The Alliance by Jolina Petersheim

My Thoughts:

The Alliance, written by Jolina Petersheim, is a thought provoking story of what could happen in an earth shattering, unseen future. The beginning of the book immediately grabs hold of readers when Moses Hughes' plane dramatically crashes into an Old Order Mennonite community after the instruments are destroyed, His accident was mysteriously caused by an electromagnetic pulse which wiped out technology- cars stop running, electricity fails, and telephones ceasing to work are only the beginning. Leora Ebersole, a young independent Mennonite, volunteers to care for Moses' wounds, although she's already responsible for her younger siblings and grandmother. When Moses reveals his concerns to the Mennonite community members it includes plans of guns and protection from the outside world. Chaos will be coming soon, he tells them, and they need to be prepared. What follows is something no one could have ever foreseen.

I enjoyed this unique glimpse into the future with Mennonite and "Englisch" people working together for survival. There is tension, drama and emotion and the feeling of peril is pervasive. The story does tend to drag a bit in portions of the book but overall a good read. The sequel, The Divide, will be released in spring 2017.

About the Book:

When Leora Ebersole sees the small plane crash in her Old Order Mennonite community, she has no idea it’s a foreshadowing of things to come. When the young pilot, Moses Hughes, regains consciousness, they realize his instruments were destroyed by the same power outage that killed the electricity at the community store, where Englischers are stranded with dead cell phones and cars that won’t start.

Moses offers a sobering theory, but no one can know how drastically life is about to change. With the only self-sustaining food supply in the region, the Pacifist community is forced to forge an alliance with the handful of stranded Englischers in an effort to protect not only the food but their very lives.

In the weeks that follow, Leora, Moses, and the community will be tested as never before, requiring them to make decisions they never thought possible. Whom will they help and whom will they turn away? When the community receives news of a new threat, everyone must decide how far they’re willing to go to protect their beliefs and way of life.

***Read a sample of The Alliance here!***

*I was given this book by Tyndale Publishers in exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was received.*

God Bless Us Everyone by Eva Marie Everson

My Thoughts:

God Bless Us Everyone is a contemporary story with parallels to the classic book, A Christmas Carol. Charlene Dixon was raised by her grandmother, "Sis", while keeping the whereabouts of her parents a secret. Life is good until she loses her position at an exclusive all-girls school. Charlene returns to her home town as the holidays approach and discovers that her old crush, Dusty Kennedy, is now the school drama teacher. Memories from the past assault her as she also runs into her father- whom she hasn't seen in many years. Has he changed? Can she forgive him? Charlene's grandmother and Dustin guide Charlene toward an introspective look into A Christmas Carol. Faith, grace and forgiveness play a large part in yesterday as well as today.

God Bless Us Everyone is an interesting contemporary twist on an old story. Unfortunately, I didn't connect with many of the characters, as they all seemed a bit shallow to me. I wanted to like Charlene and Sis but their relationship appeared awkward, at best. I'd categorize this book as more of a novella and that's perhaps why the characters lacked the depth that I typically prefer in a story. I wanted to hear more about Dusty's wife and son, Charlene's mom and dad, as well as Charlene's grandmother. I was left with more questions than answers after finishing this book.

God Bless Us Every One(Abingdon Press, September 2016)

Charlene Dixon—called Charlie by family and friends—is devastated at the recent loss of her job. 

For the last five years, the twenty-seven-year-old has blossomed as the activities director of an exclusive all-girls school. But when a misunderstanding with the headmistress leads to a pink slip right before the holidays, Charlie packs up her dreams and returns to her grandmother, Sis, who raised Charlie as her own in the mountains of North Carolina.

When Charlie arrives—broken and confused—Sis immediately puts her granddaughter to work behind the scenes of the local school’s Christmas play, A Christmas Carol. Charlie prickles at working with Dustin Kennedy, the drama teacher and her old crush from schooldays, but is even more put out at that the choice of the Dickens’ classic for the holiday performance. When she discovers her estranged father’s involvement her world turns on its head once more. But when Sis and Dustin encourage her to take a deeper look at the story behind A Christmas Carol, Charlie learns about trust, faith, and forgiveness and the needs of people in their own community.

{MORE ABOUT EVA MARIE EVERSON}

Eva Marie Everson is an award-winning speaker and author of “The Road to Testament,” “Things Left Unspoken,” “This Fine Life,” “Chasing Sunsets,” “Waiting for Sunrise,” “Slow Moon Rising,” and The Potluck Club series (with Linda Evans Shepherd). She is the president of Word Weavers International, Inc., a member of AWSA, ACFW, RWA, the director of Florida Christian Writer’s Conference, and the contest director for Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference. She and her husband make their home in Casselberry, Florida.

Find out more about Eva Marie at http://www.evamarieeversonauthor.com.

*I was given a copy of this book by Litfuse in exchange for my honest opinion. No other compensation was received.*