Merry Mary by Ashley Farley

November 5, 2015

Merry Mary by Ashley Farley was a super sweet story. This is a short book and I loved that about it. Some books that are short feel rushed and I wish that the book was longer. I loved that this one was just the right size and it didn’t feel like anything was left out or that the story was rushed because the author was trying to keep the book short. I spent the entire time hoping that Scottie didn’t get arrested and sent to jail because she took the baby when she found the mother dead. This was an amazing Christmas story and one that made me remember the reason for the season. If you love amazing Christmas stories than I know you won’t want to miss this book.

About The Book

A young woman longing for a child stumbles upon a Christmas miracle.

Investigative journalist Scottie Darden is photographing the homeless for her Lost Souls series when she makes a discovery that could change her life forever. Under a makeshift tent in subzero temperatures in a downtown city park, she finds a woman’s dead body with her infant child. Without her cell phone to call for help, Scottie makes the split-second decision to take the baby home. Her initial instinct is to provide the baby with food and shelter until her family can be located. But as her fondness for the baby grows, she finds herself facing a life on the run or worse—prison time for abduction.

Curl up with Merry Mary this holiday season. A heartwarming story of the powerful connection between a caring soul and an innocent child in need.

About The Author

Ashley Farley is a wife and mother of two college-aged children. She grew up in the salty marshes of South Carolina, but now lives in Richmond, Virginia, a city she loves for its history and traditions.

After her brother died in 1999 of an accidental overdose, she turned to writing as a way of releasing her pent-up emotions. She wrote SAVING BEN in honor of Neal, the boy she worshipped, the man she could not save. SAVING BEN is not a memoir, but a story about the special bond between siblings.

HER SISTER’S SHOES—June 24, 2015—is a women’s novel that proves the healing power of family.

Look for MERRY MARY this holiday season, a heartwarming story of the powerful connection between a caring soul and an innocent child in need.

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Birds Of Passage by Joe Giordano

October 27, 2015

Birds Of Passage by Joe Giordano was an interesting book to read. I loved following along with immigrants as they came here from Italy and the things they did once they got here. I did get bogged down in details from time to time because there were tons of characters and at times trying to keep all the characters separate was a challenge. This is a book that you have to pay super close attention when you are reading it so you don’t get lost. Even with all that being said I did enjoy this book for the most part. I did like how the author was able to make me feel like I was there with the characters and I would recommend this book to anyone who loves historical fiction.

About The Book

What turns the gentle mean and the mean brutal? The thirst for wealth? The demand for respect? Vying for a woman? Birds of Passage recalls the Italian immigration experience at the turn of the twentieth-century when New York’s streets were paved with violence and disappointment.

Leonardo Robustelli leaves Naples in 1905 to seek his fortune. Carlo Mazzi committed murder and escaped. Azzura Medina is an American of Italian parents. She’s ambitious but strictly controlled by her mother. Leonardo and Carlo vie for her affection.

Azzura, Leonardo, and Carlo confront con men, Tammany Hall politicians, the longshoreman’s union, Camorra clans, Black Hand extortion, and the Tombs prison.

About The Author

Joe Giordano was born in Brooklyn. His father and grandparents immigrated to New York from Naples. Joe and his wife, Jane have lived in Greece, Brazil, Belgium and the Netherlands. They now live in Texas with their shih tzu Sophia. Joe’s stories have appeared in more than sixty magazines including Bartleby Snopes, The Newfound Journal, and The Summerset Review.

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The Boys Of The Dixie Pig by Stacy Childs

October 20, 2015

The Boys Of The Dixie Pig by Stacy Childs was a different book than I have read before. It is always nice for those of us that read tons of books to read books that are so different from what we usually read. I love find new authors and new interesting books to read when I have a day or two to pick and read a book of my choosing. I got this book from NetGalley for free but it was one I picked and since I enjoyed the story I wanted to review it here in case anyone else is looking for a fun book to read. This book kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book and I loved that about it. I love books that make me want to keep reading them so I can find out what is going to happen and how it is going to end. If you love books that are super fast pace than I know you will love this book. I also love how this book started off at a fast past and I didn’t let up until the book was over. I think this is a book that everyone will enjoy.

About The Book

As a weapons dealer, Mack Barton has spent the last four decades running from someone scary, and now is no exception. A crime boss in Las Vegas wants to kill him because of an overdue gambling debt (one of his bad habits—another is tequila). And is it the C.I.A. blaming him if some munitions fell into the wrong hands in a Syria deal? Or the last Colombia deal?

Thinking it might help him get his mind off his troubles, Mack accepts an invitation to a reunion with his four good friends from high school – the ‘troughers’. He travels to Golden, Colorado, where he and three others are wined and dined by their mutual buddy, Ace Strain, a psychiatrist and the proprietor of a cutting edge cryonics company. Little did he know that, before all was said and done, Colombian gun runners and mob hit men would prove the least of his worries as he, and his companions face intrigue, death, romance, and the question of reincarnated sports stars, caught up in a crazy chain of kidnapping, murder and insanity.

About The Author

Dr. Childs grew up in Abilene, Texas, and went to college at Tulane University and medical school at L.S.U., both in New Orleans. He did his internship and residencies in Birmingham, Alabama, and practiced urology there for seventeen years. He and his wife moved to Cheyenne, Wyoming in 1995, where he practiced urology for nine years. His love of the mountains and skiing brought him to Steamboat Springs in May of 2004.

Dr. Childs was active in clinical research for twenty-eight years and started three research companies, one of which went public. His early interests in infection and inflammation of the urinary tract led him to the faculty of The University of Colorado in Denver where he was appointed Clinical Professor of Surgery in the division of Urology in 1999—a position which he currently holds.

He has been on various committees including chairman of the Medical School Admissions Committee for Wyoming and the Wyoming Governor’s Healthcare Commission and was a delegate to the American Medical Association. Dr. Childs is certified by The American Board of Urology and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons. He is a consulting editor to the journal Urology, and is former editor-in-chief of Issues in Urology and the urology section of Medscape, among others. He has authored three medical texts, six chapters in medical books, and published over seventy-five articles in peer-reviewed medical journals. Dr. Childs began writing fiction in 2006.

Dr. Childs was the first medical Director of Cancer Services for YVMC Yampa Valley Medical Center. He has been listed in Americas Top Doctors since the fifth edition of the organization and has been listed in Best Doctors in America every year since 2007.

In addition to practicing urology for nearly four decades, Dr. Childs enjoys ski racing, road biking, hiking, fly fishing, and rifle and hand gun target shooting. He was a torch carrier for the Salt Lake City Olympics, after which he ran two marathons in four weeks, the last one in New York. He is a prostate cancer survivor.

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Waiting For Morning by Karen Kingsbury

October 15, 2015

Waiting For Morning by Karen Kingsbury was a heart breaking story and I couldn’t stop reading because I had to know how it all worked out and how she managed to get through everything. This book also brought up feelings in myself about forgiving people for things they have done to you. If she could do this than I know I can one day forgive my parents for things that happened to me in my past. Now I know some people are think “she knows this book isn’t real, right”?!?!? I know this is a fiction story but books like this are always based on something that did happen and that is why the authors are able to make you understand what is going on and can make you understand and feel what the characters are feeling. I loved everything about this book and I can’t say enough good things about it. If you love reading books that aren’t afraid to take on serious issues that we face today than I would tell you to pick up this book and read it because I know you won’t be let down.

About The Book

“I’m afraid there’s been a car accident…”

As Hannah Ryan waits for her family to return home from a camping trip, she realizes she has everything going for her—a husband other women admire, two charming teenage daughters, and a loving Christian home. As the sunny afternoon turns into twilight, her uneasiness grows along with the shadows. Then a car pulls into Hannah’s driveway, bringing two police officers…and devastating news that shatters her life forever.

In the days that follow, Hannah struggles with unspeakable feelings of sorrow and rage—feelings that fuse into one chilling purpose for living: revenge against Brian Wesley, the drunk driver who has caused all her pain.

In her fury, Hannah shuts the Lord out of her life. She’s determined not to forgive Wesley or the God who allowed this tragedy to happen. Can two caring people help Hannah rediscover her faith…before bitterness destroys her?

About The Author

FROM AUTHOR’S WEBSITE:

USA Today and New York Times bestselling author Karen Kingsbury is America’s #1 inspirational novelist. There are more than 15 million copies of her award-winning books in print, including several million copies sold in the past year. Karen has written more than 40 novels, ten of which have hit #1 on national lists.

Karen has a true love for her readers, and she has nearly 100,000 friends on Facebook along with more than 7,500 followers on Twitter. The popular social networking sites have allowed Karen daily interaction with her reader friends.

Karen is best known for her Life-Changing Fiction (TM) and for creating unforgettable characters. When speaking before women’s groups – some with more than 10,000 in attendance – Karen makes audiences laugh and cry with her compelling story-telling. She likes to tell attendees they have, “One chance to write the story of their lives,” and her talk focuses on reminding women to live every day loving well, laughing often, and finding true life in Jesus Christ. Karen routinely speaks before more than 100,000 women each year.

Karen’s latest novel, Above the Line, Take Three, released March 23rd, 2010. Take Three is the third in the Above the Line Series. Look for the final installment in this series, Above The Line, Take Four to hit stores June 22nd, 2010. Shades of Blue, Karen’s latest stand alone title, hit stores in October, 2009. Karen’s newest series, Above The Line Series began with Take One, which released in March, 2009. The second book in this series, Take Two released in June 2009.

Karen’s recent title, This Side of Heaven landed in the #5 spot on the CBD Bestselling Fiction List. Also, Karen’s novel, Sunset landed #2 on the New York Times Best Seller’s List. Karen has also written many best selling series including The Redemption Series and the Firstborn Series. Her fiction has made her one of the country’s favorite storytellers. Several of Karen’s novels are being considered for major motion picture movies. Her emotionally gripping titles include the 9-11 Series, Even Now, Ever After, and Between Sundays.

Karen is also a public speaker, reaching more than 100,000 women annually through various national events. Karen and her husband, Don, live in the Pacific Northwest with their six children, three of whom are adopted from Haiti.

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Breathless by Becki Brannen

October 14, 2015

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from 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.

Breathless by Becki Brannen was a fun book to read. I have read several books with similar plots to this one but I still really enjoyed this story and the author’s writing. I know that from the start Ryan not being up front and honest with Carly is going to end up badly because it always does but I was still interested in reading the rest of the story because I want to know how it all worked out and how long Ryan was able to keep pretending he wasn’t famous. Even though I know the pattern that these books follow I still couldn’t stop reading until I was done with the book and I always love books like that. I can’t say enough good things about this book and I would recommend it to anyone who loves chick lit books.

About The Book

What happens when an ordinary girl meets the man of everyone’s dreams? Keeping secrets is never easy, especially since Ryan Spalding is on the cover of every magazine and this year’s “Hottest Hunk under 30.” Good thing busy lawyer Carly Sparks is so out of the loop when it comes to celebrity affairs, or she’d realize she was in one! Leading man Ryan Spalding tempts Carly Sparks in ways she’s only ever seen in the movies. She’s drifted away from a promise she made to God as a teenager, but Carly must rely on her faith when her relationship with Ryan is put to the test. Will it be enough to keep them together, or will theirs be just another failed Hollywood romance?

About The Author

Becki Brannen is a thirty-something writer born and raised in the heart of Georgia. Her debut novel, Breathless, is the result of NaNoWriMo 2011, having been written in just twenty-nine days. Becki primarily writes “chick lit with a Christian twist,” marrying one of her favorite genres with her Christian faith. Her life verses are Jeremiah 29:11 and Isaiah 41:10. Becki and her husband have twin daughters and a poodle, Sophie.

Visit http://beckibrannen.weebly.com or find Becki on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/beckibrannen.author

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Drachen by Brendan Le Grange

October 9, 2015

A Marine Treasure-Hunting Thriller. Brett Rivera has spent three years searching for the Drachen, a sunken ship. The day she finds it is the day her life changes: there is no sign of its legendary treasure and now a cold-blooded killer is hunting her…A shipwreck. A lost treasure. A hell of a race from one to the other.

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About the author:

Brendan le Grange was born and educated in South Africa, though he now lives between Manila and Hong Kong with his beautiful wife and daughter.

As a business consultant, he has travelled to forty countries and lived in three. And it is reading binges to break up these transits – with the likes of Clive Cussler and Jack du Brul – that inspired the writer to emerge, bringing to life the cities, characters, and history he encountered.

Le Grange’s debut action thriller, Drachen, is a wild chase through North Europe along the Baltic coast. Based on a reimagined history of the medieval Hanseatic League, a young marine archaeologist discovers evidence of a treasure so valuable, it will test every allegiance.

Follow the author on Twitter and Goodreads. You can also connect on Literary Addicts.

The World As I See It

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