Book Review: Kaydie by Penny A. Zeller

It didn’t work out for me to post another book review in April, but I am one of several bloggers offered the opportunity of taking part in a blog tour. We each have interviewed the author of the book I am reviewing today. My day of the tour is Monday, May 9, so do come back to meet author Penny Zeller in my interview with her. I was privileged to receive the ARC of this book so that I could write a review before posting the interview with Penny. Now here is my review of her newly published book.

Book: Kaydie
Author: Penny A. Zeller
Genre: Christian historical romance; fiction
Pages: 144, paperback
Price: $9.99
Released: April 5, 2011
Publisher: Whitaker House
My rating: A novel to recommend to anyone who enjoys a good romance story without erotica.

I have to be honest here. Romance novels are not the ones I typically go for anymore, but this book has not just the undercurrent of attraction going on, it also is a good story set in the rugged Montana Territory of the old West. Kaydie is book two of Penny Zeller’s Montana Skies series.

This story centers around the main character, Kaydie Worthington Kraemer, but several other interesting characters are introduced early on. Kaydie is a young woman who suffered terrible abuse at the hands of her former husband, Darius, who played a clever game to get her family wealth. After his death, she was rescued and taken in by her sister and brother-in-law to live with them on their ranch. Pregnant and facing recurring nightmares and haunting memories, Kaydie wonders if she can ever trust enough to love again. When a gentle, caring man with his own difficult past walks into her life, and then a childhood friend is sent by her illustrious parents to court her, she has a hard decision to make. Does she surrender to what she thinks she knows and return to a life of wealth, or does she trust her heart?

During the progression of the story the reader discovers Kaydie’s will to survive and her determination to heal in order to secure a normal and safe life for herself and her baby. Penny Zeller wrote in a way that follows closely to how a woman, struggling with memories and fears, thinks things through, over and over, on her way to emotional healing.

Penny included enough suspense to keep the pages turning, humour to lighten the mood when certain characters were faced with difficulties, and historical details revealing life in the early years of settlement. Admittedly, at one point while reading I spoke out loud, “No way!” To say I got pulled into the story would be an accurate statement.

Although Kaydie is a Christian-based novel, the reader will not feel overwhelmed by religious thought being pushed down her throat. (I say ‘her’ because most readers of this series will probably be women.) It is not preachy but puts forward the encouragement found in a relationship with God. Penny Zeller has taken a gentle but unwavering approach in presenting to the reader a valid option of how to deal with life’s problems.

If you enjoy romance novels, or if you have never read one but are curious, I encourage you to get this one.

You can find Kaydie listed on my BUY THE BOOK! page.

Watch for my interview with Penny Zeller, scheduled for May 9.

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂

Are you living your dream?

When I was a little girl, my mother would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Of course, I wanted to be a singer or an actress or dancer, but most of all I wanted to be a mommy. And I used to tell my mother that when she got old I would take care of her.

Have I been able to live my dream? Well, you could say that I have. I had four little girls of my own, and when my dear mother was dying (only in her 70’s) I helped take care of her the last month of her life. Perhaps that was a love commitment more than a dream.

My childhood dream has not been my only one. I have had several over the years, as I’m sure you have. As we grow we learn new things and try our hand at them. I sewed clothes, made toys and crafts and quilts, tried sketching and painting, wrote poetry, and dreamed dreams. I took voice lessons but I’m shy and nervous about public singing. I dance but mostly when I worship the Lord in the privacy of my home. And the acting? Uhh, No. 🙂 But I keep returning to writing – ministry things, poems, stories, plays, songs, articles, blogging.

Again my dream is to be a writer and author of children’s books. Having accomplished NaNoWriMo, perhaps by sheer determination, then shouldn’t I be able to write a book for children, perfect it for publication, and stick with it until that happens?

But what do you do when life happens, when the time you had which didn’t seem to be enough is now split in half? How do you see those dreams fulfilled?

How do you choose what to sacrifice and what to push to the forefront?

It is a challenge in which, so far, I don’t feel I’m succeeding. With all the reading I try to do, my writing is taking a backseat. With the book reviews and author interviews I committed to, my newsletter publishing is delayed. But do you see the connections? In some way they are all to do with writing, so I haven’t completely left it behind, I just need to discover my balance. What I must do is trust the Lord to lead me in all of these things in my life. If I’m meant to continue them all then He will show me how.

Then there are the unexpected things that crowd in. I gave my piano to our oldest daughter who loves to play. She told me Tuesday that the movers will be here Thursday morning. That meant today’s time was devoted to rearranging things for the piano to be maneuvered around in order for the movers to get it up the stairs and out to their truck. This also means there will be more space for my stuff! 😉 Such as more books? Umm, maybe for all the fabric I have. (Yes, I love fabric too, which is intended to be listed for sale on my business website.)

Do I have too many irons in the fire? Too many interests and not enough focus? Too many ideas and not enough ‘stick-to-it-iveness’? Or maybe I dream too big? – forgetting I’m only one person and nobody else will be interested in my dreams – so I live a little of this one and a little of that one.

I don’t ever stop dreaming.

What about you? Are you a dreamer of dreams? Are you living your dreams? Or have you given up on them?

Thanks for reading, and … Creative Musings! 🙂