Snowflake Tiara by Angela Breidenbach and Valerie Comer

Snowflake Tiara by Angela Breidenbach and Valerie ComerSnowflake Tiara is a two novella anthology centered on Helena, Montana, and a beauty pageant with a social conscience. The two authors, Angela Breidenbach and Valerie Comer, do a wonderful job of tying together both the character stories and themes as they introduce women with a mind for social justice who are convinced to use the pageant to raise money and awareness for the cause of hungry children everywhere.

Angela Breidenbach’s story, The Debutante Queen, is set in 1889 and uses the transition point to statehood and legitimacy as a way to introduce the plight of orphans abandoned at the last spot on the railroad.

Albert, Calista’s hero, owns an inn and recognizes the need to bring in more than gold traffic especially as the mines start to go dry. The pageant is his brainchild, a way to make a splash, introduce Helena as more than some wild gold town, and bring in tourists. He convinces Calista to participate because so many of the young women look up to her, unaware of the real reason she agrees. She risks everything, her reputation and going against the law, to do what can only be the right path.

The Debutante Queen is a wonderful story about faith and devotion to others even when at the risk of severe consequences. Albert is a strong, determined young man with big ideas but not so big that he can’t recognize the right thing when shown it even if that means going against the law. Calista follows her heart and her calling with the support of those around her who are drawn to act by her confidence even when she faces seemingly impossible odds in her attempt to provide for the abandoned orphans starving in Helena.

There’s a lot to like in this story, especially the strong, committed characters who at the same time falter and question whether arrogance or righteousness drives them, but what made the story zing for me is the redemption element. I can’t say more without spoiling, but the phrase “never too late” comes to mind.

Valerie Comer’s More than a Tiara jumps us forward to 2014 and a very different heroine from her previous novels in that Marisa is a former haute couture model and her hero a professional photographer. The focus on farm-fresh food, though, is all I’ve come to expect from Valerie.

After a nasty breakup with Jase (the hero), she returned home to Helena to work on her mother’s farm. She has found peace in growing organic foods for the local CSA and a calling of sorts in training local single mothers to grow healthy foods for their children. It’s her sophisticated past that pulls her into the pageant, not for herself but as the face of community-supported agriculture and the aim to promote healthy food for all children and families. She’s also Calista’s descendant and Jase’s family the drive behind restoring the pageant as they try to make Albert’s resort a tourist destination once again.

More than a Tiara is a lovely story with beautiful parallels to the first novella, though not so much that it feels like a modernized version. Each novella provides a distinct narrative surrounding the issue of providing for the children.

The characters were strong and fun to learn about whether Marisa and Jase with their relationship struggles, or Bren and her children (one of the single mothers). It’s not an easy road for Marisa and Jase either because more than just history stands in their way, rooted in Jase’s doubt of her motives with the children in Kenya years before, but also in Jase’s relationship with another of the pageant participants before he’d rediscovered Marisa.

Another of the strengths for me was how the novella focused on motivations, and how they can be both admirable and less so at the same time, a struggle Marisa faced.

My only quibble was the religious aspect becoming a bit heavy handed toward the very end, and at the same time, I liked how that piece of the story resolved. This is a further sign of how Valerie Comer can bring characters to life and make you want them to succeed sometimes despite themselves. That strength comes in characters who are a blend of confidence and insecurity but who find their way through in the end.

A delightful combination of two visions of Helena, Montana, Snowflake Tiara offers good models to follow when not just recognizing those in need, but deciding to act. This mission is wrapped up in entrancing characters, enjoyable narratives, and sweet messages of love.

P.S. I won this book as part of an author giveaway and offer you an honest review as always.

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4 Responses to Snowflake Tiara by Angela Breidenbach and Valerie Comer

  1. Valerie Comer says:

    Thank you for the review! I’m glad you enjoyed Snowflake Tiara.

    • Margaret McGaffey Fisk says:

      Yr welcome :). It was a lovely pair of stories. I’m so impressed at how you two managed to tie them together in a way that wasn’t superficial.

  2. Thank you! Reading this awesome review made my day! So well written by you, the reviewer. So appreciative!

    • Margaret McGaffey Fisk says:

      That’s what happens when a lit major starts reviewing the books she enjoys :). Glad you liked it. Small return for your wonderful story.

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