Tag Archive: bette lee crosby



The Twelfth Child (Serendipity #1)The Twelfth Child by Bette Lee Crosby

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Twelfth Child (Serendipity #1)The Twelfth Child by Bette Lee Crosby

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Sometimes, you’re between books. Too close to sleeping to put on a headset and listen to the whispersynched Kindle book or the text-to-speech on the older Kindle while reading on the self-lit Kindle app on the tablet. The main issue is that it is difficult to sleep with the headset on, blaring into your ears. At the same time, having the reading lamp on will make you stay awake for sure. So, you pick out a book by an author you know will be easy enough to follow on Kindle app alone. Bette Lee Crosby holds out that kind of hope for me. I have read other books by her and followed with or without the audio help. She writes plainly yet elegantly. She writes compelling stories that draw you in.

And so it was I started this book a couple nights ago. And yes, it drew me in, without keeping me awake all night. I was able to read a couple chapters and drift off comfortably. Then the next day I pulled in the text-to-speech and read until I was finished. And, as usual, I was not disappointed in her writing.

Ms. Crosby can make you believe you are there, in the past as the story is set up with the mother of twins. The daughter (one-half of the twins) becomes the twelfth child of her misogynistic, chauvinistic father. His only hope of having the wished-for son, is the other twin. This man married and was left by or widowed by so many women (what reasonable woman would stay near that man?) and he had lost his sons to death and their mothers’ flights. But at last, he has a son. But this poor kid wants nothing to do with the rugged farm life. Instead, that annoying girl child could have done anything that boy did and then some.

Anyway… That girl had enough gumption to span a few storylines and her entire life, including the afterlife and the court drama included. Wow! What? No, the court isn’t in the afterlife. It is the contemporary here and now, not choosing where to go at the Pearly Gates. But her spirit sticks around to make sure it all turns out okay.

Quite a few times I was surprised that the story didn’t end. I would look at the percentages and find I had lots more to read. I’d wonder where we could go from there. But Bette Lee Crosby wasn’t about to let it go until the story was finished. I was so happy with how it ended. Nope. You won’t get any spoilers here!

I look forward to reading more by Ms. Crosby!

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Cracks in the Sidewalk Cracks in the Sidewalk by Bette Lee Crosby
My rating: 0 of 5 stars

Okay, maybe 3.5 stars. I know everyone is going to be upset with me about my rating since most of the ratings I see are four and five stars. I suppose if you were healthy enough to read in a paper or hardback book you would see the breaks. But those of us who must use text-to-speech those breaks are not so obvious. I spent most of the early chapters rereading to figure out whose viewpoint I was reading from. And it went from first person to third person at the drop of a hat. A simple *** between these might help a person know what’s coming. Even chapter numbers along with a name would help. Then at about 51% into the book it goes from an inspirational, bittersweet story to Christian fiction. I almost decided not to finish. Luckily the author regains the strength of story she had before and rarely uses the crutch of God to show how human lives affect each other. Not that I have given up on Christian fiction. If I know what it is ahead of time I can adjust. But in this case, the theme is of LOVE and life. It isn’t that God is foreign to this theme. God is Love, ya know. But with all the other problems I had staying with the story, this one jangled the nerves the most. Now for the good news. Even with the daughter dying of a brain tumor, whose husband had become the enemy of the family, the emotions of those two problems didn’t overtake me and leave me feeling depressed or angry. The author managed to keep the story about life and love and gave us hope. Not irrational hope of snake-oil, that the daughter would be magically healed. And please, don’t misunderstand me. I do believe that miracles happen. And I believe that people can change, but I didn’t believe the son-in-law would change. The story gave enough to the reader to know these two factors would remain the same and the story is how everyone dealt with the facts. In the end, I found the inspirational message of how our lives affect those around us and the help we give could just be the help we need.

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