June 26, 2015
Two Roads Home by Deborah Raney
What if it is too late for dreams to come true?
About Two Roads Home
Minor but nagging setbacks continue to sour Grant and Audrey Whitman’s adventure into the world of innkeeping, but larger challenges brew when an innocent flirtation leads to big trouble for the Whitmans’ son-in-law, Jesse. Jesse Pennington’s friendly and outgoing personality has always served him well, especially in a career that has earned him and his wife Corinne a very comfortable lifestyle. But Corinne and Jesse are both restless and for similar reasons, if only they could share those with each other. Instead, too many business trips and charges of harassment from a disgruntled coworker threaten their marriage and possibly put their three precious daughters at risk.
With their life in disarray, God is tugging at their hearts to pursue other dreams. Can Corinne and Jesse pick up the pieces of what was once a wonderful life before it all crumbles beneath them?
My Thoughts
Deborah spins an excellent tale in Two Roads Home. We watch a couple that are excellent together and could be so happy if they would just speak with each other. Instead they bottle up their feelings and reach out to other things and people to find the happiness they crave. This lands their relationship and Jesse’s career in then hotspot. What started out as a simple step in flirtation with a co-worker quickly spirals out of control and things turn ugly fast. You can almost sense what will happen but even I was shocked at the extend of ugliness that transpires because of the simple flirtation. This not only wreaks havoc on their marriage but also on their career.
From this horrible moment in their marriage, comes a blessing in disguising. They learn things about themselves and grow not only as a couple but as individuals. It drives home the saying that from every unpleasant event in our life something good will always arise. Sometimes we just have to be open to receiving this blessing. This is always the hardest lesson to learn, to be open and willing to receive God’s blessings and the true path we are meant to take.
Two Roads Home will be the perfect addition to your home library! 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
Deborah Raney’s books have won numerous awards, including the RITA, National Readers Choice Award, HOLT Medallion, and the Carol Award, and have twice been Christy Award finalists. She and her husband, Ken, traded small-town life in Kansas-the setting of many of Deborah’s novels-for life in the big city of Wichita, where they enjoy gardening, antiquing, movies, and traveling to visit four children and a growing brood of grandchildren who all live much too far away.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
June 26, 2015
Love Arrives in Pieces by Betsy St. Amant
In Love Arrives in Pieces, Stella was known for so long for her beauty. Now she must find herself.
About Love Arrives in Pieces
Former pageant queen, Stella, doesn’t trust beauty after her divorce. Her appearance betrayed her and led her into brokenness, so instead of being beautiful, now she tries to make beautiful things but always falls short. She keeps her passion for art to herself and focuses on her interior design work. If she does not get another job soon, she will be stuck living with her parents for a long time.
Contractor Chase Taylor is determined to live a life of no regrets after losing his fiancée. He lives life at full speed, striving to see how much he can accomplish. He knows if he slows down that he will fall apart. He returns home to Bayou Bend to renovate the town’s old theatre and is shocked to discover that the designer is his old flame, Stella.
Forced to work together, Chase and Stella battle their chemistry and past as they struggle to compromise and work together. Their wills clash as they attempt to hide their past and their unresolved feelings for each other, until Chase discovers the hidden parts of Stella while losing her trust in the process.
A near catastrophe, a fire and a small town gossip mill finally force them to realize that they have a choice, to hold on to their past or surrender their fragmented pieces to the One who makes a beautiful masterpiece from brokenness.
My Thoughts
Love Arrives in Pieces is a beautiful extension of another favourite book of my mine, All’s Fair in Love and Cupcakes. In this novel, we get to meet Stella, Kat’s sister. She is a beautiful woman both inside and out but has been broken inside and no longer feels beautiful. She wants to hide her beauty as she feels as though that is all any one sees. No one sees the inside, the part that is less than pretty never less want to stay with her. They toss away the broken pieces because they are seen as ugly and not pretty enough to be kept around.
It was beautiful to watch Stella grow in this novel. She faces her fears sometimes head on and at other times she hides in denial. Stella needs to realize that in order to heal from the inside out, she must accept all the broken pieces of her life (her divorce, her pain, her pageant life) and move forward.
Love Arrives in Pieces is more than just a romance, it is a beautiful portrayal of how you can overcome the worst moments in your life if you can accept the broken pieces that make you who you are.
You can find more reviews on the Litfuse Blog Tour page. You can purchase a copy here.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
June 23, 2015
My Little Pony Friendship is Magic – Cutie Marks Quest with Giveaway!
Doesn’t it feel like everything old is new? I remember playing with My Little Pony ponies when I was a little girl. My Mom still has my collection! I couldn’t wait to receive My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, Cutie Mark Quests.
In this new feature film, join the quest that is so important to the Little Pony, to find their own cutie mark!
In Equestria, being true to yourself is the key part of earn your cutie mark, but staying true to yourself is just as important. Join Twilight Sparkle, Apple Jack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash as they journey to find their own Cutie Marks, take on the spirit of chaos and disharmony.
The DVD runs for an hour longer and contains five episodes, that includes:
- My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: The Show Stoppers
- My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: The Return of Harmony, Part 1
- My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: The Return of Harmony, Part 2
- My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: The Cutie Map, Part 1
- My Little Pony Friendship is Magic: The Cutie Map, Part 2
While my boys do love a good adventure story full of magic, this was actually perfect for my niece who is a HUGE My Little Pony fan. So I could not wait to drop this off for her to watch with her Mom. She loved every minute of this movie and couldn’t wait to share her thoughts on the show with us. The movie was in full colour and told a lovely tale of finding and being true to you are.
I love how not only is this a perfect show for young children because of their love of the characters but it also teaches the valuable lesson of being true to yourself. To know and love yourself for who you are is so important for every individual. Even more so these are important lessons and skills for our children to learn and utilizing a favourite character for children is the best way to accomplish this goal (in my opinion!).
Shout Factory now wants you to win your own copy of this DVD set to release June 30th, 2015. My Canadian readers can now enter via the Rafflecopter form below – GOOD LUCK!
You can connect with Shout Factory on Twitter and Facebook.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this DVD in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
June 23, 2015
Dragons Race to the Edge #WW with linky #StreamTeam
This weekend, we walked the red carpet for the Netflix premiere of Dragons Race to the Edge. This Netflix original series is based on the very popular How to Train Your Dragon movie.
Netflix truly knows how to put on a party! We had so much fun face painting, sheep tossing and getting comfy to watch the premiere. Here is a glimpse of our afternoon:
And if you are not familiar with this series, check out this trailer – you wont be disappointed! The series is out on June 26th, 2015.
Make sure you link up below, so that I can visit you too!
June 23, 2015
Exile Book Three of Guy Erma and The Son of Empire
Exile, Book Three in the Guy Erma and The Son of Empire series has been released and is just as fantastic as the first two in this series geared towards youth.
About Exile: Guy Erma and the Son of Empire
“Someone somewhere has decided that the Sas Darona plague could be used as a weapon”.
“They called them poison pills”.
“These plague pills went beyond deadly. They were planet killers”.
Teodor has managed to escape from his kidnappers but how long will it take before he is home safe? Guy Erma has run away from everything and the only home he has ever known. What could his future hold? Their adventure has forged an unexpected friendship but can they really trust each other? Their paths have now become one when they discover a deadly terror.
My Thoughts
FANTASTIC! I love my sci-fi novels (actually I am no book snob and love pretty much every genre) but this series geared towards young adults is amazing. The series is full of adventure and constantly keeps you guessing from start to finish. There is never a dull moment or will you ever find yourself wanting to put the book down for another day.
The two boys discover a terrible, hidden secret during their escape in this series. This secret has the potential to destroy everything they have ever known. How this secret came to be is just as shocking as the secret itself (while I wish I could spoil it, I just can’t – you have to read the book!). It is this deadly truth that brings the boys together. Sally draws you right into the plot and has you trying to guess whether the two youths can trust each other. While it should be easy for them to trust each other, their differences and their pasts that brought them together is what holds them apart. In order for them to escape they have to trust each other, but this is much easier said than done.
While this is book three in this series, the end does leave you wishing for more and hanging on, so hopefully there will be a part four in this series! Sally definitely leaves enough room for more to be written and I truly hope she picks up where this novel ends.
You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon. You can find my reviews for Book One and Book Two on my website.
Rating: 5/5
About the Author
Sally was born in Wallasey, England in 1964 and moved to the South of France when she was eleven. She spent her teenage years in Monaco learning the languages and cultures. As an English girl in a French school, she would spend her English classes at the back of the class writing stories thus inspiring her love of writing. Sally now writes marketing communications and manages large international websites. Sally currently lives in Farham with her husband and two children. You can connect with Sally on her website, Twitter and Facebook.
Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
