by admin | Mar 2, 2018 | Books, England, Historical, Romance, WWII
MY REVIEW:
As a historical fiction buff, I love most eras of history and have favorite authors for each. Sarah Sundin is at the top of my list for novels with World War 2 settings because she truly makes history come alive through the eyes and experiences of her characters. Not only does she write about the major historical events that took place but she gives her readers an intimate look at behind the scenes operations that helped to make it happen according to plan. Through her characters we can experience the emotions that arise from living in such perilous times.
In “The Sea Before Us” Dorothy Fairfax is one of the women of England’s Royal Naval Service whose work with photos helps create the crucial maps needed for the upcoming D-Day battle. Wyatt Paxton is a U.S. Naval Officer who works closely with the WRENS to prepare the reports based on the maps created by Dorothy and her team. I found these details added greater depth to my understanding of how the war was fought. I never thought about the amount of planning and yes even practice runs needed to prepare for such an offensive.
Of course there was also a personal side to the story that included quite sad backgrounds for both Wyatt and Dorothy and how what they had experienced affected their faith. I won’t give away too much but let me say that several times I wanted to sit Miss Dorothy down and convince her that she needed to open her eyes to see the truth about a certain man. It was touch and go there for awhile but she finally saw the light in more ways than one.
This was a wonderful book with plenty of action and danger, a bit of a mystery, and some surprises along the way. As the first book in a new series, it did end with some unresolved issues but I am looking forward to learning more in the next installment. Anyone who enjoys World War 2 fiction should enjoy “The Sea Before Us” as well as any of Sundin’s previous novels.
I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group. A favorable review was not required. All views expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Nothing but love could heal the wounds of war
In 1944, American naval officer Lt. Wyatt Paxton arrives in London to prepare for the Allied invasion of France. He works closely with Dorothy Fairfax, a “Wren” in the Women’s Royal Naval Service, who pieces together reconnaissance photographs with holiday snapshots of France–including those of her family’s summer home–in order to create accurate maps of Normandy. Maps that Wyatt turns into naval bombardment plans for D-day.
As the two spend concentrated time together in the pressure cooker of war, their deepening friendship threatens to turn into something more. But both of them have too much to lose to give in to love . . .
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Sarah Sundin is the author of Through Waters Deep, Anchor in the Storm, and When Tides Turn in the Waves of Freedom series, as well as Wings of the Nightingale and the Wings of Glory series. Her novels have received starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal. Her popular Through Waters Deep was a Carol Award finalist and named to Booklist‘s “101 Best Romance Novels of the Last 10 Years.” A graduate of UC San Francisco School of Pharmacy, she works on-call as a hospital pharmacist. Sarah lives in California. Visit www.sarahsundin.com for more information.
by admin | Feb 22, 2018 | Christian CDs, Music, Worship
MY REVIEW:
Due to my less than stellar internet connection because of my rural location, I had some difficulty streaming the music on my computer. For that reason I was unable to listen to the album as much as I would have liked. I usually prefer to listen to new CDs in my car as I drive and tend to listen to them over and over until they become like old friends. I definitely look forward to getting my hands on a hard copy of this album so I can do that very thing in the near future.
“Whole Heart” is pretty much what I expected from Passion Music. After all, these are the folks who introduced me to Worship greats Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, Charlie Hall, Christy Nockels, David Crowder, and others. The album is filled with wonderful, worshipful songs of the type that easily draws the listener into worship. It is the kind of album that I can find myself easily immersed. Although all the songs are very good, there are several that of course stood out for me. I particularly liked Almighty God and Ghost. God, You’re So Good was a fresh take on an old standard and I loved the duet of All My Hope by Crowder and Tauren Wells. I was somewhat surprise that Matt Redman chose to sing a song from All Sons and Daughters rather than one of his own. His rendition was good but I will always prefer the original version – it is one of my favorites.
For those who love previous Passion Music albums, “Whole Heart” is a worthy addition to their library. I believe new listeners will also enjoy this excellent recording that releases on Friday, February 23.
Look for a giveaway for “Whole Heart” HERE!
I voluntarily listened to streaming media provided by Flyby Publicity for the purpose of a review. A favorable review was not required. All views expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE ALBUM:
Info about Passion: http://passionmusic.com/story/
“Rooted out of the Passion movement, we are committed to leading people towards renewed intimacy with God and fresh encounters of worship. Passion is more than music. More than events. Passion is a generation living for His name.”
WHOLE HEART is the new live album from Passion—captured at Passion Conference 2018 in Atlanta, GA.
Passion Conference 2018 was a beautiful worship experience, and the live album captures each powerful moment, allowing those who were not in attendance to experience it.
Featuring Passion Artists: Kristian Stanfill, Melodie Malone, Sean Curran, Matt Redman, Crowder.
WHOLE HEART TRACK LISTING:
- Whole Heart (feat. Kristian Stanfill)
- Almighty God (feat. Sean Curran)
- God, You’re So Good (feat. Kristian Stanfill & Melodie Malone)
- Reckless Love (feat. Melodie Malone)
- Heaven (feat. Sean Curran)
- More Like Jesus (feat. Kristian Stanfill)
- Hallelujah, Our God Reigns (feat. Brett Younker)
- Ghost (feat. Crowder)
- Ever Almighty (feat. Melodie Malone)
- Great Are You Lord (feat. Matt Redman)
- All My Hope (feat. Crowder & Tauren Wells)
BUY LINK:
BIO:
Rooted out of the Passion movement, Passion music is committed to leading people towards renewed intimacy with God and fresh encounters of worship. You can listen to Passion music at http://capcmg.me/PassionSpotify
by admin | Feb 19, 2018 | Amish, Books, Contemporary Fiction, Romance
MY REVIEW:
If you are a reader who mostly avoids Amish fiction because you think you cannot relate to what many think of as a perfect, sinless lifestyle that might be just a little boring, you really should give Laura Hilton’s novels a try. In them you will find Amish characters who struggle with the same problems and temptations that everyone else experiences – you know the old “lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”. Yes the Amish deal with those issues too and Hilton writes about those issues beautifully and scripturally.
In “Love by the Numbers” Hilton’s characters come to life within the pages, especially Lydia and Caleb. Lydia has come to Jamesport to run her aunt’s gift store because she needs a safe place to stay due to false accusations made against her. Caleb was instantly attracted to Lydia and grew to care for her as he got to know her better but because of guilt from his own past he feels he is not good enough for her. Their story involves learning to trust God and to accept His grace in their lives.
There are several scenes in which Caleb and Lydia are strongly tempted by their attraction. Although the scenes are quite tastefully written and are not at all explicit, some readers may not want to share this book with younger teens.
I have thoroughly enjoyed each and every book I have read thus far by Laura Hilton and appreciate the honesty with which she writes. I look forward to reading more of her books in the future.
I voluntarily reviewed a digital copy of this book provided by Celebrate Lit. A favorable review was not required. All views expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Click to purchase
After her fiancé dies in a buggy accident, Lydia Hershberger is invited to Jamesport to manage her Mennonite aunt’s gift store while her aunt and uncle are on a mission trip. While there, Lydia gets acquainted with her aentie’s best friend, Bethel Bontrager, and her grown son, Caleb. Lydia is surprised to find herself drawn to handsome clockmaker, Caleb Bontrager. But in spite of an instant flame of attraction between them, he doesn’t seem interested. In fact, pesky Caleb treats her like he doesn’t even like her.
Bright and sparkly. That’s Caleb’s first impression of Lydia. He’s always been attracted to sparkly things. In fact, his affinity for those things, and the trouble they can cause, are exactly why he’s determined to change his ways and settle down. With Lydia’s aentie gone, he is handling the books for the gift shop and is forced to spend too much time in her presence.
When God offers Lydia a second chance at love and family, will she take it? Or will the secret Caleb harbors cause her even more heartbreak?
Click here to purchase your copy!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Laura V. Hilton is an award-winning, sought-after author with almost twenty Amish, contemporary, and historical romances. When she’s not writing, she reviews books for her blogs, and writes devotionals for blog posts for Seriously Write and Putting on the New.
Laura and her pastor-husband have five children and a hyper dog named Skye. They currently live in Arkansas. One son is in the U.S. Coast Guard. She is a pastor’s wife, and homeschools her two youngest children.
When she’s not writing, Laura enjoys reading, and visiting lighthouses and waterfalls. Her favorite season is winter, her favorite holiday is Christmas.
GUEST POST FROM LAURA V. HILTON:
Story Behind the Story – Love by the Numbers
Caleb was a minor character in couple of my Amish books – I think he first made a by name appearance in Amish Wanderer and Christmas Admirer. A minor character. Lydia was a very minor one-time appearance in those stories, too, a girl who happened to be in the room with Bethany and Susanna at a wedding. (This story is stand alone!) But I knew when Caleb first saw Lydia that they would end up together by the way he reacted to her presence. I wondered what their story was.
March and April is tornado season in Arkansas (and in many other states) and in 2011 we had a bad one. I was out and about that day, driving to the county seat with my five children, and there was something in the air. It was heavy, hard to breathe, and the sky was black off to the west. I’m sure I broke speed limits racing to Melbourne, and then home again so we wouldn’t be out in the storm.
Later that afternoon, tornado sirens went off. One went over our house – even from the basement we could hear the sound of a train roaring overhead. Scary. And still thanking God it didn’t touch down. Highland, Ash Flat, and Evening Shade, Arkansas were hit hard. Buildings completely gone. When we drove out that way later in the week there were pickup trucks in the tops of trees. Other things in odd and unusual places. I always wondered how they got the treetop pickups down. I would’ve stopped to watch if I’d been out there when it was done. I did hear that some of those trucks weren’t damaged at all. Unreal. My two sons and my husband both helped with clean up and my oldest son went with a crew to Joplin, Missouri, to help with clean up there.
There has been other occasions I’ve been out in tornados. Once I was in the Walmart parking lot when a tornado went through a town west of it. We could see the funnel touching down from where we stood. It did hail when we were on our way home, praying our house was still standing. It was.
On a different note, in 2016 my oldest son came home with a kitten. She was the sweetest thing ever, and he named her Rosie. Sadly, I was highly allergic to her. I couldn’t even be around the children after they played with her. They’d have to go change clothes and wash their hands, otherwise I couldn’t breathe. Rosie was full Siamese, blue eyes and all, and she was so adorable. I allowed my son to keep her in the shed. I was about four chapters into the story when Rosie found some poison (I think, not sure) and died. We all cried.
Also about the time I was writing this, a very dear friend of a lot of writers died. I told my street team I was going to name a character after her, and was told a lot of writers would be. I agreed. And a lot of their books were released already. But Aenti Judith in this story is named after Judy Burgi. I still miss her and pray for her family.
One of the verses my daughter had to memorize in Sunday School was 2 Corinthians 4:8-9. ‘We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.’ Perfect for the faith message in Love by the Numbers! I love how God always provides the perfect verse for my characters’ faith messages. I’m pretty sure this verse is one I never memorized, and I never would of thought of it on my own, but God put it in my daughter’s lessons for Sunday School, so she had to memorize it – and thus I did too since I help my daughters learn their verses every week.
I hope you’ll enjoy the story!
Because of Him,
Laura V. Hilton
BLOG STOPS:
Pursuing Stacie, February 13
Quiet Quilter, February 13
Red Headed Book Lady, February 13
Babs Book Bistro, February 13
Blogging With Carol, February 14
Among the Reads, February 14
Reading Is My SuperPower, February 15
Blossoms and Blessings, February 15
SusanLovesBooks, February 16
Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, February 16
Carpe Diem, February 16
A Baker’s Perspective, February 17
Splashes of Joy, February 17
Locks, Hooks and Books, February 17
Two Points of Interest, February 18
vickysluiter.com, February 18
A Reader’s Brain, February 19
Zerina Blossom’s Books, February 19
C Jane Read, February 20
Daysong Reflections, February 20
margaret kazmierczak, February 20
proud to be an autism mom, February 21
Bibliophile Reviews, February 21
A Greater Yes, February 22
Texas Book-aholic, February 22
Pause for Tales, February 23
Have A Wonderful Day, February 23
cherylbbookblog, February 24
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 24
Simple Harvest Reads, February 24
Christian Bookaholic, February 25
Janices book reviews, February 25
For The Love of Books, February 26
Jeanette’s Thoughts, February 26
Bigreadersite, February 26
GIVEAWAY:
In honor of the tour, Whitaker House is giving away
Grand Prize Package: Love By the Numbers, Healing Love (Amish of Webster County #1), and The Snow Globe (The Amish of Jamesport #1) by Laura Hilton; “The Angels Cry Holy” scented candle in tin with lid from Abba Jerusalem
1st Place Package: Love By the Numbers, The Snow Globe (The Amish of Jamesport #1) by Laura Hilton, and Whitaker House/Anchor Coloring Book with Colored Pencils
2nd Place Package: Love By the Number by Laura Hilton and Whitaker House/Anchor Coloring Book with Colored Pencils!!!
