Thursday, September 19, 2013

The Invention of Sarah Cummings by Olivia Newport


Can I just say that I loved this book? Loved everything about this book. From the gorgeous cover to the sweet ending. It was fun to reunite with the Banning clan again and to catch up with the ladies from the first two books in this series.
In this volume we find Sarah Cummings standing outside of a hat shop while on a break from her job as a maid. She's considering a hat and meets a young society lady whose just moved to town. Sarah, on the spur of the moment, invents a new identity for herself and introduces herself as Serena Cuthbert, an only child of a wealthy family.
Sarah soon finds herself caught up in so many lies and so much rushing around that she's afraid everything will catch up with her. She hopes it's not until after she can catch the promise of a certain young man.
This was a fun, sweet book. 

This book was provided for review by Revell.

Grace Unplugged by Melody Carlson and Own It by Michael & Haley DiMarco

Grace Unplugged is a movie coming to theaters this fall. Melody Carlson wrote the novel for the film and she did a great job (as she always does!) I daresay that this is one time that I will like the book more than the movie. Melody writes with her usual attention-grabbing talent and draws the reader into 18-year-old Grace's world. This is one that you'll want to share with the teens in your life, as they deal with wanting to be on their own and feeling squelched by their parents. The book has a positive message that doesn't get lost as they sometimes do, and it doesn't skimp on what happens in the world. Grace's eyes are opened pretty fast as to the dangers outside of her sheltered life.
Here's a picture promoting the film. I was glad to see this because after reading the book I needed to know what the front of Grace's head looked like. 


From the back cover:
Grace Trey is an eighteen-year-old singer as passionate about her Christian faith as she is her phenomenal, God-given musical talent. Both traits come from her father, one-hit wonder Johnny Trey who found a new life in Jesus after losing his chart success two decades ago.
When Grace encounters her own music break of a lifetime, the sudden dive into the "real world" puts her deeper beliefs to the test. Pop superstardom is just within reach but appears to require spiritual compromise. Will Grace reject her faith, or will she own it?

Melody Carlson calls herself a storyteller for women and children, and has sold more than six million books. A professional writer for twenty years, she recently received the Romantic Times Careen Achievement Award. Melody has two grown sons and lives with her husband in the Pacific Northwest.


 

An important part of this film is when Grace is handed a copy of a book called Own It (by Michael & Haley DiMarco)

Own It is what helped Grace get back on track. She read the book and realized that she didn't own her own faith, that she was finding her way based on someone else. When Grace takes her faith and makes it hers life changes for her. Own It can help you do the same. If you have a weak faith or have never grabbed hold of it then you need to read this book.

This may be what you need to get your life out of the doldrums. 

These books were provided for review by FlyBy Promotions.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Unlimited by Davis Bunn



Unlimited by Davis Bunn is a book based on a screenplay of a movie coming out this fall. This is one time that I'm sure I'll enjoy the movie more than the book. I don't fault the author for that because he only used what he had to work with. I didn't really enjoy this book. I figured out who the bad guy was very early on so that aspect was ruined for me.  The action was fast paced but there was so much technological mumbo-jumbo that I got confused and bewildered. I finished the book with little satisfaction in what I'd read. Maybe this was more of a man-read than a female one? Anyway, not my cup of tea.

From the back cover:
Simon Orwell is a brilliant student whose life has taken a series of wrong turns. At the point of giving up on his dreams, he gets a call from an old professor who has discovered a breakthrough in a device that would created unlimited energy. He needs Simon's helf. 
Upon crossing the border, nothing goes as the young man planned. The professor has been killed, and Simon is assaulted and nearly takne out by members of a powerful drug cartel. 
Now he must take refuge in the only place that will help him, a local orphanage. There, Simon meets Harold Finch, the orphanage proprietor who walked away from a lucrative career with NASA and consulting Fortune 500 companies to serve a higher cause.
With Harold's help, Simon sets out on a quest to uncover who killed the professor and why. In due time, he will discover secrets to both the world-changing device and his own unlimited potential. 

This book was provided for review by The B&B Media Group.

Trapped by Irene Hannon

Trapped by Irene Hannon was a book I simply could not put down. I so connected with the characters in this one that I worried about them when I had to stop reading. I actually told by spouse, "The girl in this book is being held hostage and when I have to stop reading I feel bad because I'm forcing her to be held captive longer." He laughed at me, of course, but that's how real this story was to me.

The book started fast and kept up that pace the entire way through. It almost became too much for me and I wanted to put it down to calm myself down, but I forced myself to read on. So very good, this one. 

The only thing I didn't like was when one character said "ohmygodohmygodohmygod" I didn't appreciate that in an otherwise clean book.

From the back cover:
When Laura Griffith's sixteen-year-old sister disappears on a frigid February day, leaving only a note behind, Laura resolves to do whatever it takes to track down the runaway teen. That includes recruiting AFT agent turned private investigator James Devlin to help. Dev knows time is of the essence with runaways--just forty-eight hours can mean the difference between recovery and ruin.
But the deeper he and Laura dig, the more Dev begins to suspect that something sinister is at work in the girl's disappearance. And in the icy winter weather, the trail is going cold...
In her latest thrilling read, queen of romantic suspense Irene Hannon outdoes herself with a fast-paced tale of fear, deception, and just the right dose of romance.

About the author:
Irene Hannon is the bestselling author of more than forty novels, including Vanished and the Heroes of Quantico and Guardians of Justice series. Her books  have garnered many honors, including two coveted RITA Awards from Romance Writers of America, a Carol Award, and a Daphne du Maurier Award. Booklist also included one of her novels in its "Top 10 Inspirational Fiction" list for 2011. In addition, Irene is a Christy Award finalist. For more information, visit www.irenehannon.com   

This book was provided for review by Revell.

The Promise by Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley


The Promise by Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley is the second book in their Restoration Series. It wasn't quite as moving to me as their first, The Dance, but then I haven't faced the problems addressed in this book. It was fast-paced and easy to read, it kept my attention so much that I finished it in one day (just several hours of reading time in between laundry and other chores). I'm glad these men have decided to tackle some of the greatest problems in marriages and a novel is a good way to do it. Again though, as I thought with the first one, these are geared towards women when it's the men who ought to read them. The men (in both novels) are the ones who need to do most of the changing, yet I doubt a man will read this series without prodding from their wives.

From the back cover:
For the last five months, Tom Anderson has been without a job, a fact he's been hiding from his wife Jean-and everyone else. He leaves each morning, pretending nothing has changed, and spends his disheartening day rotating through coffee shops and the library, using their wifi to search jobs listings online. The stress of keeping his secret is beginning to put some serious strain on his marriage. 
But Tom's not the only one hiding something. Jean Anderson has a secret of her own-one that will seriously complicate their situation. Will the promises they made on their wedding day hold firm?

This book was provided for review by Revell.