Wednesday, March 23, 2011

A Cowboy's Touch by Denise Hunter

Anytime I want to escape for a day and treat myself to a romance that is innocent and clean I reach for a book by Denise Hunter. Denise is known for romances that will tug at your heart strings while keeping your thoughts pure. Her characters always learn a lot and therefore, so does the reader. A Cowboy's Touch is no different. It's a delightful book and isn't your average cowboy story. To be honest, when I heart she was writing a cowboy story I wasn't all that interested because I'm not a fan of the cowboy genre. This book is anything but stereotypical.


Abigail Jones is doing her family a favor by spending the summer in a spot on the map in Montana. In a town without even one stoplight, she keeps close watch on her great Aunt Lucy, who the family is sure is going a little senile. Before she knows it, Abigail finds herself agreeing to be a nanny to the daughter of the cutest cowboy in the state. But with Abigail fighting to keep her secrets to herself and Wade trying to keep his past hidden to protect his daughter will these two find that what they really need is to trust....each other?


Kudos to Denise for another attention-grabbing book that won't let you go. I read this one in one day. Well worth the time.


Thanks, Denise, for this CLEAN READ!


Thanks to BookSneeze for providing this review copy in exchange for my honest opinions.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

When Sparrows Fall by Meg Moseley

I can't even tell you how much I loved this new book by Meg Moseley. It's about Miranda Hanford, a widowed mother of six, who is caught up in a cult-like church with a very demanding leader. When Pastor Mason Chandler announces that the church is moving out of state, Meg finally sees a way out and decides not to follow the pastor and the rest of the congregation. Her only fear is that the secrets he knows from her past will be used against her. She's caught in a struggle about what to do when an accident puts her in the hospital and a call for help brings the only family she knows, her dead husband's half brother-who she only met once. Jack arrives, assesses the situation and takes matters into his own hands.

When Sparrows Fall is a story that will hit close to home for anyone who's ever been in a church with an overbearing leader, one who makes decisions for the body to benefit his own life. Unfortunately these things happen far too often. While this novel is fiction it does have a lot of truth to it. I'm thankful to Meg for writing it and hopeful that it will help people who are drawn into this type of church.

Thanks, Meg, for this CLEAN READ!

You can read more about this book and purchase it here.
Thanks to Multnomah publishers for this review copy.

I Called Him Dancer by G. Edward Snipes


From the back cover:
For a moment, Michael danced on top of the world, but on bad choice turned his life upside down. The once promising Broadway star now washed windows for tips and lives among the homeless. When his former dance partner recognizes him behind the fray of whiskers, shame drives him away from her. Angry at God and the world, the Dancer refuses to allow anyone into his life. When everything is stripped away, three things remail: faith, hope and love. The greatest of these is love.
I Called Him Dancer is a story about how one woman's enduring faith and unconditional love drives her to reach out to a homeles man who has given up on life.
G. Edward Snipes is a freelance writer, president of the Christian Authors Guild, and founder of Exchanged Life Ministries. He has had three award winning short stories, and regularly has articles published on several online ministries. Visit his ministry site here. Or his personal blog here.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Bound By Guilt by CJ Darlington







TitleTrakk.com Blog Tours Presents:

Thicker than Blood
by C.J. Darlington
Published by Tyndale House


Winner of the
2008 Christian Writers Guild Operation First Novel Contest!


Christy Williams finally has her life on track. She’s putting her past behind her and working hard to build a career as an antiquarian book buyer. But things begin to unravel when a stolen Hemingway first edition is found in her possession, framing her for a crime she didn’t commit. With no one to turn to, she yearns for her estranged younger sister, May, whom she abandoned after their parents’ untimely deaths. Soon, Christy’s fleeing from her shattered dreams, her ex-boyfriend, and God. Could May’s Triple Cross Ranch be the safe haven she’s searching for? Will the sisters realize that each possesses what the other desperately needs before it’s too late?


MY THOUGHTS:

CJ Darlington is back with her sophomore release, Bound by Guilt. This is one author that you've got to read. With two books under her belt, and the second one as good as, if not better than the first, you're going to want to remember her name. Bound by Guilt has everything that I look for in a novel. Characters that come to life, suspense that won't let you go, and a plot with twists and turns that keep you guessing to the end.

Teenager Roxi Gold has had a life full of rejection and hurt. In and out of foster homes since she was a child, she finally ends up with a distant relative with hopes that she's found a family to take care of her. What she finds is an aunt and cousin who travel the country in an RV, looking for bookstores from where they'll steal rare and valuable books only to resell them in the next town. This way of life is taking its toll on Roxi and it catches up with all three of them in one store where their robbery ends up including murder. Now on the run, the three try to get away from everything without leaving clues behind. Roxi is torn between loyalty to her family and doing the right thing.





With careful attention to detail, emotion, and scene-setting, C.J. Darlington scores with her debut effort. Here is a special writer you won’t want to miss.
--Jerry B. Jenkins, New York Times best selling author

If you love a good read filled with adventure and ultimately redemption, I encourage you to brew the tea, settle into your favorite chair and pick up the page turner that is C.J. Darlington’s imaginative new novel of a modern day sisterhood that triumphs over separation and the raw challenges of life to find the real endurance of both family ties and God’s amazing grace.
--Rebecca St. James, Grammy award winning Christian singer and bestselling author

With Thicker than Blood, C.J. Darlington proves she's a novelist for the long-haul, a strong new voice in Christian fiction. This book speaks to the heart, from the heart, about the heart. Readers will not soon forget it.
--Sibella Giorello, Christy award-winning author of The Rivers Run Dry & The Clouds Roll Away

Watch the book trailer:



About the Author:
C. J. began writing the story that would become Thicker than Blood (her first novel) when she was a fifteen-year-old homeschool student. She has been in the antiquarian bookselling business for over a decade, scouting for stores similar to the one described in the novel before cofounding her own online bookstore. Thicker than Blood was the winner of the 2008 Christian Writers Guild Operation First Novel.

C. J. co-founded the Christian entertainment Web site TitleTrakk.com with her sister, Tracy, and has been actively promoting Christian fiction through book reviews and author interviews. She makes her home in Pennsylvania with her family and their menagerie of dogs and cats. Visit her website www.cjdarlington.com for more info.

QUICK LINKS:



Thank you, CJ, for this CLEAN READ!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

What's it Like to be Married to Me? By Linda Dillow

This is, hands down, the best book on marriage that I've read. What's it Like to Be Married to Me (and other dangerous questions) by Linda Dillow is one that every married woman who aspires to be a godly wife needs to read. Linda touches on subjects that aren't usually talked about, the things that we don't talk to our friends about but all struggle with. Some of the chapter titles are: What does it feel like to be my husband? (ouch!!) Am I willing to change my attitude? What's it like to make love with me? Why do I want to stay mad at you? and many more. This book also includes an outline for you to create your own Marriage Purpose Statement. The back of the book holds a ten (or twelve) week Bible study. What a great way to connect with other women and learn how to care for your spouse at the same time.

If you are willing to be vulnerable and if you desire a deeper intimacy with the man you're married to then you need to read this book. I plan to keep this in my collection and refer back to it when I'm slacking.

About the book:

Women everywhere wonder if there is more to marriage than what they have. Best-Selling author Linda Dillow, helps women shape their marriage by design rather than letting circumstances shape it by default. What's It Like to Be Married to Me? And Other Dangerous Questions, is a book about knowing the difference between having a desire for a better marriage and setting the goal of having a better marriage—as women look in the mirror to see how they can change. Extremely intimate and honest, Dillow shares the best and worst things she has done in her nearly fifty years of marriage, guides women to make their own Marriage Purpose Statement, and leads them into God’s heart for what their marriage could be.

About the author:
Linda Dillow is no stranger to publishing and adventure. She's the author of Creative Counterpart, Calm My Anxious Heart, The Blessings Book, Satisfy My Thirsty Soul, and co-author of the Best-Selling book Intimate Issues. Linda and her husband Jody lived in Europe and Asia for 17 years training Christian leaders in closed countries with Biblical Education by Extension, during this time, Linda traveled extensively in Romania, Russia, Hungary, Poland and Asia. She taught women and helped them launch women's ministries. She is a mother of four children, as well as a grandmother.

Purchase this book from Amazon.

Thanks to Coast to Coast Publicity for this review copy.