Life, Love and Books

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...

Claim Your Crown by Tarah-Lynn Saint-Elien Young Women in todays society are living in a world that teaches them to be dissatisfied with their body image. Society's standards say that we need to look, act or be a certain way and at times it is a double standard. Deep down inside they are longing for more then what is offered by the people around them.  In this book we meet a beautiful young lady who has faced some insecurities of her own and has overcome them. By using her deep insight on the many subjects that touch young women today, she brings some new light to each of these that helps us to understand it better.  By dismantling lies and myths that have been fed to us by society, Tarah helps us to see the truth that our heavenly Father. By bringing us to a better understanding of how He loves us so much that He longs to bestow a crown on each of our beautiful heads. I would recommend this book to all young women to read!! "I voluntarily ...

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...

       

When Life doesn't Match Your Dreams by Jill Eileen Smith Life throws us every which way, with twists and turns on the road we are traveling. As young girls we dream of our future and we make plans of who we want to be when we grow up. But then we are faced with reality when things just fall apart in front of us. Our dreams are shattered like a glass that has fallen to the floor. Each of has faced choices that we may have never dreamed of growing up, choices that have changed our path in life. Yet thru all of the things in our life there has been one person there for us-God, he is always on our side.  As an author of several biblical novels, Jill Eileen Smith has brought us her insight from all her time researching  the women of the Old Testament. Some of the women we can learn from is Eve, the first mother; Noah's wife, Sarai, Rachel, Rebekah and many more. Each of these women have something from their lives that we can learn fr...

Whisper by Mark Batterson  Have you ever longed to hear the voice of God in your life? In the days of the Bible times, it was something that was part of the lives of the Israelite.  The best-selling author of the book, Circle Maker introduces us to discovering the 7 languages of God. The voice that spoke the world around us into existence and breathed life into each human being is the same voice that spoke to Joseph in the prison and closed the mouths if the lions for Daniel in the lions den. That voice is the voice of God, who longs to speak love and hope into all of our lives. His voice comes as a whisper, not to make it difficult for us to hear him, but to draw us closer to him. If you are like many people it is hard to believe that God still speaks in our lives. Mark Batterson truly believes that God does speak to us!! Diving into this book we can open a door to decipher the Seven Languages of God; Scripture, Desires, Doors, Dreams, People, Pr...

Becoming Resilient  by Donna Gibbs Resilience is something we all long for in our lives, each of us have faced some kind of difficulty at some time. Disappointment, rejection, injustice, loss and grief is part of our lives. This suffering can leave us broken inside, while going thru the motions on the outside. We can remain stuck in negative patterns or choose to move forward toward healing.  Donna Gibbs brings to the table twenty years of experience as a professional counselor. Drawing from that experience, she shares the secrets of building your resilience to change your experience of suffering. By offering practical tools and effective coping strategies to with whatever life throws at us. Using these tools and coping strategies can help you move through suffering and come out on the other side stronger. Grief and loss is part of our life, at some point we all have had to face this.  This book helps us deal with all of this in our lives. I would r...

How We Love "Discover Your Love Style, Enhance Your Marriage" by Milan and Kay Yerkovich Are you ready to take a new journey of love? Are you struggling in your marriage? Looking for a way to help your marriage? This is the book for all couples who are struggling to relate with their spouse. The Authors explore each of the spouses childhood and how it has created a an imprint that affects each of us in our marriage's. This book dives into our core patterns that we struggle to merge together when we come together as a couple. It breaks down the love styles into simple explanations that we can understand. By taking time to apply the principles we have learned thru reading this book.  The book is very long, but it is worth the time spent reading it. I would very much recommend this book to any couple. It could be the one thing you are looking for to help you in your marriage.  *I received a complimentary copy of this book from Blogging For Books and wa...

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 ...

An Amish Home: Four Novella's Beth Wiseman, Amy Clipston, Ruth Reid and Kathleen Fuller Four very amazing authors come together to create An Amish Home: Four Novellas. Each of these stories is very heartfelt and draw the reader into the book.  In A Cup Half Full, we meet a dear wife who longs for a child. Before they can have a family, Sarah was in an accident that causes her to lose the use of her legs. As her husband works to transform their home to adapt to the changes in their lives. Sarah to goes thru a transformation of her own in her spirit.  Home Sweet Home finds Chace and Mia O'Conner homeless and desperate to find a place to stay. When they are offered a place to stay and a job for Chace to bring in an income. Finding themselves living in a very rustic cabin with no modern conveniences, it wears on both of them. Instead of turning toward each other for the hope they end up at each other's throats blaming the other person.  With the hel...

Love Bears All Things (An Amish Secrets Novel) by Beth Wiseman In the second installment of the An Amish Secrets series, we find Charlotte Dolinsky needing time to recover from a bad breakup with her boyfriend. When suddenly the answer to her troubles shows up on her doorsteps in the form of her Amish friend's brother. Turning away from all of her life issues, she focuses on helping this young man in his time of struggle. In the midst of all the things going on. Charlotte chooses to be very deceptive of what is going on. But she is not the only one that is hiding secrets from their friends. Daniel Byler lives with a struggle to heal every day in his beloved Amish community, after being betrayed by his fiance. Now his pain has turned to fear after he discover's that another of his family members is in danger of being shunned.His only hope is to turn to the most unlikely person for help, an  Englisher, Charlotte Dolinsky. As the two spend time together,...

Today we will be having a very special person visiting the Blog!! We welcome Rachelle Dekker, the author of the Seers series. The Returning  by Rachelle Dekker When I heard that Rachelle Dekker was the daughter of Ted Dekker, it really peaked  my interest in reading her first book The Choosing. I truly do love getting to read new authors books, because I never know when I might find another fave.   After I read The Choosing I was hooked and could not wait to read the next book. Rachelle is very good at taking a story line and moving it along in years; without making you feel like you missed out on something. Also she takes the Christian faith and puts it into a very different way of thinking that even had me looking at my life differently. It made me take a step back and see how much we are like Elise. That we each as believers have a light inside of us that we need to let shine on all who is around us. Also being able to see our Lord Jesus Christ po...