The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleefton

 

Three very different women are forever changed when a hurricane hits the Florida Keys in 1935.  Helen is a native of the islands and is happy to be pregnant with her first child.  Sadly, her husband is abusive, and she longs to break free to start a new life.  At the restaurant she works at, she meets Mirta.  Mirta is a newlywed who has married a rich man from New York to save her Cuban family.  She doesn’t know much about him and is not sure what types of illegal activities he has been a part of to obtain his fortune.  She is hoping the two of them can get to know each other on their honeymoon on the Keys.  Another visitor to Helen’s restaurant is Elizabeth Preston.  She has fled to the Keys to look for her missing brother.  He returned from World War I, not the same and she is sure he is in the camps of veterans that are working on the new highway to link the islands.  When the hurricane strikes, what will happen to these ladies?

 The Last Train to Key West was the FLICKS aka Rogue Book Club pick for November and we had our first virtual meeting. Our book club has had a hard time meeting this year due to COVID.  We had a couple of outdoor meetings, but this was our first virtual meeting.  I think this is how we will be meeting for the time being.  One of our members was quarantined and another sick with COVID for this meeting.  We all enjoyed this novel, although we all agreed that we didn’t like the ending.  It was happy, which is good for these times, buseemed very unrealistic.

 I enjoyed the story of each of the characters and the history that was in the novel.  I had never heard of this hurricane.  I also didn’t know the plight of the World War I veterans that were working on the highway connecting the islands.  I thought it was fascinating and had to look up more about it when I finished the novel.

 Favorite Quotes:

“I’ve imagined my husband’s death a thousand times.”

 “Where I’m from, there’s an advantage to people earing you, to thinking you capable of anything.”

 “The world has expectations of you, of how you are to shoulder your burdens with grace, of the role you play, and as soon as you don’t live up to hose expectations, it’s easier for others to cast you aside rather than change how they view the world.”

 “It’s strange how your life can change so quickly, how one moment you can barely eke by, desperation filling your days, and suddenly, out of the unimaginably horrific, a glimmer of something beautiful can appear like a bud pushing through the hard-formed earth.”

 Overall, The Last Train to Key West was an interesting historical fiction novel with a happy ending that will dismay some and delight others.

 Book Source:  Kewaunee Public Library. Thank-you!

The Residence by Andrew Pyper

 

What if the White House contains an evil spirit that the President cannot get rid of?

 On the way to Washington DC, newly elected President Franklin Pierce is involved in a terrible train accident.  While he and his wife Jane survive, their son Bennie does not.  They move into the White House and Pierce starts his Presidency, but both are shattered.  Jane is full of fear and sorry and invites the infamous Fox sisters to the White House to perform a séance.  During this séance she realizes that she may have invited more to the White House than she would like.  How will the Pierces battle this evil and move on?

 I love presidential history, but I do not remember ever learning this true story about the tragic death of young Bennie Pierce on the way to Washington D.C. I was fascinated.  I also liked the look into the Pierce’s marriage and how this tragedy affected it.  I know that seances and the look for spirits was very popular during this time period and I thought that was interesting. I’ll admit though that this book got too scary and strange to me.  I don’t want to say more to ruin the story – but it is really creepy!

 Overall, The Residence is an incredibly creepy look into the haunting of President Pierce and his wife Jane after the death of their son.  It’s the perfect book to scare you this time of year.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from Simon & Schuster.  Thank-you!

Love Finds You On Christmas Morning by Debby Mayne and Trish Perry

Love Finds You On Christmas Morning is a lovely Christmas book made up of two stories; one set in the 1920’s, and one in modern times.  In “Deck the Halls” by Debby Mayne, Lillian Pickard supports her mother and father by working full time at a dime store.  Her father is unable to work due to an accident.  Wealthy farmer William Tronnier fancies Lillian, but her family tells her that he is above her socially and wouldn’t be interested in her with marriage in mind.  In “‘Tis The Season”, Tronnier descendent, Nikki Tronnier is a chef that moves back to her home town with the goal to buy back her Great-Grandparents home.  She has just saved enough money, when engineer and man she has just started to date, Drew Cornell, buys the home not knowing her plans.  What will Nikki do?

I really enjoyed this Christmas novel.  I liked how the two stories were connected and that they were set in Cary, North Carolina.  I have never been there, but did work on a few engineering projects there back in the day. Sadly my request for a site visit did not go through.  I also love that Lillian works at a dime store.  I worked at one myself while in high school.  I thought it was interesting that a wealthy farmer would be considered a different social class than a dime store worker.  It made me think about my Great-Grandpa and Grandma Kile and their love story, which was on similar lines.  I had never thought about the social ramifications.  I did get slightly annoyed about how the parents were adamant that William would only want one thing and even after meeting him, kept insisting that Lillian not be with him.

Overall though, this is an excellent light Christian Christmas romance.  I loved that it was romantic and about building a relationship with the one you love.

Book Source:  A Christmas Gift from my best friend Jenn.