Month: July 2016

From Scratch by C.E. Hilbert

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

From Scratch by C.E. Hilbert was a super sweet romance novel. This book was one that I wasn’t sure if I was going to like when I back of the book but after I was a chapter or two into the book I didn’t want to put it down. This was a super easy read for me which I always like. I liked that Maggie was a super relatable character, and I felt like I understood her and the things that she did. I am always a fan of characters like Sean as well. I always think that they are people I would get along with in the real world. The one thing that comes to mind as I think about this book is how sweet the story was. It does have a little bit of mystery to it, so I enjoyed that. It was predictable in the fact that I pretty much knew what was going to happen in the long run but even with that being said I still really enjoyed the book. If you love chick lit books than I know, you will enjoy this book just as much as I did.

From Scratch by CE Hilbert

About The Book

Maggie McKitrick loves everything about her new life in Gibson’s Run, Ohio—her charming bakery, her quirky customers, her distance from the past. Yes, she loves everything…except her new landlord. Police Chief Sean Taylor is like a piece of sand in an oyster—irritating, but with the promise of something beautiful. Despite Maggie’s self-imposed man-fast, she wonders what kind of treasure she and the lawman could create together.

Sean Taylor likes to keep the peace, but his new tenant is making it nearly impossible to keep anything on an even keel—including his heart. Despite her sassy attitude, Sean is drawn to the beautiful pastry chef and has an overwhelming need to serve and protect her.

As Maggie and Sean draw closer together, her long buried dreams about her life are reawakened into a hopeful prayer…until a threat from her past promises to destroy their future. Will Maggie be forced to run—again—starting fresh? Or will God answer her prayer and give her the happily-ever-after she’s started from scratch?

CE Hilbert

About The Author

I have four great passions: sharing Jesus with young people, telling happily-ever-after stories with humor, professional hockey and making cookies with real butter.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Margaret Margaret

Love of The Game by Lori Wilde

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Love of The Game by Lori Wilde was a great book. I sat down and read the entire book on the 4th of July so it was an easy read and I loved the story. I think this is the first book I have read by this author and I enjoyed it, and I have added her to my list of authors to check out when I stop reviewing books. I couldn’t get enough of this book because I fell in love with the characters right from the start and I didn’t put it down until I was finished with the book. I am a huge fan of books that have sports stars as one of the main characters because I think they more relatable than other chick lit books. If you love chick lit books than I would tell you to check out this book because it is one of the best chick lit books I have read in a while.

Love of The Game by Lori Wilde

About The Book

A sexy sports superstar discovers his body isn’t the only thing that needs healing in this newest Stardust, Texas novel fromNew York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde.

With major league good looks and talent, Dallas Gunslingers relief pitcher Axel Richmond was living the good life. Even if the roar of the crowd could never distract him from the loss of his young son. But now with an injured shoulder and his career on the line, Axel is stuck recuperating at a ranch in Stardust, Texas . . . striking out only with his gorgeous physical therapist.

Kasha Carlyle has one week to get Axel back in action or she can kiss her much-needed job with the Gunslingers goodbye. And any chance to seek custody of the orphaned half-sister she never knew existed. She quickly learns that Axel’s guarded heart also needs healing . . . requiring all kinds of sneaky plays and sexy moves in extra innings.

Lori Wilde

About The Author

Lori Wilde can’t remember a time when she didn’t want to write. She even went to nursing school so she could have a schedule flexible enough to allow her to write on the side. She nursed for 20 years, working in a variety of settings from the newborn nursery to the recovery room, to dialysis. But she never lost her desire to write.

She sold her first book in 1994 to Silhouette Romance but later discovered she had a flair for comedy and branched out to Harlequin Duets and now, to Blaze.

Lori is an adventuresome soul who loves to travel. She’s taken flying lessons, completed two marathons, rode in a hot-air balloon, performed with a professional jazz band, traveled Europe as a teenager, hiked volcanoes in Hawaii, trod on glaciers in Alaska, shot white-water rapids, water-skied, snow-skied, raced all-terrain vehicles, bodysurfed in the Gulf of Mexico, and photographed grizzly bears in Yellowstone.

She lives in her native Texas, with her own real-life hero, Bill.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Margaret Margaret

Bill Gates-Quote Of The Week

Quote Of The Week

This week’s quote is by Bill Gates.

Bill Gates

When I saw this quote, it made me smile because I am a huge of Apple products.  I love that they do work but let’s are honest they are pretty to look at.  Anyway, I wanted to use this quote because everyone needs to smile especially with all the crazy things going on in the world.

What do you think of this week’s quote by Bill Gates?

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Margaret Margaret

Weekly Wrap-up

Weekly Wrap-Up

Another week down and that means we are one week closer to the end of summer.  I am so ready for it to cool down and for it to be football season again.  Anyway, let’s get on to the links from this past week.

Monthly Book Reviews: July 2016

Lowcountry Stranger by Ashley Farley

Murder Mezzo Forte by Donn Taylor

Gilbert K. Chesterton-Quote Of The Week

Precious in His Sight by Karen Pashley

The Second Half by Lauraine Snelling

The Ringmaster’s Wife by Kristy Cambron

Like A River From Its Course by Kelli Stuart

Those are all of the posts from this past week in case you missed any of them.  I will be back next week with some more posts.  I am working on an adoption thoughts post for next week as well.  I hope you all have a great weekend.

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Margaret Margaret

Like A River From Its Course by Kelli Stuart

Stuart2

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

Like A River From Its Course by Kelli Stuart was heartbreaking and yet beautiful all at the same time.   I love books like this one because they teach you things, and you get a glimpse into what people went through and experienced during World War II. This book broke my heart and yet I didn’t want to stop reading it because I had to know what happened to everyone. I did have to read this book in smaller amounts because it got overwhelming because of everything that was going on. I love this period that I had a hard time imagining how hard and scary things must have been for them. This is the first book I have read by this author and I liked it. I love books about World War II and most of the times all the books blend but this, book will always stick out because it showed more of a reality of what World War II was like. If you love historical fiction books than I know you will love this book just as much as I do.

Like A River From Its Course by Kelli Stuart

About The Book

Like a River from Its Course (Kregel, June 2016)

An epic novel exposing the ugliness of war and the beauty of hope.

The city of Kiev was bombed in Hitler’s blitzkrieg across the Soviet Union, but the constant siege was only the beginning for her citizens. In this sweeping historical saga, Kelli Stuart takes the reader on a captivating journey into the little-known history of Ukraine’s tragedies through the eyes of four compelling characters who experience the same story from different perspectives.

Maria Ivanovna is only fourteen when the bombing begins and not much older when she is forced into work at a German labor camp. She must fight to survive and to make her way back to her beloved Ukraine.

Ivan Kyrilovich is falsely mistaken for a Jew and lined up with 34,000 other men, women, and children who are to be shot at the edge of Babi Yar, the “killing ditch.” He survives, but not without devastating consequences.

Luda is sixteen when German soldiers rape her. Now pregnant with the child of the enemy, she is abandoned by her father, alone, and in pain. She must learn to trust family and friends again and find her own strength in order to discover the redemption that awaits.

Frederick Hermann is sure in his knowledge that the Führer’s plans for domination
are right and just. He is driven to succeed by a desire to please a demanding father and by his own blind faith in the ideals of Nazism.

Based on true stories gathered from fifteen years of research and interviews with Ukrainian World War II survivors, Like a River from Its Course is a story of love, war, heartache, forgiveness, and redemption.

Kelli Stuart

About The Author

Kelli Stuart is the coauthor of Dare 2B Wise and has written for several brands including Disney, American Girl, and Short Fiction Break. She has served as editor-in-chief for the St. Louis Bloggers Guild and as a board member for the St. Louis Women in Media. In addition to her writing, Kelli has spent twenty years studying Ukranian culture. Kelli lives in Florida.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Margaret Margaret

The Ringmaster’s Wife by Kristy Cambron

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Litfuse in exchange for my honest review. I received no other compensation and the opinions expressed in this review are one hundred percent true and my own.

The Ringmasters Wife by Kristy Cambron was a fun book. I like that this book took place in two different locations up until the characters meet, and then you get to follow them both. I enjoyed this book because I fell in love with the characters right from the start. At times I did get bored, and when that did happen, I just book the down and came back to it later. I liked all the characters in this book and the premise of this book. If you aren’t a huge fan of historical novels than I don’t know that you would like this one but I did enjoy it. I am not a huge fan of the circus, so I didn’t like the book because of that but it was well written, and I am going to check out other books by this author in the future.

The Ringmaster's Wife by Kristy Cambron

About The Book

An ounce of courage. A split-second leap of faith. Together, they propel two young women to chase a new life—one that’s reimagined from what they might have become.

In turn-of-the-century America, a young girl dreams of a world that stretches beyond the confines of a quiet life on the family farm. With little more than her wit and a cigar box of treasures to call her own, Mable steps away from all she knows, seeking the limitless marvels of the Chicago World’s Fair. There, a chance encounter triggers her destiny—a life with a famed showman by the name of John Ringling.

A quarter of a century later, Lady Rosamund Easling of Yorkshire, England, boards a ship to America as a last adventure before her life is planned out for her. There, the twenties are roaring, and the rich and famous gather at opulent, Gatsby-esque parties in the grandest ballrooms the country has to offer. The Jazz Age has arrived, and with it, the golden era of the American circus, whose queen is none other than the enigmatic Mable Ringling.

When Rosamund’s path crosses with Mable’s and the Ringlings’ glittering world, she makes the life-altering decision to leave behind a comfortable future of estates and propriety, instead choosing the nomadic life of a trick rider in the Ringling Brothers’ circus.

A novel that is at once captivating, deeply poignant, and swirling with exquisite historical details of a bygone world, The Ringmaster’s Wife will escort readers into the center ring, with its bright lights, exotic animals, and a dazzling performance that can only be described as the greatest show on earth!

Kristy Cambron

About The Author

Kristy Cambron fancies life as a vintage-inspired storyteller. Her second novel, A Sparrow in Terezin, was named Library Journal Reviews’ “Pick of the Month (Christian Fiction)” for February 2015.

Cambron is an art/design manager at TheGROVEstory.com storytelling ministry. She holds a degree in art history from Indiana University and has nearly 15 years of experience in instructional design and communications for a Fortune-100 company. She lives in Indiana with her husband and three football-loving sons, where she can probably be bribed with a coconut mocha latte and a good Christian fiction read.

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Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2016 Margaret Margaret