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Tales of Taelis Short Stories #2
Befriended
Eleanor is happy to be living with her brother and sister-in-law. She loves helping with her mischievous nephew, John. When John gets away from her one day, it sets off a chain of events that will change her life.
A short short story of faith, friendship, and family. A prequel story for Brothers and Betrayal.
A short short story of faith, friendship, and family. A prequel story for Brothers and Betrayal.
31 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2016
About the author
Sarah Holman
46 books462 followersSarah Holman lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, Scott. When not working on her next novel, she can usually be found hanging out with her family, reading, or hiking at state parks with her husband. If there is anything adventuresome about her life, it’s because she serves a God with a destiny bigger than anything she could have imagined. You can find out more about her at her website, www.thedestinyofone.com.
To keep up to date on releases, join her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bitBIf
To keep up to date on releases, join her newsletter at http://eepurl.com/bitBIf
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
May 29, 2022
This was such a sweet story, and I enjoyed it very much. The romance was very clean, and let's just say those two boys were adorable! I can't wait to read more about them! This was well-written for a short story, and though it seemed things happened a bit quickly, there was quite a bit of time that passed that wasn't shown in the story. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a short story.
September 29, 2020
4 stars & 4/10 hearts. This book was short, but it had a good message. I enjoyed seeing Alditha, William, & Eleanor again, and their little ones. Kaden was sweet too. :)
A Favourite Quote: “‘Do not be afraid, dearest sister. God will never leave you. ... Do not let fear keep you from the gift of the life God offers to you.’”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “‘I always thought the woods were a lonely place.’
...“‘Why is that?’
“‘Because the only people that like it in the woods are woodcutters and thieves.... Walking in the woods always feels lonely and pointless… unless I wanted to meet a thief.’”
A Favourite Quote: “‘Do not be afraid, dearest sister. God will never leave you. ... Do not let fear keep you from the gift of the life God offers to you.’”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “‘I always thought the woods were a lonely place.’
...“‘Why is that?’
“‘Because the only people that like it in the woods are woodcutters and thieves.... Walking in the woods always feels lonely and pointless… unless I wanted to meet a thief.’”
February 9, 2019
Really enjoyed this short story about Eleanor and her life after Adventures and Adversities. Since it was a short story, things moved a bit fast (for the reader), but the lightbulb moment after the author's note at the end really made me appreciate the message even more. :) Aside from the sweet relationship that develops over the course of the story, I loved the parts with Alditha and Miriam's children. So cute! <3
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
June 1, 2017
The Tales of Taelis short stories offer a very fun glimpse into some backstory, or sidestories of various characters, and I enjoy that a lot!
This one was so sweet! Eleanor is a great character, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her story!
I don’t know what else to say besides the fact that I loved it! It really was sweet, and once again, the message was great. Definitely recommend it!
This one was so sweet! Eleanor is a great character, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading her story!
I don’t know what else to say besides the fact that I loved it! It really was sweet, and once again, the message was great. Definitely recommend it!
January 1, 2017
This was short but sweet. I wanted more to the story, but it was an easy and fun read.
June 7, 2017
This was a very quick, short read (I read it in fifteen or twenty minutes), but was a really cute story for all that. :) I quite enjoyed it! ^_^
It’s set soon after Adventures and Adversities, with the same characters and a couple of new ones.
This is Eleanor’s story, and it was really neat to have one for her. :) Kaden was a great character as well, and little John and Nathaniel were cute. :P
I particularly liked the parts in the forest, and with the stars. <3
I can’t really say much about it, lest I spoil the entire story, but overall it was sweet, had some moments that were fun and adorable, as well as spiritual moments, and overall made me happy.
It also made me more curious to continue reading this series! I’m looking forward to Brothers and Betrayal to see what John and Nathaniel do when they grow up. :D
Definitely worth a read. :)
Favorite quote:
“My home is the North Star and with you,” Eleanor said.
(Review originally posted here: https://thepagedreamer.wordpress.com/...)
It’s set soon after Adventures and Adversities, with the same characters and a couple of new ones.
This is Eleanor’s story, and it was really neat to have one for her. :) Kaden was a great character as well, and little John and Nathaniel were cute. :P
I particularly liked the parts in the forest, and with the stars. <3
I can’t really say much about it, lest I spoil the entire story, but overall it was sweet, had some moments that were fun and adorable, as well as spiritual moments, and overall made me happy.
It also made me more curious to continue reading this series! I’m looking forward to Brothers and Betrayal to see what John and Nathaniel do when they grow up. :D
Definitely worth a read. :)
Favorite quote:
“My home is the North Star and with you,” Eleanor said.
(Review originally posted here: https://thepagedreamer.wordpress.com/...)
May 30, 2017
Eleanor is a character we've met in the previous books of the Tales of Taelis series. But then she disappeared a bit, so now we can see the direction her life is headed in. This is a short story for "filler", you might say, between the bigger novels of the regular Taelis series.
This is the story of a girl who doesn't know exactly where her life is headed, and it worries and pains her sometimes as she wonders about it all. Thoughts like this come upon all of us at some point or another... What am I going to do about getting a job? When will I ever get married? Am I happy with the life I'm living in? So we all have those big questions, just like Eleanor.
I like to think of this story as a good allegory of life. God already has it all planned out for you. All you have to do is pray and wait to watch His wonders take place.
Especially if you've read 'Adventures and Adversities' and 'Brothers and Betrayal', you would definitely (of course!) be interested in 'Befriended'.
This is the story of a girl who doesn't know exactly where her life is headed, and it worries and pains her sometimes as she wonders about it all. Thoughts like this come upon all of us at some point or another... What am I going to do about getting a job? When will I ever get married? Am I happy with the life I'm living in? So we all have those big questions, just like Eleanor.
I like to think of this story as a good allegory of life. God already has it all planned out for you. All you have to do is pray and wait to watch His wonders take place.
Especially if you've read 'Adventures and Adversities' and 'Brothers and Betrayal', you would definitely (of course!) be interested in 'Befriended'.
August 6, 2018
Title: Befriended
Written By: Sarah Holman
Genre: Christian Romance with mild Fantasy elements (mostly the names of people and places)
Recommended Ages: Any, but teens and older would enjoy it more
Introduction:
I hadn't read any of Sarah's Tales of Taelis stories before, so this was my first taste of them. I enjoyed it and wouldn't mind reading more in the future. The only thing I didn't like about this audiobook was the narrator's voice for Eleanor was too high-pitched and whiny. She made Eleanor sound like a little girl rather than a young woman.
Characters: 1/1
Even though I hadn't read any of the Tales of Taelis books before, I was still able to find each of the characters interesting. Sarah did a good job introducing each character, especially those who must have shown up in a previous book.I especially liked Kaden (spelling may be wrong since I listened to it rather than reading it).
Dialogue: 1/1
The dialogue was well-written and fit the story well. As I mentioned in my introduction. The only part I didn't like was when Eleanor was read by the narrator.
Plot/storyline: 1/1
The plot definitely kept my interest through the whole story. I'm so glad I was able to listen to this book. It had a great message about waiting for God to send the right man for marriage. I can personally attest to that, too.
Overall writing quality: 1/1
The writing quality was very good. Obviously, since I didn't read the book, I can't say conclusively there were no typos, but from the sound of it, there weren't any. The plot structure was well done, too.
Un-put-down-ability: 1/1
This audiobook is about 30 minutes long, so it was easy to keep listening until the end, especially since I was listening at 1.15 speed until the end when I wanted to make sure Eleanor's whiny voice wasn't due to the faster speed. Even if it had been longer, though, I think it would have been very hard to put down. I wanted to know what happened!
Conclusion: 5/5
If you like a short romance story, this is a good one. It may be in a fantasy genre, but it doesn't have magic or anything like that in it. There is also a good amount of mention of God in it, so this world must have a Christian religion structure to it. If I had read the book rather than listening to it, I would have enjoyed it even more, but I will still give it a five star rating.
Written By: Sarah Holman
Genre: Christian Romance with mild Fantasy elements (mostly the names of people and places)
Recommended Ages: Any, but teens and older would enjoy it more
Introduction:
I hadn't read any of Sarah's Tales of Taelis stories before, so this was my first taste of them. I enjoyed it and wouldn't mind reading more in the future. The only thing I didn't like about this audiobook was the narrator's voice for Eleanor was too high-pitched and whiny. She made Eleanor sound like a little girl rather than a young woman.
Characters: 1/1
Even though I hadn't read any of the Tales of Taelis books before, I was still able to find each of the characters interesting. Sarah did a good job introducing each character, especially those who must have shown up in a previous book.I especially liked Kaden (spelling may be wrong since I listened to it rather than reading it).
Dialogue: 1/1
The dialogue was well-written and fit the story well. As I mentioned in my introduction. The only part I didn't like was when Eleanor was read by the narrator.
Plot/storyline: 1/1
The plot definitely kept my interest through the whole story. I'm so glad I was able to listen to this book. It had a great message about waiting for God to send the right man for marriage. I can personally attest to that, too.
Overall writing quality: 1/1
The writing quality was very good. Obviously, since I didn't read the book, I can't say conclusively there were no typos, but from the sound of it, there weren't any. The plot structure was well done, too.
Un-put-down-ability: 1/1
This audiobook is about 30 minutes long, so it was easy to keep listening until the end, especially since I was listening at 1.15 speed until the end when I wanted to make sure Eleanor's whiny voice wasn't due to the faster speed. Even if it had been longer, though, I think it would have been very hard to put down. I wanted to know what happened!
Conclusion: 5/5
If you like a short romance story, this is a good one. It may be in a fantasy genre, but it doesn't have magic or anything like that in it. There is also a good amount of mention of God in it, so this world must have a Christian religion structure to it. If I had read the book rather than listening to it, I would have enjoyed it even more, but I will still give it a five star rating.
August 24, 2018
My Favorite Character is Eleanor: Kind, Caring, Sweet, Trusting,
Thoughts: I really enjoyed this short story and highly recommend it. Eleanor was one of my favorite characters in Adventures and Adversities as well as Admirable and I really enjoyed reading her story. And I liked reading about Kaden as well. It was a great story about waiting for the time God wishes you to marry and I loved how Eleanor and Kaden fell in love and came to trust each other and grow in their relationship with each other.
My Verse for this story: Ecclesiastes 3:1
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: King James Version.
I received this book in exchange for my honest review. (And I am truly happy to provide it! :-) )
Thoughts: I really enjoyed this short story and highly recommend it. Eleanor was one of my favorite characters in Adventures and Adversities as well as Admirable and I really enjoyed reading her story. And I liked reading about Kaden as well. It was a great story about waiting for the time God wishes you to marry and I loved how Eleanor and Kaden fell in love and came to trust each other and grow in their relationship with each other.
My Verse for this story: Ecclesiastes 3:1
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: King James Version.
I received this book in exchange for my honest review. (And I am truly happy to provide it! :-) )
June 4, 2017
Befriended was another short Tales of Taelis story that helped to tie up loose ends/answer questions left by the larger novels in the series. It was an adorable, swift read giving us a look at Eleanor’s life after Adventures and Adversities. The best thing about this story were Eleanor’s little charges, Nathaniel and John—very accurate portrayal of little boys LOL. The only thing I regret about this story was that I wish it had been longer and more fleshed out. I was definitely glad to get what we do in this short story though! Overall a sweet, short read that helped me feel a more satisfied with the main novels in the series :D
December 3, 2019
Waiting for Marriage
Eleanor is now a young woman but still living with her brother and sister in law, William and Alditha. She wonders what God has for her when Kaden, a son of a traveling merchant comes to her village. They become good friends and eventually Kaden asks William for Eleanor's hand in marriage.
Eleanor is now a young woman but still living with her brother and sister in law, William and Alditha. She wonders what God has for her when Kaden, a son of a traveling merchant comes to her village. They become good friends and eventually Kaden asks William for Eleanor's hand in marriage.
May 23, 2018
Nice, sweet, short story.
August 24, 2018
This was a lovely little romance that warmed my heart without being sticky and yucky. It stood well on its own, though I may have to go listen to the novel soon.
August 7, 2025
Cute short story. This is a love story about Eleanor. Good read.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews