Blue Skies Tommorrow - Giveaway and Review

Poor Ray Novak! He'll never feel like he'll measure up to the men his two brothers, Jack and Walt are, especially when his father and grandfather drops subtle hints, unaware how those are perceived by Ray.

Jack and Walt have been serving in the war effort in England in the U.S. Eighth Air Force, as fighter pilots. Now that Walt was injured his knowledge of planes is serving the Allied forces well as an engineer. Jack remains in charge of the US troops and their deployment missions as pilots in England.

However, Ray is afraid. He isn't prepared to deal with combat missions when he has been spending his time training men as pilots. Now that they want to use the training positions as rewards for pilots returning from combat missions, Ray's been assigned to supplies. Not a very glorified position considering his younger brothers military careers. Even though he feels his calling is to God's pulpit, he can't help fight the feelings battling within.

Helen Carlisle has spent the last year as a grieving widow for her husband who was a casualty of the war in the Pacific. Left with her son, Jay-Jay, Helen is trying to find a way to deal with her inner demons that are keeping her prisoner. Living in a house that she rents from the Carlisle's, she will do whatever she can to prevent the memory of her husband, Jim from being tarnished as a war hero in town.

When Helen has a bike accident while running errands as a Red Cross Volunteer, Ray Novak is there to rescue her as her knight in shining armor. Confused by her feelings she has had for Ray as a child, writing stories about Sir Raymond, rescuing the Princess Helen, she finds a real friendship in him now that they have grown up.

During the time they spend together, they find they care for one another more than just friends would, and despite her strong feelings for Ray, Helen is being asked by the Carlisle's to pursue a relationship with Vic Llewellyn instead. Yet despite her attempts to tell Vic she isn't interested, he maintains a constant vigil in asking Helen for a date. The last thing Helen imagines is marrying Vic Llewellyn. Imagine, Helen Llewellyn???

I received Blue Skies Tomorrow by Susan Sundin, compliments of Litfuse Publicity for my honest review, and being a huge WWII fan, I couldn't wait to see how this one would play out. It will not disappoint. Helen hide a huge secret that if exposed will change how the town will see it's hero changed and she wants to provide her son, Jay-Jay with a great father figure. It's only when this secret rises to involve more than Helen, that it must be brought into the light of God's truth for all to see.

What will the town think of Helen? Will she be able to protect her son, Jay-Jay from the most prominent family in town the Carlisle's? Will she be able to find the love of a man, who can love her despite all the pain she holds inside? Well, you'll just need to pick up the latest in the Wings of Glory series, Blue Skies Tomorrow, which is book three. Hands down, I LOVED every moment of it. Like a full-length movie that is so good your sad when the final credits roll, so you'll be when you turn the final page. Sarah Sundin does a great job engaging the reader from being a pilot of a B-17 bomber in England flying dangerous combat missions, to living at home, fundraising and running blood drives amid the shortages cause by the war efforts and living off ration books. I award this book a full 5 out of 5 stars and can't wait to go back and read the beginning books in this series!!

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

Blue Skies Tomorrow by Sarah Sundin

To celebrate the release of Blue Skies Tomorrow, the final installment of the Wings of Glory series, Sarah is giving one lucky winner A Vintage Kindle Prize Package!

Read what the reviewers are saying here.

One winner will receive:

* Kindle with Wi-Fi

* Handmade vintage apron for you and a friend (see a photo here)

* Blue Skies Tomorrow (for Kindle)

To enter just click one of the icons below. But, hurry, giveaway ends on 9/10. Winner will be announced on 9/12 at Sarah Sundin's blog. Details and official rules can be found when entering the contest.

The Long Goodbye - Giveaway and Review

I'd just lain down in bed when the phone rang. It was my mother.

"Meg?" her voice rose. "You're home? There's something I want to tell you," she said with a deliberateness that alarmed me. "And I wanted you to hear it from me." She hesitated. "I haven't been feeling well and I went to the doctor for some tests, and she found a tumor."

The next week she called as I was walking back from lunch to my office on Fifty-seventh Street. As the afternoon crowd bustled industriously around me, she said bluntly, "The doctor got the results. The tumor is cancerous. I'm going to need to have surgery and then maybe radiation and chemotherapy, and we need to do it soon. But they think they can treat it," she continued.

This is my story of how Meghan O'Rourke dealt with her mother's diagnosis of colon cancer and the grief resulting from her losing her battle to fight it. This is her memoir that deals with how she went through the process of healing and shares those thoughts and memories with us in her book, The Long Goodbye.

So much of dealing with a disease is waiting. Waiting for appointments, for tests, for "procedures." And waiting, more broadly, for it - for the thing itself, for the other shoe to drop. Except in the waiting you keep forgetting that "it" will really happen - it's more like a threat, an anxiety: Will my love love me forever? (pg 63).

It's Meghan's honesty in sharing her most intimate thoughts that makes you feel like we are her closest friend as she pours these out to you in her own words. You feel priviledged, like you have reached a secret place where friends share this secrets and thoughts with one another to keep yourself from going crazy keeping them all bottled up inside. Meghan possesses such courage in sharing how difficult it must be to watch her mother go through this and knowing there is nothing you can do to make it better. This is what makes this book so great for us to read.

For those that have gone through a grieving process in watching cancer take someone you love from you, you can relate to the various emotions that come across the pages in this book and create a kinship that we can all identify with.

I received this book, The Long Goodbye by Meghan O'Rourke, compliments of TLC Book Tours for my honest review and rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars. While the subject matter is difficult, it makes it easy for anyone to understand the grief process and how much it changes us from the inside out. It creates a new sense of normal of us in which there is no going back to be able to change it.

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

The Long Goodbye by Meghan O'Rourke

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

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

2. Please like my Reviews From The Heart Facebook page by clicking here.

3. You must be a resident of the US or have a US shipping address. Please No P.O. Boxes.

4. I must have a way to reach you so be sure to include your email address with your comment below. You can use the words (at) or (dot) instead of the symbols.

5. Please leave a comment and let me know why you'd love to win a copy of The Long Goodbye. The giveaway will end on April 23rd. I will notify the winner via email at that time.

CSN Giveaway

My biggest giveaway ever!!!! Are you ready for this one??

I know many of you have heard of the amazing products that are available through CSN, which is an on-line retailer who has so many great household products available to consumers like you and me. They literally have over 200+ stores available to provide anything you could want.

They offer bakeware, linens, lighting, furniture, cooking appliances, and even luggage sets through their amazing site. The best part is the prices and selections are more than you'd find in your typical retail store. Trust me, you have to check out there stuff. I love all their Christmas dinner ware now available! So hubby if you're reading this, you've got my gift idea!

The most amazing offer is now being extended to you, my valuable followers of this blog! CSN is offering a giveaway of a $55.00 gift certificate to one lucky winner and just in time for the holidays too! This offer does not include shipping so please make sure to calculate that into your order. There are some items that do include FREE shipping so make sure you make your selection carefully!

Here's what you need to do to enter.

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

2. Must be a resident of the US and No P.O. Boxes please.

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

4. Simply visit CSN at the link below and tell me which item you'd love to win.The giveaway will end on 12/16, so don't delay and check it out today! They have quite a few sites available so make sure you check them all out. Can't wait to hear your thoughts!!!

CSN.com