Booksneeze: Unveiling Grace

Unveiling Grace by Lynn K Wilder

(from the Booksneeze website)
A rare insider’s point of view into what it actually means to live as a Mormon--what the lifestyle is like, what its pressures are, and what its culture is like. This is the gripping story of the Michael and Lynn Wilder family - of how an entire family, deeply enmeshed in Mormonism for 30 years, found their way out and found faith in Jesus Christ.

For thirty years, Lynn Wilder and her family lived, loved, and promoted the Mormon Church. Then on a Mormon mission trip to Florida, their son Micah had a revelation: God knew him personally. God loved him. And the Mormon Church did not offer the true gospel.

Micah’s conversion to Christ put the family in a tailspin. They wondered: Have we believed the wrong thing for decades? If we leave Mormonism, what does this mean for our safety, jobs, and relationships? Is Christianity that different from Mormonism anyway?

As Lynn tells her own story of abandoning the deception of Mormonism to receive God’s grace, she gives a rare look into Mormon culture, what it means to grow up Mormon, and why the contrasts between Mormonism and Christianity make all the difference in the world.

Whether readers are in the Mormon Church, curious about Mormonism, or simply looking for a gripping story, Unveiling Grace will strengthen their faith in the true God who loves them no matter what.

My Thoughts

As soon as I read the description of this book I was incredibly interested in reading it.  I don't make a habit of reading about other religions and really didn't know much about the Mormon church except that they send out missionaries that like to go knocking on doors.  In fact that is how Lynn and Michael Wilder found out about the Mormon church.  They were converts as adults then dedicated 30 years to the church.

The first half of the book talks about their conversion into Mormonism, the works they did for their church, their move to Utah and their children's devotion to their chosen faith.  Lynn discusses early questions they had about Mormon doctrines as well as other practices that didn't seem logical to them.  But neither Lynn nor Michael truly questioned their religion until their son, Micah, discovered the true Jesus of the Bible.  While in Florida on his Mormon mission, Micah knocked on the door of a Baptist minister.  He challenged Micah to read the New Testament, something he had never done before.  While reading, Micah was blown away by the Jesus of the Bible, the one who wanted a personal relationship with him.

The second half of the book tells about the Wilders conversion to evangelical Christianity, one member at a time.  Micah's revelation led to his mother reading the New Testament and also meeting the Jesus of the Bible.  One by one Micah's mother, sister, brothers and father come to meet Jesus.

I found this to be a truly incredible story.  As with all memoirs, some of the events in the book aren't written chronologically which I sometimes find frustrating.  But it is a well-written book.  It's engaging and informative.  There are some very handy references at the back of the book including a chart of Mormon beliefs versus what the Bible says and a glossary of Mormon terms.  This book truly highlights the difference between being a Mormon and being a born-again Christian.

I give Unveiling Grace 5 out of 5 stars.

I was provided a complementary copy of Unveiling Grace by the Booksneeze program in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.  

Affiliate links are used.  If you enjoyed this review, please consider clicking through my link to buy this product.  

Be sure to check out all my book reviews over on y new blog Read Me or Bust.

Booksneeze: A Matter of Trust

A Matter of Trust (A Mia Quinn Mystery)

I received a complementary Kindle version of this book from the Booksneeze program in exchange for an honest review.

(Book description from the Booksneeze website)

When life is murder, who can you trust?

One minute Mia Quinn is in her basement, chatting on the phone with a colleague at the prosecutor’s office. The next minute there’s a gunshot over the line, and Mia listens in horror as her colleague and friend Colleen bleeds to death.

Mia’s a natural for heading up the murder investigation, but these days she has all she can do to hold her life together. As a new widow with a pile of debts, a troubled teenaged son, and a four-year-old who wakes up screaming at night, she needs more time with her family, not less—and working Colleen’s case will be especially demanding. But Colleen was her friend, and she needs to keep her job. So she reluctantly teams up with detective Charlie Carlson to investigate Colleen’s death. But the deeper they dig, the more complications unfold—even the unsettling possibility that someone may be coming after her.

Lis Wiehl’s signature plot twists and relatable characters shine in this absorbing series debut . . . with an intriguing cameo from her best-selling Triple Threat series.

My Thoughts

I loved Lis Wiehl's earlier Triple Threat series.  But I love this book even more.  Wiehl does a great job of capturing all sides of the central character.  We see her struggle to raise her children by herself and make mistakes along the way.  We see her fail and cower and weep. But we also see her pick herself up again both at home and in her new job.  She's such a real person, you just want to run over to her house and give her a big hug and tell her everything will be OK.

A Matter of Trust has a little bit of everything - parenting, intrigue, a budding romance, and most of all, a murder mystery.  Let's not forget that the main point of the book is to solve a murder, and Wiehl does it in style.  I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, wanting to keep reading to figure it all out.  There are so many possible culprits that you will keep guessing until the very end.  

There is really nothing bad I can say about this book, except for the fact that there isn't a sequel...yet.  

I give A Matter of Trust 5 out of 5 stars.

If you enjoy my book reviews and plan on purchasing the book for yourself, please consider using my above affiliate links.

Booksneeze review: Dirty God

Dirty God by Johnnie Moore

(from Booksneeze)
In Dirty God: Jesus in the Trenches, Johnnie Moore draws on both Scripture and his extensive experience with other cultures and religions to show how the God of the Bible is unique in his willingness to be near us in all of our messiness. Moore outlines the central importance of the doctrine of grace while introducing readers to a humble and human Jesus who reaches out to us at our worst and pulls us up to our best.

Grace, Moore argues, is something that is both gotten and given, and the two-part structure of the book allows readers to explore both of these dynamics. By offering hope rather than condemnation and showing the practical applications of grace in today’s world, Dirty God will appeal to both the committed Christian and the spiritual seeker looking for a more authentic faith. Challenging and engaging, Dirty God is sure to establish Johnnie Moore as an emerging voice for Millennial and Gen-X evangelicals for years to come.

My Thoughts:

I've procrastinated a lot in writing this post.  Even now, I think I would rather be cleaning than writing this...and I hate to clean.  I really want to give this book a good review.  I mean, it's about grace - getting it from God and giving it to others.  I'm supposed to like a book on grace, aren't I?  But there are parts of it that I just can't agree with.  Certain quotes I love, but others leave me wondering.

Can I give a positive review if I only liked half of the book?

Let's start with the good things.  I thought the first half of the book was great.  Moore gives a new perspective of Jesus' time here on earth and his gift of grace to us.  He provides insight into how people, like lepers, really would have lived and what it really meant for Jesus to touch them.  The personal stories that Moore uses from his days as a missionary and from his current travels around the world are spot-on, relevant and entertaining at the same time.

Some quotes I loved:
"God has a track record for giving grace to rookie leaders..."
"...most of the great figures...in the other religions of the world have become famous by their perfection....Yet Jesus taught us that his Father was the kind of God who picked regular people and then used them in powerful ways despite their imperfections."
"Jesus cared little about impressing the important people.  He was too busy getting his hands messy with the regular ones..."

Now comes the negatives.  I just couldn't agree with some of the things he said in the second half of the book.  Don't get me wrong, I agree with the idea he has proposed: Christians need to give grace to others especially through meeting their daily needs.  But some specifics that he talked about didn't sit well with me.

Moore's definition of evil seems to be an entity apart from us that we can't help, not something that we, as sinful man, have chosen to do.  "It's evil when deficient self-esteem causes a young lady to give herself to every boy who gives her any attention..."  To me, that sounds like the self-esteem is to blame not the young lady.  Later, Moore talks about the entrance of evil into the world.  He starts out by relaying the ancient Greek story about Pandora opening the box of evil and unleashing it on the world.  Then he says "Whether it's the historical account of Eve in Eden sneaking a bite of the apple, or the myth of Pandora's curious mistake, there is one overarching conclusion...evil is real."  Huh?  He compares the truth of the Bible with a Greek myth and makes it sound like they were both valid ideas for evil entering the world.  I can't stand by that.

Apart from the theological differences that I had with the book, I also felt like I couldn't get a clear outline of his writing in my head.  Instead of feeling cohesive, the book felt more like a random collection of thoughts, more blog-like than book-like.

At the end of the book, Moore definitely gets on his soapbox and starts shooting out statistics left and right.  He mentions general ways we can change the world, but he specifically mentions the aid organization where he serves on the board.  While everyone has the write to promote their own organizations and passions, other choices that we as the reader could choose to help with, would have been greatly beneficial.

In the final chapter Moore expresses his hope that this book will be bookmarked and highlighted on e-readers everywhere to be referred to again and again.  And to be honest, I have 32 passages highlighted on my Kindle.  Some are highlighted because I love them, some because I totally disagree with them.  But, if nothing else, Dirty God made me think and made me search my Bible for answers.

If I were just rating the first half of the this book, I would give it five stars.  But I have to give an overall review.  This book earns

3 out of 5 stars

I received a complementary Kindle version of this book from the Booksneeze program in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own.

Booksneeze: Silent Night

Silent Night by Colleen Coble

A Rock Harbor Christmas Novella

(Book Description)

As Christmas day nears, Bree and her faithful search-and-rescue dog Samson follow the trail of a troubling mystery into the snowy forests of Rock Harbor.

Bree Matthews is preparing for Christmas guests, but her heart is reeling from the recent and tender loss of her unborn child. Her sister-in-law, Lauri, suddenly turns up on the doorstep of the lighthouse home Bree shares with her husband, Kade, in Rock Harbor. Secretive and withdrawn, Lauri seems curiously intent on discovering what happened to a parachuter who disappeared in the North Woods along Lake Superior's icy shore.

As Bree and Samson, her search-and-rescue dog, plunge into the search, Bree wonders if Lauri may know more than she’s admitted about the parachuter. And then the clues lead them to the trail of a young woman whose family fears the worst about her disappearance.

Will the search on this snowy, silent night lead Bree and Samson to more than clues about the missing girl? And will Bree’s prayer for a baby ever be answered?

My Thoughts:

This is the first Rock Harbor book that I have read, but a quick search on Amazon shows 5 other books about Rock Harbor by Colleen Coble.  The Rock Harbor crew also has a little cameo in another Colleen Coble book that I've read and reviewed, Tidewater Inn.

This was a cute little book.  Knowing it was a novella, not a full-fledged novel helped as I read it.  The action and the mystery of the book were resolved pretty quickly.  If this was a full novel, I'm sure there would have been more to the investigation.

However, I felt like Coble packed a lot into a little book.  Bree and Lauri both grow as characters and deal with losses and heartaches.  At the same time, they solve a mystery involving a missing college co-ed, an inexperienced skydiver and illegal activities happening in the Michigan forests.  Think that's a lot to pack in 140 pages?  Somehow Colleen Coble does it.  And all the loose ends are tied up by the end of the novella.

The only disappointment?  This seems to be the end of the Rock Harbor series.  Slient Night drew me in and makes me want to read more about Bree and her family.  Luckily, the first book in the series is sitting on my shelf, ready to read.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I was provided with a complementary Kindle version of this book for review by the Booksneeze program.  All opinions are my own.

Booksneeze: Isle of Shadows

Isle of Shadows by Tracy Higley

The setting is ancient Rhodes, in Greece. Tessa, a high class prostitute has had her "contract" bought by a powerful politician, Glaucus, a man who is greedy and possessive. When Glaucus dies unexpectedly, Tessa realizes this is her chance to escape but she must pretend that he is alive long enough to plan her getaway.

Aided by fellow slave, Nikos, and opposed by political schemer, Spiro, Tessa must balance her role as a woman, a slave & a courtesan. Can she pull off the deception and escape Rhodes forever?

My Thoughts:

It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did, I really enjoyed it.  

The setting of Rhodes is very unique.  I have heard of the city before but I didn't know much about it or it's famous fallen statue.  According to ancient Greek historians, the Colossus of Helios at Rhodes was destroyed by an earthquake.  Higley uniquely used this in the story by setting the time of each chapter as so many days "before the Great Quake."  You knew it was coming and you felt urgency for the characters to complete their mission before the calamity comes.

The entire story takes place in 7 days and is very fast moving.  There is mystery, romance, intrigue and repentance before God.  It sounds like a lot going on, but Higley does a good job of creating an intricate plot while still making it clear enough for the reader to follow what's going on.

The best part of the book is the character of Tessa.  She is a strong female character who is caught up in a life she doesn't want to lead.  She is smart and well-spoken but lacks the one thing she really wants - freedom.  As a reader, you are gunning for her the whole time, wanting her to find God and find love and find freedom.  Great read!

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I received a complementary Kindle version of this book while participating in the Booksneeze program.  All opinions are my own.

Booksneeze: The Choice

The Choice by Robert Whitlow

The year is 1974 and 17 year old cheerleader, Sandy Lincoln, finds herself pregnant after only one night of giving into to her football player boyfriend.  Abortion is touted by friends and family as the "cure" for her "problem."  Amid an overwhelming amount of well-meaning advice, Sandy must make a choice: abort the baby, keep the baby, or give the baby up for adoption.  Two of those options involve facing the world as a pregnant teenager and being forced to finish high school at the juvenile delinquent alternative school.

Fast forward 33 years...Sandy is a veteran English teacher in the same hometown that she grew up in.  Suddenly a shy, Spanish-speaking student comes to Sandy with the information that she is pregnant from the result of rape.  Following the rules, Sandy take the student to the school counselor who pushes the girl to abort her baby.  She exerts so much pressure in fact that she starts pressing charges against Sandy for interfering with the girl's life.  How best can Sandy help her innocent, young charge?  How does Sandy's past affect this girl's present situation?


My Thoughts

I think Robert Whitlow's book is brilliant.  The setting of the book is 1974, one year after Roe vs Wade made abortion legal in the US.  The long-term psychological effects of abortion are not known.  At that time high schools would not allow you to continue to attend if you were pregnant, so choosing to have the baby could also result in losing your chance at a high school diploma.  Our society today is a lot more tolerant of pregnant teenagers than it was in 1974.  I think that makes Sandy's choice that much more difficult.

Whitlow did a great job of describing Sandy's inner turmoil as well as her justifications for her final decision.  It was also interesting to remember a world where phones are attached to walls with a cord and a tank of gas can be bought for a $5 bill.  He did a good job of inserting those little tidbits to remind us of the setting without going overboard with them.

Without revealing too much about the plot, there were parts of the story that I thought were a little too coincidental, but I kind of expected them to come.  In general, I thought the story line was very well done, very unique and also very timely.

Whitlow does a great job of giving us lovable fully rounded characters, ones that have to make hard decisions.  In neither situation - Sandy's or her pregnant student's - is the choice easy.

As he mentions a little in the Author's Note at the end, Whitlow's choice of title was very purposeful.  The Pro-Choice movement leads us to believe that the word "choice" really means "the choice to abort."  But in this story, a young girl is about to be deprived of her choice not to abort.

This is a great, thought-provoking, easy-to-read story that everyone will enjoy.

I give The Choice 5 out of 5 stars.

I was provided with a complementary Kindle version of this book by Booksneeze.  The honest opinions are my own.

Booksneeze: Tidewater Inn

Tidewater Inn by Colleen Coble

Welcome to Hope Beach

Where the sea breeze is fresh, sun sparkles on sand . . . and trouble appears with the force of a hurricane.

Inheriting a beautiful old hotel on the seaward shore of Hope Island could be a dream come true for Libby. The inn cries out for her restorer’s talent and love of history. She’s delighted to learn of family she never knew she had. And the handsome Coast Guard lieutenant she’s met there on the island could definitely be the man of her dreams.

But Libby soon realizes that only way she can afford the upkeep on the inn is to sell it to developers who are stalking the island. The father, who willed her the inn, has died before she could meet him, and her newfound brothers and sisters are convinced she’s there to steal their birthright. Worst of all, her best friend and business partner has been kidnapped before her eyes, Libby’s under suspicion for the crime, and her handsome lieutenant clearly doubts her innocence.

Libby’s dream-come-true is becoming a nightmare. Can she find her friend and establish her innocence? Must she sell Tidewater Inn and lose her family again? Or can she find a home for her heart on the beautiful shores of Hope Island?

My Thoughts:

I love a good mystery tied in with a good romance, and this book has both.  Colleen Coble does a great job of keeping you guessing about who's in cahoots right up until the end.  The book was easy to read and the story line kept me engaged and wanting to read more.

Libby is cute, lovable and easy to relate to in her struggle to please God and to please others. At times I felt like she should have been a little bit more worried about her kidnapped friend,   but for the most part, she was a well-written character.

I love the description of Hope Island and all the residents there.  It makes me want to vacation there but to not tell anyone about it - to keep it my little secret hideaway.  

Overall Colleen Coble delivers up another great read.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

I was given a complementary Kindle version of this book while participating in the Booksneeze program.  All opinions are my own.

Booksneeze: Garden of Madness

Garden of Madness by Tracy Higley

The Untold Story of King Nebuchadnezzar’s Daughter.

For seven years the Babylonian princess Tiamat has waited for the mad king Nebuchadnezzar to return to his family and to his kingdom. Driven from his throne to live as a beast, he prowls his luxurious Hanging Gardens, secreted away from the world.

Since her treaty marriage at a young age, Tia has lived an indulgent palace life. But when her husband dies and a nobleman is found murdered in the palace, Tia must discover who is responsible for the macabre death, even if her own newfound freedom is threatened.

As the queen plans to wed Tia to yet another prince, the powerful mage Shadir plots to expose the family’s secret and set his own man on the throne. Tia enlists the help of a reluctant Jewish captive, her late husband’s brother Pedaiah, who challenges her notions of the gods even as he opens her heart to both truth and love.

In a time when few gave their hearts to Yahweh, one woman must decide if she is willing to risk everything—her possessions, her gods, and her very life—for the Israelite’s one God. Madness, sorcery and sinister plots mingle like an alchemist’s deadly potion, and Tia must dare to risk all – to save the kingdom, and to save herself.

My thoughts:

I was intrigued by the summary of this book.  I haven't seen many (if any) stories about ancient Babylon or King Nebuchadnezzar's family.  The book of Daniel in the Bible, which records most of what we know about King N, is one of my favorites so I was excited to see what this author had come up with.

I liked the character of Tiamat.  She is a strong female heroine who isn't very princess-like.  She has a workout room where she punches bags and uses pulleys to strengthen her arms. She also races chariots, which is a unique sport in itself and even more unique when a princess does it.  Tia is only satisfied with the truth and refuses to be used as a pawn by others.  Other central characters, like Tiamat's mom and her late husband's brother, Pedaiah, are also fully developed and well-rounded. 

As for the story and the mystery involved, it's pretty good.  There were several plot twists that I did not anticipate which were new and interesting.  I did think the mystery was a little drawn out.  There were periods of the book that didn't really advance the story, but I could overlook those sections because I thought the premise was just so original.

I thought Higley also did a great job of presenting the supernatural elements in the book - the demons that were masquerading as Babylon gods - and the oppression that they cause.

My only issue with the book was Higley's portrayal of King Nebuchadnezzar.  He's insane for most of the book (as he is in the book of Daniel as well), so our knowledge of his character comes from his daughter.  She remembers her father as a loving, caring and great man who did things for the good of his people.  My study of King N in the Bible tells differently.  It shows a ruthless, arrogant man who would do anything for power, including kidnapping his enemies children and forcing them to live in Babylon and work for him.  Maybe King N changed for the better and became a follower of Yahweh at the end of his life (that is definitively the author's view), but that's hard for me to believe.  Seeing as history doesn't tell us King N"s character at the end of his life, I guess Higley is entitled to her opinion.

Overall, Garden of Madness was a well-written, entertaining book.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Booksneeze: Eyes of Justice

Eyes of Justice by Lis Wiehl and April Henry

(From the back of the book)

The Triple Threat Club has solved intense murder mysteries before…but this time it’s personal.

Cassidy, Allison, and Nicole fight for justice every day—Cassidy as a crime reporter, Nicole as an FBI agent, and Allison as a federal prosecutor. Together they’re a Triple Threat to be reckoned with.

But when a ruthless murderer kills one of their number—and the authorities seem intent on keeping them out of the investigation of the crime—their desire for justice goes into overdrive. They find an unexpected ally in a quirky private investigator named Ophelia whose methods confound the wise.

Yet just when it seems police have the killer in custody and justice is within sight, he somehow strikes again. Not knowing whom to trust, the team engage in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with the killer. Nothing can be taken at face value…and nothing will ever be the same.

A riveting Triple Threat mystery that will leave readers shocked and satisfied.

My Thoughts:

The Triple Threat Club is at is again.  This is the fourth book in the series by Wiehl and Henry.  You can see my review of Heart of Ice, book three in the series, here.

I love Wiehl and Henry's strong female characters and I love how they have such different roles in solving crimes.  The authors do a great job of taking you behind the scenes and showing you what really happens in the FBI, the federal prosecutor's office and the local TV studio.  They also do a great job of transporting you to Portland, Oregon and giving you a feel for life there.

What I didn't love was the authors killing off one of the main characters!!  Oh, it made for some good fiction because, as a reader, you don't really expect the main character to die.  In fact, it took half of the book to convince me that she was really dead.  But as a romantic, I didn't really want it to be true.  It made it harder that we didn't know where that character was spiritually when she died.

True to Triple Threat Club novels, the plot was great, and there was enough suspense and surprise to keep the reader turning pages until the end (or clicking Kindle buttons, in my case).  I didn't really like their choice of killer though.  Guess that's just personal preference.

Nevertheless, I thought Eyes of Justice was still a great read.  It still kept me up at night reading until the very end.  When Wiehl and Henry kill off one character, they bring in another to take her place.  Presumably so that the series can go on.

If you have read the other Triple Threat novels, you should definitely read this one too.  If you haven't read novels 1 through 3, I would go and read at least one those first before you read this one.

I look forward to seeing what Wiehl and Henry do with another novel and a new Triple Threat Club cast.

I give the book 5 out of 5 stars.

I received a complimentary Kindle version of this book to review from Booksneeze.  All opinions are my own.

Booksneeze: Beyond Molasses Creek

Beyond Molasses Creek by Nicole Seitz

Ally Green, a former flight attendant, has returned to Mount Pleasant, South Carolina to bury her father.  She is haunted by events in her past including her love of Vesey Washington, the man who was forbidden to her 40 years before.

Vesey lives across Molasses Creek from Ally in the home he's always lived in, the one his mother raised him in and the one he raised his four children in.

Sunila Kunari has been a sculptor for a mine in Katmandu, Nepal for as long as she can remember.  Yet suspicious circumstances surround her life as a baby.

How will these three lives intersect?  Can healing occur?

My Thoughts:

This book had potential and, for the most part, it was good.  I thought parts of the story were very unrealistic.

I thought Ally's infatuation with Vesey was very selfish of her.  She destroyed his access to education because she was determined to pursue him without finding out how he felt about her.  I spent most of the book upset with her over that.

My other gripe is that only a few chapters are written from Vesey's point of view. Half the book has chapters written from the point of view Ally.  The other half is written from Sunita's point of view.  Then you have (I think) 2 chapters written from Vesey's point of view.  To me it just doesn't fit.  Either have more written by Vesey or none at all.

The overall story was unique and I do like that in a book.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.


I was provided a complimentary Kindle version of this book for review by Booksneeze.  All opinions are my own.

Booksneeze: This Thing of Ours

This Thing of Ours: How Faith Saved My Mafia Marriage by Cammy Franzese

 

(from the back cover)
A match made on a movie set and a lavish Beverly Hills wedding.  The beginning of Camille Franzese's story takes on the shade of an exotic fairy tale.  But a closer look at her marriage to mafia capo Michael Franzese exposes more than a decade of anguish endured in the shadows of her husband's crimes.  The fear of arrest, the prison sentences, the house raids from federal agents - Camille lived through it all, not knowing whether her family could remain unbroken amid the turmoil and uncertainty that accompanied her husband's life of crime.  Discover how Camille's devotion to her marriage and her faith in God's larger plan led to deliverance from devastation.  Hers is a story of choices, consequences, and the prayers that hold us up when everything around us is falling down.

My Thoughts:

I was very excited about reading this book.  It's not every day you get to find out how things really work in the mafia.  Well, unfortunately, if that's what you are looking for, this book will disappoint.  Despite the subtitle of this book, Franzese's husband was on his way out of the mafia by the time they married.  In fact, he left for prison less than a year after their wedding and from that point on, he was no longer a mafia man.

Her story is more about her life during the two four-year stints her husband spent in prison and what she learned.  There are two overwhelming themes throughout the book.  One is that you must stand by your choices no matter the consequences.  So you married a former mafia boss and didn't know it.  Too bad - it was your choice to marry him without researching how he got his money.  You must stand by your choice whether you like the consequences or not.

The other theme is that you must cover every part of your life in prayer, whether things are going well or not.  Cammy learned to rely on God when she was raising 3 kids with a husband in prison.  She had to continually rely on him when her husband got home and they adjusted to life together again.  She relies on him today to help her learn to relate to her grown children.

So while this isn't a book about life in the mafia, it is a book about forgiveness and commitment.  My only complaint is that the author tends to go off on rabbit trails at time and can be hard to follow. 

I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars.


I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book to review by Booksneeze.  The opinions are my own.

Booksneeze: Smitten

Smitten By Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Denise Hunter, & Diann Hunt 

The unthinkable happens to the sleepy, little town of Smitten, Vermont.  Smitten Lumber, the town's paper mill and main employer, announces that it is closing.  Unable to bear the thought of their town dying, four single friends get together and devise a way to capitalize on the town's name and keep Smitten in business.  


Bold Natalie, trendy Julia, prim and proper Shelby and athletic Reese persuade the town leaders to turn Smitten into the romantic, honeymoon getaway of the Northeast.  While transforming the town, each woman must deal with her own insecurities and, hopefully, find love along the way.


My Thoughts:

The set-up of this book was so unique and interesting to me.  It's divided into four sections, each one being it's own little novella.  Each section is about one of the four friends and is written by a different author (several of them being my favorite authors, I might add).  Each author put a little bit of her personality into their character (as told in the interview with the authors at the end of the book).  Also each section is written about a different season within the year it takes to transform the town.


I've never read a book that is distinctly written by four authors.  As I was reading, I could tell the different styles of each author, but the book flowed together really well.  It was really one main story line - the transformation of this little town and the people in it - but with separate little story lines within it.  The authors and editor did a really good job of making it work together.


As for each individual story line, I thought they were pretty predicable.  What you wanted to happen, happened.  But that was OK.  Sometimes it's good to read great romantic stories that turn out just like you want them to and that don't require a lot of thought on the part of the reader.  

Having the plot develop in a shorter story or novella, could mean that characters aren't fully developed.  However, that was not the case in this book.  I thought each of the four friends had very distinct personalities that show up in each of the four stories.


This was a quick read and would be great for cold winter nights when all you want to do is cozy up next to the fire.


I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.


The Kindle version of Smitten was provided to me by Booksneeze in exchange for a review.  All opinions are my own.

Booksneeze: The Realms Thereunder

The Realms Thereunder - Ross Lawhead

(from the back cover)  A homeless man is stalked by a pale, wraith-like creature with a mouthful of needle-sharp teeth.  Maimed animals and a host of suicides cluster around a mountain in Scotland.  And deep beneath the cobbled streets of Oxford, a malicious hoard besieges a hidden city.

Freya Reynolds is a university student with a touch of OCD and an obsession with myth and folklore.  Daniel Tully is living rough on the streets of Oxford, waging a secret war against an enemy only he can identify.  Years ago, they found themselves in a world few know is real.  They have since gone their separate ways and tried to put that adventure behind them.

But the mythical world is now bleeding into our reality - a dark spiritual evil that is manifesting itself in forgotten corners fo the British Isles.  Alex Simpson is a Scottish police officer who specializes in hunting mythical creatures.  Together, they must confront the past, the present and points beyond to defeat the ultimate thread to humanity.

Nothing they've seen so far prepares them for what awaits...in The Realms Thereunder.

My Thoughts

OK, I must start this review by pointing out that I'm not really a fan of fantasy.  Why I picked this book to review, I don't know.  That being said, even thought I didn't like the genre, I stuck it out and read every word.

The story jumps around in time a lot.  In the beginning of book, there are two time periods - the present where Freya Reynolds is a college student at Oxford and Daniel Tully is homeless and living on the streets, and eight years ago where the two were, unknowingly, lured into a secret underground world.  Then as the book progressed, Daniel and Freya are separated in the present to, really, two other time periods.  So then, you have three separate storylines going, along with trying to remember the original one.  To me, that was very confusing.  I constantly had to go back in the book to refresh myself on what had just happened in that time period (3 chapters ago!). 

My other complaint with the book is the storyline (at least the one from eight years ago), seemed all to familiar.  Two children whisked to a secret world where it's the good wizard and his forces battling that bad wizard and his forces.  The bad wizard must be destroyed but only a brave child with a pure heart can rid the world of evil.  Sound like anything familiar?  A little Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter, anyone?

The book really doesn't resolve any of the conflicts within it.  It's almost more of an intro into the next book, which, I have to say, I won't be reading.

I give this book 2 out of 5 stars.

I read this book as part of the Booksneeze program for bloggers.  All opinions are my own.

Booksneeze: It Couldn't Just Happen

It Couldn't Just Happen by Lawrence O. Richards



Did the Earth begin with a "Big Bang" cosmic explosion? 
Does science contradict the Bible?
What happened to the dinosaurs? 
Did we evolve from apes?

These are just a few of the questions that are explored in It Couldn't Just Happen: Knowing the Truth about God's Awesome Creation.  The book is touted as a children's book but is incredibly interesting for adults.  Richards looks at Earth as a planet in our universe, then goes on to talk about how life began, evidence we can find from living things, humans in God's image and, lastly, how we got the Bible.  He gives convincing scientific evidence to make the reader question what you learned in school.  On the flip side, the book does not preach Creation to you.  It presents facts and scientific discoveries from both sides of the argument and lets the reader decide for him or herself what to believe.

Each chapter also ends with discussion questions and ideas for further research. 

There are also wonderful color pictures all throughout the book.

This book would be an excellent home addition to any school curriculum - home school, private or public school.  I will say that this book is a little advanced for my children.  It will hold Julie's attention (age 8) but she still can't understand all the things in it.  It really doesn't hold David's attention (age 6) at all.  I really enjoyed reading it and found it very interesting.  However, if you are buying it for your children, I would wait until they are closer to 10 to get it.


I give the book 5 out of 5 stars.

Booksneeze: Nick of Time

Nick of Time by Tim Downs


(From the back cover)
Forensic entomologist Nick Polchak lives in a world of maggots and blow flies and decomposing bodies.  No wonder he's still single.

But Nick has finally found a woman as strange as he is - dog trainer Alena Savard, a woman who is odd, reclusive and can seemingly talk to animals.  It was a match made in heaven.

Nick and Alena are scheduled to be married on Saturday - but there's one small problem.  Nick has disappeared.

Caught up in a murder case involving an old friend, Nick finds himself on a manhunt that's drawing him farther and farther from the church where Alena is waiting.  But will he make it back in time?  Could Nick's single-minded focus cause him to forget his own wedding?  Is he really pursuing a killer, or is he running away from something else?

My Thoughts:

To be honest I didn't even plan on reading this book and I certainly didn't expect to like it.  I chose it as a novel that my husband could read and review for me.  It deals with bugs and dead bodies and yucky stuff that men like.  Unfortunately, if I waited for him to read and review it, I would be waiting until Christmas.  So, I decided I would just grin and bear it and wade through the yucky dead body stuff.

Imagine my surprise when I couldn't put this book down.  It was wonderful!  Yes, there were yucky dead body and bug stuff in there, but the characters were so real.  Nick was quirky and arrogant and rude...just like I would imagine a real-life genius bug guy would be.  Yet there is a personable side to him, a side that really does want to marry the girl and be with her forever.  Then there is Alena - a recluse who doesn't have friends, and who, secretly, has been planning her wedding since she was a little girl.

The author does an excellent job of keeping everything in character.  No one does anything that is ever out of sorts with their character, even down to how they describe things.  In one instance in the story, both Nick and Alena visit the same house at different times.  Nick notices its function and describes it one way while Alena notices its aesthetics and describes it completely different.  I thought that was brilliant on the part of the author.

And, as with all good mysteries, there is a twist at the end of the book.  I can't tell you how much I enjoyed this book and was pleasantly surprised by it.  Where has this series been that I haven't read it before?  I look forward to reading the previous and future Bug Man novels by Tim Downs.

I give this book 5 out of 5 stars.

This book was provided to me free of charge by Booksneeze.

Book Sneeze Review: The mountains bow down

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Raleigh Harmon, a forensic geologist turned FBI special agent, is on an Alaskan cruise vacation when murder on board forces her to put her vacation on hold in The Mountains Bow Down.  While investigating the death of a movie star's wife, Raleigh tries to keep her mother's fragile sanity from breaking.  She is helped in her case by rugged and handsome Special Agent Jack Stephanson. His presence only adds to her confusion about her engagement to her high school sweetheart back home in Richmond, VA.  With all these thoughts competing for first place in her mind, can Raleigh concentrate enough on the case to find the killer in time?  Will Raleigh patch things up with her fiance or choose to pursue her interested FBI partner?  Will her mother ever be able to forgive her for the lies she has told?

This is the fourth book in the Raleigh Harmon series by Sibella Giorello.  While I have enjoyed the other books in the series, I find the action in them to be a little slow for my taste.  The Mountains Bow Down is definitely the best one yet in the series.  Giorello is true to her writing form and doesn't add in unnecessary action scenes, yet the investigation storyline seems to move faster in this book, then in previous ones.  It kept my attention and made me want to keep reading until I found out who did it.

Giorello spends a lot of time developing Raleigh's character throughout these books so by the fourth, you feel like you really know this character.  You see her anguish as she deals with her mother's mental illness and how she copes by throwing herself into this murder investigation.  You almost feel with her as she struggles to choose between her overbearing fiance back home and the arrogant but caring (and obviously interested) man right in front of her.  These issues that she faces seem real, not a storyline made up by an author.  When you are done reading, all you want to do it give Raleigh a big hug and let her cry on your shoulder for all the burdens that she is bearing.

The one thing I didn't like about the book is that it almost entirely negates the relationships Giorello spent the last several books developing.  You leave the third book sure that Raleigh has finally found true love, only to have that thought entirely turned around by the end of the first chapter of this book.  It seemed a little to convenient for me.  But since that is the only bad thing I have to say about this novel, I would still highly recommend reading it, especially if you have read the previous Raleigh Harmon novels.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

The book ends with a definite nod to a sequel.  And in light of that, I look forward to reading book number five.

BookSneeze: The Power Based Life

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The Power Based Life by Mike Flynt

I was pleasantly surprised by this book.  I expected it to be a boring, self-help book with a lot of mumbo-jumbo about how you can attain any goal by just thinking about it.  But it wasn't!

It is an engaging read, full of real-life examples.  It's well written and keeps your attention.  The book is subtitled: Realize your life's goals and dreams by strengthening your body, mind and spirit.  Mike Flynt knows a lot about realizing life goals.  At age 59, he went back to play his senior year of football at his collegiate alma mater.  Almost 40 years before he had been expelled from the very same school for fighting and never got to complete his football career there.  Now he has.  It took a lot of power - mentally, physically and spiritually for him to go back and fulfill his dream.  He tells about the process in this book.

The book starts out talking about using your power bases - your strengths.  He says "you should celebrate the thing you do well and stop worrying about the way God didn't make you."  Once you find what you do well, there are 11 things you do to grow.  Master the basics - "Find out the most basic things you're supposed to do; then do them over and over and over until you do them perfectly."  Change your attitude by changing your perspective.  Visualize your goals.  Defy your skeptics and believe in yourself - "You have to wonder how much greatness is lying hidden in our society today simply because these men and women of future greatness are surrounded by the negativism of this world."  Be ready to commit to your goal - "Commitment is a lifelong discipline of giving away all that you have for the sake of one awe-inspiring goal."  Know the team you are playing for.  Be yourself and be transparent with others.  Turn your adversities into your advantages.  Be compassionate and merciful with others. Maximize the time that God gave you instead of focusing on the urgent.  Keep your body healthy for a long life.

Each of these power bases is covered in an easy-to-read chapter full of stories and applications.  I would say this is a great book to read for anyone considering a life change or anyone who is ready to follow their dreams.

All quotes came from The Power Based Life by Mike Flynt.

Booksneeze Review: Heaven is for Real

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This month I read, Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo.  This real-life book is mainly about Colton Burpo, a 3-year old boy who, during emergency appendectomy surgery, visited heaven.  I have to admit, I started reading this book as a HUGE skeptic.  I thought that this little boy just made up a story to tell to his preacher father about seeing Jesus in heaven.  However, after reading it, I truly believe that God gave him a glimpse of heaven.  Colton knew where his parents were during his surgery and what they were doing - facts that they had never told him.  He picked out his grandfather from a picture...a grandfather who had died long before Colton was born.  He had never seen a picture of this man, but he saw him in heaven and identified him on earth.  He also saw a little girl in heaven who told him she was his sister.  He had not been told as a 3-year old that his mother had miscarried a little girl before he was born.  But he woke up from that surgery knowing it.

Besides the obvious arguments for his story being the truth:  it was consistent over many years, he recognized people that he should have not known...an even greater argument exists.  Everything he said aligns with Scripture precisely.  I think if we ask the typical 3 year old what heaven will be like, there will be a lot of different answers.  But not many of them will align with Revelation prophecy of heaven or the pre-incarnate descriptions of Christ like the one found in the book of Daniel.

As I was reading the book I did have to wonder "Why him?"  Why did God choose to show heaven to a 3-year old preacher's kid from Nebraska?  I think there are 2 very good reasons.  First, the Bible clearly states that unless we have the faith of a child, we cannot enter heaven.  Colton believed everything he saw without questioning it.  He didn't scrutinize the Bible to find out if what he saw was real or a dream.  Jesus held him, the angels sang to him.  This is what he knew was true.  He just believed. 

As a family we have been listening to CS Lewis' audio book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (in preparation for the movie coming out in December).  We reached the end of the book this morning and a phrase spoken by Aslan, the lion, stuck in my mind.  It very clearly states the second reason I think God would show Colton and us a glimpse of heaven.  Anyone who is familiar with the books knows that Aslan symbolizes Christ.  CS Lewis often used Aslan's words to make Biblical points understood.  In the book Edmund asks Aslan if he is in their world too.  Aslan says "I am....But there I have another name.  You must learn to know me by that name.  This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there."  I feel that is why God showed Colton a glimpse of heaven.  That by seeing Him there, Colton and all of us, can know him better here.

In conclusion I was very impressed by this book.  It's easy to read and would only take you a day or two to finish it.  And, hopefully, by the end, you will be convinced like me.