Once Upon a Laugh

by Pepper D Basham

[phyllish]

Jane by the Book by Pepper Basham

A sweet,humorous, faith filled romance
with a touch of mystery

The mystery of the journal haunted Jane. She wanted so badly to know about her namesake from the late 1800s. Especially how the story ended. And once Titus found out about it, he couldn’t let the rest of the story go untold.

Okay. I admit it. Titus is adorable. His exuberance and disarmingly honest manner are just so charming. I love the way he gets caught up in his books and his characters that they are real to him and cracked up at the way that he would just stare at Jane, trying to memorize her features so he could use her as a model for Lydia. I also loved the way he would have a random thought and all of a sudden have to write it down to use later in his writing. He was a mixture of charming and clueless and socially awkward, yet not.

Oh, and did I mention his deep and reverent faith? And the way it was such a big part of his life, not just something that affected his schedule on Sundays. He was also romantic in the true Biblical kind of romance way. I loved the way he explained romance to Jane. Wow!

I had fun reading the mystery and trying to figure out who the mysterious Cecliy was. I had a theory which would have made for a great story but, alas, I was wrong. The answer was equally good, however, so only my pride was disappointed.

The novella was just perfect. The right mixture of humor, romance, tension, faith, mystery. Pepper Basham’s stories never fail to delight me.

This review was originally posted on Among the Reads

I would like to thank Pepper Basham for giving me a copy of this book. This gift did not influence my opinion or review.