Most of the books I review are given to me by the author or their publishing company and sometimes the library! I’m not required to post a good review.
However, my momma raised me to to say nice things, and if I can’t then I shouldn’t say anything. I’ve adopted that policy for my reviews. If I don’t like the book doesn’t mean it isn’t someone else’s favorite.
I am required by some strange law to let you know that I didn’t buy the book.
This is book 3 in this series, but you don’t need the other two to fall in love with this story. Burkhard has an amazing talent to write a book with just enough details to get the stories that happened before without spoiling them if you want to go back and read them. If you have read the other two you’ll be pleasantly surprised that there isn’t a ton of repetition of what you all ready know.
The Country House Courtship is pure delight. The main characters you fell in love with before are still very much present in this book. They haven’t grown old and withered on the vine! Ariana and Mr. Mornay have settled in there country manor with their children and life is enjoyable.
Ariana’s family comes to visit. Her younger sister, Beatrice is longing for the excitement of London and a a season in high society. Ariana’s mother thinks Beatrice is to young and her heart is set on the wrong things. Beatrice is sure she can land a rich husband despite not having a dowry, after all her sister did it why not herself?
Life gets interesting at the Country House when two gentlemen arrive that interest Beatrice. Whom will she choose? Will she go for the money or for love?
Burkhard’s claim is she writes for the Jane Austen soul. Please don’t send me hate mail but I think Burkhard writes better than Austen.
*Harvest House provided me with this book to review. I can’t be bribed though, if I don’t like it I don’t review it. *If you buy it through my ‘buy it here’ link I do get an affiliate credit.
Beaded Hope is the story of four women who embark on a mission trip to Africa. Each of them has reasons to be sorrowful, scared, or friendless. The trip is taken by all of them to escape from their current life for a few weeks. What they didn’t expect was to find themselves in a land so foreign from their own. They are introduced to Jaleela, who despite having aides has a dream God, one she feels will come true because of these women. Jaleela and the other women make beaded jewelry. She is confidant God will provide the means through these women for the jewelry to be sold in America.
The seemingly small amount of money the jewelry would sell for in America would be a significant amount to these women and their families. Many of these families are made up of only women and children. Many are sick with the aids virus. When the mothers die the children are taken in by other mothers or raised by an older sibling.
Through helping and observing the women in Africa they discover and admit to their own weaknesses and they find a stronger faith in God. Each of them returns home with a stronger faith and new friendships. The plight of these families while sad does not overwhelm the book. I wasn’t filled with despair after reading it as I often am when watching some television commercials for feed the children.
While the circumstances are equally as bad as the commercials there is a light of faith shinning through the stories of these women. While the story is fiction, the reality is real. There is a Beaded Hope organization and you can purchase jewelry to help these women and their families.
I liked this book. I was able to learn about another way of life so different from my own. When I finished reading it once again I am reminded of how much I have and take for granted. Bravo Cathy Liggett for getting my attention without making me weary. *Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.
Jenna has returned home, broken hearted with her son to heal. Her marriage has ended and she no longer feels like the homecoming queen who left town.
Nate has returned home too. The former football store is now a war hero plagued with post traumatic distress. Nate has always been in love with Jenna, but her father warned him away from her years earlier because he wanted something more for his only daughter.
Jenna and Nate reconnect as friends wanting more, but first Nate must overcome the demons from the war that causes him to act unknowingly in a manner that is dangerous to Jenna and her son.
I was hooked on this book from the beginning. It isn’t your normal romance. Gillenwater is able to portray each main character with major strength throughout the story.
For me I could have used less setting details about the ranching and cotton farming. But that is just me! I’m sure if you are interested at all in those occupations you would love the detail. I found them distracting because I wanted to get on with the story.
I’d recommend this besides being a good read it helps with the understanding of what our vets might be experiencing when they return home.
Have you ever listened to a song and thought that would make a great book to read. Sweet By and By is just that. Evans with Hauck has a unique voice that uses the English language in a delightful way.
Whisper Hollow is the place Jade has come to escape painful memories. She’s building a new life, getting married and loving the way this life is turning out. Then it begins to crumble. Unwelcome surprises from her past show up on her doorstep, prince charming seems to be a bit tarnished and then there is the pushy mother-in-law to be.
Having read several books by Hauck I can see her story telling presence in this book. And as a collector of Sara Evans music I can hear her voice. This was one of those books you want to read again and again.
I love this book! What a fun read and yet…it’s not all light and fun. There are some serious family relationship issues to be resolved. Some of them are huge and you have to wonder how Leigh will be able to fix this maladjusted family. Does she? Not telling.
Piper Wick is a fun character. She’s changed her name from Piper Pickwick –can you even imagine what she had to endure on the playground…oh wait, Piper isn’t real she’s the main character in this book. Leigh has brought her to life for readers though. If I were ever in Pickwick, North Carolina I’m sure I’d be looking for her.
There is a huge cast of family members in this book and they all have some kind of secret.
Then there is that yummo gardener, Axel Smith, to bad Piper is already taken.
The scenes with the pickled corn still has me wanting to taste some. I think I need to take a trip to the south and get some.
Caution! If you like to feel like you are in control of your life this book will change your mind. Off the grid? No longer possible. Even paying using cash no longer protects your privacy.
Jeffrey writes well and explains how your privacy is at risk in a way that is very understandable. So understandable I almost didn’t finish the book as it scared me.
So if you want to know what your government is capable of the read the book. Jeffrey also compares what is happening today to what John predicted in Revelations.
From the back of the book:
Security cameras, surveillance of your financial transactions, radio frequency spy chips hidden in consumer products, tracking of your Internet searches, and eavesdropping on your e-mail and phone calls. Without your knowledge or consent, every aspect of your life is observed and recorded. But who is watching the watchers?
An ultra-secret global elite, functioning as a very real shadow government, controls technology, finance, international law, world trade, political power, and vast military capabilities. Those who hold power are invisible to all but few insiders. These unrivaled leaders answer to no earthly authority, and they won’t stop until they control the world.
In Shadow Government, Grant Jeffrey removes the screen that, up to now, has hidden the work of these diabolical agents. Jeffrey reveals the biblical description of Satan’s global conquest and identifies the tools of technology that the Antichrist will use to rule the world.
Your eyes will be opened to the real power that is working behind the scenes to destroy America and merge it into the coming global government. Armed with this knowledge, you will be equipped to face spiritual darkness with the light of prophetic truth.
I did not have enough time to work though this book. It is set up as a weekly read with discussion questions so I don’t have an honest opinion on how well the book works to break invisible bonds.
I was impressed with the difficult subject matter that Wilson tackles. It is a book that is much needed for many women and I appreciate Random House for taking a step out there to give this book to women.
Random House’s Blurb
Many married women genuinely want to feel more desire toward their husbands. But while sex before marriage was hard to resist, now resisting seems like all they do. In her new book, Barbara Wilson shows how couples can suffer for years from the “invisible bonds” of previous relationships without even knowing it. Hidden emotions of distrust, shame, and resentment can sabotage even the most loving marriage.
In Kiss Me Again, Wilson:
·Shares her own story of healing and renewed desire
·Helps women forgive themselves and their husbands for past choices
·Shows readers how to break free from “invisible bonds”
·Explains God’s plan for helping a husband and wife to re-bond
·Includes conversation helps for both wives and their husbands
·Helps couples reignite the passion that they thought was lost
With assessment tools, write-in exercises, and gentle guidance, Kiss Me Again offers a biblical plan for rekindling the closeness and passion women long for in marriage. Because no past is beyond the reach of God’s healing touch.
Author Bio:
Barbara Wilson is the author of The Invisible Bond and former director of sexual health education for the Alternatives Pregnancy Resource Center in Sacramento. She speaks nationwide to youth and adults with her message of sexual healing, and she teaches frequently in the women’s ministry at the multi-campus Bayside Church in Northern California. Barbara and her husband, Eric, have been married for twenty-eight years.
Notice: In accordance with the FTC regulations I inform you that as an Influencer, Just Between You and Me was sent to me directly from the publisher, Random House for review purposes.
Beth is in mourning for a man she didn’t marry. Her family has tried many times to get her to give up the colors of mourning. She won’t. She can’t. She has a secret that won’t allow her to move forward.
Lizzy has never married. She is Beth’s aunt and wishes she could convince Beth to find someone marry and have a family, something Lizzy hasn’t had the chance to experience. She has taken Beth to live with her and together they run the store. Lizzy is lonely and she doesn’t want Beth to end up like her.
Then one day Lizzy finds a way to bring Beth together with someone.
This is a nice little book to read as the weather changes and keeps you inside. I call it a feel good read. One you’d reach for when you want the pieces to go together with you having to go back and figure out how it happened.
My only complaint about this book has nothing to do with the writing. I wish the letters printed in the book had not been in script. It made it difficult to read. Please note the author of this book most likely had no choice in the font type. This is usually the call of the publisher. It would have been more pleasurable for me to read if they had used a less fancy type.
Notice: In accordance with the FTC regulations I inform you that as an Influencer, The Sound of Sleigh Bells was sent to me from Waterbrook Press for review purposes.
The story of Eve, that’s the subtitle. It could be said it is the The Story of Eve, the story of women.
I could not put this book down. I soaked in the words of Havah’s story. I felt a kinship with her, felt her guilt, her sorrows, her joy and her grief. I cried when she called in a broken woman’s voice, ‘Adonai’ and didn’t receive an answer. How much more grievous it had t have been for her after talking to God and hearing from Him in a way none of us have, to lose that would have crushed most of us. Yet, God made her and Adam strong, equipped them with the strengths and knowledge needed to begin our civilization.
Tosca Lee has taken Genesis’s very short chapters about Eve and filled in the missing story of what might have been. While it is a work of fiction the possible reality that life might have been much like this for Eve causes one to pause and to think. This woman blamed for the downfall for our sin, sorrows, and discomforts was real. She was a survivor and a daughter of God. And having read Havah I understand so much more of what was lost.
This book and Demon: a Memoir, Lee’s other book will not be leaving my personal library. Both are books that can be reread knowing a new perspective will be gained.
An Eye for An Eye is the second book in the Heroes of Quantico series. It doesn’t matter though. I haven’t read the first one and it was not a problem to follow the characters in this book.
I enjoyed that it was written with a St. Louis setting since I live so close. I could easily place the characters and the officers uniforms which made it fun.
The chance meeting and shooting almost seemed to coincidental to me but I moved past that pretty fast, realizing that to engage a reader action needs to happen quickly and it did. Throughout the book it seems there is something happening to these characters. There was even a classic part where you are yelling ‘don’t go…” I’m not telling is it in that room, in the shower, or outside? You’ll have to read the book to find the answer.
I found Emily’s story resonating with me. Emily is a widow and her grief has closed her off from letting anyone get close to her. Hannon captured in words how a widow feels accurately. Good job.
The spiritual journey while important to the story and the healing of these broken characters does not over invade the story. The suspense is high and you are wondering until the end who is the target, the Mark Sanders or Emily Lawson.
While you can read this book alone you’ll want to pick up book one to read Coop’s story and then you’ll be waiting in anticipation for the next book to read about Nick.
“Extraordinary writing, vivid scenes and surprise ending . . . a not-to-be-missed reading experience.”
—Romantic Times
From award-winning author Irene Hannon comes another romantic suspense novel in her bestselling Heroes of Quantico series: An Eye for an Eye. Perfect for readers of Dee Henderson and Kristen Heitzmann, An Eye for an Eye is a fast-paced tale of romance, suspense, and intrigue that will keep readers glued to each page. Even acclaimed author Dee Henderson said of Hannon, “I found someone who writes romantic suspense better than I do.” In An Eye for an Eye, Mark Sanders is a member of the FEBI Hostage Rescue Team—the nation’s most elite civilian fighting force. But after an accidental shooting at a tense standoff, he is sent to St. Louis to work as a field agent and get his bearings while the bad press settles.
Just weeks away from returning to Quantico, Mark has a chance encounter with his first love, Emily Lawson. But their reunion is cut short by a sniper. Now Mark must find the shooter before he strikes again. But what is his motive—and who was his intended target? As they search for answers, the peril escalates. Can Mark put the pieces together, keep Emily safe, and rekindle a relationship at the same time?
Available September 2009 at your favorite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group.
Can their relationship survive a killer set on vengeance?
Irene Hannon is the author of more than thirty novels, including the bestselling Against All Odds. Her books have been honored with the coveted RITA Award from Romance Writers of America, the HOLT Medallion, and the Reviewer’s Choice Award from Romantic Times BOOKreviews magazine. Irene and her husband make their home in Missouri. www.irenehannon.com.
Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, offers practical books that bring the Christian faith to everyday life. They publish resources from a variety of well-known brands and authors, including their partnership with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and Hungry Planet.