Seeds of Summer & Contest

Title: Seeds of Summer
Author: Deborah Vogts
ISBN: 978-0-310-29276-0

Goodreads blurb:

A heart-warming contemporary romance set in the Flint Hills of Kansas where a former rodeo queen abandons her dreams in order to care for her deceased father’s ranch and her two half-siblings, only to realize with the help of a young new pastor that God can turn even the most dire circumstances into seeds of hope.
Spanning the Seasons of the Tallgrass, each story in this series reveals the struggle of the people who live there and the dreams they have for the land until they come full-circle in a never-ending cycle, just as man comes full-circle in his understanding of God.

My Take:

I hadn't read the first book in the series yet (Snow Melts in Spring) so I read that one just in case you needed to - you don't. Some of the characters carry over, but you can read this book on it's own. What I was blown away by was how very good she is at making a setting come alive - and writing characters that don't seem two dimensional. It is very hard to believe this is only her second book.

I'm was more than a little picky and sentimental when reading these books too. You see ~ they are written about the area I live in and will soon be moving away from. So I can tell you that she got it right. If you want to know what it's like in this area, just pick up the book and read. She does an excellent job making the countryside come alive for you.

Then there are the people. Sometimes in fiction we meet some cardboard cut-outs. You know the ones I mean ~ they have no real depth, and you can't really relate to them. You can kind of tell where the author was trying to go ... but they didn't quite make it because the characters fell flat. These people are genuine. You can imagine meeting them in the grocery store or at the next family reunion. Maybe they live next door and maybe they are just like you.

These were a great read. I was provided a copy for review and I'm very thankful for that. It didn't influence my review at all. (I bought Snow Melts in Spring myself and also think that is terrific and should be on everyone's TBR list).

Since I'm getting ready to move, I've decided to pass on another blessing to someone else. I have an extra copy of the brand new book A Love of Her Own by Maggie Brandon. Just agree to review it on your blog to pass the word around.

In one comment tell me whether you're a follower, became a follower, if you advertised this contest on your blog, and your email address (with spaces or spell out dot and that sort of thing).

The contest ends the 27th of June. It's a lovely book and I wish you all the best of luck. :o)

My movers will be here the first week of July and I still haven't sold my old house ... so things have been a bit crazy and stressful here. Thanks for being patient with me. I have a few reviews to catch up on and I am sorry for not being very good at keeping up lately. Life has been hectic.

Blessings~

Dad's Bible

Looking for a Father's Day present for your Dad or husband? This might be just the thing. This Bible is full of features that make it very useful.

The Bible is hardcover and has a nice cover design. It's done in the New Century Version which is one of the easier translations to understand. That makes it really good if you want this to be a Bible that can be used not only for the Dad - but for him to use with his children as well. The pages also aren't so thin that that you have trouble turning them.

Then come the features. Like most Bibles, each book comes with a short introduction. Then they have all their special sections. Some are interspersed throughout the Bible (though there is an index in the back so you can find specific ones when/if you need them).

They are:

Walking in Authority ~ This is all about being the family leader & servant God intends. One of the ones I read talked about the monument built to remind the Israelites about what God had done for them and how everyone who saw that was pointed back to what God had done in their lives. Then it asked what people think when they see your house? Do they think of someone who is kind, generous, who loves God - or is it just a house with our name on the mailbox?

Godly Character ~ The one I read talked about the disciples walking on the road to Emmaus and how they were having trouble with their faith.

Passing It On ~ This section is all about advice on dealing with difficult situations with our children. One I read was about responding to people/situations that are overwhelmingly hostile. It related it back to David and Saul and how David trusted God to be his protection.

Dad's in the Bible ~ Profiles of Biblical dads with life lessons.

Building Your Children ~ These were much longer (whole page from what I saw) lesson on seven key areas of focus for building godly character traits in your children.

Insights ~ These were short, inspirational/motivational thoughts you can reflect and then act upon.

In the back of the Bible they also have a question and answer resource. They have pages of common questions children ask with Scripturally-based answers.

They have a section in the back where you can look up what the Bible has to say about peace or joy or grace and that kind of thing. It does not have a concordance though or study notes in the main body of the Bible. Still, I think this is a wonderful resource and I know just who I plan to gift mine to. :o)

I want to thank Thomas Nelson for providing my review copy. I appreciated it, but did not allow it to influence my review.

A Tailor-Made Bride

Title: A Tailor-Made Bride
Author: Karen Witemeyer
ISBN: 978-0-7642-07556

From Goodreads:

A dressmaker who values beauty tangles with a liveryman who condemns vanity, yet when something deeper than vexation sparks between them, will it be enough to unknot their differences?

Jericho "J.T." Tucker wants nothing to do with Coventry's new dressmaker. He's all too familiar with her ilk – shallow women more devoted to the latest fashions than to the true beauty of godly service. Yet as his daily routine intertwines with hers, he discovers that except for her well-tailored clothes, this seamstress is not at all what he expected.

Hannah Richards is confounded by the man who runs the livery across the street. The unsmiling fellow riles her at every turn with his arrogant assumptions, but his acts of kindness contradict his cantankerous attitude. Which side of Jericho Tucker reflects the real man?

When Hannah spruces up Jericho's sister to help her catch a beau, will Jericho and Hannah find enough grace and understanding to bridge the gap between them, or will prejudice and stubborn pride keep them apart?

My Take:

This is one of those books I looked forward to ever since I saw the cover art last year. The more I read about it, the more I wanted to read it. It didn't disappoint.

I know you shouldn't judge a book by a cover ~ but how many of us do just that? We either are drawn to the gorgeous dress (like on this one) or repelled by what we don't like on another. It's like that in life too. Jericho Tucker has done just that in this book. He takes one look at Hannah Richards and sees all the things he hates and fears. He certainly doesn't want to get to get entangled with the seamstress himself - no matter how nice she seems.

The two of them are like watching an old fashioned bumper cars at night. They slam into each other and seem to be causing quite a fuss ~ but beneath all the noise and clamor you see the sparks flying.

Jericho is a wonderful hero. He is two parts stubborn and three parts generous. Add in a little bit wounded, handy with his tools, protective, and thoughtful. He looks out for his sister, the widow that works next door to Hannah, his assistant, Tom, and even Hannah. He may not want to get involved with her, but he doesn't want her to get hurt or not have what she needs.

Hannah can't understand why the livery owner is so grouchy and mad at her - and yet helps her so often. Even worse, she finds she likes him far more than she'd like to admit. When she finds out he objects to her job and thinks she is trying to lead women astray by appealing to their vanity, she knows there is no hope he'll ever like her.

Hannah is great. She's determined, independent, kind and trusting. She is a little insecure and fearful, but she is willing to work hard to overcome any difficulties that come her way. She was a really like-able person. I found myself wanting to have her for a friend. Maybe we could meet for hot cocoa in the morning after she went for her "constitutional." :o)

When you want to sit down with the characters in the book then you know the author has done an excellent job. This was one of my favorite books so far. I have to thank the author and the publisher for providing my copy of the book. I am very thankful, but it in no way influenced my review.

Lonestar Homecoming

Title: Lonestar Homecoming
Author: Colleen Coble
ISBN: 978-1-59554-734-7

From Goodreads:

"Gracie has spent her life running from her problems. This time, it's a matter of life and death.

With nothing but five dollars, a train ticket, and the wedding dress she's wearing, Gracie Lister escapes with her daughter to the West Texas country where her family fell apart years ago. There, Lieutenant Michael Wayne-devoted single father, dedicated soldier-gives Gracie the hiding place she needs, and a job caring for his two children. Michael and Gracie aren't looking for love, but it finds them right away.

The couple doesn't exactly see eye-to-eye, though. A vengeful druglord has put a price on Michael's head, and he's determined to face the enemy head-on. When Gracie's ex-fiance catches up to her, her impulse is to flee the danger … and the father she lacks the courage to confront.

Will Michael and Gracie find the strength they need in each other to protect their family and the home they've created?"

My Take:

This was a truly wonderful book. It had an inventive and fast-paced plot and characters I cared about. Colleen Coble is fast becoming one of my favorite authors. :o)

You meet Gracie first and see her settling in order to provide for her daughter, Hope. She wants her to have everything. She's sure that she's doing the right thing by marrying Cid and providing a father for Hope. That's when everything starts going wrong. Men show up and tell her that he's suspected of being involved with smugglers and she may be in danger. They want her as a witness. She claims she doesn't know anything and decides to run in order to keep her and Hope safe. She decides to go to the last place she wants to and hopefully the last place anyone would look for her.

The bullets start flying before she can even pack. Gracie and Hope have to start over with nothing. That's when they meet Michael. He arranges to have Gracie work to take care of his children. He isn't sure what she's hiding from, but she proves to be telling the truth when he checks out her references so she gets to stay ... for now.

Michael has problems of his own. He's a soldier who came back from overseas because his ex-wife died. His brother was killed by the smugglers in the area and he's training to be a border control agent too.

This story packs a lot of action and tension in many ways. The characters are thrown together because they both have a need but neither trusts the other. They also are grateful for each other and can tell the other is a good person. They both have enemies and withhold information about those enemies from each other. The action and tension is good throughout the story.

One of the things that makes the book the most interesting is the characters themselves. Both of them are complex people with issues from their past and present they're dealing with. Michael has to deal with how to be a dad after being away from them for most of their lives. Gracie tells him that "they are not small soldiers." He has to try and keep his family safe from the threats of Vargas, the man responsible for his brother's death and deal with his own desire to exact revenge.

Gracie is not sure what to think about Cid. She ran away before she could find out what happened and now he keeps calling and wanting her to come back to him. She has a father she hasn't spoken to since she became pregnant with Hope and she has guilt about what happened to her mother that she has never come to grips with. One of the things that makes her most unusual to me is that she can see and taste sounds. It's called synesthesia.

What started out as convenience leads to something else and soon the two will stand together against whatever comes against their family. I really enjoyed this book and thank Thomas Nelson for sending me my copy to review.

Buy @ Thomas Nelson

Updates, Award & Contest

First of all I need to thank Deborah over at Butterfly Journey. She has given me the Sunshine Award.

This award is traditionally passed on to those bloggers that inspire others and show positivity and creativity. So, in that spirit, I picked my nominees from blogs that I visit regularly and are very informative and inspiring to me.
The rules for accepting the award are:

1) Put the logo within my blog or on my post

2) Pass the award onto 10 fellow bloggers

3) Link the nominees within my post

4) Let the nominees know they have received this award by commenting on their blog

5) Share the love and link to the person whom you received this award from.

Here are my nominees, please visit them and check out their blogs! As you know we all live for comments!

1. Renee @ Black 'n Gold Girl's Book Spot

2. Lori @ Some of my Favorite Books

3. MaryLu Tyndall @ The Cross and Cutlass

4. Angie @ Never a Dull Moment

5. Carrie @ In the Hammock

6. Christy @ Southern Sassy Things

7. Susan @ Journeys of Love ... Inspired by Faith

8. Ashley @ After All ...... Tomorrow is Another Day

9. Katy @ A Few More Pages

10. Alexandra @ Stories From My Bookshelf

Now, for the news I promised. I know many of you have been praying for us about the job situation. I posted in the comments section of my last blog that we have been offered a position and are in the final stages of the process. They are doing a background check right now and have not finished it - though we thought it was supposed to only take 24 hours. The only thing we're concerned about is that he's had some speeding tickets and they issue a company car (because the job involves travel) so that may red flag us. We had to turn down another job opportunity because we accepted their offer but they still haven't told us that everything is okay yet.

On Monday we are supposed to get a call from the company to find out the details about relocating and what all they will help us with. They do provide some help - if we do it their way. We will live somewhere in the state of Missouri, but we're not sure where yet. Also, we just refinanced this house (to try and save money) and it was purchased just four years ago (and property values have gone down the last two years) so we haven't made any progress on the loan. I'm afraid when I think of trying to sell the house. With no paycheck for so long - and no equity on the house, we have to sell it for what we owe and we have only a couple months before we have to be living in MO.

Plus I have my college student son living at home (to save money). He is close to school here, but can't move with us. His job barely pays for gas, books and his little incidentals and emergency expenses for the car. He can't afford an apartment. He is looking, but hasn't found a job - especially one that works around his school schedule. So we need prayer for him to find a place to live and a good job.

So, we are pretty sure and are happy, but it does create a few more things to lay before God. :o)

We have normal spring cleaning to do plus trying to get things organized to move and sell the house. I'm way behind in reviews ... I hope to try and do better at keeping up but I hope you'll be patient with me until life slows down a little bit.

In honor of being offered the job and wanting to praise God for that, I am doing a giveaway. Francine Rivers is one of the best writers of Christian fiction and I am offering 4 hardcovers by her ~ Books 1-4 of the Sons of Encouragement: The Priest, The Warrior, The Prince and The Prophet. These books have been sitting on my shelf for a while, but I haven't read them (too many books - not enough time). I did notice that one of them has a place where the inside flap of the dustcover is rubbed down towards the pages and the top part of a couple pages are bent and have small tears. :o( It must have happened in shipping. The rest of the book is pristine - as are the others - other than shelf wear. I thought about leaving it out, but I hope whoever wins will enjoy it despite the small bit of damage.

In your comment leave an email address, let me know if you are a follower, if you chose to become one, or if you chose to share about the giveaway on your own blog. That will earn you extra entries. This is only open to the US, and void where prohibited by law. I will announce a winner May 1st. So entries have to be by midnight central time on April 30th. Good luck.

She Walks In Beauty

Title: She Walks In Beauty
Author: Siri Mitchell
ISBN: 978-0-7642-0433-3

From Goodreads:

For a young society woman seeking a favorable marriage in the late 1890s, so much depends on her social season debut. Clara Carter has been given one goal: secure the affections of the city's most eligible bachelor. Debuting means plenty of work--there are corsets to be fitted, dances to master, manners to perfect. Her training soon pays off, however, as celebrity's spotlight turns Clara into a society-page darling. Yet Clara wonders if this is the life she really wants, especially when she learns her best friend has also set her sights on Franklin De Vries. When a man appears who seems to love her simply for who she is, and gossip backlash turns ugly, Clara realizes it's not just her heart at stake--the future of her family depends on how she plays the game.

My Take:

This is one of those books I wanted as soon as I saw it listed. One of the reasons was because of the author. She always puts ... depth into her stories that make them even more beautiful than what they are if you don't notice that deeper message. Then there was that cover. I'm ashamed to admit it ~ but it has to be one of the most beautiful covers I've seen and I am guilty of being drawn to a beautifully decorated book.

Clara is a young woman who feels a little more like a beautifully dressed pawn being moved about in a game she isn't even sure she knows the purpose of. She knows she is supposed to catch the heir. Why ~ she isn't certain, the how she can't always abide and seems not to be in her best interest most of the time. Plus she is competing for him with her very best friend. She doesn't even like him.

When she does find someone who likes her for herself alone and doesn't make her uncomfortable, she is confused between what her head and heart tell her and what her family tell her is her duty to them. Add a mysterious newspaper column that seems to know her every move and makes accusations about her family and Clara is not sure what the right course of action is.

The author did a wonderful job of painting a picture of what these debutantes went through trying to achieve the fashionably beautiful look and how that could hurt their health. Clara not only was forced to endure these techniques, but she was used by those who should have loved her the most in order to achieve their own ends. This is wonderfully contrasted by finding someone who accepts her for who she is and tells her about God, who values and loves her just as she is because He created her.

Women today still struggle with whether or not they are beautiful. They have a hard time accepting it no matter what their loved ones say. Beauty is more than fashion ~ fashion changes. Beauty is knowing and understanding that you are loved by your creator - who makes no mistakes. Don 't accept anything less than that in your life.

This is a beautiful love story and one of my very favorites this year. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Thicker Than Blood

Title: Thicker Than Blood
Author: C.J. Darlington
ISBN: 978-1-4143-3448-6

From Goodreads:

Christy Williams finally has her life on track. She’s putting her past behind her and working hard to build a career as an antiquarian book buyer. But things begin to unravel when a stolen Hemingway first edition is found in her possession, framing her for a crime she didn’t commit. With no one to turn to, she yearns for her estranged younger sister, May, whom she abandoned after their parents’ untimely deaths. Soon, Christy’s fleeing from her shattered dreams, her ex-boyfriend, and God. Could May’s Triple Cross Ranch be the safe haven she’s searching for? Will the sisters realize that each possesses what the other desperately needs before it’s too late? A stunning debut from the latest Christian Writers Guild winner.

My Take:

I was looking forward to reading this book for a long time and I didn't feel let down a single bit by it. This doesn't read like a debut book ~ and certainly not by someone so young. There is real emotional depth to the characters and nothing formulaic about the plot.

I know my standard fare is romances, and this book has a twisted romance and one relationship that reads like it shows promise for a romance ~ but it is a book about relationships. One of the main ones focused on is between the two sisters, May and Christy, and how that is changed by the guilt that Christy has allowed to come between her and basically everything good in her life. She listened to the lie instead of the truth.

There is the relationship both sisters have with God and with their family, friends and co-workers and how what Christy, May and others do change those relationships for the better or worse.

What I think the author did best of all was not paint her characters in all black or white. Christy had many weaknesses and faults, but she also had strengths and good points. May was a strong Christian, but when Christy shows up unexpectedly and doesn't even apologize for walking away, she still feels hurt and angry.

This was a very well written book that deals with tough topics in a realistic way. I can't wait to read more from this author.