Category: Litfuse

February 6, 2014

Hopeful Blog Tour: Review

I have only started reading Amish fiction in the last two months but I have become a huge fan of this genre. I love the feeling of community, the selflessness and the stories are easy to relate to.

Hopeful by Shelley Shephard Gray is a story centred around Miriam Zehr. Miriam works at the Sugarcreek Inn and has been there for a very long time. The Sugarcreek Inn is a favourite among both the town residents and the tourists. Miriam always keeps herself positive at work but it is a reminder that she is missing her own family to love and care for.

Miriam has always felt like a wallflower and not quite pretty. She has always been a little heavier than the other girls her age making her self conscious. She has always held a special spot in her heart for Junior and when he finally begins to pay attention to her she is elated. She thinks that he has finally noticed her only to realize that he is using her to help him gain the attention of her pretty friend, Mary Kathryn. Miriam is faced with the dilemma to help him and be able to spend time with him or potentially lose him.

I felt like I could closely relate to Miriam. I have always felt self conscious and a bit of a wallflower. I have always been shy and afraid to talk to others in my classes. I was always self conscious about my body and she was just a character that really touched me. You can’t help but like Junior even though the situation is frustrating and you feel bad for Miriam. He is just a likable character!

The characters in this story are easy to fall in love with and care for and you just want to know more about them. There is a real sense of community and you can see how the series is beginning to develop. I looked into The Sugarcreek series (Seasons of Sugarcreek) as many others have suggested and I am going to start reading from there as many people stated that some of the characters in this novel were also present in her past novels. I love seeing this type of continuation but it also did not affect the plot line at all.

Shelley Shepard Gray is a two time New York best seller, a two time USA Today best seller, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award and a two time Holt Medallion winner (pretty lengthy list right? But very well deserved!). She lives in Southern Ohio and writes full time. You can learn more about her here.

To find more reviews of Hopeful in the Litfuse Blog Tour you can visit their page here. You can purchase your own copy here.

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

February 6, 2014

John Faubion’s FRIEND ME Kindle HDX Giveaway!

John Faubion is celebrating his debut novel, Friend Me, with a Kindle HDX giveaway!

One winner will receive:

A brand new Kindle Fire HDX
Friend Me by John Faubion

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on February 22nd. Winner will be announced February 24th on John Faubion’s blog.

Don’t miss a moment of the fun; enter today and be sure to stop by John’s blog on the 24th to see if you won.

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.

February 5, 2014

The Smitten Book Club: Love and Friendship #Review

In the collaborative novel, The Smitten Book Club, authors and best friends Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Denise Hunter and Diann Hunt intertwine the Gentlewoman’s Guide into the personal life of each Smitten town book club member.

Do you love a story based on friendship and the power of its healing? Then The Smitten Book Club is the perfect read just for you!

Molly, Lia, Heather and Abby are the main characters in the Smitten Book Club. They organize the book club in the town of Smitten as well as being the best of friends who would do anything for each other. When Heather finds the Gentlewoman’s Guide to Love and Courtship she can not resist bringing the book home with her. Not only did the title of the book call out to her but the book was written by a Smitten native, Pearl Chambers (a relative of Molly’s husband).

Heather and her fellow book club members pass the book along and each interprets the book in a fashion that is true to their personality. The members each meet with romance and the Guide proves to be both helpful and completely irrelevant at the exact same time. Not only does the Guide offer advice on love it also contains a town mystery to a secret gold mine! This secret could help Molly financially and each one of the girls is determined to help solve this mystery.

I love that this book was written by four best friends. Reading through the novel you can sense this friendship and I felt like I part of the friendship of the Smitten Book Club. The power of friendships is so important to our personal well being and an essential part when we are hurting – our friends know the perfect words and actions to make so much of that hurt go away. I loved how each character’s story was so intertwined that you did not feel like each story stopped but that it was a continuation from the previous story. It allowed a greater insight into each character’s personality and inner feelings. The Smitten Book Club was the perfect book to cuddle up with and laugh and cry along with. It is a fantastic novel to share with your own girlfriends, your sister and mother. It is a novel that I have recommended to all my coworkers as well.

Rating: 5/5

Want to find out more about this book and read other reviews? Check out the Litfuse Blog tour here. If you would like to purchase a copy you can do so here.

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

February 4, 2014

Smitten Book Club: Kindle Fire Giveaway, Facebook Party and Saturday Brunch!

The Smitten gals are back with their newest release, Smitten Book Club! Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, and Denise Hunter are celebrating with a Kindle Fire giveaway, a Facebook party on February 20, and a nationwide book-club brunch on March 22.

One winner will receive:

A Kindle Fire HDX

The Smitten books (Smitten, Secretly Smitten, Smitten Book Club)

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on February 20th. Winner will be announced at the Smitten Book Club Facebook Author Chat Party on February 20th. Connect with Colleen Coble, Denise Hunter, and Kristin Billerbeck for an evening of book chat, trivia, laughter, and more! The Smitten gals will also be taking questions from the audience, giving away books and gift certificates, and sharing news about their upcoming nationwide Smitten Book Club brunch on March 22nd. (Sign up to host today!)

So grab your copy of Smitten Book Club and join Colleen, Denise, Kristin, and friends on the evening of February 20th for a chance to connect and make some new friends. (If you haven’t read the book, don’t let that stop you from coming!)

Don’t miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 20th!

Sign up to host a Smitten Book Club Brunch on March 22nd!

Smitten Book Club Brunch Coble, Hunter, Billerbeck, Hunt