Contemporary Fiction

Love’s a Stage by Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay

Book Review

Love’s a Stage by Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay was a sweet love story.  I loved this book because it was super sweet and not only that but it was a shorter book and I love reading shorter books in between some of the more intense books that I have been reading and reviewing lately.  I can’t say enough great things about this story.  This is the first book I have read by either of these authors and I can’t wait to read more by them because they did a great job of making fall in love with both of the characters and the entire story.  If you love romance novels than you don’t want to miss this story.

Love's a Stage by Rene Gutteridge & Cheryl McKay

About The Book

Grad student and future marriage counselor Aly Brewster had a perfect childhood with perfect parents. Now she’s heading into her own perfect life: Finish her Master’s. Build a successful practice. Husband at twenty-six. But when her parents blindside her with the news they’re getting divorced, her perfect world shatters.

Actor Nick Armstrong has been in love with Aly since they met during freshman year. He’s happy to accept his assigned place in her Friend Zone because it lets him be close to her. But it’s been over five years—time to move on. Then the usually-unflappable Aly comes to him begging for help to save her parents’ marriage. Nick has the perfect plan: fake an engagement to each other to inspire her parents to fight to save their marriage. And who knows? It might trigger Aly’s feelings for him. But when Aly takes the ruse to the next level—planning a wedding in her parents’ backyard and hiring additional actors to play his family—enough is enough!

As the lines between acting and reality grow decidedly blurred, these two improvised fiancés must decide: are they going to finish the play…or exit stage right. Alone.

About The Authors

71KJdbrNNHL._UX250_

Rene Gutteridge

Rene Gutteridge is the author of eighteen novels, including Escapement, Possession, Listen, Never the Bride (2011 Carol Award Winner), The Boo Series, The Storm Series, The Occupational Hazards Series and My Life as a Doormat, a Women of Faith selection for 2006. She has a degree in Mass Communications with an emphasis in screenwriting and twenty years of experience writing, directing and publishing comedy sketches. She writes in both comedy and suspense genres. Her upcoming releases from Tyndale House Publishers: Heart of the Country, Misery Loves Company and Old Fashioned. From B&H Publishers: Greetings from the Flipside co-written with Cheryl McKay.

71dpWdyqO4L._UX250_

Cheryl McKay

Cheryl McKay has been professionally writing since 1997. Cheryl wrote the screenplay for The Ultimate Gift, based on Jim Stovall’s novel. The award-winning film stars James Garner, Brian Dennehy, and Abigail Breslin and was released in theaters by Fox in 2007. Cheryl also wrote the DVD for Gigi: God’s Little Princess, another book adaptation based on the book by Sheila Walsh, as well as the Wild and Wacky, Totally True Bible Stories audio series and books with Frank Peretti. Her screenplay, Never the Bride, has been adapted into a novel for Random House Publishers and was released in June 2009. She also released Finally the Bride: Finding Hope While Waiting, the non-fiction version of Never the Bride. She penned the film script for “A Friend for Maddie”. She recently released her autobiography, Finally Fearless: Journey from Panic to Peace. Cheryl and her husband live in Los Angeles.

Visit her website: http://www.purplepenworks.com or the ministry she runs with her husband, finallyone.com

Buy Your Own Copy

FTC3

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

A Wedding At The Orange Blossom Inn by Shelley Shepard Gray

Book Review

A Wedding At The Orange Blossom Inn by Shelley Shepard Gray was great book the series.  I love that you don’t have to read all the books in order because there are times when you are just interested in one of the books.  I am never let down by the books that Shelley writes and this one was another amazing book.  I think the two main characters in this book are two of my favorite characters because I feel like these are two of the most relatable.  I had to laugh at the crazy things that Frankie did  throughout the book because I could total see a beagle doing those things.  If you love Amish fiction I would recommend this book as long as this author.

A Wedding At The Orange Blossom Inn by Shelley Shepard Gray

About The Book

A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn (Avon Inspire, September 2015)

A wedding brings together two young widowed parents . . . and gives them a second chance at love.

Emma Keim was heartbroken when her husband, Sanford, passed away, leaving her to raise three young daughters alone. Though several years have passed, her relatives have made it no secret that they expect Emma to remain a widow, mourning Sanford indefinitely. But when she meets Jay Hilty—a handsome widower with three young sons of his own—Emma is delighted to have a new friend who understands her struggles. Still, she is dismayed that her family is so opposed to their friendship—and the idea of it ever becoming anything more. She honors her husband’s memory every day, but is she destined to be alone forever?

Emma’s gentleness with Jay’s boys stirs something in his heart that’s been quiet for far too long. But when his oldest son becomes engaged to a local woman, suddenly Jay, Emma, and their children are swept up in wedding preparations. Witnessing his son’s joy, Jay wonders if it’s time for him to move forward, too, and find happiness again.

Once again, love has come to Pinecraft. But can these two parties of four become a happy, healthy family of eight?

Shelley Shepard Gray

About The Author

Shelley Shepard Gray is a two-time New York Times bestseller, a two-time USA Today bestseller, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time Holt Medallion winner. She lives in Southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.

Find Shelley online: website, Facebook, Twitter

Buy Your Own Copy

Add On Goodreads

FTC3

 

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

Welcome, Reluctant Stranger by E Journey

iRead Book Tour Logo Medium

Welcome, Reluctant Stranger by E Journey is the last book in the “Between Two Worlds” series.  I have to say that this was my least favorite book in the series and I am not sure why.  I just didn’t feel like I could connect with these characters as well as  I did with the other characters in the first two books.  There were also places where this book didn’t seem to flow as well.  Now with all that being said I did still like this book.  I like that you don’t have to read all the books to know what is going on.  If you love romance novels than I would check out this series because even though I liked the first two books more than this one I would still recommend the entire series to you.

Welcome, Reluctant Stranger!

About The Book

Frantic flight, peaceful life. Act of treason on an island country. Cauldron of warring emotions. Exotic beauty, ace with a gun. Hunk with gifts for mockery and cooking.

Nine-year-old Leilani and her family mysteriously flee the island country of Costa Mora, leaving her father. Years later, her peaceful solitary life in California ends when she rescues Justin Halverson from thugs and she learns a devastating truth about her father. As she agonizes over her father, Justin comforts her, and they’re drawn closer together.

With Justin, she returns to her birthplace to get her father quietly out. There, she reconnects with her past, but can she forgive her father and accept him for who he is? Can she finally be at peace with who she is? Welcome, Reluctant Stranger interweaves a love story into a tale of past political intrigue and Leilani’s inner journey, accepting her past.

EJourney

About The Author

EJourney is a realist who thinks she has little imagination. Credit that to her training (Ph. D., University of Illinois) and work in mental health, writing for academics and bureaucrats, and critiquing the work of others. She’s been striving ever since to think and write like normal people.

She’s a well-traveled flâneuse—a female observer-wanderer—who watches, observes, listens. And writes. A sucker for happy endings, she finds enough that depresses her about real life, but seeks no catharsis by writing about it. For her, writing is escape, entertainment. She doesn’t strive to enlighten. Not deliberately. But the bias of her old profession does carry over into her writing. So, instead of broad shoulders and heaving bosoms, she goes into protagonists’ thoughts, emotions, inner conflicts, insecurities, and struggles to reach balance and grow.

 

Buy Your Own Copy

Amazon

FTC3

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

The Photograph by Beverly Lewis

Book Review

The Photograph by Beverly Lewis was a great Amish fiction story.  I love fiction stories about the Amish and this book didn’t let me down in the least.  This is the first book that I have read by this author and I can’t wait to check out more of her books.  Anyway let’s get on to my review of this book.  I loved all the characters and the setting of this book.  It is always refreshing to read this books because you don’t have to worry about what might happen in the books because they are always clean and they are also up lifting.  This book was all of those things and so much more.  If you love Amish fiction than I know you will this book.

The Photograph by Beverly Lewis

About The Book

Eva Esch and her sisters are in a predicament. With the passing of their widowed mother, Eva’s older brother plans to move his growing family into the Eden Valley farmhouse where they all grew up, leaving little room for his three single sisters. Unless they marry within the year, the only apparent option is for two sisters to go to Indiana to live with an elderly great aunt. Eva hopes to be married, but she isn’t sure she wants to give up her sweet shop for the life of a farmer’s wife. And she can’t see how her prospects would be any better in Indiana.

When younger sister Lily disappears in the night, leaving only a brief note, Eva fears she has been wooed away from the People by an outsider. And when Jed Stutzman, a young Amish buggy maker from Ohio, shows up at Eva’s market stand in Lancaster with a photo of a Plain young woman, Eva’s world begins to tilt.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

About The Author

Beverly Lewis, raised in Pennsylvania Amish country and both a schoolteacher and an accomplished musician, has been an award-winning author for over a dozen years. Her acclaimed novel, The Preacher’s Daughter, was a 2006 Quill Book Award finalist in the romance category. Her books have appeared on numerous bestseller lists, including USA Today and The New York Times. She and her husband, David, live in Colorado.”

Buy Your Own Copy

FTC3

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

When Girlfriends Find Love by Savannah Page

when girlfriends find love button

When Girlfriends Find Love by Savannah Page was a good book to read.  I have come to realize that chick-lit books are my guilty pleasure genre  I love that this author kept me wanting to know what was going to happen next even when you aren’t a huge fan of the genre of the  book.  I really did like the characters and the plot of this book.  The author did a great job of grabbing & holding my attention throughout this book.  There were a few slow spots but not so slow that I wanted to stop reading.  If you love romance novels than I know this is a book you need to add to your to be read list.

when girlfriends find love

About The Book

Sophie Wharton is in control. Whether life is going according to plan or throwing her for a loop, Sophie is determined to remain calm and in charge. It’s no wonder she’s the successful owner of one of Seattle’s most charming cafés, The Cup and the Cake. Her lemon meringue cupcakes, petite French treats, and cappuccinos always leave customers coming back for more. Naturally, her camaraderie of college girlfriends are still thick as thieves a decade later. And it should come as no surprise that she has her own cozy apartment in the hip part of town and grand goals for her future.

Of course Sophie has had her share of rough times, and recently some unexpected surprises have emerged. Her best friend Claire has moved across the state, the demands of her café are mounting, and some major changes among her circle of friends are shaking things up. But it’s nothing Sophie can’t handle.

When it comes to her love life, however, Single Sophie’s at a loss. She approaches it the way she does nearly everything in life–by trying to call all the shots. But love doesn’t work that way, and as Sophie examines her past relationships–thinking back on romantic trysts in Paris; college mistakes; the relationship responsible for the Year of Heartbreak–she must come to accept that love is an unpredictable, untamable, and often unexpected force.

This is the witty and heartwarming conclusion of the When Girlfriends collection, a novel about examining the past, moving forward, and following your heart. It’s a story about friendship, relationships, acceptance, and learning to love again. About what happens when girlfriends find love.

savannah page

About The Author

Savannah Page is the author of the seven-novel When Girlfriends collection, heartfelt women’s fiction that celebrates friendship, love, and life sprinkled with drama and humor. When she isn’t writing, Savannah enjoys a good book with a latte and jazz tunes, Pilates, and exploring her home of Berlin as an American expat.

Buy Your Own Copy

Amazon

Amazon UK


Excerpt

(more…)

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

Hello, Agnieszka by E Journey

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.

iRead Book Tour Logo Medium

Hello, Agnieszka by E Journey was a great addition to the first book in the series.  If you happened to miss my review on the first book you can click here to check it out but you don’t have to read these books in order.  You can read them in any order that you want to.  I have really fallen in love with this authors style of writing and with the characters in both of the books.  There is something that I can’t put my finger on that keeps me coming back and not wanting to put the books down.  This book takes place in the 70’s so I could be considered an historical romance for those of us that are younger but I don’t think of it that way.  I did like the characters in this book but I think in the long run still like the characters from the first story.  If you are looking for a great romance novel than you should check this one out.

hello agnieszka ebook_72

About The Book

A raw tale of early love, rivalry and betrayal. Her oldest son’s suicide attempt shocks the Halversons and forces Agnieszka to reveal a past she has kept from her children.

Passion for music. Hearing her talented, irrepressible grandaunt Jola, a concert pianist in Poland, give a piano recital, young Agnieszka discovers a passion for music. Jola hones her talent and feeds her dreams.

Shattered dreams. Real-world problems, thorny relations with a mother tied to her roots and betrayal by Jola shatter her dreams.

A 70s love story. Agnieszka falls in love, but fate deals her first love a death blow. She rises from the losses she has suffered and gets a second chance at happiness.

A mother’s youthful dreams thwarted and renewed, amidst the exciting promise of the 70s.

About The Author

EJourney is a realist who thinks she has little imagination. Credit that to her training (Ph. D., University of Illinois) and work in mental health, writing for academics and bureaucrats, and critiquing the work of others. She’s been striving ever since to think and write like normal people.

She’s a well-traveled flâneuse—a female observer-wanderer—who watches, observes, listens. And writes. A sucker for happy endings, she finds enough that depresses her about real life, but seeks no catharsis by writing about it. For her, writing is escape, entertainment. She doesn’t strive to enlighten. Not deliberately. But the bias of her old profession does carry over into her writing. So, instead of broad shoulders and heaving bosoms, she goes into protagonists’ thoughts, emotions, inner conflicts, insecurities, and struggles to reach balance and grow.

Connect with the Author: Website Twitter Facebook

Buy Your Own Copy

Amazon

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret