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FIRST LINE FRIDAY

FIRST LINE FRIDAY

Happy Friday & welcome to First Line Friday hosted at Reading is My Super Power! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line. Today I’m delighted to feature the first line of Freedom’s Song by Kim Vogel Sawyer.

FIRST LINE:

Thunderous applause. Cries of, “Encore, encore.”

ABOUT THE BOOK

Her voice made her a riverboat’s darling—and its prisoner. Now she’s singing her way to freedom in this powerful novel from the bestselling author of The Librarian of Boone’s Hollow.

“[An] enjoyable faith-filled adventure . . . Sawyer’s episodic narrative and rich assortment of characters fighting for freedom provide the story with many twists and unexpected side-plots.”—Publishers Weekly

Indentured servant Fanny Beck has been forced to sing for riverboat passengers since she was a girl. All she wants is to live a quiet, humble life with her family as soon as her seven-year contract is over. So when she discovers that the captain has no intention of releasing her, she seizes a sudden opportunity to escape—an impulse that leads Fanny to a group of enslaved people who are on their own dangerous quest for liberty. . . .

Widower Walter Kuhn is overwhelmed by his responsibilities to his farm and young daughter, and now his mail-order bride hasn’t arrived. Could a beautiful stranger seeking work be the answer to his prayers? . . .

After the star performer of the River Peacock is presumed drowned, Sloan Kirkpatrick, the riverboat’s captain, sets off to find her replacement. However, his journey will bring him face to face with his own past—and a deeper understanding of what it truly means to be free. . . . 

Uplifting, inspiring, and grounded in biblical truth, Freedom’s Song is a story for every reader who has longed for physical, emotional, or spiritual delivery.

I love this author’s books and I’m not sure why I haven’t read this book yet. It is part of my backlist books I’ll be reading next year.

Have a great day all. Thanks for stopping in.

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All the World’s A Stage in this intriguing historical mystery taking place on a riverboat-In the Shadow of the River by Ann H. Gabhart

345 pages Revell publisher May 09, 2023 publish date

About The Book

If all the world’s a stage, Jacci will play her part.

She only hopes her story does not turn out to be a tragedy.


In 1881, Jacci Reed is only five years old when a man attempts to kidnap her from the steamboat her mother, Irena, works on. Badly wounded during the confrontation, Irena takes Jacci aboard the Kingston Floating Palace, a showboat tied up beside them. There, Jacci’s actor grandfather tends to her mother and Jacci gets a first taste of the life she will come to lead.

Fifteen years later, Jacci is an actress aboard the Kingston Floating Palace, and largely contented with her adopted family of actors, singers, and dancers. Especially Gabe, who has always supported her, and the gruff grandfather she has come to know and love. Jacci’s mother has been gone for years, but the memory of the altercation that ultimately took her life–and the cryptic things Jacci has overheard about her past–is always there, lurking in the back of her mind.

When someone on the showboat tries to kill Jacci, it’s clear her questions demand answers. But secrets have a way of staying in the shadows, and the answers she craves will not come easily. Gabe only hopes they come in time for him and Jacci to have a future together.

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My Thoughts

I enjoy books taking place on the river and this one takes place on a showboat described as a floating palace. The book has such wonderful descriptions and sounds so opulent inside.


The thing I enjoy about this author’s books is she writes different historical topics than many authors do which makes for quite an interesting read.
Spending her life since she was five years old on showboats this is all that Jacci Reed knows. When she was very young her mother kept her from the shows but now that she’s older she is an actress on the stage of the showboat. Sadly, her mother passes away when she was very young, and she continues to live on the showboat on the Ohio River with her grandfather and his theater troupe.


I enjoyed the historical aspect of the story and equally I enjoyed the mystery of who was putting Jacci’s life in danger and why. The book kept me entertained and I read it in less than 24 hours I found it very hard to put down.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book from Baker Books through Interviews & Reviews.
All opinions expressed are my own.

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About The Author

Ann H. Gabhart caught the writing bug at the age of ten and has been writing ever since. An award winning author, she’s published many books for both adults and young adults. Her books cover several genres from historical to small town family stories to cozy mysteries (mysteries published with author name A.H. Gabhart). Her ideas are sparked by events in Kentucky history and by experiences in her own family. Her first Shaker novel, The Outsider, was a finalist for the ECPA Christian Fiction Book of the Year. Love Comes Home won the Selah Book of the Year award, and These Healing Hills was the Faith, Hope & Love Readers’ Choice Women’s Fiction Book of the Year.

Ann lives on a Kentucky farm not far from where she was born. She and her husband have three children and nine grandchildren. Ann enjoys hiking on her farm with her grandkids and her dogs, Frankie and Marley. See more about her books at http://www.annhgabhart.com or join the conversation on her Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/anngabhart.

Have a beautiful day. Thanks for stopping in.