Welcome to my tour stop! Check out my review and enter the giveaway below...
Hope Between the Pages
(Doors to the Past #2)
By Pepper Basham
Christian Time-Slip, Historical, Contemporary
Paperback & ebook, 267 Pages
April 1, 2021
Summary
Uncover the Story Behind a One-Hundred-Year-Old Love LetterVisit historic American landmarks through the Doors to the Past series. History and today collide in stories full of mystery, intrigue, faith, and romance.
Clara Blackwell helps her mother manage a struggling one-hundred-year old family bookshop in Asheville, North Carolina, but the discovery of a forgotten letter opens a mystery of a long-lost romance and undiscovered inheritance which could save its future. Forced to step outside of her predictable world, Clara embarks on an adventure with only the name Oliver as a hint of the man’s identity in her great-great-grandmother’s letter. From the nearby grand estate of the Vanderbilts, to a hamlet in Derbyshire, England, Clara seeks to uncover truth about family and love that may lead to her own unexpected romance.
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My Review
HOPE BETWEEN THE PAGES is a story about two women who are related through blood, only a few generations apart, who both share a love for books. The future of one woman relies on uncovering the past of the other, and through letters, searching histories, and travelling across the sea she finds that it's never too late for an adventure. With two delightful stories to follow as the reader slips from present to a past time, and wonderful characters,
this is a book Christian romance and historical romance fans will love!I loved these characters so much! The author did a fantastic job in switching from the historical to present day and endearing me to the characters in both times. Sometimes stories like this can spend too little time on one of the stories, or one story can be much better than the other. That wasn't he case at all in this one. The characters came alive in both time periods and I couldn't help but want them to both find their happiness. I also loved all the references to books, libraries and bookstores. It was a very sweet part of this story. I loved the relationships, both of friendship, family and love. I especially loved the banter and relationships between Sadie and Oliver, and Clara and Max. Both made me laugh, swoon and pulled on my heart. The inspirational element was also weaved through both stories well and felt natural and authentic.
In the end, was it what I wished for? This story had it all! Fabulous characters, an engaging plot revolving around books that any book lover will adore, and two well-written stories linked together through time. It pulls on the reader's emotions. I loved reading every single page!
Content: Some references to marital relations, but clean.
Source: I received a complimentary copy through Celebrate Lit, which did not require a positive review. All opinions are my own.
Pepper Basham is an award-winning author who writes romance peppered with grace and humor with southern Appalachian flair. Both her historical and contemporary novels have garnered recognition in the Grace Awards, Inspys, and ACFW Carol Awards. Her historical romance, The Thorn Healer, was a finalist in the 2018 RT Awards. Her historical romance novels,
My Heart Belongs in the Blue Ridge and
The Red Ribbon, and her contemporary novels, the
Mitchell’s Crossroads and
Pleasant Gap series, showcase her Appalachian heritage, as well as her love for humor and family. She currently resides in the lovely mountains of Asheville, NC where she is the mom of five great kids, a speech-language pathologist to about fifty more, and a lover of chocolate, jazz, hats, and Jesus.
More from PepperBooks are a uniquely portable magic – Stephen King
Appalachia is known for having a high illiteracy rate. A place of beautiful scenery and rugged landscapes, the people of the mountains developed stories through oral storytelling much more than “book learning”. As a young girl growing up in this world, I loved hearing my granny share tales from up to five generations ago, filling in the narrative gaps between a birth date and a death date on a tombstone – giving flesh and breath to the stone-etched names.
It’s no surprise then, with a heart cultivated from rich oral stories, I fell in love with reading. Books became that “portable magic” that took me places my little Appalachian community couldn’t provide. I fell in love with the Boxcar Children and Nancy Drew. Wept through the end of Bridge to Terabithia and Old Yeller. Traveled to the plains with Sarah Plain and Tall and fell in love with horses with The Black Stallion. But when I was in seventh grade, I read my very first “British” novel, The Secret Garden. In that one introduction, my world expanded into mysterious English manor houses and British classics. Before long, I’d consumed Jane Eyre, Austen’s classics, some Dickens, Dracula, Frankenstein…and the list goes on! And then…I found Tolkien and Lewis – and the ‘real’ world swelled into OTHER worlds.
I’m grateful for true stories of book-loving pioneers traveling into the world of Appalachia to provide books and literacy training to “my people”, because I know some of those books made their way to my tiny elementary school library…and not only brought me the chance to discover stories, but to write them too!
Isn’t it amazing how books can do that?
In Hope Between the Pages, I wanted to bring the same awe and discovery I felt as a child (and continue to feel as an adult reader) to the story of two people whose words had seemed small. Stories stretched their worlds, but the stories also gave them wonderful imaginations and positive perspectives. It’s still amazing to me that ink-and-paper words can make such a lasting impact on hearts and minds. They can lead us to dream, teach us new things, encourage our hearts, help us to think outside the box, swell our imaginations, broaden our horizons, and encourage our hope.
Books are not a replacement for real adventures and relationships, but they certainly provide a beautiful “door” into other lives and worlds that we may never have a chance to experience in real life. Sadie, my historical heroine, and Clara, my contemporary heroine, both have kept close to home but traveled greatly through books…and BOTH are given the opportunity to reach beyond the bindings to discover real-life adventures. I’d like to think that their love for stories helped them have the courage to step away from the page and into their own tales even more prepared than they would have been without stories.
What are some of your favorite books you read as a child? Did any of them influence you to become a more avid reader?
To celebrate her tour, Pepper is giving away the grand prize package of a $25 Amazon gift card and a copy of the book!!Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
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