MY FAVORITE THINGS

2012-02-02T11:21:00.002-05:00

ISBN:9780307717696

Hardback book

358 pages

Crown Publishers

About the book taken from Kristen's page;

Anna is a fiery tomboy living in ancient Palestine whose androgynous appearance provokes ridicule from the people around her and doubt within her own heart. When tragedy strikes her family, and Anna’s father disguising her as a boy sells her to a band of shepherds, she is captured by a mystical and secret society of women hiding in the desert. At first Anna is tempted to escape, but she soon finds that the sisterhood’s teachings and healing abilities, wrapped in an ancient philosophy they call “The Way,” have unleashed an unexpected power within her.

When danger befalls the caves in which the sisters have made their home, Anna embarks on a hazardous mission to preserve the wisdom of her mentors by proclaiming it among ordinary people. Her daring quest and newfound destiny reveal, at last, the full truth of her identity a shocking revelation that will spark as much controversy as it does celebration.

Anna’s story is one of transformation, betrayal, love, loss, deception, and above all, redemption. Readers will cheer for this unforgettable protagonist and for debut novelist Kristen Wolf, whose beautifully written book both provokes and inspires. A compelling mix of history, myth, and fantasy, The Way is a fascinating exploration of the foundations and possibilities of human spirituality.

My Thought on the Book:

I received the beautiful hardback copy of this book from FSB Associates and it is an Oprah's fall choice, I have never chosen a book from this collection but thought I would give this one a try.

The story takes place in 7 A.D. and in ancient Palestine, Anna was a girl that is a tomboy and her mother is always having to tell her to cover her face and dress the way the women and girls did in that peorid. Her mother was expecting a baby so Anna had to do a lot of the work as she carried her grandfather's breakfast to him, a bunch of boys started to tease her.

The family lost everything and the time had come for the father to dress Anna as a boy and sell her so that she could have a place to live. She finds a band of sisters that had healing powers and joins them to make her home but even that was dangerous.

"The Way" is a novel that is written in such a way that sometimes it is the truth and then again it is back in the past and even fantasy in some places. A very interesting novel and I think for the first book written by Kristen Wolf I think it is well though out and written. I think anyone would enjoy this book.

2012-02-01T09:58:00.001-05:00

Heart of Gold

Robin Lee Hatcher

ISBN: 9781595544889
Paperback, 293 pages
Thomas Nelson Publisher

Shannon Adair loved to nurse the wonded soldier back to health, when she had lived in Virginia, but her father had been called to move to Idaho to pastor a church there and Shannon was not happy about it. There she finally found her place when an ill woman came to her for help and then she knew she was needed in Idaho also.

Matthew Dubois was the fasted and most reliable driver of the stage that was owned by Wells Fargo but when he heard his sister was dying and had no one to take care of her young son, Matthew headed there. He got a job in the office in Grand Cour, but he so wanted to not be tied down with a child, he loved to drive the stage. He soon realized what he needed was a wife to care for the little boy then he could go back driving the stage,

Was there a chance the two lonely people would meet and maybe fall in love? God does work wonders and He know before we do what is in store for us.

I want to thank BookSneeze for sending me the copy of this book for my honest review. I give this book a 5 as it really is a good story, just the type I can get into.

2012-01-31T12:23:00.002-05:00

Shakespeare's Lady

Alexa Schnee

ISBN: 9780824945282

Paperback, 360 pages

Releases April 1, 2012

Summerside Press

I received the uncorrrected proof of this book from Summerside Press, I decided to try to review it. I have never been a Shakespeare fan of any of his work.

Emilia is one of the most beautiful ladies at court when she met William Shakespeare and they fall in love. They had their ups and downs as all married people do. They do stay together and have to fight for their lives before they found their way from the London streets to the throne room of Greenwich Court to the stage of The Globe Theater where William begin his career as a poet alone with his lady Emilia who had expired him to do his best work.

As we all know William Shakespeare became a poet in the history books and he is stutied in all school, but as always there was a woman behind this famous man urging him on, and that lady was Emilia Bassano.

About the Author:

This link will carry you to a review done by "Today's Teen Writter's blog" http://todaysteenwriter.com/author-interview-alexa-schnee/

Alexa Schnee, you can read about this young writter http://alexinksit.com/2010/10/14/is-shakespeare-really-shakespeare/

2012-01-29T14:49:00.000-05:00

We are giving away three skeins of Twee Stripes Yarn in Mixed Berries. The deadline to enter is February 1, 2012 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time. We’ll send an email to the winner, so please check to make sure your email address is entered correctly. You’ll get an extra entry for EACH of the following (that's THREE free extra entries):

2012-01-23T00:00:00.046-05:00

Kregel Publications Blog Tour

Unhallowed Ground

Mel Starr

ISBN: 9780857210586

Paperback, 240 pages
Monarch Books

Overview

Thomas atte Bridge, a man no one likes, is found hanging from a tree near Cowleys Corner. All assume he has taken his own life, but Master Hugh and Kate find evidence that this may not be so.

Meet the Author

Mel Starr was born and grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After graduating with a MA in history from Western Michigan University in 1970, he taught history in Michigan public schools for thirty-nine years, thirty-five of those in Portage, MI, where he retired in 2003 as chairman of the social studies department of Portage Northern High School. Mel and his wife, Susan, have two daughters and seven grandchildren.

READ THE FIRST CHAPTER HERE

MY THOUGHTS:

As this is the fourth chronicle of Hugh de Singleton surgeon, I am starting at the end of the story but that is ok as I begin to read it all fell into place.

When Thomas atte Bridge that no one like was found hanging from a tree everyone thought he had taken his own life, but Master Hugh thought other wise. He though that the man had been murdered and he was going to find out who did it. As he was beginning his investigation he didn't want to get any one else involved as they all had been harmed one way or other by Thomas.

The vicar would not allow Thomas to be buried in the church graveyard as they all believed he had taken his own life so he was buried at the edge of Gilber's pasture. Before they had cut Thomas down from the tree Master Hugh had noticed some twigs stuck to his shoes and after he was on the ground he noticed his lip was swollen and a tooth loose. He also pulled his sleeves up and saw what looked like a rope mark on his wrist and a man that took his own life would not have tied his own wrist.

So not the chase begins for Master Hugh as he travels around trying to find who the murderer was as he believed now that he had been murdered.

I want to thank Kregel Publications as they included me in this blog tour. The book was sent to me free and I chose the way I reviewed it.

2012-01-18T11:46:00.001-05:00

THE MERCHANT'S DAUGHTER

Melanie Dickerson

ISBN: 9780310727613

Paperbaack, 284 pages

Zondervan Publisher

Melanie Dickerson is the author of The Healer’s Apprentice, a Christy Award finalist and winner of the National Reader’s Choice Award for Best First Book. Melanie earned a bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of Alabama and has been a teacher and a missionary. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Huntsville, Alabama.

My Thoughts:

This book was inspired by the story "The Beauty and the Beast" and as Annabel Chapman was forced into the role of a servant for the beastly Lord Ranulf le Wyse when her family who was once welthy merchants was forced to go into debt.

She is burdened with all the household duties and also had to help harvest the barley stalks and also cook for all the others. She was having a very hard life and she was forced into doing jobs she had never done before. Her family also wanted her to marry the Lord so that they could save their home and to keep her brother from having to do hard work. Seems to me they really used the women in the families to take care of the lazy men and boys.

Lord Ranulf le Wyse was known to terrifying and beastly and the Lord's bailiff, a bad man in his own had made advances on her. She just wanted out of this house, but with no hope of leaving and she wishes there was someway she could kill the Lord Wyse but could she do this as she knew he needed to accept God and she needed to get closer to God and try to do what he wanted from her.

Thanks so much to Zondervan publishing for sending me this book to review and I did so in my own words.

2012-01-18T10:57:00.000-05:00

ISBN: 9781595545053

Paperback, 312 pages

Thomas Nelson Publisher

I received this book free of charge from Booksneeze in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first time reading a book by Nicole Seitz and I enjoyed it mainly because it is filled with Southern charm and I am a southern lady myself.

Ally Green is a flight attentant and had to return to the low country of Charleston, SC to bury her father. She was also trying to bury her past by going home to Mollasses Creek and her friend Vesey Washington is still living on the other side of the creek and theirs is a relationship that need some work.

As she is trying to forget her past she begins to think of a young woman on the other side of the world that escapes her world of slavery in the rock quarries on Nepal. There is also another person Sunila Kunari that is wanting to find out about her past also and she finds some of it in a scetchbook that she comes across. These three people are all drawn to the banks of Molasses Creek and finds God so that they may begin to heal.

2012-01-16T10:07:00.000-05:00

LOVE FINDS A WAY

Wanda E. Brunstetter

ISBN: 9781616266707

Paperback, 282 pages

Barbour Publisher

This book consists of three short stories which makes an easy read. This is the first one of Wanda's books that is not about Amish and is a sweet book about modern day romances and troubles.

Blueberry surprise is about a young woman Lorna Patterson who had worked at least two jobs to send her husband through medical school but he dies she keeps working just to keep herself busy, even though she does not need to work that much anymore. She had always wanted to be a music teacher and had let her own education fall by the way side for her late husband. Now she is thinking about going back and starting life over and not in her in-laws home, where she had lived since she had been a widow.

Grandma's Doll is the second and like some of the other reviewers I too liked this one best. I am a Grandmother and I have always loved dolls. After Shelia Nickels' grandmother passed away she was going to pick that she wanted for herself from the attic and she choose an antique doll that she had loved to hold when she was growing up. The doll went missing and as she searched for it she met a young man from her past, now she though maybe she should not have come back to Casper.

Matchmaker 911 is the third story and it finds Wendy Campbell cuttin hair for a living and was so tired of hearding one joke after another. Wendy is not wanting a relationship but her father wants one for her. When she cut the hair of Kyle Rogers a young Chritian man she found out this is who her father wants her to date. He is a pramedic and she does not know if this is who she needs to date. Is she ready to settle down.

This book is an ok book but now what I expected from Wanda Brunstetter, I have all of her Amish books and this one is written well and the storied are good, but well when you hear Wanda E. Brunstetter you think of Amish. She and Beverly Lewis were the first authors that I read about the Amish people and that is like watching some of the actors on TV, Andy Griffith for one, you always see him as the sheriff of Mayberry no matter what else he played in and this is the way I see Wanda. I know there are so many Amish books out there now and new authors coming every day, but these two authors I will always see as writting Amish books,

Thanks so much to Wanda Brunstetter and Barbour Publishing for sending me a copy of this book and I choose to review it.

2012-01-10T12:59:00.001-05:00

MISSING YOUR SMILE

Jerry S. Eicher

ISBN: 9780736939430

Paerback, 286 pages

Harvest House Publishers

Releases Feb. 2011

Find Jerry on Face Book

I love a good story--authors like Frank Peretti, C.S. Lewis, George MacDonald, Joel Rosenberg, Nicholas Sparks. In grade school I stumbled across Anne of Green Gables and got caught up in its misty charm. I thought for years I must have dreamed the story, because I couldn’t find the book again.

I wrote my first fiction in the eighth grade, because I was bored with a research assignment on Hog Farming. (See story here.) It was not the usual format for such an assignment, but the teacher marked it with an A, writing Very Good across the front page.

I still have the tablet. The words written in red. A big exclamation mark following the Good.
The teacher’s name was Glen Hochstetler. God bless his heart. I know now he could have rebuked me for breaking the rules, dashed my joy into the hard ground. But he didn’t. He praised me, not just in class but in front of the whole one-room schoolhouse.
This mark--of doing what I’m not supposed to do--still follows me. I have written love stories. All while the Christian community is firmly convinced that men cannot understand women.
Sorry. I didn’t mean to break the rules. But I still like it when people mark my paper Very Good. Taken from http://www.eicherjerry.com/

MY THOUGHTS:
This is the first book in Jerry S. Eicher's new series "Fields Of Home" . I find this book very interesting about the AMish life and Jerry can tell it as no other because he grew up Amish. Susan Hostetler left her home after she broke up with her boyfriend Thomas Stoll. She wanted to get a taste of the Englisha life so she moved to Asbury Park, New Jersey. She begins to live the full English life and ever bought a car and learned to drive. Her parents were so sad and upset about her moving away and leaving the Amish life she grew up in.

Susan met a young unmarried woman that was expecting a baby and wanted her baby to be adopted by an Amish family. When she returns home to help find a family for the baby, she also felt led to move back home and to her Amish way of life. There was also the young man Thoman still waiting for her, so she was very comfused if about wheather she wanted to return back to the Englisha way of life or just stay where she really belonged.

Very interesting book as all of Jerry's are. Thanks so much to Harvest House Publisher and Jerry S. Eicher for sending me this me to read and I chose to post this review.

2012-01-10T00:00:00.002-05:00

BLOG TOUR from Tribute Books

Lifting the Wheel of Karma

written by

Paul H. Magid

ISBN: 9780984016068

Papaerback, 186 pages

Point Dume Press

Paul H. Magid

Synopsis

Joseph Connell is a gifted high school athlete from Montana, loved deeply by his family, yet tormented by nightmarish visions he can neither explain nor escape.

He believes the answer to what threatens to crush him can be found in the knowledge possessed by a mystical old wise man, who lives deep within the remote Himalayas of India.

If Joseph is ever to find the peace he so desperately seeks, he must get this wise old man to reveal what he truly knows, but that will not be easy…for this sage knows far more than he admits.

My Thoughts:

I received this autographed book from Tribute Books for a blog tour, I am giving my review as well. Thanks Nicole!

As the book begins Joseph at age seventeen in an entangled forest with a sword made of thin steel and a curved handle made form Ivory and with an ornate design. He was dressed in anumal skin as he ran and jumped through the forest trying to get away from his pursuers.

Joseph has always had bad dreams of tormenting, and graphic nightmares that he cannot shake. Then he meets an old man finding peace through Hinduism by the old man, he learns of another life.

I am just not into believing that we had another life before God sent us here on earth through earthly parents, if you read this book and look at it as a fiction then it is a fairly good read. This was my first time reading Paul H. Magid's work and it was very interesting.

2012-01-05T09:27:00.001-05:00

LONG TRAIL HOME

Vickie McDonough

IBSN: 978-0-8024-0585-2

Paperback, 290 pages

Moody Publisher

Overview

The Long Trail Home is third in a six-book series about four generations of the Morgan family living, fighting, and thriving amidst a turbulent Texas history spanning from 1845 to 1896. Although a series, each book can be read on its own.When Riley Morgan returns home after fighting in the War Between the States, he is excited to see his parents and fiancee again. But he soon learns that his parents are dead and the woman he loved is married. He takes a job at the Wilcox School for the blind just to get by. He keeps his heart closed off but a pretty blind woman, Annie, threatens to steal it. When a greedy man tries to close the school, Riley and Annie band together to fight him and fall in love.But when Riley learns the truth about Annie, he packs and prepares to leave the school that has become his home and the woman who has thawed his heart. Will he change his mind and find the love he craves' Or will stubbornness deprive him from the woman he needs' Through painful circumstances, Riley and Annie learn that the loving and sovereign hand of God cannot be thwarted.

Meet the Author

VICKIE MCDONOUGH is the author of over twenty books including the Texas Boardinghouse Brides series. Vickie’s books have won the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Contest, Texas Gold, and the ACFW Noble Theme contest. Vickie lives in Oklahoma and is a wife of 35 years. She has 4 grown sons and one granddaughter. Visit Vickie’s website: www.vickiemcdonough.com.

MY THOUGHTS:

I always love to get my hands on a book written by Vickie McDonough, she just has a way with words that make you not want to lay the book down.

When Riley Morgan arrived in Waco, Texas in 1865 when he returned home from the civil war, he found his parents died and his fiance Miranda married to someone else. He was needing work and the first job he found was being a handyman in a school for blind children and the only place he had to sleep was in the barn. But at this point he was glad for anything that would give him a meal.

There was a young woman that lives at the school and cares for the younger children and is very much attracted to the young handyman Riley. But she had a very bad pass as being a pickpocket and thinks she is unsuitable for Riley. But, when the owner of the school dies and may be closed by the man that inherits the school. As Riley and Annie fight to save the school they begin to fall in love but what will happen when Riley finds out about Annie's past. Riley begins to get closer to God, but can he learn to forgive Annie and accept her as she is now.

I want to thank Jeanne from Wynn-Wynn Media for sending me this book for my honest review.

2012-01-03T12:03:00.001-05:00

ISBN: 9781450755634

Paperback, 507 pages

Cascada books

Meet the Author

Tom Pollack has spent most of his professional career in the investment business, but his passions for sailing and adventure spawned the entrepreneurial and creative endeavors that ultimately provided the inspiration for Wayward Son.

A former member of the U.S. Sailing Team, Tom served from 2001 to 2007 as the CEO of the Transpac (TP) 52 sailboat racing class. During that time, he collaborated with His Majesty Juan Carlos, King of Spain, in the creation of the professional grand prix racing circuit now known as the Audi Medcup.

Tom's friendship with another TP52 owner, Roy Disney, led to the release in 2008 of Walt Disney Pictures' critically acclaimed motion picture, Morning Light. The film is based on Tom's original idea of documenting the exploits of a group of college-aged sailors recruited to compete against seasoned pros in the Trans-Pacific race from Southern California to Hawaii.

A Southern California native, Tom graduated from Loyola Marymount University with a bachelor's degree in political science. He resides in Dana Point with his wife, Jennifer, and their two children. Tom serves as President of the Mission Basilica School Foundation in San Juan Capistrano and the Chairman of ExplorOcean, Newport Beach's popular nautical museum.

My Thought:

As I love history this book was a really great read. Near Italy's Mt. Vesuvius there is a building that contains artifacts going back to the earliest reconds of man. There is only one person that can unlock the doors that open into the chamber. Amanda James that works in the museum is that person. But once she gets inside she is really surprised at what she finds. She unveils some truths about a Bibical killer that if this gets out, it could alter the desinty of millions.

This book is a mystery/thriller historical drame that tells vivid tales of the empires that have rose and feel though the ages. Amanda James as an archeologist finds things beyond her wildest dreams as she uncovers the man's story.

I am going to pass this on to my fifteen year old granddaughter that is wanting to be an archeologist when she gets through high school and college. I am sure she will really enjoy this story.

Thanks so much to GlassRoads for sending me this free copy and I chose to review it.

2011-12-31T11:23:00.000-05:00

HIS STEADFAST LOVE

Golden Keyes Parsons

ISBN: 978-1-59554-629-6

paperback, 331 pages

Thomas Nelson, Publisher

I love to read a good historical book and this is one of those. A love story back during the Civil War where Amanda Belle, a southern lady brought up with the strict upbringing of a Southern family and she is left to care for her younger brothers and sisters after the lost of her mother. She met an Union army officer Kent Littlefield just before the civil war started and they fell in love. But he soon had to leave her for the union army and having to leave the woman he loves back in the south.

Soon Amanda's brother Daniel joined the Confederate army, so now they would be fighting brother against brother, so sad. Will their love be enough to bring Kent back to Amanda or will she loose him.

As I am also a southern lady and lost my own great-grandfather in the civil war, I know a lot about the way the south was destroyed by the north. My own great-grandfather was last heard of near Charleston, SC never to return, my grandfather was born during this time never to know his own father. I love to read about this time, but I also hurt for my own people at what they had to undergo.

Thanks so much to Wynn-Wynn Media for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

2011-12-28T10:48:00.001-05:00

THE MULLIGANS
of Mt. Jefferson

Don Reid

ISBN: 9781434764942

paperback, 326 pages

David Cook, Publisher

Synopsis

In this compelling tale about three boyhood friends, a small-town murder mystery meets the power of a lifelong bond. Carl, Harlan, and Buddy grew up together and got into all the trouble they could find. After World War II tore them apart, they wondered if their childhood bond would ever be the same. But in 1959, when Harlan finds himself in the hospital with a gunshot wound, it's Buddy and Cal who are at his side, attempting to solve the mystery that put him there. Written by the award-winning songwriter and author Don Reid, The Mulligans of Mt. Jefferson brings readers back to the small Virginian town they loved in O Little Town and reminds them of the beauty of second chances.

Biography

Don Reid, a member of country music’s legendary Statler Brothers, has 3 Grammy awards, 9 CMA awards, 13 gold albums, and 8 platinum albums is a member of the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Country Music Hall of Fame and has also written several books including O Little Town and One Lane Bridge.Reid lives with his wife, Deborah, in Staunton, Virginia.

MY THOUGHTS:

I was so happy when I received this book from Wynn-Wynn Media that I could not wait to start reading it so I did. Don Reid and his group of singers "The Statler Brothers" was one of my very favorite group and I find his writing is as good as his singing.

This story to me sounded so much like the guys that started the singing group that as I read I could just see each one as that boy. The little town Mt. Jefferson, Virginia was where everyone knew each other and Cal, Harlan and Buddy grew up as buddies and stayed that way even after they were married and had families. One was a policeman, one a pastor, and one ran a jewelry store.

They were always getting into something and they always stood up for each other. A man that ran a local restaurant everyone called Uncle Vic liked the boys and he started to call them "The Mulligans".

This is such a good story to me that you should pick up a copy and read for yourselves. I was a teenager in the 1950s just as Don Reid was so it all came home to me. I really loved the book and thanks so much to Jeane Wynn of Wynn-Wynn Media, LLC for sending me this copy and I really enjoyed reviewing it.

2011-12-21T17:28:00.000-05:00

Tall, Dark, and Determined

Kelly Eileen Hake

ISBN: 9781602607613

Paperback, 318 pages

Barbour Publishing

Tall, Dark, and Determined, Husbands for Hire Series #2

Lacey Lyman needs a husband to help her set up and run a sawmill. But how can she snare the supposed hunter who seems to despise her complany? Chase Dunstan is determined to find out why the Hope Falls mine collapsed. Will he keep his cover or cave in to the chatterbox's charm?

My Thoughts:

I have not had the honor in reading the first book of this series, but I could read this one and follow alone with what is going on.

As Lacey Lyman is trying to help rebuild their little town of Hope Falls. It was a minning town but now that had fallen through so they are working on making the business a saw mill. She presuaded her unmarried women friends to write ads for husbands as they needed men in the town to help run the saw mill. Never did they think any would come reply in person as Chase Duncan did. He had lost his brother-in-law in a minning accident and he wanted to find out what happened. He never though he would fall for the chatter box by the name of Lacey. He didn't want anyone to know why he was in the town but could he keep it a secret or with his silence ruin his chance with Lacey.

This is a great read and I want to get the first book and reread this one after reading the first one. Thanks so much to Barbour Publishing for sending me this book for free and I wanted to post a review for it.

2011-12-21T15:56:00.000-05:00

ISBN: 9781595548023

Paperback, 298 pages

second book in series "The Big Sky Romance"

Thomas Nelson, publisher

My Review:

As Shay Brandenberger is trying to keep her head above water while she was raising her daughter

Olivia, and they were living in Moose Creek, Montana. She had agreed to play the bride in the Founder's day reenactment, but what she didn't know that she would she would really get married to Travis McCoy her old high school sweet heat. A trick had been played on her, and she didn't know what she was going to do. She wanted an annunlment but before she could do that, Travis came up with a way she could save her ranch. She didn't know if she agreed to stay married to him would be a good thing or would it be the worst thing she ever did.

Thanks to BookSneeze for sending me this book and I chose to review it.

2011-12-15T16:45:00.000-05:00

THE MIRROR OF N'de

L. K. Malone

ISBN: 9780825426674

Paperback, 327 pages

Kregel Publishing

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L.K. Malone

Short Biography: L. K. Malone is an insatiable reader who devours nearly a book a day when she isn’t writing. Favorite genres include political thrillers, historical fiction, romance, and fantasy. Some of her favorite reads include the Hunger Games series and the Harry Potter books, which inspired her to try her hand at fantasy with a Judeo-Christian twist. Malone is a Colorado native with a large extended family, which includes two lovely young women who graciously let her mentor them through the Denver Kids program, and a handsome menagerie of pets.

My Thoughts:

A great book for a young teen age girl. The story is about Hadlay and her family and all the people of "the Ramash". She was thirteen and was scorned and abused by the unloving Emperor. The Ramash people of very poor and as the children gather in secret so they can hear what the trickster Lelyeh and the msytical mirror was saying and doing.

Hadlat loved to think about how she could save her people from the rich and cruel governance of the overlords. She watched a friend die she is forsed to choose sides with childish pranks.

I have two young teen age granddaughter and am wondering which one will enjoy this book the most. Thanks so much to Kregel Publishing for sending me the book for me to review.

2011-12-15T16:06:00.002-05:00

The Loom

Shella Gillus

ISBN: 9780824948160

Paperback, 234 pages

Thanks to Summerside Press for sending me this advanced copy of "The Loom". In the South as I know very well as I am from SC, born and raised here, before the civil war the rich plantation owner has slaves to run the farms for them. Some was good to them and as always some had to show who the boss was. But when the slaves got too old to work in the fields the owners would send them to the mills to work with the looms that make the cotton fabric.
Lydia was a light skined house slave and was overlooked somtime, and she had fallen in love with one of the field slaves and even trid to run off but was always found and brought back. She wanted her freedom so bad that she agreed to marry a white plantation owner.

Now in the south we see the whites and blacks married and think that this should not be, but God does not look at the color of our skin but the way we see Him in our hearts.

A good book written by Shella Gillus, so pick up a copy should have been out by the first of Dec. and read this interesting story.

2011-12-14T10:53:00.000-05:00

Deliver Me From Evil

Kathi Macias

ISBN: 1596693061
Paperback, 318 pages

New Hope Publishing

Series: Freedom

My Thoughts:

In the USA we are so worried about drug trafficking, and I know we should be, but when have we stopped and thought about all that is happening to the young children and girls, boys also that go missing and there is never a trace found. In this book Kathi tells about all of this, as a young girl in Thailand, Mara was treated very bad at home and she loved for her uncle to come see them, and when her parents sold her to the uncle everything changed for the worse. He was not the good man she always though him to be, but had a house for young girls, very young, and he sold them for a night or day of enjoyment to whom ever wanted them for the price. One night as a young man was delivering pizzas at a motel when a little girl ran out screaming and another teen was at the door and they got her back inside. He could never get this off his mind and the more he saw on TV and the Internet he though this might be what was happening to these young girls. After he finished this year of high school he was planning on going to a Bible college, but sometimes he was not sure if there was a God and this scene that he had seen really opened his eyes.

This book really opened my eyes and saw what they really went through, even some died from abuse. But no one cared as there was always another somewhere to take their place. Thanks so much to the author Kathi Macias for sending me this book for my review.

Product Description

Deliver Me From Evil introduces readers to Mara, an eighteen-year-old girl who has been enslaved for nearly ten years, having been sold by her parents in Mexico and then smuggled across the border into San Diego where she was forced into sexual slavery. Readers will also meet 18-year-old Jonathan and his 16-year-old sister, Leah, whose paths cross Mara's and who become involved in her dramatic rescue. Interwoven between the stories of Mara, Jonathan, and Leah is the heartbreaking story of another young woman in captivity in the Golden Triangle of Thailand, whose past life mysteriously connects to the young people in San Diego..

Series: Freedom

2011-12-09T16:49:00.000-05:00

A Great Book for Christmas

The Christmas Singing

by Cindy Woodsmall

Pick up a copy at your favorite book store

ISBN: 978-0-307-44654-1

Hardback, 189 pages

WaterBrook Press

Read the first chapter here:

Save 30% off and free shipping on The Christmas Singing (and any other title) when your readers use promo code CHRISTMAS11 at checkout on WaterBrookMultnomah.com. The coupon code expires on December 20th, 2011

2011-12-06T11:14:00.000-05:00

Naomi's Gift

Amy Clipson

ISBN: 9780310327356

Hardback, 184

Zondervan Publishers

Book Description

Naomi's Gift re-introduces twenty-four-year-old Naomi King, who has been burned twice by love and has all but given up on marriage and children. As Christmas approaches-a time of family, faith, and hope for many others-Naomi is more certain than ever her life will be spent as an old maid, helping with the family's quilting business and taking care of her eight siblings. Then she meets Caleb, a young widower with a 7-year-old daughter, and her world is once again turned upside-down.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book as I love Christmas stories and also to read about the Amish. Twenty-four year old Naomi King who lived in Bird-In-Hand, Pennsylvania had lost in love twice already and she though that she would never find a man to love her. She was working in a quilt shop at the farmer's market when a little girl ran up and wanted to just feel the quilts. She is eight years old and has lost her mother in an accident but she can't remember. She and her dad was coming to see his sister and all his family for Christmas. Caleb Schmucker had lost his wife Barbara in an accident and was living in Middlefield and ran a buggy shop. When he found his daughter who had ran off in the farmer;s market, he say Naomi and could not get her out of his mind.

As all the family came together all of Caleb's family wanted him to move his buggy business and move himself and his little daughter back to his home town. Will he find a new Mama for Susie in Bird-In-Hand?

Thanks so much to Zondervan Publishing for sending me this lovely book to read and I choose to review it.

2011-12-05T10:37:00.001-05:00

A Christmas Journey Home

Kathi Macias

ISBN: 1596693282

Paperback, 238 pages

New Hope
Publishsers

Product Description

During Isabella Alcantara's seventh month of pregnancy, her parents and siblings are murdered in gang and drug related violence, simply because their home was targeted by mistake. Isablla knows she was spared only because she now lives in a different location, but she knows too that the same thing could easily happen to her and herhusband, Francisco. When her grandfather offers to hire her a "coyote" to bring then across the border to America, she agrees. But Francisco and Isabella are abandoned by the coyote and left to die. Francisco then valiantly sacrifices himself to get Isabella to safety. Homeless, nearly penniless, pregnant, and alone, Isabella determines to find a way to honor her promise to her beloved husband.Living on one of the smaller spreads along the Arizona border, Miriam Nelson becomes furious with God and turns from her faith when her border patrol agent husband, David, is killed in a skirmish with drug smugglers. Though her mother and young son do their best to woo her back from the anger and bitterness that have overtaken her, they make little headway.
Two widows-one driven by fear and a promise, the other by bitterness and revenge-must make their journeys along different pathways, but with the same destination: a barn full of animals that stands waiting for them on Christmas Eve. Forced to face their personal demons, Isabella and Miriam soon discover a common yearning that will bind them together in a most miraculous way.

My Thoughts:

I have read almost everyone of Kathi's book and I have to say I think this is the best one. This is really two stories in one combined. I love Christmas stories and this one is about Isabella Alcantara and her young husband Francisco. After her parents and siblings were gunned down for no reason by the "Coyote" in Mexico, her grandfather gave up his life's savings to get her and her husband and their unborn child out of the country. They had paid all the money they had to a "coyote" to see them safety across the border into the USA and to a safe house, but he robbed them of all they had and left them to die in the desert.

The safe house that they finally found was nothing but a slave and prostitute house for the helpless. They stole away and found themselves in the desert again where Francisco was gunned down by some drug smugglers. Now alone and ready to have her baby she wondered in the desert until she found a farm of another young woman and her son. She hid in the barn until the little boy found her and that is where she had her baby. Just as Jesus was born so long ago in a stable with the animals around.

I want to thank the author Kathi Macias for sending me this copy to read and review. I love the book and I am sure you will too.

2011-12-02T10:33:00.000-05:00

TO LOVE AND TO CHERISH

Kelly Irvin

ISBN: 0736943714

Trade Paper, 304 pages

publication date Feb. 2012

Harvest House Publishers

Emma Shirack is a young Amish woman who is twenty-one and still not married.
Her long time boyfriend Carl had left her and the Amish faith, which really hurt her as she always though they would be married. She helps out at home and loves to take care of her little twin sisters. There was a terrible accident and both her parents were killed by a truck hitting their buggy, now how were they going to manage the farm and the children?

She alone with her siblings that was left at home had jobs that they needed the money to help them survive, so none of them could care for the smaller children and take care of the farm and animals also. Then in came the brother that was married and he decided that he and his wife would take the smaller twins, so that the others could work. But Emma and her sister-in-law did not care for each other that much so how was this going to work?

A neighbor told them he would harvest the fields as he had large tractors but being Amish they didn't think this was proper. Along came another neighbor Tomas that was Amish man that had lost his wife and he was trying to raise two small children of his own. But he really liked Emma but she though he was too old for her. I really hope this little bit of information really makes you want to buy the book, or just go ahead and pre-order it . Good reading as you live the life of the Amish and see their hurts and the fun times too.

Thanks so much to Wynn-Wynn Media for sending me this reviewer copy of this book and the review is my own.

2011-11-30T11:35:00.000-05:00

THE JESUS MISSION

Steven K. Scott

Hardback, 282 pages

WaterBrook Press

This hardback copy of "The Jesus Mission" was sent to me by Blogging for books for my review.

Steven K. Scott has written a book that will help in your Bible study, he uses the NIV Bible as his reference. The book is broken up into sessions that you can read as you study your Bible and relate to it. He has written some of the things he has experienced in his own life that make it enjoyable to read. The topic "Christ completed 27 missions while on earth. Take up the 4 He assigned you" tell us to study God's word and to apply it to our own lives. I believe you will enjoy reading this book and keep it laying around so that you can just pick it up when you need a boost in you day to day life.

2011-11-29T00:00:00.003-05:00

BLOG TOUR

PRECISELY TERMINATED

written byAmamda L. Davis

ISBN: 9780899578965

Papaerback, 349 pages

Living Ink Books

About the Book:

Monica, a noble disguised as a slave girl, escaped the chip implantation process that the slaves of Cantral and Cillineese were subjected to at birth. As a result, she alone holds the ability to find a paper bearing instructions for shutting down the mind-controlling computers and execute the paper's directives. But the Cillineese rulers discover Monica's existence and move to seal the city. They plan to gas all the inhabitants before Monica can set them free. The ensuing race against time pits one girl against the tyranny of powerful nobles...with an entire city's inhabitants hanging in the balance.

About the Author

Amanda L. Davis is an award-winning writer who spends her spare time spinning yarn, sewing, quilting, and embroidering. She honed her writing craft while attending writers conferences with her father, award-winning fantasy novelist Bryan Davis, and through years of participating in Cleanplace, an online writers group for teens. Amanda is available to speak about her process of living with dyslexia, excelling in a homeschool environment, and chasing your dreams-no matter what your age.

My Thoughs:

When the children were born they all had microchips implanted in their skulls so that they could always be traced, but Monica was born on a nobleman and had someway escaped a death sentence at the age of four. She hids in the walls of Cantral with the slaves and now at sixteen she pretends to be one of them.

A fate of millions of people ride on Monica's shoulders if she can someway get control of the computer that has all the chips saved inside.

This book will keep you on your toes as it is filled with suspence, danger at every turn, joy and about anything you could possible want in a book of this type.

As I begin to read this book I found that it is a very intriguing book. Some of the things I don't really understand but I know this book is for young people and they will be able to jump right in and enjoy every word of it. I am passing this book on to my fifteen year old granddaugher as I know she will love it.

I want to thank LeAnn Hamby at Glassroads for sending me this book so that I could review it and join the tour,

2011-11-28T15:59:00.001-05:00

Love Blooms in Winter

by

Lori Copeland

ISBN: 9780736930192

Trade Paper. 240 pages

Realeases Feb. 2011

Harvest House Publisher

Lori Copeland

A romantic new book from bestselling author Lori Copeland that portrays God’s miraculous provision even when none seems possible.
1892—Mae Wilkey’s sweet next-door neighbor, Pauline, is suffering from old age and dementia and desperately needs family to come help her. But Pauline can’t recall having kin remaining. Mae searches through her desk and finds a name—Tom Curtis, who may just be the answer to their prayers.
Tom can’t remember an old aunt named Pauline, but if she thinks he’s a long-lost nephew, he very well may be. After two desperate letters from Mae, he decides to pay a visit. An engagement, a runaway train, and a town of quirky, loveable people make for more of an adventure than Tom is expecting. But it is amazing what can bloom in winter when God is in charge of things.

My Thoughts:

Thanks to Jeanne Wynn from Wynn-Wynn Media for sending me this advanced Galley of this book for my review. Thanks Jeanne

.
Dwadlo, ND, 1892 is where the story takes place as Hal Murphy grumbles to his wife that he thinks this will be one of the worst season ever. As the snow and ice begin to take over the land it makes for a dismal time for all.
Mae is a single lady and if she does not find a sweetheart soon she will be She has been dating the same boy for six years but he just does not seem to want to get married.. This leaves the town talking about her and if she will ever marry. Mae takes care of anyone that will let her, from her elderly neighbor and her disabled brother.

She finds an address and is hoping it is someone that will help her care for the people, and here is where she meets Tom. At first Tom does not get close to Mae and she has a boyfriends, but before long he has fallen in love with her. So will she marry the man she has been dating for so long or will she see what love Tom has for her.
You need to pre-order this book now or at least write it down so you can get it at your favorite bookstore.
It is a very good story that I am sure you will love.

2011-11-22T12:55:00.001-05:00

THE WINGS OF MORNING

Murray Pura

ISBN: 0736948775

Releases Feb, 2011

Paperback, 300 pages

Harvest House Publisher

Product Description

Jude Whetstone and Lyyndaya Kurtz, whose families are converts to the Amish faith, are slowly falling in love. Jude has also fallen in love with flying that new-fangled invention, the aeroplane.The Amish communities have rejected the telephone and have forbidden motorcar ownership but not yet electricity or aeroplanes.Though exempt from military service on religious grounds, Jude is manipulated by unscrupulous army officers into enlisting in order to protect several Amish men. No one in the community understands Jude's sudden enlistment and so he is shunned. Lyyndaya's despair deepens at the reports that Jude has been shot down in France. In her grief, she turns to nursing Spanish flu victims in Philadelphia. After many months of caring for stricken soldiers, Lyyndaya is stunned when an emaciated Jude turns up in her ward.

Publisher's Description (taken from Christian Books.com)

Lovers of Amish fiction will quickly sign on as fans of award-winning author Murray Pura as they keep turning the pages of this exciting new historical romance set in 1917 during AmericaÂ’s participation in World War I.
Jude Whetstone and Lyyndaya Kurtz, whose families are converts to the Amish faith, are slowly falling in love. Jude has also fallen in love with flying that new-fangled invention, the aeroplane.
The Amish communities have rejected the telephone and have forbidden motorcar ownership but not yet electricity or aeroplanes.
Though exempt from military service on religious grounds, Jude is manipulated by unscrupulous army officers into enlisting in order to protect several Amish men. No one in the community understands JudeÂ’s sudden enlistment and so he is shunned. LyyndayaÂ’s despair deepens at the reports that Jude has been shot down in France. In her grief, she turns to nursing Spanish flu victims in Philadelphia. After many months of caring for stricken soldiers, Lyyndaya is stunned when an emaciated Jude turns up in her ward.
LyyndayaÂ’s joy at receiving Jude back from the dead is quickly diminished when the Amish leadership insist the shunning remain in force. How then can they marry without the blessing of their families? Will happiness elude them forever?
Welcome a powerful new voice to the world of Amish fiction!

My Thoughts:

I enjoy reading about the Amish way of life even if I do not agree with their ways. It is always interesting to see which author will come up with another book and Murray Pura is one I have never read his work. I recieved the Review copy of this manuscrip for my review from Wynn-Wynn Media, LLC. Thanks Jeane

As Lyyndaya Kurtz is working in the family garden she heard something she though was bees and then she saw that it was aeroplanes. There were six of them and one broke away and few even closer to the ground and a hand came out and waves at her. Then it landed in her papa's field. She could not believe her eyes when a young man got out, and as all the children and Lyyndaya ran to meet him it was Jude a friend of Lyyndaya's she could not believe he flew from Philadelphia just to see her. No one knew they were counting, as was a coustom of the Amish youth. This was something that the
Amish did not do and it really was not too appealing to Lyyndaya's dad.

A good book to look forward too in Feb of 2012. You can pre-order or make sure you mark it on you list to read for the cold months.

2011-11-19T12:49:00.000-05:00

An Amish Family Renuion

Mary Ellis

releases Feb. 2012

ISBN: 0736944877

Paperback, 352 pages

Harvest House Publishers

About the book:

During a rumschpringe visit to Niagara Falls, Phoebe Miller meets Eli Riehl, a young man who charms her—and everyone else—with his exceptional storytelling ability. When Phoebe sketches scenes to illustrate one of his tales, Eli encourages her incredible talent, and together they embark on a lofty and unlikely business venture for two young Amish people—writing and illustrating a children’s book.
Eli’s kindness and appeal extend beyond his knack for words to reach inside Phoebe’s heart. But he is an only son with five sisters, and when his father suffers a heart attack, Eli gives up his writing to assume responsibility on the farm. Though willing to abandon his dream of becoming an author, he won’t give up his beloved Phoebe.
Can their love for a good story develop into something that lasts forever, or will Phoebe’s deep-seated fear of desertion stand in their way?

About the Author:

Mary Ellis

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed the part about Phoebe who had lost her parents at a young age and had been raised by Hannah and Seth. She loved to draw and ever got to go to Niagara Falls with a group of young Amish folks. She meet a young man Eli Riehls who loved to make up and tell stories, so they really enjoyed themselves when they returned as he made up the s

I love to read the Amish books and this galley form of An Amish Family Reunion let me read and review the book before it is released.

As the Miller family have moved away from the home and are scattered around the county, Julia is really feeling the aloneless of her brood. She wants them all to come home for a month and let her get to know her grandchildren some she has not seen. This book tell of all the lives of the Miller children and the type of work they are doing, how many children they have etc. It has chapters about them all and I found it to be a great read as I learned about their lives. I have read Mary Ellis' books before so most of these characters are not new to me.

tories and she did the drawing for them.

Thanks so much to Jeane Wynn of Wynn-Wynn Media for sending me this review copy and I choose to review it.

2011-11-19T11:56:00.000-05:00

SHADOW IN SERENITY

Terri Blackstock

Read by Gareielle De Cuir

Audio book

contains 9 cds unabridged

ISBN: 9780310332336

Zondervan Publisher

As you put the first cd into your player you are ready for a great story as only Terri Blackstock can tell it. Her work always keeps you wondering what is coming next.

Carney Sullivan grew up in the world of a traveling carnival, she wanted a place to call home so she settled for Serenity Texas. She makes a home and has a child and a new faith. But she can spot a con artist as soon as she sees them as her father was one.

Then she meet the swave Logan Brisco she knows right away the he also was a con artist even thought he was so very good looking and word some of the fanciest clother. He was out for no good and it seems that Carney was the only one in the town that knew this. He had everyone fooled but he was planning on getting anything he could from the good people encluding Carney's heart. Can she warn the people of the town who they are dealing with or will her heart stand in the way,

This story is a suspence that you can't wait until you can hear more. Thanks so much to Zondervan Publisher for sending me this audio book and I choose to review it.

2011-11-16T10:29:00.001-05:00

THE SKIN MAN

Stephen R. Lawhead

9781400316731

Audio book, unabridged

Thomas Nelson, Publisher

Thanks so much to "BookSneeze for giving me the chance to listen to this audio book and I have

This is a new experience for me as I usually read my books, but when this audio book was offered I had to give it a try. Pretty nice, just sitting back, relax and lisen as the story is told.

The Skin Map by Stephen R. Lawhead draws you into worlds you didn't even know existed along
with Kit Livingston, who is guided to use his unknown talent of traveling via lay lines by his
great grandfather. What will happen next and who will find the answers to the mysteries of the
universe in the quest for the skin map and the knowledge of how to read it. The Skin Map is
well written with loads of detail about the worlds that Kit travels too and what happens to the
friends he brings along with him. Lawhead creates a story of adventure and danger and leaves
you wanting more.

2011-11-08T10:27:00.000-05:00

Promised To Me

Robin Lee Hatcher

ISBN: 0310235553

Paperback, 275 pages

Zondervan Publisher

As the series Coming to America continues Karola Breit desides to travel to America to meet her beau that had already come years before. Jakob Hirsch had promised Karola that he would write for her to join him as soon as he could get the money up. He wrote to Germany to her a few times then the letters stopped, Karola went with a broken heart not knowing if he was alive or not. She did not want to marry any other man as her heart belonged to Jokob. One day a letter came and he asked her to come and be his bride, She was so happy and could hardly wait,

But one letter he wrote did not reach her, so when she landed and went through coustoms, there he was, but who were the children he had with him?

This story tell about how some of the women that came to America to be brides found themselves when they got here,

I really enjoyed this series and I want to thank Zondervan Publishing for sending me this book for my review,

2011-11-05T17:28:00.000-04:00

LOVE ON THE LINE

Deeanne Gist

ISBN: 9780764204098

Papaerback, 365 pages

Bethany House Publisher

As Georgie Gail loves her job as a telephone operator, she was working in a man's world. When Luke Palmer came to town disquised as a telephone repairman, but he was a ranger in real life, just trying to find the robbers "the Comer gang". This gang never hurts anyone but just robs them and sometimes even leaves the old people with their money and sometime gives some that they have taken from someone else to them. This gang always gets away and Luke is determined to find them as he know they are living in or near Brenham, Texas.

As Luke comes into the home of Georgie to work in the telephone office, she is determined to not let him take over her desk and any part of her job, if she can.

She is very independent and wants to do things her way, so she is always having conflicts with Luke. Can they work together or will she blow his disguise before he can find the Comer gang.

This book is funny at times and tells of the era where the woman is first becoming able to work outside her home. Why I have no idea as myself I always loved to be a stay at home mom.

I want to thank Bethany House Publisher for sending me this book to review.

2011-11-04T16:27:00.001-04:00

Finding Our Way Home

Charlene Ann Baumbich

Releases March, 2012
Pre-order here

ISBN: 978030744478

Paperback

WaterBrook Press

I received this advance readers copy of this book from BookSneeze for my honest review. This is my first time reading anything from this author so I didn't know what to expect from this book.

As I began to read Sasha Davis is a ballerine and she has an accident at the age of thirty-eight. She then leaves the ballet company and goes back to her home town in Minnesota. She is still suffering from the lost of her mother and her injuries are so bad that she had to hire a temporary live-in to help her out. As a nineteen year old Evelyn Burt moves into Sasha's home, problems start to happen.

As Sasha begine to heal in her body, her spirit is another thing. Loosing her mother was taking a much longer time. That is when she and Evelyn became great friends and learned that love can overcome.

2011-11-02T12:33:00.000-04:00

HOUSE OF SECRETS

Tracie Peterson

ISBN: 9780764206184

Paperback, 309 pages

Bethany House Publisher

I really enjoyed this book as the three Cooper sisters, Bailee, Greena and Piper were called by their father to meet at their vacation home in Washington state. They did not have any idea why he wanted to meet like this as he never had time for them when they were younger. Bailee was the eldest of the three girls and she had been put in charge of the other two all their lives as their mother had died and the father was not at home, so he had left them with a nanny, and Bailee really felt as through she was the parent of the other two girls. Their mother had really been strange all through their lives as she would get the girls and hide them so that something bad would not get them. She had been schizophrenic but none of the girls was supposed to know this, but Bailee had over heard some women one day and she knew but had kept a secret. Everything in this family was a secret. There was no belief in God with the father and the girls, but the mother had taken them to Church sometimes, but the good Christian folks had not let her return to church as they though she was really crazy and they just could not take the time to deal with her.

Bailee was working as an freelance editor for writers and worked for Mark Delahunt and his father's firm. Mark was really interested in Bailee but she was so afraid to have a relationdship because of her feeling as though she had to take care of her sisters even though they were both grown, one was a lawyer and the younges wanted to be a fashion designer. What they found out when they all got together at the vacation home was really amazing. Things Bailee had know or though she knew and something that as young girls they were really mistaken.

I am a Christian also and I know how I think and I know that God does not like me to be that way, so I have to just ask him for forgiveness, There are so many people that really knows nothing about Schizophrenia I though you may like this link so that you could read about it for yourself.

I want to thank Bethany House Publishers for sending me this book free to review. It really was a great read and I learned a lot about the life of someone that has schizophrenia.

2011-10-27T17:32:00.000-04:00

The Opposite of Art

Athol Dickson

ISBN-10: 1416583483

Paperback, 362 pages

Simonand Schuster publisher

Description

A great artist is cast into the icy Harlem River by a hit-and-run driver. His heart stops, and he sees something that defies description. Presumed dead by all who knew him and obsessed with the desire to paint the inexpressible, he embarks on a pilgrimage to seek help from holy men around the globe. But is it possible to see eternity without becoming lost within it? After a quarter of a century, when the world begins to whisper that he may be alive, two people come looking for the artist: the daughter he never knew existed, and the murderer who hit him on the bridge all those years ago.

Read an Ecerpt:

As I begin to read this book was so interesting. As I like to paint myself I could see where Ridler was going as he got so interesting into his painting that is all he wanted to do. He was interested in Suzanne but didn't want to marry anyone, as she left he ran after her but could not find her as she went down into Harlem. The taxi driver would not take him any futher when he found out Ridler had left his wallet at home. He got out and made Ridler get out right where he was.

As he climbed over a fence and got on a bridge that was being worked on a car came alone and knocked him off the bridge and they though he was dead as no one could stand that fall into the cold river. But Ridler did and hurt and sore started down the river.

He really didn't know where he was but came upon some young men using spray paint on a wall and he grabed some of the paint and started to paint himself. The youth could not believe the way he was painting the wall so they just stood back and let him paint, He covered the wall and it was so good.

This book has a little of everything in it, Some suspence, romance and just an interesting book. I want to thank Glass Roads for sending me this book to review,

2011-10-19T18:04:00.001-04:00

TRUTH AND DARE

Ann Margret Hovsepian

ISBN: 9781434702081

Paperback,

David Cook Publisher

Ann-Margret Hovsepian is a Montreal-based writer with nearly two decades of professional experience in various areas of the publishing world. She has written more than 210 articles for dozens of different Canadian and U.S. print periodicals and is becoming a sought-after author of preteen girls’ devotional books including Blossom – The Complete New Testament for Girls (Thomas Nelson, 2006) and The One Year Designer Genes Devo (Tyndale, 2007).
Her latest book, Truth & Dare: One Year of Dynamic Devotions for Girls (David C. Cook) is hot off the press and available at many different bookstores. Click on the “Books” tab above to learn more.

GO HERE TO SEE THE TRAILER ON YOU TUBE:

I received this book and when I opened it, I want to use it myself, even if it is for a young girl. Each page is a question page where it gives the Bible reference so that the Bible can be used to find answers then there is a place where it can be written. To be it is a Bible diary for everyday use. I think the young girl will love this and it will get them to read the Bible each day. If they get into reading it every day while they are young then it will be cared throughout their lives.

The front of the book is so colorful and looks just like a teen, then the pages are in black and white, very nice. I just don't know how to say enought about this book. I have a teen age granddaughter and I know she will enjoy this book "if I don't use it myself".

Thanks so much to B and B Media Group for sending me this book for my review.

2011-10-19T10:46:00.000-04:00

The Crossing

Serita Jales

ISBN: 9781400073030

paperback 292 pages

Waterbrook Press

The Crossing finds Claudia at the train track and a train was coming, she was the first one in line near the track but from old memories she freezes. Even after the train had gone by she just sit there while the other cars went around her. Officer Casio Hightower knew her as he was on the same bus the day the shooter got on and started to shoot.

That is what she was rememering, that day, she was so scared as he got on and shot BJ one of her friends. She was a cheeerleader at her school and it had been ten years. They had never found the killer and it was time to try to find him so that they all could get these memories eased.

As the story progressed it got into the things that had happened and the things that are happened present day. This is really a mystery that keeps you wanting to just keep turning pages so you can see what the next page brings.

Thanks so much to WaterBrook Press for sending me this book for my review.

2011-10-18T10:15:00.000-04:00

Softly and Tenderly

Sara Evand with Rachel Hauck

Jade is happily married to Max a lawer but the one thing she wants will not happen. She wants a baby and has miscarried every time she gets pregrant. She owns two shops and sells consignemtn and unusual items. Max works in his father's law firm and plans on being over it when his father retired.

What no on knew but his Mom was that his dad was quite a ladies man.Jade alone with being married and owning two shops was taking care of her mother that was dying from lukumina. Her mama had left them a lot when they were children and did whatever pleased her. She was from the Woodstock era and now that she was dying she was tying to make up for that time to Jade.

Everything falls apart in this "great" family of lawers when things were found out by Jade and her mother-in-law June. Jade's mama wants to go home to die so the two Benson left to carry Jade's mama back to Iowa to die the men could not blieve it.

Thanks so much to Book Sneeze for sending me this book to review.

2011-10-16T18:37:00.000-04:00

In His Arms

Robin Lee Hatcher

ISBN: 9780310231202

Paperback, 311 pages

Zondervan Publisher

Third in Coming to America Series

Robin Lee Hatcher is the bestselling author of over sixty books. Her well-drawn characters and heartwarming stories of faith, courage, and love have earned her both critical acclaim and the devotion of readers. Her numerous awards include the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction, two RITA Awards for Best .Inspirational Romance, Romantic Times Career Achievement Awards for Americana Romance and for Inspirational Fiction, and the RWA Lifetime Achievement Award. Robin currently resides in Idaho. For more information, visit www.robinleehatcher.com.
.

I have really enjoyed this series as these three young women come to Amercia to seek husbands and a better way of life. In this book it features Mary Malone as she is expecting a baby and is on her way to meet the daddy of it as he told her he would send for her when he got to America from Irland but she had not heard anything so she made the trip on her own. When she reached America and went to find that her entended had married another as soon as he got to America and that he had been killed in a silver mine accident. After she had her little son she started to work in a rich man's house and as he was making a pass at her she hit him and left with the intent that he was dead.

She went and got her baby son and fled New York. She meet this woman on the train that had a terrible cough but she made friend with Blanch Loraine who was on her way back home to Whistle Creek, Idaho to die. She had been in New York trying to get well but was told she was dying. She talked Mary into going home with her but when she told Mary that she ran an house of ill repute and a saloon Mary was not sure, but she went as she had no other place to live and she got the job as tending to the books not as one "of the ladies of the night"

This book is filled with love, death and some mystery. A very good read and I want to thank Zondervan Publishing for sending me this book to review.

2011-10-15T11:16:00.003-04:00

SOME OF MY PROJECTS I MADE THIS SUMMER
All are for sale just email me!
internetgranny at charter dot net

2011-10-13T18:04:00.003-04:00

THE MERCY

BEVERLY LEWIS

ISBN: 978-0-7642-0601-6

Paperback, 306 pages

Bethany House Publisher

Third book in the Rose Trilogy

Meet The Author

Beverly Lewis, raised in Pennsylvania Amish country, is a former schoolteacher and accomplished musician, and an award-winning author of more than eighty books for adults and children, many of which have appeared on bestseller lists, including USA Today and the New York Times. Six of her blockbuster novels have received the Gold Book Award for sales over 500,000, and The Brethren won a 2007 Christy Award for excellence in Christian Fiction. Beverly and her husband, David, live in Colorado, where they enjoy hiking, biking, and making music, and spending time with their three grandchildren.

About the Book:

Rose Kauffman pines for prodigal Nick Franco, the Bishop's foster son who left the Amish under a cloud of suspicion after his foster brother's death. His rebellion led to the "silencing" of their beloved Bishop. But is Nick really the rebel he appears to be? Rose's lingering feelings for her wayward friend refuse to fade, but she is frustrated that Nick won't return and make things right with the People. Nick avowed his love for Rose--but will he ever be willing to sacrifice modern life for her?Meanwhile, Rose's older sister, Hen, is living in her parents' Dawdi Haus. Her estranged "English" husband, injured and helpless after a car accident, has reluctantly come to live with her and their young daughter during his recovery. Can their marriage recover, as well? Is there any possible middle ground between a woman reclaiming her old-fashioned Amish lifestyle and thoroughly modern man?

MY REVIEW:

As all ways Beverly Lewis ended this series in just the way I hoped she would. Rose was still without a beau after she and Silas broke up. She didn't love him and he loved another. She is still keeping house for Gilbert Browning and his daughter Beth. Beth had dreamed that Rose's invelid mother would get better, so they are planning on her having back surgery after much prayer.
Rose had left a note in the box that was hidden for her love, not ever thinking anyone would ever find it, but when she went back and looked it was gone. Oh she hoped the Lord took and no one else found it. She didn't want anyone to read what she was feeling in her heart.
Her sister Hen and her little four year old daughter Mattie Sue is still living in the Dawi house while taking care of Brandon Hen's husband. He was filling for divorce but after he had a car accident he was blind for the time being so Hen opened her heart and was taking care of him. She didn't want a divorce but she felt that she just could not live the English life. And Brandon felt he could not become Amish, now what were they going to do?
I want to thank Bethany House for sending me this book for my review.

2011-10-11T00:00:00.002-04:00

Blog Tour by Glass Roads Public Relations

Diary of a Teenage Girl Becoming Me

Written by

Melody Carlson

ISBN: 978-1-57673-735-4

Paperback, 248 pages

Multnomah Publishing

Join Melody Carlson on FaceBook

MELODY CARSON

MY THOUGHTS

If you have a teen age girl she will love this book. It is written as a diary by sixteen-year-old Caitlin O'Conner. She tell her diary things that she could never talk to a person about. You will laugh and cry with her as she goes though her teen years. About all her school what she loves and what she hates. She talks about the way she feels about God, her parents and all her friends.

This book was sent to me to join this blog tour by Glass Roads .

2011-10-08T14:06:00.000-04:00

THE CHRISTMAS SINGING

Cindy Woodsmall

ISBN: 978-0-307-44654-1

Hardback, 189 pages

WaterBrook Press

Mattie Eash had moved from her home in Apple Ridge, Pennsylvania and moved to Ohio so that she could get away from the man she loved but he had broken up with her. She never understood why but Gideon had a reason that he thought he was protecting Mattie.

She moved in with ther brother and bought an old store building and got it fixed up so that she could do what she had always wanted a CAKE SHOP. She had started to date as soon as she had moved and was engaged to Sol but she knew she did not feel for him the same way she had for Gideon. When her shop burnt and she moved back home with her parents she learned why Gideon had broken up with her.

The Christmas Singing this year when both Mattie and Gideon went they had to talk to each other. She had taked to him some before as he was building the new home of her best friend and her intented. Mattie had to use the new house to cook the wedding cakes of her best friend and also for her aunt.

A very good book and if you have read any of Cindy's books some of these Characters keep coming up. I own all her books and love every one of them. "I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review"
Thanks so much!

2011-10-08T00:00:00.012-04:00

Blog Tour by Tribute Publications

Ding Dong The Diva's Dead
by
Cat Melodia

ISBN: 978-1-60381-807-0 (Paperback)
CAMEL PRESS

READ A FREE EXCERPT

A Debbie de Lille Murder Mystery

Deborah de Lille is an opera singer—in the least grand sense. Debbie doesn’t foresee a future beyond Handel Messiahs and low-budget tours ... until her agent finagles her a minor role with a small-town company. Offenbach’s spooky opera, Tales of Hoffmann, features three leading ladies. The cast is all too well-acquainted, and familiarity has bred contempt. Debbie is the outsider, and someone is hell-bent on driving her out with smoke bombs, ghostly visitations, and booby-traps. Will opening night mean "curtains" for Debbie?

Cat Melodia's Bio:

2011-10-03T14:25:00.000-04:00

ALABAMA BRIDES

Sandra Robbins

Three in One collection

ISBN: 9781616264598

Paperback, 346 pages

Barbour Publishing

Sandra Robbins

Genres: Romance, Suspense

2011-10-03T13:31:00.000-04:00

Inspiring Thoughts from a Simple Life

Wanda E. Brunstetter

Barbour Publishing-

Paperback - 176 pages

ISBN 1616261978

About the book:

Be inspired. . .or inspire someone else with this brand-new title joining the Life’s Little Books of Wisdom series. This little book is overflowing with inspiration and encouragement. Attractive package for portability and packed with relevant quotations, thoughts, and scripture. Perfect for your own personal use or as gifts, this charming book is sure to make a lasting impact.

My Thoughts:

I want to thank Wanda Brunstetter for sending this beautiful book of wonderful sayings and Bible verses. The pictures are grousous in beautiful color. This book is great for an everyday pick me up, when you need a little something from the word of God to keep you going.

It also would make a wonderful gift for Christmas or any occasion. Not expensive just the right way to say Friend I am thinking of you today.

2011-10-01T15:49:00.002-04:00

Sunrise on The Battery

Beth Webb Hart

ISBN: 978-1-59554-200-7

Paperback, 294 Pages

Thomas Nelson Publisher

If you love the historical Charleston SC then you will love this book. I live in SC and know everywhere the author talks about except Meggett, SC where Mary Lynn had grown up as an illegitimate child as was always talked about and made fun of in her school.

Mary Lynn met and married a very handsome young man whom had not had an easy life himself. They had three daughter and wanted more for them than they had grown up with. Jackson get in with a young man that he knew and begin to learn how to make and invest money. They bought an old Victorian home in Charleston, SC near the Battery. They wanted to get into all the society that they could and Jackson was very strict with their daughters. He pushed they very hard and wanted them to learn the things that he wanted them to learn and not what they really wanted. Mary Lynn was a Christian and went to some church and some of the ladies prayer meeting, but Jackson wanted nothing to do with God and didn't want his daughters to either.

When God really got into all of their lives after the marriage was almost destroyed they found out that they really didn't need to be in with the society groups but they all needed God more. They sold their fancy house and the family found out what love really was, they knew they did not need all the things the world has to offer.

Thanks so much to B and B Media for sending me this book and I chose to review it.

2011-09-30T11:09:00.000-04:00

FOREVER FAITHFUL The Complete Trilogy

Karen Kingsbury

ISBN: 978-1-60142-411-2

Paperback, 1124 pages

Waterbrookmultnomah Publisher

All three books in one how great is that? As I begin to read the first part "Waiting for Morning" I became so interested in that one that I really did not want to put it down. In this one Hannah Ryan was home alone as her doctor husband and two daughters went on a camping trip, in which they do every year right before school starts back. They were late and she got that terrible feeling before the policemen showed up with some dreadful news. A drunk driver strikes again! She begin to doubt God and thought that He should not let anything bad happen to His children.

The second book "A Moment of Weakness" finds a little girl that lived down the street from her best friend and they both said someday they would marry. But that was before Jade's mother ran off with another man and her daddy moved her away. Will they ever find each other again? If so what trials will they go through?

The third book "Halfway to Forever" brings both of the first book together and ends with all of them being friends but bad things are still happening to both families. Will they keep their faith in God?

All three of these books in one are tied together with someone and the last one ends with a BANG! You can not go wrong by buying this book as you don't have to wait until the next one comes out, you have all of them right in your hands to read one after the other. Karen Kingsbury is a really great writer and did a great job with these.

Thanks to Blogging for Books for sending this book to read and enjoy and I chose to review it..

2011-09-27T11:43:00.000-04:00

PATTERNS OF LOVE

Robin Lee Hatcher

ISBN: 978-0-310-23105-9

Paperback, 315 pages

Zondervan Publishers

The second book in the series "Coming To America" tells about Inga Linberg who is the eldest of four sisters. They all are beautiful but she thinks that she is not. She does not think she will ever find a man who will love her as her father does her mother. But that was before a young man "Dirk Bridger" that lived a long way from town came to her father the pastor of their church to see is he knew of someone he could hire to live in his home and care for his sick mother and two nieces. Inga heard them talking and she though this would be something she would love to do so she volunteers. She loved everything about the farm even though Dirk hated the farm. He had been called to come and help his mother raise his two nieces when their parents were killed. But he had wanted to just travel in his life and was really mad at the farm and everything to do with it.

As the time passes and his mother dies Inga continues to keep house for him and to care for the two little girls.

This is a good love story and it shows how God can change even the lives of a stubborn man.

Thanks so much to Zondervan Publishing for sending me this book at no charge and I chose to review it.

2011-09-22T14:17:00.000-04:00

Sunrise on The Battery

Beth Webb Hart

ISBN: 978-1-59554-200-7

Paperback, 294 Pages

Thomas Nelson Publisher

If you love the historical Charleston SC then you will love this book. I live in SC and know everywhere the author talks about except Meggett, SC where Mary Lynn had grown up as an illegitimate child as was always talked about and made fun of in her school.

Mary Lynn met and married a very handsome young man whom had not had an easy life himself. They had three daughter and wanted more for them than they had grown up with. Jackson get in with a young man that he knew and begin to learn how to make and invest money. They bought an old Victorian home in Charleston, SC near the Battery. They wanted to get into all the society that they could and Jackson was very strict with their daughters. He pushed they very hard and wanted them to learn the things that he wanted them to learn and not what they really wanted. Mary Lynn was a Christian and went to some church and some of the ladies prayer meeting, but Jackson wanted nothing to do with God and didn't want his daughters to either.

When God really got into all of their lives after the marriage was almost destroyed they found out that they really didn't need to be in with the society groups but they all needed God more. They sold their fancy house and the family found out what love really was, they knew they did not need all the things the world has to offer.

Thanks so much to Book Sneeze for sending me this book and I chose to review it.

2011-09-16T11:45:00.000-04:00

DEAR LADY

Robin Lee Hatcher

ISBN: 978-0-310-25083-0

Paperback, 295 pages

Zondervan Publishers

Elizabeth Wellington a young woman from England, that had lost her parents and her home, but was destined to marry a really mean man her father had set her up with two of her friends were just arriving to America on a ship. From there they were to separate and go their own ways. She was on her way to New Prospects, Montana encouraged by her young friend that had been writing to her. They were in need of a school teacher so this seemed like a great place to get away from Perceval that was expecting her to marry him.

When she finally reached her destination after ship, train and stage coach, she didn't find anyone waiting for her, she got a man to take her out to the ranch to where the little girl lived. When she arrived she meet the father of Janie the little girl. She was met with quite a surprise to the rancher Garrett Steele. He had lost his wife in death, but was in a unhappy marriage as his late wife had run around on him so he was in no way wanting another woman in his house. He and Janie were getting alone just fine. The gossip started in the town about an unmarried woman living in his house so Elizabeth (Beth) was talked into moving.
She had no money so she was talked into living in the attic of the towns worst gossips the sisters Bunny and Pasty Homer.

The Mayor took a liking to her, and she got the job of teaching school and living in a little house on the school property. At least she had a place of her own. How will she handle all the children when some of them was bigger that she. What about two men in love with her but could she have the one she wanted or have to take one that could provide for her?

Robin Lee Hatcher always spins a great tale. I love to read about the period of the 1800s as history unfolds.

Thanks to Zondervan Publishing for sending me a copy of this book and it is my choice to do a review of it.

2011-09-15T10:57:00.001-04:00

Forsaking All Others

Allison Pittman

ISBN: 978-1-4143-3597-1

Paperback, 380 pages

Tyndale Publishers

Releases Oct. 2011

Camilla Fox is alive. The last thing she remembers is being lost in the snow after leaving her home to escape the Mormon faith she no longer calls her own. She’s been taken in by the 5th Infantry Regiment of the US Army and given over to the personal care of Captain Charles Brandon. As she regains her strength, memories of her two children she had to leave behind come flooding back, threatening to break her heart. Camilla is determined to reunite with her daughters. But when news of her father’s grave illness reaches her, she knows she must return to the family farm to reconcile with her father. As spring arrives, Camilla returns to Salt Lake City a changed woman, but nothing could prepare her for the changes to the city, to the Mormon church, and to the family she left behind.

Alone in a storm storm with only her horse to keep her alive Camilla Fox was found hanging onto her horse by Colonel Charles Brandon and some of his soldiers. She never knew they had found her but woke up days later within a tent surrounded by the US Army. She didn't know where she was just that she had ran away from the Mormon life and her husband and two little girls. She had to find a place where she could live and to get her girls away from Salt Lake City where they were being feed to worship a man instead of God. She was a Christian but had loved the young man Nathan enough to run away from her home and parents to marry him, not knowing what she was getting in for. She could pretend that she was listing to the man that spoke in there church meetings but she could not share her husband with another wife and in the same house.

This book was really a lesson to me as I have heard things about the Mormon Church but didn't know a lot as I am a Christian. I know that this story was based back when Joseph Smith was alive and may not be all true in today's life as a Mormon. But I am sure Allison Pittman did her research to write this book. All you have to do is look around this world and see that there is no way a mortal man could be in charge of it. We have no control of the weather or even out lives so there had to be a higher being that could make all of this and to control it. Folks get your Bible out and read it and you will see who the leader really is.

Thanks so much to Tyndale Publishing for sending me this free book in order for me to read it and it is my desire to do the this review.

2011-09-09T12:36:00.000-04:00

Shadows on the Sand

Gayle Roper

ISBN: 978-1-60142-084-8
Paperback, 313 pages
Multnomah Publisher

From a small town in New Jersey right on the Atlantic called Seaside everything that can happens there. There were only a few people left after Labor Day and one of them was an older lady in a motorized chair that loved to tweet about everything, so she and her friends knew what was always going on. Carrie and her sister Lindsey ran a small cafe with a few employees. There was Andi who lived with her great uncle Clooney and no one knew where she came from or was not saying. Then there was Rick that was the cook and they had a new guy Jase Peoples who was missing. Mr. Perkins was an old man that always ate in the cafe and so was an ex-cop Greg Barnes who now was the manager of a boarding house.

To get back to the story line there was also a cult called "The Pathways" and was ran by a man known as "Michael the Archangel". He took the people in and everything they owned, he also had a policy that he chose the man for the young women sixteen years and older. He always had a pre-wedding night for the young ladies and that was held in his bed. So as you can see this is turning into quite a mixture.

I think if you enjoy suspense, mystery, romance in a good clean Christian book then you will enjoy this one. I wanted to read it all the first night but my eyes would not stay open but I did finish it in two settings. Gayle always seems to please with whatever her topic is about.

I want to thank Blogging for Books for sending me this great read and it was my choice to post a review.

2011-09-05T13:55:00.001-04:00

THE HEALING

book two of Kentucky Brothers

Wanda E. Brunstetter

ISBN: 978-1-60260-683-8
Paperback, 377 pages
Barbour Publishing

About the Author:

Seek a fresh start with Amish widower Samuel Fisher as he journeys from Lancaster County to Bluegrass Country, hoping to find a balm for the grief he’s carried with him. Will this single father, burdened by yesterday’s memories, discover a new and perhaps better life in Kentucky, the land of tomorrow? Esther Beiler, who helps watch Samuel’s children, develops a crush on Samuel and a true affection for his kids. Can she win his heart, or has she already lost it to an English woman? How will God untangle star-crossed lovers when jealousies and misconceptions threaten to tear them apart?

My Thoughts:

I have read the first book in the series and as this one starts Samuel Fisher had just buried his young wife and unborn baby. He had four more children to raise now by himself and he just could not see how he was going to make it without his sweet Elsie. He got into such a state of depression that he didn't even pay any attention to his own children.

He decided to move to Kentucky where his brother Titus lived and see if he could start over. He did get work but still was very depressed. He found a young woman the friend of Titus's girlfriend that would care for his children when he worked. Esther's parents had moved back to Pennsylvania to help their son that had been diagnosed with MS.

Another young woman "Bonnie" from Organ had come to Pembroke Kentucky for her grandmother's funeral and found out that everything that had belonged to her grandmother was left to her including the old home. She decided to move there and use the old house as a bed-and-breakfast. She didn't get alone with her father at home since her mother had passed away. She is not Amish but made a lot of friends among the Amish community.

Will Samuel find peace at last or will he still stay true to his late wife. Bonnie had a secret of her own so when will she let anyone know about her past life.

Another great book written by one of the best Amish authors. I was so thrilled when I received it in the mail last week, by the request of Wanda E Brunstetter and Barbour Publishing in order for me to read and post a review.

2011-09-03T00:00:00.012-04:00

BLOG TOUR

TELLING LIES

Cathi Stoler

ISBN: 978-1603818438
Paperback, 270 pages
Camel Press

Cathi Stoler was an award-winning advertising copywriter. TELLING LIES, her first mystery/suspense novel published by Camel Press, takes on the subject of stolen Nazi art. Other novels in this series will include KEEPING SECRETS, which delves into the subject of hidden identity, and, THE HARD WAY, a story about the international diamond trade. She has also written several short stories including FATAL FLAW, which will be published online at BEAT TO A PULP and OUT OF LUCK, which will be included in the next MURDER NEW YORK STYLE Anthology from New York Sisters in Crime. In addition to Sisters in Crime, Cathi is also a member of Mystery Writers of America. You can contact Cathi at www.cathistoler.com.

This biography was provided by the author or their representative.

MY THOUGHTS:

Eight years after 9/11 there were still people missing and all were dead or were they?
Laurel Imperiole is vacationing in Florence, Italy, with Aaron Gerrard her boyfriend when they are in a museum and she runs into a man by accident, she looks at him and then walks away. She got to thinking about the man and could not get him off her mind. The more she thought the more she was sure she knew who he was and that he was supposed to have been on one of the top floors of the twin towers when the plane hit in a meeting with an art dealer. There was no way that could have been him, his wife is her best friend and she was pregnant when this accrued.

She and Aaron start to investigate and even call some of their friends in the art business and things started to look as if maybe this was Sargasso the husband of her friend.

This is the first book by Cathi that I have read and I was a little bit hesitance in getting it to review, but I really enjoyed the story and it kept my interest. The only thing that I didn't like about the book was some of the cruse words that Cathi used, I know that without them the story would not have seem so real, but I am a Christian and don't like to read these words.

Thanks to Tribute Publishing for furnishing this book for me to review and to do the tour.

2011-09-02T13:08:00.000-04:00

ELLA FINDS LOVE AGAIN

Jerry S. Eicher

ISBN: 978-0-7369-2806-9

Paperback, 284 pages

Harvest House Publishers

Bestselling author Jerry Eicher concludes the Little Valley Series with one more glimpse into young Ella's Amish world. She loves the widower Ivan Stutzman's children and enjoys caring for them. Although she is genuinely devoted to Preacher Stutzman and keenly aware of his desire to propose, her feelings for him stop short of romantic love. Yet Ella yearns for marriage and wonders if what she and Ivan have is enough.
When the handsome Englisha stops by and asks about converting to the Amish faith, Ella is intrigued and warily agrees to meet with him. Soon Ella realizes she's torn between her devotion to Ivan and his children and her growing feelings for the Englisha. With dire consequences at stake, Ella must determine what the truth is, if her feelings are dependable, and how to stay faithful to the will of God.
About This Series: The Little Valley Series follows Ella Yoder, a young independent Amish woman who has suffered the loss of her beloved fiancé. Relying on her faith and the support of her community, she picks up the pieces of her shattered life and learns to live, love, and dream again.

MY THOUGHTS:
I have had the privilege of reading the first two books in this series, and in this one Ella finally finds a love almost as good as the one she had with her intended Aden before he had gotten killed. She also was living in the house that Aden was going to build for her. She rented out the house part and she lived in the basement and kept the three little girls of Preacher Ivan Stutzman, as he had lost his wife Lois. Ella loved the little girls and assumed she would one day marry Ivan and be the mama of them. She just knew she was not in love with him as she had been Aden. Then one day an Engisha man came to her door and was wanting to join the Amish faith, she had never heard of such a thing so she sent him to the Bishop that lived down the road.

Ivan got in trouble with the ministers of the Amish as he was reading and preaching in a way they though he should not be doing. The Engisha man Robert Hayes lived with the Bishop and continued to become an Amish man. He was wanting Ella to teach him German and he dressed as an Amish man.

Things begin to get really interested about now in the book, who will Ella choice for her love, will it be Ivan, Robert or Bishop Miller?

I want to thank the Author and Harvest House for sending me this book free and it was my choice to review it.

2011-08-31T11:26:00.000-04:00

A RIVER TO CROSS

Yvonne Harris

ISBN: 978-0-7642-0805-8

Paperback, 278 pages

Bethany House Publisher

El Paso, Texas, August, 1886 as the story begins, Elizabeth Evans a widow and the daughter of a state senator and had come to help her brother with his newspaper. This part of Texas was so close to the border of Mexico that even then they were having trouble with this country. Some of the leaders in Mexico did not like what Lloyd wrote in his newspaper and killed him soon after the arrival of Elizabeth. Then she was taken with them and that is where the Texas Rangers came into the picture.

This book is so full of romance, suspense and history that I could hardly lay it down, I finished it in two sittings. I have read the first one in this series also and it was just as good. Yvonne Harris has a way to tell these historical stories.

Thanks so much to Bethany House for sending me this book at no cost to me and I chose to review it.

2011-08-30T10:41:00.001-04:00

Gabby God's Little Angel

written by Sheila Walsh

Illustrated by Marina Fedotova

ISBN: 978-1-4003-1715-8

Hardback,

Tommy Nelson Publisher

A very beautiful illustrated book about Gabby a little Angel is trailing. She is always talking and getting into trouble but when they look down on earth and see some children playing, and one of the little girls is always getting into trouble, the teacher "Parker" told Gabby that Sophie was going to be her job. The Lord had chosen Gabby to watch over Sophie and what a job that turned out to be.

The story plot is wonderful and the illustrations are out of this world. This hard back book is perfect to be read to a small child or for one that has just learned to read and they can read it themselves.

Thanks so much to BookSneeze for sending me this book for me to enjoy and read to my own great-grandchildren. It is my choice to do a review.

2011-08-28T16:00:00.001-04:00

A SOUND AMONG THE TREES

Susan Meissner

ISBN: 978-0-307-45885-8

Paperback, 352 pages

Waterbrook Press

Publisher's Description

A house shrouded in time.
A line of women with a heritage of loss.

As a young bride, Susannah Page was rumored to be a Civil War spy for the North, a traitor to her Virginian roots. Her great-granddaughter Adelaide, the current matriarch of Holly Oak, doesn’t believe that Susannah’s ghost haunts the antebellum mansion looking for a pardon, but rather the house itself bears a grudge toward its tragic past.

When Marielle Bishop marries into the family and is transplanted from the arid west to her husband’s home, it isn’t long before she is led to believe that the house she just settled into brings misfortune to the women who live there.

My Thoughts:

Susan Meissner has written a very interested tale about an old historical house located in Virginia. The matriarch of Holly Oak is the great-granddaughter Adelaide of Susannah Page.
When Adelaide's granddaughter Sara was brought to her by Adelaide's daughter when she was a baby and left for her to raise. Sara had been raised in this house and married and had two children but she and the baby died when she tried to have her third child, but her husband Carson and children continued to live there. When Carson decided to re-marry he brought his new bride Marielle to live there also, even though he really was not related to Adelaide anymore.

Everyone in the town though the old house was haunted by Susanne and Adelaide's friends she called "The old blue haired ladies" really didn't let it rest, they went as far as to bring in someone that could tell if there was a spirit located in the home.

I found this book so very interesting as Adelaide made Civil war uniforms for the rein-actors and I also did this for a few years so it was really interested to me. I related to all she talked about when she was sewing the garments, but the funny thing about this was that "The Real Uniforms" has also been made in the house during the Civil War. And a cannon ball still was en-bedded in the side of the house.

Thanks so much to Blogging for Books for sending me this advanced readers copy to read and review.

2011-08-26T11:27:00.000-04:00

A QUAKER CHRISTMAS

Four-one-collection

Lauralee Bliss

Ramona K. Cecil

Rachael Phillips

Claire Sanders

ISBN: 9781616264796

Barbour Publisher

Pre-Order

FOUR stories in one book! As these four ladies got together and compiled all these stories about the Quakers and I begin to read, I was so thrilled. Each story tells about a family that is related to the Quaker type of living.

As Lauralee Bliss begins the book with "A Crossroad to Love" near a crossroad near Wyanesville, Ohio in the year of 1846. Silas Jones was on his way to Independence and wanted to get there before the snow got too bad but his horse had other thoughts as his hoof was infected and Silas had to get off. Now he wondered where he was and how he was going to get to Independence when a man came alone that spoke like a Quaker and told him there was a house just up the way. That is when this story really begins.

The second story "Simple Gifts" by Ramona Cecil begins with Lucinda Hughes, pregnant and a widow was struggling to try to make it on her own, but she had some help with her late husband's friend Will Davis. He always stopped by from his work at the mill, where her husband had been killed. Lucinda was disappointed in her faith and God because of her young husband's death, so she had even stopped going to the "Friends Meetings". Will she get back into the Friends faith or will she just give up on God.

The third story "Pirate of My Heart" is written by Rachael Phillips and features Keturah Wilkes, she loves God but is questioning the Quaker Faith as their belief on celebrating Christmas. She loved to decorate but her family did not, so she slipped and made some Christmas items just for herself. She meets a young man named Henry Mangum that came from a family that didn't mind stealing from others and drinking and having a good time, but he had been to a meting that had opened his eyes to the wrong way of life. He had started going to the meetings where Keturah went but his handsome brother also noticed the pretty young woman, who will win her hand or will both of them lose to someone else?

The fourth story "Equally Yoked" by Claire Sanders features the "underground railroad" and finds Susanna Griffith alone with her young husband gone to help with another person with this project. She finds herself alone when a young pregnant run-away slave comes to her door so she takes her in to help her. How will Susanna handle this and what if she gets caught?

This book was sent to me by one of the authors Lauralee Bliss for me to read and I chose to review it.

2011-08-24T11:18:00.000-04:00

VIGILANTE

Robin Parrish

ISBN: 9780764206085

Paperback, 363 pages

Bethany House Publishers

Nolan Gray was being held with a gun to his head and he knew he was about to die, so what happened? I started to read this story and found it quite challenging. Nolan was dead and then he wasn't. He had been in the service and had been captured and in prison with the President of the United States when he was in the service. So upon the death of Nolan President Thornton Hastings knew what a brave man he was and what suffering he took for the other men that was captured nine years before, so he planned a great service for Nolan and wanted him buried at Arlington.

Meanwhile Nolan was listening to all that was being said and done for his passing while he was preparing for the greatest adventure of all. He hoped to save the US from the terrorist that was planning on destroying us.

This book would be really interesting to someone that likes to read about war and the mean things that are happening around us, but I didn't enjoy it.

Thanks to Bethany House for sending me this book to review.

2011-08-22T11:15:00.000-04:00

DRY AS RAIN

Gina Holmes

ISBN: 978-1-4143-3306-9

Paperback. 388 pages

Tyndale Publisher

Read the first Chapter Here

My Review:

This is my first time reading one of Gina Holmes' books and I know it will not be my last. A very good story that just kept me turning page after page.

As Eric and Kyra Yoshida has thought their marriage was over, Krya was in an accident that left some of her memory gone, as she didn't remember that they were separated. Their only son Benji had just left for the navy as this was what he had always wanted. He was more of a mama's boy than his dad's, so this had really turned Kyra's life around alone with the separation from her husband.

Eric worked as a car salesman and as this was not the job he wanted it made the most money so he had taken a job and moved his family from their home by the sea to this fancy neighborhood. where none of them was happy.

As the story continues it will tell things about a marriage that happens to almost everyone, but can they overcome this and do as they had promised God when they married that "Death do they part?"

This book was sent to me by Tyndale Publications for my review.

2011-08-21T14:50:00.000-04:00

The Harvest of Grace

Cindy Woodsmall

ISBN: 978-1-4000-7398-6

Paperback, 357 pages

WaterBrook Press

Excerpt

My Thoughts:

Cindy has written some good Amish books and I own all of them. But this one got me a little confused, it keep bouncing from one person to the other and was a little hard to keep up with. But after I got into the book a little further it became clearer.

Sylvia Fisher was not like most young Amish women, she didn't like to do housework but had rather be outside raising the herd of milking cows that her father owned. She could be up all night when there was trouble with a birth and she could manage the diary by herself. But when the man that wanted her to marry him and she had put off, come up engaged to her sister, she could not stay around and watch them get married. So she saw a notice where an older man needed someone to help him with his diary, she talked her dad into letting her apply for this job and she got it. She moved to the farm in another town but it was so run down and they were so in debt, she didn't know if she could save it or not. Then their son came home and everything changed as he hated the diary and farming but started to help his parents out but he was wanting them to sell the farm and to move into town with him.

Thanks to Waterbrook Press for sending me this book to review .

2011-08-18T13:17:00.000-04:00

BELONGING

Robin Lee Hatcher

Paperback, 277 pages

Zondervan Publisher

My Thoughts:

Boise, Idaho, 1897 as Felicia Brennan Kristoffrsen had traveled from Wyoming to Idaho for a teaching position. She had lost her adopted parents a few day apart. Then she found out that she had never been adopted so everything that she thought she would inherit was lost to a cousin and not a nice one at that. So she did the best thing she felt was right for her was to go to another part of the country and start over. She had never taught school but had the training for it, as she entered into Frenchman's Bluff, Idaho. She had no money and no where to go but she found that the town had a little house for her and she begin to teach and to love the town and her students.

She did wonder what had happened over the years of her brother and sister after they were sent west on the Orphan train. The first little girl she meet was Charity, the man that owned her home's daughter. He ran the general store and he and his little girl lived in the back of the store as she had built the little house for his wife but she died and they had never lived in it. Felicia really begin to love Charity, but one of the school board members did not want a single woman there as the teacher as she had her daughter-in-law and her three children living in her home. She didn't want another single woman living that close to Colin the store keeper, she wanted him for her daughter-in-law. A very bossy woman was Mrs Summerville.

Will Felicia be able to withstand the gossip and talk that Mrs Summerville starts about her. She has no other place to go.

I want to thank Zondervan Publishing for sending me this book to read and review.

My Review of Sleeveless printed lounger by Only Necessities®

2011-08-17T10:57:00.001-04:00

Originally submitted at WomanWithin

Sleeveless printed lounger...so easy-to-wear with a scoop neckline, shirred front and back yoke and patch pockets. We offer the best price and fit in plus size loungers.

full-sweep hem; 44" long
washable cotton/polyester woven poplin; USA or imported<...

Sleeveless printed lounger

By Mama T from South Carolina on 8/17/2011

Pros: Summer, Comfortable, Cool, Nice Design, Wore 4 years, Confortable, Well Made, Soft, Washes Well

Cons: None

Best Uses: At home

Describe Yourself: Casual Dresser

Was this a gift?: No

I have been wearing these dresses for years, as I don't like to wear shorts and pants are just too hot for me to wear in the house every day I wear these dresses. They hold up well washing after washing, and I still have some that I have worn for years.

great product, just wish they were made in America!

(legalese)

2011-08-13T15:14:00.000-04:00

Cherished

Kim Cash Tate

ISBN:1595548556

Paperback, 336 pages

Thomas Nelson Publisher

Product Description

Kelli London once dreamed of being a songwriter. As crazy as it seemed, she hoped that God would use the lyrics that came to her while she slept. She dreamed about Brian too, that the love that they shared would be a forever kind of love. But choices she'll forever regret upended her hope and turned her dreams to dust. When those dreams come knocking once more, she's forced to deal with the pain of the past.Heather Anderson's life has spun out of control--first an affair with a married man, then a one-night stand with a drummer of a popular Christian band that left her devastated. Broken and alone, she cried out to the only One who can save her. And He did, but that's just the beginning, because now she must leave behind the only life she has ever known.
Two women with shame-filled pasts form an unlikely friendship. What does God's forgiveness look like for them? Will they ever believe that He loves them...and can still offer them a life where they are cherished?

My Review:

Kelli London was playing the piano and singing a song that she had wrote at one of her brother's weddings. She wished she didn't have to sing this song as she had wrote it about a love that she had and lost, so the song just didn't sit well with her. She longed to become a song writer but some of the choices she has made in the past still comes back to haunt her.

Then the book also features Heather Anderson and she was wanting to become a recording artist, and she had meet Ace Vincent when she had been in St Louis in a club and he was a drummer and song writer in a Christian Rock Band. She had really liked him and now she was about to meet him again in Indianapolis.

Will these two young women get "Cherished" as they have always dreamed by a loving man? You will need to buy the book to find out.

Thanks to BookSneeze for sending me a copy of this book to review.

2011-08-07T00:00:00.006-04:00

BLOG TOUR

REPAIRING RAINBOWS

Lynda Fishman

ISBN: 0986607401

Paperback, 303 pages

A True Story

A True Story of Family, Tragedy, and Choices At thirteen years old, Lynda’s life comes to a disastrous halt when her mother and two younger sisters are killed in a plane crash. Her father, overcome by despair, simply continues to exist, in a state devoid of hope. After burying a wife and two young children at the age of 44, the overwhelming responsibility of raising a daughter alone completely immobilizes him.
Teetering on that tender brink between childhood and adolescence, Lynda faces the responsibility of a father in a complete state of shock, a house to take care of and hundreds of decisions about how to proceed with their shattered lives.
In Repairing Rainbows she candidly describes the agonizing memories, deafening silence and endless hardships that are the fallout of incredible loss. As we follow her through marriage, motherhood and her own spiritual journey, Lynda reveals her complex feelings of hope, anger, pity and determination. Most importantly, she learns the crucial difference between “truly living” and the existence that is so often mistaken for being alive.
A true story, written by a woman whose normal and abundant life hides a terrible past, Repairing Rainbows is loaded with important lessons to help others overcome struggles and obstacles, and fulfill their lives. It is a powerful, captivating, riveting and easy-to-read story that will undoubtedly touch the hearts of its readers.

Lynda Fishman's Bio:

Barry has spent his entire career working in the health care and pharmaceutical industry. He is PresidIn 1970, when she was thirteen years old, Lynda’s life came to a disastrous halt when her mother and two younger sisters were killed in an Air Canada plane crash.

As a young teen, Lynda made a conscious decision to become happy and to lead a fulfilled life. Lynda chose to live. She was committed to learning, growing and making a difference. Determined to find meaning and purpose in her life, she managed to muster up the courage and strength to dream big, to be idealistic, to strive for more, and to live a meaningful life where she could make a difference in the lives of others.

Lynda Fishman is a trained clinical social worker who has spent over twenty years as a camp director. In the early 90s, Lynda was one of the first camp directors in the Toronto area to incorporate children with special needs into mainstream camp life. Lynda has devoted a lifetime to organized camping and is passionate about the positive role of camping in a person’s life. She is the owner and director of Adventure Valley Day Camp.

Lynda is a motivational and inspirational speaker and facilitator. She has published articles and training manuals on leadership, teamwork, bullying, trust, childhood health and wellness, communication and customer service.

Lynda’s husband, Barry Fishman, has his own amazing story to share, having been orphaned at age 17 and left alone to care for his brother with special needs. Lynda and Barry met as teenagers and have been together since then. They have three grown children, and the whole family is heavily involved in supporting children dealing with tragedy, cancer or other life-threatening diseases, fund-raising and charity events.ent and CEO of the Canadian operations for the world’s largest generic pharmaceutical company, Teva Pharmaceuticals. Barry serves on the Board of Directors of the Childhood Cancer Foundation.

Lynda is a woman of action. She has incredible enthusiasm for life. She is persistent, focused and faithful to her dreams and goals. She is willing to work for everything with patience, optimism and determination. She finds ways to be grateful and positive. Lynda goes out there and does what she has to do with a CAN DO attitude of gratitude, positivity, compassion, and honesty.

MY THOUGHT:

At thirteen years of age Lynda alone with her grandparents, parents and two younger sisters were preparing for a trip by plane. The father had to wait a week before he could go and she went first with her grandparents to get the apartment ready for the family to vacation in. Her mother and two younger sisters Carla and Wendy were coming the next day.

After they had arrived and had the apartment cleaned a phone call came and they were told that the plane Lynda's Mother and sisters were on had crashed. They later learned that they all were dead. What a sad time for them all, had to believed as they could not even do a funeral until some part of the remains were found and identified. Soon the youngest little girl was identified and then the very sad thing of the Jewish funeral for precious little Wendy. They when the mother and Carla were identified another round of a Jewish funeral. This would stay with Lynda all her life.

Her father was never the same and years later he remarried but as the storybooks say, Lynda had a bad step-mom. She was rich but had to have everything her way and Lynda's father just went alone as he was still so broken and not his self.

This story was so touching and so sad to me, I just wanted to cry alone with Lynda. I can relate to her in some ways as my dad died when I was eight but my Mother didn't re-marry but we had a hard life. There were ten of us but I am the youngest and now have had to watch eight of them and my Mother die.

Thanks so much to Tribute Books for sending me this book to read and review.

2011-08-05T15:24:00.000-04:00

RACE AGAINST TIME

Kimberley and Kayla R. Woodhouse

Paperback, 352 pages

ISBN:1433671174

November 1, 2011

B abd H Publishers

Product Description

Anesia Naltsiine has made mistakes that have cost her-and her 13-year old daughter, Zoya-dearly. But no more. She will prove her worth as a mother and as a breeder of champion sprint racing dogs. Her kennel is so successful that buyers come from all over the world. So why does she still feel so worthless?

Zoya misses the dad she never knew. All she wants is to follow in his footsteps as a champion sprint dog racer. But when she witnesses a murder in their town of North Pole, Alaska, she finds herself thrown into dangers and emotions she can’t begin to understand.

Enter Sean Connelly, a new employee at the kennel with demons of his own. When he discovers macrochips bearing military secrets implanted in the Naltsiine's dogs, a puzzle tracing back to the murder unfolds. Then strange "accidents" start happening; clearly someone wants Zoya silenced. Anesia tells her daughter it's not safe to race, but Zoya, angry with the world- and God-takes off across dangerous Alaskan terrain alone. Anesia and Sean must race against time to save the girl-and themselves.

Kimberley Woodhouse is a wife, mother, author, and musician with a quick wit and positive outlook despite difficult circumstances. A popular speaker, she's shared at more than 600 venues across the country. Kimberley and her family's story have garnered national media attention for many years, but most recently her family was chosen for ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, The Montel Williams Show, and Discovery Health channel's Mystery ER. Welcome Home: Our Family's Journey to Extreme Joy, releases from Tyndale House Publishers September first. In addition to her non-fiction, she also writes romantic suspense and children's books. Kimberley lives, writes, and homeschools in Colorado with her husband and two children in their truly "extreme" home. kimberleywoodhouse.com
Find Kim on twitter and facebook: twitter.com/kimwoodhouse
author fan page Kimberley Woodhouse

Kayla has a rare medical disorder Hereditary Sensory Autonomic that keeps her body from feeling pain as we do and her cooling function doesn't kick in until her body reaches a lethal high temperature. To learn more about this disorder go here.

My Thoughts:

This book starts with a bang and keeps you on your toes all the way through. Anesia Naltsiine lives in North Pole Alaska with her thirteen year old daughter Zoya. They run a dog kennel and race through the Alaskan snow. Zoya's dad died before she was born so she was very jealous of her best friend that has had two dads. Zoya wants to follow in her dad's footsteps as a champion racer, she feels that this will make her dad proud. But on a trail run she witnessed a murder of a homeless man or so everyone thought. Then thing begin to happen that just was not right in their world.

She and her mother was in danger and Anesia felt like she needed a man to live on the property in a cabin behind their house to help her and to keep watch over them and the very pricey dogs. So in come Sean Connelly a newcomer to North Pole. But after Anesia's friends checked him out there was nothing on him that would harm them, so he was hired and moved in.

This book will keep you turning page after page, you will not want to put it down. This is the second book in this series as the first one is "Safe Haven". This can be read alone but I think that if the two books were read back to back you would understand the story more.

Thanks so much to B and H Publishing for sending me this advanced copy of this book to review.

2011-08-03T14:06:00.000-04:00

Still More Stories from Grandma’s Attic

and

Treasures from Grandma’s Attic by Arleta Richardson

David C Cook/August 2011

160 pages/paperback/$6.99

ISBN: 978-0-7814-0381-8 and 978-0-7814-0382-5

About the Author: The late Arleta Richardson grew up an only child in Chicago, living in a hotel on the shores of Lake Michigan. Under the care of her maternal grandmother, she listened for hours to stories from her grandmother’s childhood. With unusual recall, Arleta began to write these stories for an audience that now numbers over two million. “My grandmother would be amazed to know her stories have gone around the world,” Arleta said.

My Thoughts:

I have read the first two books about Grandma's Attic and these two are just as charming. As I am a grandma I know how these stories can get told to those little ears that does not believe you were ever small. I love to see the look in their eyes when I tell them something in my past just as Arleta Richardson does about her Grandma. She makes each chapter a different story and they are so interesting. In book three I loved the way Grandma and her best friend Sarah Jane could come up with something all the time to get them in trouble. I guess the best one from these two books was the story where Arleta had ordered something free from a catalog and it was some anti wrinkle cream. She and Sarah read in an aunt's magazine where you could mix honey, wax and lemons together and when it cooled you put it on your face and it was take the wrinkles off and also freckles. They didn't have wrinkles but Arleta had freckles, so they slipped and mixed all of this up and carried it upstairs and put it on their faces. They didn't know how lone to wait but when they though they had waited long enough they tried to get it off and there was no way they could get the hard stuff from their faces. So they had to tell the Ma and when it came off it tool skin and freckles. They decided then that was something they would never try again.

Both of the books have chapter after chapter with stories as this. It is great for an old great-grandma as myself to read and also to read to your children and grandchildren. So good!!

Thanks to B and B Media Group for sending me these two books to review.

2011-08-03T13:37:00.000-04:00

WAGERED HEART

Robin Lee Hatcher

ISBN: 0310259266

Paperback

Zondervan Publisher

Synopsis:
Bethany Silverton can’t resist the challenge of charming a rough cowboy. But when she makes an innocent wager, unexpected results could turn a little flirtation into a lifetime of love. A sheltered preacher’s daughter stakes her heart on love in this action-filled romance in the wild west of 1880s Montana.

My Thoughts:

As Bethany Siverton and her parents has left Philadelphia to come to Montana so that her father could begin a church. He was a preacher and Bethany didn't want to leave the large city when all the parties were held. But she found out that she really liked Montana when she met Hawk Chandler who is one fourth Indian but was looked down on by the people he met, He owned a ranch that had a lot of water and another rancher Vince Richards wanted so that he could control all the ranches in the area. But Hank was not selling so all kind of things begin to happen to his cattle and he was even beat up.

But nothing would change Bethany's heart that she really cared for him. Her friend Ingrid who they had taken on with them when her parents died on the trip to Montana. She lived with the Silvertons as their own daughter. She met Rand when they first came to town and fell in love with him.

This book has romance and also so suspense woven throughout, making it an interesting read.

Thanks to Zondervan Publisher for sending me this book to review.

2011-08-02T00:00:00.015-04:00

GLASS ROAD'S BLOG TOUR
of
RIVER'S SONG
by
Melody Carlson

Paperback 286 pages
Abingdon Press

Publication Date: 08/2011

Order here

Description

Following her mother’s funeral, and on the verge of her own midlife crisis, widow Anna Larson returns to the home of her youth to sort out her parents’ belongings, as well as her own turbulent life. Her relationship with her daughter is in shambles, and the tension between Anna and her vicious mother-in-law escalates daily.
Anna's unique family home sits on a picturesque coastal tributary and is filled with years of memories. For the first time since childhood, Anna embraces her native heritage and river roots. But Anna soon learns that more than just her past resides along the banks of the Siuslaw River.
By transforming her old family home into The Inn at Shining Waters, Anna hopes to create a place of healing—a place where guests experience peace, grace, and new beginnings.
Starting with her own family . . .

First Chapter:

MY THOUGHTS:

As Anna Larson returns to her old home after her mother's death on Orgon's Siuslaw River she left behind her nineteen year old daughter and her mother-in-law whom thinks she is their slave. She had lost her husband and her mother-in-law is a very controling woman so she told Anna that the only choice she had was to move into her large house. So not knowing any better Anna moved herself and little daughter in with the woman and found that she was expected to be the cook, be the laundry lady and the house keeper as her mother-in-law taught her daughter that this was how Anna was to repaid for living in this house.

But after Anna got back to the river and saw her Mother's home that she had grown up in she just decided to stay and try to make it on her own. She wanted her daughter to come live with her but she is not certain if she will.

As she found her place on the river as she was half Indian and soon found out that her mother-in-law had been holding out on her as far as her money was concerned. Anna's husband had been in the service and died after coming home but something that happened while he was serving out country. He was also was running the mill that his father had started, but Anna was not supposed to know all of this.

This was a very good book and showed how women can be used and denied things that are really hers. I read this in two settings I just didn't want to put it down.

Thanks to Leann Hamby and Glass Roads for sending me this book to review and do the tour.

2011-07-31T15:01:00.000-04:00

ALONG WOODED PATHS

Tricia Goyer

A Big Sky Novel

Second in Series

ISBN: 9781433668692

Releases October 1, 2011

BH Publishing Group

My Thoughts:

As I began to read this book, I remembered I had the first in the series "Beside Still Water" I didn't think this one was as good but it is an unedited edition and had a lot of mistakes. But that is fine as I received the book from B and H Publishing for sending it to me to read and review.

As Marianna Sommer and her family was trying to get used to the move from Indiana to Montana. She had left her love behind but as she started to return she decided she was not ready and turned around on the way and came back to her family. She had meet some Englishers there that she really was interested in and really liked Ben, so she was torned between Ben and the Amish man Aaron she left behind.

She worked in a restaurant that was run by the English and she begin to notice the different in their beliefs in God and the Bible. She could not understand why the English could pray out loud and do the things they did and she had to be so limited in the Amish faith. If God loved the English in the same way then why would they not love the Amish in the same way. So she begin to slip around and read an English Bible and to ask questions.

A very good book as this is the first one that I have read where an Amish questioned the difference between the faiths as this family does. Be sure to pre-order this one or pick it up as soon as you see it on the shelves.

2011-07-29T13:14:00.000-04:00

THE FIRST GARDENER

Denise Hildreth Jones

Paperback: 432 pages

ISBN: 9781414335582
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers,

Releases August 2011

MY THOUGHTS:

This book is so interesting I hated to put it down. It covers the loss of a child in a car accident and the miscarriage of 5 more children, The Governor of Tennessee and his wife were having a time of trying to have a baby and then when at last they had a little girl she was the light of their lives and all the people that worked in the Governor's mansion, but Maddie their little daughter had just started school and been going for about three days when the accident happened that took her young life. It had taken them ten years to get Maddie so she was so special as a child can only be.

Denise really brought everything to life in this book, there was the old gardener Jeremiah that had worked for a number of governors as their gardener and he really liked this family. Then Mackenzie the "First Lady" had her mother "Eugenia trying to tell everyone what to do alone with her old friends Dimples, Berlyn, and Sandra. Now this was a group of older ladies that will make you laugh.

After Maddie was killed Eugenia and Gray London (the Governor) found themselves pregnant again but will she be able to carry this baby to full term? She lost this one also when she was six months alone and it put her in such a state of depression she just wanted to die. Everyone did everything they could to try to pull her out of it. It is time for Gray to announce if he was going to run for another term as Governor but was they mentally able after this past year.

This book was really good and I will give it a 5 and I read a lot. I just had to finish this one as I had it started before I had a cataract taken off my eye, it only stopped me from reading one night and then the other nights I could not read as long.

Thanks so much for Tyndale Publishing for sending me this book to enjoy and review.

2011-07-24T12:10:00.000-04:00

RESTLESS IN CAROLINA

Tamara Leigh

ISBN: 9781601421685

Paperback, 342 pages

Multnomah Publishing

Bridget Pickwick-Buchanan runs a nursery and loves the outdoors. She has been a widow for four years but just can't let her husband go, she still wears her wedding band.

But as the family estate is going to have to be sold as her uncle Obe is now the full owner of the Pickwick mansion and the lands around it. But he has the early stages of dementia and wants to get the property sold and dived up to his neices before he can't remember at all anymore. This property sits just outside Ashville, N.C. so she is really a tom boy from the south instead of a belle.

Bridget alone with Piper and her other cousins are in control of getting this done and the best price for the property. Then alone comes two guys that both are interesting in buying it, there is the rich J.C. Dirk and Caleb Merriman.

Now there is the challenge of picking the person that will keep the property experimental safe, as the family is really into saving the planet.

I really enjoyed this book as Bridget is really a funny person but also I live in SC and have been to Ashville a number of times and also to the famous Biltmore House.

Thanks so much to Blogging for Books for sending me this copy of the book to review.

2011-07-22T09:21:00.000-04:00

THE MUIR HOUSE

Mary DeMuth

ISBN: 9780310330332

Paperback, 325 pages

Zondervan Publisher

My Thoughts:

Willa was going back home after quite a few years to help get the old funeral home that her Dad and Mom used to run into a bed and breakfast. It belongs to her but she did not have a happy childhood growing up there. It seemed to her as her Mom never loved her but she was a Daddy's girl. There was part of her memory that she could not place so she though maybe by going back she could remember her four year old year.

She took a leave from her job and her current boyfriend that has just given her a ring and went back home. Her Mom was in a nursing home and she had not seem her since the day she left when her Mom told her to leave and to never come back. She had been back once when her Dad died. The place was left in the care of Genie a friend of the family. Genie was the one that was going to run the bed and breakfast and lived in a little studio apartment on the property.

As the story took form I already could read between the lines what her young life had been.

The first part of the book was a good read and I really enjoyed it but the last half to me was a little liking, So I really skipped some of it and got to the end but it didn't happen as I thought it was going too, so Mary DeMuth really had me fooled. It really is a good read and to find out what Willa was wanting to know will surprise you as well.

Thanks to Zondervan Publishing for sending me this book to read and to review.

2011-07-18T10:05:00.000-04:00

TREASURING EMMA

Kathleen Fuller

ISBN: 9781595547750

Paperback, 310 pages

releases August 1, 2011

Thomas Nelson Publisher

Emma has put everyone else first in her life. Now at nearly 25, has she missed her chance at marriage?
Emma was Adam's first love but circumstances made them both choose different paths in life. Emma's heart breaks all over again when Adam returns to the Amish community of Middlefield, Ohio, years later.
For the past ten years, Emma has been raising her siblings after their parents' untimely death. She's put their needs above her own and now, with them grown, she can focus on herself and her dream of opening a yarn store in the vacant cider house on her land.
With Adam's return come feelings Emma's long buried. They're older and life hasn't turned out the way they thought it would. Adam's feelings for Emma are stronger than ever, but will he be able to convince her to put others aside and give their love a chance?

My Thoughts:

Emma had just buried her mother whom had died from cancer. She had been there to take care of her and also her grandmother. her sister Clair had a family of her own but never once tried to help out so it had really been hard for Emma to care for her loved ones and to take care of the animals and the farm and home. She just could not keep up with all of it so she did what she could and let the rest go.

Adam an old sweetheart of hers lived in Michigan but when he received a letter telling him his mother was not well, he packed his bags and headed to Ohio. He was born and raised Amish but as he saw how the English lived he just could not take it anymore, so he had been sunned. As Adam was Emma's old love how will they take meeting each other again as he had left her with a broken heart.

As always Kathleen Fuller spins a great tale and this one is no exception. She has even added some suspense into this story and I though that it made the book more interesting.

Thanks to Book Sneeze for providing me this copy to read and review.

2011-07-17T13:18:00.001-04:00

THE COLONEL'S LADY

Laur Frantz

Coming August 1, 2011

Pre-Order

Paperback, 408 pages

ISBN: 9780800733414

Revell Publicaton

I was so glad to receive this book had been waiting on it a year. Laura know how to write the prefect historical fiction story. She always puts in some real things and then she make up some of the things so you really have to read her Author's notes in order to know the deference.

This story begins November 1779 in Kentucke Territory and finds the main character Roxanna Rowan in a cave with four ladies of the night and a little girl names Abby. They were on their way up the river and she was on her way to a remote fort in Kentucke where her father was stationed. She had lost her mother and the debtors had taken everything else so she had no where else to go. She did not intend to be on the same boat as the other ladies but some people had gotten off and they got on so she had no choice. The boat was attacked and one of the men had taken all the women and the little girl and made a run for it, he got them to the cave but he lay dead with an arrow in his back in the cave with the women. When it got day light they all decided to make a run for it and to see if they could make it to the fort.

But all the trouble they found out once Roxie got there, she didn't know if they should have just died at the hand of the Indians or the British, Just a say stay the fort was in but Colonel Cassius McLinn was doing the best he could with his men and there was only one other woman at the fort before these came and she was a wife of Hank and also the cook and everything else that was needing to be done so she really was happy to see all the women show up.

I will stop here before I give the plot away but this is really a great Historical story about when the Colonies, the Indians and the Red Coats were in battle for the land.

Thanks so much Laura Frantz for having the copy of this book sent to me by Revell Publication so that I could read and enjoy the book and also give my review.

2011-07-12T00:00:00.003-04:00

BLOG TOUR

for

IN TRANSIT

Kathleen Gerard

ISBN: 9781591419665

Hardcover, 284 pages

PG rated

Five Star Publishing

Book Description:
Can a rookie cop survive the men who cross her path in the NYPD?

When a psychic in a shopping mall tells Rita Del Vecchio that she is "destined for greatness," and she will "marry a man in uniform," the restless, wet-behind-the-ears, 22 year-old decides to finally take control of her life. Rita sets out on a quest to become a New York City Police Officer. But can a spry, feisty, single woman thrive in the gritty world of New York's Finest?

Leaving behind the suburbs of New Jersey and a job as an under-tipped waitress, Rita Del Vecchio hangs up her apron and ballet slippers for a bullet-proof vest. But will she wear it? And if she does, will it protect her on the mean streets of Manhattan? Can it also protect her from Cupid’s arrows if they should land amiss?

Rita is assigned to the New York City Transit Police Squad and gets more than she bargained for. Riding the Lexington Avenue Subway Line, Rita winds up meeting not one man in uniform, but many. Whom will she love?

In Transit is a woman-in-jeopardy story that delves into the ordinary lives of NYPD career cops and how their fates are often determined by people who hold secrets as dark and as labyrinth-like as the New York City Subway System.

READ Chapter one here!

Kathleen Gerard's Bio:Kathleen Gerard writes across genres. Her fiction has been awarded The Perillo Prize, The Eric Hoffer Prose Award and was nominated for Best New American Voices, all national prizes in literature. Her prose and poetry have been widely published in magazines, literary journals, anthologies and broadcast on National Public Radio (NPR). Several of her plays have been staged and performed regionally and off-Broadway.

My Review:

Rita Del Vecchio lives in New Jersey and works as a waitress and does not make enough money for her to live comfortable on. When she was in a mall she meet a psychic and the tell Rita that she was destined for great things but she would have to leave what she is used too. She decides to take a change and applies for a job as a policeman in New York City. As she goes through the training she really has a hard time and her instructor makes fun of her and she takes dancing lessons also. She can not finish the last course to be able to graduate but he feels sorry for her and passes her anyway.

She gets caught up in the middle of an Internal Affairs investigation to try and find out who the bad cops are on the force of the NYCP and she finds out who her secret admirer is.

If you are into police stories with all their plots and scams on how to catch the bad guy or girls then you will really enjoy this book.

I received this Advanced Reader's Copy from Tribute books for me to do this tour and review.

2011-07-06T10:05:00.000-04:00

LOOK TO THE EAST

Maureen Lang

ISBN: 9781414338958

Paperback 357 pages

Tyndale Publications

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Avillage under siege. A love under fire.
France, 1914
At the dawn of the First World War, the small village of Briecourt is isolated from the early battles while a century-old feud between the Toussaints and the de Colvilles still rages in the streets. But when the German army sweeps in to occupy the town, families on both sides of the feud are forced to work together to hide stragglers caught behind enemy lines.
Juliette Toussaint may have been adopted from a faraway island, but she feels the scorn of the de Colvilles as much as anyone born a Toussaint. So when she falls in love with one of the men in hiding—a wealthy and handsome Belgian entrepreneur—she knows she’s flirting with danger.
Charles Lassone has been waiting in the church cellar, safe from the Germans for the moment. But if he’s discovered, it will threaten the entire village—including Julitte—and could cost Charles his life.

MY REVIEW:

As always Maureen Lang came through again in this novel in "The Great War Series". In 1914 Briecourl, Northern France the country was at war with Germany and a lot of the towns people had left as the Germans were headed that way. There was a fued between the de Colvilles and the Toussanints and it had been going on for a hundred years and so no really knew what it was about.

Julitte Toussaint had been adopted as a child and she is right in the middle of it. She tried to endure all the talk and folklore about her heritage.

As the Germans came closer a few men were trapped in the woods trying to leave Briecourl when the great army came through so they had no where to go. They came back to town and they were hid with different families and one in the church basement. But could they be trusted and what about all the Germans taking over homes and places of business? Will the feud ever end?

I love history so this was a really great book for me so I want to thank Tyndale Publishers for sending me this free copy for me to enjoy and review.

2011-07-04T12:16:00.001-04:00

Pirate of My Heart

Jamie Carie

Paperback

ISBN: 9780805448153

B and H Publishing

Released September 2011

My Thoughts:

Lady Kendra Townsend was an only child as he mother died giving birth to her, as she and her father lived in England. Her father had a twin brother but he was not nice at all and he gambled everything he could get his hands on and always came to his brother Edward to bail him out. But this time it took everything Edward had to bail him out so he and Kendra had to live being very poor. Edward died and Andrew the twin took over the title and came to the castle and also was going to make Kendra marry an old man just so he could get the inheritance that was left to her from her grandmother once she married. She refused to marry the old man so her uncle shipped her off to America to her mother's sister that Kendra had never met.

On the ship that she traveled on she was the only passenger as it was a cargo ship only but she was treated kind and was watched to be sure none of the sailors bothered her. The captain of the ship is Dorian Colburg and he really liked her but was determined never to marry again as he was married once before and his wife died.

What will Kendra find when she gets to America and to her aunt and uncle's place?

This is really a good book if you love romance, and adventure, Jamie Carie writes very good books as I have read a lot of her books.
Thanks to B and H for sending me this advanced readers edition of this book to read and review.

2011-07-01T18:43:00.000-04:00

Summer Dream

by Martha Rogers

9781616383602

A Heart in Need of Redemption. An Unlikely Love. And a God Who Can Bring Them Together.
As the daughter of a small-town minister in Connecticut, Rachel Winston fears that the only way she’ll ever find a husband is to visit her aunt in Boston for the social season. But when Nathan Reed arrives in town, she can’t help but wonder if he could be the one.
Although attracted to Rachel, Nathan has no desire to become involved with a Christian after experiences with his own family. What’s more, until he resolves his anger with God and his family, he has no chance of courting her.

When Nathan is caught in a devastating blizzard and lies near death in the Winston home, Rachel and her mother give him a lesson in love and forgiveness that leads him back to his home in the South. Will he make peace with his family and return before Rachel chooses a path that takes her away from him?

MY THOUGHTS:

A small town minister's daughter Rachel Winston is so afraid that she will never find a husband but she does have a very good friend Daniel Monroe who is the brother of her best friend and she grew up with. She really cared for Daniel but not as a future husband but as a friend. He had gone to college and had come home to be a lawyer and his room mate at school had come to visit, Nathan Reed was not a Christian but would not tell why he didn't believe. He grew up in the North Carolina but didn't want to tell anyone why he didn't want to go back home.

Rachel's aunt wanted her to come visit her in Boston but it was winter and very cold. She did go in the spring months and carried her best friend Abigale with her. So they went but she could not forget Nathan, but he had some issues he had to fix with his family and he may never come back to visit his friend Daniel.

Will Rachel find a love in Boston or will she come back home to see how things go with Daniel or will she wait and see if Nathan makes peach with God and his family?

This book was sent to be by Charisma Media for me to read and review.

2011-06-29T00:00:00.003-04:00

It's Blog Tour Time!

The Constantine Codex

by Paul L. Maier

June 29, 2011

ISBN: 9781414337746

Paperback, 394 pages

Tyndale Publishing

Releases 6/01/11

Pre-order here

http://www.paulmaier.com/

A shocking discovery throws Harvard professor Jonathan Weber into the international spotlight---and could change the way the world sees the Bible. While touring Greek monasteries, he finds a manuscript that includes the lost ending of Mark and a 67th book. When the codex is stolen, Jon races to recover it---before it's lost forever!

MY REVIEW:

When Jonathan and Shannon Weber archaeologist found a manuscript having no idea what they had found. But his find was something better that the "Dead Sea Scrolls" was this old manuscript the real thing or something someone had planted? I was found tucked into a book so how could it have been there.

The manuscript was stolen Jon is found to be in a deadly race to try and find it and to prove if it was read or not. He was so afraid that it may be lost now forever if he could not get his hands back on it. This could be end of his career, his reputation and maybe even his life. He is willing to risk all of these in his attempt to find out the truth about the manuscript.

This is an interesting book at little deep but plenty of suspense as Paul Maier tries to find out about the manuscript and the history behind it. I found that it was a little hard for me to get interested in it as I usually read a different type of fiction.

This book was sent to be my GLASS ROADS public relations free and for me to review as I see fit.

2011-06-28T00:00:00.002-04:00

BLOG TOUR

of

The Spirit in Baseball

by Kathryn Nixon and Ana Boudreau

ISBN: 9781450776257

Hardcover, 28 pages

Cross Training Publisher

This hardback children's book with full-color glossy illustrations is the perfect book for any young baseball or softball player. It is a great way to teach the Fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23. Written and illustrated by Kathryn Nixon and Ana Boudreau. 28 pages.

The Spirit in Baseball applies the fruits of the Spirit to each aspect of playing the game of baseball

This is a beautiful hard copy book for any child that loves the sport. I gives verses of the Bible that refers to playing with a Christian attitude of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control. It is an easy to read book that will help your child as they learn to read as well as play the sport. The pages are beautifully illustrated and will be a joy for any child to just look at. I really love the book and it is going to my little 4 year old great-granddaughter that loves any sport.

In the back there is a page for them to get autographs of their favorite players or even their coaches so they may remember the time they learned to play and do it in God's will.

This book was sent to be by The B and B Media Group for me to review.

2011-06-27T00:00:00.002-04:00

BLOG TOUR

FOREVER AFTER

DEBORAH RANEY

ISBN: 978141659993

Paperback, 392 pages

Howard Books

Description

A fire killed his best friend and his lifelong dream of being a firefighter. The same fire killed her husband and hopes for a family. Can new dreams replace old? Lucas Vermontez was a proud firefighter like his father. Now, not only has he lost his father and his best friend, Zach, in the fire at the Grove Street homeless shelter, but the devoted rookie can no longer do the work he loves after being crippled in the tragic event. When friendship with his buddy's beautiful widow turns into more, he wonders, what could he possibly offer Jenna? Jenna Morgan is trying to grieve her husband's death like a proper widow, but the truth is, she never really loved Zach. His death feels more like a relief to her. But that relief is short-lived when she loses her home and the financial support of her in-laws. Now the secrets of her past threaten to destroy her future. Can the two forget the painful past and discover new reasons to live and love?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

As the fire keeps burning Lucas Vermontez was inside the building alone with another fire fighter and when he heard his father's voice calling him, he knew that he had to find him and get him out before the old building collapsed on all of them. He found his way out badly hurt but two of his co-workers and his dad did not.

A year later Lucas was still trying to get well and to be able to walk, a beam had fallen on his legs and badly injured them. One of his co-workers and best friend Zach Morgan had been killed and he found himself helping his widow Jenna Morgan as she had struggled to keep her house and her standing in the upper class but was failing. She had to sell her house and move in with her in-laws that lived in a grand house in a gated community.

Jenna had come from the other side of the tracks so to speak and Zach's parents had been the one that helped them out and made her see that she never wanted to go back, but it looks like that is where she is headed. As she finds out she can not live in the house with her mother-in-law that has to know where she goes, when she will be back and who her friends can be.

As Jenna and Lucas get to know each other better, she finds out that it is not where you live or how rich you are but you can be happy anywhere as long as God is alone with you. She learned to trust God and this was the best message of all.

This book was sent to me for the tour by Glass Roads in order for me to review and do this tour.