Sixty Acres and A Bride

Prejudice is still the order of the day in the small town of Lockhart, Texas in 1878, especially when you're a Mexican woman. It doesn't even matter if you married into a prominent family because the women and men already have formed their own personal opinion of you. Not only that, women for the most part are still considered second class citizens by some men of the town, but gentlemen however still exist.

When Rosa Garner returns with her mother-in-law Louise back to their ranch that they left more than five years ago and now learn that the previous renters never paid the taxes or rent on the land. Checking with the courts, they learn they have three months to come up with $166.00 or the land will be sold at auction. Three months hardly seems like enough time, but Louise believes God will provide for the widows just like He has in the past.

When Weston Garner returns to his land, he is trying to find a way to resolve the guilt he's been carrying around since his wife, Cora died unexpectedly and he feels responsible. Not knowing what awaits him back at his ranch, he believes that God will provide Him a second chance at a new life and that he can find a way to let go of the past. What he doesn't expect is to fall in love again, this time with the new help at Louise's farm.

I received Sixty Acres and A Bride by Regina Jennings compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review. This is a debut novel for Regina and I think she did a fantastic job! This book teaches the reader through the story of Weston and Regina how God can repair anything in someone's life and ultimately provide a new chance at life, if they are willing to be open to let go of guilt that isn't theirs to carry and are willing to forgive. This also teaches the dangers of letting pride get in the way. For fans of western romances, this will hit home for you! I personally rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars!

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing Sixty Acres and a Bride Bethany House (February 1, 2012) by Regina Jennings

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

A Word from Regina:

See me laughing. That’s what I do when someone calls me an author. Yes, it’s always been my dream, but I still can’t keep from giggling over it.

Other things I am – a Christ-follower, a wife, a homeschooling mother of four, a graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University, and a voracious reader.

Getting reading time isn’t easy. Seems like my family does more than our share of traveling. My husband is an insurance adjuster (I know, save the hate mail) and travels with the catastrophe team often. That’s allowed us to see a lot of the United States. True many times it’s in the middle of a hurricane or blizzard, but after spending three weeks in a hotel room with six people, you’ll brave anything to get out and see the sights – no matter how damaged they might be.

We also serve on the Missions Team at an amazing church, so we break out the passports frequently. Highlights include singing at a leper colony in India, holding church inside a Mexican prison and showing the Jesus film to a tribe in Senegal who’d never heard the gospel.

But I don’t have to go far away for unusual. My family provides plenty of colorful material with their love for practical jokes, pithy observations and strong agricultural roots. Because of the family business, a significant chunk of my life has been spent at sale barns and auctions – often behind the scales where I weigh pigs. I like to think of myself as a “redneck bluestocking” but I brought an entire marketing team’s discussion to a screeching halt when I said those words, so you didn’t hear it from me.

When I have spare time I love to talk books and quirky characters (real and fictional).

ABOUT THE BOOK

With nothing to their names, young widow Rosa Garner and her mother-in-law return to Texas and the family ranch. Only now the county is demanding back taxes and the women have only three months to pay.

Though facing eviction, Rosa can't keep herself from falling in love with the countryside and the wonderful extended family who want only her best. Learning the American customs is not easy, however, and this beautiful young widow can't help but catch wandering eyes. Where some offer help with dangerous strings attached, only one man seems honorable. But when Weston Garner, still grieving his own lost love, is unprepared to give his heart, to what lengths will Rosa go to save her future?

If you would like to read the first chapter of Sixty Acres and a Bride, go HERE.

The Art of Falling In Love

What if someone told you that love could be guaranteed? Would you think it was an outlandish promise? Impossible to ensure? Well, marriage and love expert Joe Beam shares four tried-and-proven, concrete steps to falling in love, staying in love, and renewing lost love in his novel, The Art of Falling in Love.

They are attraction, acceptance, attachment and aspiration. Joe Beam walks the readers through what he defines is the love path and everyone can attain that elusive "love" that most seek so desperately. Working with various couples in different stages in love or even falling out of love, Joe tries to take the readers through where some couples make critical mistakes at simply not understand the basic needs we all have. For example in the chapter on attraction, Joe tells readers that there are four different kinds of attraction and the more a couple connects in all four, the better the chances are that they can move into the next stage of the love path, acceptance.

The four types of attraction are physical (body), intellectual (mind), emotional (heart), and finally spiritual (soul). Now each person may not find all these things in the person they are attracted to, for example some one may be fair good looking but have a great intellectual mind that inspires an attraction for someone. Yet attraction in any of these areas is the first step to finding a lasting love.
The author also walks the reader into first coming to love themselves if they ever hope at finding love. Then he takes you through the steps to change the things you don't like about yourself so you can be more attractive to those around you.

While the author uses real life examples of how he has worked to help couples rekindle their romance and love even after years of being married and strives to make some great points, I question some of the ideas he suggests in the book. I don't necessary believe that all people fall into the Love Path as he suggests but everyone is different and people come into relationships with different ideas of what they want out of love or possibly marriage. I've read several books on love and restoring it when it's lost in a relationship and think so of his ideas are similar. The best part is that if it works, then it's a great book however for me, I found it lacking some connection with the reader.

I received this book compliments of Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster for my honest review and have to rate this one a 3 out of 5 stars. However some readers might connect to the writing style of Joe Beam and if it works to restore their love and marriage than it's worth trying. For more information on this book, the author and where to purchase this book, please click on the link below:

The Art of Falling in Love by Joe Beam

Bond Girl - Giveaway and Review

You know you've read an excellent book when you can wait to tell someone about it and all the best parts of the book. Only in this one, the entire book is filled with the best parts. Bond Girl by Erin Duffy is the story of Alex Garrett, who has dreamed of a career in the finance industry since she was eight, following in her father's footsteps. Only this is a predominantly male industry and not that many women find the success she is hoping for.

She finally attends college hoping that the business and finance classes will be enough to help her understand what it takes to get her foot in the door of Cromwell Pierce, one of the top leaders in Wall Street, also a fierce competitor of her father's company. When she finally is offered the position, she soon finds just how difficult it will be beginning her journey as a Junior, which is the grunt level in the bond trading sector. She has been told she will do whatever is asked of her without complaint and that's where the story gets interesting. I found this book to be a blend of the Devil Wears Prada only in a male dominated finance industry and for an extremely difficult boss named Ed Ciccone or "Chick" as he insists she refers to him.

It's just how far Alex is willing to go that makes the story that much fun. Seeing it as working in an office with 40 men and one other woman, she is forced to deal with all the inside jokes one would expect from having to fetch coffee and pizza whenever the team is hungry or in need of a caffeine boost or being the blunt of practical jokes when the days prove boring and slow. Yet in the end, it shows how much drive and perseverance Alex has to prove her worth at her job.

I received Bond Girl by Erin Duffy compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review and LOVED it! It was definitely a book I could relate to, when I begin a career in the wireless industry as one of the first women technicians and how to go about proving my self worth in a male dominated field. So my hats off to girls like Alex who can put up with the best of them and not take it personally. A fun-filled 5 out of 5 stars!

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

Bond Girl by Erin Duffy

Thanks to the generous folks at Harper Collins and William Morrow, they are providing a giveaway copy of this book to one lucky follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart. Here are the details:

1. Be a resident of the US or have a US shipping address.

2. Be a follower of my blog Reviews From The Heart.

3. Like my Facebook page at Reviews From The Heart by clicking here.

4. Leave me a comment telling me why you would love to win a copy of this book. Don't forget to include your email address. You can use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the symbols.

The giveaway will end on February 21st and I will notify the winner by email.

No Mark Upon Her

Looking for a great Scotland Yard mystery that will keep you guessing just who did it til the very end and keep you turning pages faster and faster until you finally know who did it? Then look no further. In her latest book, No Mark Upon Her, Deborah Crombie takes her readers in depth into a rowing missing persons crime initially which will later prove that a murder has taken place. One by one the pieces of the puzzle seem to fit seamlessly together until you realize that not all pieces that fit together form the perfect picture and you have it all wrong.

I thought I had this one down pat until about 7/8ths of the way through the book and realized that I had been going on a wild goose chase and not everything was adding up the way it should have been. I guess in my opinion that's what makes for an excellent murder mystery is if the author can keep the identity hidden til the very end. Masterfully done and this is my first book review for Deborah Crombie but definitely will not be my last. Love her characters, dialogue and her writing style. A perfect blend in my opinion and well rated at 5 out of 5 stars. I received this book compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review.

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this book, please click on the links below:

No Mark Upon Her by Deborah Crombie

Book Synopsis:

New York Times bestselling author Deborah Crombie makes her mark with this absorbing, finely hued tale of suspense—a deeply atmospheric and twisting mystery full of deadly secrets, salacious lies, and unexpected betrayals involving the mysterious drowning of a Met detective—an accomplished rower—on the Thames.

When a K9 search-and-rescue team discovers a woman's body tangled up with debris in the river, Scotland Yard superintendent Duncan Kincaid finds himself heading an investigation fraught with complications. The victim, Rebecca Meredith, was a talented but difficult woman with many admirers—and just as many enemies. An Olympic contender on the verge of a controversial comeback, she was also a high-ranking detective with the Met—a fact that raises a host of political and ethical issues in an already sensitive case.

To further complicate the situation, a separate investigation, led by Detective Inspector Gemma James, Kincaid's wife, soon reveals a disturbing—and possibly related—series of crimes, widening the field of suspects. But when someone tries to kill the search-and-rescue team member who found Rebecca's body, the case becomes even more complex and dangerous, involving powerful interests with tentacles that reach deep into the heart of the Met itself.

Surrounded by enemies with friendly faces, pressured to find answers quickly while protecting the Yard at all costs, his career and reputation on the line, Kincaid must race to catch the killer before more innocent lives are lost—including his own.

More Than Words Can Say

Once in a blue moon you come across an exceptional book that leaves you in awe of just how great the story is and how emotionally connected to it you are. I have found such a treasure in the latest book from Robert Barclay, More Than Words Can Say, and to say if you haven't read it, you'll want to pick this one up and completely set aside some time to get lost in the characters and the story.

The premise of the story takes place at a lakeside cottage tucked away in the Adirondack mountains where Chelsea Bartlett has been left with her grandmother, Brooke's lakeside cottage and the contents of the home in her grandmother's will. The stipulations of the will state that Chelsea can do whatever she wants with the cottage after she visits there and locates the contents of a small tin, her grandmother has hidden beneath the floorboards of the guest bedroom.

Chelsea takes her grandmother's advice and heads to the cottage sure she will sell it once she sees it, but once she arrives, she feels a sense of peaceful tranquility that can't be explained. No one has lived in the cottage for 60 years and is has been carefully looked after by a French couple who were hired by her grandmother's attorney.

Chelsea finds her grandmother's journal and some old photographs hidden in a tin box that will take her back to a summer of 1942, that her grandmother spent at the cottage shortly after the war began and just recently married to Bill. The time at the cottage for Chelsea and reading the contents of the journal will change her life forever in profound and never expected ways as she finds herself transported back to a simpler time during one summer in 1942.

I received More Than Words Can Say compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review and was so sad to reach the end of the book. I could perfectly imagine myself sitting on the porch overlooking the lake, hearing the waves lap upon the shore and the smell of pine trees blowing in on the summer breeze as Chelsea spends time with her grandmother in a very special and unique way that will bond them together in a life changing way. If you're a fan of Nicholas Sparks, then meeting Robert Barclay's characters and writing style will be a literature lottery of sorts. An exceptional read and one you WON'T want to miss. I am HIGHLY RECOMMENDING this one and awarding it 10 out of 10 stars! Trust me, once you read this one, you'll want more!

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

More Than Words Can Say by Robert Barclay

Blue Moon Bay

Heather Hampton has felt she has accomplished much in her life since leaving the town of Moses Lake and working as a successful architect in Seattle. Just when she is about to finally get her dream project, her family throws a wrench into her plans to acquire the property from her family surrounding Moses Lake. This will enable many people to finally find work in a small town that hasn't grown much over the years since she has left. Only now on the verge of signing the papers, her mother tells her that they are considering another bidder on the property.

Feeling a bit more than frustrated, she flies home in hopes of talking some sense into her mother, and expediting the sale of the property. When she arrives in Moses Lake, she is in for a huge surprise. First she is delayed on her flight into Texas and has to relying on the kindness of a dentist she meets that is rushing home for his anniversary and offers her a ride. Second, she leaves her purse behind on the bus and with it her identification, her Iphone that she can't live without, and all her money and credit cards. Third, a phone call at the airport to her boyfriend Richard, leaves her with the impression that her relationship with him is in jeopardy especially since she leaves just days before his birthday with no idea she was missing it. Last, going back to Moses Lake isn't something she ever wanted to do again since it held so many bad memories for her.

Now that she arrives in Moses Lake, a lot more than just a little needy, she soon learns that her family has other plans for what to do with the property and that will completely upset the life that Heather had hoped for and her plans for a better life.

I received, Blue Moon Bay Lisa Wingate compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and have to say I could find myself transported back to Moses Lake with Heather. That to me is a sign of a great book if I can feel myself in the setting and walking in the characters shoes. I rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars! The story is definitely believable and one worth a look at!

For more information on this book, the author and where to pick up a copy of this book.

Blue Moon Bay by Lisa Wingate

Three Free Sins

"When Christians get to the point where they read only Christian books, go only to Christian movies hang out only with other Christians, eat only Christian cookies, and wear only Christian underwear, it's time for a reality check. That's sick, and it is a sickness unto death.

Once we are free from the need to defend, protect and hide, we have the freedom to show up in places where proper Christians don't go for fear of getting dirty. And it is in our showing up that the authenticity of who we are becomes the "flavor" that attracts others to the ice cream maker." (pg 192).

In the latest book by Steve Brown, Three Free Sins, is an exceptional read that for once, frees Christians and non-Christians alike from the stereotype that in order to live once saved, we have to walk a perfect and holy life. Do you really think that's possible? God knows we can't be perfect and nothing we do will pay for the gift of our salvation in Christ, so we need to stop being weighed down by the fact, we will all fall short sometimes. We need this to be about what God thinks, than what the world thinks and start living a life worthy of God.

In this book, Steve admits he crosses into uncomfortable territory is not acting or even sounding like your typical preacher, because after so many years of being like that, he realizes that isn't what people want when they want to know God. They need to know the walk will be difficult and that God doesn't always seem to play fair, especially when things happen to good people and if we are truly honest with ourselves and who we really are deep down inside, then people can be changed.

"If you're a Christian, you probably have, as I have winced at the revelations of the horrible sin of some of our leaders. Every time a Christian leader falls morally, runs a Ponzi scheme on unsuspecting brothers and sisters in Christ, builds a mansion, or buys a Mercedes from the tithe money from Social Security recipients, or creates an empire that begins to crumble, the rest of us want to run away and become Buddhists. Every time the curtain rolls back, and we see the hypocrisy, the greed, and the shallowness of the church, we are embarrassed and are less arrogant bout the church against which Jesus said, " the gates of hell shall not prevail." (Matthew 16:18). It's hard to be triumphant with that much dirty underwear hanging out in public.

Listen up! Don't waste the dirt! Don't hide the sinners! They're ours. Do you think God is doing something in our midst that we've all missed. Everybody who is reading this has secrets, and if those secrets were publicly revealed, you would flee in embarrassment from friends, neighbors and fellow church members. God, for his own reasons, has revealed a few of the dirty secrets of a few of us. But that is only the surface. A mother lode of secrets has already been uncovered; but I fear that, if we don't start getting this thing right, God won't just stop with them." (pg 180).

I received Three Free Sins compliments of Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster Publishers for my honest review and feel a breath of fresh air has come. What a wonderful insight into the way God planned for us to live and for us to treat others. I applaud Steve Brown for being willing to step over the threshold and cause a few to be a bit uncomfortable, but in the end, there is a freedom waiting for us that can not be explained until you live it! A perfect 5 out of 5 stars!

For more information on this book, the author and where you can pick up a copy of this book, please click on the link below:

Three Free Sins by Steve Brown