The Girl's Still Got It by Liz Curtis Higgs

Liz Curtis Higgs is a master of Bible study books. She's written about mostly bad girls of the Bible, but this time switches course and teaches about one of the ultimate good girls. Ruth. This book is extremely in depth as she takes us verse by verse through the book of Ruth. She gives more insight than I'd ever imagined and truly reveals the entire story. You'll be amazed at how much you'll learn, and how much you thought you knew before.
There are also little snippets included from real life mothers-in-law, wives, and other women who share their insight as well.
This is not a book that you'll read through quickly, it's one to take time to linger over and learn the lessons that it has to offer. It really will show you how God rocked her world!

View the trailer for the book here:




This book was provided for review by Waterbrook/Multnomah as part of their Blogging for Books program.

The Trouble with Cowboys by Denise Hunter

Denise Hunter is my favorite author for a sweet love story. Her books exude an innocence that (from my reading journey) no other author can lay claim to. The Trouble with Cowboys is no exception.
In this volume of her Big Sky Romance series we find Annie, a horse trainer and local columnist dating a man that she isn't all that excited about. But he's stable and not a cowboy. Living in Montana, she's been around cowboys all of her life and she knows the reputation they have.
Enter Dylan, local cowboy with a reputation as big as the Montana sky. Dylan needs her help when his horse begins to go blind and she needs his help for her new column. They make a deal and before she knows it she's in over her head. 

There's a whole lot more packed into this little book.
A single mother who's hiding a secret that may just destroy Annie's dreams.
If you're not familiar with Denise's books then I urge you go pick this one up. It'll brighten your day.

This book was provided for review by LitFuse.

You can also meet Denise on her Facebook chat and enter to win a Kindle!

   October 11th!

Song of the Brokenhearted by Sheila Walsh & Cindy Coloma

I've looked forward to novels by Sheila Walsh for a couple of years now and I've enjoyed each one with their touching stories. This is the first one that I've felt differently about. This didn't live up to the expectations that I had for it. The story is forgettable. I finished it over the weekend and truthfully can't even remember the names of the characters now (it's Monday!) I didn't think that the whole willow tree thing hit as hard as the authors planned for it to, it seemed like they really wanted it to have an impact on the reader, but in my mind's eye it was predictable.
It was easy reading, however, and I was able to get through it rather quickly. It isn't one that I'd recommend though. It just didn't have substance to it.

This book was provided for review by Booksneeze.

Escaping the Cauldron by Kristine McGuire

Escaping the Cauldron by Kristine McGuire is subtitled exposing occult influences in everyday life, and while I found it to be interesting reading I was hoping for more. Kristine openly shares about her eight year involvement in which she called herself a "Christian witch" and how she found herself deceived. She stayed active in her church during this time and justified her actions, even using the Bible to do so. This book would be good reading for anyone who is more than a little interested in the paranormal. You know the kind of person. They can't pull themselves away from it and they claim that it won't affect their walk with the Lord. This book will prove to them that even a little bit of involvement in these activities is harmful and could potentially affect their eternity.

Kristine does a very good job of explaining the differences between gifts of the Spirit and the things the was doing as a witch, medium, and ghost hunter. She now knows where to draw the line and teaches others to do the same.

At the end of each chapter is a "digging deeper" section where she asks questions and gives Bible references to find the answers.

There's a section in the back of the book where she addresses questions about Twilight, Harry Potter, and more.

From the back cover:
An eight year journey through the occult and into freedom.
Though Kristine McGuire was raised in a Christian home, at an early age she became fascinated by the occult. At sleepovers she and her friends told fortunes and held seances.  As a teenager she was convicted and put all games of mysticism aside. She went to a Christian college and married a Christian man, but despite her decision to follow God, a longing for the occult persisted, leading her to leave her church and husband and fully embrace witchcraft.
Escaping the Cauldron takes you deep inside Kristine's eight year journey as a witch, medium, and ghost hunter. Part Bible study, part memoir, it exposes the subtle occult influences that affect us as it reveals how God mercifully delivered her out of the occult altogether and restored her faith and life in Christ.

This book was provided for review by Glass Road PR

Mother of Pearl by Kellie Coates Gilbert

Oh my goodness! What a book this is! Mother of Pearl is the debut novel from Kellie Coates Gilbert and it was crazy good. Brought me to tears time and again. The story of a mother who never gives up when it comes to finding the truth about the death of her teenage daughter. The only parts I didn't enjoy while reading this were the parts of the actual football games that the characters went to. As a self proclaimed sports hater, I skipped those parts completely and focused on the parts of the story that I was interested in.
I couldn't help it.
I just don't like sports.
But I loved the rest of this book. It interested me to observe the grieving process and how the friends and family around her thought she should be "better by now." I'm not sure the death of a child is something that a mother could ever find herself to be okay with. I appreciated the character of Barrie (even though I spent the whole book wondering how to pronounce her name) and how she just kept on going even when people turned against her.

It was eerily similar to a Lifetime movie that I watched last night! I'm looking forward for more from this author.

From the back cover:
Barrie Graeber has two great kids, a loving husband, and a respected job as the high school counselor in her tight knit community. Without warning, everything unravels when her teenage daughter, Pearl, is betrayed and lashes out.
Nothing prepares this m other for the helplessness that follows when her attempts to steer her daughter back on course fail, and Pearl shuts her out...or when Barrie discovers the unthinkable about her nemesis, the football coach.
Emotionally riveting and profoundly moving, Mother of Pearl brings us into the heart of a mother bound by an incredible burden, who ultimately finds she must recognize her own vulnerability and learn to trust in something bigger.

This book was provided for review by Glass Road Public Relations

Rock Solid Faith Study Bible for teens

The Rock Solid Faith Study Bible for teens is an invaluable tool for the young people in your life. It's written in the NIV and is easy to understand. At the beginning of each book there is an outline that gives the reader a glimpse of what to expect from the book. Scattered throughout the pages are little devotionals for inspirational reading.
The study guide in the back is broken down into several sections to make Bible study easier for your teen. There's even a section entitled, "What do I  read today?" and it has boxes for each book and chapter of the Bible so the reader can remember what they've read and keep tract of where they are. Never lose your place again! Brilliant idea!
There's also an index for Biblical truths, one for promises, one for plans, and several others before the concordance and full color maps section.

This would make a nice gift for your favorite teen.

This is new from Zondervan and was provided for review by The B&B Media Group

Jody Hedlund's UNENDING DEVOTION

New from Jody Hedlund and Bethany House is Unending Devotion. This book will grab your heart and plunge it to places that will cause you to ache for others. It isn't often that a work of fiction addresses subjects such as this one does. 

Lily Young is a photographer's assistant in the late 1800s. She travels with other intentions in mind though. She's looking for her younger sister who ran away from her adoptive parents in search of a better life. Lily is afraid that she's now working in a brothel.

Lily's searching has led her to begin a rescue mission. She finds girls who want to get out and risks her own life to save them from the life that they're now enslaved to.

This book made me think of the all too real problem that plagues us, not only in third world countries, but also here at home in the States. I'm glad the author tackled this subject (and she did it well, mixing in some fact with her fiction as she explains in the end of the book). 

Jody Hedlund is a treasure to be found. Bethany House is blessed to have her and you need to seek out her works. She writes with a depth that is lacking in many other books.

This book was provided for review by Litfuse.

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