Blog Tour ; Buy Link

Well, technically I was supposed to have this review posted yesterday, but sadly a few things came up on Friday (as well as Saturday), so I didn't have time to write the review until today.

I always keep an eye out when new titles by my favorite authors are released, so I was thrilled when I heard that A Son's Vow (A Charmed Life, book one) by Shelly Shepard Gray was being released. The author writes many romances that are set in the Amish and Mennonite world.

A Son's Vow centers on Darla Kurtz, a young woman who is dealing with a lot of drama in her life. Three months ago, her father was the cause of a fire that killed five men at the Charm's Lumber Mill. Ever since then, the Amish Community have practically shunned their entire family; leaving her bother to lash out at everyone.

Lukas Kinsinger has a lot of responsibility on his shoulders. Besides from taking care of his three siblings, he is also in charge of his family's lumber mill. His stress levels has been skyrocketed ever since the fire and his friendship with Darla is on the rocks. After learning of what the Kurtz family is going through, Lukas makes it his mission to try to help as much as he can, and hopefully grow his friendship with Darla into something even more meaningful.

If you want schedule next week's post, click here to find the next prompt question. To submit a question, fill out this form.

What to do:

1. Post on your blog answering this question:

  This week's question is submitted by Elizabeth @ Silver's Reviews!

Can you pass by a book store without stopping in?

2. Enter the link to your post in the linky list below (enter your Blog Name and the direct link to your post answering this week’s question. Failure to do so will result in removal of your link).


3. Visit other blogs in the list and comment on their posts. Try to spend some time on the blogs reading other posts and possible become a new follower.  The purpose of the hop is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, befriend other bloggers, and receive new followers to your own blog.

  

My Answer: 

Yes and No! If the bookstore is new, then I'll probably need to look around in it. However, I tend to ignore Barnes & Nobles and other bookstores when I'm in the city because if I go in, then I'll just spend too much money. If I want to read a specific book, then I'll order it online or ask the publisher if I can review the title.

I'm not the biggest football fan in the world; however, I did watch the Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots last Sunday. For this week's reread, I read Rotten School: Lose, Team, Lose! (book four in the series) by R.L. Stine and illustrations by Trip Parker, which happens to have a football plot.

Published by Parachute Press in 2005, Lose, Team, Lose! centers on Bernie Bridges, a forth-grader troublemaker who is living at the private school called Rotten School. Being the coolest and best-looking student (according to Bernie), he has become the quarterback for the school's football team, the Fighting Apples. Unfortunately, the team has a losing record of 1,500 straight losses!

Bernie has a crush on the prettiest girl at the school, April-May-June, but sadly she barely notices him at all. She is one of the school's cheerleaders, but they never attend the Fighting Apple's games due the long losing streak. Instead they cheer on the soccer team, which mostly consists of students from the Nyce House, including Bernie's archenemy, Sherman Oaks.

Bernie is desperate to get April-May-June's attention, and to do so, he must find a secret weapon for the Fighting Apples. Or in other the words he needs to persuade the tallest and biggest student to join the team - Jennifer Ecch.

Blog Tour; Buy Link

Wow! The first month of 2016 is nearly over, and I've already read several great books, which includes the recently released Beyond The Silence by Tracie Peterson & Kimberly Woodhouse, whom also collaborated on All Things Hidden.

Beyond the Silence is set in the early 1890s and centers on Lilian Porter, a young woman who leaves her home in Indiana and heads to Angel Camp, California, where she takes a job as a nanny, despite objections from her grandfather. Going out west was a dream of her mothers, so she is eager to start a new life; though part of her is scared to death of the unknown.

At first her employer,  a thirty-year-old widow Woodward Colton, seemed to a nice man, who is struggling to take care of his seven-year-old son, Jimmy. The boy hasn't spoken one single word in over a year. However, Lilian hears some odd rumors that Woodward is hiding a dark, deadly past.

As Lilian gets closer to the boy, she begins to suspect that someone might have scared him so badly that he has shut himself off from everyone. Strange situations occur at the Woodward olive farm as well as the arrival of a few unwanted guests, leading Lilian to wonder who Woodward Colton really is.

Retail: $7.99; 400 pages

If you're an avid reader of this blog, then there's a good chance that you've seen a few reviews for V.C. Andrews' titles on here. My late grandmother was a big of V.C. Andrews' writings, well, up until she learned that the ghost writer that took over after the author's death in 1986 was in fact a male, Andrew Neiderman. After the that, my grandmother quit reading the books, with the last one in her collection being Willow (book one of the DeBeers series).

I now have all the books in my grandmother's collection. I continued to collect each new installment that is released; I even filled in the gaps by finding the rest of the books in the DeBeers and the Broken Wings series, which were missing from her collection.

While I still haven't read all the titles, my opinion of the ghost writer's writing has been mixed. There have been a few good stories and there has been several horrible entries, mostly due to the lack of a "Gothic" feel in the most recent releases.

Available today from Pocket Books is the standalone novel, Sage's Eyes (978-1451650914), which I had received an ARC copy a few months ago. I didn't care much for the last standalone book, Bittersweet Dreams, so I've been putting this book aside; waiting to the very last minute to read it. To my surprise, it's better written than the last few releases. While I would never call it "Gothic," it's not a bad read.

The plot centers on sixteen-year-old Sage, who from an early age has had a "third eye" gift. She can see things that others cannot as if she has lived a past life. Her adoptive parents have tried to hide her gifts from the outside world. Actually, they have convinced themselves that she just has an active imagination.

As one year ends and a new one begins, old resolutions are forgotten and new ones are created. The majority of people use the new year as a time to start over and begin anew, making new goals, resolutions, and ambitions.

From business goals to lifestyle changes to accomplishments, there is a goal everyone is trying to meet in the new year. For the those looking to spend more time reading great, entertaining literature, here are 7 of the best books everyone should read this coming year.





The long-awaited sequel of To Kill a Mockingbird was finally released in 2015. Harper Lee, the brilliant mind behind both books, offers fans of To Kill a Mockingbird a peak inside the life of Scout, Jem, and Atticus, nearly 20 years into the future where the original took place. Set during the civil rights movement, the book addresses many of the same themes as the first book did, but the reader sees it from the perspective of adult-Scout instead of child-Scout. Harper Lee brings the classic story back to life with this amazing novel.

Technically, this book is part of an online workshop; however, due to its amazing subject matter on positivity and finding your purpose in life, it had to be added to the list. The Divine Purpose 101 workshop is created for anyone who is interested in finding their purpose in life and how to live out that purpose in a passionate, life-sustaining way. For those ready to make a lifestyle or career change, this workshop is one of the best places to start.

Renovating a bathroom is often one of the lowest chores on a person's to-do list. After all, bathroom renovations can often become messy, nasty jobs depending on how long its been since the bathroom was last renovated. However, there are numerous benefits associated with bathroom remodeling, particularly for those looking to sell their homes.

1. Increased value.

A standard bathroom renovation can be expensive. However, by simply replacing old features and adding in energy efficient toilets, baths, and sinks, you can improve the value of your home by $2000 or $3000 without breaking the bank. A new paint job can also help.

2. Save on energy costs.

Many homes are not nearly as energy efficient as they should be. Even when properly insulated, there are a number of steps a homeowner can take to improve the efficiency of their bathrooms at retaining temperature and power. The EPA estimates that energy efficient homes across the country save a total of 1.5 billion in energy costs and nearly 70 billion gallons of water each year through low-flow toilets and green LEDs.