A Prayer Unanswered {book review}

Hello, my friends! It has been a minute (and far too long) since we've seen each other, and for that, I do apologize. Today I return to review one of my most anticipated reads of the year, one that broke my heart in all the best ways.

The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy is a series that I've loved for a long time now, and this installment was no different. Especially considering that I just finished a re-read of At Her Fingertips less than a week before diving into this one. Which was both a great choice and also a very painful one, lol! (There may be spoilers ahead for the first four books!)

A Prayer Unanswered

Author: Kellyn Roth

Genre: Historical fiction

Content: Mentions of married couples being intimate, miscarriage and child loss, suicidal thoughts

Main characters: Alice Strauss, Peter Strauss

Synopsis:

   As Alice Strauss enters her first year of marriage - full of optimism and determination - she finds herself wholly unprepared for reality. In a new country, with a new family, she struggles to find her footing. Difficult relationships and situations batter her, but she is determined to establish a perfect life with the man she loves.

   Unfortunately, perfection seems just beyond her reach. An unexpected tragedy flings Alice out of control, and she struggles to rise from the ruins. Her world is full of spinning variables and agony beyond anything she has ever experienced.

   However, there is hope - in a God who loves her and a future established for her since before time began. Yet the devastation of Alice's life seems beyond even the touch of grace.

Add on Goodreads ~ Purchase on Amazon

What I Thought:

I find myself at an interesting place with this book, because I love it, and I hate it, and the hate almost adds to the love. This book broke my heart and made me cry and the characters that I already loved, I love even more. It's heavy and it's hard, and I love that it exists because it feels so important. 

Alice, I have loved for a very long time. And while, at times, she drove me a little crazy in this book, she's still so special for how flawed she is. She isn't always the kindest person, she makes mistakes and so much of this book I spent embarrassed and heartbroken for her. Peter is a wonderful guy that I want to be best friends with, but even he has to go through his own growth and struggles.

The struggles and hardships of this book felt very real and raw, the doubt and fear, the physical and emotional trials. It churns up generations of pain for the characters, but even in the hard things, there is so much hope written into this story, and it's beautiful. I have so much respect for the way Kellyn handled it, but be sure to check out the content and trigger warnings before going into it.

Like I said, I loved and hated this book, and that's the best way I can describe it. It hasn't changed my love of Kellyn's books, and I'm even more excited for book 6 than I already was. 

Overall Rating: 5 stars

God decides when our lives end, of course,

but before then, we must cling to life,

for while we breathe, we can be assured that

we have a purpose in life greater than simply living.

About the Author:

  Kellyn Roth is a historical romance & women's fiction author who writes about the empty places where hope has the most room to grow. Her novels include the inspirational Victorian family saga, The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy, and the Kees & Colliers series, which follows a broken family in the tumultuous years of the first half of the 20th century.

  Kellyn is a student of the Author Conservatory and a writing coach. When not building her author career, she is likely getting lost somewhere in the Pacific Northwest with her friends, watching period dramas and facetious comedies, or spending time with her husband.

Connect with Kellyn: Her website ~ Instagram ~ Goodreads

And there we have it! Thank you to Kellyn for sending me an early copy of this book for review! 

Let me know in the comments, have you read any of Kellyn's books?

~ Abby

Beyond Her Calling {book review}

Go back in time with me, if you will, way back to October of 2018, when I posted this review for a new book that I fell absolutely in love with. Fast forward a couple of years to where the author announced that she was re-releasing an updated version of the series, and I got excited. Now, I haven't read every one of the re-released versions (I will, I just haven't yet), but I'll admit this was the one I was looking forward to the most. And I'm happy to report, I wasn't disappointed.

If you're looking for a book with friends-to-more romance, Scottish accents, and fantastic faith content, look no further. (There may be spoilers ahead, since this is the fourth book in the series, but I highly recommend all the books!)

Beyond Her Calling

Author: Kellyn Roth

Genre: Historical fiction

Content: Mentions of past sins, not detailed

Main Characters: Ivy Knight, Jordy McAllen

Synopsis: 

  Ivy Knight feels that her life may never start. Though her loving family assures her that her place in the world is close to home, she still feels a push to move out of her comfort zone. Hoping against hope, she travels to her old friends at McCale House, seeking a purpose.

  Jordy McAllen has just returned to Scotland after his education in London. He fears that what everyone has always said about him may be true: he can't be a good doctor, let alone a good man. Determined to prove himself, Jordy snatches up the opportunity to become the doctor in the village of Keefmore near his parents' farm.

  When an old friend decides to travel to Keefmore and visit a relative, Ivy follows. She soon finds herself drawn to Jordy, but as their attraction grows, they both face doubts. A relationship between the two of them feels improbable - and might just require a step of impossible faith.

Add on Goodreads ~ Purchase on Amazon

What I Thought:

You know, it's kind of comforting to know that even though the world has changed a lot since 2018, my love for this book has not. I still relate so much to Ivy, I still want to visit Keefmore, I'm still a little in love with Jordy McAllen. (okay not even just a little, I'm fully in love with Jordy hahaha) Friends-to-lovers continues to be my favorite romance trope.

There's a lot to love about this story. The characters are wonderfully written and their stories are deeply moving, especially since the last time we saw some of them was in Ivy Introspective. They're growing up, and it's lovely to see them thrive. It feels like revisiting old friends, and it just brought me a lot of joy. As much as I love Alice, Ivy has always been the sister I relate to more, as an introvert who's slowly finding her own calling. Jordy, as previously established, has my heart. Violet drove me crazy the first time I read this, and to be honest, she still annoyed me at times, but I understand her character more now than I did then.

The faith content and messages were top notch. There are relatable struggles with contentment and calling from all the characters as they try to find their place in the world. The pasts are heavier in this updated version, haunting the characters a little more, and putting them into positions of overcoming and trusting in God's grace.

Overall, it was just delightful to be back in the world of these characters. I've long counted this series as one of my favorites, and I'm always glad to reaffirm that status.

Overall Rating: 5 adorable kittens out of 5

She always would be Ivy, after all, and what could she do

against all the cries of pain in all the countries in all the world?

Nothing. Still, there could be one small thing - one baby to

cuddle, one Agnes to love, one Aunt Daphne to humor,

one Violet to speak truth to.

About the Author:

  Kellyn Roth is a historical romance & women's fiction author who writes about the empty places where hope has the most room to grow. Her novels include the inspirational Victorian family saga, The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy, and the Kees & Colliers series, which follows a broken family in the tumultuous years of the first half of the 20th century.

  Kellyn is a student of the Author Conservatory and a writing coach. When not building her author career, she is likely getting lost somewhere in the Pacific Northwest with her friends, watching period dramas and facetious comedies, or spending time with her husband.

Connect with Kellyn: Her website ~ Instagram ~ Goodreads

And there you have it! Have you read any of Kellyn's books? What's your favorite romance trope? Let me know all the things in the comments! 

~ Abby

Ivy Introspective {blog tour + book review}

Hello my friends!  Today's the day!  It's officially time for my post for the Ivy Introspective blog tour!! *cue the fanfare*

I've loved this series so much since what feels like forever, but somehow I never managed to read this book?? Idk what happened?? But now it's finally made its way into my life and I couldn't be more thrilled.  It's also available right now so you can go and read it yourself!  Yay!! But before you do that, here's my review:

Ivy Introspective



Author: Kellyn Roth
Genre: Historical fiction
Content: None
Main characters: Ivy Knight and Nora Chattoway

Synopsis:
Ivy Knight lives her life in a blur of confusion as the world passes her by in a tumultuous melody. She isn’t the perfect daughter or student, but as long as she can be with her family, she doesn’t mind watching rather than living.
Mrs. Chattoway treasures both of her granddaughters now that they’re reunited. When Ivy’s parents enroll her in a Scottish school for unique children, she’s happy to chaperone.
In a new place with a new guardian, Ivy discovers a special talent that helps her see the blurred world in a new way. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and Ivy becomes determined to find it—and help others do the same.

Add on Goodreads ~ Purchase on Amazon

What I Thought:

I'm not crying, you're crying.  (that's a lie, I'm totally crying)

This was so WHOLESOME.  my HEART.  I'm EMOTIONAL.

Okay hold on let's get a hold of ourselves here.

So this was pretty much perfect.  A couple of years ago, I read At Her Fingertips and Beyond Her Calling and fell in love with both of them.  (And yes, I read The Dressmaker's Secret too)  But somehow this one got missed in the shuffle, and in a lot of ways, that just made reading it now so much sweeter.

Ivy is one of my favorite female protagonists, okay?  She's just such a pure little bean, I want to protect her from everything.  She's also an introvert through and through, and I related to her so much.  As much as I love Alice, she can be a lot, but Ivy is just out here doing her best and I'm proud of her for it.  (Also, I thought I'd gotten over being in love with Jordy MacAllen, but noooope.  what a precious baby boy. my face lit up when he walked onto the scene and I have no shame.) ((although let's clarify, I'm in love with grown-up Jordy, not 16-year-old Jordy.  that would be weird.))

I also loved Nora's storyline so much?  It made me so emotional?  The way she was so desperate to be loved by her family, how much she and Ivy were alike and didn't know it, the way God used those around her to heal her, it was all beautiful and such a pleasant surprise. 

Oh, and Violet!  I didn't care much for Violet in Beyond Her Calling, but now I can't wait to re-read that one, just to see if my opinions of her have changed.  I understand her so much better now.  I'm so sad. 

The faith content was beautiful.  It wove perfectly through the story, the message of God's grace and love becoming apparent as the characters discovered it. 

I just kind of loved everything about this?  The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy is seriously one of my favorite historical fiction series ever, and I've missed it, tbh.  It's nice to be back with these characters. <3

Overall Rating: 5 piano playing prodigies out of 5

About the Author:
Kellyn Roth lives on an Eastern Oregon ranch with her parents, little brothers, border collies, cats, and a few dozen cows and chickens.  Always a lover of a good story, and especially of telling one, she's been writing since she was seven and published her first novel at fourteen.  Now a homeschool grad, she divides her time between penning her next Christian historical fiction novel, creating professionally silly articles for her blog, and her actual life.  Actual life plays second fiddle sometimes, though.

Connect with Kellyn: Her website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest ~ Amazon ~ her personal blog


A huge thank you to Kellyn for sending me a copy of this book for review!  Have you read any of Kellyn's books?  Let me know in the comments below!

~ Abby

The Kees & Colliers Blog Tour {+ book review}

Y'all should know by now that I love Kellyn Roth's books.  (And Kellyn as a person, but we're talking about the books today xD)  And today it's my turn to participate in the Kees & Colliers Blog Tour!

With the release of the prequel, Souls Astray, in May (you can read my review right here), and with the release of the third book in the trilogy right around the corner (this month!!!!), Troy, Adele, and Judy are having a moment and I, for one, am very excited for it.

And today, I have for you a review of the upcoming From Now 'Til Forever! (and yes, it was basically the cutest thing ever)


From Now 'Til Forever



(Kell's gorgeous covers strike again *heart eyes*)

Author: Kellyn Roth
Genre: Historical fiction
Content: None
Main Character: Troy Kee
Placement in Series: Book 3

Synopsis:
Troy Kee doesn’t know how he’ll settle back into life with his family after WWII, but he’s determined to do so. He feels that if he can just get his family back to their vineyard in France, everything will be all right. But his wife has other plans.
This charming novelette finale to the Kees & Colliers series highlights the difficulties of returning home after a war.

Add on Goodreads ~ Official website

What I Thought:

^ me, finally giving all these characters the hugs I've wanted to give them since book 1.
This was good and soft and everything I wanted.  Plus it was from the perspective of my boy Troy, which I loved.
We finally get to see all our faves being a happy family who loves and supports each other and I'm here for it!!  Judy is still the best, Cammy is adorable, Adele continues to grow and be amazing, and Troy, as always, is my fave.  Dads being soft with their daughters is my favorite thing ever.

Overall, the story was maybe shorter than I would have wanted (I want to spend ALL the time with this sweet little family), but it was a perfect ending to this series (and yes, I am going to go back and read the updated versions of books 1 and 2 and yes, I am looking forward to it).  I'm very happy.

Overall Rating: 5 pretty brooks out of 5

About the Author: Kellyn Roth lives on an Eastern Oregon ranch with her parents, little brothers, border collies, cats, and a few dozen cows and chickens.  Always a lover of a good story, and especially of telling one, she's been writing since she was seven and published her first novel at fourteen.  Now a homeschool grad, she divides her time between penning her next Christian historical fiction novel, creating professionally silly articles for her blog, and her actual life.  Actual life plays second fiddle sometimes, though.

Connect with Kellyn: Her website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest ~ Youtube ~ Amazon ~ her personal blog ~ her review blog

Check out the rest of the Kees & Colliers series!

Book 1 - The Lady of the Vineyard


Book 2 - Flowers in Her Heart


Prequel 1 - Souls Astray


Prequel 2 - Goldfish Secrets


There's also a GIVEAWAY with some amazing Kees & Colliers prizes going on right now and you can enter by clicking this link right here!

A huge thank you to Kellyn for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for this honest review!

~ Abby

Souls Astray {blog tour + book review}

It's probably a pretty well-known fact that at this point Kellyn Roth is one of my favorite historical fiction authors.  One of my favorites overall, tbh.  And while I've come to terms with the fact that I prefer the Alice and Ivy books, the Kees & Colliers series will always hold a special place in my heart.  And learning about Adele and Troy's relationship was an absolute joy (and also an absolute pain because ow. my heart.)

Souls Astray



Kellyn has the prettiest covers gosh

Author: Kellyn Roth
Genre: Historical romance
Content: Adele lives a fairly sleazy lifestyle, trying to fit into the 1920s crowd.
Main Characters: Adele Collier and Troy Kee
Placement in Series: Prequel to book 1

Synopsis:
Adele has been lost for a long time now ... Adele Collier has sought a carefree lifestyle ever since her tragic childhood. Determined to never allow anyone or anything to control her life or emotions again, she consistently seeks distraction in gaiety. But shaking her ghosts isn’t as easy as she’d like.
Troy Kee has been alone in the world since the Great War took his parents and left him in care of his younger sister. When she marries, he’s left to seek after his goal of a healthy, complete family. But how can he focus on his dream when trouble plagues his family vineyard?
When Adele and Troy meet, a whirlwind romance begins—but can two lost souls have a healthy relationship?

Add on Goodreads ~ Purchase on Amazon ~ Kellyn's review of the content ~ Official webpage

What I Thought:
This book was equal parts

and


I have a love-hate relationship with prequels and this is the prime example of why.  I absolutely loved seeing Adele and Troy's life stories.  I had wondered how exactly it all went down leading up to The Lady of the Vineyard, so I was pumped to learn about it first hand.  But goodness gracious, my emotions!! were all over the place!! ahhhhh!!! Because I knew where they ended up at the beginning of TLotV and thus I knew the whole thing was going too well and then I was SAD.
As far as the characters go, I'm still kind of meh about Adele. I understand her more now, but she's just not my cup of tea, I think.  But let me just say, Kellyn has such a way of making me fall in love with her male leads.  Peter? Yes. Jordy? Oh yes. Troy?? My sweet baby child who did nothing wrong and deserves only the best in this world.  He needs a hug.  I wanna give him a hug.
Other things Kellyn did really well:
- the setting, both historically and location-wise
- writing kids (she's really good at that, man)
- writing three very different family dynamics and making them all fully fleshed out and interesting.
- "funny how someone dying meant that one spent ages working on trying to get money transferred and all other sorts of things that really didn't matter, that one really didn't care about because a dear person was gone. but one had to." TRUE
- the faith content. it's not preachy, but it's great. and she's honest about the short-comings of the church, how we're imperfect sinners, but how there's still redemption to be had.
- the scene where troy came into the flower shop was the cutest thing ever OOF.
- making me feel ALL the things.

Basically, if you haven't read a Kellyn Roth book and you like hisfic romance at all, what are you even doing with your life?  Go read her books.

Overall Rating: 4 flower bouquets out of 5

About the Author:
Kellyn Roth lives on an Eastern Oregon ranch with her parents, little brothers, border collies, cats, and a few dozen cows and chickens.  Always a lover of a good story, and especially of telling one, she's been writing since she was seven and published her first novel at fourteen.  Now a homeschool grad, she divides her time between penning her next Christian historical fiction novel, creating professionally silly articles for her blog, and her actual life.  Actual life plays second fiddle sometimes, though.

Connect with Kellyn: Her website ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads ~ Google+ ~ Instagram ~ Pinterest ~ Youtube ~ Amazon ~ her personal blog ~ her review blog

GIVEAWAY for a signed paperback of the book + a $20 Amazon gift card! Click here!

Huge shout-out to Kellyn for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Yeah, I think a re-read of the rest of the Kees & Colliers series is in my very near future.

~ Abby