When Grace Sings
The Zimmerman Restoration Trilogy, book 2
by Kim Vogel Sawyer
Publisher: WaterBrook Press
Pub. Date: March 17, 2015
ISBN: 978-0307731333
Pages: 352
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/ksawyer
Buy Link: http://bit.ly/1FBvcM5

Review:

I use to be part of a monthly book club year ago and one of the books (I don't recall the title) sent to me was by Kim Vogel Sawyer. The author was completely new to me, but she has became one of my favorite authors since then. Now every time I come across a new title by the author, I eagerly sign up to review it.

When Grace Sings arrived in bookstores this spring and centers on Alexa Zimmerman, a young Mennonite woman living in Arborville, Kansas. The community there is of the Old Order Mennonite and they haven't exactly accepted Alexa, though she was raised by the Zimmerman family that already lives in town. She tries to stay positive by using her culinary and hospitality skills to run a bed-and-breakfast.

A hotshot Chicago reporter, Briley Forrester, is sent to Arborville to write a juicy story on the Mennonite community. Upon arriving at Alexa's bed-and-breakfast, he gets a room there. Orphaned at a young age, Briley doesn't exactly understand of how close-knit some of the Mennonite families are here.

Before long another guest arrives, Alexa's cousin, Anna-Grace Braun, whom is to-be-married to Steven Brungardt. The two aren't from Arborville, but Steven inherited his grandfather's farm. Though he would rather be a teacher, Steven doesn't want to disappoint his family by not taking taking over the farm.

Called To Be Amish
by Marlene C. Miller
Publisher: Herald Press
Pub. Date: February 9, 2015
ISBN: 978-0836199116
Pages: 256 
Buy Link: http://bit.ly/1ESK6eR
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/MMiller

Review:

I'm always excited to see a new Amish fiction title being released and every time a chance to review a new title comes my way, I eagerly sign up to review it. Little did I know that Called To Be Amish wasn't a fictional story, but instead it's a memoir.

Called To Be Amish tells the true story of Marlene C. Miller, where the author recounts her abusive and unhappy childhood and her school years where she joined cheerleading and marching band. During her upbringing, her grandmother did take her to church, despite her mother's objections.

The one thing Marlene never thought would happened did - she fell in love, but with a young Amish man named Johnny, whom she met while ice skating. They dated for three years and became engaged by the time her high school graduation neared. She became pregnant shortly afterward. Despite some cold feet, Johnny did marry Marlene in the spring of 1963. By that fall, Marlene made the decision to  join the Amish faith.

A Love Like Ours
by Beck Wade
Publisher: Bethany House
Pub. Date: May 5, 2015
ISBN: 978-0764211096
Pages: 368
Blog Tour: http://litfusegroup.com/author/bwade
Buy Link: http://bit.ly/1R9Tv8p

Review:


A Love Like Ours centers on a former Marine, Jake Porter, whom suffers from PTSD symptoms. Due the scar on his face and the scars in his heart, he lives a solitary life in Holley, Texas and tries to avoid all relationships. Well, that is until his childhood friend, Lyndie James, returns!

Tox-Sick: From Toxic to Not Sick
by Suzanne Summers
Publisher: Harmony
Pub. Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-0385347723
Pages: 384
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

While many people know Suzanne Summers as Chrissy Snow from the 70s' television series Three's Company and as Carol Foster-Lambert from the 90s' television series Step-by-Step, a few might not be aware that she is also a bestselling author of many nonfiction books. Her newest novel Tox-Sick: From Toxic to Not Sick just hit bookstores last month and has been featured on many programs, including The O'Reilly Factor.

Sadly, many people don't pay attention to what ingredients that are in the food that they digest as this can be a big factor to many healthy problems, such as allergies, sinuses, weight gain, headaches, depression, fatigue, heartburn, etc.. Most of the aliments are caused by the harmful toxins that we put into our bodies.

Suzanne Summers interviews six doctors (Dr. Nicholas Gonzalez, Dr. Sherry Rogers, Dr. Richie Shoemaker, Dr. Walter Crinnion, Dr. Stephen Sinatra and Dr. Garry Gordon), asking them all tough questions of why we're all having health issues and how we can prevent them.

The Pyramid
Director: Gregory Levasseur
Starring: Ashley Hinshaw, Denis O'Hare, James Buckley and Daniel Amerman
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: May 5th, 2015
Retail: $29.99
ASIN: B00TRUJ92O
Running Time: 89 minutes
Rating: R
Buy Link: Amazon


Review:

Now available to own on Blu-ray is the found-footage horror flick The Pyramid. Directed by Gregory Levasseur and produced by Alexandre Aja, the film stars Ashley Hinshaw, Denis O'Hare, James Buckley and Daniel Amerman.Special Features includes an extended ending: Featurettes: Fear, Space, Archaeology, Egyptain Myth, Partners and an image gallery.

The Pyramid centers on archaeological team finding a pyramid with three sides buried in the Egyptian desert. Using advanced techology, they estimate that it is 600 feet deep. After finding an access to a tunnel that releases deadly toxins, the father/daughter archaeologicist duo, Miles (played by Denis O'Hare) and Nora Holden (played by Ashley Hinshaw), decide to take a team, along with a camera crew, inside the mysterious pyramid.

As the team investigates the inside of the pyramid, they quickly realize that they aren't alone, as there are cannibal cats that are guarding Anubis. One by one, members of the team start to die off, leaving only a few to battle Anubis.

Black or White
Director: Mike Binder
Starring: Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer
Studio: 20th Century Home Entertainment
Release Date: May 15, 2015
Retail: $29.98
ASIN: B00UKSXN60
Running Time: 121 minutes
Rating: PG-13
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Now available on to own Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD is the drama Black or White. Directed by Mike Binder (Reign Over Me), the film stars Kevin Costner (Dancing With Wolves, The Bodyguard) and Octavia Spencer (The Help). Special Features include Shades Of Gray: The Making of Black or White and Promotional Featurettes.

The film centers on a Elliot Anderson (played by Kevin Costner), who's life is completely altered when is wife is killed in a car accident; leaving him to care for their granddaughter Eloise (played by Jillian Estell). Ever since his daughter had died giving birth to Eloise.  Elliot and his wife had been raising her.

Shortly after the funeral, he learns that Eloise's paternal grandmother Rowena Jeffers (played by Octavia Spencer) is going to sue for custody. Elliot will do anything to keep his granddaughter in his life and away from her estranged drug addict father, even it if means batting his own demons.

Fans of the Maximum Ride series thought thought the franchise had ended with 2012's Nevermore, but they were wrong as the ninth installment, Maximum Ride Forever, arrives in bookstore later this month. If you've been following my blog this past week, then you would know that I've been rereading the first few books in the series.

Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports is the third installment and was first published on May 29, 2007. The book once again centers on Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel, the six human-avian hybrids that escaped The School in the first few novels. Max and flock have their hands full this time as they go on a mission to stop the evil corporation known as Itex.

Being a teenage hero isn't easy as Max must deal with her feelings for Fang and she must rescue the rest of the flock from the Erasers/Flyboys (Erasers are wolf/human hybrids and Flyboys are the robotic versions). Time is literally run out for the flock, as Itex has given them all expiration dates and the clock is running down quickly.

To save the world and their flock, Max must rely on Fang's blog readers for help as well as the young Angel, whom is trying to fool the Itex.