I invited my heroine and hero from my paranormal romance, Kindred of the Fallen, to join me in playing “finish the sentence”. After a bit of negotiating, Serenity and Cyrus both agreed.

I’m thrilled to go first. Finish the sentence- 

1. One book I wish I had written…The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice.

2. One food I never eat…okra. Yuck! My husband loves it, but I can’t stand it.

3. One movie from last year that I loved…Magic Mike. Lol! Honestly, I haven’t seen it…yet. My hubby is still deployed so I don’t think he’d mind if I ordered a little eye candy on Netflix. Seriously, I loved The Dark Knight Rises.

4. If I could spend a day with a writer, it would be…Nalini Singh.

5. My favorite scene in my book (tough since I have a few, but will go with my favorite in the first 100 pages): While Serenity and Cyrus are in a deadly struggle with a Kindred suffering from blood rage, their latent powers emerge.

Cyrus, finish the sentence- 

The Lesson
By Suzanne Woods Fisher
Publisher: Revell
Pub. Date: January 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0800719890
ASIN: B009ZC4398
Pages: 304
Buy Links: http://ow.ly/gtVkj   
Blog Tour Link: http://litfusegroup.com/campaigns/thelesson

Review:

Mary Kate Lapp (or as her family and friends call her, M.K.) is a nineteen-year-old yearning for a mystery in the third and final book in the popular Stoney Ridge Seasons series by Suzanne Woods Fisher.

M.K. plans of leaving her small Amish community comes to a crashing halt as she literarlly crashes her scooter into the schoolteacher, Alice Smucker, causing the old woman to abandon her teaching duties for ten weeks because of her injuries. The Bishop orders M.K. to become the substitute teacher since she was the one that ran into Alice.

The poor girl had recently found the body of a farmer that had been shot to death and she eagerly wants to investigate it, but the authorities, her family and friends tell her not to get involved.

21: 2 Experts 1 Goal: 21 Days to Transform Your Body
By Daniel Loigerot and Elina Kaminsky Rph. C.N.C. N.D.
Publisher: DL FIT
Pub. Date: August 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0615680019
ASIN: B009GQGKMQ
Pages: 250

Review:

2013 is upon us and that means people are starting (or attempting) their New Years Resolutions, so basically everyone has regrets of overeating during the holidays and wants to try work off those extra ten pounds in January. Recently I had the chance to review the fitness book 21 Days to Transform Your Body from DL FIT in exchange for my honest review.

Can a person really get into shape in 21 days?

An Angel by Her Side
By Ruth Reid
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
ISBN: 978-1595547903
ASIN: B008GVYY8Y
Pub. Date: January 1, 2013
Pages:368

Review: 

The third novel in A Heaven on Earth series centers on an Amish woman Katie Bender who lost hope of getting married when her fiancé died in a sudden accident. Through the grieving process she found that she loved teaching and has spent the last few years teaching the kids at a local schoolhouse, which is until her Amish community of Hope Falls is hit with a tornado. Out of nowhere, Seth Sutzman, rushes to save Katie and her students before the storm hit.

Seth had recently returned to Hope Falls to aid his brother, Amos, who had recently lost his wife. When he didn't expect was to fall in love with the schoolteacher Katie Bender. He volunteers to help rebuild the community and of course the schoolhouse.

Katie is instantly attracted to him, but she fears of letting anyone near her heart again. Mysteriously, the angel Elias comes down from heaven in a mission to help guide Katie and Amos.

In the story of the prodigal son, Luke uses a curious phrase when the younger son realizes what he has lost and determines to go home. The King James Version translates the phrase, “He came to himself.” That phrase has always fascinated me. How do you come to yourself? Can you set yourself down somewhere and then forget where you left yourself? Actually, it is something like that. We can become so buried under mistakes and failure, stuffed under grief and regret, that we get to the place where we no longer recognize ourselves. But God’s “yes” changes all that. When the Spirit changes our true identity in Christ, we leave behind everything that is false and start walking toward the truth of Christ and who he created us to be.

Changing your mind
Walking away from the lies and destruction of sin is very close to the practical meaning of biblical repentance. It goes far beyond feeling bad about your sin—all the way to literally changing the direction of your life. And to change your life, you have to change the way you think. A change in your life’s direction means you stop fighting the current of God’s grace that flows in your spirit. Now you start flowing with the current of grace. As you reorient your life in the direction of God’s leading, you find your efforts are amplified through the Spirit’s presence in the same way an ocean current enhances the work of a ship’s sails.

Growing up an only child, I didn't play very many board games (though I did own many) unless it was with my cousins, my aunt, or when I could talk my parents and grandparents into playing. By the time I started school video games where starting to become popular, therefore I played Super Mario Bros. with my friends.

Now as an adult, I realize the importance of interacting with another player instead of a television or computer screen.

Recently, I had the opportunity to review a new educational game titled Mysterious Creatures the Game, courtesy of Education Outdoors in exchange for my honest review. I received the game by UPS within a few days in a nicely packaged box.

Mysterious Creatures requires up to four players between the ages of 8 and up. There are some small game pieces, so children under the age of three shouldn't be around the game.

Through taking healthy risks that make you a better person or the world a better place, you begin to develop a deeper appetite for good. At first it might not be very tasty. Taking even a small risk can be more difficult than it sounds. And that is why we have to practice. We have to develop the skill of challenging ourselves.

We want the act of making healthy choices to become a natural and authentic part of who we are. But before something can become a habit, it often is a hassle. Put another way: if we want new habits to become instinctual, then they must first be intentional. And in order for that to happen, we have to practice the sacred art of self-challenge.

I don’t want to freak you out, but what we’re really talking about is obedience. Obedience to God is the path that leads to Life. It’s the path that transforms you into the person you long to be. And obedience always requires risk.

What’s amazing is that much of our obedience is instinctual. In at least some areas of life, we naturally make healthy choices. We naturally smile at a stranger, or perhaps we have a great work ethic or are naturally curious or easygoing.

Yet we can’t define obedience solely in terms of what comes naturally. Often our greatest moments of obedience come when it is least natural. Perhaps our natural tendency in certain situations is unhealthy or hurtful. Or perhaps what we naturally want to do is nothing, to avoid taking action when action is called for. In these moments we have to choose something else, something we don’t want to do, something that, most likely, will move us into the space of the unknown.

I want to be a person who is able to act—who is able to obey—even when it’s unnatural.