Review of "Skip Rock Shallows" by Jan Watson

Rating: 5 Stars

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Summary from Tyndale House Publishers: Lilly Gray Corbett has just graduated from medical school and decided to accept an internship in the coal camp of Skip Rock, Kentucky. Her beau, Paul, is doing his residency in Boston and can’t understand why Lilly would choose to work in a backwater town. But having grown up in the mountains, Lilly is drawn to the stubborn, superstitious people she encounters in Skip Rock—a town where people live hard and die harder and where women know their place. Lilly soon learns she has a lot to overcome, but after saving the life of a young miner, she begins to earn the residents’ trust.

As Lilly becomes torn between joining Paul in Boston and her love for the people of Skip Rock, she crosses paths with a handsome miner—one who seems oddly familiar. Her attraction for him grows, even as she wrestles with her feelings and wonders what he’s hiding.

Review: Since reading Troublesome Creek a few years ago, I have been a fan of Jan Watson's novels.  Her focus on small mountain communities often reminds me of Catherine Marshall's Christy. In Skip Rock Shallows, Watson portrays a grown-up Lilly Gray Corbett, a character familiar to readers of Watson's other novels. Lilly displays the same strength and determination that made her mother, Copper, such a beloved heroine. I feel like I have watched Lilly grow up, so I enjoyed reading her story and the trials she faces as a woman doctor in a backwoods town. Although Skip Rock Shallows can be read as a stand-alone novel, there are references to the events of the previous book, Still House Pond.  Lilly confronts the emotional scars that she formed in Still House Pond, and Watson reminds readers of their cause in Skip Rock Shallows.  

Watson's descriptions of small mountain towns never fail to captivate me.  Her words flow as melodiously as a bluegrass tune; sometimes tranquil and lulling, othertimes lively and fast-paced.  I loved the plot of Skip Rock Shallows and the balance it offered between action, faith, love, and emotion.  The combination of a female doctor, dangerous mines, colorful townsfolk, and a sweet love story, make the novel interesting from beginning to end. The challenges that Lilly faces as a female doctor add a high degree of interest to Skip Rock Shallows. In a few instances, the medical scenes were a bit too detailed.  Overall, they were mild and without graphic detail. The plot is not completely fast-paced, but there are moments of tension and danger.  In between, Watson creates characters that readers can relate to and care about, and their stories, trials, and lifestyles carry the novel and engage the reader. There is a strong sense of community evident within the pages, and it is easy to fall in love with the people of Skip Rock as Lilly interacts with them.  There are some characters that I would enjoy seeing in future novels. 


After reading Skip Rock Shallows, I definitely have a new appreciation for those individuals, both past and present, who dedicate themselves to the medical or mining professions.  I also have a renewed appreciation for Jan Watson's writing and the messages of faith and love that she conveys in a style that is uniquely her own and as charming as the mountains of Kentucky. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers through their book review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed above are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Review of The Colonel's Lady by Laura Frantz

Rating: 5 Stars

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Synopsis from Revell: Roxanna Rowan may be a genteel Virginia woman, but she is determined to brave the wilds of the untamed frontier to reach a remote Kentucky fort. Eager to reunite with her father, who serves under Colonel Cassius McLinn, Roxanna is devastated to find that her father has been killed on a campaign.

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Penniless and out of options, Roxanna is forced to remain at the fort. As she spends more and more time with the fiery Colonel McLinn, the fort is abuzz with intrigue and innuendo. Can Roxanna truly know who the colonel is--and what he's done?

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Immerse yourself in this powerful story of love, faith, and forgiveness set in the tumultuous world of the frontier in 1779.

Review: Autumn has chased away the lingering summer and cloaked my area in an early chill. It has been the ideal weather for nestling in a cocoon of blankets and immersing oneself in the pages of an engaging novel.  I have been anticipating my opportunity to read Laura Frantz's latest release, The Colonel's Lady, and I savored the beautiful novel from the cover to the very last word.

Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. The design of The Colonel's Lady is elegant and intriguing, capturing the essence of the book to perfection.  It is the plot that truly shines, however.  I enjoyed the danger of the new frontier and witnessing the experiences of life in a remote fort. The untamed lifestyles and ruggedness that defined America's wilderness provide an exciting setting, conducive to unexpected twists and turns.  The pace of the novel is steady throughout, but gains even more momentum towards the end.

Of course, I adore a novel with a timeless love story to balance the action.  The romantic tension between Roxanna and Cass is evident throughout the plot.  In many ways Cass reminded me of Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre.  Roxanna was a bit spunkier and outspoken than Jane; but I saw similarities in the growth of their relationships. The addition of sweet little Abby added some lightness to the thread of danger woven in the plot. With her quiet presence, she provided a common ground between Roxanna and Cass when their relationship was on delicate ground.  Frantz's blend of characters is seamless with the right proportions of love and conflict.  The Colonel's Lady is the type of novel that you close with a contented sigh.

Laura Frantz has become synonymous with fluid descriptions and dialogue, compelling plots and characters, and interesting historical detail.  The Colonel's Lady is no exception to the high standard set by The Frontiersman's Daughter and Courting Morrow Little.  Each of these novels can be relished again and again.

Still House Pond by Jan Watson

Rating: 4 stars

I am often guilty of judging books by their covers, but an appealing cover design is one of the elements that draws me to a book (in addition to the plot and the author of course!).  My first impression of Still House Pond was based on two elements: the author, Jan Watson, first and the cover second.  Based on the cover design, I made the assumption that Lilly Gray Corbett was around 16 years old; so I was a bit surprised when I discovered that she was only 12.  The synopsis on the back cover of the book does allude to Lilly Gray being a child, however.  Nonetheless, I adore the cover, and I believe it captures the essence of both the title and the most pivotal event in the novel.

Throughout the past few years, I have read each of Jan Watson's novels, starting with her moving and charming first novel, Troublesome Creek.  Watson crafts such realistic characters that, after reading her four novels, I feel as though I know and understand the folks that make up the fictious Kentucky communities.   I enjoyed reading Still House Pond because the novel welcomed me into the life of Copper, the star of the first three novels, through her daughter Lilly Gray.  The novel follows the life, faith, struggles, and triumphs of Copper's family and her small Kentucky hills community in 1896.  The details of the day-to-day life of the main characters is charming but interspersed with enough troubles to make the plot interesting.  There were only a few major events in the novel, but they lacked suspense, and the outcomes were somewhat predictable. 

I enjoyed the re-introduction to Copper that this novel provided; and it was interesting to be a part of her adult life as a midwife/doctor, wife, and mother of a few children.  The novel primarily focuses on Copper's family, but it also introduces Manda, Copper's hired help.  Manda faces struggles of her own  throughout the story, which eventually impact the life of Copper's family.  Manda was an interesting character, but I did not feel like I completely knew her.  I would have liked the plot to delve deeper into her character so that I could better understand her decisions. 

Overall, Still House Pond is a very well-crafted and charming novel.  Jan Watson's words paint vivid scenes and life-like characters. In many ways, Jan Watson's stories remind me of Catherine Marshall's famous novel, Christy.
~M