Four Blood Moons - Giveaway and Review

"There will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars...Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a could with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your hears, because your redemption draws near." ~ Luke 21:25, 27-28

There are many such references found in the scripture about the signs appearing in the sky. This is not to be confused with astrology which is the worship of stars, which is occultic and pagan. People who make choices based on the stars are seeking guidance for their lives from things created rather than from the creator. This is a violation of the law of Almighty God.  But using scripture references may in fact indicate something we might have been missing. Has God used signs in the sun, moon and stars as a gigantic billboard to announce big changes coming for Israel, Jerusalem and even the near future?

Pastor and author John Hagee takes an in depth look into just that simple question "Have you ever considered the sun, moon and stars in the study of prophecy?" In order to search for answers which he shares in the book Four Blood Moons, Pastor Hagee went directly to the Bible first for any possible connection that God used signs in the heavens to communicate plans when it came to the fulfillment of Bible prophecy and what he discovered offers us a chilling look into a big change coming in 2014-2015 that has never been predicted until this research. While the event is unclear the previous signs of the blood moons along with a total solar eclipse highlights significant and life changing events coupled with significant Jewish festivals and celebrations.

Consider this events from the past three Blood Moons in the last century:

Four "blood-red" total lunar eclipses will fall on Passover and Sukkot in 2014 and 2015, the same back-to-back occurrences at the time of 1492, 1949 and 1967. Those three dates were the most important dates in all of Israel's history!

There have been several Tetrads (four consecutive blood moons) since NASA first recorded their occurrences, but Tetrads linked to significant Jewish history have happened only three times in more than five hundred years. Just what is God trying to say to us and even more important are we listening and watching?

I received Four Blood Moons by John Hagee compliments of Worthy Publishing for my honest review and received no monetary compensation for a favorable one. Being a huge student of Bible prophecy, I was immediately drawn to other topics I have heard on the very same subject. The fourth series of Four Blood Moons is coming! They are extremely rare even by scientific standards. God is shouting to us, "Something big is about to happen!" What they are telling us is that God is getting ready to change the course of human history once again. He is preparing to display the next series of signs in the heavens. Are you ready? Are the members of your family ready? It's the greatest questions you will ever answer in this life! I highly recommend this book to any one who studies Bible Prophecy and rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars in my opinion.

For more information about Four Blood Moons, John Hagee or where to pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Four Blood Moons by John Hagee

You can find Pastor John Hagee on Facebook to stay up to date on all his latest books and Bible Prophecy events.

Now the best part...

Thanks to Worthy Publishers, they are providing me with 3 giveaway copies of this book to followers of my blog, Reviews From The Heart. Here are your guidelines to enter:

1. Be a follower of my blog Reviews From The Heart

2. Be a resident of the US or have a US shipping address. Please No P.O. Boxes.

3. Leave me a comment below telling me why you'd love to win a copy of this book along with your email address. You can use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the symbols.

I will notify the winners by email when the giveaway ends on November 30th.

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Worthy Publishing (October 8, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1617952141
• ISBN-13: 978-1617952142
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches

A Talent for Trouble - Giveaway and Review

Just how much trouble could it be being the wife of a pastor? For Felicia Murdock, she will soon find out it is definitely more than she could ever dream of. She dreams of trying something new and she finds it is more work than she dreamed of trying to live up to her expectations of what a pastor's wife should look like. Sometimes we spend so much time trying to live up to everyone's expectations of what you should be doing, that in a sense you lose who you really are. That is just is what happens to Felicia in the latest novel from best selling author Jen Turano who is definitely on my MUST HAVE list of books. Anything that she has written, I have loved and she truly speaks to a place deep inside a women's heart in all of us. Perhaps that is why I find myself relating to her characters she creates in her novels. Yet in this case with all her best intentions, the pastor, Michael Fraiser, she believes she was destined to marry, instead marries someone else.

Now suddenly everything she believes is right is called into question and soon Felicia does a 180 from where she was at and finds the real person beneath it all. One that might even turn the head of Grayson Sumner, Lord Sefton, a respectable New York business, who is asked to lift Felicia's spirits. Soon however their personalities collide and it's the fire between them that has you rooting for a romance between the two. I mean, who doesn't want someone like Felicia who has just spent the last four years of her life transforming herself for a man, to suddenly fall into the arms of someone like Grayson!

Jen Turano definitely writes her female characters with a strength and sass that for the period in history is rewarding. Deep down inside, you know despite all that proper upbringing is a girl who is striving to just break out and be herself instead of what society dictates for her, just like Felicia. Fortunately for Felicia, her friends Agatha Watson and Eliza have just what she needs to get her out of feeling so down in the dumps. They have all kinds of outlandish plans to place Grayson and Felicia together and at times leaves Grayson being the one to rescue her when they turn ugly. All this just sets the stage for love to blossom and for the two to fall in love before the end of the novel. But it can't be wrapped up just that pretty. Soon Felicia discovers that Grayson has a secret past and once she learns the truth, will she really want him after all?

You'll have to pick up a copy of A Talent for Trouble to find out from Jen Turano. I received this novel compliments of Bethany House Publishers and TLC Book Tours for my honest review and did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own. I LOVED this novel and can't wait for more from Jen Turano. She is one of those authors when you see a new novel debuting, you have to pick it up because you know it's going to be great just like this one was. I rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars.

For more information about A Talent for Trouble, Jen Turano or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

A Talent for Trouble by Jen Turano

You can find Jen Turano on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on A Talent for Trouble from the TLC Book Tour, please click here. 

 Now for the best part...

Thanks to Bethany House Publishers and TLC Book Tours, they are giving away a copy of A Talent for Trouble to one lucky follower of my blog, Reviews From The Heart. Here are the details to enter:

1. Be a follower of my blog Reviews From The Heart.

2. "Like" Jen Turano's Facebook page.

3. Be a resident of the US or have a US Shipping address. No P.O. Boxes please.

4. Leave a comment below telling me why you'd love to win a copy of A Talent for Trouble, along with your email address. You can use the words (at) and (dot) instead of the symbols. I will notify the winner of the giveaway by email once it ends on November 21st.

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers (October 1, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764211269
• ISBN-13: 978-0764211263
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches

Derailed

I love it when you find a true treasure in a great series of books. The kind that make you sad when you finish one because you have to wait for the next one and often times it could take awhile. Such is the case with The Windy City Neighborhood Series by authors Dave and Neta Jackson. After reading Grounded, their first novel in the series, the second book, Derailed has finally picked back up with our favorite characters we met in the first one. Perhaps by far, my favorite character is Estelle Bentley, because she has the faith that most would dream of having. The kind that offers up simple prayers as easily as having a one on one conversation with a close friend. But what we discover is that even those prayers are offered up, they are not always answered in the way we would like to. Even when it seems that the steps we take are guided by God, it soon leaves us second guessing if we didn't in fact step out on our own instead.

This novel is based on the Harry Bentley, Estelle's husband that was once blind but now can see, is asked to go undercover as a blind man in disguise working for the police on board the Amtrak trains. It takes us into the back story of Harry that we only glimpsed in passing in the first novel. Since Harry is new to the Christian faith, living with Estelle as a strong woman of faith makes him question his own actions at times. I love this honesty of how the life of faith isn't an easy one to walk and at times, we all find ourselves questioning whether we are doing what God would want or simply our own desires. He struggles being the head of the house and financial provider of learning to reverse the roles of putting his family first instead of his job. Not an easy one for men to live up to.

The Bentley's life hasn't been an easy one but is a true testament of what faith can do when it is applied correctly. Harry's son, Rodney has been in prison but now upon his release is looking for ways to turn over a new leaf. Since his son, DaShawn has been living with Estelle and Harry, Rodney is hoping to secure a decent job and find a way to start a new life for him and DaShawn. Perhaps my favorite part of this book, isn't really the individual stories but one of how they all interact with their neighbors. It shows us an example of what a faith based community should look like even if our neighbors are not believers. It shows us how to respond in love and kindness and role models what we all can hope to obtain by being better people to those around us.

I received Derailed by Dave and Neta Jackson compliments of Worthy Books and Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed are strictly my own. I can't wait for the next book in this series Penny Wise which you get a sneak peek at in the conclusion of this novel. There are also discussion questions included to make this a great novel for book clubs. I'd rate this one a 5 out of 5 stars. For more information about Derailed, Dave and Neta Jackson or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Derailed by Dave and Neta Jackson

You can follow Dave and Neta Jackson on Facebook to stay up to date with all their latest novels.

To read more reviews on Derailed from the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance Book Tour, click here.

• Series: Windy City Neighbors (Book 2)
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Worthy Publishing (October 8, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1617950017
• ISBN-13: 978-1617950018
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1 inches

Peril

Sometimes it seems when life brings you to the end of your proverbial rope, it seems like it takes everything we have left just to hang on. That is where we find Morgan Adams, a pediatric nurse who wonders if life is really worth spending more one day among the living. She finds herself at the bottom of the deepest pit. After losing her infant daughter to someone she trusted to care for her, Morgan is facing complications due to a kidney disease that leaves her facing dialysis from her pregnancy and now she faces the depression that almost consumes her.  Who wouldn't want to die after being handed those cards to play in life?

Her only hope comes from her husband, cardiac surgeon Dr. Tyler Adams who has been working on clinical trials with the U.S. Army that have their own unprecedented consequences. It seems like each person who receives a neural graft implant is beginning to have memories haunt them from their former donors. Yet it seems like Dr. Tyler Adams is having his own issues trying to be the strong anchor in the marriage that is literally hanging on by a thread.

This book is filled with almost every conceivable idea to haunt Tyler and Morgan both members of the medical community. This is truly an edge of your seat roller coaster ride that grips you from the beginning and holds you right over the cliff until the climatic ending. This will definitely be an adrenaline rush from the get go. It's filled with intrigue, suspense, and psychological twists when you least expect it. Along the way you see how a couple is tested by literally going through the fire and coming out with their faith completed tested in every way.

I received Peril by Jordyn Redwood compliments of Kregel Publications for my honest review and did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable one. This is the third book in the Bloodline Trilogy and while you can definitely read this as a stand alone, you will truly appreciated the storyline with a great understanding by picking up for the first books in the series Proof and Poison. This is such a great book because Jordyn writes from her characters point of views so well you can feel what it's like to be in their situation. Also with an understanding from working in the critical care and emergency nursing, Jordyn puts you literally right in the driver's seat with her characters. The loss of a child by a parent has to be the most heart rendering experience and Jordyn takes us through it from every dimension that a parent would. That's what makes this one truly unforgettable. This one truly rates a 5 out of 5 stars.

For more information about Peril, Jordyn Redwood, or where to pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Peril by Jordyn Redwood

You can also follow Jordyn Redwood on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Peril by Jordyn Redwood, please visit Kregel Publications website. 

• Series: Bloodline Trilogy (Book 3)
• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Kregel Publications (September 1, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0825442133
• ISBN-13: 978-0825442131
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches

12 Days of Christmas Book Tour

The best part about fall besides the changing of the leaves on the trees and the cold crisp air is great Christmas Fiction. I was so honored to be given the opportunity to review four exceptional Christmas novels from best selling authors Colleen Coble, Beth Wiseman and Tricia Goyer as part of Litfuse Publicity's 12 Days of Christmas Book Tour.

Silent Night from Colleen Coble is a Rock Harbor Christmas Novella that takes place in the Lake Superior, Michigan. Once again the readers who remember Bree Matthews, a Search and Rescue handler now finds herself sharing their lighthouse home with her sister-in-law Lauri who has arrived home from college earlier than expected. Not only that but Lauri has brought home more than Bree and Kade bargained for. While they assume she has once again fallen short of their expectations for her attending college, Lauri has other plans that involve a case Bree had long thought was solved. Will there be a Christmas miracle after all?

Holy Night from Colleen Coble is an Aloha Reef Christmas Novella that takes place on the tropical island of Kauai. The wedding plans for Leia Kahale, a dolphin trainer and Bana Oana, her fiancè and oceanographer and sea salvager are about to be placed on hold. When Eva, Leia's sister with Down Syndrome is kidnapped while Leia is attempting an ocean rescue it will put their love to the ultimate test. Will they have what it takes to weather this unpredictable storm?

A Christmas Gift for Rose from Tricia Goyer takes us back to the Amish community located in Berlin, Ohio during 1945, where we see the struggle that is working in the life of Rose Yoder when Jonathan left the Amish to join in the war efforts as a medic. It goes against everything they both were brought up to believe. Now that he has returned home, she has assured herself that their relationship is over but why do these feelings for him continue to linger? What will happen when Rose discovers that she too was born English? What will happen to the feelings she still has for Jonathan or will the faith she was brought up on as an Amish woman be too hard to let go of?

Finally Plain Peace from author Beth Wiseman takes us back to Paradise Pennsylvania and we meet Anna Byler who is the granddaughter of the town's newest and harshest Bishop. Now faced with the prospects of learning the only reason she hasn't had a date isn't because she isn't pretty enough, but because everyone is afraid to date the Bishop's granddaughter. Seems most of the towns residents fear that the only way they will find relief from his strict rules is when he dies. That is all except Jacob Hostetler who has just moved here after losing his sister in a farming accident. The family is looking for a fresh start, but will Jacob be able to find a way to reach Anna's heart without dividing a family and a town against one another?

All four of these amazing novels are guaranteed to spark the warmth and love that each of them brings in unique ways through the characters that have to endure challenges beyond what any of them ever imagined. Forgiveness and hope are the keys to unlock the roadblock to love and faith that will found whenever anyone is courageous enough to take the leap of faith. Love is truly the greatest gift and that is just what you'll find in each of these heartwarming novels. I received these four novels compliments of Thomas Nelson Publishers and Litfuse Publicity for my honest review. There is truly something for everyone in this Christmas Book Tour and I rate these a 5 out of 5 stars. They all have a predominate place in my Christmas library collection.

For more information about Holy Night, Silent Night, Plain Peace, A Christmas Gift for Rose or any of the amazing authors, please click on the links below:

Holy Night by Colleen Coble

Silent Night by Colleen Coble

Plain Peace by Beth Wiseman

A Christmas Gift for Rose by Tricia Goyer

To read the reviews from the 12 Days of Christmas Book Tour from Litfuse reviewer's please click here. 

You can find more information about Colleen Coble's novels by visiting her website. 

To learn more about Beth Wiseman's novels please visit her website. 

You can find more information about Tricia Goyer's novels by stopping by her website. 

Thomas Nelson & Zondervan Fiction are hosting the 12 Days of Christmas! They've teamed up with three of their authors for a Merry Facebook Party on November 12th {5pm Pacific / 8pm Eastern}. Colleen, Tricia, and Beth will host an evening of book chat, Christmas traditions, and of course plenty of presents!



But wait! There's more! Each day between now and November 12th a different book (10 copies of each book) will be given away on the Thomas Nelson & Zondervan Fiction Facebook Page. Ring in the holiday season and warm your heart with some great reads from Thomas Nelson and Zondervan!








 

Click here to ENTER each day's giveaway here.

RSVP for the Christmas Party here!


Good luck and hope to see you on the evening of the 12th!

Snow on the Tulips

"I'm asking you to quit acting like a tulip covered in snow. Don't hide in this house until the Allies free you. They may not come for awhile."

Cornelia de Vries know quite a bit about the sacrifices required from being involved in the war. She has lost not only her husband Hans within the first 24 hours of being married and then widowed in the same day. Now she is struggling to keep her brother Johan Kooistra alive when the call of war is beckoning at his door. Being a onderduiker, a under-diver, a Dutch man hiding to avoid being sent away to a German work detail, he hides in a secret place when the Gestapo arrives for unexpected raids looking for men. But when he discovers a group of Dutch resistance workers taken down to the canal to be executed, he knows he can no longer sit by and just hide.

No one has survived his own execution. The Nazi's weren't that sloppy. But somehow that is the prayer that was answered as Gerrit Laninga faced down the barrel of a gun. Now if he could only pretend he was dead long enough for them to leave, he might just get that second chance at life. He is discovered by Johan who went to see if he knew any of the Dutch men who were executed and takes him back home to tend to his injuries. Surviving a bullet wound is no easy task considering that there are countless people who would turn him in rather than face making the German soldiers suspicious. Now if he can only convince his sister Cornelia to help.

In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Is that what someone might have offered to Hans if they found him laying wounded? How can she turn away a man clearly in need of help. Despite Hilter's pledge to respect the Netherlands neutrality, he invaded anyway. This war had a way of turning everything upside down, like a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces didn't fit together. They had lost so much. Too much. What could they do now?

I received Snow on the Tulips by Liz Tolsma compliments of Thomas Nelson Publishers and Litfuse Publicity for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed in this review are my own. Being a huge lover of historical WWII fiction, I was immediately drawn to this story. It had me wondering just what I would have done in the same situation that Cornelia faced. Would she turn away a wanted man and risk her own safety as well as her brothers? She knew that once the soldiers discovered that one of the men they had executed was missing, they would come looking and they wouldn't stop until they discovered him. Their own army was no match for the German soldiers and faced with food shortages and raids at any hour of the day as well as bombings from the allied planes, life for Cornelia was anything but normal. This story was based on the true story of the author's family which she does an incredible job at drawing the reader in and making them feel a part of the action. I easily give this one a 5 out of 5 stars. There is a great discussion guide included as well as a sneak peek into the next novel Daisies Last Forever from Liz Tolsma, one I will definitely be picking up!

For more information about Snow on the Tulips, Liz Tolsma or where you can pick up a copy of this novel today, please click on the links below:

Snow on the Tulips by Liz Tolsma

You can find Liz Tolsma on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels.

To read more reviews on Snow on the Tulips from the Litfuse Publicity Book Tour, please click here. 

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (August 6, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401689108
• ISBN-13: 978-1401689100
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1 inches

Liz Tolsma is celebrating the release of her novel, Snow on the Tulips, by giving away an Amazon Reading Pack to one lucky winner. Find out what readers are saying about the book here.

  One winner will receive:

• A $50 Amazon gift card
• Snow on the Tulips by Liz Tolsma

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on November 16th. Winner will be announced November 18th at Liz's blog.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by Liz's blog on the 18th to see if you won. (Or, better yet, subscribe to her blog and have the winner announcement delivered to your inbox! Just enter your email address on the left sidebar of her blog.)

Edna in the Desert

Picture a place in the middle of the desert. A place in which there are no other buildings around. No restaurants. No stores near by. No wireless service. No Internet. No life, at least according to Edna. This where she will spend her entire summer. Her grandmother, an unfriendly old woman with her hands on her hips like a five-star general. Her creased, emotionless face emerged in the sun would be her only human contact besides her grandfather who sat perpetually on the porch in his rocking chair until it was time for bed.

When Edna's parents are finally at wits end on what to do with her combativeness in both high school as well as trying to raise her in their household, they agree that spending the summer with her grandparents in Desert Palms might be the only thing that will work. The more they punish her the more disrespectful she becomes. But Edna doesn't consider Desert Palms a town, more like "coordinates on a map. After her latest incident at school involving socks, her father finally had had enough. Both of her parents had undertaken a military-like approach to this maneuver, and they were not turning back despite what she promises to do.

This would be the final straw. Her parents refused to consider medication and there was increasing pressure from the therapist to send her to a psychiatrist. It was time to do something radical. It seems she was always looking to prove herself to people and she simply didn't have respect for anyone.

"Edna, you have no respect for others. It can't go on, and it's not going to be tolerated,' Jill said.

"If it can't go on, it won't need to be tolerated. You're getting illogical-"

"And you're getting a lot of time to think."

Edna pictured herself trapped in her grandparents' dreary world. She was no longer sure if she was breathing. Hopefully she would pass out quickly and die. Until then she couldn't reveal any further weakness. Perhaps if she seemed happy about this idea it wouldn't seem like enough of a punishment, and her parents might change their minds. She could only hope that there was no way they were serious and that this was merely a sadistic joke, but the main challenge at the moment was to keep from crying."

I received Edna in the Desert by Maddy Lederman compliments of the author herself and eLectio Publishing for my honest review. I did not receive any monetary compensation for a favorable review and the opinions expressed here are strictly my own. I think every parent can relate to this novel partly because at times our children have had that stubborn rebellious streak in them. That no matter what we try to take away or how many times we might punish them, the behavior remains. I love the approach that Edna's parents take to send her to a place where there is no technology, no internet, nothing remotely similar to a life she left behind. IN fact, they just got a telephone so they aren't that far behind in the times. She has to learn to contend with things for the entire summer and her grandmother is definitely NOT someone you'd want to upset. The desert will offer more than Edna could bargain for and in many ways she will not return as the young girl she was when she arrived. There is some age appropriate material in this novel that I would strongly suggest isn't ideal for young teens when Edna encounters Johnny, a seventeen year old boy she finds she is attracted to. I rate this novel a 4 out of 5 stars for that reason and is a true coming of age story in many ways. This is Maddy Lederman's debut novel and I know that this will be the first of many in her future!

For more information about Edna in the Desert, Maddy Lederman or where you can pick up a copy of this book today, please click on the links below:

Edna in the Desert by Maddy Lederman

You can also find Maddy Lederman on Facebook to stay up to date with all her latest novels. 

• Paperback: 182 pages
• Publisher: eLectio Publishing (September 9, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0615884733
• ISBN-13: 978-0615884738
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.4 inches