Life, Love and Books

Don't Keep Silent by Elizabeth Goddard In the third installment of the Uncommon Justice series, we return to the McKade ranch in snowy Wyoming. Liam Mckade has returned to his childhood home to find out what he want to next in his life. Never did he ever think when he came back home to see his brothers did he think he would run into the one woman he didn't want to see again. Rae Burke's sister in law has disappeared for the second time and Rae's investigative reporter skills have been called upon by her brother. The clues lead her to the wintery Wyoming and its busy  ski slopes. But she was not prepared to run into someone from her past, that she has caused pain in their life. As Rae discovers clues along the way about her sisters in law past, that make her wonder if she ever knew  her sister in law at all. Her search starts to lead her down some very dark  twists and turns that lead her head on into danger....

The Runaway Bride By Jody Hedlund In the second installment to The Bride Ship series, we return to the colony of British Columbia. With the shortage of women to men, the bride ships brought over eligible women that would marry the men in the colony. We meet wealthy Arabella Lawrence, who has ran away on her wedding day from the man she does not love. Her hope is she will find a  gentleman in her social circles, who will provide for her and love her. But she does not want to rush into a marriage and make the same mistakes she did before. As the town baker, Peter Kelly has put his all into building his business, now he has his eyes set on finding a bride from the newly arrived bride ship. When he meets Arabella for the first time, he is taken by her inner beauty. Peter than resolves to pursue Arabella and woo her, but his pursuit for her is thwarted by the savvy Lieutenant Richard Drummond. When the Navy Lieutenant Richard Drummond starts sh...

An Uncommon Woman  by Laura Frantz I am a big fan of historical reads and this one from Laura Frantz did not disappoint me. Also I was even surprised to find some areas mentioned that seemed very familiar to me. So it was very interesting to find that the area was being written about is now part of Pennsylvania.  It takes place the mountains of western Virginia territory in 1770, we meet the heroine  Tessa Swan, who was raised with 5 brothers. So she has learned to be tough and face the challenges straight on. One day into her life walks Clay Tygart, the one man that can truly intrigue her like no other has. But he brings back into her life her long lost friend, Keturah. This adds a little confusion to their lives, the stigma of being an Indian captive can cause a lot of issues for her friend. But Tessa is willing to help her dear friend to acclimate back to living in her old life.  As a former Lenape Indian captive himself, Clay ...

Collateral Damage By Lynette Eason Oh my, Oh my...this one is truly a breath taker to read. I just finished reading book and I was not able to put it down because I wanted to know if they finally caught the bad guys. In the first installment  of the Danger Never Sleeps series; we meet Brooke Adams,  a military psychiatrist who is wounded in a café bombing. Several months later she is still facing down the fears that follow at times after having a traumatic incident. Having made a decision to join a practice with a fellow colleague, but when she walks into the office one day to find her friend dead on the floor, her life is turned upside down again.  As a  former Special Ops Sergeant First Class Asher James has faced down many things in his time in the military. But now he is struggling with the one thing that is most needed by the body, sleep. Realizing he needs to find someone who can help him to face down this nightmare. When he mak...

                  Until The Mountains Fall (Cities of Refuge Book 3) by Connilyn Cossette In the third installment of the Cities of Refuge series we revisit Kedesh, where Malakhi is now faced with marrying the one woman he has loved since he was a child. The only thing is she had been  his older brothers wife, who was now a widow and being commanded by the law to marry the younger brother of her deceased husband. Rivkah has no interest in marrying her deceased beloveds  younger brother and makes a decision to flee the city of her childhood. With plans of using her talents as a scribe to provide for herself, she escapes what she thinks is going to be her worst nightmare. There is a price for leaving the protection of her father and the safety of the city of refuge, this price takes a toll on Rivkah. After the disappearance of the one woman he has ever loved, Malakhi throws himself into t...

Shelter of the Most High by Connilyn Cossette In the second installment of the Cities of Refuge series, we find the young Eitan as an adult living in Kedesh. The last eleven years he has been haunted by the tragedy from his childhood, while struggling with the boundaries placed on him by his mother's husband. When his life is suddenly changed when two young women are brought into the city of Refuge. Sofea has grown up with the freedom of the ocean around her, never realizing it might save her cousin's and her life. One day their village was attacked and they was kidnapped by the marauders that wiped out the village. When Sofea and her cousin escape they find themselves being rescued by a band of warriors from Kedesh. This city has provided a refuge for so many that have came thru its gates, now it has become a  safe haven for Sofea and her cousin. While Eitan considers the city of refuge his prison, all he has ever wanted is to train and become a warrior to pr...

Beauty Begins:  Making Peace with Your Reflection by Chris Shook and Megan Shook Alpha A Mother and daughter team bring to us a fresh look at the struggle girls and women are facing today. Diving into a very hard topic that bombards us everywhere from billboards to magazines in the grocery store checkout line. Exploring the origins of true beauty, while challenging all women to trade the pressure to meet a certain perfect look, for what God has provided for us in perfect love.  Our culture has taken a precious thing and created it into an obsession that has made us into objects more than humans. It does not matter where we turn we face images that feed us that beauty is all about looks. I, myself have struggled with this issue to the point I could not see the truth in the mirror.  The mother and daughter team share from their life experiences and struggles with body image and appearance. Drawing from what they have been thru they give us ...

Grace and the Preacher by Kim Vogel Sawyer The newest book from Kim Vogel Sawyer was very much one of the most interesting ones I have read. She pulled a storyline together and was able to share the message of standing up for what was right in the face of wrong. I love that there were two romances in the storyline, an older couple and the younger couple.  Grace gave up on finding her true love and had settled in her position as the postmistress for the town of Fairland. But when her beloved uncle chooses to step down from the pulpit and let a younger preacher take over his congregation. When the responsibility of corresponding to the new preacher was handed over to Grace, she took it on like all of her other duties. As time passed the letters increased, Grace grew eager to meet the new preacher. Theophil made a choice and now his past is trying to catch up with him. Ten years ago his cousins planned a train robbery and convinced Theo to help them. B...

Shadow of the Storm by Connilyn Cossette This is the first book I have read written by Connilyn Cossett, the first thing that interested me in reading her books was the biblical aspect of her story line. From the moment I picked up the book to the end I was hooked to the story. Getting to take a step back into the time period of Moses was a delight for me. It gives me a different look at the scriptures and helped me to understand some of the events that happened  during the long journey to the promised land. This is the second installment to the Out Of  the Egypt series, it continues with the Israelite's journey to the promise land. Shira now is living in freedom with her family at the foot of Mt Sinai.When the opportunity comes along for Shira to learn a new trade, it awakens a new desire in her. Going against her mother's wishes to continue in the families weaving trade; she pursues the calling of becoming a midwifes apprentice.  When a delivery goes wro...

Fraying at the Edge by Cindy Woodsmall With the second installment of The Amish of Summer Grove, we return to find the lives of Ariana Brenneman and Skylar Nash turned all upside down. Both girls have found out that they had been switched at birth and now are to spend a whole year living with their birth families. With only one link to there old lives, each of these girls have to take another look at the world around them. Each from very different worlds now having to take another look at their lives and decide what is the next step to take.   Cindy Woodsmall has brought us another very heartwarming series, that reaches out to each one of us and pulls us in. The story line is about two babies switched at birth, that both come from two very different backgrounds. It is not easy to be uprooted from all you ever known and be placed in a total opposite lifestyle. The way Cindy takes each of the families and intertwine each of their stories, while keeping us turning each ...

Hope Prevails: Insights from a Doctors Personal Journey through Depression by Dr Michelle Bengtson As a board-certified neuropyschologist, Dr Michelle Bengtson has seen the devastation that depression causes to people. In her practice she prescribed the most effective  treatments for her patients. When one day the tables turned and she was now the patient suffering from depression; struggling just to get thru one day at a time. Using the same treatments that she prescribed for her patients, she felt worse than before. Seeking to find the hope she needed to overcome depression she turned to the one book that showed her grace, The Bible. Taking from her experience, Dr Bengston writes the words that most people struggling with depression will recognize. Taking her training and blending it with a vital missing piece, she shows us that we can pull thru even if it does not feel like we are going to make it. If you are someone who is struggling with depression or you know someon...

Really Bad Girls of the Bible More Lessons from Less-than Perfect Women by Liz Curtis Higgs She did it again, Liz Curtis Higgs has taken the bad girls of the Bible and brought them to life in her latest book. We are introduced to some very overlooked women in the Bible, Jael, Medium of En-dor, Athalia and Herodias. Also some women that touched lives thru the things they did, Bathsheba, Tamar, the Adulteress and the Bleeding Woman. Each of these women did things that were bad or something that was considered bad in that time period in the case of the Bleeding Woman. Each chapter highlights one of these womens stories and at the end it gives us insight that we can learn from each of these women. I loved reading Slightly Bad Girls of the Bible, so when I got the chance to review this book I jumped at it. Liz does an amazing job of taking the stories of the women in the Bible and bringing them to life for us 20th century women. I would recommend this book to anyone as a study...

Land of Silence by Tessa Afshar  This story is so beautifully written and touched my heart as a daughter of Christ. I have always known of the verse that speaks of the woman with a problem with bleeding. This book dives deep into the life story behind the women who got a short notation in the New Testament. My heart broke as I read this story of a woman who was broken and lost. The moment that she finds healing brought a rush of relief and peace that flooded my soul. Elianna is a young girl whose life has been touched with sorrow. When the loss of her little brother affects the whole family, when another tragedy hits the family.  Elianna has to step up to take over the family business, while caring for her family.  With her talent for design she draws more business to her father's textile trade. Still longing for the forgiveness that she seems to be not able to find, her world seems to just unravel in front of her. Choosing to sever the one tie ...

        The Calling  by Rachelle Decker In the second book of the Seer Series, we find that a year and half has passed by and a daughter has been born to Remko and Carrington. The following of Seers has grown to a larger number and keeps growing as the people are more oppressed by the new president of Authority City. Anyone who chooses to disobey and follow the rebel Aaron is executed and the people are forced to watch the executions.  As the tactical leader Remko faces many challenges leading his team to perform many missions inside the city. Also as a father he faces the challenge of protecting his family from the danger that faces them. From the day that I finished The choosing, I couldn't wait to read the next book in  the series. I loved getting to see Remko's side of the story, it gave a different outlook to the story. The timeline has moved forward a year and half after Remko and Carrington left authority cit...

Flirtation Walk  by Siri Mitchell    As the daughter of a con man, Lucinda Pennyworth has spent most of her life in and out of  boarding schools when she was not with her father. When she receives a letter informing of the sudden death of her father, she turns to the only family she knows of her mother's sister. Arriving at her aunt's house, Lucinda is determined to put her old life behind her and start a new one with her newfound family. Upon meeting Seth Westcott a young West Point cadet, hope blooms in her heart that there is a chance of finding a life of her own with a husband.  Seth Westcott is in a bind his mother has suddenly passed away and his sister was has lost their inheritance to a swindler. Unable to leave West Point, he chooses to lose all the hard work and be demoted from his position to be able to catch the guy that swindled his sister. Forced with a choice of losing his position and the girl he loves; he cho...

Miriam  by Mesu Andrews The second novel in the A Treasures of the Nile series by Mesu Andrews brings us to many years after Moses exile from Egypt. We find Miriam taking care of her elderly parents and earning a meager living as a healer of her people. The oppression that has grown heavier on the Hebrews has caused so much struggles for God's people that so many have wandered away from EL Shaddai. When her younger brother comes back from the wilderness with a message of deliverance for God's people. This message leaves Miriam and her family reeling with the news that they may be able to see freedom. As each of the plagues hit Egypt the Hebrews struggle with seeing the love that EL Shaddai is trying to show them. Will they see the hope that is in front of them and place their trust in Moses as he fights to lead them from slavery to freedom.  Mesu Andrews delves into another bible story and brings it to life right before our eyes. Her way wit...