Book Review

The Beautiful Pretender by Melanie Dickerson

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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 Beautiful Pretender by Melanie Dickerson was a sweet book. I did find the story predictable, but I still did love the book, and it was a nice break from some of the other books I have been reading lately. Because the stories in this series are based on fairy tales, most people will find them predictable, but I love that the books make it seem like something that could have happened. They take the characters from the stories and make them seem alive. They also brought the fairy tales alive for me because of how the books are written. I like Avelina from the start of the book, and I hoped that she would end up with Reinhart because I felt like they were perfect for each other. This book was one that I was able to sit down and read it one Sunday afternoon. This book would be perfect for teenagers and adults because of the subject matter and how well it is written. If you love fairy tales and historical fiction books than you need to check out this book because I know you will love it just like I do.

The Beautiful Pretender by Melanie Dickerson

About The Book

The Beautiful Pretender (Thomas Nelson, May 2016)

What happens when a margrave realizes he’s fallen in love with a servant?

The Margrave of Thornbeck has to find a bride, fast. He invites ten noble-born ladies from around the country to be his guests at Thornbeck Castle for two weeks, a time to test these ladies and reveal their true character.

Avelina is only responsible for two things: making sure her deception goes undetected and avoiding being selected as the margrave’s bride. Since the latter seems unlikely, she concentrates on not getting caught. No one must know she is merely a maidservant, sent by the Earl of Plimmwald to stand in for his daughter, Dorothea.

Despite Avelina’s best attempts at diverting attention from herself, the margrave has taken notice. And try as she might, she can’t deny her own growing feelings. But something else is afoot in the castle. Something sinister that could have far worse—far deadlier—consequences. Will Avelina be able to stop the evil plot? And at what cost? 

Melanie Dickerson

About The Author

Melanie Dickerson is the author of The Healer’s Apprentice, a Christy Award finalist and winner of the National Reader’s Choice Award for Best First Book. Melanie earned a bachelor’s degree in special education from the University of Alabama and has been a teacher and a missionary. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Huntsville, Alabama.

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The Beautiful Pretender Melanie Dickerson

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Daughter Of Mine by Laura Fabiani

 

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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.

Daughter Of Mine by Laura Fabiani was a slow start for me but after I was three chapters or so in I didn’t want to put the book down. At times, I found that I frustrated because I wasn’t sure how to pronounce the names of some of the characters and that always bugs me because I love to know how to say their names. This has nothing to do with the book, but it is just something that I wanted to bring up. This book did have slow parts like I said but I had to know how it all ended, so I was willing to push through. I was also intrigued because this book has to do with adoption and since I have been touched by adoption, I am always super interested in books that have something to do with adoption. All I all I did enjoy this book and I hope that the author will write more because I would love to read more books by her. I think this is a book that almost anyone would love and that everyone should check it out.

Daughter of Mine Large

About The Book

Tiziana Manoretti is an only child in her late twenties blessed with loving parents, a promising career, and a best friend who fiercely protects her. When her mother falls seriously ill and the relationship between her parents becomes suddenly strained, a carefully hidden family secret is revealed and Tiziana’s seemingly idealistic world is turned upside down. After discovering she was born in a Naples orphanage and subsequently given up for adoption, Tiziana sets out for the small town of Gaeta in an attempt to find her birth parents. Meanwhile, her best friend Christopher is sending her mixed messages, causing her to wonder if there is more to their relationship than just companionship. As she becomes intertwined with a handful of interesting characters who help her uncover her past, Tiziana needs to decide whether her feelings for Christopher are deeper than she realizes. She discovers herself and others all while her family’s resilience and love for one another is tested when confronted with a shocking truth. The answers lie in a box found in a closet in Italy, and Tiziana must determine if she wants to embrace the heartache and the pain from her past in order to learn forgiveness and find peace in the future.

Laura Fabiani

About The Author

My name is Laura Fabiani and I live in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I’m an author, book reviewer and blogger since 2009. My reading tastes vary greatly and I read both fiction and non-fiction. I review adult, YA and children’s books, since I love reading to my children. I review books for pleasure and learning. I prefer books free of profanity, explicit sex, violence or paranormal themes. I post my reviews on my blog Library of Clean Reads, Goodreads, and Amazon.

As of January 2014, I have started iRead Book Tours in collaboration with Author Marketing Experts. I now coordinate virtual book tours for authors. Find us at http://www.iReadBookTours.com.

I have a degree in Special Care Counseling and have worked as a psychiatric child counselor and as a special education technician at various institutions. I hold a diploma in Writing for Children and Teenagers and an advanced certificate in TESOL from the Canadian Institute of English. I am currently working in a community centre developing and implementing adapted programs for senior’s with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. I am married to a wonderful man, have two children and I’m trying to write my second novel. It’s a busy life!

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The Boy Next Door: Inspirational Romance Anthology (Hometown Romance)

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FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Serenade Book’s 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 Boy Next Door: Inspirational Romance Anthology (Hometown Romance) was a great collection of books. I am going to talk a little bit about each book, so you know what I think about each one. The one thing I loved about this book is that there are several stories so if one didn’t work for me I could just go on to the next story.

The Chef Next Door by Lenora Worth

I enjoyed the characters in this story. They all seemed super relatable and like they could exist in the real world. This story was predictable to me and usually when it comes to stories like that I don’t end up liking the book, but I did enjoy this story.

Reclaiming Brynn by Susan Crawford

I would have to say that this one was one of my favorites because I felt like I could relate the most to the characters. I felt like this because my biological parents were/are still drug addicts so I understand what Brynn went through. I enjoyed Garrett as well. This was a well rounded story that I can see most people enjoying.

Special Delivery: A Seaside Romance by Gayle Roper

This was an okay story just not my favorite of the bunch. I don’t have much to say about it because I didn’t enjoy the story as much as I did the others. It was well written but just not the story for me.

Autumn Skye by Kathleen Y’Barbo

I liked Autumn and this story. I didn’t find it to be the most original, but I still enjoyed it. I enjoyed the author’s style of writing, and I was a huge fan of Bonnie Sue right from the start. I am always a huge sucker for characters like her because they remind me of some of the people I took care of when I worked in a nursing home.

O Little Town of Bethany by Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay

I couldn’t get into this story, and I am not sure why. For some reason, this book was super hard for me to get into and to finish. It is ones like this one that make me glad that they are shorter than some books. I know that this book will be right for some people, but it is just one of those that didn’t work for me.

The Boy Next Door

About The Book

A collection of five contemporary romance novellas for one low price–check out these new titles from some of your favorite inspirational romance authors:

These five women aren’t looking for love, but they might find it closer than they think…maybe even right next door.

The Chef Next Door by Lenora Worth
The whole world saw Alice get fired on network TV. Now she has to go home and face her high school crush, the boy next door. Brice wants Alice in his life, no matter what it takes. But she’s been burned once…will she take a chance on him?

Reclaiming Brynn by Susan Crawford
Medical resident Brynn Harper will do anything to help an at-risk teenaged patient—even go toe to toe with the one man she’d rather forget. Her former best friend Garrett has changed his life, but how can Brynn ever trust the man who once abandoned her?

Special Delivery: A Seaside Romance by Gayle Roper
When Kelli accepts a package delivered to the wrong address, she gets a lot more than misdirected mail. She gets a mystery that brings the unexpected into her life in the form of the boy next door—and a threat they’ll only survive together.

Autumn Skye by Kathleen Y’Barbo
Autumn is good at one thing: cutting ties. But the boy next door has her thinking the impossible. Maybe for the first time ever…she should stay. If only Nate wasn’t hiding secrets of his own…

O Little Town of Bethany by Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay
Holly’s high society life leaves her empty, so she flees everything she knows and relocates to the one place she never forgot: the small town of Bethany, Georgia. Bethany is as quirky as its residents…and just what she needs. Especially as she begins to fall for the boy next door…

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Sister Eve And The Blue Nun by Lynne Hinton

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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.

Sister Eve And The Blue Nun by Lynne Hinton was interesting, to say the least. This is the third book in the series, and this is the first one I have read. You don’t have to read the other two first, but it might help, and I know I wondered from time to time what had happened before, but you don’t need to read them to understand this book.   This book has one of the unique stories I have read in a while because of the main character is a Nun and also investigates murders. The only reason I got this book is that of the fact that Eve is a Nun and rides a motorcycle, and I had to know more. I enjoyed this book because even though it is a typical mystery book I like that the Eve was different from any other main character that I have ever read about. I enjoyed this book so much so that I am going to pick up the other books in the series and read them. If you are looking for something a little different to read this summer then I would tell you to pick up this book and give it a try. If you have read it what did you think of it?

Sister Eve And The Blue Nun by Lynne Hinton

About The Book

When Sister Eve returns to the monastery, the last thing she expects there is murder.

After solving several mysteries with her father at the Divine Private Detective Agency, Sister Eve finds herself torn between her calling as a nun and the thrill that comes with detecting. She knows she’s been using her father’s health as an excuse to extend her leave of absence from the monastery, but that excuse is running thin. She prays that a return visit to the monastery for a conference on the Blue Nun will help bring clarity to her calling, but when the conference speaker is murdered, Sister Eve’s two worlds collide.

Sister Eve knows the number one suspect, the victim’s brother and monk in residence, couldn’t possibly have committed the crime, and she’s determined to find the real killer. To do so means she must track down some mysterious newly discovered writings from the Blue Nun, said to date from the 17th Century, when the sister bi-located to the New Mexico region from her home in Spain. Could these texts from long ago be the key to today’s mystery? And will they offer any guidance to Sister Eve as she chooses which calling to follow?

Lynne Hinton

About The Author

Lynne Hinton is the pastor of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. The author of numerous novels including Friendship Cake, Hope Springs, Forever Friends, Christmas Cake, and Wedding Cake, she lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

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Through The Shadows by Karen Barnett

 

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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.

Through The Shadows by Karen Barnett was another great book in The Golden Gate Chronicles series.   This is the third book in the series, and I think it may be my favorite in the series. I loved these characters, and I felt like I could relate to them more than I could the other characters. I also loved the subject of this book because it reminded me of one of my favorite author’s and her books that take place in North and South Korea and even though that this book takes place in San Francisco it reminded me of those books and I know that made me fall even more in love with this book. I could see myself acting like Elizabeth and Charles because the things that they are fighting against are also things that I would be against and try to change. This is a fantastic historical fiction book that I know just about everyone will love just as much as I do.

Through The Shadows by Karen Barnett

About The Book

The devastating earthquake is just two years past, but the city of San Francisco is still trying to recover. Destruction of this magnitude is not so easy to overcome-and neither are the past regrets shadowing Elizabeth King’s hopeful future.
Hoping to right her wrongs, Elizabeth dedicates herself to helping girls rescued from slavery in Chinatown brothels, even if it means putting her own life at risk to sneak through the gloomy alleys and rooftops where dangers lurk.
Putting her life on the line for a worthy cause is admirable. But opening her heart is even more terrifying. So when Elizabeth meets attorney, Charles McKinley–a man who dreams of reforming San Francisco’s crooked politics–Elizabeth begins to doubt: Can she maintain her pretense and hide her past? Or will her secret jeopardize both their futures?

Karen Barnett

About The Author

Karen Barnett is the author of Beyond the Ashes, Out of the Ruins, andMistaken. Named the 2013 Writer of Promise by Oregon Christian Writers, Karen lives in Albany, Oregon, with her husband and two kids. When she’s not writing novels, she loves speaking at women’s events, libraries, and book clubs.

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Hunting Hope by Nika Maples

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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.

Hunting Hope by Nika Maples was such a great book and one I was glad that I got to review.  When I first saw this book being offered to review, I didn’t sign up for it because I am not always a huge fan of books like this one.  After I got a second email asking to review the book I figured what the hell it won’t hurt me to read it.  In the end, I am so glad that I read the book because it gave me a new way to look at some of the hard things I have dealt with in my life.  This book is a smaller book but right from the first page it made me think and made me want to look at my life differently.  I also liked that this book was an easy read, and the author did a great job of making me understand what she was saying and things like that.  I think this is one book that everyone should read at some point because it can teach everyone something.

Hunting Hope by Nika Maples

About The Book

Hunting Hope: Dig Through the Darkness to Find the Light (April 2016, Worthy Inspired)

Hope is not an accident. Sometimes it has to be hunted, and hunting it takes courage.

Hope hunters know how to excavate hope from hardship. There is dirt underneath their fingernails and sweat on their shirts. They rake through the rubble of an unwanted situation, digging into difficult circumstances because they have come to expect that adversity will produce good. They believe that light always triumphs over darkness. They have learned to walk through winter with their eyes on spring.

Nika Maples became a hope hunter after suffering a massive brainstem stroke that left her quadriplegic in her twenties. Doctors warned that she had as little as 48 hours to live, and—if she lived at all—she would never walk or talk again. There was no hope on the horizon. So Nika started to hunt for it. Today, she not only walks, but she speaks to audiences everywhere about the power of hunting hope when a situation appears hopeless. She says hope remains camouflaged in the daily mundane. If we are not looking for it, we will miss it, though it is right before our eyes.

Whether you or someone you know is going through a situation that feels hopeless, you will find encouragement in Hunting Hope. Whether you are experiencing a medical trauma, a financial hardship, or a relational crisis, you will find empowerment in Hunting Hope. As you read, you will cling to 20 truths about God’s character and practice 5 daily disciplines that will develop your own character in crisis.

You will become a hope hunter.

Maybe it doesn’t matter what causes suffering in our lives as much as it matters what suffering causes in our lives. Maybe we were all meant to be hope hunters.

Nika Maples

About The Author

Nika Maples is the author of Twelve Clean Pages, the memoir of her survival of lupus and a stroke that left her quadriplegic at age 20. After learning to walk and talk again, she became a public school teacher, winning 2007 Texas Secondary Teacher of the Year. She holds an MA in English Education from Columbia University and currently is pursuing an MDIV from The King’s University. When she is not traveling to speak, she lives, writes, and laughs as much as possible in Fort Worth, Texas.

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