Signed, Sealed, Delivered, a Review

The show aires SUNDAYS, 8/7c on Hallmark

Website: Hallmark Channel.com - Signed Sealed Delivered

Facebook: Signed Sealed Delivered

Facebook for creator Martha Williamson:

 

I am delighted to share a new Hallmark Television show with you, Signed, Sealed, Delivered. I just watched an episode and I enjoyed it. It has the standard Hallmark reactions, smiles, giggles, struggle, triumph – all packed into one episode. I enjoyed the post office lost letter theme of this episode. I will assume by the title of the show, that we will meet many people through lost mail.

My family enjoys watching series on television. Generally, it is difficult to watch a pilot or even the first three shows and form a solid opinion. With this one show, I got to know the staff at the post office. Their working and personal relationships with each other were established. I liked all of the characters. The sets are simple yet beautiful. I am not sure what time period it is, other than a clue about when the person wrote the letter, but I’ll assume it is written for present day.

The interactions are a bit cheeky. Hallmarky. Many of the exchanges are expected, the story line runs as expected – with one mystery revealed in the middle of the program.

The characters are adults, talking about adult topics – not as in worldly, just probably not very interesting to young children.

We do not have cable, but I’ll be looking for this series to post episodes online. I am always looking for entertaining simple shows to watch. Their inclusion of scriptures in the music score and over all theme of morality is a breath of fresh air.

I hope you all get a chance to check it out on Hallmark Channel on Sundays at 8/7c.

From the Producers:
Signed, Sealed, Delivered

The new original series "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" is a wonderful combination of romance, comedy and drama that follows the lives of four postal detectives who transform themselves into a team of detectives to track down intended recipients of undeliverable mail. Their missions take them out of the office where redirected letters and packages can save lives, solve crimes, reunite old loves and change futures by arriving late but somehow always on time. The team includes charming Oliver O’Toole (Eric Mabius), the group's leader is a man of faith who prayerfully approaches his work with the goal of making a difference in people's lives; new team member, Shane McInerney (Kristin Booth), a technophile who brings 21st century sensibility to the group; free-spirited, “girl next door” Rita Haywith (Crystal Lowe) who has a photographic memory; and lovable Norman Dorman (Geoff Gustafson), a master in conventional research methods.

This incredible series even incorporates scripture in its themes and in the conversations between characters.  In FACT, The American Bible Society has built a bible study to go with the series, Sign up for that here: http://www.americanbible.org/features/signed-sealed-delivered

Disclaimer:  I received a viewing link from FlyBy Promotions Blogger Network for one episode to base my review on. No compensation was given for this review.

The Dancing Master, Julie Klassen ~ A Review

I should post a photo of the book after I was done with it. I’d put it up there on the shelf with the ‘most tattered’ review books I have. It’s been through a lot the last couple of weeks.

I started with an electronic copy on my Kindle, but the download didn’t go well and Bethany sent me a physical book. I brought the book on our 11 day Surf Camp this month. With the difficulties on the Kindle, I confess I wasn’t too excited about the story at first. Starting over with the physical product changed my mind.

Set in 1816 in Devonshire, England, this historical mystery reads like a Jane Austin story. So much rich detail with the town and countryside. An abundant supply of rich characters keeps your mind full as you travel page to page. There are three main families, and you get to know their homes and family members well. You also get to know the folks in town that they interact with in detail. I really like that about a story. I don’t like the setting were it feels like the two main characters are the only people alive at that moment.

This is a Romantic Mystery – you can pretty much assume who will end up together from the start of the story – however, you have no idea how or why until the last page. Don’t make any assumptions about any of the characters until the last chapter.

I spent many nights with my flashlight flipping pages in my tent snuggled in my sleeping bag being transported to their world. Their struggle  of living in an area where much if not all of the income came directly from one family. What if your profession or values clashed with that one person? Would you stand for your passion no matter what adversary came your way? Would you cave to work in a manual labor job if that wasn’t your heart? Although it was the 1800’s, many of the cultural expectations cross over to every generation.

I also enjoyed the quotes at the beginning of each chapter from real sources. They would give you a teasing peek into the pages ahead. Which meant less midnight sleep for me.

There is a reader’s guide included as well. 

I am less inclined to read romantic fiction any more, it is not my first choice. I was worried that this book would be that alone. With the characters, town, history, profession, horses, families – the relationship between the two romantic characters took a back seat. For that, I was glad. You spend most of the book hoping that young Alec and his family get a fair shake, that the mystery be revealed, and that you’ll find out who is behind it, rather than spending all the pages wishing the two people will just realize they like each other and the book will end.

This was the perfect book to keep me entertained while on the Surf Camp!

 

About

Finding himself the man of the family, London dancing master Alec Valcourt moves his mother and sister to remote Devonshire, hoping to start over. But he is stunned to learn the village matriarch has prohibited all dancing, for reasons buried deep in her past.

Alec finds an unlikely ally in the matriarch's daughter. Though he's initially wary of Julia Midwinter's reckless flirtation, he comes to realize her bold exterior disguises a vulnerable soul--and hidden sorrows of her own.

Julia is quickly attracted to the handsome dancing master--a man her mother would never approve of--but she cannot imagine why Mr. Valcourt would leave London, or why he evades questions about his past. With Alec's help, can Julia uncover old secrets and restore life to her somber village...and to her mother's tattered heart?

Filled with mystery and romance, The Dancing Master brings to life the intriguing profession of those who taught essential social graces for ladies and gentlemen hoping to make a "good match" in Regency England.

The Dancing Master

I received a free physical copy of The Dancing Master in exchange for linking a review with Bethany House Publishers, A Division of Baker Publishing Group. All opinions are my own. About is given by the publisher.

Firefly Island

This is a strange little book; strange in a good way. I enjoyed the journey of a congressional staffer changing her life from Washington DC to living by a lake in Texas.  I worked professionally for many years before having kids, and remember some of her journey as my own.  She gets married soon in the book, so there isn’t the book long love romantic story. But it does talk through how two people combine their lives and live out in love, bringing in the love of a child.

One thing that I liked – was the beginning of each chapter. A quote to start them out. We are memorizing a children’s poem by Ogden Nash, so it caught my attention when I saw “To keep your marriage brimming, With love in the loving cup, Whenever you’re wrong, admit it; Whenever you’re right, shut up.” Ogden Nash.

“This was my first highlight out of 11 for this book in my Kindle Fire. I love the way she writes, “It wasn’t’ in the tides that the breath of God could be found, I decided, but in the water itself, in the endless rhythm of it, ever present, ever constant, louder amidst the storms of life, softer in the peaceful times. Not a god only moving twice a day like the mythical Tangaroa, but a God moving countless times. Always. Continually A God present in the deepest parts of our lives, sometimes crowded out by all the surface clutter as we stroll along the shore, our minds preoccupied with things that seem important. Then a wave rises higher than the rest, strokes soft and cool over sun warmed skin, and we hear it again, the constant breath of God. We think, How could I not have heard that all along?”

As you can see from above, I just loved it when Mallory ‘thought’ in the book. My other connection with Mallory – was that she turned to blogging to log her adventures. Which, when we moved to Devils Lake – is what we did. Mallory shares, “An amazing thing had happened to me in my first weeks of blogging. Because I was writing about adventures, I started not only  seek them out, but to see them all around me. In seeing the adventure of this place, I’d begun to truly live my life, rather than hiding from it and complaining about it.”  I did find it a bit cheesy that she was the ‘Frontier Woman’ and one of my favorite bloggers is the Pioneer Woman. She’s not really in the Frontier, and it was just a little too close for me, but I quickly got over it.

Bottom line – I really enjoyed this story. The story has many paths. There is never a time reading it where you think you know where it is going and decide to read it out to make sure. I recommend this book for sure.

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2013
At thirty-four, congressional staffer Mallory Hale is about to embark on an adventure completely off the map. After a whirlwind romance, she is hopelessly in love with two men--fortunately, they're related. Daniel Everson and his little boy, Nick, are a package deal, and Mallory suddenly can't imagine her future without them.
Mallory couldn't be more shocked when Daniel asks her to marry him, move to Texas, and form a family with him and motherless Nick. The idea is both thrilling and terrifying.
Mallory takes a leap of faith and begins a sweet, mishap-filled journey into ranch living, Moses Lake society, and a marriage that at times reminds her of the mail-order-bride stories. But despite the wild adventure of her new life, she discovers secrets and questions beneath her rosy new life. Can she find answers on Firefly Island, a little chunk of property just off the lakeshore, where mysterious lights glisten at night?

 

Dislaimer: I received a Kindle Fire Download for free in exchange for an honest review on my blog.