Category: book review

February 12, 2014

Sinners’ Garden by William Sirls #review

Hope, love and forgiveness. Finding God in all the quiet and small places. This powerful novel, The Sinners’ Garden has it all.

The Sinners’ Garden is set in the small township of Benning. Andy Kemp is one of the main characters of this novel. His life has been centered around the scars that mar his face. His face had been disfigured by an abusive father and he now hides his pain behinds books and anger. His Uncle Rip returns from prison a different and more religious man. He becomes a mentor for his nephew, trying all he can do to help ease Andy’s pain. When Andy begins to hear strange music through his iPod and making near prophetic announcements to those around him, Rip is convinced that Andy is hearing the voice of God.

Local police officer, Heather Gerisch, responds to a late night break in and enter in a poorer area of town. The masked prowler has left thousands of dollars in grocery gift cards! The bizarre break ins continue and is dubbed the “Summer Santa”. Andy and Rip discover an enormous and well kept garden of wildflowers that seem to have grown overnight. They speculate on whom the gardener could be and soon a spree of miracles transforms the small town from a place of hopelessness into a place of healing and beauty.

This novel was so moving and touched me deeply. It touched on so many difficulty topics of abuse, poverty, pain, forgiveness and healing. It forced me to open my eyes and remember that God is all around us. Sometimes life can become so busy that we forget that God is there listening to us and guiding us. We just need to slow down and listen to Him.

It can be so difficult to forgive those that have hurt us. This novel makes you realize how important the healing process is and if we don’t forgive we will continue to hurt. I loved how real the characters were. They were normal people, they were imperfect and their lives did not end in a happy fairy tale ending just because they were in a novel. This is a definite must read.

If you would like to find out more on this novel and read other reviews, please check out the Litfuse Blog Tour. To purchase a copy of the book please visit here.

Rating: 5/5

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

February 6, 2014

Friend Me: Thrilling First Novel By John Faubion

Friend Me is a suspenseful thriller that will have you turning the pages right through the night unable to put it down! A troubled marriage, an online virtual friend company and an unstable employee in that virtual friend company produces a thrilling book that gave me the goosebumps and had me up late at night reading.

Friend Me is the first novel by John Faubion. It is centered around the troubled marriage of lonely housewife, Rachel, and her frustrated husband , Scott. Scott wants his wife to understand his high pressured financial job and maybe even have her be a bit more like his own mother. Rachel wants Scott to see how lonely she is. She has given up so much for Scott and given him a family and she wants her husband and friend back.

They both turn to a virtual friend company. Rachel creates a “copy” of a dear friend of hers who has passed away. While Scott creates his ideal cyber girlfriend. The twist comes when the employee behind these creations, Melissa, decides that Scott is her ideal match. Melissa is determined to have all of him – not only him but his family and Rachel’s life.

Melissa begins to grow bold and tries to transition their virtual world into the real world. It is only then that Scott and Rachel realize they have fallen for something that has begun to feel like a trap. They have to fight against time to save all that is important to them.

In the opening of the novel I had a hard time following the idea behind this virtual friend idea but the more it was discussed the more you can see this becoming something real in our own present life. Technology is advancing daily and people are connecting to each other in ways that were never possible before. Online “friendships” begin and can be disastrous to marriages and trust.

Through out the novel you wanted to beg and plead with Rachel and Scott to just talk to each other. So many marriages can quickly fall down this road and it is so important to be open and honest with our spouses. Friend Me opens up a real concern that is present in society today about online and virtual relationships and how these affect marriages.

I have not read a thriller like this in a while and it is definitely a book I will be re-reading again! I am definitely looking forward to reading more of John Faubion’s books! To find more reviews on Friend Me check out the Litfuse Blog Tour here. Want to purchase your own copy? You can do so here.

Rating: 4.75/5

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

January 30, 2014

Step By Step Bread #DKCanada #Review

This year I have set severals goals for myself in the areas of cooking and baking. I am determined to eat healthier and purchase less processed foods. One of my goals is to provide my family with more home baked pastries and breads (I want to be able to control what goes in my food and choose healthier options). I have tried on several occasions to make bread loafs and have failed each time (sigh!).

I jumped at the chance to review Step By Step Bread as part of DK Canada’s Start Something New promotion. I was determined to finally make THE perfect bread loaf!

Step By Step Bread has over 125 recipes to suit any bread lover needs as well as for any occasion. Recipes range from classic breads, artisan breads, flat breads, crisps, quick breads to sweet breads (the complete set of recipes!). It was hard to even know where to start! The author Caroline Bretherton has worked in the food industry for the last fifteen years. She then opened up her own catering company and now owns and operates her own eatery in the USA.

One of the best features of this book has to be the photographs. Each recipe has a page or two dedicated to itself with large and clear photographs. She breaks each recipe down step by step making it much harder to make a mistake (especially for this newbie in the world of baking bread!). The ingredients were simple and included items that I always have stocked in my pantry. Caroline covers every possible question that I could possibly have had in this book! Not to mention the fantastic variety of recipes that were included. It covers such a large variety of recipes which eliminates the need to have multiple recipe books laying around the house.

For my first trial, I made a simple ciabatta bread. This is a family favourite in our home and we have it with dinner quite frequently and is delicious when topped with cheese. I have attempted to google recipes on four separate occasions and each time my loaf either did not rise, was rock hard or uncooked on the inside. The instructions for this recipe were simple and easy to follow. I was actually able to start this recipe while getting the boys ready to head out for school/daycare and continue it while working from home. Which is the perfect fit for me!

The final verdict from my family? They loved my ciabatta loaf! This was the first loaf that I have ever made that came out perfect – have to admit I was quite proud of myself.

I love this book and it has made the perfect addition to my recipe book collection. It is incredibly easy to follow, a great variety of recipes as well as a variety of easy and harder skill level baking. A definite must have for families! I am excited to be starting my new year providing great home baked breads for my family!

January 22, 2014

Endless by Amanda Gray

Romance, mystery and science fiction – Endless by Amanda Gray has it all!

Jenny is the main character in Endless who loses her mother at a young age. Jenny has a special and very different type of talent then most teenage girls; when she touches another person she “sees” into their past lives. She sees loss and pain. It is a secret burden she carries by herself not willing to open up and share with anyone else.

Suddenly life begins to change for Jenny. She dreams of a stranger who then appears in real ifeis name is Nikolai and claims he has travelled through time to be with her – his one true love. Jenny and Nikolai must join together in order to stop The Order, an organization whose job it is to ensure that people remain in their correct times. The Order is determined to find Nikolai and return him to his time. Jenny and Nikolai must fight to remain together or be forced to lose him forever.

Endless is marked as Youth Fiction but I fell in love with it. I think it would be a great hit with young adults – young girls more likely. I am a huge fan of timeless love and souls destined to be together. The novel blended the perfect amount of science fiction and romance together. Neither being too heavily focused on that it would drive away from the story line. I loved how deeply Nikolai loved his Jenny that he risked all to travel through time to find her. It hit on the belief that some people have that certain people are just destined to be together.

I really do hope there is a sequel to this novel as I felt like it left me hanging right at the end. It may be because I fell in love with the characters but I did not want to believe that this was all for them – there just had to be a little more.

It was definitely a great novel that I can see myself re-reading again!

Rating: 4/5

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book. Opinions expressed are my own.

January 21, 2014

A Promise Kept by Robin Hatcher: Review

Marriage can be difficult at times. It takes constant patience, love and kindness. Sometimes no matter what we do it does not work. When you mix in addictions the difficulty becomes even more apparent. We have to realize that we are hurting the other person or even being an enabler to your partner’s addiction.

A Promise Kept by Robin Hatcher follows the story of Allison Kavanagh and her husband Tony. Their marriage began like so many others, full of love and hope. Through a series of trials they slowly began to fall apart. Allison fights hard to keep her marriage afloat but even she could not handle the suffering of Tony’s addiction anymore. When she hands him an ultimatum she never thought he would walk out the door but out the door he walked.

Allison retreats to her Aunt Emma’s mountain side home that was left to her when her Aunt passed away. She finds in the attic a wedding dress and journals which slowly presents a different image of the person her Aunt Emma was. Allison is surprised to find her Aunt so much like herself.

A Promise Kept is a powerful story of self discovery and forgiveness. Throughout the novel no matter what was tossed in Allison’s way when she let herself open up to God she was able to find her direction. It reminds us that forgiveness is truly the only way we can move forward in life. Our loved ones may hurt us unintentionally and sometimes we may have to make the ultimate sacrifice and walk away in order to heal each other. Forgiveness is one of the hardest things to do but one of the most important steps in the healing process.

The journals Allison finds is a reminder to us all that no matter how much we feel we know a person that they to may have gone through their own silent suffering. We should never be so quick to judge nor pass comment.

Robin Hatcher is the author of over sixty five novels and novellas. She lives with her family in Idaho. You can find more about her here.

You can find more reviews on a Promise Kept on the Litfuse Blog Tour. You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon.

Rating: 5/5

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