Irish Meadows by Susan Anne Mason

August 14, 2015

Irish Meadows by Susan Anne Mason was a great historical fiction book to read. I have hard time believing that this was her first historical fiction book because it is amazing. I have really been enjoying historical fictions books lately and this one didn’t let me down. I loved Brianna throughout the whole book because she was the character I felt like I could relate to the most. I didn’t like Colleen at all and even towards the end of the book I still didn’t like her and her personality. I really loved Gil & Bree because of their personalities and how they acted. This author does a great job of helping you understand the time period and also why the characters act as them do. If you love historical romance novels that this one is for you!

About The Book

Irish Meadows (Bethany House, July 2015)

Faced with an uncertain future, sometimes all you have left is the courage to dream.

Brianna and Colleen O’Leary know their Irish immigrant father expects them to marry well. Recently he’s put even more pressure on them, insinuating that the very future of their Long Island horse farm, Irish Meadows, rests in their ability to land prosperous husbands. Both girls, however, have different visions for their futures.

Brianna, a quiet girl with a quick mind, dreams of attending college. Vivacious Colleen, meanwhile, is happy to marry—as long as her father’s choice meets her exacting standards of the ideal groom. When former stable hand Gilbert Whelan returns from business school and distant relative Rylan Montgomery visits Long Island during his seminary training, the two men
quickly complicate everyone’s plans.

As the farm slips ever closer to ruin, James O’Leary grows more desperate. It will take every ounce of courage for both sisters to avoid being pawns in their father’s machinations and instead follow their hearts. And even if they do, will they inevitably find their dreams too distant to reach?

About The Author

Susan Anne Mason’s debut historical novel, Irish Meadows, won the Fiction from the Heartland contest from the Mid-American Romance Authors Chapter of RWA. A member of ACFW, as well, she lives outside of Toronto, Ontario, with her husband and two children.

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First Sight by Laura Donohue

August 13, 2015

First Sight by Laura Donohue was a great book. I love that this was a shorter book to read and that makes it easy for me to fit into my schedule. This was such a great story and I can’t wait to read more books by her in the future. This book was easy to read and understand. Her writing also made me want to keep reading because I had to know what happened and how the story ended. I loved the characters and the setting of this story. I think one of the reasons I loved this story so much was because I have always wanted something like this to happen in my life so I felt like I could relate to the story & characters. This was a sweet love story that I would recommend to anyone who love romance novels and is looking for a super sweet love story to read.

About The Book

Maddy Smith writes for a trendy website in Washington DC, has two fabulous best friends, and her own apartment. When a girl’s night out ends with her locking eyes with the handsome stranger across the room, the last thing she expects is for him to show up at her office on Monday morning.

Travis Emerson, her attractive and single new colleague, just moved to town. Although an immediate friendship between Maddy and Travis forms, she soon finds herself wishing for something more. After a misunderstanding between them occurs, not only is her hope for a relationship ruined, but their friendship is in jeopardy as well. Is any chance that Maddy had with Travis over? Or could he possibly be what she’s been looking for all along?

Follow Maddy and Travis on a series of adventures that will quickly have you cheering them on. First date jitters? Not when you’ve been in love since First Sight!

About The Author

Laura Donohue is a graduate of George Mason University. She spent ten years working as a technical writer and editor before publishing her first novel. She lives in Washington DC with her husband and daughter.

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Balm of Gilead by Adina Senft

August 13, 2015

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.

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.

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The Lemoncholy Life Of Annie Aster by Scott Wilbanks

August 12, 2015

The Lemoncholy Life Of Annie Aster by Scott Wilbanks was a unique story. When I started this book I knew it was either going to be a great book or a book that I didn’t like at all. It has such a unique storyline and because of that I ended up loving this story. I can’t even say what made me fall in love but I did and I can’t wait to check out other books by this author. I loved Elsbeth because parts of her personality reminded me of my grandma who is my best friend. I love when I find “crazy” old women in my books because I always think of my grandma and smile. Anyway I love reading what was happening and I had to finish the book super quick because I had to know how it ended. I have always wondered if things like this do happen because it could be something that I would see happening. If you love different books that don’t follow any set patterns than you need to read this book. If you are tired of every book you read following the same type of pattern than I know you will love this book. Heck if are looking for something different to read than for sure check this book out!

About The Book

Annabelle Aster has discovered a curious thing behind her home in San Francisco–a letterbox perched atop a picket fence. The note inside is blunt—trespass is dealt with at the business end of a shotgun in these parts!—spurring some lively correspondence between the Bay Area orphan and her new neighbor, a feisty widow living in nineteenth-century Kansas.

The source of mischief is an antique door Annie installed at the rear of her house. The man who made the door—a famed Victorian illusionist—died under mysterious circumstances.

Annie and her new neighbor, with the help of friends and strangers alike, must solve the mystery of what connects them before one of them is convicted of a murder that has yet to happen…and somehow already did.

About The Author

Scott Wilbanks graduated summa cum laude from The University of Oklahoma and went on to garner several national titles in the sport of gymnastics. Scott’s husband, Mike, is a New Zealander by birth, and the two split their time between the two countries while Scott is at work on his next standalone novel.

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A Heart’s Home by Colleen Coble

August 11, 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.

A Heart’s Home by Colleen Coble is the last book in the series. I loved this book because I think the characters in this book are my favorite which is why I loved this book so much. I was sad to see this series come to an end because I really did love everything about this series. I am going to have a post up in a couple of weeks where I will link all the reviews so you will be able to check them all out if you want to read any of them. I felt so bad for Emmie because of the promise that she made to her friend because I can’t even imagine what it would feel like knowing that you may have to marry a man who you don’t love because of a promise you made before your friend died. I love how everything worked and how everyone ended up happy. If you love books by Colleen Coble than I would for sure check out this series of books.

About The Book

A Heart’s Home (Thomas Nelson, August 2015)

Emmie’s hope for a life with Isaac is overshadowed by a tragic loss at Fort Phil Kearny.

Isaac Liddle is keen to marry Emmie, and she knows she shouldn’t hide her pregnancy from him any longer. But before she can tell him her secret, a widower friend asks the impossible of Emmie: Will she honor her promise to his dead wife by marrying him to care for the orphaned baby?

With the Sioux Wars threatening outside the fort, Emmie’s solemn vow threatens her happiness from within. Will she honor a promise sure to break her heart—and Isaac’s? Or is there another way to find a home for her heart?

About The Author

Colleen Coble has sold over 2 million novels worldwide.Seagrass Pier, the third installment in her acclaimed Hope Beach series, marks a new highpoint for emotion and complexity in Coble’s addictive brand of romantic suspense.

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C.S. Lewis-Quote of The Week

August 10, 2015

This weeks quote is by C.S. Lewis.

I loved this quote when I saw it. I think it is true because you need to always be dreaming and setting goals because that means you are still living your life. What do you think of this weeks quote by C.S. Lewis?