Book Review: The Note by Angela Hunt

Over the waters of Tampa, Florida Flight 848 bursts into flames.  Everyone on board is killed.  After a week of many news outlets covering the story and believing the people are tired of the subject a woman approaches The Heart Healer for the Tampa Times,  Peyton MacGruder, with an artifact that has washed ashore from the wreckage.  It is a note from a father to his child declaring all is forgiven.  To T, signed Dad.

Given a two week notice because Peyton's Heart Healer has shown no heart in her writing and is nothing like the previous Heart Healer's column, she hopes the search for T can help her find her heart.  Along the way she finds something she never dream she'd come across.

There is real emotion in this story.  Fighting Peyton over the note is a national newscaster wanting to be first.  After the first Heart Healer article on the subject she tries to upstage Peyton in everything she does.  I really felt anger toward this character.  I wanted to give her a punch in the nose.

The story was turned into a Hallmark Channel Movie starring Ted McGinley and Genie Francis.  I try not to hold that against the novel. :p  Hey, it was an okay movie but nothing comparable to Angela Hunt's book.  This is another fabulous piece by one of my favorite Christian authors.

I read this for pure pleasure.  All opinions are my own.  I was not compensated for this review in any way.

Book Review: The Dance (Restoration #1) by Dan Walsh and Gary Smalley

Jim Anderson comes home from work to find his wife is gone.  No longer happy in their relationship, Marilyn has left him.  He doesn't pay any attention to her, listen to her, or provide her with the kind of love she deserves.  Most of all, she's never danced with him, not even on their wedding day.

How do Jim and Marilyn bring themselves back together?  Is it even possible?  Will it tear apart their grown (and almost grown) kids?  Can their marriage be saved?

This is a story of sacrifice.  Sometimes we have to do things we may not want to do for those we love.  We have to show love.  We have to be love.  We can't just profess love.  Saying "I love you" isn't enough.  This is what Jim has to learn.  

Dan Walsh  has presented us with a sweet story about how a relationship really should be.  It's about give and take, doing things for your loved one that you may not want to do because he or she wants you to do them.

I read this as a review request from netgalley.com using the Adobe Digital app on my laptop.  All opinions are my own.  I was not compensated for this review in any way.

Book Review: Facing the Music by Nick Carter

To be released: September 24, 2013

I'm not going to lie.  In high school and college I was a huge Backstreet Boys fan.  After their Black and Blue album when they took their 2 year hiatus I stopped paying much attention to them.  I sort of kept up with them.  I sort of knew what was going on with them.  I sort of knew about their music.  That means I sort of knew about Nick Carter and his disastrous ways.  I knew he dated Paris Hilton and I vaguely remember hearing about the House of Carters television show.  I also sort of remember hearing about his DUI.  I did hear about his sister's death and I Googled the heck out of that for reactions from Nick and his brother, Aaron.

This book was an eye-opener.  Nick talks about how he basically threw his life down the drain.  He was heavy into alcohol and drugs.  He came from a very dysfunctional family and it spiraled as he got older.  It was news to me as I hadn't paid much attention to him since 2004.

Nick realizes the mistakes he's made and the damage he's done to himself.  He doesn't know what damage he may have caused his body, but he knows he wants to fix what he can.  This book is for him to help himself and give him the chance to help others.  He dedicates it to his late sister Leslie whom he wished he could have helped and brought back from the brink.

If you are or were a Backstreet Boys fan I think you'll enjoy this look into Nick's life.  He's not afraid to tell the embarrassing moments.  He gets deep and knows when he messed up.

I read this as a review request from netgalley using the Adobe Digital app on my laptop.  All opinions are my own.  I was not compensated for this review in any way.

Teaser Tuesday

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading.  Anyone can playing along!  Just do the following:

Grab your current read

Open to a random page

Share two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page

Be careful not to include spoilers! (make sure that what you share doesn't give too much away!  You don't want to ruin the book for others!)

Share the title and author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR lists if they like your teasers.

Like a village matchmaker, the salesman grinned and fixed her up with this sleek blue machine, which he kept calling a crossover--a cross between a sedan and an SUV.  She had a feeling the vehicle was too big to be economical or politically correct, but since an entire row of similar vehicles waited behind a fence at the dealership, the manager was probably eager to move his inventory.
P. 10 The Note II: Taking a Chance on Love by Angela Hunt

Book Review: The Rockin' Chair by Steven Manchester

John's wife, Alice , has Alzheimer's. This leads to the end of her life.  The end of her life leads to some retrospective thinking for John as well as the return of his grandkids to the family farm.  Death brings the kids home.  Death brings the memories back.

The story opens with John and his daughter-in-law, Ellie, taking care of Alice, but the story really revolves around John's son, Hank, and Hank's children coming home to the farm.  Hank lives on the farm, but not in the same house as John and has a bad relationship with his father.  His three children live in various US cities and have their own problems to deal with.

What is the importance of the rocking chair we find in the title?  You have to read to find that out.  This blogger is not up for spoilers.

It's another Steven Manchester story.  He has this style where I feel he's telling the timeline of a story rather than really diving deep into the tale.  I don't know if that's an accurate description, but it is the closest I can get.  I didn't appreciate this one as much as the other two, but it was still a good read and that's what's important.

I read this as a review request using the Kindle App on my laptop.  All opinions are my own.  I was not compensated for this review in any way.

Book Review: A Sound Like Fire by K.D. Veron

Revelation.  While we may not all be familiar with the final book of the Bible we know what it signals: The Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Dax's brother, Zack, a preacher, had been trying to instill in him the love of God while Dax's family turned more and more away from Him.  Dax's daughter even joined a New Age cult.  As Dax turned away so did the rest of the world.

This is the story of what happens when it's Revelation's turn.  There have been many post-apocalyptic books out there, most famously the Left Behind series. Veron hopes to add another to our collection with this piece.  He takes all of Revelation, all the years, trial, torment, and triumph, and packs it into one novel.

I think it was too much to put into one novel.  There's too much information and time that is passed over.  Nothing gets enough detail as it needs.  Veron spends most of the time telling rather than showing.  Such and such happened over this period of time.  Most of what happens, though, is Dax being on the run.  Uneventful if you ask me.

I do believe this story could have been better written.  If you are into post-apocalyptic/Revelation stories you might enjoy this one, but really, I think there are better out there.

I read this as a review request from Booksneeze using the Kindle app on my laptop.  All opinions are my own.  I was not compensated for this review in any way.

Book Review: Full Disclosure by Dee Henderson

Secrets. This book is full of them and it's up to Paul Falcon to figure them out.  It's a serial murder case that brings FBI Murder Cop Paul Falcon and Midwestern Homicide Investigator Anne Silver together, but it's a case involving a former Vice President that keeps them close.  Another great suspenseful romance novel from Dee Henderson is here.

Dee Henderson has a way of combining suspense and romance to bring in the women readers.  I've read suspense from male authors and they don't have what Henderson brings to the table and I suspect I like because I am a female who likes normally what females like.

One big secret which you will find out near the beginning ties all of Henderson's worlds together.  I don't want to tell what it is for if you don't know I want you to be surprised.  I never suspected it and thought it was pretty cool.

I read this book for pure pleasure.  All opinions are my own.  I was not compensated for this review in any way.