Contemporary Fiction

Balm of Gilead by Adina Senft

Book Review

Balm of Gilead by Adina Senft was a good Amish fiction book to read.  This is the 3rd book in the series and I didn’t read the first two and I was able to figure out what was going on for the most part.  That being said you can read this one first but if it were me I would start from the start because there were parts of the story that I wished I knew the back story but I was still able to read this book and not get too lost.  I really enjoyed this book it was a little slow during certain parts but not so slow that I wanted to put the book down and not come back to it.  If you love Amish fiction than I would for sure recommend this book to you.

Balm of Gilead

About The Book

The third installment in the Healing Grace series finds young Amish widow Sarah Yoder facing her greatest challenge–herself. Sarah hasn’t seen Henry Byler since he became engaged to an Englisch woman, which is best for her peace of mind. She’s busy with her family: welcoming her son back from the ranch in Colorado, finding a husband for her sister-in-law, and making the teas and tinctures that heal the members of her church. Then Henry seeks her out, desperate for a balm for his hands before his success as a potter is jeopardized, and Sarah has to call on every ounce of strength to deny the cry of her heart. Yet there is someone who just might have a special cure in mind–a healing balm with the power to change everything. But with Henry’s wedding only days away, is it already too late?

About The Author

Adina Senft grew up in a plain house church, where she was often asked by outsiders if she was Amish (the answer was no), she made her own clothes, and she perfected the art of the French braid. She holds an M.F.A. in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University in Pennsylvania, where she teaches as adjunct faculty.

Writing as Shelley Bates, she was the winner of RWA’s RITA Award for Best Inspirational Novel in 2005, a finalist for that award in 2006, and, writing as Shelley Adina, was a Christy Award finalist in 2009. Three of her books have shortlisted for the American Christian Fiction Writers’ Carol Award for book of the year. Of her fiction, publisher and industry blogger W. Terry Whalin has said, “Readers will be lost in the vivid world that [she] paints with incredible detail and masterful storytelling.”

A transplanted Canadian, Adina returns there annually to have her accent calibrated. Between books, she enjoys traveling with her husband, playing the piano and Celtic harp, and spoiling her flock of rescued chickens. These days, she makes period costumes and only puts up her hair for historical events and fun.

Buy Your Own Copy

FTC3

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Beth K. Vogt

Book Review

Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Beth K. Vogt was a fun book to read.  The one thing that stuck with me throughout the entire book is how much didn’t like Ted.  There wasn’t any point in this book where I liked him and how he acted.  At first I wasn’t a huge fan of Vanessa because of how she let Ted talk her into something that she didn’t want but after I was a few chapters in I really did start to like her.  The one character that I loved from the first time he showed up was Logan and to be honest is the reason I kept reading in the beginning.  I do love this authors style of writing and I have read a couple of other books by her and she has never let me down.  I loved how this book end and I can’t wait to read more books in this series.

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

About The Book

Crazy Little Thing Called Love: A Destination Wedding Novel(Howard, June 2015)

Wedding bells and storm clouds collide in the first engaging novel in a brand-new series about destination weddings, the power of love, and the possible mishaps and missteps that happen on a couple’s journey down the aisle to “I do.”

Paramedic Vanessa Hollister has put her adolescence behind her, including the unwanted label of being the new kid in town over and over again, thanks to her father’s military career. She’s overcome what her mother called “the biggest mistake of her life” and is planning an elegant destination wedding in Destin, Florida with her new fiancé. But will the reappearance of her first husband from her what-were-you-thinking teenage elopement disrupt her dream of an idyllic beach wedding?

As a professional storm chaser, Logan Hollister is used to taking risks. However, a reckless decision during the last tornado season has him questioning the future of his team, the Stormmeisters. Coming face to face with his ex-wife eight years after their divorce compels him to confront his greatest regret: losing Vanessa. Does their past give him the right to interfere with her future?

A fast-moving, powerful hurricane throws Vanessa and Logan together as they evacuate to a storm shelter along with other residents of the Florida Gulf Coast. Forced to spend time together, the pair battles unexpected renewed feelings for each other.

Vanessa and Logan are faced with a choice: Should they accept, once and for all, their teenage marital mistake? Or is God offering them a second chance at happily ever after?

Beth K. Vogt

About The Author

Beth K. Vogt believes God’s best often waits behind the doors marked “Never.” A 2015 RITA® Finalist and a 2014 Carol Award finalist, Beth is a contemporary romance novelist with Howard Books. Her 2014 novel, Somebody Like You, was one of Publisher’s Weekly’s Best Books of 2014. In 2015 she introduced her destination wedding series with both an e-novella, Can’t Buy Me Love, (May) and a novel, Crazy Little Thing Called Love(June).

 

Buy Your Own Copy

FTC3

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

Two Hearts by James Eric Richey

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

Two Hearts by James Eric Richey was an okay book to read.  This was hard for me to get into and I don’t know that I ever really got into it.  I felt like some parts of the book were rushed and other parts were super long and could have been cut down.  With all the being said I still enjoyed the characters and the setting of the book.  I loved following along with Jaxon & Annie as they grew up and that things that they went through as a married couple.  I really did like Annie and felt bad for her because of the things that her mother told her about men.  If I am being honest I wasn’t a huge fan  Jaxon through parts of the  book but in the end I like him more than I hated him.  If you are looking for a romance novel that is more like something that could happen in real life I would for sure recommend this book to you.
perf5.250x8.000.indd

About The Book

Jaxon Tagget is a cattle-rancher’s son, born and raised on the Double T, just outside of Dillon, Montana. In love with his high-school sweetheart, Annie, Jaxon proposes on graduation night, presenting her with a wedding ring made from gold he mined himself. Annie accepts immediately, to the horror of her bitter, man-hating mother.

Jaxon’s a wonderful husband, but the warnings of Annie’s mother linger in the young bride’s ears. And it doesn’t help that women continue to fall all over the markedly handsome Jaxon.

Unaware of his wife’s persistent doubts, Jaxon is struggling with his own troubles when he finds out his dad is sorely in need of money to save the ranch. But hope glimmers gold when he rediscovers the old mine on the Double T.

While Jaxon travels to verify the mine’s productivity, Annie grows increasingly suspicious. Is Jaxon’s absence what it seems, or does he have another, less faithful reason for his travels? When Annie sees a picture of the beautiful laboratory owner whom Jaxon is visiting, she’s sure the only gold he’s interested in is long, blond hair. Is Annie right, or will it be her doubts that forever sever their Two Hearts?

James Richey

About The Author

James Eric Richey was born and raised in California. He attended Brigham Young University, studying English with an emphasis in Literature. After graduating from BYU he returned home to California to further his education by attending law school. After passing the bar, James practiced in California for several years, but he quickly learned that he did not have a passion for the law.

In 1998 James obtained his real estate appraiser license, which has given him a flexible work schedule and allowed him to pursue his true passion, writing books. Besides his writing, he also enjoys reading, running, and sailing. James currently lives in Cheyenne, Wyoming, with his wife, Heather, and their two daughters.

 

Buy Your Own Copy

Amazon


Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

Summer At Sea by Beth Labonte

Book Review

Summer At Sea by Beth Labonte was a fun story.  From the first page I was hooked and didn’t want to put the book down.  I really loved Summer throughout the entire story and her parents always made me laugh because of how they acted.  I also could see my grandparents acting like her parents do and I loved it.  I loved that this book kept me smiling throughout the entire book and it was a nice change from some of the books that I have been reading lately.  I really can’t say anything bad about this book because it was such a great summer read and something that I think everyone would enjoy.

Summer At Sea by Beth Labonte

About The Book

Four jackets of varying weights, enough socks for the entire Confederate Army, three umbrellas, most of the antacid aisle from the local pharmacy, and six pairs of old people sneakers that all look exactly the same.

Have you ever helped your parents pack for a weeklong cruise?

No? I didn’t think so. So shut it.

So begins vacation for Summer Hartwell – twenty-six years old, living with her anxiety-ridden parents, and unwillingly booked by her brother on a weeklong cruise to Bermuda. Despite the nightmare of being trapped aboard a cruise ship with Mom and Dad, Summer sees a rare opportunity to fulfill The Prophecy – her mother’s declaration that she will live at home until she gets married. With two thousand passengers onboard, at least one of them must be husband material, right?

The only problem is Graham Blenderman – her brother’s best friend who is joining them for the week, in all of his tall, blonde, extroverted glory. Graham doesn’t believe Summer needs a husband in order to break free from her parents. He thinks she just needs a little bit of nerve. And to Summer’s introverted horror, he’s willing to spend the entire week proving that he’s right.

Beth Labonte

About The Author

Beth Labonte was born in Salem, Massachusetts and received a B.A. in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2001. Currently working as an Administrative Assistant, she has taken to writing as her creative outlet in an excruciatingly mundane corporate world. Beth resides outside of Worcester, Massachusetts with her husband, son, and two cats. Visit her author website at http://www.bethlabonte.com or her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/bethlabontebooks

Buy Your Own Copy

FTC3

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

Getting It Right The Second Time Around by Jennifer Frank

Book Review

Getting It Right The Second Time Around by Jennifer Frank was a great book.  I loved the characters in this book.  I just smiled when they were reading Alison’s aunts will.  I have to wonder if people actually do things like this because I think it is a great idea and something I may do when I am older.  Anyway I loved everything about this book and I think it helped that I have a cat named Elinor so I instantly love her.  I loved reading as Alison gets her second chance and get to re-do things.   I am sitting here thinking about this book and trying to write this review I just keep thinking about how much I love aunt Elinor and how I wished she had been around more during this story.  I loved this book and I can’t wait to read more stories by this author in the future.

25313620

About The Book

If you had a chance to do over your biggest regret, would you take it? When Alison learns the terms of her aunt’s will require that she reverse her life and take the road she rejected six years ago, she has to determine if she can trust herself to make the right decision or if she will be pressured once again to allow someone else to choose for her.

Alison lives a comfortable, safe, life advocating for women at the domestic violence shelter where she works and being bossed around by her cat. When her dynamic Aunt Elinor decides to tie Alison’s inheritance to successfully completing law school, Alison confronts the past that led her to choose love over the law – and lose at both.

As Alison battles through law school admissions, the challenges mount both personally and professionally. Will she sacrifice her dreams again to satisfy her new love, Ryan, and her Aunt Elinor?

Jennifer Frank

About The Author

Physician by Day…Writer by Night. My love of writing grew out of the many meaningful moments I’ve shared with patients – some joyful, often emotional, always special. My initial essays, appearing in medical journals and literary magazines, allowed me to work through the ups and downs of a medical life.

As an avid reader, I adore a great story. Eventually, I decided to create my own. Not a planful writer, instead my story develops as I write, so I am often as engrossed with what will happen next as if I was reading a book created by someone else. My characters are my favorite part of any story I write. Too bad I will never meet them in real life!

When I’m not stamping out disease or coaxing patients to eat their veggies and not composing the next scene, I am kept busy with my four crazy nutballs – my children and my wonderful and supportive husband.

Buy Your Own Copy

FTC3

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret

The Bookshop Hotel by A. K. Klemm

Book Review

The Bookshop Hotel by A. K. Klemm was a very uplifting story to read.  I loved how AJ used the talents of people in the town to help build her bookstore and also re-invent the town.  I love how she would put ideas in peoples heads and once they thought about them for awhile they would do what she suggested.  This was another short story which I loved because they are something that I can get through in a day and with everything going on right now that is perfect.  I can’t say enough great things about this story and this author.  If you love sweet short stories I would tell you to check out this book because it was amazing!

The Bookshop Hotel

About The Book

After returning to her hometown of Lily Hollow, AJ Rhys sets to fulfilling her childhood dream of restoring the old hotel on Aspen Court. With nothing but the legacy of her great grandfather and the help of two dedicated strangers, AJ begins transforming the once grand hotel into her ideal bookshop and refuge. Only after the renovations are in full swing does it become apparent that the hotel is having an effect on the town and everyone in it. The memory of a past that still haunts both AJ and Lily Hollow finally begins to release its grip as the Bookshop Hotel becomes the tie that binds its patrons together. A story of family, tragedy, forgiveness and the power of books, The Bookshop Hotel is an intriguing introduction to the residents of a small town where the past is never far away and secrets remain just below the surface.

A.K. Klemm

About The Author

A.K. Klemm is an avid book blogger and event coordinator. She lives with her husband, daughter, and three hounds in Spring, Texas. The Bookshop Hotel is an ode to her years spent shelving fiction and creating displays at Half Price Books in Humble, as well as to one of her favorite stores called Good Books in the Woods located in the Spring/Woodlands area.

Buy Your Own Copy

Add On Goodreads

FTC3

Digiprove sealCopyright secured by Digiprove © 2015 Margaret Margaret