Kiss The Bride by Melissa McClone, Robin Lee Hatcher, & Kathryn Springer

August 10, 2016

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

Kiss The Bride by Melissa McClone, Robin Lee Hatcher, & Kathryn Springer were sweet stories. I am going to talk about each of the three stories in this book. I do want to say that I want to get all the other books in this series and read them. I have enjoyed reading Christian romance novels lately so I am sure that I will love the other books in this series as well. Let’s get on to my thoughts on the three stories in this book.

Picture Perfect by Melissa McClone

I reviewed this story a year ago so you can click here to check out my review of this story. If you don’t want to look at that post, I did enjoy this story, and I can’t wait to read other books by this author because I enjoy her writing.

I Hope You Dance by Robin Lee Hatcher

I am a huge fan of Robin’s books, so I was sure that I would enjoy this book, and I was right. It wasn’t my favorite in this book, but it was a super sweet story. I like the characters in this story, and I did find this book was relatable, and it seemed like the characters could be real people.

Love on A Deadline by Kathryn Springer

If I had to pick one story that I enjoyed the most out of this book, it would be this one. I felt like I was able to connect the most with Mac in this story. I also think that Ethan was my favorite character in all three stories. I have read other books by this author, and I have liked them as well. I loved this book because I felt like the premise of the story was the most believable and if you wanted only to read one of the stories in this book I would tell you to read this one.

About The Book

Meet the people who make it all happen—the planners, the photographers, the musicians who have helped orchestrate the perfect day for countless couples—as they find their own happy endings in the second Year of Weddings novella collection.

Picture Perfect Love: A June Wedding Story by Melissa McClone

When image becomes everything, it’s up to love to refocus the heart.

Photographer Jenna Harrison wants every bride and groom to look picture perfect on their special day. But her own heart is still broken, the unworn wedding dress hanging in her closet a reminder that relationships aren’t always as perfect as they look through her camera lens.

Attorney Ashton Vance is the one that got away, but he wrongly blamed Jenna for ruining his political aspirations. Even if Jenna can forgive him, dare he hope for a second chance at her love?

I Hope You Dance: A July Wedding Story by Robin Lee Hatcher

Can two left feet lead to one perfect romance?

Grant Nichols is a genius in the kitchen and a klutz on the dance floor. But his friend’s wedding is shaping up to be a shindig the likes of which Kings Meadow has never seen—including dancing. Lots of dancing.

Former rodeo queen Skye Foster is offering dance lessons for the wedding party. Grant and Skye are no match on paper. But when they step onto the dance floor, they create a melody all their own.

Love on a Deadline: An August Wedding Story by Kathryn Springer

MacKenzie “Mac” Davis returns to her hometown of Red Leaf, Wisconsin, and takes a job at the weekly newspaper writing about social events.

When Hollis Channing, Mac’s high school nemesis, returns to Red Leaf to marry her celebrity fiancé, the editor asks Mac to cover all the festivities for the newspaper. The last thing Mac wants to do is reconnect with the person who made her life miserable when she was a teenager . . . unless it’s spending time with Ethan Channing, the bride’s older brother—and Mac’s first crush.

About The Author’s

Melissa McClone

I live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband, two daughters, son, dog and too many cats! I write “sweeter” contemporary romance novels for Harlequin and Tule Publishing.

Robin Lee Hatcher

Robin Lee Hatcher discovered her vocation as a novelist after many years of reading everything she could put her hands on, including the backs of cereal boxes and ketchup bottles. Recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from both American Christian Fiction Writers and Romance Writer of America and the winner of the Christy Award for Excellence in Christian Fiction, the RITA Award for Best Inspirational Romance, and numerous other awards and recognitions, Robin is the author of over 75 novels/novellas. Her books have been translated into Dutch, French, and Chinese (to name a few).

Robin enjoys being with her family, spending time in the beautiful Idaho outdoors, reading books that make her cry, and watching romantic movies. She and her husband make their home outside of Boise, sharing it with Poppet the high-maintenance Papillon and Pinky the feline terror. Join her on her Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/robinleehatcher) and/or Twitter and/or her website & blog.

Note from Robin: I schedule Goodreads giveaways every month. If you’re interested in my books, please “Follow” me so that you’ll be notified of my giveaways when they occur. Also, the list of my books includes those novels published in the general mass market in 1999 and prior. All of those books are out of print and no longer recommended.

Kathryn Springer

Kathryn Springer, winner of the 2007 Write Touch Reader’s Award (long contemporary), grew up in a small town in northern Wisconsin, where her parents published a weekly newspaper. As a child, she spent many hours sitting at her mother’s typewriter, plunking out stories, and credits her parents for instilling in her a love of books – which eventually turned into a desire to tell stories of her own.

After a number of busy years, when she married her college sweetheart and became a stay-at-home mom, Kathryn rediscovered her love for writing. An unexpected snow day from school became the inspiration for a short story, which she submitted to Brio magazine. She went on to publish over a dozen more short stories for Brio, but it wasn’t until her youngest child started school that she decided to pursue her dream to write a novel. In August 2004, her Love Inspired® debut novel, Tested by Fire, was published.

Encouraging women in their faith journey is the reason Kathryn loves to write inspirational fiction. She hosts a women’s Bible study in her home and volunteers in a local MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) ministry. When she isn’t at the computer, you’ll find her curled up with a good book, spending time with family and friends or walking on the trails near her country home.

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The Mask by Taylor Stevens

August 9, 2016

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Blogging For Books 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 Mask by Taylor Stevens wasn’t the best book I have read lately. I struggled with getting into this book. I had a hard time when it came to finishing the book because right from the start of this book I just couldn’t seem to get interested in what was going on. This book is the typical book that I usually love but like I said I struggled with this book. I just couldn’t get into the story, and I wasn’t a fan of any of the characters in this book. I want to check out other books by this author because I want to know if it just was this book that I didn’t like or if it is the author that I didn’t like. If you like mystery books than I would say to check this out and see if it is something that you would like, but it just wasn’t the right fit for me.

About The Book

Vanessa Michael Munroe, chameleon and information hunter, has a reputation for getting things done: dangerous and not quite legal things that have taken her undercover into some of the world’s deadliest places. Still healing from a Somali hijacking gone wrong and a brutal attack that left her near death, Munroe joins her lover, Miles Bradford, in Japan where he’s working as a security consultant protecting high-value technology from industrial espionage. In the domesticity of their routine she finds long sought-after peace—until Bradford is arrested for murder, and the same interests who targeted him come after her, too.
Searching for answers and fighting to stay alive, Munroe will soon discover how far she’ll go to save Bradford from spending the next twenty years in locked-up isolation; how many laws she’ll break when the truth seems worse than his lies; and who to trust and who she must kill. Because she’s a strategist and hunter with a predator’s instincts, and the man she loves has just stabbed her in the back.

About The Author

TAYLOR STEVENS is the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of the critically acclaimed Vanessa Michael Munroe series. Published in over twenty languages and optioned for film by James Cameron’s production company, Lightstorm Entertainment, the books are international boots-on-the-ground thrillers featuring a mercenary information hunter in a non-testosterone mix of Jason Bourne and Jack Reacher.

Stevens came to writing fiction late. Born into an apocalyptic cult, separated from her family at age twelve and denied an education beyond sixth grade, she lived on three continents and in a dozen countries before she turned fourteen. In place of schooling, the majority of her adolescence was spent begging on city streets at the behest of cult leaders, or as a worker bee child caring for the many younger commune children, washing laundry, and cooking meals for hundreds at a time. In her twenties, Stevens broke free in order to follow hope and a vague idea of what possibilities lay beyond.

In addition to writing novels, Stevens shares extensively about the mechanics of storytelling, writing, overcoming adversity, and the details of her journey into publishing at http://www.taylorstevensbooks.com/con… – she welcomes you to join her.

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Fetching Sweetness by Dana Mentink

August 5, 2016

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.

Fetching Sweetness by Dana Mentink was a super sweet story. I read this book in about a day because it is a shorter book and it was also an easy read. I did find that I was able to predict what was going to happen throughout most of the book, but that didn’t bother me because I liked the characters in this book. I loved all the crazy things that Sweetness would do throughout the entire book. I am a huge animal lover so when it comes to animals in books they usually end up being my favorite characters in the book. I couldn’t help but laugh at all the animals that Sweetness would bring home with him. My favorite would have to be the first cat he brought home because I could see my cat freaking out if a dog carried her home with him. If you are looking for a light-hearted summer read, I tell you to check out this book because it will leave you smiling. This is also a great book for any animals lovers out there as well.

About The Book

Standing Between Stephanie and Her Dream
Is One Hundred Pounds of Lovable Trouble

It should have been so simple for Stephanie Pink: Meet up with Agnes Wharton in a small town in California, retrieve the reclusive author’s valuable new manuscript, and be promoted to a full-fledged literary agent.

But Agnes’s canine companion, Sweetness, decides to make a break for it before Stephanie can claim her prize. Until Agnes has Sweetness safely back at home in Eagle Cliff, Washington, Stephanie will never set eyes on the manuscript she needs to make her dreams come true.

When Stephanie tracks the runaway mutt to a campground, she meets Rhett Hastings—a man also on the run from a different life and a costly mistake. Rhett agrees to help Stephanie search for the missing dog…thus launching a surprising string of adventures and misadventures.

Once Sweetness gets added to the mix, it’s a recipe for love and loss, merriment and mayhem, fun and faith in the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest.

About The Author

Dana Mentink enjoys writing in many different capacities. She currently writes for Harlequin’s Love Inspired Suspense, Harlequin Heartwarming and Harvest House Publishers.

Dana is the recipient of a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award and an ACFW Carol Award as well as a Holt Medallion Merit Award winner.

Dana loves feedback from her readers. Contact her via her website atwww.danamentink.com.

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The Bull Rider’s Bride by Vickie McDonough

August 3, 2016

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Serenade Books 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 Bull Rider’s Bride by Vickie McDonough was a sweet story. I am a huge fan of these books because they are shorter, and I was able to get through the book pretty quick. These are my favorite characters in this series that I have read, and I wish that the book would have been a regular length because I was sad when it was over. This was a super sweet Christian romance and a book that anyone could read no matter what their age. I would recommend this book to anyone who love romance novels because it is a sweet story that anyone of any age can read.

About The Book

ECPA bestselling author Vickie McDonough continues the Lone Star Brides series with this heart-warming story of lost love.

Dusty Starr is unstoppable in the rodeo arena, but when it comes to love? He was bucked off long ago. Now he has a second chance at love, but will he have what it takes to win?

Champion bull rider Dusty Starr is at the top of his game—until a bull throws him and stomps on his leg. He goes home to heal and watch after his grandma until he can rejoin the circuit. While there are no guarantees that bull riding is in his future, his past is alive and well in the form of Gramma’s beautiful physical therapist—a woman he never expected to see again.

Physical therapist Lindsey Lang once loved Dusty, but then tragedy struck because of his younger brother’s recklessness, and Dusty did something she never thought he’d do. He abandoned her, leaving her to mourn alone. Being assigned to Grandma Starr is hard enough, but with Dusty there, Lindsey’s sure her heart won’t survive.

Against all expectations, friendship renews, and Dusty dares to hope Lindsey will forgive him. She’s the only girl he’s ever loved and he aims to get her back. But friendship is one thing. A second chance at love? That will take more gumption than riding a rank bull—and then some

About The Author

Bestselling author, Vickie McDonough, grew up wanting to marry a rancher, but instead, she married a computer geek who is scared of horses. She now lives out her dreams in her fictional stories about ranchers, cowboys, lawmen and others living in the West during the 1800s. Vickie is the award-winning author of over 30 published books and novellas. Her books include the fun and feisty Texas Boardinghouse Brides series. End of the Trail, which was the OWFI 2013 Best Fiction Novel winner. Whispers on the Prairie was a Romantic Times Recommended Inspirational Book for July, 2013. A Pioneer Christmas Collection was on the CBA Bestseller’s list for Jan. & Feb, 2014, and South Carolina Brides made the ECPA Bestseller’s list in March, 2014.

Vickie is a wife of thirty-eight years, mother of four grown sons, one daughter-in-law, and grandma to a feisty eight-year-old girl. When she’s not writing, Vickie enjoys reading, antiquing, watching movies, and traveling. To learn more about Vickie’s books or to sign up for her newsletter, visit her website and sign-up for her newsletter:http://www.vickiemcdonough.com

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When Death Draws Near by Carrie Stuart Parks

August 2, 2016

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.

When Death Draws Near by Carrie Stuart Parks was a great book. This book is another thriller/suspense book, and I enjoyed reading it right from the start. There are two other books before this book, but you don’t need to read the other two to understand what is going on in this book. I know that I am going to go back and read the other two books because I enjoyed this author’s style of writing. I also really liked Gwen right from the start see seems like a spunky character, and I am always a sucker for those types of female characters. At times I did find this book predictable, but that is just because I have read so many of these kinds of books I can figure out what is going on pretty early in the book. Even with that being said I still enjoyed this book. It also doesn’t have any bad language or gross parts because it is written by a Christian author so you don’t have to worry about what you might read in this book. If you love Christian thrillers than I know, you will love this book as much as I did.

About The Book

Gwen Marcey takes death in stride. Until she’s faced with her own mortality.

Forensic artist Gwen Marcey is between jobs when she accepts temporary work in Pikeville, Kentucky—a small town facing big-city crime. But before Gwen can finish her first drawing of the serial rapist who is on the loose, the latest witness vanishes. Just like all the others.

Gwen suspects a connection between the rapist and the “accidental” deaths that are happening around town, but the local sheriff has little interest in her theories. When her digitally-obsessed teenage daughter joins her, Gwen turns her attention to a second assignment: going undercover in a serpent-handling church. She could get a handsome reward for uncovering illegal activity—a reward she desperately needs, as it seems her breast cancer has returned. But snakes aren’t the only ones ready to kill. Can Gwen uncover the truth—and convince anyone to believe her—before she becomes a victim herself?

In a thrilling race against time, When Death Draws Near plunges us into cold-case murders, shady politics, and a den of venomous suspects.

About The Author

Carrie Stuart Parks is an award-winning fine artist and internationally known forensic artist. Along with her husband, Rick, she travels across the US and Canada teaching courses in forensic art to law enforcement as well as civilian participants. She has won numerous awards for career excellence. Carrie is a popular platform speaker, presenting a variety of topics from crime to creativity.

Animals have always been a large part of her life. Her parents, Ned and Evelyn Stuart, started Skeel Kennel Great Pyrenees in 1960. Carrie inherited the kennel and continues with her beloved dogs as both an AKC judge and former president of the Great Pyrenees Club of America. She lives on the same ranch she grew up on in Northern Idaho.

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The Painting and The Piano by John Lipscomb and Adrianne Lugo

July 27, 2016

FTC: I received a free copy of this book from Book Publicity Services 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 Painting and The Piano by John Lipscomb and Adrianne Lugo was a hard book to read at times. I say that it was hard to read because of some of the things that the characters went through in this book. I know that this book could be triggering to some people as well because of the topics talked about. With that being said I did enjoy this book and found myself wanting to read it until the end because I wanted to know how it all played out in the end. I liked this book so much because it is a true story and I always find myself loving books that are true stories. There are parts of this book that reminded me of my childhood, so I know also helped me understand what the characters felt at certain points throughout the book. I enjoyed this book even though it was hard at times to read it. I loved that the characters made it through and wrote this book to help other people learn from the things they went through as children. If you love autobiography types books than I know you will love this book just as much as I do. This is one that I am going to be adding to my personal collection of books because I would like to read it again in the future.

About The Book

The Painting and The Piano, by John Lipscomb and Adrianne Lugo, is an improbable story of survival and love.

Genres: Literary Nonfiction / Romance / Memoir / Addiction and Recovery

Growing up more than a thousand miles apart and worlds away from each other, Johnny and Adrianne seemed to have all that a child could ask for. However, the demons of their respective mothers would tear their young, fragile lives apart.

Eventually, destiny would bring Johnny and Adrianne together, but first they had to endure the painful toll that alcohol, drugs, and a negligent court system would take on them. With parts of Adrianne’s story ripped from national news headlines, their story takes them from the depths of despair and near death, to their first serendipitous introduction and the moment each knew they were finally safe.

Filled with hope, inspiration and humor, The Painting and the Piano is an unforgettable story of pain, loss and the undying human quest for happiness. Told as a tandem narrative, Adrianne and Johnny’s stories are unique, but share parallels that create a taut and emotionally compelling narrative.

About The Author’s

Johnny and Adrianne reside in South Florida with their Yorkie, Holly. Both are involved in the AA/Recovery community. Adrianne currently works at a recovery house and Johnny continues speaking, sponsoring and helping others in recovery.

Readers can connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.

To learn more, go to http://www.paintingpiano.com/

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Excerpt

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