Finding Our Way Home

Finding Our Way Home

Charlene Ann Baumbich

Sasha is at home recovering from a career ending fall. She's never dance again and her life is full of misery and self pity. Evelyn has been hired on as Sasha's personal assistant. Their personalities couldn't be farther apart. Sasha is miserable and depressed. Evelyn is optimistic and full of life.

As time goes by they both realize that they need each other and a beautiful friendship begins.

This story was sweet. It would make a good rainy afternoon book. It has some depth to it, but if you are looking for a quick, feel good book than this is perfect. The author was able to give the characters some depth and while very little surprised me I enjoyed the flow of the story.

The book is a fun fast read that I would recommend if you want to end with a smile on your face.

I received this book free of charge from WaterBrook in exchange for my honest review.

Unashamed To Bear His Name

Unashamed To Bear His Name

Embracing The Stigma of Being a Christian

R.T. Kendall

Dr. Kendall takes his growing up years and uses them as the start to this book about being unashamed. He remembers being embarrassed about his religion and being a Christian.

He begins with his personal background and testimony and moves into different stigmas that often make us ashamed to say we are Christians. He also gives us many reasons to be unashamed of who we are and who our Saviour is.

I enjoyed the style of writing and presentation. The message was clear with humorous and thought provoking illustrations. While I didn't agree 100% with his theology I liked the book and how the message was presented. There were a few parts of the book that seemed to be a bit dry and I felt that the author was a tiny bit proud on occasion. But the subject matter was good and so I would probably recommend this book.

I received this book from Bethany House free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

Brush of Angel's Wings

Brush of Angel's Wings

A heaven On Earth Novel

Ruth Reid

Rachel has accepted the fact that she is just too strange to ever find a husband. She's going to ask the bishop if she can teach school.

Jordan's mother is dead. Her last request was that he return to her Amish home that she left when she was shunned. He agrees to her request, but has no plans to become Amish. But despite his reservations he's intrigued with Rachel. She's different.

This story was sweet and romantic. It showcased the Amish lifestyle well. I enjoyed reading it, for the most part, and it flowed smoothly. One of my complaints, if you can call it that, would be the angel dialogues. I'm not sure why, but those made me dislike the story. Writers are allowed creative license when writing fiction. But I think the fact that it was not really based on the Bible was a bit disturbing to me. Most readers will probably not find this a problem, but I certainly did. It definitely hindered my loving the book. It also seemed to have a bit of negativity towards anyone not Amish. It was very slight, but I noticed it and was a bit surprised. It would seem that the author would try not to be negative towards her target audience.

All in all, it was a good book, I just didn't love it.

I received this book free of charge from Booksneeze in exchange for my honest review.

Excuse Me, My Brains Have Stepped Out

Excuse Me, My Brains Have Stepped Out 

Pandora Poikilos

This is one of the books in the blogger contest. Check out my Bloggerthon - Free Books page for instructions on how to win this and many other books.

 

Anya finds out that she has a rare brain disorder and her world is suddenly changed. She begins writing letters to her dad about her thoughts. These thoughts are all across the board as far as subject, but also deal with her feelings about her disorder.

This book is written in a similar style to Daddy Long Legs and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society in that the story is told through letters. The rest of her style is completely different, but I noticed the similarities. Some readers might get frustrated with this style, but I've always enjoyed it.

Check out this book if you want to think, ponder and question.

I receieved this book free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

Perilous Light

Perilous Light

The Afterglow Trilogy

Alyssa Rose Ivy

This is book two in the Afterglow Trilogy. I reviewed the first book, Beckoning Light, a while back and really enjoyed it. So I was thrilled to get a chance to review this one.

Charlotte has learned about her place in "another world" and is coming to grips with the fact that she is the Essence and belongs to someone else. But before she can get control of her special abilities she finds herself at war to save her new home.

This book was just as good as the first one. It deals more with her new life in Energo and how she is learning to use her powers to help those around her.

It is just as fascinating as the first book. The author has a beautiful way of writing a story that pulls you along almost before you realize what is happening.

My only complaint is that now I have to wait for the third book to come out.

I received this book free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

Be sure to check out my blog contest page for info on how to enter the contest so you can win a copy of Beckoning Light.

Blog contest for Miracle for Jen

I'm a day late putting this on the blog. Sorry!

I have one gift certificate to give away, but decided to give away the hard copy that I received from Tyndale as well.

The winners are Beth-Anne and Tiffany P.

Ladies, please contact me at timamurrell(at)ymail(dot)com with your address so I can send you your gift.

Thank you for participating.

In Too Deep

In Too Deep

The Kincaid Brides Book 2

Mary Connealy

In this book we meet some secondary characters from book 1. Audra and Ethan marry to the benefit of both of them. But are afraid to love and afraid they are cowards in life. The cave is brought back into the story and is just as "evil" as in the first book. Make sure you read the first book or this book will be a bit confusing.

I enjoyed this book a lot more than the first book. The main characters, mainly Julia, irritated me in the previous book. So I was anxious to see if she was portrayed the same. She still irritates me, but since she is only a secondary character this time it wasn't as bad. The cave seems to be a huge focus and I would have preferred to read more about how their relationship was progressing. But I did enjoy the story and there are plenty of lead-ins to the third book that I'm looking forward to reading it.

I received this book free of charge from Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

Confessions from an Arranged Marriage

Confessions from an Arranged Marriage

Miranda Neville

Minerva thinks Lord Blakney is the dumbest man she's ever met. He isn't any more impressed with her. Quite by accident Minerva finds herself married to him, now a Duke of Hampton.

This book is not your typical romance. It does have a sweet love story written within it. But mostly it's about politics in early England, blackmail and secrets. I really enjoyed the author's style of writing. She was able to write  story that was captivating and entertaining. It gave me a peak into politics and kept me guessing about where she would take me next. I look forward to reading more by this author.

I received this book free of charge from Edelweiss in exchange for my honest review.

Lil Glimmer

Lil Glimmer

Angela Muse

Lil Glimmer is a star that wants to play and his mom won't let him because it's daytime and he needs to be in bed.

This book is really cute. I read it to my three and five year old children and they both enjoyed it. Even my son who is now reading chapter books enjoyed the rhyming and cute pictures. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I'd had a paper book with color pages, but it didn't seem to bother the kids that it was black and white on my kindle. When I finished the 3 year old asked me to read it again.

I received this book free of charge from the author in exchange for my honest review.

Win a copy of miracle for Jen

Tyndale House has given me a gift certificate to give away on my blog. 

It is for the book that I just reviewed called miracle for Jen.

Please check out the review and if you would like a copy of the book then leave me a comment on this blog post and I will randomly pick a winner on Monday, March 26.

miracle for Jen

miracle for Jen

Linda Berrick

John Perry

The Barrick family is coming home one evening when their lives are forever changed. A drunk driver hits them head on and all of them sustain injuries that put them in the hospital. But the daughter, Jen,  will never be the same. What begin as prayers for recovery turn into prayers of acceptance and prayers for guidance. It's clear that God has plans for Jen and the family is learning to adapt.

This book was very well written. I was able to read it all in one evening. I was riveted from the very beginning. The journey that this family has been on is amazing and miraculous. And the testimony that Jen is now able to give is reaching more people than she ever dreamed possible.

This book is a must read. I would especially recommend it for young teens. It is a powerful testimony that I'm thankful to have read.

I received this book free of charge from Tyndale in exchange for my honest review.

God Gave Us Love

God Gave Us Love

Lisa Tawn Bergren

This board book is about how much God loves us and how we can share His love with others. It uses a little girl bear and her grandpa to illustrate these things.

I have a five year old son and a three year old daughter. So I read this book to them one evening and asked their opinions.

My opinion - The artwork is really great. The premise for the book is a great idea, but I felt like it might be a bit over my children's head. It's a board book so it seemed deeper than the type of book it was presented in.

Five year old opinion - He liked the pictures and reading about God, but didn't like that it "talked too much" and that nothing happened.

Three year old opinion - Her attention kept wandering while I was reading it. When I asked what she thought she said it was nice.

It's a cute book with a very good "story" so we will be adding it to our collection.

I received this book free of charge from WaterBrook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Dawn Comes Early

Dawn Comes Early
The Brides of Last Chance Ranch Book 1

Margaret Brownley

Kate is a dime novelist and has written something too racy for the the Boston community to handle. So she flees her hometown in disgrace. She sees an ad advertising for a young unmarried woman to become an heiress to a cattle ranch. She sees this as the perfect opportunity and heads to Arizona. The small catch is that she has no ranch experience and she must remain unmarried for the rest of her life in order to inherit the ranch.

The book started out a bit slow in the beginning, but picked up towards the middle. I really enjoyed the ranch hands that Kate worked with each day. They, and the aunts, were my favorite characters. I had to laugh several times at the predicaments that Luke's aunts kept getting themselves into. The story flowed well for the most part and was a sweet romance. It did seem a little light on the Christian aspect and the romance seemed a bit sparse. But the descriptions of the country and character depth of most of the characters made up for this. I look forward to seeing what the author does with the series.

I received this book free of charge from Booksneeze in exchange for my honest review.

That Bear Ate My Pants

That Bear Ate My Pants

Tony Slater

This book is about the author's trip to Santa Martha Animal Rescue Centre in Ecuador, South America to volunteer. The center takes in any animal that has been abandoned or abused and rehabilitates the ones that they can.

The story is told in first person and is hilarious. It kept me laughing the entire way through. I'm pretty sure it's non-fiction, but either way it's an enjoyable way to learn more about the animals of Ecuador.

There is a tiny bit of language for those who might be offended by such things, but the story is clean and fun. I'll definitely be passing this book on to my husband next and would recommend it to others. 

I received this book free of charge in exchange for my honest review.