This is a romance, but it is so much more! It is a commentary on how we treat others who are different than we are. It is a book about family and relationships and the importance of encouraging our children to follow their dreams. It is a book to be read and savored, as one savors a fine wine. Thomasina Waycott, nicknamed “Hitch,” is different from others in so many ways. Her lip is malformed, her limbs are crooked and she has difficulty walking. What she doesn’t have difficulty doing is dreaming of a future that includes a home for herself and someone to love. When the story opens, Hitch is working at her family’s B & B, a young woman who has not yet found her place in the world. Grayson Potts comes to stay at the B & B, a young man who is also looking for a dream. Grayson and Hitch form a friendship that turns to romance. However, what we think is absolutely meant to be and will mean a quick ending to the story leads to more conflict as the two young people have to come to terms with their commitments to the past and their dreams for the future. The character development of this book is the story and made the whole thing realistic and heart-breaking. I loved the story of Thomasina and Grayson and hope to read more about them in future books!

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

This book is available now from your local bookseller and online.

Sorry, everyone, for my extended absence. I have been trying to post this review since I got back from MD and it would not upload. I had to get help from WordPress and ended up having to reinstall the app. Sigh!

I am not a Bible scholar, but I have studied the Scriptures about the building of the temple in Jerusalem by Solomon. I just read in my devotions today that David desired to build a temple, but God sent the prophet Nathan to tell David that he should not do so but that his son would. I looked up the facts online and found out that it took seven years to build the temple. For many years, the Israelites had wandered in the wilderness and had a tabernacle, a structure like a tent, that they used to offer sacrifices and worship God. Then, the great temple was built, with cedars from Lebanon, bronze and gold. So many riches were brought and presented to Solomon that he had all kinds of resources to make a wonderful temple. And so it was, until its destruction by the Babylonian Empire in the 500’s B.C. The Babylonians didn’t just destroy the temple, but they also sacked it, taking with them all that was of value inside it. What a travesty! But we must remember that God allowed this to happen because of the sins of the Israelites. Now, I have said all of this to say that today there is a temple for God. We are His temple!

So, whatever we do, we need to be aware that the Holy Spirit is right there inside us! There is nothing mystical about this experience, so I don’t want people who don’t believe in the sanctity of the Holy Spirit to misinterpret what I am saying. We are God’s children and have His Spirit residing in us, just as Jesus promised.

The Holy Spirit resides in us to teach us and remind us about the things of God. Sometimes, I feel like I need to just take a break from all of the noise and confusion in the world and just sit and relax in the presence of the Lord. That is when I hear the still, small voice of His Spirit speaking to me, giving me encouragement and blessing me with His Words of instruction for my life. He is alive inside me, but I can’t hear Him all the time because of the interfering noise of the world.

John the Baptist knew what was coming for the believers and told us plainly. First comes belief in Jesus as the Savior, the Only Son of God and then comes the Holy Spirit to reside in us. That’s a wow statement! It’s one that I have had to meditate on many times…God’s Holy Spirit lives in me and in you…in all believers. WE are His temple!

The Holy Spirit is a gift from the Father, our Comforter and Advocate, the One who leads us in the way we should go, if we would only listen to Him. He resides in us because we are the temple of the Lord. The building in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians, but our temple is not one built by the hands of man. We are His creation and are being built daily by the Lord God, from the inside out.

We must remember, though, that God is a gentleman and He does not come in or stay where He is not welcome. We are to daily seek Him and find His will so that we are following the Holy Spirit’s desire for us to love the Lord God and to show our love for Him in our regular lives. We are His temple, the replacement for the one that was destroyed in Jerusalem. Do you think for one minute that the destruction of the temple took God by surprise? Of course not! He charts the course of history and knew what was going to happen. Yet, He did nothing to stop its destruction. Why not? Because He knew that a better temple would be built, one created by the hands of God and one that can live eternally with Him. We are His temple!

You know that everything is not going right with my life, and I’m sure that it’s not all hunky-dory in your life either. But that doesn’t matter. We choose to praise God regardless of our circumstances! Here are some Scriptures to get us started.

I have read through the Holy Bible numerous times, but this is the first time that I took time to read the praise that is in I Chronicles. I usually go right to the Book of Psalms to look for praise passages, but this was my devotional this morning. Very appropriate and timely! Blessings on your day of praise and remember to be thankful because God is God in your life!

This is book #5 for Jane Tennison and her saga goes back in history from the Prime Suspect series that the author is noted for. The setting is 1980 and the historical elements add to the intrigue of the story. Jane is tasked to be the first female member of the Flying Squad, a group of male detectives with the reputation of being “the Dirty Dozen.” Jane faces sexism and finds herself relegated at first to helping the forensics expert instead of being in the middle of the investigation. But Jane’s tenacity and intelligence lead her to follow clues to a huge robbery that has been planned. Jane doesn’t know who or where of when, so she goes undercover to investigate. This book is entertaining, realistically written and intriguing for the reader as Jane follows the clues and establishes her reputation with the “big boys” in the Flying Squad. I recommend this book to fans of Lynda La Plante as well as to new readers of her books who enjoy police procedurals with more than a touch of humor.

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via BookishFirst.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

This book is available today at your local bookseller!

Aubrey Finch was a stay at home mom with a lot of secrets. Unable to live with the people she loved the most while carrying all of her past secrets around like a heavy burden, Aubrey decides to move out on her own, leaving behind her bewildered husband Paul and her darling toddler Charlotte. Aubrey still sees Charlotte for visitation and that is when she meets another mom in the park with a cute little boy. Than begins the trip down the rabbit hole. On a different day in the park, Aubrey sees what she thinks is the little boy being kidnapped. Then she sees on the news that the mom was murdered. Aubrey is determined to track down the little boy, just because she is a concerned Good Samaritan. Her desire to restore a family will endanger her and everyone she loves. This book was not at all like the Rockton series that I have read from this author in the past, but it was an excellent book, with many twists and turns. I liked that Aubrey was a reluctant heroine and that she was willing to sacrifice her own happiness so that her family could continue without all of the weight from her burdensome past. Fans of psychological suspense will enjoy this book and want to read more like it from this author.

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I checked this book out on the Overdrive App from my local library. I was not required to write a positive review.

This book is available now and is mostly a clean read, with some bad language but not an excessive amount.

I expected this book to be Christian fiction, but I did not see any of the usual elements of faith in this book. It was a good suspense thriller, with undertones of politics and espionage, but I would not categorize it as CHRISTIAN fiction in any way. Georgie is a young wife and mother, a physicist dealing with the sudden death of her husband Sean. But all is not as it seems and the reader is hard-pressed to figure out what is really going on. The first third of the book is very fast-paced as the stage is set for Georgie to try to unravel the threads that will lead to the truth. Then the plot slows down and the story becomes a bit difficult to follow. Georgie knows that her life is in danger as she struggles to reveal the truth about Sean and her father who is about to be confirmed at the U.S. Secretary of Defense. The short chapters made the book easy to read, but the convoluted plot made it slow going for me. There was definitely a web of intrigue, but it was hard to understand what was really going on. The book is a suspense novel and it is an intense read, with lots of action happening quickly. This was my first book that I have read by this author, so I don’t know what her other books are like. I would like to try another one just to see if this is her normal style. Readers of suspense may enjoy this book, but it was just too hard to follow for me.

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

This book is available now. Although it is published by Thomas Nelson Publishers, I did not find any mention of faith or any Christian elements in it. That was surprising and disappointing to me, but the story of espionage and intrigue was compelling enough to keep me reading.

As a fan of Patricia MacDonald for years, I really looked forward to this latest psychological suspense, and I must say that I was not disappointed. This was the story of two sisters who were sent to live with their very bad-tempered uncle after the death of their mom. Ellis didn’t want the girls there and made it clear that he considered them a burden. When Blair had her friend Molly over for a visit one day after school, everything goes very badly. Ellis sends Molly home, in the rain and through the woods and Molly is murdered. The murderer is behind bars, or that is what everyone thinks until Celeste, Blair’s sister, confesses on her deathbed that she could have given Yusef an alibi but was too afraid of Ellis to do that. So the wrong man is in prison and Blair spends the rest of the book trying to find who the real murderer is so that Yusef can be freed. After fifteen years, Blair faces a real challenge and enlists the help of PI Tom Olson. Following the clues is a twisted trail through the woods and into the lives of people who have moved on. Blair feels guilty because of Molly’s death and is absolutely determined to find the real killer. Her quest endangers her and the ending is a really stunning surprise. I really enjoyed this book and know that fans of MacDonald and others who love suspense will enjoy it as well. It does deal with the mature topic of abuse.

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

This chilling crime thriller is available now at your local bookseller or online.

Maria Furlough writes a book that all women and their daughters can relate to. All of us have felt “not enough” at some time and this book trains us with practical advice and steps to love ourselves in the way that God has created us. I really liked the challenges for moms and daughters at the end of each chapter as well as the prayer for moms to say. The author has great insight and wisdom into the yearning heart of females just to belong and be accepted. She addresses the lack of confidence that seems to be built into each of us in a way that is kind and empathetic. She also addresses issues like being overweight and anorexia. In short, this book is chock full of useful tips and encouragement told from a Christian perspective. I highly recommend this to anyone having difficulty with feeling that they are created to be special, particularly the moms of young girls. This is a book to be read with your daughter as it will help both of you come to terms with the best person that God created you to be.

Disclaimer

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher, Revell. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255, “Guides Concerning the Use of Testimonials and Endorsements in Advertising.”

This book will be available at your local bookseller and online on August 20th. If you have a daughter, you need to get this book!!