Life, Love and Books

Nine by Rachelle Dekker A secret organization with alternative agenda and a young girl with missing memories make for an very intriguing  read. From the first page to the last page in this book, will leave you wanting to know what is going to happen next. We meet Zoe, a young woman who has created a different life for herself, then one day in a young girl walks into the small town café. All this dazed young teenager can say is that she has to find a woman in Corpus Christi. Faced with a decision Zoe has to choose does she help this lost girl or just walk away. But deep down inside Zoe sees herself in this teenager. now she has to face  the things she has left behind. As they go on the run from the enemy, they have to make choices of who they can trust and who not to trust. I truly love reading books written by Rachelle Dekker, she writes a story that has twists and turns that will leave you breathless. I was given a complimentary copy of...

A Life Once Dreamed by Rachel Fordham This is my first time ever reading a book written by Rachel Fordham, I truly love getting to read new to me authors. The first thing that draws me to this book is the cover which portrays an genre that I have loved since I was a little girl, the genre historical.  As you open to the first page you are drawn back to a time when things were very different than they are know. A time when things were more simple, but also women  only had some many choices of what they could do in their life. Our heroine Agnes Pratt has a deep secret that sent her running away from the life that she had dreamed of. It has led her to the small  town of Penance, where she has established herself as the beloved schoolteacher of the their kids. Life has settled into a rhythm for Agnes and she has built friendships in the six years in her new home. But when her life is upset by the arrival of her childhood friend, things turn upside d...

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....

Standoff By Patricia Bradley In the newest book by Patricia Bradley, she takes us to the Natchez Trace and we meet the Park Rangers that serve that area. Brooke Danvers is getting ready to change positions and join her father as a Park Ranger. Before she can be sworn in her father is found dead and his death is ruled a suicide.  Determined to find out who killed her father, Brooke starts investigating on her own with the assistance of her childhood friend Luke Fereday. Luke has been working as an undercover park ranger, trying to infiltrate a drug origination to stop the flow of drugs into the area. When he gets a phone call from Brookes dad informing him of a drug drop. But he arrives on the scene to late to help his old friend, determined to figure out who killed Brooke's dad.  When Luke realizes that Brooke has now became the target of the person who killed her father, he has to do the r...

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...

An Amish Christmas Bakery by Amy Clipston, Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller and Kelly Irvin Sorry I am a little late on sharing this review, but I think we need a little Christmas Cheer at the beginning of this new year.  Cookies and Cheer by Amy Clipston Alyssa Byler has amazing ideas for the bakery store display window, for this Christmas season she comes up with the idea of a Sugar cookie Nativity scene. She reaches out to the local blacksmith's son, Kyle Smoker to make the much needed cookie cutters. When the display brings in more customers than the bakery can handle, Alyssa starts to put in more hours at work then she has time for. While Kyle is starting to feel overwhelmed by the amount of orders that are coming in for the cookie cutters. Will Kyle and Alyssa be able to put aside the craziness of the holiday rush to see what it is right in front of them? Will they be able to see the beauty of Christmas and the love it bring to us?...

Your 100 Words of Affirmation Your Husband Needs to Hear by Lisa Jacobson For all those women out there searching for some hope toward learning how to boost you husband here is a book to help you find the words to say. Each of us have the power to build each other up or tear each other down. Marriage is one of those places where our relationships are more at danger for this. We have a purpose to speak encouraging words into those who are in our lives. Or we can cause harm to those around us, that can hurt those we love dearly. Make the choice to build those around you up with words of affirmation. "I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by the publisher. A favorable review was not required, all views expressed are my own." 

100 Words of Affirmation Your Wife Needs to Hear by Matt Jacobson For all those men out there searching for some hope toward learning how to boost you wife, here is a book to help you find the words to say. Each of us have the power to build each other up or tear each other down. Marriage is one of those places where our relationships are more at danger for this. We have a purpose to speak encouraging words into those who are in our lives. Or we can cause harm to those around us, that can hurt those we love dearly. Make the c hoice to build those around you up with words of affirmation. "I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by the publisher. A favorable review was not required, all views expressed are my own." 

Protecting Tanner Hollow By Lynette Eason Lynette Eason brings four suspense filled novellas in one book. From a old flame returning home, a witness to a murder, a mother on the run to protect her children and a forensic supervisor with a target on her back. Each of these stories interconnect thru out the book, bringing it to the end with the last story.  You do not feel as if you are left wanting to know where the other couples have went in life, they each have a cameo in the next novella till the end. This is something I loved about this book, Lynette gives you glimpses into the lives of the couples. This book will keep you turning the pages till the end of the book. "I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by the publisher. A favorable review was not required, all views expressed are my own." 

. Always Look Twice by Elizabeth Goddard In the second installment to the Uncommon Justice series, we return to the wilderness of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  It opens with a bear, a camera and a eyewitness to a murder! Harper Reynolds is on a sabbatical from her job, when in the midst of getting a award worthy shot  movement catches her eye. Now she is running from the killer that she just witnessed shooting a unknown woman. Heath McCade is now a reserve sheriff deputy in his home county, but he did not expect to have a witness fall right into his path. While he is out with a wilderness group from his ranch retreat;  something catches his attention in the woods. His dear childhood friend, Harper; was back in his life as fast as she had disappeared years before. Harper is devastated to hear that all the evidence of  the crime that she has witnessed has  disappeared. Now she is determined to ...

       

Listening to Love by Beth Wiseman   In the second installment of the Amish Journey series, we find englischer Natalie Collins and Lucas; the older brother of Levi Sheltar having friday night suppers together. As time passes, the two have become very much best friends to the concern of their family and dear friends Levi and Mary. The opinions of those around them, starts to frustrate Natalie, who adamantly says that it is friendship only. But deep down she is realizing that her feelings have grown toward love for Lucas.  Lucas loves getting to talk with Natalie in the late night hours, but time has come that he has to face the truth of the struggle between their two ways of life. To leave would cause so much pain for his family. Also he knows that asking Natalie to walk away from her plan to become a veterinarian, would break her heart. But the more time they spend together the truth starts coming out that they have feelings for each other When Natal...

                  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...

               Cross My Heart By Robin Lee Hatcher In Cross My Heart, we meet Ashley, the owner of a horse rescue farm and Ben, who is starting up a equine therapy farm. When Ashley and Ben first  meet, they find they have several things in common. Having been both raised by single mom's and sharing a passion for helping those who are hurting. While Ashley and Ben work together to bring forth Ben's dream, they both feel drawn toward a deeper relationship. But there is a big issue that is standing in their road toward this. Being that they both have very broken pasts that have affected their choice's in life. Carrying these burden's  can also drive them apart instead of bringing healing to their lives if they do not face the truth. Will they choose to hand these burdens over to the one who can handle them or walk away from a beautiful thing in each of their lives? This is a beautifully written story about he...

  The Women Who Met Jesus By Dorothy Valcarcel We as women all struggle with heartaches and desires in our lives, it was no different with the women of the New Testament. Jesus reached out and touched each of these women in different ways. Twenty stories of women whose lives was changed by the words that was spoken to them. These same words that can touch our lives to bring healing to the wounds in our lives. Each of the chapters come with a "Time of Reflection", exploration, inspiration and affirmation at the end of the chapter. I really like how the stories are shared from another women's perspective on things that happened in her life. It helps to see how we are not alone in life's struggles. I would recommend this book to other women as a study. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy from the publisher. All opinions stated are my own.

Engraved on the Heart by Tara Johnson This book brings to Pre-Civil War Savannah Georgia, to the home of a very staunch Confederate family. We meet Debutante Keziah Montgomery who is being brought out to meet her potential suitors, but her family hides a very deep secret from the public eyes.  This beautiful young woman has lived her life being forced to hide her illness from others. Now she has to be the object of attention for the balls and parties  to come. When one evening she runs into an old classmate that introduces her to a very life changing truth. It is at this moment she feels she can do something to help others out of the circumstances by becoming an conductor in the underground railroad.  Dr Micah Greyson never dreamed he would come back home and run into his childhood classmate at a ball.  But the moment Keziah waltzes back in to his life, he is taken in by her beauty and reminded why he...

Thief of Corinth by Tessa Afshar In the newest novel about the Biblical time period by Tessa Afshar that is based in the city of Corinth. We are introduced to a young woman Ariadne who chooses to run away,  when she finds out she is going to be forced to marry a very mean man.  She finds safety in the home of her estranged father in the bustling rich trade  city of Corinth. Longing for a close relationship with Galenos, she stumbles on a very dark secret that had destroyed her father's marriage. Galenos is a Greek of high birth but he is also the infamous thief who has been robbing from the corrupt of the city.  When her fathers life is in danger,  Ariadne chooses to risk everything she has longed for to become Galenos apprentice. Blessed with a very unusual talent of athletic ability, she uses this to continue her fathers exploits leading her deeper into dangerous territ...

A Rebel Heart(Daughtry House series) Beth White In the new series by Beth White, we are introduced to the time period after the Civil War. A time when our country was still healing from the devastation that had been left behind.  She introduces the Daughtry sisters; three young women raised in the deep south that is trying to salvage what is left of their beloved home. The eldest sister Selah meets Levi, a northerner; who offers her a solution to their money struggle. Selah's family has been hurt by the Yankees, so she has to keep her guard up around this one. But she never thought she would ever fall in love with one.  This is the third book I have read that was written by Beth White and each time she has written a story that draws the reader in to it. This is what I love about her books, they touch the readers and we learn about the time period of struggles and healing.   I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by Revell. ...

Under a Cloudless Sky by Chris Fabry The present and the past meet in this book about a Southern Coal mining town fighting to survive in a time where the big companies rule. We meet several very interesting characters in this storyline. Two of them are  Hollis Beasley, a landowner who is fighting to keep the land that his family had owned for years. Also feisty Ruby Handley Freeman whose children think that she is need of some fresh direction her life. Two very different people both taking a stand for something in their lives, paths that have crossed in the past. The storyline goes back and forth from 1933 to 2004, telling a story from the childhood of dear 83 yr old Ruby.   A story that has been hidden for years and is now begging to be told to her loved ones. The truth that has been kept quiet of what happened the day of the Massacre of 1933. Hollis's granddaughter has a interest in writing a article for the memorial that is being set up for the victi...

Judah's Wife: The Silent Years #2 By Angela Hunt In the second installment of "The Silent Years" series we meet a young Leah on the eve of the time for a choice to be made of who is to be her husband. To her surprise the man who had rescued her and her friend from a young group of Hellene's. This man that her father has chosen for her to marry, is her way out of the home of strife and contempt. But then the peace that Leah has longed for is interrupted by Judah's Father's plan resist the King's decree. This resistance leads to a war that costs her father in laws life and put Judah, in charge of the resistance.  The one thing Leah has longed for is a home that is full of peace is being taken from her by her husbands choice to fulfill his fathers dying wish. She can not understand why her new family has chosen to stand for the One True God. Also, Leah does not understand what kind of God would destroy her chance at peace.  This story is told th...