The Wedding Promise by Thomas Kinkade and Katherine Spencer*A Review

The Inn at Angel Island is officially open for business, and owner Liza Martin has booked her first major event-a June wedding. Jennifer, the bride, met her fiancé on the island when they were teenagers, and she's always dreamed of being married at the Inn. Liza wants to make sure that Jennifer has a perfect wedding day, but she soon notices tension between the bride and groom and begins to wonder: What good is the most spectacular setting or cake if the love between the couple isn't as beautiful and strong?

Liza is hoping everything will come together, but on the day of the wedding a storm rolls in-and the groom is nowhere to be found. Everything is going wrong, and Liza realizes that it will take nothing short of a miracle to make this wedding a success. Then again, if you have faith and love, Angel Island is just the sort of place where miracles can happen.

Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover (April 5, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0425239128
ISBN-13: 978-0425239124
Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1 pounds

Thomas Kinkade is America’s most collected living artist, a painter-communicator whose tranquil, light infused paintings bring hope and joy to millions each year. Each painting Thomas Kinkade creates is a quiet messenger in the home, affirming the basic values of family and home, faith in God, and the luminous beauty of nature.
Kinkade is a devout Christian and credits the Lord for both the ability and the inspiration to create his paintings. His goal as an artist is to touch people of all faiths, to bring peace and joy into their lives through the images he creates. The letters he receives every day testify to the fact that he is achieving this goal.
A devoted husband and doting father to their daughters, Kinkade hides the letter “N” in his paintings to pay tribute to his wife, Nanette, and the girls find their names and images in many of his paintings.


Katherine Spencer was a fiction editor before turning to a full-time career as a writer. The author of over twenty books for both children and adults, she lives with her husband and daughter in a small village on the Long Island Sound, very much like Cape Light

MY REVIEW
The Wedding Promise by Thomas Kinkade and Katherine Spencer is a very, very excellent book.
Liza takes over an Inn on Angel Island that her Aunt and Uncle use to run. They have passed away, so Liza and her brother could sell the Inn or run it. They decided to run it. That was what Book 1 The Inn at Angel Island was about. It was a super book also. In this book The Wedding Promise two young people fell in love in this area and thought it would be wonderful to be married at the Inn. Liza is very new at the Inn business and had never done a wedding, besides the Inn needs a lot of repairs. So we find out how the wedding was planned, how some repairs were made and saw the love of the young couple and also a sweet story of Liza and her favorite handy man.
This book is so well written and it is really high quality work. I enjoyed it completely and wanted the story to continue, but it ended at a fantastic place. Can’t wait for book 3, hopefully there will be one.
Dreams, secrets, sadness, joy and miracles all happen in The Wedding Promise.
I also always love Thomas’ art work on the cover of their books. Fantastic painter and author. I’m very pleased with his work and fine attention to detail. This book is definitely a keeper. I love to see this book on my book shelf. I highly recommend The Wedding Promise and wish I could give it more than 5 stars.

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Thanks to Berkley/NAL Publicity, Penguin Group for the review copy of this book. 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

Monsters Removal Guide by Garett Gruber*A Review

ABOUT MONSTER REMOVAL GUIDE

Your child's safety is of the utmost importance. We here at Monster Removal Guide (MRG) know this. Which is why we've printed this book filled with very important information. In it you will find the ten most highly-effective techniques for monster removal, as well as a monster identification section for reference. It's a must read for parents and all kids scared of witches, hamper elves, goblins, monsters, evil robots, or the dark. And it's only $9.99. That's less than a buck for each technique! And can you really put a price on your child's safety and education? Ok, well then, isn't it way more than $9.99? Through exhaustive worldwide research, trial, error, and discovery, we here at Monster Removal Guide (MRG) have searched the world over in order to enlighten and better equip the young in their never ending battle to identify and remove monsters around the globe. To our knowledge, no one has put together an authoritive resource of shared knowledge on how to do this. So, we give you Monster Removal Guide, the go-to guide for kids of all ages fighting the good fight. In no way is this publication comprehensive as we are constantly on the lookout for new techniques and new monsters to identify. We encourage our readers to assist us in our efforts to keep our information current and accurate. Any questions, concerns, or discoveries can be directed to our website.


Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: DLSgroup (January 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1450707572
ISBN-13: 978-1450707572
Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.9 x 0.1 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
“Garett Gruber lives in Orange, CA and is the father to Griffin, an amazing twelve-year old. He developed the idea for MRG, with the help of his son, during an atypical windy and stormy night. Doors creaked and windows banged, and the hunt to secure and de-monsterize the house began. As the storm raged, he watched his son transform from scared to empowered with each ridiculous monster-removing technique. And he knew he was on to something. When not searching for new monsters, he spends his time hiking, lizard hunting, and generally making his son laugh, and perhaps, a little embarrassed. He is 39.”


Patrick Carlson the Illustrater. He began his work in 1991 when he sold his first cartoon for $20 to a local screen printer. In 1996, he received his first computer and built his first website to display his work. In 2004, this part-time hobby turned into a full-time business. Working out of a small office, he creates the images and characters that have made thousands of projects come to life. You may be familiar with his work from Alphabet Woof or Too tall Joe! Patrick has a background in education and church youth ministry. He lives with his wife and twin boys in Valdosta, Georgia.


MY REVIEW
What a totally fantastic book. Monster Removal Guide by Garett Gruber is one of the neatest children’s books I’ve read in a very long time.
The story line is really sweet. It tells children how they can get rid of monsters in totally different ways than I have ever heard of before. Just a couple to give you a idea of how to get rid of monsters: reading cute poetry about puppies, kittens and unicorns-the next is called The Little Stinker, using your baby brother or sister who still is in diapers, or using a stinky sock, because monsters have good sniffers and can’t stand dirty smells. My most favorite is using Prayer because it is 100% fail-safe.
The pictures in this book are superb. They are so rich and full of bright colors, that you will love to read this book to your children over and over and they will love to read it as well.
In the back of the book it has a Monster Identification Chart. It shows and tells about all of the different monsters that are known.
This book shows monsters like they are in Monsters Inc. that great movie. The monsters are mean, but not scary to look at.
I highly recommend this cute book and look forward to Garett’s next book. Thanks for the fantastic, fun book Garett.

Order from AmazonThank you to the author 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

The Final Note by Kevin Alan Milne*A Review

ABOUT THE FINAL NOTE

In this brand-new novel from bestselling author Kevin Milne, readers will be inspired yet again by the themes of love, loss, and renewal. Ethan met and fell in love with Anna while studying music abroad in college. He married her, and fully expected to grow old with her. After all, they were young, life was good, and faith in each other came easily, as evidenced by the Love Notes Anna periodically left between the strings of his guitar.

On their wedding day, Ethan promised to love, honor, and cherish his wife...and to write a song for her. Fast forward to the present day. Despite his grand promises, reality has proven to be much harder than he anticipated. Instead of composing hit songs, he's working long hours to provide for his family, and still promising to finish Anna's song. His formerly hopeful spirit is almost too heavy to carry, weighed down as it is by regret.

His grandfather, a veteran of World War II, knows a thing or two about regret and bitterness, and has his own stories to tell. One in particular, has the potential to change Ethan's attitude and help him put the past to rest, if he can open his heart to the truth of it.

Can an old soldier's tales of war help Ethan relinquish his anger? Is it too late to finish the song he began for Anna on their wedding day? Will he be able to remember why he fell in love so many years ago? In this tale of loss and heartbreak, love and forgiveness, Ethan is about to discover that the final note has yet to be written.


Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Center Street (May 11, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1599952955
ISBN-13: 978-1599952956
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin Milne was born in 1973 and grew up in Sherwood, Oregon, a quiet country town south of Portland. He earned a diploma from Sherwood High school in 1991, in a graduating class of fewer than one hundred students.

In college, after studying such varied fields as film, journalism, communications, pre-dentistry, pre-law, and German, Milne eventually earned a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Brigham Young University. One of the few things he didn’t study as an undergrad was business, which, ironically, is what he chose to pursue in graduate school, earning an MBA at Penn State University in 2000.

Today, Kevin is a business professional by day, an author by night, and a husband and father around the clock. He and his wife, Rebecca, were married in Washington DC in 1995. They have five children: Mikayla, Kamry, Mary, Emma, & Kyler (aka "the boy").


http://kevinamilne.com/

MY REVIEW
The Final Note by Kevin A. Milne is a wonderful, inspiring novel of love, forgiveness and loss. This is one of my most favorite books of 2011. The Prelude and Postlude are the most beautifully written ones I have ever read in any book. You will cry or rejoice with the characters in this charming book.
The Final Note is divided into 5 different parts. First verse, second verse, etc… Which I thought was really neat.
Ethan is a music major and Anna is an art major. Ethan wanted to write and sell his songs, Anna wanted to write and illustrate children’s books. In The Final Note you will see if they got to do what they always dreamed of.
It seems in chapter after chapter they lost so much in their lives, but what ever happened they continued to love each other and look to the future.
One part of the book that I truly loved was whenever Ethan played his guitar for her she would leave him a love note in the guitar neck.
The title of the book is just wonderful and it fits in so well. The Final Note is just full of love and forgiveness.
Even though two people love each other dearly, you have to make time for each other and just do things together. That’s how a marriage grows. Ethan and Anna were drawing apart because of his job. He was never home and never had time to do anything. So they needed to remind each other what was the most important thing in a marriage.
After they had been through so very much, more than you can imagine Anna got in a horrible car accident. The last part of this book was just heart-wrenching. You have never seen such pain and suffering.
The parts on forgiveness are just wonderful. When you forgive someone you free yourself as well as them. This book The Final Note shows all of this and more. I would highly recommend this book and it is definitely a keeper.



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I received my free copy from Sarah Reck at Center Street/HachetteBookGroup, 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

40 A Novel by Travis Thrasher*A review

ABOUT 40 A NOVEL

Nine months shy of his 40th birthday, freelance music producer Tyler Harrison has started to experience horrific hallucinations. At first, he thinks it's just the stress of his job, but the hallucinations continue until they culminate at the three-day concert in Chicago, Lollapalloza, which he is covering for work. There he is approached by an older man who tells him that he's going to die on his fortieth birthday.
The man claims to be an angel named Matthew, and even though he gives Tyler enough evidence to convince him he's telling the truth, he doesn't know what to do with the information.
Tyler's underlying doubt and confusion about Matthew's prediction turn to anger, both at God and those around him. As he begins to exhibit destructive behavior, he befriends Ellis, an internationally known DJ. Tyler is scared that he really is about to die. He's scared for his sanity. He's scared that if he does die, he's not going to Heaven. He also soon becomes scared of Ellis, who is wild and opens up a door of temptation to Tyler.
As Tyler begins falling in a downward spiral of fear and confusion, he reaches out to a pastor he met, Will, and tries to right his wrongs with some of the important people in his life in a desperate attempt to find peace before his 40th birthday.


Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: FaithWords (May 4, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 044650551X
ISBN-13: 978-0446505512
Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.2 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
His goal continues to be to tell powerful and moving stories that will reach fiction readers of all types. As a fulltime novelist for over two years, Travis feels he’s still just warming up.
“There are things I learn about the writing process and about myself with every novel. I believe my best stories are still in front of me, waiting to be discovered like a buried treasure. I’m thankful that I’m able to dig a little more every day.”
Travis lives with his wife and three-year-old daughter in a suburb of Chicago

http://www.travisthrasher.com/



MY REVIEW
40 a novel by Travis Thrasher is a fantastic book I would have given a 5 plus rating, but for two reasons. First I don’t believe a Christian book should have any bad language at all, even through the person isn’t a Christian at the time. Sure Christians swear at times, but that doesn’t mean we have to read it in a book. I feel it is offensive and if I knew before about the swearing I wouldn’t have agreed to read it.
The other reason I won’t give this book a 5 star rating is because I would have loved the book to have a page or two more. I feel it wasn’t finished. I know a lot of books let the reader think up their own ending, but I don’t feel the story is really finished that way.
Tyler Harrison music producer, turned thirty-nine and he sees his guardian angel, Matthew. His angel insists that Tyler will die on his fortieth birthday, which is nine months away. During this time he thinks of his failures and that he really hasn’t done anything in his life worth remembering. Matthew shows him several things that could have happened to him if he wasn’t protected and I found that very interesting. 40 has some very dark happening, but I found them very fascinating. This book isn’t for everyone just for those who long for a book
that will make them think.
It is full of lots of suspense, twists and turns. I really liked the way Travis wrote about the DJ named Ellis a pastor named Will, how they became his friends and how they impacted his life.
I really liked this book very much, but for the previous two points I mentioned. If I knew about either of these points, the language or the ending I wouldn’t have agreed to read it, but also glad I did.
With all of that I still say this is a good book to read and I will recommend it.

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I received my free copy from Sarah Reck at Faith Words/HachetteBookGroup, 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

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Baby Bible Board Books 4 BOOKS 4 WINNERS Giveaway

Here is the review I did of these fantastic books.
http://thelifeandtimesofwanda.blogspot.com/2011/04/baby-bible-board-books-by-edward-sarah.html

Aimed at children aged 1-3, these four books teach essential stories of Jesus with delightful illustrations and simple, clear text. Each story also ends with a simple lesson to help your young soul love Jesus.



The authors have agreed to giveaway these four books. I thought it would be an excellent idea to have four winners to each get one book. All of the books are wonderful and if you love the one you win you can order the other three.

Leave a comment with your name and email address. You will not be entered unless you leave a comment AND your email address.

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Contest is only open in the U.S. and void where prohibited. Chances of winning are based on the number of entries and winner is draw from a non-biased third party- Random.org. ENTRY DEADLINE May 14, 2011

A Heart Most Worthy by Siri Mitchell*A Review*

ABOUT A HEART MOST WORTHY

Each day Julietta, Annamaria, and Luciana enter the world of the upper class, working on society's finest clothing at Madame Fortier's elite gown shop. Yet the three beauties long to break free of their obligations and embrace the American dream--and their chance for love. But the ways of the heart are difficult to discern at times, and as their destinies intertwine, each girl harbors a secret, wondering if she will be found worthy of the love she seeks.

Paperback: 379 pages
Publisher: Bethany House (March 1, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780764207952
ISBN-13: 978-0764207952
ASIN: 0764207954
Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

When I'm listening to a speaker and I'm taking notes, chances are, I've just had a great idea for a plot or a dialogue. If I'm nodding my head in response to a really profound statement, I'm probably thinking, 'Yes. Right. That's exactly what my character needs to hear.'
When I'm editing my manuscripts, I laugh at the funny parts. And I cry at the sad parts.
Sometimes I even talk to my characters. 'Okay, Joe. Talk to me. Tell me what you're thinking here.' And yes, the characters answer me. I actually hear them talking in my head.
Half the time, I think I'm an okay writer. The other half, I'm tempted to take a magnet to the hard drive.
The easy part is writing. The hardest part is editing. The worst part is wondering if the books are going to sell.
I have plenty of ideas for books; the thing I lack is the time to write them. I write by the word. Other writers write by the page. However you want to tally it, 85,000 words is a lot of pages.
In the world of writing I have done nothing right. I wrote 4 books and accumulated 153 rejections before I signed with a publisher. And then I had to write a fifth book so that they could publish it. In the process, I saw the bottoms of more pints of Ben & Jerry's than I care to admit. I vowed never to write another word again. Ever. I went on writing strikes and I even stooped to threatening my manuscripts with the shredder.
However. Here I am, nine books into the process, writing my tenth!
Learn more about me on the web at http://sirimitchell.com

MY REVIEW
This is the second book I’ve read of Siri Mitchell's. I love the way it ended. A Heart Most Worthy had a number of different storylines and it was really easy for me to follow along. . It was set in Madame Fortier's dress shop in 1918 Boston, with her three assistants - Italian immigrants. All four of these ladies with men in each of their lives made it lots to keep up with, but really moved the story along. You will find many different things in this book. Sadness, death, poverty, friends, joy, happiness and always family. I love how close the families are.
  In A Heart Most Worthy the narrator sometimes speaks directly to the reader, the omniscient POV. I really don’t like this POV. A lot of people through find this quite interesting.
The cover of this book is absolutely beautiful, the front and back both. So many interesting things happen in this dress shop and out in the world for these special ladies. I would recommend this book if you don’t mind the omniscient POV. It is a quick, interesting read.

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Thank you to Bethany House 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