The scent of Rain

by Kristin Billerbeck

It's Daphne's wedding day. She has given up her dream job for love with the perfect man and to start the perfect life. The only problem, the groom didn't show up for the wedding. Left at the altar heartbroken embarks on a new journey to reevaluate her life. She heads across the to the new home and job miles away from family friends only to discover nothing is really what it had seemed to be. Daphne is a professional "nose" hired to turn around a failing business, but suddenly her sense of smell has disappeared. Feeling like a fraud on her new job, Daphne sets out to support the new boss, Jesse, to help make the company flourish and so he doesn't lose his job.
I really enjoyed Daphne's character and riding the ups and downs with her as she discovered the true reasons behind her loss of smell. As she makes these discoveries she grows personally and learns to make better choices without losing her own identity. Daphne encounters many people to help her through this time and she She discovers kindness and caring, how to accept help and friendship, and how to give to others for the right reasons. She also realizes that God can work all these situations together for good and to show her the real meaning of love.

The Bride wore Blue

The Bride Wore Blue by Mona Hodgson is an intriguing historical novel. The third book in the Sinclair Sisters of Cripple Creek tells the story of Vivian, the youngest of 4 sisters. The choices she made both before the novel starts and during, are not the best choices, but understandable and definitely a part of the story. This novel is about unconditional love and forgiveness, as well as not judging others.
I loved Vivian with her spunk, and her insecurities, as well as her resourcefulness and desires to not be beholden to her sisters. How she didn't give up just because the first job she tried for did not work for her and that she did not look to a man to fulfill her.
Carter grows from a man blaming a prostitute for his father's death, to realizing that all people have reasons for doing what they do, and that it does not mean that God's Love and Forgiveness is not for them. Vivian's sisters are great characters, and I would love them for my own. I have not read the other sister's stories, but would like to go back and read them. Not because they need to be read in order to have this own make sense, but because I have found a great author in Mona and would love to read more of her novels.
I received this book free from Waterbrook Press through their Blogging for Books program in exchange for an honest review, which you have here. The opinions stated are my own.