiness of reading the dedication/acknowledgments area of a book. Sometimes I read it but not always. I realized that I typically do with physical books but not e-Books. The author gave some good insight on how a reader can possibly glean more about the author and/or the book by paying attention to it. It causes you to think about why they wrote what they did. Sometimes it’s just a simple dedication but other times it is more. 

What I appreciated the most was the emphasis on the different kinds of readers. You don’t have to love all the classics or whatever you’ve been told that you have to read. You especially don’t have to like what others tell you that you SHOULD read. What is a winner for one may be a 2 stars out of 5 for you. Or vice versa. People are different. Read what you enjoy and develop your own taste. Keep in mind that your preferences and reading habits will have their own ebb and flow over the years. 

Only the reading community *understands* the reading community and that’s what makes this book relatable. I didn’t know 2/3 of the titles or authors she referred to and that’s okay. She may not know a good chunk of mine either. I typically only read Christian and clean fiction. This is my first non-fiction for 2024. It may be my only NF for the year other than the Bible, which is in a class of its own. What matters is how she uses particular books to illustrate various points she is making. You can substitute your own title in your mind quite easily. Or you can think of your own realizations and conclusions that you reached as a reader and what books fit with each.

Read: October 2024
Series: But He’s a Carter Brother, #3
Format: audiobook borrow from Everand 
Narrator: Hayden Bishop, Keval Shah - I enjoyed the female narrator. I liked the male narrator for the most part but his female voices just aren’t good. 

Book #111 of 2024: My thoughts on this clean fiction book are mixed. 

Negatives: 
- taking someone else’s golf cart, etc was just in poor taste and not “free” or “fun”
- some lines were more suggestive than I care to read in a clean fiction book
- the ice cream/spoon scene was completely weird, inappropriate, and unnecessary 
- this book was a departure from everything I liked about book 1 
- I found my mind drifting a fair bit and I was excited to be reading Grayson’s story after reading the first two 
- The fake fiancé trope was too contrived to be believable with the extended length of the lie, an expensive/real diamond ring, and a trip to Hawaii. 

Positives:
- Grayson helping Sloane with her backbone was sweet 
- Sloane’s family dynamics are relatable in many ways. Mistreatment, jealousy, pain, and bad priorities exist in all walks of life. 
- The love and support of Grayson’s family is heartwarming and inspiring. 
- The reality of panic attacks and being open/honest with those you love and trust. 
- I enjoyed the setting of the ending. Very fitting.

Read: October 2024 

Series: Even If, #1

Format: digital ARC

Challenge Prompt: CNL’s #45 of 50 - “set during WW2”

Book #110 of 2024: Even if We Cry has a very unique storyline that most will not know. I don’t recall if we ever learned it in school. (Some will know of the British Home Children that were moved abroad under a horrible, false pretence. That was something altogether different at an earlier point in history.). These “guest children” were intentionally sent by their parents to Canada and other countries on a temporary basis for protection from WW2. 

It is very rare to read a historical book that is set in Canada but it is even rarer to read books that take place in your prairie province of residence. Terrie Todd does impeccable research and I am grateful for all that I learned. 

The author paints pictures with her words. First we learn how it is to travel to Canada in risky, wartime waters by ship. They are then sent on to various provinces by train. All the feelings of unease, boredom, excitement, frustration, being homesick, having seasickness, etc. are conveyed in a variety of ways as though we are right there with them. Nina and her two siblings go to a rural area of Manitoba, which is in central Canada. Some go to an eastern province and others have many more days of traveling across the country. Some are placed clear over on the west coast of Canada. We experience the adjustments of a new country, new words & terms, a change of lifestyle with a farm, and fitting in. 

The Gabriel children are fortunate to be placed with kind and caring Wright Family, who we later learn had horrific losses of their own. Nina takes her promise of watching over her siblings very seriously, especially in the early months of settling in. The Wright’s eldest, a teen daughter, is not happy or welcoming at any point until years later in adulthood. The tension between her and Nina is palpable. 

Their journeys through school, friendship, crushes, adjustments, questions, etc. are partly relayed through an epistolary style of writing - letters, diary entries, telegrams, etc. It’s done in such a way that they are a part of the entire weaving of the novel. Even small details about differences amongst UK and Canadian English, milk being a common beverage, and the novelty of peanut butter lend to the authenticity of this novel. 

In the beginning of this story, I was incredulous that parents would send their children away to strangers across the ocean for an undetermined length of time. I wondered how they could not also fear the unknown aspect of this process. Can you trust who they are with? Will you get them back? Will it end up being a scheme like the British Home Children atrocity? In our current day, I just could not entrust my children to strangers. However, I definitely could understand them wanting to spare their children of the horrors of war, food rations, and the fear that lies in each day. I certainly cannot relate to living during wartime either. The fears would have been very difficult to handle daily. 

As the book went on, I could more clearly understand the British parents’ mindset. It was a huge sacrifice, one the families did not make lightly. I appreciated learning about this relatively unknown piece of history. 

The word that keeps coming to mind is that I *experienced* the story through the reading of it. I was with them on the ship and the train, at the farm, etc. As I progressed through the book. I could feel the emotions, doubts, fears, accomplishments, homesickness, successes, questions, etc. that the Guest Children went through, as well as both their parents & guardians on each side of the Atlantic. 

These children were amazingly resilient at a very difficult time in history with the Second World War. Being separated from their parents and having the years go by must have been a very disconcerting and helpless feeling at times. We read of their high points and their low points. We learn that not all children had such a loving placement family as the Gabriel children at the Wright Farm, but most adjusted very well. Many children kept in touch with each other far into adulthood and later reunited with visits. Amazing bonds transpired. 

The eventual healing and growth between Nina and the eldest Wright daughter was one of my favourite parts of the novel. Another was learning Mrs. Wright’s past that so profoundly influenced her life. 

The author has a natural gift for bringing the reader along for the journey. She is one of the best Christian historical fiction authors today. Her settings on Canadian soil make for a different perspective. As a Canadian, I greatly appreciate reading books that are set here. Readers from the countries that are typically written about will enjoy this fresh viewpoint. I strongly recommend this book without hesitation. I am anticipating the future novels in this series. 

[Added Note: Sometimes you can read an author and just know they will be an auto buy. That’s how I felt after reading my first one last year. I’m working my way through my Terrie Todd TBR pile! I was more than excited to be a part of reading an advanced copy for this novel! I was under no requirement to leave a positive review. My honest review is completely my own. My thanks to the author and the publisher for the privilege of reading an advanced copy. It is available for pre-order and it releases on December 05/24.]

Read: October 2024
Series: But He’s a Carter Brother, #2
Format: audiobook borrow from Everand 
Narrators: Hayley Taylor, Rusty Mewha — I felt the female narrator was just right for the role of Dahlia. I liked the male narrator except for when he did the female voices, especially Maddie’s. The two narrators pronounce Isabella’s nickname differently. The female says, “Eesah” and the male says, “Issah.” I personally agree with the male narrator. 

Book #109 of 2024: I enjoyed this instalment as well. The first book remains my favourite though. Again, this book is more romance than romcom. There are real-life issues and difficulties. I enjoyed the book love, the sister’s relationships, and the way Levi’s family supports and gathers for those they care about. 

The back story to Levi and Dahlia was interesting and the flashbacks helped the context and background. It was clear the couple belonged together. When it fits it fits!! 

Read: October 2024 
Series: But He’s a Carter Brother, #1
Format: audiobook borrow from Everand
Narrators: Leanne Woodward, Evan Sibley (both are very good in this audiobook but the male narrator needs to work on his female voices more) 
Book #107 of 2024: New author for me.  

If this clean fiction novel were to be painted, the picture would be… a couple cuddling  on a cozy love seat near a crackling fire, soft blankets, fuzzy socks, hot tea and baked goods, twinkly lights, soft music, & good books. Utter contentment.

I had read some good things about this book. I had never read this author before. All I knew is that she wrote some romcoms and I was in the mood for a romcom. They’re especially great after reading an intense or heavy book. I enjoy them. Some are better than others and this one sounded inviting. 

That being said, this novel went above and beyond any expectations I could have had. This was truly a beautiful story of insecurities, hurts, friendship, family, romance, and love. I enjoyed the main characters so much. Juliet’s upbringing broke my heart. It made me respect her because she didn’t let it repeat with her. She’s a lovely, kind, and creative woman who cares about others. Adrian grew on me just as he grew on Juliet. His gruffness and trust issues were understandable, yet his amazing family cared enough to not let him shut down altogether. His standoffish exterior has a big marshmallow hidden inside. Juliet became a soft and safe place for him just as he became one for her. Their friendship grew into something so special with absolutely *no* cheese. 

There were some moments of humour, yes, but it was the sincerity and raw emotion that was so meaningful. The one that stuck out the most to me is when Juliet tells Adrian of her upbringing. The absolute vulnerability and depth had me backing up and listening to it three times. I think anyone can relate to various bits and pieces of both Juliet and Adrian. And probably from some minor characters! 

This would make a beautiful romantic movie that you would want to re-watch throughout the years. I just wanted to remain in the cocoon of that wonderful community. I look forward to taking in the remainder of this series. My only wish would be for the cover to truly reflect the depth and beauty of the story—like the picture in my head at the start of this review. This was an absolute delight to read. More kudos to the author for capturing something very special.

Read: October 2024

Series: Elite Guardians Collection, #2
Format: Audiobook from Audible 
Narrator: Bethanne Reid (not a fave - overdone)

Book #106 of 2024: I’m a fan of the original Elite Guardians series. This  second round is falling flat for me, sorry. I had a hard time focusing on this book. I didn’t feel connected or immersed except for a few personal scenes. 

There are many assumptions and misunderstandings. It all felt like too much for me. Sometimes it was as though it was a race to who had it harder in life and would win the “closed off” contest, so to speak.

I do have the third audiobook from when I bought this one. However, I don’t see myself progressing beyond this series into the third round. 

More balance would have helped. It felt as though we were jumping from one crisis to another almost constantly. The solid moments in this book came from the rare quiet times. The epilogue was also really nice and fitting.