Category: book review

September 20, 2016

Bun 2 Babe Review and Giveaway

The joys of being pregnant – endless choices, suggestions and worries! Bun 2 Babe: Routines and Strategies for Nurturing Your Baby through Age Two: A Personal and Informative Guide From a Mother of Four gives you all the information you will ever need!

About Bun 2 Babe: Routines and Strategies for Nurturing Your Baby Through Age Two: A Personal and Informative Guide From a Mother of Four

You’re expecting! Congratulations…and welcome to a seemingly endless string of choices: Doctor or midwife? Home or hospital birth? All natural or epidural? Cloth or disposable diapers? Breast-feeding or formula?

Now take a deep breath. Modern motherhood is full of possibilities and Bun 2 Babe is here to help you navigate your options. While there are numerous parenting books available, not many present firsthand accounts of multiple methods in a uncompetitive way. After having four children herself, author Charlotte Ryan, B.Sc. Hon., B.Ed., MA, knows from experience that what is right for one mother or child is not necessarily best for another.

Personal, practical, and at times downright hilarious, Bun 2 Babe guides you from pregnancy through raising a toddler with helpful advice and strategies pertinent to each stage. Discover what’s available, from birth choices to child-care options, so you can make an informed decision that fits your baby and your situation. Your baby is lucky to have you—you’re going to be a great mom!

My Thoughts

Finally a pregnancy and parenting book that you will LOVE! Charlotte writes in an amazingly personal manner with humour and love for her children and being a Mother. You can easily connect with both her and her parenting style. She is honest and real, she doesn’t give you the story or product advice that you want but that you need.

What I had to love the most was that Bun 2 Babe is not only great for first time parents but great for second, third and fourth time parents. Each pregnancy, delivery and first two years is different for every child. For my first son, I had a vacuum assisted delivery and it was quick and painless. My second son had to be induced and labour was long and painful. While my first son had difficulties with breastfeeding, my second son didn’t. Charlotte exposes you to every option out there from prenatal/antenatal care, to labour and delivery and raising your baby. When you have had four children, you have done and see it all! Her wisdom and experience truly shines out in this book. My favourite part was her own advice on how to remove those pesky boogers from your baby’s nose. I hated those nasal aspirators – they never worked. The only thing that truly works? Giving slight pressure on your baby’s nose by sucking on the end to pull it out. Yup – you have truly done it all when it comes to your kids! Talk about true love.

Another favourite part of mine was the section on breastfeeding. While she does encourage you do breastfeed (she also gives you sections on bottle feeding so don’t be afraid!), the best part was her explanation of the emotional connection. Too often we hear all about the health benefits but breastfeeding is truly beautiful. You feel so utterly connected (and not that I didn’t with my first son so please don’t take it the wrong way!) and time just freezes in that moment. I was reading this section while I was waiting for blood work and I actually started to cry in the lab’s waiting room.

Bun 2 Babe is honest, real, full of love, humour and advice. Charlotte has a wealth of wisdom but speaks to you as another Mother who gets it. We just want to enjoy pregnancy and parenthood. We want the best for our baby but we also want to keep some sanity (say no to back zippers and buttons for infants!). This book is truly special and deserves to be on every baby shower must buy list.

You can purchase a copy of Bun 2 Babe on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Charlotte Ryan is a busy mom of four fantastic kids and is a special education teacher. She received her master’s degree in education from the University of Toronto, and she continues to learn every day. Charlotte enjoys yoga, vegetarian cooking, skiing, horseback riding, painting, and exploring the outdoors. She lives outside Toronto, Ontario, with her handsome husband, cute children and big dog. You can connect with her on her site Bun 2 Babe.

The Giveaway!

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Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

September 12, 2016

Everlasting Lies Book Review

In Everlasting Lies, Edina Paxton is kissed at twelve, seduced at fourteen and married with child at fifteen. She immediately regrets her marriage to Charles Vernon and is relieved when he leaves to fight in the trenches during WW1. She soon finds love, comfort and sexual satisfaction with Bill, another soldier and the boy who first kissed her.

About Everlasting Lies

Charles is invalided out of the army and is sent to India on a hospital ship. There, he becomes a manager of a coalmine in Britain’s Indian Empire, with all the privileges that his position rewards, including sexual favours from female employees. At the end of his army service in 1920 he returns to England to collect his family and return to India, only to be greeted with the news that while he was away Edina was at play. She is pregnant.

Reluctantly, Edina and her three children sail for India with Charles and Edina gives birth to her fourth child while sailing south on the Red Sea. On reaching India Charles finds his Indian mistress is pregnant and Edina finds Charles’s Indian boss to be very attractive. It’s a mutual attraction. Neither Edina nor Charles is a saint.

Piecing together fragments of her grandmother’s remarkable and tragic story, Everlasting Lies is Barbara’s loving tale of the early life of Edina, her grandmother, and Charles, Edina’s husband. They both experience the horrors of WW1 and, in hopes of renewing their marriage, start new lives as members of the upper class in Imperial India.

My Thoughts

Just wow! Everlasting Lies is an incredible story that leaves you shocked, happy, angry at times and at other times emotionally involved. Edina had a horrible transition into adulthood after becoming pregnant. My heart ached for Edina throughout the novel, she is a tender soul who had her heart broken and tested far too many times. The way she was treated by Charles and her lack of rights in general is shocking and disturbing. Charles at many times at the book made me so angry and I wanted to lash out at him. He never treated Edina the way she truly deserved and took advantage of her age and naive nature. Edina tries to be kind and play the good wife but it does take quite a toll on her throughout the novel. I felt like she aged herself and separated herself from her family and friends, the true protectors that she needed.

When he drags his family to India, a trip that I was personally so angry at him for enforcing on Edina and her children, we see him almost redeem himself both in Edina’s eyes and our own (ALMOST!). Edina has a difficult choice to make – make the most of their marriage, forgive themselves for their mistake (which also includes her own affair) or for them to continue to stray. The move to India puts a lot at stake for both of them as well as opens their eyes to their own mistakes and how it has affected their children.

Everlasting Lies is an incredible tale that will leave you shocked, angry, full of emotion and raw. I never wanted to put this novel down. I had to continue to read Edina and Charles’ story, although many times I prayed Charles would just leave my prayers were never answered. The story ends at an almost crucial point in their marriage – where they decide to work on their marriage but there are hints of the start of more affairs. I wanted to know so much more! You will fall in love with this fantastic novel!

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Chapters.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Barbara Warren always has the pedal to the metal. Born in England and educated at a convent, she left school at sixteen and was selling encyclopedias in the roughest part of London at eighteen. She married and emigrated to Canada when she was twenty-three, had three charming daughters, went to university when she was thirty-six and retired from teaching in her mid fifties.

Then she pursued her passion for the arts and for travel. She and her husband rode camels in India, elephants in Nepal and horses in Montana. They hitchhiked in Norway, cycled across Denmark and snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef. Barbara’s paintings grace homes in Canada, USA and Mexico and she designs her own clothes. She spends the winters in Mexico and the summers in the bible belt of southern Alberta.

Her first novel, Everlasting Lies, tells the story of her grandparents’ love affairs with each other and with others. They struggle to survive in the last years of Victorian England and the horrors of WW1 and then start a new life with four children in Imperial India. You can connect with her on her website and Facebook.

The Giveaway!

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Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

September 9, 2016

God Bless Us Everyone Book Review

In God Bless Us Everyone, Charlene Dixon—called Charlie by family and friends—is devastated at the recent loss of her job.

About God Bless Us Everyone

For the last five years, the twenty-seven-year-old has blossomed as the activities director of an exclusive all-girls school. But when a misunderstanding with the headmistress leads to a pink slip right before the holidays, Charlie packs up her dreams and returns to her grandmother, Sis, who raised Charlie as her own in the mountains of North Carolina.

When Charlie arrives–broken and confused–Sis immediately puts her granddaughter to work behind the scenes of the local school’s Christmas play, A Christmas Carol. Charlie prickles at working with Dustin Kennedy, the drama teacher and her old crush from schooldays, but is even more put out at that the choice of the Dickens’ classic for the holiday performance. When she discovers her estranged father’s involvement her world turns on its head once more. But when Sis and Dustin encourage her to take a deeper look at the story behind A Christmas Carol, Charlie learns about trust, faith, and forgiveness and the needs of people in their own community.

My Thoughts

A sweet Christmas tale about trust and forgiveness, God Bless Us Everyone will have you smiling and leave you with a warm tug on your heart. Our story starts off with Charlie losing her dream job all over a clash of personalities over modern versus the classics. She is forced to return to her hometown to her Grandmother. When her Grandmother finds out the whole truth of her situation, she puts her to work on the school play to keep her busy.

And this is when the story really gets interesting! When Dustin enters the picture, we learn more about Charlie’s past; the pain and hurt she went through in her childhood and how she ended up living with her Grandmother. Your heart just goes out to her, you understand exactly why she struggles so much with trust and forgiveness. Throughout the chapters you really watch her struggle with herself and her beliefs. She wants to forgive and trust but finds it so difficult – which is something many of us can relate to after we have been hurt.

As the story evolves, we watch Charlie develop as a woman and a daughter. We watch her struggle, feel her pain and hope for her. God Bless Us Everyone is a truly sweet tale that will put you in the spirit of forgiveness and trust, especially right in time for Christmas!

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

Eva Marie Everson is an award-winning speaker and author of The Road to Testament, Things Left Unspoken, This Fine Life, Chasing Sunsets, Waiting for Sunrise, Slow Moon Rising, and The Potluck Club series (with Linda Evans Shepherd). She is the president of Word Weavers International, Inc., a member of AWSA, ACFW, RWA, the director of Florida Christian Writer’s Conference, and the contest director for Blue Ridge Mountain Christian Writer’s Conference. She and her husband make their home in Casselberry, Florida.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of the book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

September 6, 2016

Bossy Flossy

Had Bossy Flossy finally met her match?

About Bossy Flossy

Flossy is the bossiest girl around. She’s bossy at home and she’s bossy in school. She’s bossy to her friends and she’s bossy to her cat. Sometimes she’s even bossy to her teacher! Flossy doesn’t understand why no one will listen to her. One day, Flossy meets Edward, a boy who may be just as bossy as she is. Has Flossy finally met her match?

My Thoughts

It is hard not to be bossy as a child, sometimes they can’t control their own emotions or even making up with their own perceived disadvantages of being smaller by being bossy. I know my youngest can sometimes be quite bossy but he doesn’t always mean it. When children first meet someone with the same personality they can get quite a shock. Are they really that mean and pushy?? (I know adults can have quite a shock to when they meet their match!). But in some ways this is a good thing, they can learn from these encounters. Children can learn how not to behave and how words can hurt. This is the perfect book for toddlers and young children alike who are entering school or daycare. They can learn so much about behaviour, words and actions and how they can hurt others. It opens up so much discussion between parent and child.

Bossy Flossy is well written, age appropriate language and sentences. The illustrations are bright, bold and perfect for young children. We fell in love with the title of this book and made it into a catchy tune when someone in the house was being too bossy (‘who is a bossy flossy, bossy flossy!’!). A well written, fun book for children that will be perfect to add to your child’s library!

You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Chapters and Indigo.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Paulette Bogan admits she was bossy as a child. She is the author and illustrator ofVirgil & Owen, which was chosen as one of Bank Street Best Children’s books of the Year 2016, Virgil & Owen Stick Together, which won a Mom’s Choice Award Gold Medal for Picture Books, and Lulu The Big Little Chick, which won a Children’s Choice Book Award. She lives in New York City with her husband, three daughters, and two dogs. They ALL think she is STILL bossy. But they’ve never told her to go to her room! You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.

The Giveaway!

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Disclosure: I received a copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

September 6, 2016

House of Eire Book Review

In House of Eire, Hillary Broome, a reporter-turned-ghostwriter from Lodi, California, and her detective husband Ed fly to Ireland for research and a conference.

About House of Eire

Hillary Broome, a reporter-turned-ghostwriter from Lodi, California, and her detective husband Ed fly to Ireland – Ed for a gang conference in Dublin and Hillary to research her ancestors in Galway. Hillary plans to meet up with her friend Bridget, who’s pushing a greedy developer to include a memorial museum inside his proposed Irish theme park. As Hillary travels through Ireland and learns more about her friend’s crusade, she uncovers secrets and mysterious forces nudging her to fly away home.

My Thoughts

A wonderful thrilling adventure full of suspense, mystery and history. This book is set in Ireland and we learn so much about their history, their people and their struggle. I found myself at several times, stopping where I was so I could look up an event or place to learn more about it. It left me in tears at times with the suffering the people went through.

The plot line falls in perfectly with the history of Ireland. Hilary is going back to her home country to learn her past and visit her friend who has been researching and leading a fight to stop a developer from building a theme park without truly representing the suffering of the Irish people. This quickly turns deadly when individuals are murdered, leaving Hilary scared not only for herself but for her family.

The plot quickly speeds up and you literally can not put the book down as it is that exciting! The murder, suspense and never truly knowing what was going to happen next was thrilling. House of Eire is well written, laid out, with amazing characters and an even better plot. You will easily fall in love with this story!

You can purchase a copy of House of Eire on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

June Gillam teaches literature and writing at a Northern California Community College. She describes this series as psychological suspense novels in which Hillary Broome, reporter and ghostwriter, fends off complex villains of many kinds: a berserk butcher, a demented daughter and a haunted theme park developer. You can connect with her on her website, Twitter and Facebook.

The Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.