Review: The Key On The Quilt, Stephanie Grace Whitson

Title: The Key On The Quilt
Author: Stephanie Grace Whitson
Publisher: Barbour Publishing
Publishing Date:  March 1, 2012
Summary: (From book)   From a distance, the  building may resemble a castle, but it's the last place Jane Prescott, Mamie Dawson and Ellen Sullivan thought they'd be, and the last place they expected to see love grow.
Broken in spirit and wondering if God has abandoned her, Jane is serving a ten-year sentence at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, even as she hides a startling secret. How will one caring physician help unravel the hidden meaning behind Jane's courthouse steps quilt?
Mamie told God she'd go anywhere, never dreaming He'd send  her to nurture women the world had forgotten as a prison matron. But while helping those around her, will she stubbornly keep the attentions of a kind guard at arm's length?
Ellen was never going to leave Kentucky, but then marriage made her a Nebraska warden's wife. Can she reach past uncertainty and fear to find God's purpose in it all?
Together, these three woman form an unlikely friendship that takes them to the ends of themselves and ultimately, on a journey that proves prison walls can neither frustrate God's plan nor keep love out.

My Thoughts:  
Wow, what a beautiful novel. It was thought provoking and touching and managed to convey a wonderful message without being overbearing or extremely sappy.  I find myself looking forward to the sequel and whatever else this author has written.
I became  very invested in Jane's story, and madly in love with that doctor of hers, Max Zimmer. (But then again, I fall for every doctor I ever read about, and to be far, he did have grey-green eyes)
The touch of mystery to her story kept me interested and the love the other 'friendless' women had for each other made me realize that I should not judge others. It makes me reconsider the way I view people and I need to be better at treating everyone as equals.
Her writing style was flowing and easy to get into and clearly well researched. I found myself right there in the scene with the characters going from one emotion to the next.
As a Christian novel, it was kept clean, aside from a few mentionings of 'feminine wiles' and couple romance, but nothing at all like what is considered acceptable for even teen and children fiction.
What I learned: 
This book has made me realize I need to include God more in my life. I am at a point growing up where I really need His influence and I admired the way Mamie went to Him for everything. I need to remember to say my 'thankfuls' and be watchful for the 'grace notes' God pours out on us when we need His help.
God is truly no respecter of persons and if He loves those women in the Nebraska State Penitentiary regardless of their pasts, then He must have a little room in His heart for me.

Review: The Evolution of Thomas Hall By Kieth Merrill

Title: The Evolution of Thomas Hall
Author: Kieth Merrill
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Publishing Date: May 9, 2011
Length: 454 Pages
Summary: (From book) Thomas Hall is an artist with astonishing talent-and a vainglorious sense of self. Since his days as a child prodigy he has reveled in recognition and believed in his inevitable destiny. Chosen. Entitled. He presumes his artistic brilliance deserves a lavish life of independence, fast cars and drop-dead gorgeous women. 
Thomas Hall wants it all and more.
Destiny has other plans. When "Cass," the woman from the Healing Place, walks into his life, nothing can ever be the same again. 
Thomas finds himself faced with a challenge he never could have imagined, suspended between the snarling beasts of his fanciful imagination that belie the existence of God and the undaunted faith of a little girl named Christina. What he discovers about the child's harrowing escape from death-and the impossibility of what happened at the bottom of the cliff-brings him face -to-face with the most frightening question of his life.
My Thoughts: This book was brilliant. It reaffirmed my testimony in the Savior and strengthened my resolve to use my talents for good. The author has such a way with words and I found myself swept up in his stunning descriptions as he portrayed the several different points of view. I loved every second of the book and enjoyed all the minor characters that influenced and helped create such a wonderful world. I cried in the middle of the book and then sobbed at the end. (It's been an emotion week. MASH reruns put me in tears) The Spirit was very much present in this story and this is a book I am going to cherish for a long time.
Things To Be Cautious Of: There were a few swear words. Never the Lord's name in vain, but the words, 'heck' 'dang' and 'jack__' were used infrequently.