April 25, 2016
Learn a Lesson in Love, Tippy Style, in Dana Mentink’s New Book (Plus a Prize Pack Giveaway)
What do you get when you add one abrasive professional athlete, a quirky out-of-work schoolteacher, and an overweight geriatric dog? A lesson in love—Tippy style—in Dana Mentink’s new book, Sit, Stay, Love. As Gina travels through Cal’s world with Tippy in tow, she begins to see Cal in a different light. Gina longs to show Cal the God-given blessings in his life that have nothing to do with baseball or fame. When her longing blooms into attraction, Gina does her best to suppress it. But Cal is falling in love with her too. . . .
Join Dana in celebrating the release of Sit, Stay, Love with a blog tour and a Travels with Tippy prize pack giveaway!
One grand prize winner will receive:
- A copy of Sit, Stay, Love
- A $75 Visa cash card
- A basket filled with Tippy-themed goodies
- Travel-themed decorator box
- Reading dog statue
- Dog journal
- Poems for Dog Lovers
- Snuggle Paws fleece blanket from Animal Rescue Site
- Pawprint scarf
- Doxie desk pen
- Pupmobile auto magnet
Enter today by clicking the icon below. But hurry! The giveaway ends on April 25th. The winner will be announced April 26th on Dana’s blog.
April 25, 2016
Song of Silence
In Song of Silence, music taught Lucy love and beauty. Could silence teach her hope?
About Song of Silence
Lucy and Charlie Tuttle agree on one thing: they’re committed to each other for life. Trouble is, neither of them expected life to look like this. Charlie retired early, but Lucy is devoted to a long-term career until the day she has no choice.
Forced to retire from her position as music educator in a small Midwestern K-8 school, Lucy can only watch helplessly as the program her father started years ago disintegrates before her eyes. As the music fades and a chasm separates her from the passion of her heart, Lucy wonders if her faith’s song has gone silent, too. The musical score of her life seems to be missing all the notes.
When a simple misstep threatens to silence Lucy forever, a young boy and his soundless mother change the way she sees and hears everything.
My Thoughts
A beautiful story of hope, understanding, forgiveness and possibility. My heart broke, I laughed and more importantly I felt very connected Lucy and her family.
When Lucy is forced to leave her position as a Music Educator, she is lost. She no longer has the one thing in her life that gives her purpose and meaning. Helping children was her lifelong goal. I can completely relate to those feelings. I don’t think it would be easy to give up on something you love and definitely not by choice, and thrown into early retirement. This is not the life she envisioned for herself nor the one that will make her happy. She puts a lot of her blame at the feet of one woman in particular (which ends up having a very unique twist about halfway through the novel!). She is lost, angry but worse she keeps it inside. When what appears to be a minor accident at first, changes her whole life once again, Lucy must learn to accept her trials, forgive and to see the world in a whole new way.
I loved every turn of the page of this novel. There are so many life lessons in it that we can adapt to our own lives. Not every disaster in our life is the end, even if at the time it definitely feels like that! There can always be something more awful that could have happened. It teaches us to trust in our family, to love but to also not be afraid to speak your own needs. The ending was so full of hope and I would love to see the next steps in this beautiful family’s life.
You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page. You can purchase a copy of the book here.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
Cynthia Ruchti tells stories hemmed in hope. She’s the award-winning author of 17 books and a frequent speaker for women’s ministry events. She serves as the Professional Relations Liaison for American Christian Fiction Writers, where she helps retailers, libraries, and book clubs connect with the authors and books they love. She lives with her husband in Central Wisconsin.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
April 22, 2016
The Inheritance
In The Inheritance, the death of the clan patriarch has thrown the tiny Shetland Islands community of Whale’s Reef into turmoil.
About The Inheritance
Everyone assumed MacGregor Tulloch’s heir to be his grand-nephew David, a local favorite, but when it is discovered that MacGregor left no will, David’s grasping cousin Hardy submits his own claim to the inheritance, an estate that controls most of the island’s land. And while Hardy doesn’t enjoy much popular support, he has the backing of a shadowy group of North Sea oil investors. The courts have frozen the estate’s assets while the competing claims are investigated, leaving many of the residents in financial limbo. The future of the island-and its traditional way of life-hangs in the balance.
Loni Ford is enjoying her rising career in a large investment firm in Washington, DC. Yet in spite of her outward success, she is privately plagued by questions of identity. Orphaned as a young child, she was raised by her paternal grandparents, and while she loves them dearly, she feels completely detached from her roots. That is until a mysterious letter arrives from a Scottish solicitor.
My Thoughts
A wonderful, historical novel based in the Scotland Shetland Islands. A remote location that is beautiful and harsh in its existence for the people of this small community that has not quite been touched by time. I love the beauty of Scotland and its people, their heritage that they carry with them. Throughout the novel, we have constant glimpses of this strong and proud culture. What I found the most amazing was the continuance of the Chief and Laird titles – I first thought I was reading a moment in the past but was pleasantly surprised to see us in the future. We get a wonderful glimpse into the daily lives of the people and how the Chief David plays a strong role in keeping the people united and well taken care of. Even if this mean supplementing their own income from this own!
When the titles and estate comes in question, their small world is thrown upside down. You have a family member, Hardy, who never cared (and still doesn’t) who emerges on the death of MacGregor. Everyone does not want him to be the leader but the courts are leaning towards him until a distant closer relation in Loni Ford is found.
Loni has no knowledge of her relations and has always grown up feeling alone. I love that she discovers this whole new family and community to belong to.
I loved the history, the characters and the way the story evolved. The ending left a little bit wanting and unsure if this is how the story ended, but it was still a great story from start to finish that anyone can get into. The Scottish language may take a while to get used to though! But I love reading it and imagining the accents as I read it.
You can find more reviews on the Litfuse Blog Tour page. You can purchase a copy of the book here.
Rating: 4/5
About the Author
Michael Phillips is a bestselling author with more than 70 of his own titles. In addition, he has served as editor/redactor of nearly 30 more books. He is known as the man responsible for the reawakened interest in George MacDonald of the last 30 years. In addition to the MacDonald titles adapted/edited for today’s reader, his publishing efforts in bringing back full-length quality facsimile editions also spawned renewed interest in MacDonald’s original work. Michael and his wife, Judy, spend time each year in Scotland but make their home near Sacramento, California.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
April 21, 2016
Breaking Free
In Breaking Free, sometimes it takes losing everything to grab hold of what really matters.
About Breaking Free
Women’s ministry leader and Seattle housewife, Alice Goddard, and her successful graphic-designer husband appear to have it all together. Until their credit and debit cards are denied, launching Alice into an investigation that only leads to the discovery of secrets. Meanwhile, her husband is trapped in a downward spiral of lies, shame, and self-destruction. Can they break free from their deception and turn to the only One who can save them? And will it be in time to save their marriage?
My Thoughts
WOW – an emotional roller coaster that takes you through moments of love, honesty, pain, addiction, healing and forgiveness.
First, we have Alice who lives in the picture perfect world of a housewife from a rich neighbourhood. She has built up her wealth and has friends around her that while she may not always like, she lives in fear of their judgement. She constantly felt the need to portray the perfect life, even as she was crumbling on the inside. When her husband has been exposed with an alcohol and gambling addiction, this sets their world upside down. Everything that was the picture of perfection before is shattered and their family is left spinning. Nothing lands the way it should once the spinning stops.
My heart broke for both of them, they are so lost and torn but found it hard to reach out to each other in their moments of need. If they could have spoken to each other more, tried not to hide their faults and discuss them instead, maybe some of the cascading events would not have happened. But, as like many of us would do, we block off the one person we need to reach out, and search instead for other ways to fill the pain. I also love how her best friend tries to reach out to her with the teachings of their faith. She keeps trying to remind Alice she is never truly alone, she can reach out to God, her friends and even her husband. That while he may have let her down, he is still her husband.
Breaking Free is a truly amazing, emotional book that you will not be able to put down. Alice’s life takes over, pulls you in deep and leaves you wanting more. The ending made me cry and made my heart so happy!
You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
Jennifer Slattery is an inspiring contemporary novelist whose stories of hope, love, and grace resonate with real people. She is the author of compelling contemporary romance novels such as Beyond I Do, When Dawn Breaks, Intertwined, and Breaking Free. She also writes for Crosswalk.com and devotions for her personal blog, JenniferSlatteryLivesOutLoud; Internet Cafe Devotions; and Takin’ It To The Streets, a ministry serving Omaha Metro’s working poor and homeless. When not writing, she enjoys hanging out with her teenage daughter and real-life hero husband, as well as serving in her church.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
April 20, 2016
A Dream of Miracles
In A Dream of Miracles, Amish widow Mattie vows never to love again until a suspicious outsider with a shadowy past comes crashing into her fragile world.
About A Dream of Miracles
Mattie Diener can barely keep it together. A young Amish widow and mother of two young children, she faces the lingering heartbreak of lost love, her son’s mysterious illness, and a torrent of accusations that threaten to undo her.
Bo Lambright is a fast-rising social services investigator whose high-society mother won’t rest until she finds his Mrs. Right. Despite Bo’s worldly success, the raw ache of a shadowy past and a series of unsettling dreams have left him reeling.
When Mattie and Bo cross paths, all signs point to disaster. Yet as they face a crucible of trials and tragedies together, longings begin to stir that seem destined only to end in more heartbreak. Is a miracle possible, not only of healing but of forbidden love? What secrets lie in Bo’s dreams? And will Mattie find the courage to face her uncertain future or will she simply run away?
My Thoughts
A Dream of Miracles if full of raw emotions, love, fear, forgiveness and pain. Both of our main characters, Bo and Mattie, must learn to open their hearts to forgiveness and healing to move forward. Two individuals, whom from outward appearances seem very different, have very much in common in their past.
I love how Bo’s story slowly unfolds as he looks into Mattie’s open case. We see glimpses of his past at certain times throughout the novel and we can feel his pain that he has closed himself off too. It is his meeting with Mattie that opens his heart up completely. He learns that he has to heal that pain, to forgive the pain in order to be the person he wants to be. In turn, Mattie faces similar steps. She has lost her husband at a young age and left with two young children. When a social investigator begins looking at her parenting skills and home life, she is heartbroken. My heart broke for her, when some of the investigators could not look past her Amish beliefs and lifestyle to find the truth about her son’s mysterious illness and instead take the easy route by blaming her.
In a story where many of the events could have shattered the two main characters, we instead find healing, perseverance and hope. A Dream of Miracles is a truly beautiful story that all readers will love.
You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page. You can purchase a copy of the book here.
Rating: 4.5/5
About the Author
Ruth Reid is a CBA and ECPA bestselling author of the Heaven on Earth series. She’s a full-time pharmacist who lives in Florida with her husband and three children. When attending Ferris State University School of Pharmacy in Big Rapids, Michigan, she lived on the outskirts of an Amish community and had several occasions to visit the Amish farms. Her interest grew into love as she saw the beauty in living a simple life.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
