Heart of Lies - a Zondervan review

Heart of Lies, written by Jill Marie Landis, a book in the Irish Angel Series, is a historical romantic fiction novel about a woman who was taken from her sisters as a child and forced into a life of lies and thievery in New Orleans. After her thieving group disbands, Maddie Grande still finds herself in a precarious situation when her "brothers" decide to kidnap the child of a wealthy man for ransom. Against her will, Maddie agrees to keep the child, but on second thought decides to take the child to another woman's home to hide the child.

When Pinkerton detective Tom Abbott comes knocking in search for a missing adult, he finds himself thrust into a case of kidnapping when he discovers that Maddie may be an accomplice. What he didn't expect was that Maddie's charm would eat at his resolve to solve two cases.

I loved the intrigue of this book. The writing was very easy to follow, and the dialog between Tom and Maddie was great. The characters were portrayed well, and I found myself on the edge of my seat quite often as I read the book.

For anyone who loves a nice, romantic historical fiction, I think you'll like this one!

I received Heart of Lies as a complimentary gift in exchange for review from Zondervan.

Dragons: Legends & Lore of Dinosaurs - a Creation Conversations review

Dragons: Legends & Lore of Dinosaurs is a book by Master Books, a division of New Leaf Publishers. It's a hardcover book, and it's chock-full of information about dragons and dinosaurs, written according to Biblical facts and scientific facts.

If your child loves dragons and dinos, you'll definitely want to get a copy of this. It's an interactive book, with fold-out pages, books within the book, envelopes with pull-out tidbits of info inside them, and lift-the-flap pages. If you can't afford this book (retail price is $17.99), check your local library.

My children have devoured this book, and my husband and I have enjoyed it, too. The only thing I could have asked for more of were maybe some more pictures. It is definitely word-heavy. Overall this is a great book, and a nice asset to our shelf!


I received Dragons: Legends & Lore of Dinosaurs as a complimentary gift in exchange for review from Creation Conversations.

Lazarus Awakening - a LitFuse review

Lazarus Awakening, written by Joanna Weaver, is an amazing book. The premise of the book centers around Lazarus' resurrection, but weaves tidbits here and there about OUR awakening. Lazarus Awakening includes a 10-week Bible study that would be good for the individual or for a group.

The thoughts that Joanna has put into this book is profound. She makes some excellent points that really moved me. In particular, this quote from page 81 was one that spoke to me:

"Where have you laid him?" Jesus asked Martha and Mary through His tears (John 11:34).
"Come and see, Lord," they replied. Then together they went to Lazarus's tomb.
Oh how I wish we could grasp the immensity and emotion of this tender exchange and what it means for us today.
Where have you laid your pain? Jesus asks us tenderly. Where do you keep all your shattered hopes and dreams? Where have you laid the part of you that died when you failed or were abandoned, forgotten, betrayed? Where are you entombed and enslaved, hemmed in, shut down, and closed off?
Come and see, Lord.
That's the only response we need to give. Come and see.

I highly recommend this book for women who are in need of some "awakening". I imagine we all could use some of that whether we realize it or not! I deem this book....

If you're interested in reading more reviews about this book, click {here}!

About Joanna:
Joanna Weaver is known the world over for her transparent and life-changing books, Having A Mary Heart in a Martha World and Having a Mary Spirit. These two books have sold over a million copies and have been translated into several languages including Spanish, French, Dutch, Chinese, German, Korean and more. Joanna has appeared on a wide variety of nationally syndicated radio and television broadcasts. Past appearances include: The Harvest Show, At Home Live With Chuck & Jenni, Midday Connection, HomeWord, and Janet Parschall’s America . She is also a highly sought after speaker and shares her message at intimate gatherings and several high profile events each year. But Joanna's greatest joy is found in being a wife and mother and her role as a pastor’s wife. For more information about Joanna, please visit her website. www.joannaweaverbooks.com.

Link to buy the book: http://www.amazon.com/Lazarus-Awakening-Finding-Place-Heart/dp/0307444961/ref=sprightly-20

About the giveaway:

Joanna is celebrating the release of Lazarus Awakening with the Heart of God KINDLE Giveaway!

In Lazarus Awakening Joanna writes about getting God’s love from our heads to our hearts. We all know Jesus loved Mary – look how she worshiped. And we can understand why He loved Martha – after all, look how she served. But what about those of us who don’t know where we fit in the heart of God? Lazarus Awakening explores the tale of the third follower – Mary and Martha’s brother, Lazarus. We never hear him speak, we never see him serve. The only thing of any significance that Lazarus did was to die. And yet, the Bible is clear. Jesus loved Lazarus. And He loves you and me as well. Lazarus Awakening looks at different aspects of the story we find in John 11. We learn what it means to be a friend of God and begin recognizing the tombs we spend far too much time in. Find out more here.

One grand prize winner will receive:

• * A Brand New KINDLE with Wi-Fi
• * Having A Mary Heart in a Martha World
• * Having A Mary Spirit
• * Lazarus Awakening

Joanna will also select two additional contest entrants to receive copies of her trilogy. Enter soon by clicking the icons below (you’ll find these in the attached html code document) and then tell your friends. Hurry the contest ends April 16th. The winner will be announced on Joanna's blog on April 18th.

I received Lazarus Awakening as a complimentary gift in exchange for review from Litfuse Publicity Group.

The Mountains Bow Down - a LitFuse Review

Sibella has done it again! The Mountains Bow Down, a Christian fiction suspense novel written by Sibella Giorello, kept me on my toes! This is another novel about a character named Raleigh Harmon, an FBI agent who struggles to keep her job a secret from her mentally unstable mother while at the same time solving mysteries related to her job and hoping for a discovery into her father's death years ago.

In The Mountains Bow Down, Raleigh is on a "vacation" on a cruise ship with her mom, her eccentric aunt, and a strange friend. The vacation turns out not be all that relaxing when she finds herself in the midst of a murder case. Once Raleigh has determined that the death that occurred on the cruise ship was not a suicide as was originally decided by ship crew, Raleigh got the FBI involved. What she wasn't prepared for was for her boss to send in help in the form of Jack Stephanson, a man who she had worked with previously who was an utter jerk. She also wasn't prepared for how he'd take her mind off of her fiance DeMott Fielding. . . .

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, and I hope to read more Raleigh stories in the near future! Interested in reading my review of her previous book in the Raleigh series? Click {here}!

I've decided that this book is:

Sibella’s celebrating the release of The Mountains Bow Down with a blog tour, a Cruise prize pack worth over $500 and a Facebook Party! Don't miss a minute of the fun.

One Grand Prize winner will receive:

• A $500 gift certificate toward the cruise of their choice from Vacations To Go.
• The entire set of the Raleigh Harmon series.

To enter click one of the icons below. Then tell your friends. And enter soon - the giveaway ends on 4/1! The winner will be announced at Sibella’s Raleigh Harmon Book Club Party on FB April 5th, 2011! Don’t miss the fun – prizes, books and gab!

About the Facebook Party: Join Sibella and fans of the Raleigh Harmon series on April 5th at 5:00 pm PST (6 MST, 7 CST & 8 EST) for a Facebook Book Club Party. Sibella will be giving away some fun prizes, testing your trivia skills and hosting a book chat about the Raleigh Harmon books. Have questions you'd like to chat about - leave them on the Event page.

To see more reviews about this book, click {here}!

I received The Mountains Bow Down as a complimentary gift in exchange for review from Litfuse Publicity Group

A Trail of Ink - a Litfuse Review

A Trail of Ink, a fabulous medieval suspense fiction book written by Mel Starr was simply delightful. This book is the third in a series written about surgeon Hugh de Singleton. The story was 229 pages long, and also included an excerpt of the first chapter of the fourth book in the series.

Hugh de Singleton, a surgeon (and bailiff) in medieval England, finds himself in the midst of a mystery after Master John Wyclif's beloved books are stolen. Hugh travels to Oxford in order to try to solve the mystery, but in the midst finds himself in awe of a maiden of the name of Kate Caxton. However, he also discovers that he is not the only one who has had his eyes turned by the lovely young lady. Soon Hugh realizes that not only is he having to figure out the mystery of the stolen books, but he's also having to watch out for his life, too. He realizes that he may have upset one person too many.

I've decided that this book is:

About Mel Starr:

Mel Starr was born and grew up in Kalamazoo , Michigan . After graduating with a MA in history from Western Michigan University in 1970, he taught history in Michigan public schools for thirty-nine years, thirty-five of those in Portage , MI , where he retired in 2003 as chairman of the social studies department of Portage Northern High School . Mel and his wife, Susan, have two daughters and seven grandchildren. www.melstarr.org

Contest: Kregel Publishers is graciously donating a $50 Amazon.com gift card for the Litfuse Blog Tour Contest! Woo-hoo (thanks Kregel!) All you have to do to enter is either tweet (see TWEET THIS below) or share the book on Facebook using this link: http://www.amazon.com/Trail-Ink-Chronicle-Singleton-Surgeon/dp/1854249746/ref=sprightly-20

I received A Trail of Ink as a complimentary gift in exchange for review from Litfuse Publicity Group

Regret Free Parenting - A BookSneeze Review

Regret Free Parenting, by Catherine Hickem, is a faith-based parenting book. Catherine has about 30 years' experience as a psychotherapist, speaker, and mom, and she is also the founder of Intentional Moms.

At 214 pages, Regret Free Parenting has chapters that focus on building fellowship with our children and trust, being a parent/authority figure, building emotional intelligence, learning the difference between control and intention, and living peacefully during those crazy teen years. At the end of each chapter are questions for you to reflect about your motherhood and some exercises that you can do to develop your role as an intentional mother. Also in the back of the book is a parenting plan that you can work on.

Regret Free Parenting revolves around listening to your kids, watching your kids, and learning about them. Too often we moms get distracted by our busy lives and don't take the time to truly learn our children's hearts.

I loved the tip that she gave on page 91 regarding teens and the curfew problem often faced:

When your teens get older, set the alarm for the agreed-upon curfew. They have to get in and turn off the clock before it goes off. If they don't succeed, they have to pay you a dollar for every minute they're late or lose a night out per minute. Curfew will be a nonissue with this tactic.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book, and I highly recommend this for parents who've struggled with parenting.

I am a member of BookSneeze, a fabulous program through Thomas Nelson. BookSneeze sends members free books to read and keep in exchange for written reviews on a blog and on a major retailer's website (such as Amazon or Barnes & Noble).

Indivisible - a Waterbrook Multnomah Review

Indivisible, written by Kristen Heitzmann, was a good read. This is one of those books that I tend to not read much of, simply because mystery/suspense isn't something I enjoy on the whole. However, this was a book that was well-written, character-wise, and so it made it easier for me to enjoy it.

I want to get my pickiness aside before I tell you what I liked about the book. There was some mild profanity in this book (not a lot, but one word is too much for me) that I just didn't feel was necessary. Yup, it is a suspense book, laced with a little murder-intrigue, but profanity is just something I can't shrug off. It is possible to show the profane side of a character without using the language. And that's all I'll say about that.

The main characters in the story were well fleshed out, once I got into the gist of the story. At first, there were a lot of questions popping into my head, and sometimes if there are too many questions in the story, I'll lose interest. Thankfully, Kristen had plenty of spice thrown in that the questions didn't overwhelm me. By the time I finally got to the answers, it all made sense, and the questions and answers came together nicely.

Jonah Westfall, main guy and Chief of police, had been in love with Tia Manning since childhood. However, when he decided to marry her sister Reba, Tia was crushed. However, Jonah and Tia had a short fling, for which was discovered--literally--by Tia's family. The result was that Jonah's impending marriage was doomed, Tia's family moved away, and Jonah and Tia were never the same. They avoided each other throughout the town, harboring their own demons and skeletons in the closet. But when a new, mysterious vet moves in to town and fixes her eyes on Jonah, chaos ensues. Added to the fact that there are supportive characters who also have their own problems, Indivisible makes for an action-packed book that'll keep you on your toes.



I received Indivisible as a complimentary gift in exchange for review from Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers.