Merry and Bright

Online dating. It seems to be the "in-thing" when it comes to finding love these days. Gone are the trips to the local watering hole after work or searching the personal ads in the paper. For Merry Knight, Christmas was the time of the year she looked forward to. Spending time with family, celebrating the joy of simply being together and participating in all the traditions her family embraced is what kept her focused on the month ahead of her. Working as a temporary data input employee for Matterson Consulting, she knew just how many days she had left to deal with an overbearing boss, Jayson Bright. He was someone who did everything by the book and even had the employee handbook so memorized he could tell Merry exactly where her current violation of company standards of decorating her cubicle or even eating lunch while she worked was frowned upon.Clearly the Christmas season was not allowed within her workplace or even at her cubicle location.

Jayson Bright had a lot to prove to his father who expected him to fail at every turn. Not one for being together as a family, he watched his father move from relationship to relationship without questioning what caused all those failures. It seemed as if the apple didn't fall far from the Bright tree and now Jayson could see that he was slowly becoming his father. He didn't have time for family or even socializing as with this upcoming potential contract proposal for Boeing, he might just prove to his father, he is able to take on the role of leading the company. While he watches his best friend find true love through an internet dating service, Mix and Mingle, one he strongly advises Jayson to try. But all he can see it work and more work, if he ever hopes to find acceptance in his father's eyes.

Since Merry can't find time to socialize, her mother and younger brother take it upon themselves to enroll Merry in an internet dating site, Mix and Mingle and instead of a profile picture of Merry, they add one of their lovable dog. They reason if someone is willing to judge a person based on looks, they might not look far enough into someone to discover who they truly are on the inside. Funny thing is she agrees to see where it might take her, after all, once she finishes her contract at work, she will have plenty of time to see where love might find her. She just doesn't expect to find Mr. Wrong on the other end of the email conversation.

I received Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber compliments of Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley. If you LOVE the movie, "You've Got Mail," then you will love this different spin on the premise of internet dating. It is a wonderful heartwarming story of what really makes us fall in love and how we can keep those embers burning alive after the physical changes in our appearances begin to change and fade. If all we see is the beauty on the outside, we may be missing more than we hoped for by ignoring what's on the inside that truly counts. I easily give this one a 5 out of 5 stars and could easily see this being made into a Hallmark Christmas movie!

For more information about Merry and Bright, Debbie Macomber or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Merry and Bright by Debbie Macomber

You can find Debbie Macomber on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest books.

To read more reviews on Merry and Bright, please visit Random House Publishing Group's website.

Any Dream Will Do

"When we worry, we take reality and move it into the realm of fiction. What is real is transferred into the land of monsters and dragons, which are far bigger and frightening than they really are."

Shay Benson has dreams. Dreams of a future, being married, raising a family and perhaps finding a job in which her love of numbers becomes a reality. In fact getting a job as a bank teller is almost too good to be true. It seems as if her life is looking up now that her ex-boyfriend, Shooter has gone to jail for what could be life so now the choices she makes from now on will be her own. Until her brother Caden shows up on her front door step begging for money. She doesn't have much but she is willing to give him all she has saved. Yet when Caden tells her he needs $5000, it is out of her hands. Her brother tells her that he will be killed if he doesn't find a way to get the money and he can pay it all back by the end of the week. He tells Shay to take it from the bank, since they won't know its missing until he can repay it. Stuck between that proverbial rock and a hard place, Shay knows she shouldn't but she also knows she can't watch the only family she has left face being killed either.

Now three years later, she is finally getting another chance on life after being released from prison. She has no family and of course, once she loaned her brother the money, he took off and she never heard from his again, even knowing it would cost her everything. She has no where to go and her only hope had been from an elderly Christian woman who wrote to her in prison that told her to trust God and He would look out for her. Yeah like that would ever happen for Shay. Look where God has gotten her up to this point. Being dropped off in the middle of the day right in front of church, she at least figured she's go inside and try to think things through.

When Pastor Drew Douglas sees Shay in his church, he is immediately drawn to offer her help. He knows of a place where Shay might be able to get a second chance if she can endure their year long program. If she does, she will walk out of the Hope Center with a job and a place to stay. He just doesn't expect her to provide him the desperate help he needs after losing his wife, 3 years ago to cancer. His church is fall apart and church attendance is down, not to mention, his young children Sarah and Mark, who need a mother's touch and lately all the well-meaning women from the church just haven't measured up. Now with Shay trying to make a fresh start on her life, she needs to stay away from everything in her past if she is to make a new future for herself. She just never expected someone responsible and respectable as Drew would see her for what she is, not what she did in her past.

I received Any Dream Will Do by Debbie Macomber compliments of Ballantine Books, Random House Publishing and Net Galley. In accordance with the new FTC Guidelines for blogging and endorsements, you should assume that every book reviewed here at Reviews From The Heart was provided to the reviewer by the publisher, media group or the author for free and were received, unless specified otherwise. This is such a wonderful novel and would almost line up as a Christian novel except for a random profane word uttered from a church member. The theme is truly about second chances and for not judging people by their appearance, or in this case their past. Too often people hold us accountable based on our pasts and not where we are at today. As Christians it is our duty to show people forgiveness and not condemnation and give everyone a second chance at making better futures for themselves. I absolutely LOVE this novel and can't wait for more from Debbie Macomber in the future. I easily give this one a 5 out of 5 stars in this reader's opinion.

For more information about Any Dream Will Do, Debbie Macomber or where you can preorder a copy of this novel due out in August of 2017, please click on the links below:

Any Dream Will Do by Debbie Macomber

You can find Debbie Macomber on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Any Dream Will Do, please visit Ballantine Book's website.

The Best of Daughters

While waiting on baited breath for Season 4 of Downton Abbey to begin, I was contacted with an opportunity to review a book that is a definite read for fans of the series. Best of Daughters by author Dilly Court takes readers into the look at the Lennox family living in Pimlico, London in 1912 just on the cusp of the future World War 1. As most aristocratic families of that time, the Lennox's hoped for a rich future through the marriage of their daughter Daisy and her childhood best friend Rupert Pendleton. Both families hoped that they would marry as they have been in one another's company for as long as they can remember, but like most women, Daisy had hoped to marry for love. She can't seem to see past Rupert as being anything more than her dearest friend.

However when her father's business partner runs off with money from his company, he is left to declare bankruptcy and relocate the family to their country house leaving London far behind. Unable to find the man, his family is left with nothing more than a roof over their heads and the rich and wealthy lifestyle is now something in the past, one her complaining and bitter mother Gwendolyn can't seem to forget. Her mother believes that with her marriage to Rupert, they will no longer have to struggle with doing their own chores and living below their means like the common villagers do, but Daisy can't bring herself to find the love Rupert so desperately desires from her. Especially when she finds heated passion in the eyes of the mechanic, Barnaby Bowman, who has been hired on to repair the family car.

Bowman is nothing more than a player of female hearts and he has his eyes set not only on conquering Daisy but also the only maid and friend Daisy has, Ruby. If he can't have Daisy, Ruby will be a great substitute, but no matter how much the truth confronts her, Daisy is drawn like a moth to a flame every time her and Bowman encounter one another. Now sitting on the brink of London going to war with Germany, life is about to change for Daisy is many unexpected ways when both Rupert, her brother Teddy and Bowman are all called into battle. Will her love for any of them make a difference or will Daisy wind up as an old maid on the spinster shelf?

I received The Best of Daughters by Dilly Court compliments of TLC Book Tours and Random House Publishing Group for my honest review and received no monetary compensation for a favorable review. I would rate this one a 4.5 out of 5 stars and would have given it a higher rating had the book not contain any profanity, but it does contain some thus the need to rate the novel according to my own review scale. However this is such a great inbetween meal to indulge in while waiting for Downton Abbey to pick back up and along the way gives readers insight not only into the issues dealing with the women's suffrage movement but also their involvement in the FANYs or First Aid Nursing Yeomanry which helped out in the war efforts. I can't wait to read more of Dilly's novels and this one even includes an interview with Dilly Court as well a sneak peek into her next novel The Workhouse Girl.

For more information about The Best of Daughters, Dilly Court or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

The Best of Daughters by Dilly Court

 To see more reviews on The Best of Daughters from the TLC Book Tour, please click here. 

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Arrow (March 18, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0099562588
• ISBN-13: 978-0099562580
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces

A Simple Autumn

The King family has had a rough time trying to raise a family in the Amish community. Their parents were murdered leaving a large family to find ways to work together. At first, like most Amish communities, whenever there is loss, they rally around and help one another, which they did at first. But over time as the oldest children Adam and Mary grew, they realized they could all work together as one to provide for one another. Adam the oldest son is being looked out through the eyes of the community because he has chosen an Englischer for his soon-to-be wife Remy McCallister. However Remy is a bit different because she wants to learn the Amish ways and works hard to become baptized in the church. Yet it doesn't stop people from whispering and judging them against the old Amish ways of the church.

For Annie Stoltzfus it is extremely difficult to come to terms with because her whole life, she dreamed of marrying Adam. Thinking she stood a great chance at becoming his wife, she never dreamed he would find love outside their community of believers and worse yet, bring her home to become part of the church. Annie now 20, wonders if she will ever find love or will she grow to become an old maid, raising the rest of her siblings and watching them leave and start family's of their own.

Jonah King loves Annie more than he ever thought possible only she doesn't seem to know he exists outside of being simply Adam's younger brother. Even though he spends as much time as he can helping her father out on the farm since needing additional help, he had hoped to find a way to let her know just how he felt. But it seems all Annie can notice is that her younger sister Hannah, would make a perfect wife for Jonah and spends all her time trying to play matchmaker. Will she ever learn just how close love is right in front of her?

In the novel, A Simple Autumn by Rosalind Lauer, we are drawn back to Lancaster County as two brothers in the King family try to find love as they battle their own personal feelings with conflicts with the women they love. For the younger brother, Gabe, he is spending his Rumspringa riding motorbikes until he feels called to the church. But when the local school teacher, Emma learns that he is doing things that go against the church, it may cost him the love of his life when Emma decides she isn't going to wait for Gabe to make a choice between her or his love of motorcycling riding? Either way it may just kill him if he isn't careful.

I received A Simple Autumn compliments of Random House Publishing Group and Net Galley for my honest review. Even though this title isn't available until the fall this year, I've been blessed with the opportunity to review it now and I can't wait for you to pick this one up for a great fall read while watching the colored leaves fall from the trees, to sit back on a crisp night and sit next to the fire for some great Christian romance! I rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars and just know if you're a fan of Amish Fiction, you'll definitely want to make a note to pick this one up or pre-order it now. While you're waiting, you can pick up A Simple Winter and A Simple Spring now, and get to know more about the people in Lancaster County.

For more information on A Simple Autumn, Rosalind Lauer, or where to begin her series of books today, please click on the links below:

A Simple Autumn by Rosalind Lauer

You can also stay up on the latest from Rosalind Lauer through Facebook by clicking here.

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.