Sandwich with a Side of Romance - Review and Giveaway

Maddie Buckner wonders if she could possibly win the record at Guinness for being fired the most in one day. When she is hired at the Sandwich Cut 'N' Style, she is forced to spend most of the day sweeping floors and cleaning instead of taking the walk-in customers like she was promised by Judy, her Nazi-of-a-boss. However when Judy steps out to run an errand, opportunity knocks when Reuben Callahan, whom she believes is Mr. Gorgeous is in need of a haircut and can't wait for his usual stylist. He opts to try Maddie out, even though she comes highly recommended.  As she proceeds to cut his hair in the usual style but a bit shorter, Reuben falls asleep in her chair, slowly nodding off a bit more with each snip of her scissors. It isn't until he jerks father down then up as she began her cut, causing her hands to slip.

Maddie gasped. Dread curled itself around her stomach and squeezed. In her trembling hand she'd caught four full inches of his hair. On the side of Reuben's forehead was a one-and-a-half-inch dusty-blond stub. The image in the mirror was just an illusion. It had to be. Reuben Callahan blinked twice. No such luck. His hair was still in shambles, and a shell-shocked brunette stood next to him holding the evidence of her crime. It was then that Judy, the owner walked back into the salon and immediately fired Maddie. Now without a job, she was desperate, so desperate in fact that she sat on the hood of Reuben's BMW until she was able to convince him to get her a job.

What Maddie didn't know was that Reuben was the owner of a series of restaurants and feeling a bit guilty for his actions in having her fired since he did technically fall asleep he offers her a job as a waitress. Feeling absolved of all guilt, he wonders if he did the right thing in offering her a job, until he is informed that Maddie just dumped an iced tea and Reuben sandwich in the mayor's lap.

In the novel, Sandwich with a Side of Romance by Krista Phillips, poor Maddie has a great heart and a willingness to try hard, but it seems like she can't seem to do anything right. She is on the verge of wondering what God's plan is in all of this, since she has to be able to hold down a job and find suitable housing if she wants to gain custody of her younger brother, Kyle who is living with foster parents that are pursuing the option of adopting him before Maddie can get settled. Will she be able to convince Reuben to give her another opportunity or will she gain the notoriety of being the woman with the most jobs gained and lost in a single day?

I received Sandwich with a Side of Romance by Krista Phillips compliments of Abingdon Press and Pump Up Your Book Tours. This is a heart warming and delightful romantic comedy of a struggle young woman, Maddie who tries so hard to do the right thing all the time, she doesn't realize the effort doesn't need to be so difficult. I love her child-like faith in his simple honest prayers to God even though she just became a Christian six months ago. When God shows her how He can answer her prayers in ways much different than she had hoped, it enables her to see not everyone deserves the stereotype labels she gives them and instead offers her a new perspective on not only her life but romance as well. I rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars and will be adding Krista Phillips to my list of authors to watch. Her writing is amazing and hooks the reader from the very first line in the book!

For more information on Sandwich with a Side of Romance, Krista Phillips or where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Sandwich with a Side of Romance by Krista Phillips

You can also find Krista Phillips on her website by clicking here or on Facebook by clicking here. 

To read more reviews from Sandwich with a Side of Romance's book tour, click here. 

Now for the dessert of this review, Pump Up Your Book Tours is offering a giveaway copy of this novel to one lucky reader of this blog. Here's all you got to do to enter:

1. Be a follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart.

2. Be a resident of the US or have a US shipping address. Please No P.O. Boxes.

3. "Like" my Facebook page, Reviews From The Heart. If you have already "Liked" it, just leave me a comment to let me know you were there.

4. Leave me a comment below in the comment box telling me about your funniest moment on the job along with your email address. You can use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the symbols.

The winner will be notified by email and posted on my Facebook page, Reviews From The Heart. The giveaway will end on October 17th.  

Love Finds A Way

I love it when you find a unique book that gives you more than what you were expecting and I find this in Wanda Brunstetter's novel, Love Finds A Way. This is a beautiful collection of three short romance stories that capture the essence of finding love in a wide variety of circumstances and offers hope when you think you have just about given up hope in finding love.

In the first story, Blueberry Surprise, we meet a widow, Loren Patterson who has spent the last year getting over the death of her husband Ron who was killed in a tragic motorcycle accident. Now living with her in-laws, she has been working two jobs to make ends meet while she put her husband through medical school and now is trying to pay off all the medical bills. She has given up the prospect of finding love again and spends most of her evenings working as a waitress at Farmen's Restaurant in Seattle, Washington. Taking the advice of her friend Chris and her mother-in-law, Ann, she returns to college to pursue her own education at Bay View Christian College as a music teacher. Evan Bailey is doing the same thing with his own life since leaving the Airforce and is now looking to further his own education at Bay View as a child counselor and hopes to also someday find a sweet Christian wife. In the meantime, he spends his evenings sampling online recipes in hopes that adding cooking to his skills will make him a marketable husband. Will they find the perfect recipe for love?

In the second story, Grandma's Doll, Shelia Nickels has come to Casper,Wyoming as her Grandmother prepares to sell her house and move into Mountain Springs Retirement Center. She tells Shelia to visit her home one final time and take anything she wants from the house before it's sold and she knows exactly what she is looking for. As she heads to the attic to begin her search, she discovers the treasure she is searching for, is missing, a Bye-Lo baby that was her favorite when she visited her grandparents house as a young child. When she asks her Grandmother about it, she learns it was sold to The Older the Better Antique Shop across town now owned by Dwaine Woods. It just so happens that fate intervenes today when her grandmother asks Dwaine to stop by to appraise a piano she needs to sell and he and Shelia will discover that there are more than material treasures to be found if they are only willing to look hard enough. Will they discover the true treasures of the hearts?

In the final story in this novel, Matchmaker 911, Wendy Campbell is the town of Plumer's barber after taking over from her father, Wayne, who has succumbed to the effects of old age and severe rheumatoid arthritis and she finds herself wondering if a woman working in a predominately man's world is really such a good idea since having so many guys at the shop trying to make a play for her only made things worse. Now she spends her time caring for her father at home. But her father wants to see her with a man of her own to care for and a social life besides running the shop and caring for him. However when she hears a siren and realizes it stopping at her house, she panics knowing her father is at home. Kyle Rogers is the responding paramedic who helped her father out at the hospital before and what is finds when he arrives will be an adventure of a life time.

I received Love Finds A Way by Wanda Brunstetter compliments of Barbour Publishing and Net Galley for my honest review and I have to say I love books like this one. They have so much in them that you truly feel like you're getting a deal having three wonderful Christian romance stories all in one novel. Each one is unique and shows how God works in the details to bring healing, hope and love back into the lives of people who feel they have to accept things they way they are instead of something so much more. I rate this book a true 5 out of 5 stars!

For more information on Love Finds A Way, Wanda Brunstetter or where to pick up a copy of this modern day romance collection today, please click on the links below:

Love Finds A Way by Wanda Brunstetter

You can learn more about Wanda by becoming a follower of hers on Facebook or by visiting her website.

A Heart Revealed

As hard as it seems at times, wounds to the heart can be the hardest to heal, especially when it involves the love of a man you married. Until that love grows a life of its own and becomes jealous and possessive and then the emotions that rise up can sometimes be more than one can contain.

Emma Malloy had the epitome of what some would call the perfect marriage, she fell in love too fast and failed to see the warning signs. Before she knew it, she would be a victim of that love, a love that couldn't trust, a love the wanted to possess more than anything and it would be 8 long years of abuse at the hands of her husband Rory, before Emma would leave Ireland when Rory found someone new.

Sean O'Connor has been Emma's friend since childhood and has seen him at his worst or so she thought until the day of Katie O'Connor's wedding, his youngest sister and the last of the girls in the O'Connor family to marry. Now if only Sean could find that same and lasting love as everyone else, but he has vowed to remain single and stay away from all women no matter how he feels about them. Somehow Emma is the only one that Sean will let in, the only one he will share his deepest secrets with and the only one he can talk to and really be himself. If only she wasn't married, she might be the only one he would ever consider settling down with.

So the story takes us into the lives of Sean O'Connor and Emma Malloy who are united by their love for the O'Connor family, most of which are Emma's dearest friends and whom if the O'Connors would ever consider adopting, Emma would volunteer herself willingly. The only thorn in this story would be Rose Kelly, the one woman who can't take No for an answer and the only one that Emma feels might be the perfect fit for Sean.

In A Heart Revealed by Julie Lessman, we finally see the hurt that both Emma and Sean are carrying around within themselves that is preventing either of them from moving forward. They almost seem willing to punish themselves rather than accept God's forgiveness from their past and start over again. We get to see through this remarkable friendship just how each of them is there for the other but still unable to work through their own issues enough to finally be free of their grief and heartache.

I received this book compliments of Revell publishers for my honest review. This is the second in the series of Winds of Change, but can easily be read as a stand alone. The best part is that A Hope Undaunted, the first book in the series is available for FREE download on your favorite retailers until September 30th! Yet the love you feel for every single character that Julie Lessman introduces you to, find that they have a permanent home in your own heart. This is wonderfully written so that it engages you from the first page and literally can't put it down until you see how it might all work out before you reach the end. I easily give this book a 5 out of 5 stars and can't wait to read another in this series. If you would love to know more about this book, the author or where to purchase this novel, please click on the link below:

A Heart Revealed by Julie Lessman

My Foolish Heart

What are you afraid of? Is it that you will never find the perfect love in your life? That you'll end up less than a person? Perhaps it's that you afraid of something in your past, you don't want anyone else to know and would be devastated if anyone knew about it? Or perhaps even more, perhaps you are afraid of the person you've become after having such high hopes for yourself?

But doesn't perfect love cast out all fear?

Meet Isadora Presley or Issy as her close friends and family call her. She's the mystery voice behind the radio program, My Foolish Heart. Created to assist callers with their love life and to avoid making those heart breaking decisions that leave us crushed in the end. Only no one in her small down of Deep Haven knows she is the voice of Ms. Foolish Heart except her close friend Lucy Maguire.

Lucy's been Issy's only link to the world outside her home. Issy had witnessed her own mother's death in her arms during a traffic collision with her father and her, leaving her dealing with panic attacks. Her father now resides in a care facility that Issy is terrified to visit because it would mean leaving her home. Now she finds solace in working from home dispensing love advice to radio callers.

Caleb Knight, is the upcoming coach to the football team, if only he can prove himself worthy of bringing the team back from a losing streak. If only the war in Iraq hadn't left him with an artificial leg, he might be able to show the teams players just how to be great again. So to avoid pity from the school board and his own players, he decides to keep it to himself. What he doesn't expect is to fall for the girl next door quite literally.

In the latest novel by Susan May Warren, My Foolish Heart, takes readers intimately into the lives of four struggle residents of Deep Haven who have let fear take control of their lives. We get to see how each of them lets it take root and keep them from the greatness that lies just within their reach. We also see how God will weave His way through their lives and restore and heal them while teaching us all, that despite our fears of what has happened to us, God will use it for His Glory and His good in the end.

I received this wonderful novel compliments of Litfuse Publicity for my honest review. This book is just perfect for anyone looking for a great summer escape romance book with a unique twist of a Christian lesson in it. Never reading any books by Susan May Warren, I've been missing out. Her unique way of capturing the characters in her books, makes them believable and makes you want to become their own personal cheerleaders along the way. This one scored a 5 out of 5 stars for me and it won't be the last book I read of hers.

For more information about this book, the author and where to purchase a copy of this amazing summer romance, please click on the link below:

My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren

My Foolish Heart - Giveaway and Review

What are you afraid of? Is it that you will never find the perfect love in your life? That you'll end up less than a person? Perhaps it's that you afraid of something in your past, you don't want anyone else to know and would be devastated if anyone knew about it? Or perhaps even more, perhaps you are afraid of the person you've become after having such high hopes for yourself?

But doesn't perfect love cast out all fear?

Meet Isadora Presley or Issy as her close friends and family call her. She's the mystery voice behind the radio program, My Foolish Heart. Created to assist callers with their love life and to avoid making those heart breaking decisions that leave us crushed in the end. Only no one in her small down of Deep Haven knows she is the voice of Ms. Foolish Heart except her close friend Lucy Maguire.

Lucy's been Issy's only link to the world outside her home. Issy had witnessed her own mother's death in her arms during a traffic collision with her father and her, leaving her dealing with panic attacks. Her father now resides in a care facility that Issy is terrified to visit because it would mean leaving her home. Now she finds solace in working from home dispensing love advice to radio callers.

Caleb Knight, is the upcoming coach to the football team, if only he can prove himself worthy of bringing the team back from a losing streak. If only the war in Iraq hadn't left him with an artificial leg, he might be able to show the teams players just how to be great again. So to avoid pity from the school board and his own players, he decides to keep it to himself. What he doesn't expect is to fall for the girl next door quite literally.

In the latest novel by Susan May Warren, My Foolish Heart, takes readers intimately into the lives of four struggle residents of Deep Haven who have let fear take control of their lives. We get to see how each of them lets it take root and keep them from the greatness that lies just within their reach. We also see how God will weave His way through their lives and restore and heal them while teaching us all, that despite our fears of what has happened to us, God will use it for His Glory and His good in the end.

I received this wonderful novel compliments of Tyndale House Publishers for my honest review. This book is just perfect for anyone looking for a great summer escape romance book with a unique twist of a Christian lesson in it. Never reading any books by Susan May Warren, I've been missing out. Her unique way of capturing the characters in her books, makes them believable and makes you want to become their own personal cheerleaders along the way. This one scored a 5 out of 5 stars for me and it won't be the last book I read of hers.

For more information about this book, the author and where to purchase a copy of this amazing summer romance, please click on the link below:

My Foolish Heart by Susan May Warren

Since I loved it so much, I am giving a copy away to one lucky reader of my blog. Here are your guidelines for this giveaway:

1. Be a follower of Reviews From The Heart.

2. Please click like on my Facebook page, Reviews From The Heart.

3. Be a resident of the US or have a US shipping address. Please No P.O. Boxes!

4. I must have a way to contact you if you're the lucky winner, so please be sure to include your email address along with your comment. You can use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the symbols.

5. Tell me why you would love to win a copy of this book. That's it. The giveaway will end on May 14th and I will contact the winner by email at that time.

The Pirate Queen

Everyone's definition of treasure is unique. Some spend their whole lives looking for it, some actually dig for it and then there are those that uncover it along their life's journey.

Saphora Warren is one of those people. She is well-liked and admired by all her friends, her kids look up to her as a role model and mother, while her husband, Bender Warren, a prestigious doctor, ignores her. Yet her she spends her day, planning for their home to be featured in Southern Living magazine while her husband disappears for a round of golf, leaving her to make a name for their family, while he earns the money.

Now that the kids are grown and making lives for themselves, Saphora is about to discover her own treasure when she makes plans to leave Bender after the closing of the party for Southern Living. Bags packed and ready to go, she is all set for the new life ahead of her when her husband arrives home with news that he is dying of cancer.

Shocked and still not ready to deal with this latest issue from her husband, she is unsure what to do, until he asks her to take him to Oriental, a small community where the have a house on the lake. This was where she was planning on making her new start and now she finds she has a new issue to deal with regarding Bender. This is about to take her on a whole new hunt to find missing treasure she never knew existed.

In the novel The Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman, we take a journey ourselves into the lives of people dealing with the cancer of Bender Warren. In the process we discover that the things we think will make us happy aren't the true treasures of life. When Bender begins to discover God in the process he has many questions that are waiting to be answered.

I received the book compliments of WaterBrook Multnomah for my honest review and found myself captivated by the many people in the lives of Saphora and Bender. The strength that emerges from Saphora is amazing for a woman who has lived the life she has in the story, yet with unconditional love and hope, she makes an amazing discovery. I rate this book at 5 out of 5 stars!

For more information on this book, the author and where to purchase a copy, please click on the link below:

The Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman

Love Me Tender

What teenage girl hasn't had a crush on her favorite male singing sensation? Especially if you live in the heart of Hollywood, say in Laguna Beach, where it's likely you'll see someone famous on a weekly basis sunning themselves at the beach, just cruising Pacific Coast Highway or taking in a stroll along the many quaint shops along the beachside community. While you're there, you may even step into Sweet Sal's Soda Shop, a favorite diner of the locals that is famous for it's cheeseburgers, onion rings and out of this world chocolate malts!

Let's take this story all the way back to when teen crushes were all the rage and rock and roll music was taking over the lives of teens everywhere. Enter the 1950's. A throw back to more casual times, where walls of girls bedrooms were adorned with posters of Elvis Presley, Cary Grant or even Dick Clark! This is where the story of Love Me Tender by Janice Hanna takes place! We are introduced to the Carmichael family who owns Sweet Sal's Soda Shop and the entire family works there, serving up food until the wee hours of the night while listening to the latest music from the jukebox. Back to the time where you are served by red and white striped uniformed waitresses with their hair in pony tails and singing the latest songs!

We meet Debbie Carmichael who is just turning 20 and is trying very hard to let those childhood crushes of Bobby Conrad become a think of the past, yet she can't help it. He is after all single, around 20 himself and the possibilities of meeting him in her dreams is enough to make her weak in the knees! When she learns that her father's diner is behind in the mortgage payments and could possibly lose it due to his recent heart attack, Debbie plans a benefit concert at her families diner may just be the one thing to save her father and quite possibly meet Bobby Conrad.

Johnny Hartman arrives from Topeka, Kansas with all the boyish good lucks he needs to make it in Hollywood along with his ability to write his own original songs. Once he hooks up with the local agent Jim Jangles, Hollywood is about to discover it's next rising star on Billboards music charts. Things take a turn when Jim arranges for Johnny to come along to Sweet Sal's to negotiate a benefit for Bobby Conrad his latest rising star and it's there that Johnny finds his inspirations to his songs from a blond hair girl named Debbie.

To read more about this amazing book, you'll want to pick up a copy of Love Me Tender by Janice Hanna. It's a perfect musical 5 out of 5 stars! I received this book compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and was transported back in time to the rock-a-billy times of the 50's! This is such a fun book with a message about how even God can use Hollywood stardom to get His message across the airwaves!

For more information on this book, the author or to read a first chapter peek, continue reading:

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Love Me Tender Summerside Press (September 1, 2010)
by Janice Hanna
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Award-winning author Janice Thompson also writes under the pseudonym Janice Hanna, She got her start in the industry writing screenplays and musical comedies for the stage. Janice has published over fifty books for the Christian market, crossing genre lines to write cozy mysteries, historicals, romances, nonfiction books, devotionals, childrens books and more. In addition, she enjoys editing, ghost-writing, public speaking, and mentoring young writers. Janice currently serves as Vice-President of CAN (Christian Authors Network) and was named the 2008 Mentor of the year for ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers).



She was thrilled to be named the 2010 Barbour/Heartsong Author of the Year with three books on the top ten list for that house. Janice is active in her local writing group, where she regularly teaches on the craft of writing. Her online course, "Becoming a Successful Freelance Writer" has been helpful to many who want to earn a living with their writing. Janice is passionate about her faith and does all she can to share the joy of the Lord with others, which is why she particularly enjoys writing. She lives in Spring, Texas, where she leads a rich life with her family, a host of writing friends and two mischievous dachshunds. She does her best to keep the Lord at the center of it all.

ABOUT THE BOOK

As "Love Me Tender" plays in the background, Debbie Carmichael determines to salvage her family's restaurant, Sweet Sal's Soda Shoppe, when her father's health fails. Teen heartthrob Bobby Conrad agrees to perform at a fundraiser concert. But just two weeks before the highly publicized event, Bobby backs out of the benefit. Enter Johnny Hartman, a young, unknown singer to take Conrad's place. Debbie soon realizes the twists and turns leading up to the concert are divinely orchestrated. And it isn't dreamy Bobby Conrad who has stolen her heart - but the tender love of Johnny Hartman.

If you would like to read the first chapter of Love Me Tender, go HERE.