Bridge of Gold by Kimberley Woodhouse

 Title:  Bridge of Gold

Author:  Kimberley Woodhouse

Ch: 23 

Pg:  256

Series: Doors to the Past

Genre:  Christian Contemporary Romance, Christian historical romance dual time

Rating: 4 stars

Publisher: Barbour

 

I'm loving the Doors to the Past series. What's not to love about a series that combines my favorite genre historical and historical romance with contemporary  a genre that I am growing to love with a bit of mystery.  And Bridge of Gold by Kimberley Woodhouse is no different.  This one focuses on the Golden Gate bridge in 1930s when they were building the bridge and the present day with repair work and under water archaeology.  In the 1930s we have Luke who's working on building the bridge and Margo his fiancée  when Luke discovers gold and a mystery.  In the present we have Steven Michaels who  is works in bridge repair, an Kayla Richardson an underwater archaeologist who gets called in when Steven finds a sunken ship. Kayla in turn finds a skeleton which leads both Kayla and Steven to want to solve the mystery. 

 

I love history I always have but the history of The Golden Gate bridge wasn't something I was familiar with. I didn't even know it was built during the 30s.  So hey you learn something new every day. The bridge is a modern marvel and to think that it was built in the early days of underwater construction without all the benefits of modern dive equipment in those dive suits with the metal and glass helmets attached to air hoses leading the surface. 

 

I finished the book in two days mainly because I had to sleep and go to work because I  had to know what happened to Luke and Margo and how Kayla and Steven's story was going to play out.   I just got to say I loved the ending, both endings.   

 

And even though the Doors to the Past is a series each book in the series is a standalone and can be read as such. 

 

Hope Between the Pages by Pepper D Basham review

Title:  Hope Between the Pages

Author:  Pepper D
Basham

Ch: 26 

Pg:  256

Series: Doors to the Past

Genre:  Christian Contemporary romance, Christian Historical romance dual time

Rating: 5 stats

Publisher: Barbour

 

Hope Between the Pages by Pepper Basham is a dual time novel sent in both 1915 and the present Day Ashville North Carolina and the English Countryside.  Sadie's story and romance in 1915 that drew me in. But it was Clara Blackwell's story in the present day that kept me turning pages in order to find out what was going to happen next. This shocked me as I'm not huge fan of contemporary stories but for some reason I was more drawn to Clara than I was Sadie.  Maybe it was because Clara was easier to relate too. For many reasons. Both Sadie and Clara were bookworms, but like me Clara loves vintage fashion and seems to be older than her years. As well as her fear of losing her remaining parent after already losing one at a younger age. I know that fear all too well I live with it every day.  So you can say I see a kindred spirit in Clara.  I loved the English sitting more than Ashville.   

 

And while I liked both heroes,  it was Max who stole my heart. Not only have I always loved nerdy heroes in my books and movies I also can't help but falling for the scared hero as well. Blame it on my favorite childhood movie being Beauty and the Beast. But Max was indeed the perfect match for Clara.  

 

Though I didn't want the book to end and it was bittersweet to me the book ended perfectly. 

The Lady in Residence by Allison Pittman review

Title:  The Lady in Residence

Author:  Allison Pittman

Ch: 22 plus epilogue

Pg:  253

Series: Doors to the Past

Genre:  Dual time

Rating: 3.5 stars

Publisher: Barbour

      I’m not going to lie even after finishing Lady In Residence by Allison Pittman I don’t know how I feel about it.  It’s one of those that I am on the fence about, and that doesn’t happen often. I didn’t love it nor did I hate it. I did enjoy the dual time aspect of the novel. I am finding that I do indeed enjoy dual time I’ve always been a historical fiction reader and I’m now slowly getting into reading contemporary though it’s not my go to genre. Dual time gives me my favorite genre while edging me into contemporary.

 

     Dini Blackstone was my favorite character in the book. I loved her quirkiness as well as her love of true crime. And her determination to solve a century year old crime. I saw some of myself in her, I’m a true crime nut especially historical crime. Quin the modern hero was alright he just wasn’t a favorite.

 

     I didn’t care for the historical heroine Hedda but that’s due in part to the fact that don’t care for unreliable narrators. I’ve never liked reading from their points of view. Nor was I fond of the ghost story aspect.  But that doesn’t mean someone else won’t love it.

 

     However, I did enjoy how the author wove both stories and time periods together to get one interesting story.