Category: review

April 9, 2015

A Sparrow in Terezin by Kristy Cambron #review

Two women are bound together in time through another’s powerful story of hope and survival during the midst of war in Kristy Cambron’s A Sparrow in Terezin.

About A Sparrow in Terezin

Present day: With the grand opening of her new art gallery and the upcoming wedding to the man of her dreams, Sera feels as though she has stepped into a charmed life. Until her husband is mixed up in a brutal court battle that threatens to destroy the future they have planned. William faces time in prison for a crime he did not commit and Sera must battle the accusations in order to maintain any hope for the future.

1942: Kaja narrowly escapes Prague in 1939 when she was forced to leave her family behind. Kaja’s father is Jewish and her blended family threatened to see her harmed and instead of seeing this happen her parents send her away. Now she is a reporter in England who discovers the awful and ugly truth that is happening throughout Europe. Kaja can not rest knowing this truth and returns to her birth place in order to find her family to help smuggle them out of the country to safety.

Connecting across time through one little girl, a Holocaust survivor with a foot in each world, these two women will discover a kinship that springs even in the darkest of times.

My Thoughts

I love Kristy Cambron’s writing – she draws you in and leaves you wanting more. Her newest book is no exception – it met and exceeded all of my expectations from her first book, The Butterfly and the Violin.

She cleverly and uniquely connects two young women living in different time periods. The connection is only discovered over time and this connection only exists through the kindness and sacrifice in another.

Kristy showcases faith, hope and strength in A Sparrow in Terezin. She had me crying at times and praying for those who were stuck in the camp set up by the Germans. You feel as though you are there with them and yet at the same time can not even begin to imagine the suffering that occurred during this time period. Even in this dark place, we find moments of peace, love and forgiveness.

You will not want to miss out on this book! You can find more reviews on the Litfuse blog tour page here. You can purchase a copy of the book here.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Kristy fancies life as a vintage story-teller. Her debut historical novel, The Butterfly and the Violin, was named to Library Journal Reviews Best Books of 2014. Kristy holds a degree in Art History and has nearly fifteen years experience in instructional design and communication. She lives in Indiana with her husband and three sons.

April 7, 2015

Purify Your Air in Style with Lampe Berger Paris #giveaway

Let’s face it. Sometimes no matter how hard you try your home seems to take on the unwanted scents we try so hard to mask. Wet dog – yup. Dirty and sweaty soccer shoes – yup. Dinner cooking (or burning!) – yup that too!

We spend a lot of money and time purchasing products to help hide the smells that can naturally build up in our homes. It isn’t as easy with all this cold weather to just open a window and let the wind do its work. Lampe Berger Paris provides a simple and effective method to remove unwanted odours, emit long-lasting fragrances and purify your air. Not too bad for a stylish and portable lamp!

The Lampe Berger was designed in 1897 by Maurice Berger and is the oldest worldwide manufacture of fragrance lamps (pretty awesome, right?!). The technology behind the Lampe Berger is that the burner attracts and eliminates the bad-smelling molecules. The cooler temperature of the lamp allows the fragrance inside to be emitted slowly versus a candle where the smell starts off strong but quickly burns off.

Setting up your lamp is simple with easy to read instructions included in the box set. To start-up the lamp just light the burner, leave the flame for two minutes and then blow it out. Add on the protective cap (shown above) and allow the lamp to purify your air for roughly twenty minutes. After the twenty minutes are up, carefully remove the protective cap (it will be warm so be careful!) and add the stopper to shut the lamp off.

My favourite features of the lamp are:

The low start-up and maintenance cost versus purchasing candles or home plug-ins over time.
Maintains the fragrance for the complete twenty minutes and longer. Have you ever been excited to put a plug-in in the wall only to have the smell disappear just as fast as you plugged it in? Not in this case! With its unique design and lower temperatures the pleasant fragrance you love is present the entire time.
I love how portable the lamp is! Because you do not require electricity you are not limited to only certain areas of the home. This frees you up to display your lamp prominently and proudly. Now to add a couple more in the home!
The unique designs of the lamps means you can be true to your style and taste! Match your lamp to your decor and no one will even guess that it is a lamp fragrance.
Safely diffuses fragrance without a flame – no flame is necessary to keep the fragrance going.
Wide variety of home fragrances including neutral fragrances for sensitive noses.

Our Lampe Berger lamp has become a must have item in our home and I even had to save it from going to my husband’s work (the nerve!). I have teamed up with Lampe Berger to bring you the opportunity to win your Lampe Berger starter kit which includes: lamp, burner, 180ml of neutral and 180ml of fragrance. Canadian residents can enter via the Rafflecopter below – Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I am a #LampeBergerCanada Brand Ambassador and received the above mentioned products free of charger. All opinions expressed are my own.

April 2, 2015

Daughter of the Regiment Book Tour

During the American Civil War, thousands of women organized to join the war efforts. In Daughter of the Regiment, Maggie Malone is one of those women that leaves the comfort and safety of her home to support those she loves.

About Daughter of the Regiment

Maggie Malone feels the effects of the war firsthand – first when her brothers go off to join the efforts and again when a group of bandits attack her farm. Feeling desperate and alone, Maggie heads off to find her brothers in the Federal Army Camp. There she quickly captures the admiration of Sergeant John “Colt” Coulter who immediately notices her skill and dedication. When circumstances beyond anyone’s control forces Maggie to stay with the brigade, Maggie quickly learns that there is a lot a woman can do to help the brave men she quickly deems “her boys”.

As the hostess of an acclaimed Missouri plantation, Miss Libbie Blair has learned to play her part and remain uninvolved in political affairs of her brother, Walker. When his aspirations lead him to organize the “Wildwood Guards”, Libbie must gracefully manage the house with the officers outside. With the war drawing closer to their home, Libbie must figure out how to protect those that rely on her.

When a battle brings the war to Wildwood Grove, Libbie’s home is transformed into a battle hospital. The two women whose brothers have fought on opposite sides of the battle come face to face.

My Thoughts

This novel was fantastic from start to finish. Historical fiction is always my favourite to read and Daughter of the Regiment delivered perfectly with two strong female leads and a role in history that I was never even aware of.

Maggie is the type of girl I admire – strong, fun and fearless. She doesn’t care what others think of her and sticks by her convictions. When she joins the regiment as a Daughter of the Regiment (a term that was coined by one of her French ‘boys’) she finds a role that suits her perfectly. She can care for those she holds dear and she even finds herself in the middle of battle! She faces all that comes her way with strength and determination.

Libbie on the other hand at first seems your typical aristocrat interested in only herself. As the novel progresses, we are able to see more into her character and witness the transformation she goes through. She actually becomes a character that I admire just as much as Maggie. While she was born into privilege because of the time in history she was stuck in a situation that she could not control nor leave. While both women are so different at first, we find that they are very much alike and would do anything to protect those that they love.

This novel would be great for young women as it features two strong female characters that despite the historical time difference many young women will relate to. Both female characters are strong, confident young women who follow their convictions. I was surprised that this was the first time I had ever heard of this role that women played during the war as ‘Daughters of the Regiment’. History can sometimes tend to minimize the role women played and it was great that this book illustrated the important role these two young women played. Without them who knows where the regiment might have been as they became to rely on the young women and their skills.

You can find this novel on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Stephanie Grace Whitson is the author of over twenty-seven novels. A frequent ECPA best seller, Stephanie is also a two-time Christy Award finalist. When she isn’t writing, speaking or keeping up with her five grown children and grandchildren, she loves to take rides aboard her motorcycle, Kitty. She received her Master of Arts degree in 2012. Stephanie and her husband reside in Nebraska.

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

March 23, 2015

Visiting The Sins by Melanie Denman #review

Visiting The Sins is a darkly funny story about mothers and daughters, ambition, redemption and the acts we commit in the name of family.

About Visiting the Sins

Visiting the Sins is set deep in the Bible Country of Texas and follows three generations of women in the Wheeler family. A family of women with lofty social aspirations but whom always seem dissatisfied. Pokey is the quirky matriarch, Rebanelle the former beauty queen and Curtis Jean the gospel singer. Their aspirations are matched only by their poor taste in men and their capacity for holding grudges. A legacy of feuding and scandals threatens to bring down all they have sacrificed to build.

My Thoughts

An interesting story told from the viewpoints of the three women and those closest to them. They are a family that loves each other deeply but also are not afraid to speak their mind nor hold a grudge. With the story being told from each of the women’s own thoughts and feelings you are given a different angle of each situation. While Pokey feels Rebanelle is cold and calculating, Rebanelle feels hurt and that she must bear the greatest burden of the family. The three women constantly perceive each situation differently and of course each one is always the most correct individual. This did get confusing at first until I became quite clear with the names of all the characters but it really gave a great picture of the situations each one endured.

While dark at times, Visiting the Sins is a true portrayal of depression, family love and perseverance against the toughest odds. The Wheeler family pulled themselves out of poverty to become high standing members of their community and did it in a way that only the Wheeler family could achieve. The comedy relief from Pokey balances the novel out perfectly.

You can purchase a copy of the book on Amazon and Barnes & Nobles.

Rating: 5/5

About the Author

Melanie is a native Texas and a graduate from Stephen F. Austin State University. An eighth generation Texan and a former banker and cattle rancher, she currently lives in San Francisco working on her second novel.

The Giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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

March 22, 2015

Gift the Gift of Reading This Easter with #SpringBookBasket

Reading is a gift that we can give our children that will create lasting memories. Books not only tell a story but they teach us a lesson, guide us, take us on adventures and give us the courage to try something new.

Raincoast Books wants to celebrate the coming of Spring with a #SpringBookBasket giveaway featuring some of their greatest titles for your child. We were extremely lucky to receive I Wish You More, The Littlest Bunny and Enchanted Forest.

I Wish You More is written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld. This story is about all the endless good wishes we grant on our children. Wishes of curiosity, friendship and strength. A beautiful story of love between a guardian and their child with wonderful accompanying illustrations – this will be a much-loved book. It also makes the perfect baby shower gift!

“I wish you more give than take”

“I wish you more we than me”

The Littlest Bunny in Canada features just as it names suggests the littlest bunny in Canada with a very important secret – he is the Easter Bunny! Throughout this book we follow him as he completes his most important mission of the year – hiding the Easter eggs! As a bonus, your child and yourself should be on the look out for twenty very special eggs hidden throughout the book!

The Enchanted Forest by Johanna Basford is a very special book – not only do you go through a quest in an enchanted forest you get to colour along the way! This book was so beautiful that I didn’t want to give it up at first! It is perfect for the older child through to adulthood not only as a book but as a colouring book. Not only do you colour in the pictures along the way you must look for special hidden animals and magical objects including nine symbols that will unlock the castle door.

The remaining four books in the #SpringBookBasket include:

A Nest is Noisy by Dianna Hutts Aston and illustrated by Sylvia Long features nests from around the world. From tiny hummingbird nests to orangutan nests in the sky a variety of nests are featured in this story. This book introduces children to the world of nests and helps to spark their imagination.

Farewell Floppy by Benjamin Chaud is the story of a young child that feels the need to grow up. In order to do so he feels he must get rid of his best friend, his rabbit, in order to gain more human friends. But why does getting rid of his rabbit friend feel so wrong? This book will remind children that friendships can be found in the most unexpected places!

From rain to rainbows is a wonderful story that reminds us that after the worst rain always comes the prettiest rainbow. This story reminds us to appreciate the dark with the light and that the best of situations comes out of the worst moments.

As winter leaves us and spring returns the soil is ready to plant and early flowers emerge. Follow Grandma and her grandchildren as they learn about twenty-four different flowers and how to plant their own flowers.

Raincoast Books wants one of my readers to win their own #SpringBookBasket Collection as pictured below.

Canadian residents can enter the #SpringBookBasket giveaway below – GOOD LUCK!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I received three of the above books free of charge in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.