Catch A Falling Star

Have you ever seen a falling star? Have you ever made a wish upon a star? Do you believe that those wishes can come true?

Too often in a woman's life, we come to believe all those fairy tales our parents read to us. That there is a happily ever after waiting for all of us, someday, some where, but is it really true?

Kendall Haynes has been wondering about that now that she is thirty-six and it seems like everyone around her is finding their own happily ever after. All of her friends, co-workers and now even her younger sister is getting married while Kendall has nothing going on except an exceptional career as a doctor running her own private practice in Colorado. She's beginning to wonder if all those fairy tales that she heard growing up are simply just stories, ones that will never come true. No marriage, no falling head over heels in love and no family of her own. Just her and Sully, her overly eager goldendoodle. There aren't even any prospects on her immediate horizon.

Gearing up for a dinner with her girlfriends at On the Border to plan their upcoming all girls vacation, she is immediately called into help when a teenage boy seems to be having an allergic reaction to his food and is finding it difficult to breath. Apparently even his father sitting with him, can't recognize the signs and when she intervenes and administers first aid while having him call 911, she is more than upset with his father. However, when Griffin Walker tells her that he is not his father, but brother, she still finds it hard that he doesn't realize how critical food allergies can be and how Ian, his younger brother could have died if not for her quick thinking and intervention.

She soon finds an unlikely prospect on her horizon when it seems like the only thing her and Griffin will ever become is acquaintances, if not enemies. Griffin has his own set of worries with not only dealing with the fact he has been appointed guardian of his younger brother Ian after their parents died in a plane crash, he is also facing his own crisis. He's been grounded as an Air Force pilot fighting bouts of vertigo, until he is well enough to fly again. However it doesn't seem likely that that will ever happen and now matter where he goes in the small town of Colorado, he seems to always wind up face to face with Dr. Kendall Haynes.

I received Catch A Falling Star by author Beth K. Vogt compliments of Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster Publishers for my honest review and received no monetary compensation for a favorable review. This is my second book of Beth's and I love the interactions she creates with her characters. They don't fall in love at first sight and in this case, it will take more than a chance encounter to get these two strong willed characters to see what God has placed right in front of them. This is a great story about what goes on in some adoption cases where things don't always go smoothly for the adoptive parents. I think the story is genuine and realistic and gives the reader a different mindset into the lives of adoptive parents than they may have had before reading this one. I know it did for me. I personally rate this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars and can't wait for many more novels from Beth K. Vogt in the future.

For more information about Catch A Falling Star, Beth K. Vogt or where to pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Catch A Falling Star by Beth K. Vogt

You can find Beth K. Vogt on Facebook to stay up to date with all her last novels.

You can also visit her website by clicking here for even more exciting news from Beth K. Vogt. 

When Truth Whispers

Teal Benning just wants to find one honest man in the world. One who can truly love her for who she is, not who they want her to be. After a series of rough starts in dealing with the dishonesty in men, starting with her father, and then subsequently her ex-financè Ian Hartsuk, she's ready to give up. If just one more man in her life fails to hide things from her or keep secrets, she may never find true love or even marriage. Thankfully however, she's arrived back home where a sense of familiarity can be found. That's the one thing she can always come home to, her roots and her best friend, Hunter Miciver.

Now that she can find time to rest and find her inner peace once more away from the lights and cameras of being in magazines and newspapers, she hopes to attempt to finish her book with a deadline of 3 months away. She hopes that spending time at Promise Lake will give her a better perspective on her love life and hopefully find her creative juices to finish her book. Hunter has always been there for her since her childhood. Her one true friend, a life long ally. Hunter couldn't lie if his life depended on it, and that's one of the things she like best about him and his hugs.

But after being away all these years, will she finally look at Hunter, like he has been hoping for? Will she finally see that the love she's been searching for has been right in front of her the whole time? But will the deep, dark secret that Hunter's been hiding for the past 9 years shattered the image that Teal has had about him, or will she be able to see that he's merely been looking out of her like he always has been for all these years?

In the latest novella by Dora Hiers, When Truth Whispers, takes the reader into what often times seems to be the easiest approach in dealing with relationships. Being open and honest. However with Hunter he finds that the one thing he wants to be honest with Teal about, may in fact ruin any chances of a meaningful relationship with her because he's kept it from her all these years. No matter how it tries to justify his reasons, to Teal she will wonder if anyone can really be honest with her including her own mother, who is hiding secrets of her own. Will he be able to give it all up for the love of his best friend? You'll have to pick this one to find out.

I received When Truth Whispers by Dora Hiers compliments of the author for my honest review of her ebook and in no way was I compensated to give a favorable review. I honestly liked this one. It has the makings of something great and would have liked to have seen a longer version of this story with more development on the characters of Teal and Hunter. Overall it was a quick read with a happy ending and one that will leave you wanting more. I look forward to seeing more books from Dora Hiers in the near future and rate this one a 4 out of 5 stars. It's great if you want a short romance with a twist! This is available as a eBook only at this time.

For more information about When Truth Whispers, Dora Hiers, or where to pick up a copy of this ebook today, please click on the links below:

When Truth Whispers by Dora Hiers

You can also find Dora Hiers on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest books. 

You can order a copy of this eBook as of March 15, 2013 by clicking here. 

Lola's Secret

There is an old saying that misery loves company and that is no more true for the residents of The Valley View Motel run by the Quinlan family under the wise old adage of 84-year-old Lola. Her goal is to help find a way to help restore hurting souls during the Christmas season. While strife remains between her own family members, Lola also opens up the hotel to strangers during Christmas and with that comes a host of other issues. I always say that sometimes it's easier to deal with other people's issues rather than your own because you are too close to see a clear solution and that seems to be the wisdom that Lola applies to those staying at the hotel. Each one has their own issues that they are struggling to overcome whether it's addictions, or simple relationship issues, Lola is hoping that simply being together can help them get past their problems and into solutions.

In the novel, Lola's Secret by Monica McInerney, it seems as though Lola's straight shooting and forward advice is often times what is needed instead of merely candy-coating a sympathy with her guest or family members. I love how well written and diverse the different characters are and how each of them thinks each situation that they are in, are generally worse than what anyone else is experiencing. Sometimes it takes working together to get to the heart of the problem and I think that through this fictional account of the Quinlan family, Lola is able to help each person in sometimes very unexpected ways.

I am always looking for a great Christmas book to read and while I have read similar books with storylines much like this one where a group of people are gathered together during unfortunate circumstances in the end, it all works out, this one has a bit more going for it. I love Lola's gumption and sometimes find that the older we get the wiser we become. It's often hard however to get younger people to follow such sage wisdom until they have exhausted all other attempts.

I received Lola's Secret by Monica McInerney compliments of TLC Book Tours and Ballantine Books for my honest review and think everyone will find something that they can relate to in this beautiful written novel. My only regret was that I wish the book was longer because you truly come to care about each and every single one of her characters she introduces in this novel. In my opinion, this one justly deserves a 5 out of 5 stars and I'll be looking for more from Monica McInerney in the future.

For more information about Lola's Secret, Monica McInerney, or where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Lola's Secret by Monica McInerney

For more review from the TLC Book Tour for Lola's Secret please click here. 

You can also find Monica McInerney on Facebook by clicking here. 

A Simple Thing

I am so excited when I find books that really speak to the heart of things I had to endure in my personal life before I found God and this is the perfect example, A Simple Thing by Kathleen McCleary. The subject matter is true to life in this imperfect world but yet the story speaks volumes to those of us hurting in so many different ways, that it doesn't have to stay that way. There is hope and there are ways to deal with those extremely painful times and move forward.

Sounder Island is that place for two remarkable women who come to this isolated island for a much more simple life, a place for solitude and a place to deal with things in their own way. Susannah Delaney is having issues in three very different but understandable ways. Her daughter, Katie at 14 is pulling away from her overly controlling mom by sneaking out late at night, attending parties her mother knows nothing about and drinking while seeing a older boy that both parents know is influencing her in negative ways to rebel. When her drinking gets out of hand, almost killing her, Susannah feels that a change in environment is the cure. Her youngest son, Quinn is the subject of being bullied and when he comes home from school, badly beaten up, she feels her decision to move the family to Sounder Island is the right one.

However for two very active kids, they aren't looking forward to complete isolation on the island at a cottage with no electricity, indoor plumbing and living off the land. Yet is Susannah doesn't take action, she believes she will lose one, if not both of her children to a lifestyle she can't control. However, her husband Matt, doesn't believe that running away with the kids is the answer, but Susannah is firmly convinced that the next 9 months will be life-saving to her kids. If Matt won't support her, she'll go anyway. So she pulls the kids out of school and makes plans to rent a cottage and live there until the end of the school year.

Betty Pavalak has moved to the island as well to avoid a very painful past. When her husband Bill wanted a change of pace from his day to day, nine to five, life style, he attempted to convince Betty to move to Alaska so he could pursue a life of a fisherman and provide a more stable financial life for them, but Betty didn't want to give up her family, friends or her job, for the excitement Bill wanted in Alaska. But when she miscarries three of her children, she wonders if a change of pace might just be the thing to restore the distance between her and Bill. However when she compromises and settles for a life in Sounder Island instead, Bill is content, but his commitment to his marriage wavers and Betty soon learns that Bill is having an affair. She doesn't know what to do anymore and feels that she can't live with Bill any longer but doesn't want to divorce him either, now that she learns she is pregnant again. Will she be able to find the peace and love she so desperately needs?

I received A Simple Things by Kathleen McCleary compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review and I have to say, this book captivated me in a different way than I thought possible. It takes a hard look at the unfortunate set of circumstances each of these women have been dealt in life, and shows you how each of them weathered through them to get to the other side. While faith is rarely mentioned, it does portray each set of problems in very real ways in my opinion. While the choices are not easy made, they do move forward at their own pace, dealing with a wide range of emotions that really tugs on your heart strings. I could relate to so many of their issues, even though teenage drinking wasn't an issue for me. This is a very real and believable book that I think women can honestly relate to. For that reason, I give this a 5 out of 5 stars. While I don't condone the decisions some of these women made, its the believability and vulnerability of the characters, Kathleen McCleary creates that I enjoyed the most and I loved how the story is told from both Betty and Susannah's perspectives in alternating chapters.

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

A Simple Thing by Kathleen McCleary

ISBN: 9780062106230; ISBN10: 0062106236; Imprint: William Morrow Paperbacks ; On Sale: 7/24/2012; Format: Trade PB; Trimsize: 5 5/16 x 8; Pages: 304; $14.99; Ages: 18 and Up; BISAC1:FIC044000

You can also click here to read an excerpt from Kathleen's Facebook page or you can visit her website by clicking here.

Once Upon A List

Clara Black felt like her life had come to the end of the road. I guess for most of us, we would look at Clara, her situation and give her some time to grieve but then expect her to move forward. And she tried, really she did. She sought out professional ways to help her find her way out of the blackest, deepest pit of despair and depression but nothing seemed to work. Nothing would ever be the same again and just managing to take a breath alone was more work than it should be.

Just eight days before her life would change in ways she had dreamed of since she was a little girl, that dream turned into a nightmare. It began with a simple phone call telling her that her soon-to-be husband, Sebastian was dead, an accident had claimed his life and he wouldn't be coming home to her again, EVER!

She put up the walls and kept people at a distance, even so much that her boss told her to take some time off. He didn't want her jeopardizing any more clients with his firm as an Account Executive and to come back when she felt ready. Would she ever be ready for life again?

Answering a phone call from her brother Leo, he managed to persuade her to return home with him to their mom's home for Thanksgiving. Libby would be able to find a way to get her daughter out of her depression. She had written a jingle for almost every other product in the world and was hoping that between the two of them, they might find a way to reach Clara. However, Clara's help arrived in a surprising cardboard box awaiting her return home. In it would hold the answers that she would need to begin the rebuilding process. A project a 5th grade, Clara worked on and was being returned to her. A time capsule, that 2o years later, would be the turning point in her life. It contained a simple list of the things she had hoped to accomplish before she turned 35, and now just a few months remained before this list of unfulfilled wants and desires would be considered null and void.

That's when Clara decided to take a leap of faith and put her brother's challenge to the test and see just how many of these items she could complete before her 35th birthday. Will she be able to do it, or will her grief beat her to the finish line? To find out, you'll have to pick up Robin Gold's latest novel, Once Upon A List.

I received this delightful novel compliments of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review and completely fell in love with Clara's character. I couldn't imagine the amount of grief she felt and could see myself responding in similar ways when people came around to help. Unless you've experienced it first hand, it's hard to know what to do or say to help. Robin Gold did an amazing job of putting you write in the heart of things and feeling all the emotions she had to endure during this book of putting her life back in order. I think it's genuine because it was no short order process and there were so many times that Clara fell back into her old ways and grew frustrated. She didn't want to be that way, but there were those old habits and feelings. I admire her courage to keep getting back up and trying again and think this list worked out perfectly for her along with her brother Leo to encourage her along the way.

This makes for the perfect summer read to experience life through Clara's eyes. It truly does put life back into perspective and shows us all how quickly it can change and there is nothing we can do to prevent that from happening. I rate this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars. It does contain some profanity and adult situations but given the subject matter of the book, I think Robin did an exceptional job at keeping this one real. For more information on Once Upon A List, Robin Gold or where to pick up this one today, please click on the link below:

Once Upon A List by Robin Gold

ISBN: 9780062193711; ISBN10: 0062193716; Imprint: Avon Impulse ; On Sale: 5/8/2012; Format: eBook; Trimsize: ; Pages: 324; $3.99/$6.99; Ages: 18 and Up; BISAC1:FIC027020; BISAC2:FIC044000

How To Eat A Cupcake

Annie Quintana and Julia St. Clair as a different as night is to day. Separated by ten years, the two find themselves brought together once again. Julia St. Clair is ambitious, sophisticated and is very wealthy. The only daughter of the St. Clair family, she is in the planning process of her wedding to Wesley, a Southern businessman but is hiding a secret she must tell him before she marries. Julia finds herself with time on her hands now that she has quit her job to move back home to San Francisco to begin planning her wedding with her mother, Lolly.

Annie Quintana has been used to taking the back seat in life, especially when it comes to Julia or the St. Clair family. Annie's mother Lucia was the housekeeper for the St. Clair's and also became a close personal friend to Lolly during the time she worked there. Annie grew up with Julia since they lived in a small apartment on the St. Clair estate and was provided for by the St. Clair family. Attending the same schools as Julia since they were both only children. It made sense for them to be friends. Lucia died in the kitchen after having a brain aneurism and after attending the funeral and dealing with issues in high school, the girls grew apart.

Now that Annie has been asked by Lolly St. Clair to cater her party by bringing her delicious cupcakes, Annie and Julia are reunited. By this reunion isn't a warm one. The reader gets a sense that something more has happened between the two girls and as they begin to make plans to go into the cupcake business together, the reader is taken on a journey between alternate points of view between Julia and Annie.

As they come to terms with how they can work together in running this business, the reader gets a sense that all is not what it seems to be. Annie is warm and hard working, trying to find a way to make her cupcake business a success while still working through some unresolved issues with Julia that happened in high school. Julia on the other hand remains distant from wedding plans, avoids confrontation with Annie over what issues she has with her, and seeks solace in sharing drinks with her ex boyfriend Jake Logan.

I received How To Eat A Cupcake by Meg Donahue compliments of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review. The beginning of the book starts off pretty slow for me trying to figure out where these two fit into each other's lives but about 1/3 of the way through the story picks up. I related to Annie the most, having been raised in Julia's shadow most of her life, she seeks resolution with Julia before she can move forward but Julia is constantly changing the subject or passes it off without realizing the impact it had on Annie's childhood. Julia is a bit self absorbed and likes to be the center of attention, seeking to remain at the top of whatever event is going on at the time. I really liked this book because it portrays a unique connection between the two women who come from different walks of life but are drawn together in a compelling way. I rate this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars and highly recommend this one for a great summer read. The only thing missing were some recipes for these delicious cupcakes that are invented along the way!

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

How To Eat A Cupcake by Meg Donahue

Forged In Fire

What would you do if you woke up one morning after a the most real dream you ever had? What if one by one the events in your dream began to come true? First a fire at an abandoned warehouse, then your friend calls to talk to you about a divorce and finally you watch as the entire coach section of an airplane are shot to death one by one, the first class passengers held for ransom and then hi-jacked to a foreign country you've never heard of before? What would you do?

Well if you're like Beth Brown, an employee of PacAtlantic airlines, you will do everything in your power to ensure that no one is killed aboard one of the planes you work for, especially if really is going to happen.

When Beth shows up at the airport flying stand-by on Flight 2077, bound from Seattle to Honolulu, she waits to see if any of the people in the waiting area are the ones she remembers from her dream the night before. Slowly one by one, each person she looks at, she remembers in detail how they will die in a matter of hours if they board that flight. Even the three men talking among themselves against the wall are familiar but she feels compelled to tell someone what is going to happen but how.

When Lieutenant Commander Zane Winters and his friends Simcosky and Rawlings prepare to board a plane bound for a wedding, he gains a premonition that he is about to witness their deaths. Zane has a unique prophetic ability to detect danger to his team moments before it will actually happen, but he only gains a 2-3 second vision warning him of impending doom. As he tells his friends what is about to happen, all he knows is if they all get on that plane, they will die. Using his Navy Seal training, he begins to search the waiting area for details on who might be planning the attack.

When he comes across Beth Brown, their abilities connect in a way beyond what either of them would imagine. The men in Zane's family have been able to tell upon first glance who their soul mate and wife will be, and when he looks at Beth, he knows he's found the girl he's been searching for the last 10 years. Will they be able to set aside their personal feelings for one another to save the fated flight or will the terrorist plot to take over the plane present them with a new set of challenges to overcome?

I received Forged In Fire by Trish McCallan compliments of Trish and Pump Up Your Book Tours for my honest review. I LOVED the storyline and characters and was immediately hooked. This is a fast paced, heart-stopping thrill ride that lasts until the final page. I think Trish did an outstanding job at conveying the believability of the connection between Zane and Trish especially in light of 9/11 events. I think I would have done exactly what Trish does and without realizing how much danger she puts herself in. Yet when you have a Navy Seal Lt. Commander falling in love with you, you know he will let nothing come between protecting your life at all costs.

As a warning some of my readers might be offended by the use of profanity and the strong sexual content found within this book and wanted to offer this disclaimer. For this reason I rate the book a 4 out of 5 stars, because the story is a completely amazing sizzling romantic suspense thriller. For those of you used to reading the old style Harlequin romances, this one is right on queue with those!

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

Forged In Fire by Trish McCallan

Far From Here

Danica Greene always hated flying, so it was almost laughable that the boy of her dreams was a pilot. She married him anyway, and together, she and Etsell settled into a life where love really did seem to conquer all.

When opportunity to spend three weeks in Alaska helping a pilot friend presents itself, Etsell accepts and their idyllic world is turned upside down. It's hit dream, he reveals, and Danica knows that she can't stand in the way. Etsell is on his last flight before heading home when his plane vanishes shortly after takeoff, leaving Danice in a free fall. He's gone, but what exactly does gone mean? Is she a widow? An abandoned wife? Or will Estell find his way home to her?

Forced to search for the truth in her marriage, Danica grapples with the impossible questions about her husband's mysterious disappearance. And when she learns that Ell wasn't flying alone, the bits and pieces of the careful life that she constructed for them take to the wind...

I received Far From Here by Nicole Baart compliments of Howard Books, a division of Simon and Schuster for my honest review and found this story hard to comprehend. I don't know what I would do if my husband went missing, with no sign of a crash and no remains of a plane, just a big opened ended question much like what Danica is faced with in the book. Not quite knowing what to do or where to begin, she struggles with taking advice from her dysfunctional family who means well and from her surrogate mother-in-law who offers to help her get her life back on track by any means possible. There's even a kind pastor/neighbor who offers to get her mind off things by helping her maintain her lawn without bringing up her missing husband.

This really hits home in so many ways because the struggle by Danica to figure out what to do is very real. She deals with how long does she wait before she must realize he isn't coming back, how does she cope with being alone, and how does she deal with the truth that her marriage wasn't all she thought it was. A very compelling read and one I could not put down until the final page was turned. A believable and well-written story about a tragic loss and how one woman will weather the storm. For that I rate this story a 5 out of 5 stars.

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

Far From Here by Nicole Baart

The Language of Flowers

Have you ever received some flowers and really responded to the message of receiving them? Not just who they were from or what color roses were sent on a particular holiday but as if someone was trying to send you a message just based on the type of flower they sent?

Victoria Jones has that uncanny ability to do just that. After spending years within the foster care system and in and out of more homes than most, she spent her time understanding and learning about the different types of plants, flowers and trees around her. Not only the scientific names as well as their common ones, but what is the meaning behind every single one. Now that she's 18 and technically homeless, she spends her first few weeks living in the park planting and overseeing the flowers she finds there.

Often times she wanders the streets while looking for job or something to eat and will come across a flower that she finds would be perfect to plant in the park. When fate plays a role in her life one day after helping Renata, the owner of Bloom, a local flower shop, she finds a perfect job suited just for her.

At first it's only helping to create flower arrangements for weddings on the weekend, but when Renata leaves her in charge of the shop for a few hours, her ability to understand what customers wants when ordering flowers, makes her a sought after employee, especially when the recipient responds based on what she creates for them.

In addition to making her way in this world, Victoria finds a chance encounter with a local flower vendor leads to more than she ever expected. Even though they don't exchange any words, they are able to communicate through the simple exchanges of different flowers and plants each time they meet.

I received the novel, The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, compliments of Pump Up Your Book Tours and Random House Publishing House for my honest review and LOVED this concept. Even though the background story on Victoria's upbringing within the foster care system is hard, it helps you to understand how she uses her gift to speak to peoples hearts through the messages of flowers. It made me realize how often we don't think about what we are saying through the meanings of flowers we give, for example, lavender means mistrust, so what are we trying to say to the person we are sending it to. Makes you really consider that next flower arrangement you are going to send in the future. It makes for a great idea to surround the story around with Victoria's difficult upbringing but it all works so well in helping her work towards restoration in her life. I arrange for this book to receive a 5 out 5 stars!

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

The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

Vanessa's even working on an organization called the Camelia Network designed to help the youth making the transition from foster care. You can find out more information by clicking here.

She Makes It Look Easy

Two very different lives and both wishing to have some aspect of another's. Yet how very true is the saying, "The grass isn't always greener on the other side."

Take Ariel Baxter, busy mother of three boys and a wandering labrador named Lucky. Her schedule involves so much that Ariel can barely stay on top of things, like getting organized, remembering to not only have dinner on the table by the time her husband David gets home, but to make sure she has gone shopping so she has the ingredients. Now that she has moved into her "dream neighborhood" she vows that she will change and become a better wife and mom.

It will be easy for Ariel now thanks to her new neighbor, Justine Miller, the mom and wife who has it all together. From making bread from scratch, to the perfectly cleaned and organized home at all times, to the husband that takes about their first date with love in his eyes. Can she be too perfect? She provides classes at church to help other women organize and manage their lives more efficiently and Ariel wishes she could be half the woman, Justine is.

However, neither woman really sees the true picture, just the facade each of them has on the outside, what everyone else sees. Yet what lies underneath all the chaos and perfection will teach them something about themselves that they didn't see coming.

In the second novel by MaryBeth Whalen, She Makes It Look Easy, we get a chance to see things from two entirely different lives of married moms/wives. For me I could relate to Ariel because I am always trying to achieve that perfection I believe I need in order to be happy, thus making my family and home a happy place to be. What I am missing out on is life that is happening all around me, that moments of time are slipping away while I try to find a place for them. I can also see parts of myself in Justine, in being able to see that a perfect home is not what makes you happy inside.

I received this book compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and think this one rates a 5 out of 5 stars. I think all of us try in many ways to be someone we are not, this book shows you what happens when we stretch those boundaries a little to far before we realize just how far we have come. A must read with a very clear message and a fantastic summer read for super, busy moms!

Here's even more great information on this book, the author and where to get a sneak peek at the first chapter.

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing She Makes It Look Easy David C. Cook (June 1, 2011) by Marybeth Whalen



ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Marybeth Whalen is the wife of Curt and mom of six children. The family lives outside Charlotte, NC. Marybeth is a member of the Proverbs 31 Ministries writing team and a regular contributor to their daily devotions. Her first novel,The Mailbox was released in June 2010. Her next novel, She Makes It Look Easy, will be released in June 2011. Additionally, she serves as director of She Reads, Proverbs 31 Ministries' fiction division.





ABOUT THE BOOK

Ariel Baxter has just moved into the neighborhood of her dreams. The chaos of domestic life and the loneliness of motherhood, however, moved with her. Then she meets her neighbor, Justine Miller. Justine ushers Ariel into a world of clutter-free houses, fresh-baked bread, homemade crafts, neighborhood play dates, and organization techniques designed to make marriage better and parenting manageable.



Soon Ariel realizes there is hope for peace, friendship, and clean kitchen counters. But when rumors start to circulate about Justine’s real home life, Ariel must choose whether to believe the best about the friend she admires or consider the possibility that “perfection” isn’t always what it seems to be.



If you would like to read an excerpt of She Makes It Look Easy, go HERE.

Walking With Elephants

Suze Hall is finding out that she is at a crossroads in her life. This is not your average mid-life crisis either. Suze is married to Bob, who announces to her one day that he is taking a 6 month sabbatical from his job to head to Australia and conduct a research project.

Suze is confused until Bob tells her that he plans on going alone, and it's only 6 months. Her oldest son, Skip announces on the eve of Bob's departure that he plans on moving out to a dorm closer to his college class. Even though it's still local, another one is planning on leaving the nest.

Not to mention that just when she thinks nothing else can happen to rock her world, she finds out the publishing company where she works is being bought out, her boss forced into an early retirement and now her worst nemesis at work, Wanda, is being promoted to her new boss. When she doesn't think it can get much worse, she is assigned to promote art books in which she knows nothing about.

Fearing her latest boss is out to finally get her fired from the company for lack of competence in her job, Suze only confidants in the world are her crazy college friend Marcia who remains single and whose lifestyle Suze lives vicariously through on occasions and Elliot, her gay co-worker who lives for art and promises to help her keep her job and learn more about it.

The artist Elliots wants to introduce her to is the up and coming hottest artist on the scene David Braemer, her old college ex who is doing more than rekindling old college memories.

I received the novel Walking With Elephants by Karen S. Bell compliments of TLC Book Tours for my honest review and could easily relate to a lot of the circumstances that are brought up in the book by the character of Suze in the way she feels she looks now in her mid forties waking up first thing and looking in the mirror, to comments made about her weight by her husband and kids in an off handed manor, to wondering if this six months without her husband will be a good thing for her after all. Without giving it away this book offers you a virtual vacation in the way Suze decides to handle this crossroads, physic connection to the cosmos or not.

This book is available in paperback format. I highly recommend this book at a 4.5 star rating out of 5. This is definitely something most women in their forties can relate to with a smile and much laughter.

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

Walking With Elephants by Karen S Bell

Women On The Verge of A Nervous Breakthrough - Giveaway and Review

Imagine due to the recession in order to make ends meet, you, your mom and your daughter all live together under one roof. You all have your own ways of doing things from preparing dinner, to how you live your life, to dating and relationships.

Now you have the ingredients to the perfect blend of a new novel Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakthrough by Ruth Pennebaker.


We are introduced to Joanie, the middle-aged mom who suddenly finds herself living with her daughter Caroline when her husband up and leaves her for something quite a bit younger than her. In the process of coping with her divorce, she learns to lean on her daughter in many ways. However, Caroline isn't ready to deal with taking care of her mother. She hasn't had time to process the reasons why her father just left their family. Now with her mother falling apart, she has to put her feelings on the back burner to help her mom.

Now without a place to stay, Joanie and Caroline decide to move in with Ivy, Joanie's aging mother, who is very set in her ways and beliefs in how everyone should be while living under her roof. She is outspoken and doesn't hold back in expressing her thoughts to Joanie or Caroline.

What transpires in the context of this novel, is just how they all come to understand one another and work towards uniting under the same roof and come to love the uniqueness that makes each of them special.

I received this book compliments of TLC Book Tours for my honest review and can honestly say, I loved it. It's down to earth and relevant for this time in most of our lives where so many of us are forced to "life boat" together under the same roof just to survive. The outcome is amazing when you can see it from the other side of the situation in watching it all unfold. I would rate this book 5 out of 5 stars. The only word of caution I would have for the reader is there is some profanity but I think it makes the reader understand the stress each of these women must deal with, and therefore does not take away from the storyline.

Thanks to the wonderful folks at TLC Book Tours, they are offering a giveaway copy to one lucky reader of this blog. Here are your guidelines:

1. You must be a follower of this blog, Reviews From The Heart.

2. You must be a resident of the US.

3. I must have a way to contact you so please make sure to include an email address with your comment. You can use the words (at) or (dot) instead of the symbols.

4. Leave me a comment and let me know why you'd love to win a copy. The giveaway will end on February 2nd and I will email the winner then.

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

Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakthrough

The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship

Kate, Jo, and Sarah, would have never believed their friendship would face the ultimate in tests. They also have one thing in common...Rachel.

Rachel was their fourth member of their quartet friendship, whose life, although well lived, was too short. When she dies, she sends each of them a letter asking them to face their greatest fears. Only Rachel and the letter's recipients know the reason for choosing each unusual task that each of them has to endure through the novel, The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship by Lisa Verge Higgins.

No friendship ever has to face the many challenges that Kate, Jo, and Sarah must endure, but in doing so, Rachel teaches them that the very things they fear, once conquered, will change them forever. For one, she has lost the spark in her marriage as her role of a mom consumes the person she once was; for another, she questions whether or not, she could ever be a mom after her difficult childhood, when she is asked to be the mom of Rachel's only surviving daughter; and for the last one, sometimes the love that we let go, will leave us struggling with doubts of a past we could have, and keep us from any happiness that comes our way.

I love the intimacy of the words that Lisa Higgins uses to tell the struggles each of these women face. I feel like she is talking to us through their lives as a best friend would. I was captivated by the feelings and emotions she pulls from the reader and in witnessing their challenges, it changes us as well.

I received the book compliments of Hachette Book Group for my honest review and for this being the first review of the New Year, I needed this one. It begins with a thrill ride from page one when Kate, your average, over booked, soccer mom to three boys and husband finds herself questioning her sanity as she is about to jump out of a plane. I loved it and couldn't put it down until I finished. This one is a stellar read for any women who lives with her own fears that prevent her from moving forward, and rates a 5 out of 5 stars.

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

The Proper Care and Maintenance of Friendship