Abiding Mercy

As I sit back and reflect on the novel I just read, it is easy for me to see both sides of the story. In Abiding Mercy by Ruth Reid, the reader is taken into two very different story lines. One Amish and the other English. It is the reason why I had a difficult time placing this novel into either genre and included it in both. The novel centers around two people, Adrianna Colepepper and Faith Pinkham. They are the same person without knowing it.

Fifteen years ago, Adrianna was the subject of every parents worst nightmare. She was kidnapped by her nanny at the time, and left in the care of Amish parents at the age of 2. When the nanny dropped Adrianna off at the Pinkham's, they knew the Amish would take good care of her and wouldn't notify the police about a baby just being dropped off unexpectedly. For Irma Pinkham, she figured the mother was simply a woman who was having a difficult time with raising a baby and would be back once she had time to figure things out. Yet she never did. Irma never dreamed that this child was kidnapped from her English parents and set about raising her Amish all these years.

For Faith Pinkham, she never imagined in her wildest dreams of ever leaving her Amish faith, and even made a decision to never engage in rumspringa, a time of leaving the Amish faith and taking time to explore the English world. She decided early on, she wanted to be baptized without having any second thoughts about her life. She spent her life helping her mother run The Amish Table, a restaurant that served up Amish food in Posen, Michigan. She even began to fall in love with her best friend, Gideon Rohrer, whom at one time was going to marry her sister Olivia. But when Olivia made it apparent she was going to "jump the fence," leave the Amish faith, Gideon knew that they would never marry and instead began day by day falling in love with Faith. Just when it seems like everything is perfect, the police arrive to arrest the Pinkham's and return Adrianna to her English parents, wealthy property owners of Colepepper Hotels. But is going home as easy as anyone thought?

I received Abiding Mercy by Ruth Reid compliments of Thomas Nelson Publishers 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 heart-warming story to see both sides of the situation. For grieving parents who never gave up their search for their daughter only to reunite with her and realize how hard the transition would be. It's not as easy as simply coming home and thinking everything will go back to the way it was. For Faith, her entire life has been about being Amish, from her faith, to her way of living, dressing and even talking. Now all her parents want is to make up for 15 years of lost time, but it won't be as easy as they thought. There are some discussion questions at the end of this novel that would make it an excellent book club selection and for me, this one garners a solid 5 out of 5 stars. I literally inhaled it and couldn't stop until I finished it. This is the first novel in the Amish Mercies series!

For more information about Abiding Mercy, Ruth Reid or where you can pre-order this novel due out in July of 2017, please click on the links below:

Abiding Mercy by Ruth Reid

You can find Ruth Reid on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Abiding Mercy, please visit Thomas Nelson's website. 

Miracle on Snowbird Lake

This is not the book for everyone, especially those that have a hard time reading about child abductions. However in Miracle on Snowbird Lake by Stan Bednarz, the reader gets an inside look at what the family of the victim has to deal with in not knowing if their child is alive or dead, and those intense feelings of revenge that surface whenever a suspect is found.

Reverend Robert Davis is struggling with many different emotions since the disappearance of his eleven-year-old daughter Annie rode off on her bike one summer day and was never heard from again. Despite all the search efforts of the town and local authorities, no trace of Annie other than her abandoned bicycle were ever found. It has made the small town of Dutch Hollow especially diligent of watching over their own children more closely to ensure the same never happens to them.

For Robert and his wife, Mary they do what most surviving families do in cases like these, each chooses to deal with the tragedy in their own way. Mary dissolves into a state of deep depression while she blames Robert for Annie's disappearance. Robert tries to find solace in his job at the church, but even God appears silent on this issue and he contemplates suicide many times but never follows through. When an apparent psychic shows up with information about Annie, Robert isn't sure if this is simply another attempt for dealing with emotions from the past again or finding hope that Annie is still alive. In either case, he has to meet with Donna Brushton to find out if there is any hope at finding Annie alive after all this time.

I received Miracle on Snowbird Lake compliments of Bring It On Communications and Carmichael Publishing for my honest review. Dealing with crimes against innocent children makes any fiction or non fictional book hard to read, but within this one I found hope again. That despite whatever outcome, God can still bring about some good from whatever happens in time. This is the story of such a case. I would rate this one a 4 out of 5 stars and have not received any monetary compensation for a favorable review.

For more information about Miracle on Snowbird Lake, Stan Bednarz or where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Miracle on Snowbird Lake by Stan Bednarz

Unholy Hunger

Be warned, the subject matter of this book is powerful and geared to provoke a strong emotional response!

"Yes, I wanted to die. As long as my daughter's murderer died with me, I was ready to go. I was already three quarters of the way there after the blow he had given to my head.

Everything turned black for a moment as the sudden, slicing pain radiated into numbness. Black then gave way to a white, heavenly blur, and I strained to see past the world closing in on me. I saw a brown shirt, faded jeans, blackened eyes...oh, there he was; there slouched the monster against a kitchen counter. He was clutching one side of his chest, futilely trying to seal the singed bullet hole and cupping his warmed blood before it all bubbled out to the cheap linoleum below.

I fought t see more, to take it all in deeper and beyond the fuzziness of my depleting consciousness, but something oozed over my left eye. More blood. My blood. I blinked, but that made it worse, further welcoming the dark, sticky stuff to seep in from my open wound.

His mouth moved; his lips puckered in and out trying to say something. He looked like a fish plucked from the ocean and left to die on a pier caked with bait and spilled guts. I wondered what he was trying to say, or maybe even ask. Perhaps the question of the day for him would have been a big fat, "Why?"

If he had managed to ask that, I knew how I'd respond: "You want the Why? Join the club, you dying carp."

So opens the Prologue for the novel Unholy Hunger, the first book in the Lure of the Serpent Series by Heather James. It hooks you right from the beginning and never lets go until you turn the final page. It is powerful, and makes you question your own response to what would you do if someone kidnapped your daughter, abused and murdered her. My own response felt much along the lines of just what the author captured in this compelling novel. Along the way, we see things through the eyes of Evelyn Barrett, as she goes from a powerful successful attorney, married to Eddie, a telephone line repair man, and raising their first and only child, Corinne. The emotions she goes through are so real that you often wonder how real this book is. I know that even in my own mind, I was walking through the chapters of her life right along side with her, even though I was watching from a distance. This is every parents nightmare and thus the warning at the beginning of this review.

There are those who wouldn't be able to read this type of book, not for the writing style but simply based on the subject matter. However, Evelyn soon finds herself gifted with a heavenly gift of being able to detect child predators based on their smell. She calls it unholy hunger. They seem to wear their sinful filth like a bad stench and soon finds herself working with the local police to uncover her daughter's murderer based on this gift. The police don't believe she has this ability but soon find her solving more cases than they ever could and bringing the criminals to justice before they have a chance to hurt children like her Corinne.

I received Unholy Hunger by Heather James compliments of Kregel Publications for my honest review and literally could not put this down because I had to see how it turned out. Perhaps it gave me a way to see what the consequences of my actions might be if I too, pursued this type of justice in a safe way. In the end, I think I would have followed things through much the same way as Evelyn even justifying my actions with the fact that nothing remains of you when your child is brutally murdered. I can't wait to see where her next book will be headed, but I know I will be prepared to face the unknown horrors that you often find staring you in the face when the lights go out and the darkness remains. I rate this one a 4 out of 5 stars and loved how it ended.

For more information about Unholy Hunger, Heather James or where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Unholy Hunger by Heather James

You can find Heather James on Facebook to stay up to date on all her latest books.

You can also find Heather on her website by clicking here.

Deliver Me From Evil

Perhaps one of the most powerful books I've read in a long time, exposes the world of child kidnapping and human trafficking. Often times we think this happens in other countries far away from us, but we would be so shocked to learn that it may in fact be happening in our own neighborhoods in this country.

Using a fiction based story, Deliver Me From Evil by Kathi Macias is an eye-opening and tragic story of one girl, Maria whose name is changed to Mara is sold by her family in Mexico to her uncle in hopes of a better life. The better life she had dreamed of turns into a nightmare when she learns she has been sold into a prostitution ring and her uncle is running it. Now year later, Mara has found a way to cope, a way to place herself outside of what is happening to her body in hopes that one day she will die from the hands of one of clients who beats and abuses her. She knows she can never escape and find a life of freedom again.

Jonathan is on the verge of graduating high school and works nights delivering pizza at Slice of Italy. Only tonight's delivery will change his life forever when he encounters a young girl running from a motel room, half naked, begging him for help. An older man appears and takes the young girl back from him, claiming he is her father and she is mentally unstable and hasn't been taking her meds. Just as Jonathan tries to intervene, Mara calls for the young girl and validates the story. Thinking nothing more of it, Jonathan leaves, but can not forget the image or the young girls face pleading for his help.



In the novel, Deliver Me From Evil from Kathi Macias, the first book in the Freedom series, Kathi takes the reader into the world of human trafficking in the prostitution market within San Diego as the setting for this story. Finding it difficult to read as a parent of two girls, this book really hit home for me. Wondering if this isn't really occurring in our own towns and neighborhoods as young girls go missing, claimed by police as merely runaways or the victims of internet dating. How would a parent ever know if their child wasn't a victim of this senseless crime that is happening all over the world, especially when kids are walking home from school or attending late night events or a day at the beach.

This makes the reader more aware that these things are happening and even want to take a proactive approach at seeing this end. Not just criminals placed behind bars but for the need of this type of service to end and the tragic lives that are taken away forever, finding a way to heal the pain inside. I want to thank Kathi for taking a stand and writing a difficult novel with a strong story line like this one, if not to create an awareness in us, but to cause us to help in finding a way to stop this abuse once and for all.

I received this book compliments of Pump Up Your Book Tours and New Hope Publishers for my honest review and highly recommend it. Not a subject for young adults but definitely something that the church ministries should all actively be pursuing in their own communities. The more aware we become, the more we can find a way to end this nightmare for those involved. I rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars.

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

Deliver Me From Evil by Kathi Macias

You can also find Kathi on Facebook by clicking here.