Saturday, September 24, 2016

Second Opinion by Hannah Alexander A Review

When widower Dr. Grant Sheldon moves with his teenaged twins to Dogwood Springs, Missouri, they are still reeling from the death of his wife--their mother. He's hoping the idyllic setting of this small town will help ease the transition. He discovers too quickly that even this isolated place of beauty isn't free of all the problems he left behind in the city.

Experienced ER nurse, Lauren McCaffrey, arrives in Dogwood Springs hoping for a fresh start in her career--and her family's humiliating pressure for her to find a husband.

When the community's tranquility is threatened by a mysterious epidemic and an antagonist with a lust for money and hatred for authority, Grant and Lauren find themselves and their new friends racing the clock in a desperate search for answers.

Second Opinion combines emergency medicine and small-town America in a story of loves discovery and a faith that lasts.

File Size: 1362 KB
Print Length: 345 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Hannah Alexander Books (December 3, 2015)
Publication Date: December 3, 2015
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B018YCCVYS



Their novels have won multiple national and international awards, including the Christy Award, three Holt Medallion Awards, two Reader’s Choice Awards, and Library Journal’s Top Five Christian Novels of the Year. They have been nominated by Romantic Times Magazine for the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hannah Alexander is the pen name for the writing collaboration of Cheryl and Mel Hodde. They chose the name "Hannah Alexander" to incorporate their two names into one. To them, Hannah means hope in the Lord and Alexander means servant of mankind

Mel and Cheryl live in the Missouri Ozarks, where they like to set the majority of their books


MY REVIEW
  Second Opinion, book one in The Healing Touch by Hannah Alexander is a fantastic book that I love. I’ve read many books by Hannah Alexander and love them all.
  Dr. Grant Sheldon and Nurse Lauren McCaffrey are two very impressive characters. You just feel like they are real people and that they can be trusted.
  Grant lost his wife two years ago and he hasn’t talked to God since then. He has teenaged twins who are so very opposite of each other, but love each other dearly.
  Lauren has a fantastic parents and siblings, who are all married. Lauren feels like she is in a trap, everyone fixing her up with eligible men. So she decides to move to a different town to get on with her own life and leave the matchmaking behind.
  Put all of that together with a mysterious epidemic  going around. people dying, drug lords and you have a novel worth reading.
  Highly recommended. Love this book.

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I own this book and was not required to write a review.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

The Deer Effect by Susan Wingate A Review


WINNER OF FOUR BOOK AWARDS IN 2015! WINNER in the 2015 USA Best Books Award for religious fiction (finalist), 2015 eLIT Book Awards for religious fiction (winner), WINNER in the 2015 Pacific Book Awards for Christian fiction (winner) and a finalist award-winner in the 2015 Next Generation Indie Book Awards for inspirational fiction.

A Fantasy Thriller for fans who enjoy reading books by James Patterson, Sue Monk Kidd, Frank Peretti and Alice Sebold.

Once in a while a story comes along that resonates with the very essence of what we call "humanity," and speaks to readers of every age. The Deer Effect is that story - a phenomenal #1 Amazon bestseller lauded for its artistic touch, its tender tapping at emotion, and its mesmerizing ability to speak to the hearts of readers around the world.

"ONE BRITTLE LEAF FOUND ALONG our usual path proved the days had gone wintry. Papery thin as onion skin--blanched from frosty temperatures and yellowing like the pages of an old Bible, the leaf’s long slender shafts, crooked and dry, painted my world. The blue sky dragged me out that Sunday in December—December 5, 2010, if you must know—when the temperature rose to only forty-two Fahrenheit. What was I thinking?

Hold on. Wait a second. Let me back up just a tad. For your information, I'm dead. Although I speak of myself, make no mistakes. I died this day..."

So the story begins about Hannah Demsey who is found dead near the body of a fawn on the side of the road. Rod, Hannah's husband, sets out on a journey to find the killer. With his faith waning, all truths change when Rod comes face-to-face with the only person who can tell him how his wife really died.

THE DEER EFFECT is a story of loss, redemption and forgiveness.

File Size: 538 KB
Print Length: 346 pages
Publisher: Eye of the Needle Press (November 5, 2014)
Publication Date: November 5, 2014
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B00MRPKZ2O



Susan Wingate is the author of the young adult romantic fantasy and paranormal books found in Troubled in Paradise and The Deer Effect.

If you want to read clean, award-winning, fiction steeped in suspense and sometimes set in mythical lands, or books with mystery and thriller elements, you will enjoy reading Susan Wingate’s books. The twists and turns of her stories and her likable, touching characters are always unique. Some of her work even harkens back to the fantasy series The Chronicles of Narnia written by C.S. Lewis and also to the superhero Spider-Man series–books with unforgettable heroes and fantastical worlds readers can escape to. Susan's work has been compared with Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven to James Patterson's Lake House. Her mystery novels are riveting stories like JD Robb and Sue Grafton and her fantasy novels ring of The Golden Compass and A Wrinkle in Time.

MY REVIEW
  The Deer Effect by Susan Wingate isn’t worth reading. Since I got it free I don’t feel bad. I thought it would be really a great read since it won four awards. Just goes to show you that you can’t believe everything you read and we all are very different in what we like.
  This book is told from a dead person’s point of view. It almost seems sacrilege to me. The dead woman talks about her dog more than her husband. She misses her dog so much. She goes along spreading fairy dust and thinking of a big bowl of popcorn and it appears.  She, Hannah also came back as a child spirit, which I believe it completely wrong.
  It really seems like a childish kind of book to me except for Rob, the husband’s feeling of loss and hurt. He was deeply sorry for what he said to Hannah right before she was killed.
If the whole book would have continued in the way Rob felt and left all of the silly, girlish coming back out it would have been so much better.
  Another thing I didn't like Hannah died at the same time as a deer so it jumped around the skies with her.
  I do not recommend this book at all. Just to silly for me. Life and death isn’t a joke or to be taken lightly.

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This is my book and I wasn’t required to review it.

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

Review~Saving My Assassin by Virginia Prodan


 ABOUT SAVING MY ASSASSIN
"I should be dead. Buried in an unmarked grave in Romania. Obviously, I am not. God had other plans.”

At just under five feet tall, Virginia Prodan was no match for the towering 6' 10" gun-wielding assassin the Romanian government sent to her office to take her life. It was not the first time her life had been threatened—nor would it be the last.

As a young attorney under Nicolae Ceausescu’s brutal communist regime, Virginia had spent her entire life searching for the truth. When she finally found it in the pages of the most forbidden book in all of Romania, Virginia accepted the divine call to defend fellow followers of Christ against unjust persecution in an otherwise ungodly land.

For this act of treason, she was kidnapped, beaten, tortured, placed under house arrest, and came within seconds of being executed under the orders of Ceausescu himself. How Virginia not only managed to elude her enemies time and again, but how she also helped expose the appalling secret that would ultimately lead to the demise of Ceausescu’s evil empire is one of the most extraordinary stories ever told.

A must-read for all generations, Saving My Assassin is the unforgettable account of one woman’s search for truth, her defiance in the face of evil, and a surprise encounter that proves without a shadow of a doubt that nothing is impossible with God.

File Size: 2505 KB
Print Length: 331 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1496411838
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (June 7, 2016)
Publication Date: June 7, 2016
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B0198U69XO


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Virginia Prodan is an international human rights attorney, an Allied Attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom, and a sought-after speaker.

As a young attorney under Nicolae Ceausescu's brutal communist regime, Virginia had spent her entire life searching for the truth. When she finally found it in the pages of the most forbidden book in all of Romania,Virginia accepted the divine call to defend fellow followers of Christ against unjust persecution in an otherwise ungodly land.

For this act of treason, she was kidnapped, beaten, tortured, placed under house arrest, and came within seconds of being executed under the orders of Ceausescu himself. How Virginia not only managed to defeat her enemies time and again, but helped expose the appalling secret that would lead to the demise of Ceausescu's evil empire is one of the most extraordinary stories ever told.

Virginia Prodan's compelling story of courage in the face of intimidation and even death on behalf of others is a testament to her unwavering faith in a God who delivers.
Exiled from Romania since 1988, Virginia currently resides in Dallas, TX. She has two daughters, Anca and Andreea, and a son, Emanuel.

Visit Virginia's Author website: http://www.virginiaprodanbooks.com ;
or on twitter @virginiaprodan
Facebook: facebook.com/virginia.prodan.1
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/virginia-prodan/1b/458/24


MY REVIEW
  Saving my Assassin by Virginia Prodan is a powerful novel of her life. Virginia was born and raised in Romania during the rein of Ceausescu which was a communist rein. Where religion was not outlawed, but they had so many strict rules that you couldn’t take talk about Jesus or have any Bibles or movies of the Bible in your home to show to other people. You would be arrested and you would then disappear.
  Virginia became a lawyer and defended these people with bringing up the law and usually always winning. She became much hated with the leaders and police. She was kidnapped, beaten, tortured, placed under house arrest, and came within seconds of being executed under the orders of Ceausescu himself.
  Virginia had many friends in the US embassy and the Voice of America radio show. Many times they helped her through trials and difficulties. Of course they and the churched prayed for her.
 One part of this book is amazing how a very evil man was sent to kill her and she told him about Jesus. That man just left, but wait until you read what happened to him.
  Just an amazing book. That is highly recommended. I know this is something you want to read. A book to keep and read again.

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I received my free copy from Net Galley for my review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

The Alliance by Jolina Petersheim A Review

ABOUT THE ALLIANCE

When Leora Ebersole sees the small plane crash in her Old Order Mennonite community, she has no idea it's a foreshadowing of things to come. Soon after the young pilot, Moses Hughes, regains consciousness, they realize his instruments were destroyed by the same power outage that killed the electricity at the community store, where Englischers are stranded with dead cell phones and cars that won't start.

Moses offers a sobering theory, but no one can know how drastically life is about to change. With the only self-sustaining food supply in the region, the Pacifist community is forced to forge an alliance with the handful of stranded Englischers in an effort to protect not only the food but their very lives.

In the weeks that follow, Leora, Moses, and the community will be tested as never before, requiring them to make decisions they never thought possible. Whom will they help and whom will they turn away? When the community receives news of a new threat, everyone must decide how far they're willing to go to protect their beliefs and way of life.

File Size: 15811 KB
Print Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (June 1, 2016)
Publication Date: June 1, 2016
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B0198V4LL0

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jolina Petersheim is the bestselling author of The Midwife and The Outcast, which Library Journal called "outstanding . . . fresh and inspirational" in a starred review and named one of the best books of 2013. Her writing has been featured in venues as varied as radio programs, nonfiction books, and numerous online and print publications such as Reader's Digest, Writer's Digest, and Today's Christian Woman. Jolina and her husband share the same unique Amish and Mennonite heritage that originated in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, but now live on a solar-powered farm in the Driftless Region of Wisconsin with their young daughters. Follow Jolina and her blog at jolinapetersheim.com.


MY REVIEW
  I usually don’t like to read Mennonite or Amish books, because it’s usually the same old thing, but The Alliance seemed different to me. Also I’ve read several books this year about a huge power outage that takes the whole world {must be the year for that} and how it affects everyone and how food would run out along with not having any cars/trucks that would work because of how cars are made now.
   The Alliance tells how the Mennonite don’t believe in wars and fighting back and how some Englischers got stuck in their community and how they worked together to protect each other.
  Leora and Moses are so different, but so alike in many ways.
One thing I didn’t see as natural is the romance in the middle of a crisis. A lot of people would disagree with me, but I don’t see it happening.
  This is the first book I’ve read by Jolina Petersheim and it won’t be the last. She writes a good story, but some of it was hard for me to believe. So much of it just seemed like the characters were pretending.
  I will however recommend it and most people will enjoy it.


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I received my free copy from Net Galley for my review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Kill Devil by Mike Dellosso A Review

ABOUT KILL DEVIL
Jed Patrick is convinced he’s doing all it takes to keep his family safe—new names, new location, new identity. But just when he thinks he finally has his life back, trained men claiming to be CIA agents break in and threaten his wife and daughter, proving once and for all his family will never truly be safe until he eliminates the agency dead set on hunting him down.

Not knowing if Karen and Lilly are better off by his side or in hiding, Jed is determined to protect them while finding a way to use the classified information that he possesses to dismantle the Centralia Project. But he soon learns that eliminating Centralia may require compromising his own values. As danger escalates, Jed isn’t sure whether there’s anyone or anything he can trust—including his own senses

File Size: 5039 KB
Print Length: 416 pages
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (June 1, 2016)
Publication Date: June 1, 2016
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B0198UC0DM


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mike is the author of nine novels of suspense and several short stories. He also writes family dramas under the pseudonym, Michael King. In addition to his novels he's written for periodicals, websites, and is a regular conference teacher and speaker. Born in Baltimore, Mike now resides in Pennsylvania. He is also a colon cancer survivor and speaks often about dealing with suffering. Find out more about Mike on his website, www.MikeDellossoBooks.com.

MY REVIEW
    This is book two in the Jeb Patrick series. I remember book one was amazing. I wasn’t as thrilled with this book because to me it just seemed like more of the same.
  They are running and hiding, but get caught, go through horrible tests, try to escape, get shot at and finally at the end they are all together as a family. I like this kind of book if it happens in one book, but not if it keeps happening with the outcome the same.
  It’s a good suspenseful book, but to much of the same kind of suspense.
    If you didn’t read book one it is O.K. to read this book. It is good as a stand alone, but you get more out of it if you read book one.

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I received my free copy from Net Galley for my review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

A Review 365 Pocket Morning Prayers by David Veerman

ABOUT 365 POCKET MORNING PRAYERS
Each morning when you arise, take a moment to talk with God about the day ahead. Ask Him to prepare your heart so that you can be ready to face any challenge that comes your way. 365 Pocket Morning Prayers can guide this time of life-changing conversation and help you express your needs and concerns to God. Don’t worry about what the day will bring. Instead, release your troubles and concerns into God’s care by reading and meditating on the prayers featured in 365 Pocket Morning Prayers. Begin your day in joyful anticipation, trusting that God is in control of your life and wants only the best for you.

Leather Bound: 320 pages
Publisher: Tyndale Momentum; Lea edition (September 1, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1496413342
ISBN-13: 978-1496413345
Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 1 x 6 inches

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Best-selling author David Veerman was one of the senior editors of the Life Application Bible. In addition to his work on the Life Application Study Bible (Gold Medallion winner 1988-1991), he also contributed 16 titles of the Life Application Study Guides (series Gold Medallion winner 1990). David helped produce other Tyndale House favorites, including the Student's Life Application Bible, Kid's Life Application Bible, Eager Reader Bible, Vietnam Veterans Bible, Bible Animals, and One Year with Jesus.
His prolific writing career has yielded dozens of articles in popular Christian magazines such as Discipleship Journal, Campus Life, Leadership, Youthworker, Group, Christian Parenting Today, Moody Monthly, and Marriage Partnership. David has conquered a variety of family-oriented topics and devoted 16 of his titles to youth ministry. His youth titles include Reaching Out to Troubled Youth, Youth Evangelism (Gold Medallion winner 1989), Reaching Kids before High School, Serious Fun, Small Group Ministry with Youth, and the 7-volume Any Old Time. Some of his other best-selling titles include 101 Questions Children Ask about God, How to Apply the Bible, Getting Your Kids to Talk, Getting Your Husband to Talk, From Dad with Love, Parenting Passages, Reality 101, and Understanding Your Teenager.

David received his B.A. in Bible from Wheaton College and an M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He worked with Youth for Christ/USA in Illinois and Louisiana for 26 years, eventually serving as the National Campus Life Consultant. He is currently a partner and vice president of The Livingstone Corporation in Carol Stream, Illinois. David and his wife, Gail, have two daughters and make their home in Naperville, Illinois.

MY REVIEW
  This is a most amazing little book full of inspiration and devotions. There are 365 daily readings to help and encourage a person. During your Bible readings each day read one of these little prayers. Each one has something profound and meaningful to tell us.
  Some of the topics are: Spiritual Guidance, Confidence, Forgiving, Growth and so on. Just every topic from A to Z.
  The book is a very nice trim size. The cover is very soft with a palm tree and seagulls flying over. Also has a beautiful silk bookmark.
  This amazing book can bring you or a loved one great comfort and encouragement. Highly recommend this stunning book.

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Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers for providing this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

Gratitude:A Prayer and Praise Coloring Journal A Review

ABOUT GRATITUDE A PRAYER AND PRAISE COLORING JOURNAL
Gratitude: A Prayer and Praise Coloring Journal invites you to bring creative journaling and the calming act of coloring into your quiet time with God. This beautifully designed interactive prayer book from Tyndale’s Living Expressions collection helps guide your thoughts as you pray about concerns such as health, overcoming stress, personal relationships, and more. Gratitude gives you a way to celebrate and give thanks to God for the many blessings he provides. Filled with over 100 designs to color, plenty of space for journaling and sketching, and 40 needs-based prayers, Gratitude helps you express your devotion to God with your whole heart!

Hardcover: 112 pages
Publisher: Tyndale Momentum; Clr Csm edition (September 1, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1496415795
ISBN-13: 978-1496415790
Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 8 inches


MY REVIEW
   Gratitude:A Prayer and Praise Coloring Journal is amazing. It is hard-bound and the pages are so full of pictures and beautiful verses and words of encouragement. You can use colored pencils, markers or crayons on these beautiful quality stock pages.
   One page talks about our powerful and creative God, another page is about this day the Lord has made.
  This journal has lots of space for writing out your thoughts also. It would be an amazing gift for that person in your life that is special or for yourself. Full of love, peace and tenderness.
  Really beautiful. Highly Recommend this book.



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Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers for providing this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255

Remembering Dresden by Dan Walsh-A Review

ABOUT REMEMBERING DRESDEN
Remembering Dresden (Jack Turner Suspense Series Book 2)

Young history professor, Jack Turner, takes a retreat at a lakeside cabin just outside of Culpepper, Georgia to work on his doctoral dissertation. The cabin is owned by an ambitious state senator, an inheritance from his father. Inside, everything is exactly the way it was when the old man died ten years ago. While taking a break from his research, Jack snoops through the father’s books and finds an old photo album filled with black-and-white pictures of orphaned children. Intrigued, he continues searching and finds what appears to be evidence of murder and an old leather journal, handwritten entirely in German. Rachel Cook, Jack’s girlfriend, translates the journal for him. What it reveals instantly puts both of their lives in mortal danger.

File Size: 828 KB
Print Length: 282 pages
Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
Publisher: Bainbridge Press (May 1, 2016)
Publication Date: May 1, 2016
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
Language: English
ASIN: B01DOEPPKS


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dan Walsh is the bestselling author of 16 novels and 1 nonfiction devotional, including The Unfinished Gift, The Reunion and When Night Comes. He has won 3 ACFW Carol Awards (finalist 6 times), 3 Selah Awards, and 3 times his novels have been named as finalists for RT Reviews Inspirational Novel of the Year.

For those who haven't read Dan's books, reviewers often compare him to Nicholas Sparks and Richard Paul Evans. Although more recently, Dan has also started to pen suspense novels (like, What Follows After and When Night Comes). Dan has been writing fulltime since 2010. He and his wife Cindi have been married 39 years and have 2 grown children and 2 grandchildren. They live in the Daytona Beach area, where Dan grew up. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter, read his blog, or preview all his books by visiting his website at http://danwalshbooks.com.

MY REVIEW
Remembering Dresden by Dan Walsh is book 2 in the Jack Turner Suspense Series.  Usually Dan didn’t write suspense novels, but I’m sure glad he started. Love these books.
  In this book Jack rents a cabin of a famous senator (a gift from his father)  and uncovers quite a story. He noses around in the photo albums and ever under a loose floor board.
   Under the floor board he uncovers a safe with a journal. It is written entirely in German. Jack’s girlfriend translates it and what they find out is horrible.
   The things they find out puts Jack and his girlfriend Rachel in harms way. When you are a senator and want to stay one you will do almost anything to keep the secrets hidden.
  Really good second book in this series. You don’t need to read book one to enjoy it, but it does help you to understand the characters much better.
 Highly recommended.

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This is my book and I wasn’t required to write a review.