Book Notes: January 11, 2023 - American Historical Romance

 Welcome back readers and writers! I'm happy to share my reviews on two American historical romance novels with you today. These are clean, sweet stories. I hope you'll find something new to try. And don't forget about the writing prompt. You'll find it following the book reviews. 

Book Review: Barefoot Mail-order Bride by Margaret Tanner

Barefoot Mail-Order Bride by Margaret Tanner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

3.75 Stars Rounded Up, A Whimsical Story

Short, but fanciful, this book was an easy, quick read. There were a lot of places contractions would've helped smooth out the dialog. And there was a plot hole I shook my head at. I enjoyed the story in spite of that. It's clean and the almost fairytale nature of the plot was pleasant for me. If you like that kind of thing and what bothered me doesn't bother you, give this little story a try.

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Another thing I might add to this review is that the cover needs a little more work. It's kind of difficult to read the title. I like the artwork and colors, though.

Book Review: The Disfigured Bride by Stella Clark

The Disfigured Bride by Stella Clark
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Decent Story

This was a decent little story. It needs a bit more fine-tuning, but I had no trouble reading it through. I liked the heroine and the hero. They both had lots of growing to do. I had more trouble following the time-line. Still, it was a sweet, clean, historical romance novella. If you really love that type of story, then try this one.

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Just Keep Writing: Wednesday Whimsy

If this is your first time participating in this kind of writing exercise, you're in for a treat. If you've done this with me before, just keep scrolling for the prompt.

Rules:

1. You can use any/all of the words and/or the photo in the prompt below to create a unique written work. Fiction or nonfiction, poetry or prose, even lyrics are acceptable.  
2. Please keep the material you write clean (ie. nothing R-rated or worse) if you wish to share the link to your work here, as well as if you link back to my site. I strive to keep my site free of such things. My readers know and expect this. I respect your right to write whatever you feel you need to write. And you're free to use my prompts. But if your material is graphic, I'd rather not view it, and most of my readers will not wish to. 
3. Have fun! This type of exercise is perfect for growing in the writing craft, or for helping through a rough patch in your current WIP. If you're looking to push your author limits and you normally write in nonfiction prose, try a whimsical collection of lyrics. If you normally write poems about real life events, try your hand at a fanfic. Give yourself some room to explore.

Don't forget to leave a link to your creation (unless you're writing graphic material) so my readers and I can check out your work. I'd appreciate a link back to this post to help me reach more readers, but it's not required. 

Photo by Polina Chistyakova

Please take a moment to stop by Polina's gallery at Pexel.com and check out the awesome photos posted there.

I'm so happy you took some of your valuable time to check out today's blog post. Did you find something helpful? Perhaps something new to add to your reading list? Let me know in the comments below. 

Tomorrow, I'll have another word prompt to share with you. I hope you'll come back to check that out. 

Until next time,
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