February 2021 Linkup

Welcome to the inaugural Spell the Month in Books linkup hosted here at Reviews From the Stacks! Spell the Month in Books started as a hashtag I stumbled across during the spring of 2019 on Instagram and decided to turn into a blog post. Last fall a few other bloggers started creating their own Spell the Month in Books posts and linking back to my post. It’s really taken off since then! Today, I’m creating a formal gathering place for Spell the Month in Books.

If this is your first time hearing about Spell the Month in Books, you probably have some questions. Basically, the point is to try to spell the name of the month by using the first letter of book titles (skipping articles like A, An, The – unless they are useful). This can be done with books you have on hand, creating a physical bookstack, or by building a virtual bookstack. So far, every blogger has decided for themselves whether they use books they have read or want to read or pick another theme for the bookstack. It’s been suggested that we have a specific theme or genre for each month announced ahead of time, so toward the end of this post I’m going to recommend themes for the next few months for anyone who wants to play along. This is not required to join the linkup, though! I just want y’all to have fun, talk about good or interesting books, and exercise our creativity just a bit.

So, are you ready to take the challenge? Can you Spell the Month in Books? The linkup will be open for the duration of February, so there is no rush if you need some time to ponder your options. Also, if you don’t have a blog or don’t want to write a post but do want to participate, you can also leave a comment or make a social media post with your books. Include the hashtag #SpelltheMonthinBooks if you post on social media so that others can find your lovely list, and regardless of how you participate, feel free to grab the button from the bottom of this page to include with it. This is a brand new button; if you’ve been using the one I made a few months ago, it is totally fine to keep using that one! Other than aesthetics, the only difference with the new one is that it links to all of my posts tagged #SpelltheMonthinBooks rather than one specific post.

I think that covers all of the introductory material and housekeeping! Here’s my list, and the linkup is located right below it. I looked for clean romance books for this list since tomorrow is Valentine’s Day. Books without a rating are ones that I have not read but that I think look and sound good.

F – Faithful in Love by Cecily K. Wolfe (Cliff Walk Cousins #1)

Faithful in Love (Cliff Walk Cousins Book 1)

Young Adult Historical Fiction – late 1800s; Clean/Light Romance

Blessed from the moment of her birth, Faith Davenport is adored by everyone and has led a life guided by her charitable, Christian parents. At ease with her family’s expectations and her own strength of belief, she finds creative joy in exploring her Uncle Will’s architecture business.

Nico d’Amici is thrilled with the opportunity to apprentice to Will Travers, well-known for his practical and unique architectural designs, but discovers a deeper emotion when a friendship with Travers’s kind, beautiful, and intelligent niece intensifies. Faith’s best friend, her cousin Thomas, intervenes, but his efforts to keep them apart are nothing compared to accusations of theft that threaten not only the friendship between the three of them but Nico’s very freedom.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Read my review here!

E – Elevated by Elana Johnson

Young Adult Novella in Verse

The last person seventeen-year-old Eleanor Livingston wants to see on the elevator—let alone get stuck with—is her ex-boyfriend Travis, the guy she’s been avoiding for five months.

Plagued with the belief that when she speaks the truth, bad things happen, Elly hasn’t told Trav anything. Not why she broke up with him and cut off all contact. Not what happened the day her father returned from his deployment to Afghanistan. And certainly not that she misses him and still thinks about him everyday. But with nowhere to hide and Travis so close it hurts, Elly’s worried she won’t be able to contain her secrets for long. She’s terrified of finally revealing the truth, because she can’t bear to watch a tragedy befall the boy she still loves.

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

B – Beyond Her Calling by Kellyn Roth (The Chronicles of Alice & Ivy #4)

Beyond Her Calling (The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy, #4)

Young Adult Historical Fiction, Clean Romance

At twenty, Ivy Knight feels as if she hasn’t accomplished anything of worth. Her life stretches on before her, empty and pointless. Though her faith in God and her mental abilities have been strengthened, she still doubts herself. Does God have a purpose for a socially awkward, often confused and frightened young woman?

Jordy McAllen has just returned to Scotland after his education in London. Though he has accomplished a lot for a farm lad such as himself, he fears that what everyone has always said about him may be true: he won’t really make a good doctor. Determined to prove himself, Jordy snatches up the opportunity to become the doctor in the village of Keefmore near his parents’ farm.

Helping Jordy with his work at Keefmore seems like the perfect opportunity for Ivy. Still, she doubts herself. Is there a purpose to Ivy’s life?

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Read my review here!

R – The Ringmaster’s Wife by Kristy Cambron

Christian Historical Fiction

Rosamund Easling is no stranger to opulence. As the daughter of an earl, she’s grown up with every comfort money can buy. But when hard times befall the family’s Yorkshire estate in the aftermath of the Great War, Rosamund’s father sells her beloved horse, setting the stage for a series of events that would extend beyond even her wildest dreams.

Though expected to marry for a title instead of love, Rosamund feels called to a different life – one of adventure outside the confines of a ladies’ parlor. She abandons all she’s known and follows in pursuit as her horse is shipped to the new owner – an American entertainer by the name of John Ringling. Once introduced to the Ringling Brothers’ circus and knowing she has much to learn, Rosamund agrees to a bareback riding apprenticeship in the shadow of the Ringlings’ winter home—Ca’D’Zan. It is at that mansion, in what would become the last days of the enigmatic Mable Ringling’s life, that Rosamund finds a deeper sense of purpose in the life she’s been given, and the awakening of faith in her heart.

U – Uncharted: Story for a Shipwright by J.B. Chicoine

Historical Fiction, Mystery/Adventure/Romance?

When a peculiar young woman shows up at the Wesley House Bed and Breakfast with a battered suitcase and stories to tell, shipwright Sam Wesley isn’t sure if she’s incredibly imaginative or just plain delusional. He soon realizes that Marlena is like no other woman he has ever met. Her strange behavior and far-fetched tales of shipwrecks and survival are a fresh breeze in Sam’s stagnant life. Sam isn’t the only one enchanted by Marlena. With his best friend putting the moves on her and a man from her past coming back into her life, the competition for Marlena’s heart is fierce. In the midst of it all, a misunderstanding sends Marlena running, and by the time Sam learns what his heart really wants, it may be too late to win her back.

A – Against the Tide by Elizabeth Camden

Christian Historical Romance

As a child, Lydia Pallas became all too familiar with uncertainty when it came to the future. Now, she’s finally carved out a perfect life for herself–a life of stability and order with no changes, surprises, or chaos of any kind. She adores her apartment overlooking the bustling Boston Harbor, and her skill with languages has landed her a secure position as a translator for the U.S. Navy.

However, it is her talent for translation that brings her into contact with Alexander Banebridge, or “Bane,” a man who equally attracts and aggravates her. When Bane hires Lydia to translate a seemingly innocuous collection of European documents, she hesitantly agrees, only to discover she is in over her head.

Just as Bane’s charm begins to win her over, Lydia learns he is driven by a secret campaign against some of the most dangerous criminals on the East Coast, compelled by his faith and his past. Bane forbids any involvement on Lydia’s part, but when the criminals gain the upper hand, it is Lydia on whom he must depend.

R – The Rose Ring by Lucie Ulrich

With a will that reads like a piece of fiction, the return of his long-lost brother, and the possibility of losing the family ranch, Micah Cooper calls on high school friend, Sky Baxter, to bail him out of a bad situation.

Though her brain tells her no, Sky’s heart says yes. She accepts Micah’s in-name-only proposal, knowing it’s unlikely anything permanent will come of it. She’s been in love with him since the ninth grade, and if he hasn’t figured it out by now, there’s little chance he ever will.

When an unexpected kiss ignites a spark, giving Micah hope for a possible future with Sky, a tragic accident threatens to take it all away. Torn between following his heart, doing the right thing, and forgiving the past, Micah is lost in a whirlwind of pain and emotions. Will he make it through the next two years, or will a long-kept family secret be the undoing of the Cooper family? (or… be the undoing of all of them?)

Y – Yellowstone Heart Song by Peggy L. Henderson (Yellowstone Romance #1)

Yellowstone Heart Song (Yellowstone Romance, #1)

Time Travel Fiction, Romance

Nurse and avid backpacker Aimee Donovan is offered the opportunity of a lifetime. She encounters a patient who tells her he can send her two hundred years into the past to spend three months in the rugged Yellowstone wilderness at the dawn of the mountain man era. The only requirement: she cannot tell anyone that she’s from the future.

How did a white woman suddenly appear in the remote Rocky Mountain wilderness? Trapper Daniel Osborne’s first instinct is to protect this mysterious and unconventional woman from the harsh realities of his mountains. While he fights his growing attraction to her, he is left frustrated by her lies and secrecy.

Daniel shows Aimee a side of Yellowstone she’s never experienced. She is torn between her feelings for him, and exposing a secret that will destroy everything he holds as truth. As her three months come to an end, she is faced with a dilemma: return to her own time, or stay with the man who opened her eyes to a whole new world. When the decision is made for her, both their lives will be changed forever.

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I look forward to reading everyone’s lists! For themes, let’s go with Memoirs in March, Comedy/Books that Made Me Lol (or that look like they would) in April, and My Favorite Genre in May. If you have a suggestion for a genre or theme to be used in the future, let me know! And again, you do not have to use this theme; if you want to participate with a completely different theme or no theme at all, you are completely welcome to!

Have a good weekend! Don’t forget to check out the blogs linked above, and add your own post or comment.

Until the next chapter,

Jana