I had to keep putting For Love of Eli by Loree Lough down. I just couldn’t keep reading it. I didn’t want it to end and the story to be finished!

Taylor, Eli’s aunt, and Reece, his uncle, vie for Eli’s love and affection. Reece blames Taylor’s brother for Eli’s mother’s death and so he distances himself from her.

Eli, wonderful four-year-old Eli, is a charmer to the nth degree. His insights and comments made me laugh — and cry — and laugh more.

Their story, as it is pieced together like the quilt Taylor is making for Eli, will keep you enthralled to the end.

I felt Loree cut the ending too short – I would have welcomed more detail after the denouement, but I still gave For Love of Eli 5 stars.

Emma’s Orphans, also by Loree Lough, also involves a single woman with a child to care for. Lough has a knack for creating believable characters that cause you to fall in love with them.

Emma somehow takes in stray children – hoping to find good Christian homes for them – while dreaming of the day a strong, Christian husband will share her burdens.

Enter Nate O’Neil, a carpenter with a secret, and Hank Campbell, who knew O’Neil from their time together in the Civil war, and who also has a secret. Who will win Emma’s heart? Will Emma be able to keep the children? Who will conquer the past to come to faith and happiness.

You will want to read and savor this heart-warming tale of love and faith and hope!

I was given copies of these books by the author for review purposes.