Snow Kissed

Finished April 15

Snow Kissed by RaeAnneThayne

Set in small town Idaho, Holly Goodwin More runs a flower shop. Holly is divorced and has a five-year-old daughter, Lydia, who has Down's syndrome. Holly loves Christmas but this year the season is more complicated. Holly's former sister-in-law, who is also a friend, is getting married, and Lydia will be her flower girl. Holly's ex, his wife, and their new baby son will be in town for the wedding. Lydia doesn't want to be pitied for her situation, and her twin sister Hannah comes up with an interesting idea. What if she brings a fake boyfriend to the wedding, so everyone can see that she too has moved on. Holly has moved on, although she doesn't feel she needs a man to prove it. 

One of Holly's employees is in rehab after a scary car accident woke her up to the reality of her life. Because her employee's stepmother was badly hurt in the accident, and the employee's father is busy looking after her, the employee has asked her brother Ryan to come to town to look after her tween daughter Audrey. Ryan is a Navy helicopter pilot who is going through his own physical recovery from a work accident. Until Ryan can arrive, Audrey is staying with Holly and helping look after Lydia. With an employee down during the busy Christmas season, Holly is very busy with floral orders. Audrey and Lydia genuinely like each other and get along well. Audrey also likes the opportunity to earn some money of her own for presents. 

When Ryan is approached about taking on the role of fake boyfriend, he agrees asking for Holly's help in making Christmas special for Audrey with her mother absent. 

As the two grow closer, they develop both respect and feelings towards each other, and the story develops nicely from there. 

The Fervor

Finished March 10

The Fervor by Alma Katsu

This novel combines historical fiction with horror. 

The story begin in 1944, and Meiko Briggs and her daughter Aiko are in Minidoka, a Japanese internment camp in Idaho. Meiko's husband Jamie is a pilot, currently serving in the Pacific. Through the novel we learn how they came to be where they are now after his deployment. 

We also see Archie, one of Jamie's friends, as he and his wife Elsie take a group of children to a fishing area in the mountains near them. When an explosion happens and people are hurt, Archie begins questioning why. 

We also see Fran, a journalist in Nebraska, as she witnesses an explosion and discovers something interesting in the aftermath when she is in a remote area on a tryst with her lover. 

Along with these three stories, that gradually converge, are excerpts from a Japanese diary from seventeen years earlier, when a scientist studying winds comes across another discovery. 

This historical narrative becomes horror when people at the camp, in Nebraska, and in other places start to die from a strange disease. With a group of men in suits and expensive cars recently arrived at the camp, Meiko catches one of them in the kitchen at night and begins to suspect that they are using the Japanese there to conduct some kind of experiment. 

This novel is gripping and scary as you follow the clues to figure out who is doing what and whether anyone can be trusted. 

Tried and True

Finished January 19

Tried and True by Mary Connealy

Set just after the American Civil War, this is the first in a series of novels about three sisters, Bailey, Shannon, and Kylie shortly after they begin their land claims in Idaho Territory. Pressured by their father into disguising themselves as young men and joining the Union army after their only brother dies in service, the women have used their service as a way of decreasing the time they must stay on the land to finalize their claim. Kylie is the youngest, and the least adept at the skills needed to manage a farm. Her sisters helped build her cabin in the fall, and now that it is spring the story starts with her attempting to repair a loose shingle in her roof. 

She was troubled by her war experience, but after her first battle was able to avoid worse trauma by working as a general's aide and as a spy. Her commanders were unaware that her success as a spy was due to her gender as she removed her disguise when engaging in espionage activity. 

When the local land agent, Aaron Masterson comes by just as Kylie is descending from the roof, he discovers her secret and insists that he must change her claim to eliminate the service record, even though she served as women weren't allowed to enlist. 

He finds himself drawn to her, and finds himself visiting her again soon after when a local rancher threatens her land. When another threat appears soon after, Aaron worries about her safety alone at her cabin and works with her siblings to find a solution. 

This novel is an historical western romance, with a touch of mystery. Kylie is less helpless than she first appears, as she has depended on her sisters more than she could have. But she is also a reluctant land claim candidate and plans to sell as soon as she owns the land outright. 

I found Kylie growing on me, but enjoyed her sisters more. There are other interesting characters as well, including a motherly and capable native woman. Aaron's history played a role in the plot and was an interesting commentary on the aftermath of the Civil War. 

This Is Why

Finished March 27
This Is Why by Leland Spencer, interior drawings by Mackenzie Hidalgo

This humorous memoir of growing up on a farm in Idaho had a similar feel to listening to my dad tell stories of his childhood. Leland had a friend Smitty who grew up on the next farm over, and an older brother. Smitty had a younger sister. Leland's neighbour on the other side was a hard-working bachelor who lived in an army tent and his brother who lived in the house on the property.
Leland's stories are about getting into trouble with his friend, the crazy things they thought up to do like tying strings to the legs of birds to have live kites, and throwing eggs, fruit, dirt clods or other things.
He obviously likes to tell a good story, even at his own expense and has a optimistic nature about the way things are going to turnout. From fishing to learning how to drive, Leland entertains his readers.

Emory's Gift

Finished December 27
Emory's Gift by W. Bruce Cameron, read by the author
This is a magical novel of a few months in the life of a boy. Charlie Hall finds himself a boy with few friends the summer before he starts eighth grade. He lives out of town and with his mother dying earlier in the year, a divide has been created between him and the other boys. As Charlie wanders around the creek and woods near his home, he encounters a grizzly bear, a rarity in northern Idaho. This is not your usual grizzly bear. Charlie feels a connection to the bear and apparently the bear feels the connection too.
As Charlie starts school, he finds that most other boys in his grade have had a growth spurt, that he didn't have, and he feels even more alone when his supposed friend Danny spurns him. Three things help him through: his ability to run, which gains him some new friends at school; his first love, who seems to feel strongly about him too; and Emory, the bear.
As the existence of Emory begins to become more widely known, Charlie's distant relationship with his father is tested, and so are other relationships. The bear has a message, but how will it give it, and what its meaning is will take time to discover.
This is a special book about love, faith, and trust and how they can heal.