The Menu - Book Review

If you had a chance at doing your life over again, just one part you wanted to go back and change, would you?

What if you simply wanted to find that soul mate? True Love? Deeper Faith? Wisdom to make different choices? Most of us, don't understand those questions, because in our minds, we still have time left to make those choices. It's not til we get to our death bed, that those questions would be answered with deep conviction and certainty. Yet what would you give up to have those do overs?

In his latest book, The Menu, author Steven Manchester invokes a sense of searching our hearts and questions how we have lived our lives to this point. Through the character Phinn Reed, who sits in heaven with the possibility of choosing from a list of life desires, to get a second chance at something he never had. A menu of possibilities but also the cost you will need to endure to gain that life. Once a choice is made, all memories of heaven and your past is completely erased.

"This is your life. Order whatever you wish, but keep in mind - whatever you choose to taste, you have to finish," He told Phinn before sending him into the world. God reminds Phinn that he will encounter others that have also chosen changes, and he is likely to encounter them during his time on earth. God also reminds Phinn that with each choice, a price must be paid to obtain it. If you choose compassion, you can have it but not before experiencing pain and suffering. You can have commitment and wisdom, but not before conquering trials and tribulations. Courage after overcoming fear, honor after facing shame, success after much failure."

I absolutely LOVED this direction that this author took with a concept of second chances, because its not a simple Happily Ever After novel. There is a payment to acquire that which we all seek and while most of us just want the menu item, we don't want the price necessary to achieve that even in our lives today. We all want the results, but not what it took to get there. This makes us re-evaluate our lives a bit and take into account what we not only achieved but what we had to pay to get it.

I would highly recommend The Menu by Steven Manchester, and I received a complimentary copy from the author for my honest review of this novel. I have to say this is a really great read and I think there is some wisdom to be gleaned through this fictional novel. As a believer, you can appreciate the ideas behind this fictional book, with understanding it is fiction novel with a point. I would easily give this a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

If you would like to get a copy of this book, please click on the link to Amazon. 

To find more novels from Steven Manchester, please visit his website.

Thunder and Rain

If you have ever wanted to pick up and book and have it completely capture your attention until you find yourself turning pages faster and faster because the story is that intense you want to know how it will end, then pick up Charles Martin's latest novel, Thunder and Rain. This is the perfect summer read for those of you that love a contemporary suspenseful love story of a Texas Ranger and a single mother and her daughter looking to find a way to start a new life. The only problem is the ex-boyfriend/SWAT officer that will stop at nothing to find them.

The conflict in this story is two-fold, with the first dealing with the pending divorce of Texas Ranger, Tyler Steele and his estranged wife Andie. Caught in the middle is Brodie, their only son, who only wishes for his family to work things out and be happy again. Yet Tyler hasn't been completely honest with the reasons why he can no longer be married to Andie and subsequently looks for a way to tell him that he is divorcing his mother. While trying to find answers of his own, he manages a cattle ranch with Brodie and an ex-con who goes by the name of Dumps. He takes care of Brodie and the ranch when Tyler is called out of town to work on a case.

Tyler is now facing the same challenge his father before him had, which is finally realizing that his job has become the most important thing in his life while his family is slowly eroding away. When he attempts to find retirement as the answer, he runs literally into a single mother, Sam and her ten-year-old daughter Hope in the fog on a highway one night. Seeing her in dire straights with a run-down car that is on it's last leg, Tyler tries to help them get to safety at the local truck stop for gas and some food.

Once they arrive, he finds out more than he ever wanted to know when Sam's abusive ex-boyfriend locates them and attempts to abduct them in his van. But Tyler being a Ranger knows that he can't turn his back when he knows he can help and that is protecting the innocent. Now he attempts to help them as much as he can and put a stop to why this man insists on hunting down Sam and Hope, but now, Tyler is his next intended target. Will Tyler's future end up just like his father's or will he be able to let go of his job and focus on what's really important, raising his son Brodie?

I received Thunder and Rain compliments of Center Street, a division of Hachette Book Groups for my honest review and LOVED it. I was immediately drawn into the hero of the story and the details of Tyler's life and his past. The love his shares for his job and the responsibilities creates a likeable characteristic of what makes a true hero, one who will do whatever it takes to defend the innocent, no matter what the cost. There are memorable supporting characters you meet along the way that help balance Tyler's hard exterior and make you want to meet them in real life. For me, this book hooked me from the beginning and kept me up until I finished the final page. For those of you looking for a great crime mystery with a romantic twist, then you'll definitely want to pick this one up. The action is intense but with so much tenderness woven in between! In my opinion, this one is a 5 out of 5 stars and has found a permanent place on my personal library. Now I want to pick up more novels by this amazing author.

For more information about Thunder and Rain, Charles Martin or where to pick up a copy of this amazing book today, please click on the link below:

Thunder and Rain by Charles Martin

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

The Illusion of Certainty

Uncertainty is the only certainty there is - John Allen Paulos

Most of us try to carefully monitor and control the events of our lives. It has never seemed easier. Or so we think. We have so many electronic tools to coordinate our schedules, instantly stay in touch, book restaurant reservations, buy movie tickets, buy books, buy furniture, buy clothes, pay bills, do banking and stay on top of the pieces of our daily existence.

It makes us feel like we are in control. It makes us think we know what our children, co-workers, spouses, and friends are doing. Then something happens that we do not expect.

There is a serious illness or a death. There is the loss of a job or an economic downturn. People and events behave in ways we did not expect. Suddenly we think there is uncertainty introduced into our well-ordered world.

But what we fail to recognize is that the uncertainty has been there all the time. (Prologue).

Two sets of lives will meet at a cross roads that will intersect the participants and adversely affected their lives forever. In the novel, The Illusion of Certainty by Greg Messel, the reader is in for quite a treat. Not since such great classic romance stories like Sleepless in Seattle or You've Got Mail, has there been such a great writer who can create romance and inspiration out of the characters he pulls the reader into the lives of.

The novel opens with Marc Wilson, a resident of Portland, Oregon, a successful businessman, happily married and on the verge of seeing his oldest son off to UCLA and his daughter to follow to the University of Oregon a few years later. However Marc has been noticing some changes in his wife Aimee. Besides working late nights at the hospital, she hasn't been the same all summer. She's distant, distracted, and avoiding Marc for some odd reasons. She chalks off his questions to just being so tired with her job, but Marc feels there is something more.

Seeking the advice of his best friend since college, John Robertson, a successful doctor, married to Tina along with their two daughters, they spend a Sunday afternoon golfing where Marc unloads his concerns to John. He advises that they all take a trip, just the four adults to their beach house in Cannon Beach, without the kids to help Aimee get away from work and get back in touch with Marc.

It all seems like it works after a long weekend, until late one night while picking up his car, he sees Aimee heading into an underground parking garage at a local hotel, while she's supposed to be working late. What he finds there, will change his life and the path it's on forever.

Next we meet, Alexandra Mattson, a successful attorney in Portland who finally meets the man of her dreams, Sean, while saving the life of an neighbor's daughter. Sean is the police officer who responds in more ways than one. After making sure Alex is well enough to return home, he asks her out and finds out that she has saved more than one life that day. She just saved her own as she begins to fall hard for Sean.

I received this book compliments of Pump Up Your Book Tours and Greg Messel for my honest review and once again we have a grand slam, out of the park, home run with this romantic fiction. Set in various locations around Portland, Oregon, Seattle, Washington, London, England, and even Paris, France, the reader will be captivated in a perfect story you will not want to put down until you finish the last word on the page. The only thing wrong with it, is that it's over too soon, but the reader leaves with a sigh and a smile in their hearts. A MUST READ for any fan of romantic stories of love, hope and faith. This one wins a perfect 5 out of 5 stars in my book and thank you Greg for adding another book to a permanent home in my personal library.

For more information on this book, the author and where to purchase a copy of this book, please check out the links below:

The Illusion of Certainty by Greg Messel

You can also find Greg on Facebook by clicking here.

Expiation

ex-pi-a-tion: 1. Definition: [noun] compensation for a wrong; to make amends or reparation for (wrongdoing or guilt); atone for; satisfaction. 2. To pay the penalty of: suffer for; the act of atoning for sin or wrongdoing.

Too many times at the end of our lives we look back and often times wish we could have a second chance, an opportunity to do things different, take the road less traveled. However in hindsight we also see that the good things that come from those choices, would also have to be altered or in some cases wouldn't exist as well.

Dan and Katie were high school sweethearts. He was the all-American boy who played football as the quarterback and baseball, while Katie cheered him in as the popular cheerleader who every boy had a crush one. Everyone assumed that they would marry and live the proverbial, happily ever after, part of their lives with one another but that is not what happened.

Upon graduation and college preparations each had their own desires to make it in the world, of course they always expected that they would marry and be reunited at some point but as often happens, plans change.

Dan's ability in high school to write well has earned him an internship working for the San Francisco Examiner, a very prestigious position while he attends Berkley. His father isn't happy with this decision being a WWII veteran and believes that his sons should do their part in the war efforts. Only Dan can't support the war in Vietnam and believes he can help more by taking this opportunity to San Francisco.

Katie is working towards her dental career while remaining in Seattle with her family attending UDub. If their plans work out, Katie will join Dan in a year in San Francisco and then they will both work hard at making something of their lives. But nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

In the heartwarming story of Expiation by Greg Messel, we get to see what happens to high school sweethearts when life gets in the way and an odd series of events will keep them apart for more than thirty years. Now on the brink of the Y2K scare, they are both going to be handed a unique opportunity for a second chance. Seeing life through their eyes over thirty years is a unique look at how strong love can be. At times you are happy for them and crying right along side them as you see where their lives have paralleled at points even though miles separated them.

I received this book compliments of Pump Up Your Book Tour and Greg Messel for my honest review. I loved how this romance book took a different path than your traditional love stories. Dan and Katie's provides a different twist in what happens to a great romance that isn't meant to die. I LOVED this book and found myself falling in love all over again. This one rates a 5 out of 5 stars for me and provides a look back into the history of events from the 70's to current times.

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

Expiation by Greg Messel

• Paperback: 292 pages
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing (March 8, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1426928556
• ISBN-13: 978-1426928550
• Price: $13.42 paperback/ also available in hardcover and eBook formats