by admin | Nov 9, 2016 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Romance
MY REVIEW:
Carol Post is another new-to-me author but the description and book cover beckoned so I accepted the invitation to review “Trust My Heart”. Inside its pages I found a well written story filled with interesting characters, a strong plot, and a few surprises.
“Trust My Heart” is one of those mostly feel good, small town love stories but of course both primary characters have unresolved issues that they manage to help each other overcome. Jami is a sweet and positive young woman with a dream. She wants to be the best journalist she can be and is determined to succeed with her first big assignment for the local newspaper. Her article is to feature the McAllister estate and its heir, grandson Grant who just wants to sell the place and get back to his life. He is definitely not interested in learning about the grandparents he grew up believing did not want him.
I enjoyed how this story evolved complete with misunderstandings, secrets revealed, and of course a big dose of romance. I loved the setting of the Smoky Mountains and could easily envision some of the scenes. “Trust My Heart” was everything a good Christian romance should be. I look forward to reading more from this author.
A free copy of this book was provided for review by Litfuse Publicity.
A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Grant McAllister arrives in Murphy, North Carolina, with one aim: to sell his inherited property and leave as quickly as possible. The big-city lawyer has no interest in his late, estranged grandparents or the dilapidated mansion he just acquired. After his high-profile divorce, he should be avoiding perky reporters, too. But Jami Carlisle is honest, funny, and undeniably appealing.
After breaking up with her safe-but-smothering boyfriend, Jami is determined to ace her first big assignment. A story about the McAllister estate is too intriguing to ignore—much like its handsome, commitment-phobic heir. Thanks to her digging, the pieces of Grant’s fraught family history are gradually fitting into place, but also upending all his old beliefs.
The two draw closer as they share their dreams, until misread signals and misunderstandings begin to test their trust. But in the unspoiled beauty of the Smoky Mountains, there’s healing and forgiveness to be found. And for Grant, this unplanned detour may be just what’s needed to finally guide him home. . . .
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
From medical secretary to court reporter to property manager to owner of a special events decorating company, Carol’s résumé reads as if she doesn’t know what she wants to be when she grows up. But one thing that has remained constant through the years is her love for writing. She currently pens fun and fast-paced inspirational romance and romantic suspense stories. Her books have been nominated for a RITA® award and an RT Reviewers’ Choice Best Book Award. Carol lives in sunshiny Central Florida with her husband, who is her own real-life hero, and writes her stories under the shade of the huge oaks in her yard. Besides writing, she works alongside her music minister husband singing and playing the piano. She enjoys sailing, hiking, camping—almost anything outdoors. Her two grown daughters and grandkids live too far away for her liking, so she now pours all that nurturing into taking care of a fat and sassy black cat and a highly spoiled dachshund.
Join Carol in celebrating the release of Trust My Heart by entering to win her $75 Cozy Cash Giveaway.
One grand prize winner will receive:
- A copy of Trust My Heart
- A $75 Visa cash card
- A basket full of goodies made in North Carolina to keep you cozy in the cooler fall weather
Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on November 23. The winner will be announced November 28 on Carol’s blog.
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by admin | Nov 5, 2016 | Books, Contemporary Fiction, Romance
MY REVIEW:
I have not read book one in the Madison Creek Bed & Breakfast series but that did not hinder my understanding or enjoyment of “Raining Fools”. When I began reading it my first impression was that it was a book intended for teens due to thoughts and actions expressed by one of the characters. However, as I continued to read the story grew in both scope and depth and ended up being a pretty satisfying book.
Overall “Raining Fools” is a story of second chances, forgiveness, redemption, and restoration. Bekka had been hurt badly when a previous relationship with Stephen had ended so she was not happy to learn that he was also to be included in the special project her brother Ethan was developing. Stephen had never gotten over Bekka and was trying hard to turn his life around to please her but alcohol and cigarettes were temptations difficult to resist on his own. Lots of old baggage held him back, not the least of which was his own mother. Ethan and Haley seemed to have everything figured out but even they had secrets that could destroy their testimony.
I did enjoy “Raining Fools”. In particular I liked the Stephen’s character was developed, especially why he had come to make the poor choices he had made. A scene between him and Haley was extremely touching and I was happy with his eventual choices regarding his mother. Although “Raining Fools” is technically a romantic novel, it has plenty of “meat” for the reader to chew on. Some may not like the inclusion of some of Stephen’s choices but to me they just help illustrate the changes that are made in his life.
A free copy of this book was provided for review by Celebrate Lit.
A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Click to purchase
Bekka Winters hung up the phone. Ethan, her brother, needed her help with his new music production studio. She stared at her already packed bags. Why not? She’d just graduated from college and didn’t exactly have a job to go to. Besides, a music video might look good on her resume when she looked for real work.
Stephen Gaines couldn’t believe Ethan had called him after their last blow up. They’d been music partners once. Stephen had ruined that. It was his expertise to wreck relationships especially those he had with women. Fortunately, Ethan didn’t know about him and Bekka. She was the one woman that had broken through to the deep parts of his heart. If only… how many times had he said that in the past? A fresh start is just what he needed.
Bekka’s mind bubbled with ideas for Ethan’s studio. Not to mention she couldn’t wait to see Ethan and Haley, the woman who’d captured her brother’s heart. But when she pulled into the drive and saw the familiar fancy car that Stephen drove, her heart dropped. There was no way she’d let him back into her life.
Click here to purchase your copy.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Jackie Castle looks for the extraordinary in every ordinary day that she experiences. She is the author of The White Road Chronicles a fantasy series, The Sentinel Archives for school-age readers, and newly released Madison Creek Bed & Breakfast romance series. She has also published articles and short stories in numerous magazines. She’s enjoyed many crazy adventures from working as a hairstylist, to her bravest quest: teaching children in daycare and elementary schools. Eventually, she settled down to a somewhat safer pursuit of being a Story-weaver.
Now she lives in her comfortable Texas home where she spins entertaining tales and enjoys relaxing in the evenings with her husband Bob, their children and grandchild.
Her favorite pastime, besides reading, is traipsing through her imaginary worlds in search of another story.
Find out more about her shenanigans over at Jackie Castle’s Story World: www.jackiecastle.com. There you can also sign up for her monthly newsletter.
GUEST POST FROM JACKIE CASTLE:
I’m best known for my fantasy series, The White Road Chronicles, and I love the make-believe world of Alburnium. But as these stories have traveled towards the ending, I’ve decided to venture into a more modern world. I enjoy a good, clean romance as much as anyone else, and I love writing stories about communities where people band together for the greater good.
So, I came up with Madison Creek, a small town on the verge of dying out. But the people there aren’t ready to give up. They decide that if they band together, maybe they can revive their little lakeside town and make it thrive.
My husband is from Michigan. I’m from California. We met in the middle: Texas. He’s adapted quite well to the south, loving the hot summers, hot food, and well, he simply likes being warm. Though I miss my moderate California, I’ve also grown to love Texas. Whenever we travel up north to visit his family, we lament over to lack of flavorful food and the ability to stay warm. (Even in the summer we’ve had to wear winter coats!!)
We are often teased by his family for how we put two syllables into words such as fire, dead and y’all. (Yes, he’s been in Texas long enough now to have developed a bit of a twang). I don’t know how many times we’ve talked about moving up north to open a BBQ joint so there’d be somewhere good to eat. Except, we both hate the cold and I’m sure I’d never survive a Michigan winter. I spent two weeks up there once in December, and swore I’d never do that again. I mean, 4 feet of snow in one night? Good Lord have mercy!
Basically, that’s how I came up with Haley Madison, the blond Texas gal who inherited her grandpop’s farmland in Madison Creek, Michigan. Her life has been one big mess after another and she’s determined to take this opportunity to set things right. She’s lived on ranches for over half her life and loves to cook a lot of food for folks. (My family was always big on cooking lots of food at holiday gatherings, so it just seems natural.)
Haley ends up meeting Ethan Winters, who she calls the handsome Yankee that plays a violin. The first book, Snow Belle is about how they meet. The second book, Raining Fools, continues Ethan and Haley’s story in the background. But in Raining Fools, you’ll meet Ethan’s sister Bekka and his best friend, Stephen Gaines who have a history with each other that neither cares to remember, except those old feelings they had for each other refuse to go away. Bekka, though strong in her faith, is uncertain about what God wants her to do with her life. Stephen, a playboy with a troubled past, appreciates his friend’s strong faith, but believes God doesn’t care about the ‘little people.’ At least, not until a series of mishaps has him taking a second look at the Winters’ beliefs.
What I hope people take away from my story beside an entertaining tale, is that God loves them. That they belong to a kingdom that’s bigger than themselves. That we are stronger together than apart. These are themes that readers can find in my stories.
I have several more ideas for novels and novellas that will continue Haley and Ethan’s story while we meet various people who visit the B&B when they come to Madison Creek hoping to start a new life. My hope is that readers will come to enjoy visiting this quirky little town as much as I do when I write the stories. Texas might have its spicy food and natural ruggedness, but I do love Michigan’s wild beauty and kindhearted folks. I just love it more in the summertime.
BLOG STOPS:
November 3: Quiet Quilter
November 4: Bibliophile Reviews
November 5: Daysong Reflections
November 6: Proud to be an autism mom
November 7: Reviewing Novels Online
November 8: Janet Pecorella
November 8: The Power of Words (Spotlight)
November 9: Moments Dipped in Ink
November 10: A Greater Yes
November 11: Blogging With Carol
November 12: inklings and notions
November 13: Carpe Diem
November 14: Mom Is Forever
November 15: Chas Ray’s Book Nerd Corner
November 16: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations
GIVEAWAY:
In honor of her tour, Jackie is giving away a $25 Amazon gift card! Click the link below to enter;
be sure to comment on this post to claim your nine bonus entries for this giveaway!
https://promosimple.com/ps/a81d
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by admin | Oct 28, 2016 | Books, Contemporary Fiction
MY REVIEW:
I have sat at my computer for awhile trying to decide how to write a review that will even come close to doing justice to this magnificent book. It is at times like these that I know how inferior my writing is by comparison and I almost hesitate to put my thoughts to the page.
When I saw the cover of “Long Way Gone” I knew it was a book I wanted to read, a story I had to hear. I was certainly not disappointed because the words within the cover were every bit as powerful as the image on the outside. My daddy loved music and my mama sang in the choir so my sisters and I were exposed from a very young age and music is still very important to us. I have never quite heard music described as eloquently as Charles Martin expressed in this novel. I was thoroughly hooked before I even got to the meat of the story.
As many have said, “Long Way Gone” is a contemporary story of a prodigal. It is a tale that will bring most readers to tears at one point and have them laughing at another. Then there are those Holy Ghost moments where you just want to throw up your hands and praise God. I pretty much loved everything about the book and can already think of several people who MUST read it.
“Long Way Gone” really needs a soundtrack. Descriptions of Cooper’s and Daley’s songs left me wanting to hear them. It would be wonderful if movie negotiations were in the works so that it could come to pass.
“Long Way Gone” is probably the best book I have read in years and I have read a lot of books. Do yourself a favor and buy a copy for yourself and your reader friends who love music.
A free copy of this book was provided for review by the BookLook Blogger Program of Harper Collins Christian Publishing. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
“No matter where you go, no matter whether you succeed or fail, stand or fall, no gone is too far gone. You can always come home.”
At the age of eighteen, musician and songwriter Cooper O’Connor took everything his father held dear and drove 1,200 miles from home to Nashville, his life riding on a six-string guitar and the bold wager that he had talent. But his wager soon proved foolish.
Five years after losing everything, he falls in love with Daley Cross, an angelic voice in need of a song. But just as he realizes his love for Daley, Cooper faces a tragedy that threatens his life as well as his career. With nowhere else to go, he returns home to the remote Colorado mountains, searching for answers about his father and his faith.
When Daley shows up on his street corner twenty years later, he wonders if it’s too late to tell her the truth about his past—and if he is ready to face it himself.
A radical retelling of the prodigal son story, Long Way Gone takes us from tent revivals to the Ryman Auditorium to the tender relationship between a broken man and the father who never stopped calling him home.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Charles Martin is the author of nine novels (Unwritten, Thunder and Rain, The Mountain Between Us, Where the River Ends, Wrapped in Rain, Chasing Fireflies, Maggie, When Crickets Cry, and The Dead Don’t Dance. He currently lives in Jacksonville, Florida with his wife and family. Learn more about him at charlesmartinbooks.com. Facebook: Author.Charles.Martin Twitter: @storiedcareer
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by admin | Oct 28, 2016 | Amish, Books, Christmas, Romance
Don’t miss books three (A Sister’s Wish) and four (An Amish Family Christmas) in Shelley Shepard Gray’s Charmed Amish Life series. In A Sister’s Wish, when Amelia gets hurt, it sets off a chain of events that forces Amelia and Simon to consider their future together—and face their past mistakes. There’s a chance for love . . . but only if Simon dares to trust Amelia with the secrets of his past. In An Amish Family Christmas, Christmas is a time for family, and as the holiday draws closer, Julia and Levi will have to face their pasts together . . . in order to find the healing, support and love they so desperately desire.
Enter to win a book pack (a copy of A Sister’s Wish and a copy of An Amish Family Christmas) from Shelley. Five winners will be chosen! Click the image below to enter to win. The winners will be announced November 7th on Shelley’s blog!
MY REVIEW:
It is not often that I have the chance to read two new books from a series back-to-back so it was fun to do so with “A Sister’s Wish” and “An Amish Family Christmas”. I enjoyed both of them and will review each of them separately below.
A free copy of this book was provided for review by Litfuse Publicity. A favorable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
ABOUT A SISTER’S WISH:
In Shelley Shepard Gray’s third book in her Charmed Amish Life series, a respectable young woman finds herself falling for an Amish man from the wrong side of the tracks.
Amelia Kinsinger is the perfect Amish woman—at least according to her neighbors. And while Amelia takes pride in her role as homemaker, she’s also harboring a secret: She’s been in love with bad boy Simon Hochstetler for as long as she can remember. Too bad he’s about as far from “perfect” as an Amish man could get… but that’s exactly why she’s so drawn to him.
Life hasn’t been kind to Simon. He ran away from an abusive home at fifteen and things went downhill from there. Eventually, Simon landed in prison. But the experience changed him. Now back in Charm as a grown man, he’s determined to make a new life for himself and not think too much about his wild past…unless it pertains to Amelia.
He’s loved Amelia for years. To him, she represents everything good and kind in the world. When he realizes that she returns his affections, he starts calling on her in secret, even though her older brother Lukas—who just happens to be Simon’s best friend—has made it perfectly clear that Amelia deserves better. Simon disagrees and believes he’s the only one who can truly make her happy.
But when Amelia gets hurt, it sets off a chain of events that forces them to consider their future together—and face their past mistakes. There’s a chance for love… but only if Simon dares to trust Amelia with the secrets of his past.
Learn more and purchase a copy.
My Review:
Once again I found myself visiting Charm, Ohio and renewing my acquaintance with its residents, especially the members of the Kinsinger family. Brother Lukas and sister Rebecca are happily married and stay busy at the family mill while younger sister Amelia stays home and takes care of the farm and household chores by herself which makes her feel somewhat abandoned. Amelia has loved Simon Hochstetler since she was a child and they have met secretly since he returned to Charm because they know Lukas in particular would not approve of their relationship. An accident brings everything out into the open and things get pretty tense.
I often find it quite interesting that characters that I liked in previous novels sometimes are not quite as likeable in a sequel. Lukas was one of those, in fact he was pretty disagreeable for several chapters. Even though Simon had served prison time, he had repented and changed his ways. But his best friend (did you understand -best friend?) still didn’t think Simon was good enough for his little sister. Talk about a hypocrite! Well, as can be expected, it all works out by the end of the story but not without some difficulties along the way. And that’s what makes Shelley Shepard Gray’s books so good -realistic characters dealing with real life situations and a hearty dose of practical faith.
I enjoyed “A Sister’s Wish” and recommend it to all lovers of Amish fiction.
ABOUT AN AMISH FAMILY CHRISTMAS:
In Shelley Shepard Gray’s fourth book in her Charmed Amish Life series, an unlikely Amish romance reveals that Christmas is a time for family, miracles—and love.
Ever since his father died in a tragic fire, Levi Kinsinger has felt adrift. Newly returned to Charm, Ohio, Levi is trying to fit into his old life, only to discover he seems to have outgrown it.
But when Julia, his young widowed neighbor, asks for his help with a Christmas project, Levi finds a sense of purpose for the first time in months. She and her daughter are new to Charm and could use a friend, a job Levi takes personally. Soon enough, friendship grows into attraction, but Levi can’t help having doubts. There’s something about Julia that doesn’t ring quite true…
Like Levi, Julia Kemps has survived her fair share of hardships—but only by hiding the truth of her past. Being an unmarried mother in an Amish community was unthinkable. Feeling hopeless, Julia did the only thing she could do: she moved to a new town and pretended to be a widow. But meeting Levi, she’s hopeful for the first time. Little by little, she begins to imagine telling him her darkest secret, and eventually…perhaps even sharing her life with him.
Christmas is a time for family, and as the holiday draws closer, Julia and Levi will have to face their pasts together…in order to find the healing, support and love they so desperately desire.
Learn more and purchase a copy.
My Review:
I loved reading “An Amish Family Christmas” immediately after “A Sister’s Wish”. This one is Kinsinger brother Levi’s story which takes place shortly after he returns to Charm from working construction in Florida. Levi is still struggling with his father’s accidental death and feels like the rest of the family has moved on with their lives. Although back at work at the family mill, Levi is not comfortable in the family home and rents a little house in town. When he meets Julia Kemps, he has no intention of pursuing a relationship but finds himself strangely drawn to her and her young daughter. Julia is barely making ends meet and is thrilled when she has a chance to make a little extra Christmas money cleaning Levi’s house. But Julia has some dark secrets that she fears will change people’s feelings toward her. Will Levi and Julia find happiness for Christmas?
“An Amish Family Christmas” is another warm yet realistic story from Shelley Shepard Gray. Although not quite as much a Christmas tale as some, it still exudes the spirit of Christmas in its illustration of how one person can be blessed by helping others. I thought this was a fitting conclusion for the Charmed Amish Life series and also recommend it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Shelley Shepard Gray is a “New York Times” and “USA Today” bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.
Find out more about Shelley at http://www.shelleyshepardgray.com.
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