IN EVERY HEARTBEAT

Kim Vogel Sawyer

Bethany House Publishers
ISBN 978-0-7642-0916-4


Three best friends, three cherished dreams, three searching hearts…

Three of the young orphans from Kim Vogel Sawyer’s book My Heart Remembers have come of age and have set their courses for college. Libby Conley, Pete Ledig, and Bennet Martin grew up together under the caring of nurturing foster parents and are anxious to make their mark on the world. All three harbor different goals, and likewise they each find themselves on a path to search for something they lack.

Libby desires to be a journalist in an era when that profession was closed to women, so she devises a way to break in to the realm of publishing. Pete longs to serve God and become a minister, but first he must settle that one nagging issue that has haunted him for years. Bennet seeks a place to belong, the admiration of those around him, and avenues of pleasure, not knowing where any of it will lead. All three come face to face with choices they must make that will change the direction of their lives.

A few months ago, I posted a review of My Heart Remembers because I knew this book, IN EVERY HEARTBEAT, was being released this fall. Kim Sawyer has a knack for creating characters that readers care about, and has crafted a follow-up story with some of the characters from My Heart Remembers that gives readers an opportunity to attend a family reunion and catch up with the lives of these people. Reading this book is like looking into a mirror. The issues Libby, Pete, and Bennet deal with aren’t unlike some of the circumstances we face in the 21st century, but Kim Sawyer’s gently crafted story spotlights the hope that awaits when we seek truth.

This is a wonderful story that will linger with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

COURTING MORROW LITTLE

By Laura Franz
Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group
ISBN 978-0-8007-3340-7

Echoes of the day her family was torn apart by raiding Shawnee warriors hangs at the fringes of Morrow Little’s early childhood memory. Nearly a grown woman and caring for her ailing father, she is faced different men competing for her affection—one utterly obnoxious while another is strangely intriguing and frightening at the same time. If she marries the first, she’ll bind herself to a man she doesn’t love. If she marries the second, she’ll be accused of being a traitor. But which is worse? Betraying one’s countrymen or betraying one’s family?

Author Laura Franz has crafted a novel that captured my senses and drew me into the life of a young woman, Morrow Little, raised on the frontier of Kentucky in the 1760’s. Franz’s gift of turning a phrase made my imagination dance:

From chapter 8:
Once again, Morrow stood before the dusty mirror on the east side of the dogtrot, the chaotic remains of the cabin all around her. Spiderwebs glinted silver in the morning light, and the huge stone hearth gaped empty like the mouth of a cave.

From chapter 16:
A bitter breeze wafted through the open window, but she didn’t want to shut it, as if doing so would shut away the memory of what had happened here. She wanted to hold on to the sweet feeling of forgiveness a little longer.

This story will transport you back to the time of our country’s infancy, when patriots warred with oppressors as well as those natives who claimed this land centuries before the arrival of the Europeans. The struggle that takes place outwardly as Morrow seeks to make choices that will mold her future, and the internal struggle as she comes to grips with loss, both past and present, will not let you put this book down.