Category: Litfuse blog tour

August 22, 2016

Service Tails

In Service Tails, Heart-tugging true stories of the courage, faith, and loyalty of remarkable service dogs.

About Service Tails

Not all heroic dogs wildly toss themselves into lifesaving situations. Some save lives simply by their incredible commitment to duty and service. Some lead the way to independence for people whose disabilities were supposed to limit their lives.

In Service Tails: More Stories of Man’s Best Hero, prolific author Ace Collins introduces us to leaders whose entire lives are wrapped in the banner of service. Their stories are remarkable snapshots of the value of vision and teamwork, as well as devotion to duty and unconditional love and acceptance–stretching the way we see both canine and human potential. Their training was intense, their loyalty unquestioned and each step of the way they constantly adapt to better serve those they lead. These unforgettable dogs are more than heroes; they are models from which we can learn how to love and serve unconditionally.

My Thoughts

A fantastic set of true stories of inspirational dogs and their partners that they serve. Each story is told in such a way that you can feel the deep connection between the dog and their partner, you feel their struggles, success and hopes. Each dog is chosen for service to a person in need (they may be blind, deaf or have another need) and is partnered with a human based on need and personality. I learned so much about the history of service dogs from this novel and it left me humbled and in awe. These animals are amazing at what they do and how much they give back to their partner in terms of freedom and independence. The novel goes to show that even though we may try to be understanding of those who have a disability, sometimes our actions speak differently. We may actually be causing hurt to those we are trying to help.

Service Tails is a unique book full of short stories that offer hope, guidance and understanding. It is a perfect book for young adults straight to adulthood, those who love dogs and animals. There is much that everyone can learn from these loving and heroic animals and the bonds they form with their human partner. It is inspiring and leaves you feeling hopeful and with a greater understanding of others and how they interact with the world. A definite must read for your reading list!

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

Ace Collins defines himself as a storyteller. He has authored more than sixty books that have sold more than 2.5 million copies. His catalog includes novels, biographies, children’s works as well as books on history, culture and faith. He has also been the featured speaker at the National Archives Distinguished Lecture Series, hosted a network television special and does college basketball play-by-play. Ace lives in Arkansas.

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

August 19, 2016

The Things We Knew Book Review

In The Things We Knew, a tragedy from the past resurfaces in this tale of family secrets and reignited love.

About The Things We Knew

After her mother’s death twelve years ago, Lynette Carlisle watched her close-knit family unravel. One by one, her four older siblings left their Nantucket home and never returned. All seem to harbor animosity toward their father, silently blaming him for their mother’s death. Nobody will talk about that dreadful day, and Lynette can’t remember a bit of it.

But when next-door neighbor Nicholas Cooper returns to Nantucket, he brings the past with him. Once her brother’s best friend and Lynette’s first crush, Nick seems to hiding things from her. Lynette wonders what he knows about the day her mother died and hopes he might help her remember the things she can’t.

But Nick has no intention of telling Lynette the truth. Besides the damage it might cause his own family, he doesn’t want to risk harming the fragile friendship between him and the woman he once thought of as a kid sister.

As their father’s failing health and financial concerns bring the Carlisle siblings home, secrets begin to surface—secrets that will either restore their shattered relationships or separate the siblings forever. But pulling up anchor on the past propels them into the perfect storm, powerful enough to make them question all they ever believed in.

My Thoughts

Wow! An intense novel from start to finish, that is full of hurt, pain, hope and love. I loved every single page of this excellent novel. Lynette’s parents have harboured a painful secret that only their neighbour’s son Nicholas has knowledge of. Their Mother’s death rips the family apart, with most of the siblings left with the feeling that their Father is the one to blame. You can feel the pain and mistrust the family has for their Father and how this has trickled into the relationships the siblings have with each other.

When Lynette becomes frustrated enough with the stress of caring for her elderly Father, the siblings are re-united under difficult circumstances and are forced to work through their own issues, the secret their Mother kept and their Father’s aging health. What a mess this is! They fight, they leave and come back, all in the hopes of trying to keep their family together and work through the mess that is in place. When you throw in the devastating secret that Nicholas has kept hidden but threatens to emerge from Lynette’s repressed memories, you have the setting of a potential disaster. Which you are constantly on the verge of being a part of but the family constantly tries to fight back in order to stay together.

A well written story of family, lies, hope and love. I loved every moment of this story and felt as though I had become a part of the story. You are drawn so deeply into the characters, their lives and their pain. There are moments of love, despair and hope that are beautiful and touching. You will truly love every turn of the page in this novel.

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

Catherine West writes stories of hope and healing from her island home in Bermuda. When she’s not at the computer working on her next story, you can find her taking her Border collie for long walks on the beach or tending to her roses and orchids. She and her husband have two grown children.

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

August 19, 2016

Fetching Sweetness

In Fetching Sweetness, standing between Stephanie and her dream is one hundred pounds of lovable trouble.

About Fetching Sweetness

It should have been so simple for Stephanie Pink: Meet up with Agnes Wharton in a small town in California, retrieve the reclusive author’s valuable new manuscript, and be promoted to a full-fledged literary agent.

But Agnes’s canine companion, Sweetness, decides to make a break for it before Stephanie can claim her prize. Until Agnes has Sweetness safely back at home in Eagle Cliff, Washington, Stephanie will never set eyes on the manuscript she needs to make her dreams come true.

When Stephanie tracks the runaway mutt to a campground, she meets Rhett Hastings—a man also on the run from a different life and a costly mistake. Rhett agrees to help Stephanie search for the missing dog thus launching a surprising string of adventures and misadventures.

Once Sweetness gets added to the mix, it’s a recipe for love and loss, merriment and mayhem, fun and faith in the backwoods of the Pacific Northwest.

My Thoughts

A funny romantic story with such a deeper meaning. We have our two main characters both of whom are suffering from a loss (each from different reasons) who are forced together by a very unsuspecting character, Sweetness (a furry friend who constantly manages to make and find trouble).

Stephanie is living the life she always dreamed of with her brother (well not quite) – a literary agent. She is tasked with retrieving a manuscript from an author, whose first book changed her life as a child. She is in awe and can’t wait to meet the woman, even though she is quite eccentric! But Agnes refuses to give her the manuscript unless she can bring her Sweetness home. Now Stephanie must go on quite the adventure in order to rescue the furry animal (and one she has never laid eyes upon!) all before her nemesis arrives to try to steal the manuscript before she gets her hands on it!

This is when she meets Rhett, a very rich and famous young man who has turned his back on it all. He has hurt others and been hurt in turn and wants to make amends for what he has done. You can see how much he is trying and your heart goes out to him. You want him to learn to trust again but you can see the internal struggle he is facing.

Both of our characters are slightly flawed which makes them that much more loveable. They are honest, real and moving. They are struggling like many of us have in life and together with Sweetness they learn many life lessons. You will laugh, cry and be happy throughout this well written novel. You watch as they grow and learn that what they thought they wanted out of life was a dream that may not have been their own to begin with. A definite must read!

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

Dana Mentink lives in California, where the weather is golden and the cheese is divine. Dana is an American Christian Fiction Writers Book of the Year finalist for romantic suspense and an award winner in the Pacific Northwest Writers Literary Contest. Her suspense novel, Betrayal in the Badlands, earned a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Award. Besides writing, she busies herself teaching third and fourth grade. Mostly, she loves to be home with her husband, two daughters, a dog with social anxiety problems, a chubby box turtle, and a feisty parakeet.

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

August 18, 2016

Ace Collins’ ‘Service Tails’ Take-Your-Dog-to-the-Park Pack

Fall in love with these remarkable service dogs and their stories of courage, faith, and loyalty in Ace Collins’ new book, Service Tails. Their training was intense, their loyalty unquestioned and each step of the way they constantly adapt to better serve those they lead. These unforgettable dogs are more than heroes; they are models from which we can learn how to love and serve unconditionally.

Celebrate the release of Service Tails with Ace by entering to win the Take-Your-Dog-to-the-Park Pack!

One grand prize winner will receive:

A copy of Service Tails
A copy of Man’s Best Hero
A dog blanket
A dog leash
A dog-cape towel
A dog bandana
A dog toy
Dog treats

Enter today by clicking the icon below, but hurry! The giveaway ends on August 30. The winner will be announced August 31 on the Litfuse blog.

August 15, 2016

The Loyal Heart

In The Loyal Heart, Robert came to Galveston to fulfill his promise to a dying man and look after his widow. He didn’t expect to find love in the unlikeliest of places.

About The Loyal Heart

Robert Truax, former Second Lieutenant and Confederate officer in the Civil War, made a promise to his comrade Phillip Markham. If anything happened to Phillip, Robert would look after his beloved wife, Miranda. She was his life, his world, his everything.

After the war, Robert is left to pick up the pieces and fulfill his pact. When he arrives at Miranda’s home in Galveston, Texas, things are worse than he imagined. Phillip’s name has been dragged through the mud, everyone in town believes him to be a traitor, and his widow is treated as an outcast. Even more disturbing is her emotional well-being. Miranda seems hopeless, lost, and so very alone.

Robert had thought his duty would be simple. He would help Miranda as quickly as possible in order to honor a promise. But the moment Robert laid eyes on her, his plans changed. He’s mesmerized by her beauty and yearns to help her in any way he can. He makes it his duty to protect Miranda, turn her reputation around, and to find some way to help her smile again. But it doesn’t prove to be an easy task—Robert knows something about Phillip that could shake Miranda to the core and alter her view of the man she thought she knew so well.

My Thoughts

In a time when many young men lost their lives and left widows and children to fight to make their way in a world that didn’t see them as individuals – Robert made a promise to his comrades, if anything were to happen to any of them they would take care of that person’s family. Robert would have never have known how quickly that this would come into play when his friend Phillip dies in captivity.

Phillip’s love of his life, Miranda, has been left alone to transfer their home into a lodging and suffers from being an outcast as Phillip has been marked a traitor. Robert is livid at the thought of his friend being named a traitor but can not because of the secret nature of Phillip’s role during the war. This is when a great mystery develops as Robert begins to try to uncover who is destroying Phillip’s name and who is the root cause of Miranda’s pain. Every time I thought that I knew who could be the culprit for spreading such awful lies, a new twist is added and I realize I am wrong.

As Robert tries to solve the mystery, he quickly falls for the lovely Miranda as he struggles to understand his loyalty to his friend who has passed away and this lonely young woman. Both characters are perfect for each other but struggle through their internal war with themselves with the notion is this relationship okay to develop? I completely understood their struggle but felt that Phillip would have been happy to know that the two people he loved the most would have found happiness and love in each other.

A fantastic novel from start to finish – I did not want to put this one down! It was well written, developed at a great pace and always kept you guessing at what/who is the culprit for hurting Phillip’s name and Miranda’s life. A definite must read!

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

Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.

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