June 27, 2017

Just Look Up







Just Look Up is the latest book by Courtney Walsh.  This tale begins with Lane Kelley preparing to give the biggest presentation of her career at the interior design firm she works for in Chicago.  As Lane is trying to settle her nerves to begin her talk, she is interrupted by a phone call that she cannot ignore.  Her brother, Nate, has been in a motorcycle accident and is in a coma.  Her presence is needed at the hospital.  Lane has no choice but to immediately leave!

As Lane drives into Harbor Pointe, Michigan, all her memories of her hometown come flooding back.  She had not been home in years to avoid thinking about all she left behind: the unkind words about being overweight; her sister stealing her boyfriend; her family taking sides in the situation and it was not hers!  Her years away was sending her back a new woman.  Lane is returning, from her years at Northwestern, a slim and fit woman, with a career that is about to skyrocket!

Lane does not quite know how to balance between remaining by Nate's bedside and returning to Chicago, to give an important presentation that may bring her a big promotion.  Ryan Brooks, a man from her past, who her family had befriended as a young boy, is suddenly by her side.  He had returned to Harbor Pointe, after several rough years away serving in Afghanistan.  It appears that Ryan may be the one to help her wade through the tension she is facing, between family and work!

This is a interesting tale to follow.  See how God is at work in the messiness we make of life!


I received this book from Tyndale Fiction in exchange for my unbiased review.


June 17, 2017

Rescue Me





Rescue Me, is the second installment in Susan May Warren's Montana Rescue series.  This book focuses primarily on Deputy Sam Brooks.  He is on his way to dinner one evening when he receives news of a frantic call, from a young man in the Glacier National Park. When Ben enters the park with several other members of the PEAK rescue team, they soon find the distressed young man, Quinn, and learn that he had lost track of his girlfriend, Bella.  She went missing shortly after they had an unexpected encounter with a mama grizzly bear!

Once Ben and the crew are finally able to locate Bella, they all end up in the local hospital ER to have Bella treated; Ben ventures off by himself to deal with the stress of the evening.  A close-up encounter with a wild grizzly has Ben focusing on his near death experience.  Before he knows it, he begins sharing his thoughts with someone he assumes is his girlfriend, Sierra Rose.  In the midst of a kiss, he suddenly realizes it is not Sierra, but her sister, Willow, instead!

Things are a bit awkward after this odd encounter.  So when Sierra drops out of a trip that had been planned for her, Willow and Ben to escort a local youth group into the park for a day trip, Ben is a bit uncomfortable.  After completing the first section of their trip, as Ben is driving, he suddenly loses control of the van carrying the teenagers. The group is soon left in a very precarious position; hanging over the edge of a cliff!

This is a high-paced tale as you see where God leads Sam and Willow and the lives that they touch along the way. The road He has set before them will be different than you could ever imagine!

June 13, 2017

Freedom's Price






Freedom's Price concludes Christine Johnson's Keys of Promise series.  The tale begins in Staffordshire, England in the year 1856. Catherine Haynes does not know which way to turn.  Her father has passed away and her family home, Deerfield, has been inherited by her cousin, Roger.  Roger's focus is to first sell Deerfield and then to push Catherine into marrying a man she has no interest in.  When Catherine remembers her mother's family in America, she immediately books her passage to journey to meet her lost family!

After a rough voyage had Catherine fearing that the ship was about to sink, she catches the eye of a handsome man, Tom Worthington, who has come to greet and then to help pilot this ship that has lost its main mast.  When the ship is taken to Key West for repairs, Catherine must find a way to reach her family in New  Orleans.  Tom offers to travel with Catherine to greet her family and to remain until she feels safe!

Soon after arriving in New Orleans, Catherine catches sight of a man, she had heard conversing with her father years ago.  Soon she learns that this the same man Tom has been trying to hunt down for years.  This man had stolen from Tom's family and sent his father to an early grave!

Hold tight as Tom and Catherine deal with this evil man from their past!


I received this book from Revell in exchange for my unbiased review.



June 4, 2017

Sweetbriar Cottage







Denise Hunter's latest novel, Sweetbriar Cottage, opens with its main character, Noah Mitchell. leaving his ranch in the north Georgia mountains to go into town to pick up some groceries; however, when he picks up his mail, he soon sees a letter from the IRS informing him that he is still married to Josephine.   Now he has to track her down to find out what went wrong.  After she was unfaithful to him, Noah had hoped to never lay eyes on again!

When Noah learns that the divorce papers were never signed by a judge, he lays the blame fully at Josephine's feet!  Josephine attempts to make up for her faux-pas by hand-delivering a new set of papers to be signed on Noah's doorstep.  Little does she know that the worst snow storm to hit north Georgia is about to strike!

After Noah and Josephine have been stuck together in his cabin for too long with no power, they venture out into the snow in pursuit of one of Noah's horses that has escaped from his barn.  Hold on to see what happens when they run out of fuel and have no way to call for help!

You will see both Noah and Josephine finally deal with the hurts from their past.   The only way they can find release is with the mighty hand of God!


I received this book from Thomas Nelson in exchange for my honest review.



June 1, 2017

A Fine Gentleman














Sarah M. Eden's latest novel, A Fine Gentleman, was not as easy a read as her previous novels; however, the pace of this book picked up considerably after the first one-hundred pages!

It was satisfying to add the story of Jason Jonquil to all that I have learned about the Jonquil family so far.  Jason focuses all his time and energy on his job as a barrister in London.  When he meets Mariposa Thornton, a beautiful Spanish woman who has escaped Napoleon's war in Spain, he has meet his match.  Mariposa has come to London with the story that she is seeking her inheritance; however, the truth is that she is desperately trying to locate her mother and younger brother, Santiago.  Her family had promised to reunite with their Thornton relatives in England, if they lost each other in the craziness of the war!

When Mariposa does not find her mother or her brother with their English relatives, she is at a loss of where to turn next.  Mariposa has already lost her older brother and her father to the war, so she cannot imagine being left with no one.  Watch and see what Jason is able to accomplish when he sets his mind to bringing this grieving family back together!