Review - Ray of Light

Ray of Light
The Days of Redemption
By Shelley Shepard Gray
Publisher: Avon Inspire
Pub. Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0062204424
Pages: 288
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/l5Xy7
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/sgray

Review: 

Amish fiction has been one of my favorite book genres for the past ten years, so I was excited to read Shelly Shepard Gray's second book in The Days of Redemption series, which I received free of charge from Litfuse Publicity and Avon Inspire in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Living in the Amish community of Pinecraft, Florida, has been difficult for Amanda Yoder as her husband, Wesley, died nearly two years ago, leaving her to raise their daughter, Regina, by herself. She has no intention of marring again, until she meets the neighbor's brother, Roman Keim.

Roman isn't from Pinecraft. He's actually on vacation from his Amish life in Ohio, where a family secret became public causing a bit of an uproar in the community. Soon after arriving in Florida, Roman starts noticing the lovely next door neighbor, Amanda, whom he has heard is a widower.

Review - Once Upon A Prince

Once Upon a Prince
The Royal Wedding Series
By Rachel Hauck
Publisher: Zondervan
Pub. Date: May 7, 2013
ISBN: 978-0310315476
Pages: 352
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/kFb0Y
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/rhauck

Review:

Cinderella type fairy tales have never been my thing, but I watch the television series Once Upon a Time, so I thought I would give Once Upon a Prince a try, which I received free of charge through the Litfuse Publicity and Zondervan in exchange for my honest review.

For the past twelve years, Susanna Truitt has been in love with the marine Adam Peters, who she has dreamed of marring him, but life has unexpected turns for her. It seems her so-called love had met another woman seven years ago and he plans on marrying this woman! Susanna heart is crushed along with all of her dreams.

Prince Nathaniel is taking once last holiday (aka - a vacation) to the St. Simons Islands. His father's health is failing fast and it is just a matter of time before Nathaniel will take over as king. When he returns home, he'll have to marry a complete stranger in an arrange marriage, something he wishes to avoid. By chance, he aids a beautiful woman, Susanna.Instead of giving her his real name, he tells her his name is Nate as he doesn't want her to know he is a prince. Sparks fly between the two, but his secret may ruin everything.

"The Burgess Boys" Return Home

The Burgess Boys
By Elizabeth Strout
Publisher: Random House
Pub. Date: March 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-1400067688
ASIN: B009MYAWIA
Pages: 336

Review: 

The Burgess Boys is the recent novel from the Pulitzer Prize winning author, Elizabeth Strout, I have to be honest, I have never heard of the author before. I became interested in the title because my last name is in the title. Random House nicely sent me a free copy to review in exchange for my honest review.

It seems the Burgess siblings, Jim, Bob, and Susan, have been haunted (or more like cursed) by the accidental death of their father. When they were children, they were sitting in the car when one of them crawled into the driver's seat causing the car to roll over their father. Both Jim and Bob moved away from their small hometown in Shirley Falls, Maine. Jim is a famous corporate lawyer, while Bob is a legal aid lawyer. Elizabeth didn't grow up to be widely respected like her brothers. She stayed in Shirley Falls to raise her teenage son, Zach.

The Burgess Boys have no plans of returning to Maine, but after Zach gets involved in a possible hate crime, Jim and Bob return to try to keep things quite, which doesn't last long as the media is never too far behind. The siblings must confront their past and unlock secrets that they never wanted out.

Review - Postcards from Misty Harbor Inn Series

Normally, I would have to wait several months or even a year to read a sequel to a book, but that didn't happen with the Postcards from Misty Harbor Inn as I received books one and two in this exciting new series free of charge from Litfuse Publicity Group and Guideposts in exchange for my honest review.

After their mother had passed away, Caroline Marris follows her sisters Gracie Gold and Sam Carter to the Nantucket Island for a getaway. The sisters have fond memories of staying at the Misty Harbor Inn when they were children, but they are shocked to find the inn is now closed.

Their mother adored the Inn and Caroline can't see the building go to waste, so she talks her sisters into buying it. Gracie and Sam is surprised that their care-free sister is wanting to go into business with them, but they agree to run the hotel with her, even though Gracie is hesitant to move away from her home and her grandchildren.

The sisters are curious about the history of the Inn and run across a startling discovery when they find a few old postcards. It seems the young widow, Hannah Montague, of the original owner mysteriously disappeared in 1880.

Review - The Heiress of Winterwood

The Heiress of Winterwood
By Sarah E. Ladd
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Release Date: April 9, 2013
ISBN: 978-1401688356
ASIN: B00A2AG674
Pages: 320
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/jXbHV
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/sladd

Review:

Though I have read a few Jane Austen books, I'm not the biggest fan of the Regency genre. After seeing the dazzling cover for The Heiress of Winterwood, I thought I would give the book a try, so I signed up to review the book, which I received free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

Amelia Barrett is set to inherit her late father's English estate when she reaches the age twenty-four. Her uncle has taken reign over the estate until she comes of age and is married. She is set to marry Edward Littleton, but there is a small problem she must come to terms with. It seems Amelia had promised her dying friend, Katherine, that she would take care of her baby girl, Lucy. Edward is furious over the situation and informs Amelia that she can't raise the child after they are wedded.

She already loves Lucy as her own daughter and will do anything to keep her, which leads Amelia proposing marriage to Captain Graham Sterling, even though she has never met him before. It seems this sea captain is Lucy's birth father. Amelia's twenty-fourth birthday is quickly approaching. She needs to be married to keep her estate and to keep Lucy in her life.

Review - Sweet Sanctuary

Sweet Sanctuary
By Kim Vogel Sawyer
Publisher: Bethany House
Pub. Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0764207891
ASIN: B00AHY0UFY
Pages: 352
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/jRdKJ
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/KSawyer 

Review:

I've been a big of fan of Kim Vogel Sawyer's books, especially the Mennonite books, so I eagerly signed up to review Sweet Sanctuary courtesy of Litfuse Publicity and Bethany House in exchange for my honest review.

Set in 1944, Dr. Micah Hatcher's world is suddenly changed when out-of-the-blue he receives a mysterious letter from his ex-girlfriend's (Lydia Eldredge) father. It seems that Mr. Eldredge has somehow gotten the idea that Micah is the father of Lydia's son, Nicky. The man is forcing legal troubles if Micah doesn't take responsibility of being the boy's father. Of course, this is all a mistake? Right?

Dr. Hatcher arrives at the Eldridge household to unravel the confusion, where he meets the young Nicky playing in the yard. Nicky instantly befriends Hatcher, calling him Micah-my-friend. Old sparks rekindle when Dr. Hatcher catches a glimpse of the lovely Lydia.

Review - The Air We Breathe

The Air We Breathe
By Christa Parrish
Publisher: Bethany House
Pub. Date: November 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0764205552
ASIN: B008B9HRDK
Pages: 352

Review: 

After changing their names and leaving their past behind them, seventeen-year-old, Molly Fisk, and her mother are starting to rebuild their lives. Molly would love to enjoy life like other teens, but due to some childhood trauma, anxiety holds her back from stepping outside her house.

She longs for friendship or even a boyfriend. Life is full of surprises as Molly runs into a unique girl, Claire Rodriguez, a once silent girl that Molly was friends with back in her old life, where Claire and her mother suddenly vanished without saying goodbye.

Molly and Claire have more things in common than they know and together they may be able to help each other heal their emotional wounds and regain their faith.

Review - The Very First Bite

The Very First Bite
By Cynthia Langston
Publisher: Cynthia Langston
Pub. Date: August 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-061565409
ASIN: B008Z4C1PU
Pages: 332
Buy Links: Paperback, Kindle
 
Review: 

Last year, I reviewed the well written Bicoastal Babe by Cynthia Langston and I was sent the author's newest novel last week free of charge in exchange for my honest review. I enjoyed the author's first novel, so I was more than eager to start reading The Very First Bite. I know it sounds like the title of a vampire book, but there is no supernatural plot here.

Actually, the plot is very realistic involving a thirty-something-year-old Lanie Albers who is dreading, but somewhat looking forward to her upcoming fifteenth high school reunion, which is only ten weeks away. She can't fit into that old prom dress anymore as she has put on around twenty pounds extra weight and baggage over the years. She is not the kind of person who likes to exercise or diet, but she is desperate to try anything from extreme diets (Adkins, Nutrisystem, Organic, diet pills, etc), overcrowded gyms, to an at home yoga DVD.

Lanie's life isn't perfect as she has a dead-end job and a non-committing UPS driver boyfriend (Mark). She gets advice from her younger and thinner sister, Libby, and several friends, including the guy, Lance, who lives in her apartment building. Memories of the past keeping haunting her, mostly about her high school boyfriend, Chad, and her ex-best-friend, Candace, forcing her to fall off every diet she tries. Despite some setbacks, Lanie is determined to drop those twenty pounds so she can flaunt her new body at the reunion, but she might not have a date as things with Mark are quickly going down the toilet.

Review: Neferet's Curse: A House of Night Novella

Neferet's Curse
A House of Night Novella
By: P. C. Cast and Kristin Cast
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Pub. Date: February 19, 2013
ISBN: 978-1250000255
ASIN: B008BU74K0
Pages: 160

Review:

The third A House of Night novella focuses on Neferet's past life in the year 1893 before she was Marked. She was born as Emily Wheiler and at the age on sixteen-years-old she became the Lady of Wheiler House after her mother passed away. She doesn't have much time to mourn as her father, a powerful bank president, demands that she take over late mother's responsibilities, such as planning parties, approving of the dinner menus, being a good hostess and running the household.

She accepts herself as her mother's replacements and hopes that she would become closer to her somewhat estranged father, but she soon realizes that any type of relationship with her father would never happen. At times Emily attempts to hang out with her childhood friends, but her father objects to childish ways. He won't even let her ride her bicycle, which he demands to have remove from the property.

Unexpectedly, she falls in love with a young man that she meets at one of her father's parties, but her father once again objects to her having any type of a life, he even becomes violent. Situations occur that leads her to becoming Marked by a vampyre. She leaves the Wheiler House and is brought to the Chicago House of Night where her destiny as Neferet begins.

Review - Shattered

Shattered
Alaskan Courage Book 2
By Dani Pettrey
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Pub. Date: Feb. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0764209833
ASIN: B00AFWM28G
Pages: 368
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/hLsy9
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/dpettrey

Review:

In this exciting sequel to last year's Submerged, Piper McKenna is in for a surprise when her estranged brother, Reef, shows up at her doorsteps covered in blood. The very same night, not too far away, a young woman is found murdered and two witnesses confirm that Reef was at the scene of the crime. Despite the fact that Reef claims he is innocent of the murder, the sheriff arrests and charges him with murder.

Piper's relationship with her brother has many flaws, but she believes that he is telling the truth. She tries to get her friend, Deputy Landon Grainger, to help her prove Reef's innocence, but Landon is bound to enforce the law and is put in an awkward position.

To help her brother, Piper must uncover a mystery that will take her deep into the backcountry of Canada as she tries to unravel who the real killer is.

Review - Love Finds You in Glacier Bay, Alaska

Love Finds You in Glacier Bay Alaska
By Tricia Goyer & Ocieanna Fleiss
Publisher: Summerside Press
Pub. Date: Jan. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1609365691
ASIN: B00B4GPJWS
Pages: 320
Buy Link: http://ow.ly/gQiNn
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/Tgoyer
 
Review:

I've never been to the state of Alaska, but after reading a few other books set there I became interested in it, therefore I was excited about reading Love Finds You in Glacier Bay, Alaska from Summerside Press, which I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review.

Life seems to be going great for the rising singer Ginny Marshall as she has just received a major recording contract, but she is hesitant to sign it. Being a famous singer is not as easy as it comes with many responsibilities and demands. Feeling too much pressure, Ginny travels to Glacier Bay, Alaska to seek the advice of her ex-fiancé, Brett Miller.

When Ginny arrives, she learns that Brett is on a kayaking trip. Instead of leaving, she decides to stay with Brett's Grandma Ethel. While she is waiting for Brett's return, she begins reading a pile of letters that Grandma Ethel left out. As she reads the letters, she unravels a love story between a missionary named Clay and the governess, Ellie, he hired to take care of his children. Through the letters, Ginny might find what is missing for her own life.

Review - Goodbye to Yesterday

Goodbye to Yesterday
The Discovery, Part 1 of 6
By Wanda E. Brunstetter
Publisher: Barbour Books
Pub. Date: Feb. 5th, 2013
ISBN: 978-1616260859
ASIN: B00AW3PXT8
Pages: 128
Buy Link: Paperback, Kindle

Review:

I've been reading Amish fiction for over ten years and I wrote the title and release date on a notepad for Wanda E. Brunstetter's newest release, so I could remember to keep an eye out for it in the stores. I guess I must be lucky, because it wasn't a day later that I received an email from Handlebar Publishing that Goodbye to Yesterday from Barbour Books was available to review. I eagerly agreed to review the book in exchange for my honest review. To my surprise, I found out that the book is a six-part miniseries, averaging about 120 pages a book (I'm guessing.).

Unlike most of Wanda's books where a young Amish man and woman falls in love and eventually gets married, the young couple, Luke and Meredith Stoltzfus, in Goodbye to Yesterday have already been married over a year. The life for these newlyweds isn't exactly easy as Luke has recently lost his job at a furniture store in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. He has been making a little cash here and there selling his handmade furniture at a local farmer's market and a few gift stores, but he constantly worries about their finances as the money in their savings account won't last forever.

Their money troubles have caused an emotional strain on the young couple as Luke is pulling away from Meredith. She has offered to get a job and help pay the bills, but Luke has been raised to provide for his family and that is what he is going to do. Out-of-nowhere, Luke receives a message from Uncle Amos that he is retiring from engraving tombstones. Uncle Amos wants to sale his equipment to Luke and to teach him how to engrave, but it would mean Luke would have to spend several weeks in Middlebury, Indiana to learn the trade.

My Familiar Stranger Book Tour

My Familiar Stranger 
By Victoria Danann 
The Order of the Black Swan #1 
Genre: Paranormal Romance 
Publisher: 7th House 
Date of Publication: April 21, 2012 
ISBN: 978-1-933320-49-6 
ASIN: B007V8RAKW 
Number of pages: (estimated 370) 
Word Count: 111,268 Purchase 
Links: Amazon Smashwords 



Book Description: 

Minutes ahead of inevitable assassination, Elora Laiken is forcibly transported to an alternate dimension similar, but not identical, to her own. She is stranded. Alone. Far from home. A stranger in a "strangish" land.

Of course a girl could suffer worse problems than having gorgeous suitors. Perhaps more importantly, in the midst of an epidemic of vampire related abductions, can she stay alive long enough to choose between an honor debt, true love, or the breathlessness of single-minded passion?

My Familiar Stranger is a full length, stand alone, Paranormal Romance novel that also sets up the foundation for the Black Swan series. It is loved by fans of paranormal romance, fantasy romance, and urban fantasy.

Erotica quotient: A few steamy scenes. No menage. No BDSM.

Review - Lucy Come Home

Lucy Come Home
AUTHOR: Dave and Neta Jackson
PUBLISHED BY: Castle Rock Creative
ISBN: 978-0-9820544-3-7
RELEASED DATE: June 13, 2012
PAGES: 424


    Lucy Come Home is book one in A Yada Yada Journey of Hope series which is a spin-off of the authors Dave and Neta Jackson’s Yada Yada House of Hope series. This is my first read from the authors, but from my understanding there are a few recurring characters from their other books in this one including Lucy.

    Living on the streets of Chicago is the soon to be an eighty-year-old Lucy Tuckers, who is known to some as the crotchety old bag lady. Everyone may just see a homeless woman, but Lucy has a reason for being where she is and her tale begins to unravel as her life unexpectedly collides with a young woman and her aging mother.

    The novel flips back and forth from the present day to the 1940’s, where we get an understanding of why Lucy is the way she is, where she left home as a teenager, to later becoming a widow, to eventually living on the streets.

Review - Dancing Naked in Dixie

Dancing Naked in Dixie
AUTHOR: Lauren Clark
PUBLISHED BY: Monterey Press
ASIN: B0082205JY
PUB DATE: May 9, 2012
PAGES: 267

    Julia Sullivan is a travel writer for the Getaway Magazine and she is given an assignment that takes her to Eufaula, Alabama to cover the annual Winter Pilgrimage event. Julia is use to traveling to exotic locations and going to Alabama doesn’t thrill her at all, but she doesn’t have a choice. Her new boss isn’t fond of her and to keep her job she has take the assignment.

    She is surprised to see how friendly the Eufaula locals are and takes in the Southern life, meeting quirky characters such as Shug, PD, Roger, and many others. Julia is emotionally drained for her mother’s passing and her battered relationship with her father. This simple assignment is turning into more of a life changing event, as she deals with her personal problems and unexpectedly finds romance.

Review & Giveaway - Helens-of-Troy

Gilmore Girls with Bite!

Helen Bocelli, along with her Goth daughter Ellie, packs up their stuff and heads back home to live with her mother, Helena, in a small town called Troy after leaving her husband. In addition, there is a great welcoming gift for the two - a dead body on the porch on Halloween Night. The site of the dead man does not spook Ellie, but she is more interested in the local boys who live nearby.

     Ellie has a strange dream of a young girl and is shocked to learn the next day that a local girl is missing. Ellie is not like other teenage girls as she knows what goes bump in the night, and in this case, it is a bloodsucking vampire.

    When I read that this book was Gilmore Girls meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I had to review it as I have been watching the Gilmore reruns and I grew up watching Buffy. The three female characters are completely different from the Gilmores, but the quirky fast-paced dialogue is similar. The grandmother Helena is like no grandma I have every seen. She dresses and acts like a woman thirty years younger than her. I thought it was funny how the teenager Ryan was after her. The mother Helen has almost given up on her life and finding love. Now Ellie does remind of Rory Gilmore, except she dresses in Goth and has some supernatural elements to her. Ellie is smart, speaks her mind, and is more mature than most teenagers are.

Review - Golden Chariot by Chris Karlsen

Golden Chariot
AUTHOR: Chris Karlsen
PUBLISHED BY: Books to go Now
ASIN: B007KNLC02
RELEASED DATE: 2012
PAGES: 316


    Archaeologist Charlotte Dashiell is always up for a challenge, which is why she ends up at an archaeology dig of a recently found sunken ship from the Trojan War era. She is somewhat of a conspiracist with an intriguing theory about the Trojan War and being on the recovery team makes it the perfect time to find out if she is right.

    The Turkish government assigned an agent to guard the site, but is later murdered for unknown reasons, but Charlotte has her theories and the Turkish government has their own. Agent Atakan Vadim is assigned to investigate the murder with Charlotte possible being a suspect because of her connection to a private collector on the black market. As Charlotte and Atakan work together to figure out the mystery, an undeniable attraction blooms. Unknowing to them, the murders are watching them, waiting for the perfect moment to steal a rare artifact from the site.

Review - Calico Joe by John Grisham

Calico Joe
AUTHOR: John Grisham
PUBLISHED BY: Doubleday
ISBN: 978-0-385-53607
RELEASED DATE: 2012
PAGES: 198




    Unexpected Paul Tracey gets a call from his most recent stepmother who informs him that his ex-major leaguer father, Warren Tracey, is dying of cancer. His relationship with his father has been very distant since his parents divorced when he was in his early teens. Knowing that his sister doesn’t want anything to do with their father, Paul takes it upon himself to go visit him, but first he makes a quick stop to Calico Rock to try to find Joe Castle.

    In the summer 1973, the Chicago Cubs rookie Joe Castle came out of nowhere and shocked the Major League Baseball fans as he hit home run after home run. Warren Tracey followed Joe Castle vigorously, even keeping a scrapbook full a newspaper clippings and autographs, so you can say he was a big fan. Warren also was a fan of the New York Mets, as his father was a starting pitcher and a major alcoholic with some anger problems. On August 24, 1973, the Cubs were playing at the Shea Stadium with Warren as the starting pitcher. Warren was in one of his foul moods that will forever change the life of Joe Castle.

Review - The Thirteen

The Thirteen
BY: Susie Moloney
PUBLISHED BY: William Morrow
PUBLISHED IN: 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-211766-3
Pages: 330

    After being fired from her waitress job at a strip club, Paula Wittmore is notified that her mother has taken ill. She packs up her bags along with her teenage daughter, Rowan, and returns to her home town, a suburban called Haven Woods. Everything may look normal there, but Haven Woods has dark secrets at every corner, including several strange deaths and apparent suicides.

    Returning home is putting Paula on an emotional rollercoaster as she reunites with some of her childhood friends, not to mention her mother’s strange frenemies - twelve women bound by terrible secrets that requires a thirteen to be sacrificed.

Review - The Taker

The Taker
BY: Alma Katsu
PUBLISHED BY: Gallery
PUBLISHED IN: 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4391-9706-6
Pages: 456


 After midnight, Dr. Luke Findley of St. Andrew, Maine gets an unusual patient, murder suspect Lanore Mellvare. A young man’s body had been found in the nearby woods along with “Lanny”. As Luke attends to this young woman, who the police said looks “pale”, which is probably due to the cold Maine temperatures, Lanny begins to tell the doctor an unbelievable tale. The man’s body that is now in the morgue is none other than the body of Jonathan St. Andrew, which cannot be true as no St. Andrew has been alive for a few hundred years.

    Pleading for Luke to help her escape, Lanny continues her story which starts in 1811 and talks about her admiration for the town founder’s son, Jonathan, despite her father’s and brother’s hatred for the St. Andrew family. You see St. Andrews were quite wealthy, while everyone else struggled to get by. Secretly, and despite being a few years younger, Lanny develops a friendship with Jonathan that later turns into a fling, one that results in her pregnancy. Lanny tries to hide her situation from her family. Jonathan becomes engaged to another very young girl, an arrangement made by his father. With nowhere else to turn, Lanny tells her parents of her pregnancy. Her father is furious and embarrassed. The decision is made that Lanny will be sent to Boston to live at a nunnery, in which the baby will be given up for adoption.