Month: February 2012

Defending Jacob

Book Description

Andy Barber has been an assistant district attorney in his suburban Massachusetts county for more than twenty years. He is respected in his community, tenacious in the courtroom, and happy at home with his wife, Laurie, and son, Jacob. But when a shocking crime shatters their New England town, Andy is blindsided by what happens next: His fourteen-year-old son is charged with the murder of a fellow student.

Every parental instinct Andy has rallies to protect his boy. Jacob insists that he is innocent, and Andy believes him. Andy must. He’s his father. But as damning facts and shocking revelations surface, as a marriage threatens to crumble and the trial intensifies, as the crisis reveals how little a father knows about his son, Andy will face a trial of his own—between loyalty and justice, between truth and allegation, between a past he’s tried to bury and a future he cannot conceive.

Award-winning author William Landay has written the consummate novel of an embattled family in crisis—a suspenseful, character-driven mystery that is also a spellbinding tale of guilt, betrayal, and the terrifying speed at which our lives can spin out of control.

My Review

I can’t say enough good things about this book!  I loved everything about this book and I didn’t want to put it down the entire time I was reading it.  The author does a great job keeping the reader interested and making the characters totally relate able.  I love how the book will go from the dad on testfiying before the grand jury and then telling the story through other parts.  I didn’t expect the ending at all and this for sure a book that I be reading again and I am sure my family and friends will love this book as well.  I loved reading about how each of the family members dealt with the pain and how it affected them.  I am sure going to check out more books by this author.

If you haven’t read this book yet I strongly recommend it anyone.  Here is the link to amazon where you can buy the book.  If you pick it up please come back and let me know what you think of it.

If you have read it what did you think of it?

FTC-I received this book for free in return for my review.  The opinions expressed in this post are 100% mine.  I received no other compensation for this review.
Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 Margaret Margaret

Henry Wood Detective Agency

About

Henry Wood is an average detective, at best. His typical cases are boring, predictable, and safe, that is, until his new client walks through his door.

It is Jan 1, 1955 and up until now his world has been one of black and white, right and wrong, but Luna Alexander’s case is going to change all of that and there will forever be shades of grey. Henry will face the mob, question his own understanding of right and wrong, and need to make a decision that goes against everything he holds dear.

A bit of a lone wolf, he finds that sometimes one needs help from their friends. There are clues, like bread crumbs, being left by a mysterious benefactor who seems to have Henry’s best interest at heart, but will Henry put it all together in time?

Learn more about Henry Wood Detective Agency and Brian Meeks at ExtremelyAverage.com

My Review

First let me say that I thought it was  cool that that Brian started out as a blogger and the 2nd chapter of this book was written on his blog first.  I am always wondered if a blogger has actually gotten a publishing deal and now I know at least one person is.  I could not get into this book.  I love mysteries and I usually love books like this but I couldn’t get interested in it.  It did have great parts in the book but I wasn’t overly impressed with the book.   That being said I would still recommend the book to other people who like mystery books.  He has 2 more books and I think I am going to pick them up and read them.

If you have read this book what do you think of it?

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 Margaret Margaret

Want A Growing Marriage?

I am reviewing the book called “The Beautiful Wife” and I was sent 4 guest posts from the author and I after reading them I thought it would be a great thing for my readers.  I am going to be posting one every Sunday for the next 4 weeks.  Also be looking for my review on the book on 3/7/2012.


source

My husband and I were reading a financial book about how to make your money grow when one of the principles jumped off the page at me:

What you focus on grows. 

Because it’s such a simple principle, I couldn’t get it out of my mind and began applying it to all areas of life, especially relationships.

Most women have the desire to grow a more intimate relationship with their husband

yet  few  focus  their  desire  long  enough  to  do  anything  about  it.
Thus, nothing changes.

  • Ignorance, 
  • Distractions, and/or
  • hopelessness are often to blame.

I should know. Just 19 when I said, “I do”, I was ignorant about how to grow my marriage.  Our pre-marriage counseling consisted of one two-hour meeting with my pastor and that wasn’t enough to prepare me for the emotional, spiritual, and verbal abuse my husband doled out on a regular basis.   The abuse produced pain and grief.
I could think of little else than surviving.

Hope for our future crumbled.

Over time, I began sharing my pain with a few trusted, godly women.  Venting my pain and hearing their honest feed-back helped me see that the abuse I was suffering wasn’t my fault.

I  began seeing a Christian counselor who gave me tools that helped restore me to a place of strength and dignity.

The best choice I made was to dig into God’s word and find out what He wanted to say to me about my marriage.  In the Bible I found the following verses which applied to my situation:

  •  “…Your godly lives will speak to them [husbands] better than any words.  They will be won over by watching your pure godly behavior.” (I Peter 3:1,2)  In place of preaching to my husband, I began entrusting my difficult situation to God through prayer—listening for His instruction.
  •  “Instead, we will hold to the truth in love…” (Ephesians 4:15) I began to exchange preaching for speaking the truth in love—in as few words as possible.
  • “See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good…” (I Thessalonians 5:15) On my new path, I chose to respond in kindness and enforce healthy boundaries in place of angry retaliation.

When I dug into the word, I learned that my husband wasn’t the only one sinning.  My responses to Tom were often sinful and my response was the only thing I was responsible for.
(What I wanted was to change my husband but I couldn’t find a biblical reference to support my desire and neither will you)!    

Focused on God and His Word, I was able to reverse negative behavioral patterns in my life which had long plagued me.

When I did what I could do—keeping my focus on God, HE DID WHAT I COULD NOT!

He healed me and ultimately my marriage—to the praise of His glorious grace!

What you focus on grows. 

Are you focused on growing your marriage? 

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 Margaret Margaret

Piercing Through The Darkness

World Literary Cafe

About

It’s on the edge of her memory like a word on the tip of her tongue, but Kandi can’t remember what it is to save her life.

Despite being a cop, Jimmy can’t protect Kandi from the one thing that haunts her. She’s in danger and doesn’t even know it. After it happened, her brain repressed her memories of the accident, and now, she’s taking a Biology class under a man who wants to see her dead. The memories have started coming back, and it feels like she’s miles away from him. How can he protect her when she doesn’t even know she needs protecting?

Can these characters pierce their way through the darkness?

My Review

You start the book following the teacher  and all you know is that something happened to his wife and daughter a year before and that they passed away.  They a girl transferred into one of his classes and he recognizes her because she was the person who killed his family.  The girl is named Kandi and she has no idea why the teacher hates her.  You find out soon enough that she has no memory of what her evening knowing the teacher or of hurting his family.  Through the whole book you are getting more pieces of the past but you don’t find out how she hurt his family until the last few pages of the book.  I fell in love with the characters and I also loved how you didn’t know in the beginning of the book what happened to Mr Chandlers family.  I kept me so interested because I wanted to know what happened to his family and I also wanted to see if she would ever remember who he was and what she did to his family.  I would give this book 5 stars.  If you like mystery books you will love this one!

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2012 Margaret Margaret

Birthday Chronicle

Personalized Gifts for Anyone, Anytime

I received a Birthday Chronicle a few weeks ago and I think it is the coolest thing I have ever seen.  They ask you for the your birth date, the name of the person who it is going to and what you would like the headline to say.  I love how you can customize it right down to what the headline will say.  These would be a great gift for someone if you framed it and gave it to them.  I literally got this in my email inbox in like 4 hours after I filled  out and submitted the form.  I was shocked to see it so soon but it was  great to know that if you wanted to pick one of these up last minute for a gift that you could have it within hours.

Go and check out this great product!!!  They have a Facebook page, a Twitter page and a great newsletter.    Make sure you go and check out this great product.  After you check them out let me know what you think!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2012-2016 Margaret Margaret