I really wanted to like Saints in Limbo by River Jordan, but to be honest, I just couldn’t get into it.  The prologue (which I’m generally not a fan of in books, anyway–just get right to the point!), didn’t draw me in, and the characters did not gain my sympathy from the beginning (or at all, for that matter).  That best I can do is share a short summary of the book–perhaps it will be more appealing to other audiences than it was to me.

Ever since her husband Joe died, Velma True’s world has been limited to what she can see while clinging to one of the multicolored threads tied to the porch railing of her home outside Echo, Florida.

When a mysterious stranger appears at her door on her birthday and presents Velma with a special gift, she is rattled by the object’s ability to take her into her memories–a place where Joe still lives, her son Rudy is still young, unaffected by the world’s hardness, and the beginning is closer than the end. As secrets old and new come to light, Velma wonders if it’s possible to be unmoored from the past’s deep roots and find a reason to hope again.

Stealing Home by Allison Pittman is a pretty unique book in terms of setting and plot.

It’s 1905 and the Chicago Cubs are banking on superstar Donald “Duke” Dennison’s golden arm to help them win the pennant.

I don’t think I’ve seen too many books about a baseball player that take place around the turn of the 20th century. Maybe I’m just overlooking a genre of book, but I really enjoyed this, both because of the characters, and because of the unique subject matter.  I especially enjoyed the small town of Picksville–it really seemed like the kind of place you’d want to visit and take in a ball game.

Only one thing stands between Duke and an unprecedented ten thousand dollar contract: alcohol.

That’s when sportswriter David Voyant whisks Duke to the one-horse town of Picksville, Missouri, so he can sober up in anonymity. He bides his time flirting with Ellie Jane Voyant, his unofficial chaperone, who would rather hide herself in the railway station ticket booth than face the echoes of childhood taunts.

Ned Clovis, the feed store clerk, has secretly loved Ellie Jane since childhood, but he loves baseball and the Duke almost as much–until he notices Ellie Jane may be succumbing to the star’s charm.

Then there’s Morris, a twelve-year-old Negro boy, whose only dream is to break away from Picksville. When Duke discovers his innate talent for throwing a baseball, Morris might just have found his way out.

Four individuals, each living in haunted isolation, each harboring a secret passion. Providence brings them together. Tragedy threatens to tear them apart. Will love be enough to bring them home?

It wasn’t necessarily the happiest book I ever read, but it is enjoyable and thought-provoking!