Gripping is the word I'd use to describe The Goodbye Bride by Denise Hunter! It pulled me in from the first page. I LOVE books like that! The Goodbye Bride is the second novel in the Summer Harbor Series, which started with Falling Like Snowflakes. The third novel in the series is coming up in September and is called Just a Kiss. Zac Callahan is a man who has recently been jilted by his fiance Lucy Lovett. Left to lick his emotional wounds, Zac had spent the last several months trying to move ...
Pieces on Earth Review
I'll be honest and say that I don't read too many novellas, because I generally find them hard to get attached to. They're usually too short, and it makes relating to the characters harder. That wasn't my experience with Pieces on Earth by Cathy Bryant. Pieces on Earth is a novella about a young military wife and mother named Liv who has a four-year-old daughter named Chesney. When her military pilot husband Jeff was suddenly deployed near the Christmas holiday season, Liv is obviously ...
Betting on Hope – a BookLook Bloggers review
Hilarious. Heart-tugging. Betting on Hope is part of the Four of Hearts series of novels. Betting on Hope, written by author Debra Clopton, is a keeper. Contemporary Christian is a favorite genre of mine. I thoroughly enjoy a well-written novel with a swirl of romance poured in. Debra weaved a little comedy in as well, which is always appreciated by me. :) Main character Maggie Hope is an advice columnist turned-suddenly-reporter who ends up getting "roped" into interviewing ...
Review – Taken by Dee Henderson
Glue me to my chair, cuz I don't wanna get up! Those are the words that fit my feelings of Taken by Dee Henderson. Someone insert an IV, because I ain't moving. Unfortunately, I had to put this book down too many times because life required it. My kids required it. SLEEP required it. sigh THIS IS A GOOD BOOK. There, I said it, even in all caps. Yes, I shouted. Dee Henderson is the kind of author, like Sue Grafton for my mom, whose books I am collecting simply because they are that good. And ...
Review of Through Waters Deep & Giveaway
Riveting, powerful, edge-of-my-seat excitement are words I'd use to describe Through Waters Deep by Sarah Sundin. Mary and Jim, the main characters, work so well together. Sarah knows how to weave her characters so that they function together in the story without difficulty--no weird vibes or fake-feeling characters. There are several secondary characters involved, but not so many that I was getting everyone confused. Each person's role in the story was specific and defined, and Sundin paid ...
Beyond the Ashes Review
Rising from the ashes is definitely a phrase that one would use to describe Beyond the Ashes. The leading character, Ruby, is a widow who has decided to devote her life to nursing after the loss of her husband. When she chooses to join her brother Robert in San Francisco's post-earthquake rebuilding in 1906, she's made the decision to also accept what life there brings her. I really appreciate the detail that Karen took in writing this ...
Summer’s List by Anita Higman
Great summer reading! Summer's List by Anita Higman is a sweet heart-tugging story about a young woman whose only remaining relative, her grandmother, has devised a "bucket list" so to speak for her granddaughter as her dying wish. Summer feels honor-bound to fulfill her grandmother's wish, so she sets off to strike off everything on that list. Along the way, Summer is reunited with her childhood friend Martin and she finds that her friend has had his share of heartache. Summer and Martin ...
The Inn at Ocean’s Edge Review
Gripping, moving, page-turning The Inn at Ocean's Edge kept me busy! Fully invested in the story, I made it my mission to determine who the villain was, only to have my "bad guy" ruled out! If you enjoy a suspense novel that will keep you motivated and determined to see resolution, this one's for you! Colleen Coble's novels are fantastic as a general rule, and this one was no different. The plot was solid and engrossing. The interweaving of several secondary and tertiary characters into the ...
Winning the Teacher’s Heart
Entertaining and Enjoyable are words I've often used to described the Love Inspired books, and Winning the Teacher's Heart is a book that also falls into that category. I've read Love Inspired books since I was an older teenager, borrowed from my grandmother, and one of the things that I love about them is that they're perfect books to read quickly but still find yourself fully absorbed into the story. Jean Gordon is an author whose books I'd never read before, and this novel is part of a ...
Quilted by Christmas – a Litfuse Review
Thoughts Quilted by Christmas by Jodie Bailey was an enjoyable read. Taryn, the main character, struggled with having been told that she was manipulative and needy. She hadn't had a loving father in her life, and she never felt like she quite measured up. She had a hard time seeing herself as loved and important. She'd made mistakes that resulted in a big life change. She desired forgiveness, but seemed to not be able to believe that she deserved it. When her high school sweetheart Justin ...
Hidden in the Stars – a Litfuse Review
Thoughts I had never read anything by Robin Caroll before, and I've definitely added her to my list of much-appreciated authors! Hidden in the Stars is a murder mystery, full of suspense that will leave you wondering "who done it". The characters are very succinctly and nicely depicted, the plot is strong and fluid, and the attention to detail that Robin deftly worked in was very well done. It was a book that kept my attention, and as my regular readers know, that's not easily done with this ...
The Heart Mender – A BookSneeze Review
I will say that The Heart Mender by Andy Andrews was quite an interesting read. As a writer myself, I was attracted to the way Andy Andrews wrote this book. His use of foreshadowing flowed quite nicely, I thought. The switching from the "now" to the "then" wasn't choppy, which I thought was really great. However, when I got to the end of the book, the story just ended. It felt to me like there were some things that remained untold. And maybe there were a few things. It was based on a true story, ...
