ISBN: 978-1-60260-890-0
Ages: Adults


Kelly is saving her money so she can make her dream of becoming an artist come true. A shopkeeper, Mike Cooper, has a crush on Kelly. He offers to hang up some of her drawings in his store. The story gets a little predictable here, as of course, Kelly starts to have feelings for Mike.

Despite the cliché formula that most Christian romance writers use, “Kelly’s Chance” is a sweet, likeable tale.

Jennifer from Crazy for Books has created this meme.

If you'd like to participate, here's Jennifer's instructions:


Every day I seem to find another book blog that I start following. In the spirit of the Friday Follow, I thought it would be cool to do a Book Blog Hop to give us all bookies a chance to connect and find new blogs that we may be missing out on! It will also give blog readers a chance to find other book blogs that they may not know existed!


So, if you'd like to participate, just repost this on your blog, sign MckLinky and check out other blogs in MckLinky! Let's connect and make new book bloggy friends!! So, if you consider yourself a book blogger, come join the fun!


Pretty please - Your blog should have content related to books, including

Indian Summer
BY: Tracy Richardson
PUBLISHED BY: Luminis Books
PUBLISHED IN: 2010
ISBN: 978-1-935462-25-5
Pages: 200
Reviewed by Billy Burgess
Ages: Middle Grade

In “Indian Summer,” Marcie Horton is a twelve-year-old who loves to win competitions, especially bike races. She’s not looking forward to her summer vacation this year. She spending the summer at her grandparent’s lake cottage on Lake Pappakeechee.

Kaitlyn Swyndall is the only other girl she knew there, but Kaitlyn is a rich, snobby girl. Marcia befriends some other kids at the lake, and is looking forward to the upcoming boat race.

The woods, James Woods, surrounding the lake is going to be torn down by a wealthy developer, Mr. Swyndall. He is the president of the university where Marcie Horton’s parents teach, and he is also the father of Kaitlyn. Marcia is starting to like her, so things start to get complicated.

Marcia begins to have strange visions of a mysterious spirit. Could it be Indians?

“Indian Summer,” is a easy, fast read. I read it in one sitting. The author likes to “tell” more often than “showing” in her writing. The plot is simple - a pre-teen girl tries to stop a wealthy developer from destroying the centuries-old forest. I’ve read dozens of similar plots before, this is nothing new. The ending of the book is predictable. The main character, Marcia, is fun, energetic and likeable. Despite the book’s downfalls, I still enjoyed reading it.

Note: I would like to thank the Author for sending me this complimentary copy to review.

A Law of Attraction Book for Children: The S.T.A.R Powered Twins
BY: Dorothy A. Lecours
ILLUSTRATED BY: Chrisann Zaubi
PUBLISHED BY: DragonPencil
PUBLISHED IN: December 2009
ISBN: 978-1-60-131-063-7
Pages: 88
Reviewed by Billy Burgess

“The S.T.A.R. Powered Twins” is to help develop and encourage young children to read. Adults are to read a ten page segment of the story per day to the child. The child needs to retell the events of the story, before the adult will continue with it.

The book starts out with the birth of Grace and Jace Star. Their parents and grandparents teaches them about nature, cooking, imagination, designing, and art. Grace and Jace learn about the words Never Allowed, Don’t, Can’t, No, and Not. Grace and Jace learn how to read, and over time they became excellent readers.

The Illustrations in “The S.T.A.R. Powered Twins” are beautiful. There are hidden words in the pictures for the young readers to find. There is a wonderful message of “I Am” that ever parent should teach their children. This is a great book to help your children learn how to read before they start school.

Note: I would like to thank the Author Marketing Experts, Inc. for sending me this complimentary copy to review.

Pages: 214
Ages: 9-12
Reviewed by Billy Burgess

In the first book in the series, on the island of Berk, eleven-year-old Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the son of the Viking chief, must follow the rite of passage and capture a dragon from a cave. Hiccup, along with other children, are led by Gobber the Belch to catch their own eggs. Whoever can’t find an egg and train a dragon, will be kicked out of the tribe forever.

Fear Street Nights: Darkest Dawn
BY: R.L. Stine
PUBLISHED BY: Simon Pulse
PUBLISHED IN: 2005
ISBN: 978-0-689-87866-4
Pages: 182
Ages: Teens & Up
Reviewed by Billy Burgess

Several months have passed since “Midnight Games,” and the night people have gone on with their lives, no longer in fear of Angelic Fear. Jamie is the only one who still believes that the curse lives on. She still has nightmares of being possessed by Angelic Fear. She runs across a mysterious bracelet that is similar to the Fear amulet.

More deaths start to the occur. Jamie’s cousin, Dana, starts to wonder if she has lost her mind. After awhile Jamie starts to wonder the same thing, especially after she starts seeing the Fear Mansion that was demolished over a year ago. Is it Angelic Fear back from the grave again? Or is it someone else?

Jamie becomes the main character in “Darkest Dawn,” the third and final book in the “Fear Street Night” trilogy. Die-hard fans from the original books will enjoy the continuation and conclusion to the Simon and Angelic Fear storyline. I was disappointed that the character Dana Fear didn’t have a bigger part. She is a much stronger and likeable character than Jamie. The plot is a little darker than the first two books. Overall, I did enjoy the exciting ending to the series.

Billy:

How did you come up with the idea for "Imaginary Jesus?"

Matt:

I have always thought it interesting to take Biblical stories and transport them into the present so I can see what makes sense and what is weird. For instance, Jesus walking up to fishermen and saying "Follow Me" doesn't seem like a big deal. But imagining him walking into a fast food restaurant and telling the employees to follow him is a completely different picture. It's weird to imagine people leaving burgers burning on the grill and walking out the door after Jesus. So, as I started to wrestle through a lot of our misconceptions about who Jesus is, I thought it would be funny and interesting to see what it would be like if we could actually see our misconceived Jesuses. It all grew out of that first chapter in the book, where someone points out, "Hey, your Jesus seems a little weird. I don't think that's the real Jesus."

Billy:

Who are your favorite writers and why?

Matt:

Oh boy... how many do I get to list? Here are a few:

1) John Steinbeck. If I could grow up to write like anyone, it would be JS. I re-read "East of Eden" about once a year. He has an amazing ability to draw out the complexities of human interactions that shows a keen understanding of human nature and what drives us. He doesn't waste words, and his books are moving and powerful.

2) Gene Wolfe. Gene Wolfe gets touted all the time as one of the best living writers in the English language, and I think this is true. His books are the type of books that I can re-read multiple times with increasing enjoyment. Check out his collection of short stories "Strange Travellers" or the novel "Pirate Freedom."

3) Flannery O'Connor. Again, keen insight into human beings, but Flannery also has keen insight into everything else. Everything she wrote, essays, short stories and novels are all amazing. The short story "Parker's Back" is my current favorite. I've never lived in the South, either, I'm a California boy.

4) Michael Connelly. I love the Harry Bosch detective novels. I always pre-order them and then wait by the mailbox. I love reading about someone so dedicated to justice and the fact that every human being matters and they all "count." And he's a gifted story teller, who uses plot to reveal character over time. Harry Bosch is certainly my favorite series character.

There are a lot more... Vonnegut, Beuchner, Lewis, Chesterton and more. But I don't want to bore you by listing a million authors!