Buttermilk Sky by Jan Watson (Review)

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (September 30, 2014)
• ISBN-13: 978-1414389851

Weary of the expectations imposed on her by her strict upbringing, eighteen-year-old Mazy Pelfrey prepares to leave her home in the Kentucky mountains for the genteel city of Lexington, where she’ll attend secretarial school. She knows her life is about to change—and only for the better. Everything will be blue skies from now on.

But business school is harder than she thought it would be and the big city not as friendly, until she meets a charming young man from a wealthy family, Loyal Chambers. When Loyal sets his sights on her, Mazy begins to see that everything she’d ever wished to have is right before her eyes. The only hindrance to her budding romance is a former beau, Chanis Clay, the young sheriff she thought she’d left firmly behind.

Danger rumbles like thunder on a high mountain ridge when Mazy’s cosseted past collides with her clouded future and forces her to come to terms with what she really wants.

My Review:

This was a good Christian historical fiction book. This is part of the Troublesome Creek series. For the most part it can stand alone. The only thing you might miss is some of the background between Mazy and Chanis. At first I was a little concerned that I would not like Mazy because in previous books she acts like a spoiled brat and got on my nerves. This book tells her story and I am happy to say Mazy starts to mature and I grew to like her. In this book Mazy has left her sister's house in the mountains to go to the city, Lexington. She is in secretarial school and it is harder than she expected. She lives in a boardinghouse with several other girls who are in the program. They do not always get along great. Then Mazy meets Loyal Chambers, a local man from a wealthy family. The other girls are jealous. Then Mazy's friend Chanis from home shows up. He has been preparing a house for them and thinks things are more serious than she does. I enjoyed all the details the author puts about the other characters. The book held my attention all the way through. The ending was satisfying. The characters and plot are well developed and interesting. Recommended.  






Former registered nurse and peri-natal loss counselor, Jan Watson won the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild First Novel Contest in 2004 with Troublesome Creek. Written with a dollop of romance and a smidgen of suspense, Jan's award winning historical novels, are uniquely set in the Appalachian Mountains.
Jan lives in Lexington, Kentucky and spends her days writing and entertaining her Jack Russell terrier, Maggie. Her favorite hobby is reading antique medical books.

Review copy provided by Netgalley and Tyndale Publishing.

Tattler's Branch by Jan Watson (Review)

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (August 30, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1414339151
• ISBN-13: 978-1414339153

Lilly Corbett Still has grown to love her life as the small-town doctor of Skip Rock, a tiny coal community in the Kentucky mountains. Though her husband, Tern, is away for a few months at a mining job, Lilly has her hands full with her patients and her younger sister visiting for the summer.

Lilly turns to her good friend and neighbor, Armina, to help keep things in order—until a mysterious chain of events leaves Armina bedridden and an abandoned baby on her doorstep. Lilly works to uncover the truth, unaware of what a mess she’s found herself in until a break-in at her clinic puts her on high alert. As she struggles between what is right and what is safe, Lilly must discover the strength of her resilient country neighbors, her God, and herself.


 My Review:

This was an okay Christian historical fiction book. It is the second book in the series. I was definitely missing some background throughout the book. I have not read the first book in the series but I think readers who have will enjoy this book more. The plot and characters were interesting although some of the characters fell a little flat. Lily's husband Tern is absent on a business trip the whole book. Armenia's husband is away at school. The found baby's father, the sheriff, and a local kid are all portrayed negative. Lily, Mazy, and Armenia are the best developed characters. Mazy is Lily's little sister who comes to stay with her for awhile. She is spoiled rotten and hard to like most of the book. The next book in the series will focus on her. I look forward to seeing her story developed more. I may go back and read the first book in the series, Skip Rock Shallows, first. This book I recommend to those who have read book one.

Former registered nurse and peri-natal loss counselor, Jan Watson won the Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writers Guild First Novel Contest in 2004 with Troublesome Creek. Written with a dollop of romance and a smidgen of suspense, Jan's award winning historical novels, are uniquely set in the Appalachian Mountains.
Jan lives in Lexington, Kentucky and spends her days writing and entertaining her Jack Russell terrier, Maggie. Her favorite hobby is reading antique medical books.